While Hana and Rose continued to treat the deep wound on Emily's stomach, Noam and Zane concentrated on fighting Dean and keeping him away from their two girlfriends.
Dean whistled in admiration as he dodged a sword thrust from Noam, "You two fight pretty well for 5 year olds."
Noam snorted as he tried to stab him again, "And you're pretty fast for an old man." He taunted him in annoyance. This guy was more agile than the big guy.
Dean pretended to sulk, making them both snort in disgust, "I'm not that old. I'm still in my 20s."
"And I'm sure there are a lot of innocent people you've killed at such a young age." Zane commented as he slammed his sword into Dean's dagger, knocking him back a few steps.
"Oh?" Dean jumped back to avoid Noam's surprise attack while still holding Zane's sword.
The fighting style of the two kids left Dean a bit astonished. He had never met a child who was already so good at self-defense. The descendants of kings were really different.
Zane looked at Dean directly, very different from his usual polite look, "How many innocent people have you sacrificed?"
Dean hummed indifferently, "No idea. Not that I'm counting."
Noam snarled angrily beside Zane, "They're people! Not toys!"
Dean chuckled amusedly, "You guys don't know how funny it is when I pull off their nails one by one. Or when I rip off their feet or hands. It's so funny."
Both of their bodies shivered as they heard Dean talk about torturing people as if he were telling a fairy tale. Something was wrong with his mind.
"He's the calmest of the three, but he's the crazy one." Noam mumbled a little horrified at the thought of that sadistic scene, but he quickly shook his head vigorously to get rid of the image that almost came to his mind.
"Come here, you little shit!"
The yell made the trio stop and turn their heads. Noam and Zane held their breath in shock as they saw a very exhausted Eric continue to dodge Herris' attacks.
They saw that Eric wasn't even using his lightning magic to dodge. It looked as if Eric had reached his limit.
Dean watched the fight with interest, "Oh? Your friend seems to be in trouble."
Still, he was amazed to see Eric's persistence, not wanting to give up even though he looked very exhausted at the moment. It even looked like he was having trouble summoning his magic.
Zane whispered to Noam, "We need another plan. Eric looks bad."
Without answering Zane, Noam immediately went for Eric. But Dean jumped in front of him, so he couldn't help but stop.
Dean chuckled as he twirled his two daggers, "Don't ignore me like that."
Noam snarled angrily, "Get out of my way!"
Dean shrugged indifferently, which made Noam even angrier. He returned to attack Dean with Zane quickly assisting him.
Hana, watching from a distance, could only mutter worriedly, "Brother..."
Arion could also see the state of his brother with a furrowed brow, 'He looks worse and worse.'
While Rose watched closely as Emily covered her wound with a makeshift bandage that Hana had brought. The two of them couldn't help her because both of their hands were full with 2 babies.
"I'll get right to it. What are your plans with Nova?" Rose asked impatiently, waiting for more. The situation there was getting worse.
Emily looked at her calmly, "Don't worry about her. She's fine."
Rose snorted sharply, "That's not the answer to my question. Answer honestly."
Arion shuddered in horror, 'For a little girl, she sounds terrifying.' He thought a little anxiously when he saw Rose's piercing gaze. It felt like her look alone could put a hole in Emily's head.
Emily shook her head gently, "I'm sorry, Princess. I can't take that chance." She subtly refused, glancing at the three enemies, which made Rose and Hana understand her reasoning.
"So what's your plan now?" Hana asked as Rose was still not satisfied with Emily's answer.
Instead of answering, Emily stared at Eric, "Like I said, you guys shouldn't let Prince Eric use his magic."
Before the two could speak, Emily interrupted again, "Indeed, without magic, Prince Eric would have a hard time wounding him, let alone defeating him."
Hana frowned worriedly, "Then what?"
"I will help him."
His words were immediately rejected by Hana, "Don't be crazy, Emily! Don't you see your current state?"
Hana could not understand Emily's decision that sounded so crazy. Even Arion agreed with some reluctance. After all, Emily might not last long in this condition.
