Eric pointed his sword at Herris, who was already standing with an angry face. His hands were clenched so tightly that Eric could hear a cracking sound coming from them.
"Just because you have magic now, you think you can beat me?" Herris snarled as he tried to take a step forward.
His body still felt sore and stiff. Even though he managed to stand up this time, his balance was still a bit unstable, which made his anger rise even more. He did not like being weak.
"If we don't try, we won't know, right?" Eric's confident reply made Herris even more unhappy.
"Arrogant brat!" Herris growled angrily as he began to take heavy steps forward.
Herris grinned cruelly, "Let's see how you look when I kill your twin sister and your baby brother one by one."
He glanced at Hana and Arion. His grin widened as he saw Hana's fleeting face of fear as she took a step back with Arion, whom she hugged even tighter.
Eric's gaze sharpened as several sparks of blue lightning appeared on his sword, "As long as I'm here, I won't let you touch them," He said sharply. He moved to shield Hana and Arion from Herris' cruel gaze.
With an evil grin on his face, Herris lunged at Eric, who quickly dodged and countered. It felt like his body was lighter than before, that he could move faster.
Noam and the others shielded their faces from the gust of wind caused by the collision of Eric and Herris' two attacks. They all watched the battle anxiously.
"What now?" Zane muttered worriedly. He patted the back of his sister, Fiona, who began to whimper, distracted by the noise around her.
Noam's brow furrowed as he looked at Seth's sleeping face, "Even if Eric says we should gather our strength, we can't possibly let him fight alone like this."
And he was also a bit worried about Eric's physical condition right now, especially since he saw that his friend was using his lightning magic a bit to speed up his movements.
Hana tightened her hug on Arion. She looked at her brother worriedly. Wasn't his current decision too reckless? Even she could feel that Arion started to fidget in her arms.
"Hey."
Rose's exclamation made the three of them look at her. She looked at Emily who was still kneeling quietly, not even trying to attack them.
"What are we going to do with her?" Rose asked flatly, but her gaze was very uncomfortable on Emily. After all, this was the woman who had imprisoned her sister, Kalyca.
Before anyone could answer, Emily spoke first, "Don't worry. As long as this arrow is stuck, I won't be able to move."
Zane blinked in surprise before looking at the arrow, "Paralyzing magic?"
Hana, hearing Zane's muttering, immediately looked at her weapon and those of her friends. She had no idea that these hidden weapons had paralyzing magic.
"So if we manage to put an arrow in his body too, will he be temporarily paralyzed?" Noam muttered seriously as he looked at Herris.
Emily shook her head gently, "I doubt it would work on him in particular."
They all turned their attention back to her, "That big body isn't just for show. I hate to admit it, but he has incredible stamina."
Noam silently agreed. He and Eric had worked well together to fight the big man. But none of their attacks had managed to hurt him. Either because he had managed to dodge them or because he had managed to withstand them with his bare hands.
"This plan will work on the other two." Emily continued seriously, looking at Hans who was still trying to get up.
Then she turned her eyes to Eric, who was struggling, occasionally using his magic to speed up his movements.
Emily sighed resignedly, "You both shouldn't let Prince Eric fight with his magic."
Rose looked at her suspiciously, "Why do you care?"
Emily shook her head slightly, "I'm just giving you advice. It's up to you to listen or not."
Hana bit her lip lightly, feeling undecided. She still believed that Emily hadn't betrayed her completely. Her heart wanted to believe her, but her mind was still suspicious of Emily.
Arion looked at Emily suspiciously, 'What exactly is she planning?'
He did not understand the contents of this woman's mind. She actually wanted to betray them or help them? Forget the possibility that she was threatened. Even if she was threatened, why would she change her mind by giving them this information?
"Damn it!" The cry made them all gasp in shock, especially Arion. Honestly, from the first time he saw the big man, he kept thinking of his old father. The two were very similar.
They turned their heads to see what was going on. What they saw was quite shocking. A slash wound was clearly visible on Hans' waist, which he was holding to stop the bleeding. His expression was a mixture of anger and pain.
"Eric managed to hurt the big guy?" Noam muttered in surprise, but also grinned happily. Finally, after their hard efforts, the man had managed to be injured.
"Maybe because of the effect of his lightning magic, his speed also increased." Zane said seriously.
After that, they all fell silent and looked at each other with widened eyes, as if they had just realized something.
"The effect of the paralyzing magic on his sword and the shock of his lightning magic should be able to immobilize him for a long time." Zane's words were met with an enthusiastic nod from Noam.
His smile widened with a sigh of relief. Although it sounded easy, the fact was that it would be difficult. But at least they had a solution.
Noam's grin faded as he noticed something strange, "Eric is exhausted."
They looked at Eric who was panting. Sweat was pouring from his forehead. He was even leaning on his sword to keep his balance.
Noam almost ran over to Eric if he hadn't remembered that he was holding his brother. He gritted his teeth in annoyance, "Can't we do something to help Eric?"
Zane and Rose were silent, not knowing what to say. They felt so helpless to help their friend. Eric was clearly not well.
Hana gasped in shock at her brother's condition. She was so worried that she didn't notice that her hand holding Arion was shaking. She only noticed when Arion patted her cheek.
"Arion?" Hana cried in confusion. But when she saw Arion's worried look, she soon realized that her behavior made Arion worried too.
Hana smiled softly at Arion, "It's okay, Arion. Our brother is strong," She said softly, trying to calm her brother down so he wouldn't worry.
Arion frowned disapprovingly, 'You're lying to yourself.'
He could still feel the trembling in his sister's hands. They were twins after all. Their bond was stronger than any other. Hana must be able to sense something wrong with her brother because of the trembling in his hands.
Arion sighed, 'I know you're worried too. There's no need to hide it,' He thought, feeling sorry for her. He continued to stroke Hana's cheek gently.
Hana was stunned for a moment before she chuckled softly, "Caught you."
Her eyes began to tear up as she watched her brother continue to push himself. And here she could only watch him try without helping at all. She felt useless.
"I'm so weak." Hana muttered sadly. She tried hard to keep her friends from noticing her current state. But unbeknownst to her, someone had been watching her from the beginning.
Arion snorted, feeling very disapproving, 'You are strong. You even managed to free me.'
Strength is not only measured by how strong you can be against your enemies. For him, strength can also be measured by other things. Like courage.
The courage to face your fear. The courage to make a very difficult decision. And the courage to save someone you care about, even if it means sacrificing your own life. That's not an easy thing to do.
'You are even stronger than the teenage version of me.' Arion thought sadly. He used to be so weak. Even a 5 year old child was much stronger than him. How sad.
Because Hana was too focused on Eric and Arion's condition, she didn't notice a dagger coming towards her at high speed.
Arion, realizing that there was a danger aimed at his older sister, immediately panicked to warn her, 'Look out!'
Hana didn't understand what was happening to Arion before a scream and a crash completely distracted her.
"Princess!"
"Hana!"