Chapter 50: Guiding the Fallen Angel

Saddie moved at an incredible speed, choosing to dodge the polluted creatures still roaming around instead of wasting time fighting them.

From a distance, Summer could already see military tanks moving toward Ilya, while several other vehicles headed for the hotel to rescue the injured people.

A few soldiers stood on top of the tanks with rifles in their hands, preparing what Saddie had earlier called the "special serum."

"Can you go any faster?!" Summer shouted, raising her voice so the wind wouldn’t drown her out.

"I’m trying!" Saddie yelled back. "Just hold on tight!"

While tightening her grip around Saddie, Summer lifted her head and looked at Ilya, who now looked completely different from before.

His eyes had turned almost completely white, while strange golden and silver veins spread from his neck all the way up across his face.

By the time Saddie reached the top of a building close to Ilya, she suddenly stopped.

Summer nearly crashed into the back of her head. "What happened?"

Saddie looked at the distance between them and Ilya, then glanced at the soldiers below.

The tanks were already getting into position and they were running out of time.

"Turn into your rabbit form," Saddie said quickly.

Summer didn’t question her since everyone here had a beast form. The only problem was that she had never actually tried to fully transform before.

"I’ll try," Summer said.

She closed her eyes and focused. For a few seconds, nothing happened, then a strange warmth spread through her body.

Her fingers tingled first, followed by her arms and legs. The world around her suddenly seemed to grow bigger, and when Summer opened her eyes again, she was sitting in Saddie’s hands as a small white rabbit.

Saddie stared at her for half a second before swallowing hard. "Gosh, you’re so cute."

Summer’s ears twitched a little after hearing her comment because she had never received that kind of praise in her entire life.

"Target locked!"

When Saddie heard the soldiers shouting those words, she shook her head and focused back on their original goal.

Saddie said, "Summer, I’m going to throw you."

Summer looked toward Ilya and gave a small nod. Saddie tightened her grip around her tiny body. "Good luck!"

Another warning from the soldiers rang out. "Prepare suppression fire!"

Summer’s heart started pounding because she didn’t even know whether she would reach Ilya faster than their shots. But even if she reached him first, wouldn’t they have already fired?

Summer didn’t think about it any further because Saddie finally threw her through the air. The wind rushed past her ears as the distance between her and Ilya disappeared faster than she expected.

At the same time, gunshots exploded from below, making her whole body tense.

Ilya suddenly turned toward the sound of the gunshots, but before he could react, Summer stretched one small paw forward.

Just a moment before any of the bullets could touch him, Summer had already touched Ilya’s forehead with her paw. As their consciousness was thrown into his mental sea, Ilya’s wings lost their ability to keep flying, causing them to fall downward.

Ilya and Summer would probably suffer from the impact, but it was still considered better than suffering because of the serum fired by the military.

[OMGGGG.]

[THEY’RE FALLING?!]

[Wait! Wait! Wait! Someone SCREENSHOT this!]

[He looks like a fallen angel!]

[Damn! The white eyes! The wings! The silver blood! Fucking hell, this is insane!]

[Why does he look so beautiful while literally falling out of the sky?!]

[SCREENSHOT SCREENSHOT SCREENSHOT.]

[Someone clip this before the stream gets taken down!]

From the outside, it really did look strange.

Ilya’s large golden wings had gone completely still behind him, no longer fighting against gravity. His body fell through the polluted sky with his arms slightly spread, while his white eyes remained half-open and empty.

Golden light still flickered weakly around him. Summer’s tiny rabbit body was pressed against his chest, almost disappearing against his much larger frame.

Together, they dropped through the smoke like a broken angel falling from heaven.

[THIS IS LITERALLY A PAINTING.]

[Captain Noctis, sir, this is NOT the time to look this dramatic.]

[WHY IS THE CINEMATOGRAPHY SO GOOD?!]

[SADDIE DO SOMETHING.]

Saddie, however, was not admiring anything. "SUMMER!"

She rushed toward the edge of the building and stared down in horror.

The soldiers below also started shouting. "Target is falling!"

While the outside world was filled with chaos, Summer had already been pulled into Ilya’s mental sea.

She stood at the edge of a massive cliff. When she looked down at herself, she realized that she had returned to her human form.

Below her stretched a deep valley covered in rocky grasslands, while huge mountains rose in the distance. Their sharp peaks cut into the wide open sky, and steep cliffs surrounded the entire area.

At first glance, it looked beautiful and peaceful. But then Summer noticed dark clouds spreading across the sky.

Golden light flashed between them like lightning. The wind carried a heavy feeling with it, almost as if the air itself was struggling to breathe.

Summer’s expression became serious. "So this is Ilya’s mental sea."

When she turned around, she saw a golden eagle standing on a dry tree branch. Its wings drooped downward, and its eyes looked so tired.

Even the golden feathers covering its body had lost some of their shine. They looked dull and faded, making the eagle seem sick and completely worn out.

"Ilya," Summer called his name. She walked toward the dying tree and stretched her arms out toward him. "Come here."

The golden eagle let itself fall from the dry branch, allowing Summer to catch it and hold it in her arms.

"You’re safe here," she whispered. "You’ve worked hard enough."

The golden eagle buried itself deeper into Summer’s arms, as if it didn’t want to look at the outside world anymore.

Summer slowly ran her hand over its feathers, trying to calm it down.

Little by little, the rough feathers under her palm began to feel smooth again. The dull golden color slowly returned too.

After what felt like an eternity, Summer felt herself being pulled out of Ilya’s mental sea.

[Guiding S-Rank Sentinel Successful.]

[Reward: 70,000 Credits.]

Summer barely had time to read the message before she felt herself falling again.

She immediately braced herself for the impact, but instead of hitting the ground, a teleportation portal opened beneath them.

Both she and Ilya dropped straight through it and landed on a massive, soft bed.

Summer blinked several times, still trying to understand what had just happened.

Ilya’s arms were wrapped tightly around her, so she had to struggle a little before finally managing to pull herself free.

Summer then looked up. Above them, the teleportation portal was still open and she saw Archer stood on the other side.

He looked at her in such endearing eyes as he silently mouthed, "Thank you."

Before she could respond, the portal slowly closed and just like that, she was left alone in the room with Ilya.