Emily smiled gently at her, "I am well aware of that, Princess. But this is something I have to do."
Rose looked at her suspiciously, "Is this part of your deal with Nova?"
"Deal or no deal, I will still protect you in the end." Emily said firmly but also gently.
She slowly tried to get to her feet, making Hana and Rose jump at her reckless action. They also stood in front of Emily, who seemed to be struggling to balance her wobbly legs.
After regaining her balance, Emily immediately looked at them, "Princess Hana. Princess Rose. Please stay under cover and take care of the four of them."
"I will protect you."
Arion frowned disapprovingly, 'Doesn't she realize she could die of blood loss?'
Arion had said earlier that he didn't care much for her because she was a traitor. But Emily had saved him and Hana. So he couldn't help but feel a small debt of gratitude.
Emily's eyes widened in surprise when she saw something, "No!"
Before Hana and Rose could figure out what had happened, Emily quickly used her lightning magic to attack someone.
"Ugh!"
The groan of pain made them all turn to find Eric, who had fallen as someone pushed him away from the other person's sudden attack.
Eric looked at the person protecting him and immediately fell silent, "You..."
There, Emily held the sword that had pierced her chest until she coughed up a large amount of blood. The owner of the sword was Hans, who was finally able to control his movements again.
Hans snorted in annoyance, "Traitorous old woman. Son of a bitch. Damn you for making me look pathetic!"
"Emily!" Hana screamed hysterically until she unconsciously tried to run over to him.
Fortunately, Rose stopped Hana before she endangered herself and the two babies in her arms, "Stop it, Hana!"
Eric looked at Emily in shock, "Why are you protecting me? You should have just protected Hana!" He said loudly and unacceptably. But his voice was trembling at the sight of Emily's condition.
Emily chuckled with the blood still running down her lips, "Just because I've never spent time with you doesn't mean you're not important to me, Your Highness. It is the duty of adults to protect children."
Hans quickly pulled his sword from Emily until she almost fell down if Eric hadn't managed to catch her body.
Hans tried to attack again, but he was stopped once more. A stronger and faster yellow lightning attack hit the three enemies until they were blown away from the children.
Eric, seeing the attack, immediately widened his eyes until he saw the figure of someone familiar running towards him, "Nova?"
Nova knelt down beside Eric with an apologetic look on her face, "I apologize for being late, Your Highness."
Surprisingly, the wounds on his body had healed. But Eric didn't have time to ask because the figure of Hana and her friends ran towards them.
Hana immediately joined them on her knees with a panicked expression on her face, "Nova! Emily--"
Nova shook her head to stop her panic before looking sadly at Emily, "You look bad, Emily."
Emily chuckled, "I noticed."
She felt something in her throat and couldn't help coughing loudly. Blood was pouring out of her cough as well as from the wounds on her chest and stomach.
With trembling lips, Emily forced herself to speak, "Nova... Please... Your promise to me... I'll leave them to you..."
Nova just nodded silently, understanding Emily's intentions that the others didn't. But before they could ask, she started talking again, even though she was having trouble catching her breath.
Emily looked at Eric, who was gently supporting her, "Prince Eric... I apologize..for everything I have..done. They have..nothing to do with..the mistakes I..made.."
Eric wrinkled his forehead, not understanding, "What do you mean? Who are they?"
Emily just smiled gently without explaining further, "Though I..have betrayed..you all, my heart..remains the same.."
Then Emily looked at Hana who was clearly holding back her tears, "Princess Hana... I am..very happy to have had..the opportunity to take care..of you in the past.."
Hana was speechless as sobs began to escape her lips as her tears began to flow freely. Arion in her arms froze, knowing what was about to happen to her.
Emily smiled gently one last time, "I love..Prince Eric and..Princess Hana with all..my heart.."
After saying that, Emily's eyes slowly closed along with the last breath she took.
Hana's wailing cry accompanied Emily, who was free of all the pain of this world, but left pain in the hearts of others.