Hans twirled his sword with a sharp look at Nova and the others. From behind, Dean approached Hans and stopped beside him.
Arion shuddered in horror, 'They're coming back.'
He didn't know how strong Nova was. But with her exhausted state and then fighting two enemies of unknown strength, Nova wouldn't last long.
Dean massaged his shoulders before looking at Nova's group with a sharp smile, "Do you think you can get out of here alive?"
Nova hugged Arion tighter as she took a step back, "Do you think King Arsen will let you and your group get away with this after you hurt Prince Arion?" She said sharply.
She looked briefly at the condition of Arion's neck. There were reddish hand grip marks on his neck. Not to mention that Arion had coughed so hard that it was hard to breathe.
Nova stared at the two of them as lightning flashed around them, "His Majesty will not let you leave a single meter of the palace alive! "
Dean just chuckled, "If your king can make it here in time before we kill you all and leave."
He hummed as he pulled out two daggers and expertly played with them, "Shall we begin?"
Hans chuckled cruelly as he pointed his sword forward, "Herris won't be happy if we kill his prey first. Not that I care."
Dean shrugged indifferently, "Then just cut off the hands and feet, but don't kill them. That way the prey is still quite alive."
Arion closed his eyes in fear, 'They're all monsters.'
The intruder's remarks reawakened memories of the psychopathic doctor who had almost cut his body open just to retrieve his useful organs. Although his body was dead at that time, his soul could still watch their actions.
Hans hummed with a broad smile, "Good idea!"
Before he could take a step forward, a scream distracted their concentration.
"Nova!"
The call made Nova blink in horror. She quickly turned around to see the twins and their friends running towards her, breathless.
"Your Highness?" Nova cried in horror. Why were they here? What were the knights doing that they let the twins run into trouble alone?
Arion breathed desperately, 'Why are they even here?'
Hana tried to catch her breath and wiped the sweat from her brow, "Arion--"
Hana's words were cut off as Eric pulled her hand to come closer. His posture looked alert, the same as Noam, Zane, and Rose.
At first, Hana was confused as to what was going on with them. But when she focused her gaze on the two men in black standing across from Nova, she immediately understood why her brother was acting the way he was.
Noam chuckled in annoyance, "There really is an intruder."
Zane exhaled deeply, "This won't be easy."
Hans snorted at the arrival of more people to spoil his fun, "Brat."
Nova immediately positioned herself in front of the twins, preventing the enemy from approaching the children behind her.
"Your Highness! Get out of here right now! It's dangerous here!" Nova said loudly as a powerful bolt of lightning began to electrify her hand.
Hearing her words, Dean and Hans immediately charged forward with their weapons. But Nova moved quickly to create the same lightning barrier that shocked Herris until he screamed in pain.
Unlike Herris, the two stopped just in time before crashing into the electric barrier Nova had created. The faces of both looked very unhappy at being successfully blocked for the umpteenth time.
"Your Highness, please take Prince Arion and leave here immediately. I'll buy you some time." Nova said firmly as she knelt down to hand Arion to Eric.
Noam and the others also rushed to check on their sibling, who was still crying in fear, though not as loudly as before.
Hana immediately protested, "But--"
Nova immediately put her hands on Hana and Eric's shoulders and squeezed them gently, "Please at least think of Prince Arion. He's injured and must be very scared right now."
The two gasped in shock, "Arion is hurt?"
Nova nodded sadly before pointing to the red wound on Arion's neck. It was almost blue, proving just how tightly someone had strangled their little brother.
Hana gasped in horror, "Brother! Arion's neck!"
Eric gritted his teeth in anger. If only he had accompanied Arion from the beginning, maybe his brother wouldn't have been hurt. He wouldn't have been able to do much against the intruders, but at least Arion would be safe.
Arion grabbed his brother's clothes. His eyes began to tear up, 'You shouldn't have come here.'
For some reason, he couldn't control his emotions, not like usual. Everything felt chaotic. Arion just didn't want anyone to get hurt because of him. He didn't deserve it.
