"Eli Crane, Eli Crane..." Ethan Chu rushed to Eli's side, his heart gripped by a powerful sense of dread. After teaming up with Connor Tong to quell the rebellion, he had sent Connor to the palace for backup and to spread the truth.
He galloped his horse through the city, circling quickly. He knew he’d fallen into a trap—and that none of them would escape unscathed.
Even knowing all this, when he saw Eli’s blood-soaked white robes fluttering like he was about to collapse, panic exploded inside him. That wasn’t just anyone—it was his family. Eli Crane!
Rage surged through Ethan from head to toe. He charged into the fray, launching himself into another life-or-death battle.
The two hundred grey-clad assassins had already lost half their number fighting Eli, but now Eli had fully collapsed. The hundred left surged toward Ethan, attacking relentlessly.
Though wounded earlier, Ethan was still bursting with raw strength and fury. His blade and sword, fueled by rage, stabbed again and again—each strike driving deep into the enemy’s heart.
He was scared. Yes, terrified that Ivy would find out about Eli’s condition.
Ivy would risk her life for any one of them, but if she learned someone was hurt—she’d definitely...
He didn’t want to imagine it. The only way to reassure her was to use everything he had to protect Eli Crane—to protect his brothers!
"Kill!" The grey-clad assassins hadn’t expected that after finally taking down one tough opponent, an even angrier lion would charge in. This was not in their script at all.
"All of you, go straight to hell!" Ethan Chu roared, his voice booming like a temple bell—loud and electrifying.
Under Ethan’s onslaught, the hundred assassins had dropped to just over thirty. But in the chaos, his arms and back were slashed all over by the grey-clad killers.
Blood quickly soaked his clothes. Among those thirty or so, three or four were personally trained by Cao Wan’er—their martial skills rivaled Ethan’s, and they were the ones who’d dealt him the worst wounds.
"Left—step back, duck—right kick!" Suddenly, Eli Crane’s weak voice rang out.
Ethan quickly turned to glance at Eli, lying in a pool of blood. At some point, Eli had braced himself on his sword, the blade stabbed into the earth, both knees on the ground, his whole body slumped over the hilt. The sword wobbled under his weight, and as he slowly lifted his head, his bloodied face was almost unrecognizable.
"Eli Crane!" Ethan shouted, his heart aching.
"I’m fine..." Eli managed to say, but blood kept welling from his mouth.
Ethan blinked back tears and immediately attacked as Eli instructed.
The grey-clad assassins stared in shock, forgetting to fight back. How—how was he not dead yet?!
"Right strike—lower abdomen, fold back—rear kick, left blade to the heart..." Eli forced his breathing to steady, making his instructions flow more smoothly. But the more he spoke, the more pain wracked his body, nearly driving him to faint.
With every word from Eli, Ethan’s swordwork turned demonic—every move a killing blow, even dismantling the grey-clad assassins’ proudest techniques.
Only then did the assassins’ leader realize just how terrifying a White clan descendant could be. He’d always known Eli had an eidetic memory—during the fight, Eli had picked up moves that took them years to master, and learned them in mere moments.
But nobody expected he’d have something close to foresight too. So that’s why the Empress Dowager wanted them all to attack together—Eli’s memory and prediction skills were just that dangerous. Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying!
The leader saw his men dropping like flies—over half of the thirty were already dead. He gripped his sword tight, and in the next instant lunged at Eli. If they wanted victory, this man had to die.
‘Shhk!’
"Eli Crane—!" In the chaos, Ethan caught sight of a grey blur darting toward Eli, but he couldn’t stop it. A dozen assassins were still at his side, so all he could do was watch as the sword plunged into Eli’s chest—
"Eli—Crane—!" Ethan howled, his eyes rimmed red with grief.
Just then, a flash of purple shot in—Adrian Night kicked the assassin aside with a thud.
"Crane!" Adrian Night quickly caught Eli as he collapsed into his arms, heart aching with worry.
Ethan paused for a split second, then grinned. "Adrian, take care of him. Leave the rest to me!"