He had never done anything good in his life to deserve all this protection. He would rather die than let someone get hurt just because of someone like him.
Unconsciously, a sob escaped his trembling lips. Tears trickled from his eyes, leaving his face wet. He sank his face deeper into his brother's arms.
Hana covered her mouth with both hands. She remembered asking her mother why she never let Arion cry. Now she regretted it. She didn't want to see Arion cry. His sobs and tears hurt Hana's heart, too, until her eyes began to water.
Eric bit his lip as he slowly pulled Hana into his arms. He closed his eyes tightly. His two younger siblings were sad and he didn't know what to do. He felt like a failure as a big brother.
Nova hugged them gently and whispered softly, "Please, Your Highness. Leave here immediately. Your safety comes first."
Eric looked at her with a stubborn expression, "What about you? You look exhausted and injured, Nova."
Arion looked out of his brother's arms and looked at Nova with concern. His body was still shaking as he kept himself from sobbing again. There was no time for crying now.
Nova smiled softly and rubbed his head, "I'll be fine, Your Highness. I can hold on until help arrives."
Loud laughter rang out as Nova's lightning barrier began to disappear. The two people who had been waiting for the barrier to disappear simply walked through the remaining lightning sparks.
Arion watched in horror, 'The barrier is gone?'
It also proved that Nova was already too tired to maintain her magic any longer.
Nova stood up immediately and pushed back the twins who were hugging Arion, followed by the others. The nannies had frightened expressions on their faces, while the children had serious and brave ones.
Dean chuckled amusedly, "Help? Are you sure help is coming?"
Nova narrowed her eyes suspiciously, her instincts screaming that something was wrong, "What do you mean?"
Instead of answering her, Dean turned his eyes to the five 5-year-olds who were staring at him intently, "You kids. Don't you find it strange that there are no servants or knights following you?"
They blinked in surprise before turning to look behind them, only to find an empty hallway filled with nothing but silence. Their eyes widened before they turned their gaze forward.
Noam whispered loudly to his friends, "They're not following us?"
This was not part of their plan. If there really was an intruder, they should have left it to the guards while the five of them concentrated on their little siblings. Zane beside him also refrained from groaning in frustration. All their plans were ruined in an instant.
Eric clicked his tongue in annoyance, "No wonder I sensed something was wrong."
He should have noticed the silence during their escape. They had even stopped several times to catch their breath before running again, and they hadn't noticed that none of the adults had caught up with them.
Eric refrained from cursing in front of Arion and Hana. His mind was too distracted to realize something simple. He became careless and let his guard down.
Rose snorted, "That explains why they don't yell at us anymore to stop running."
She was too concerned about Kalyca to be careless. Not just her, but all of them.
Dean smiled wryly at the annoyed and panicked reactions of the five children, "Did you meet any servants or knights on your journey?"
His words caught all their attention. Hana inhaled in horror as her brother's expression hardened, already thinking of the negative possibilities of what had happened.
Arion held his breath in horror, 'Don't tell me...'
"What did you do?" Nova asked in a grave tone. The lightning had reappeared in her hand, only smaller than before, indicating that her mana was almost gone.
Hans smiled a wide smile that seemed crazy, "No help is coming. Not before you all die."
Dean snorted, "You may not even be able to escape from here. With or without us stopping you."
Eric's eyes narrowed suspiciously at her words, "They're planning something else," He whispered for his friends to hear.
Zane leaned closer to his friends, "We need a new plan, Eric."
Before Eric could say anything, an angry scream echoed through the hallway until they all jumped in surprise.
"WHERE IS THAT DAMN OLD WOMAN? I'LL FINISH HER OFF!"
Arion grabbed Eric's clothes even tighter, 'That's the sound of someone getting hit by Nova's lightning barrier! He's still conscious?'
How strong is his strength to survive such a powerful lightning strike?
Dean laughed at the scream, "Ah! Someone seems to want to join us."
Hans ran a hand through his hair with a broad grin, "Now, shall we get back to our important business, old woman?"