Chapter 375: Emily, Drink It

Left alone on the blanket, April leaned back on her hands, staring out at the calm, rolling waves.

Everything felt so strangely, beautifully peaceful. Her life was moving according to plan. Her spatial dimension was overflowing with resources, their fortress was prepared, and the future seemed entirely within her grasp. And she was going to move into the fortress with her sister the next day.

It was all fine from there.

Yet, a tiny, quiet shadow began to creep into the back of her mind. What if this peace is just an illusion? What if something goes wrong? Something irreparable? Did the system hand me this peace with no price to pay?

April clenched her fist in the sand, brushing the dark thought away. No. I shouldn’t overthink it. When Emily gets back with the ice cream, I’ll just pull up her fortune and see for myself—make sure she isn’t planning anything foolish, and keep her safe.

And besides, if she was in danger, the danger foresight would activate for her so she could prevent it. There was always a few hours before the danger struck.

She closed her eyes, letting the warm breeze wash over her face.

There was nothing to fear.

But as if the system, and the world itself was mocking her, a glaring, blood-red System panel flashed directly across her vision, pulsing with a violent, blinding light:

[CRITICAL WARNING: LIFE-THREATENING EVENT DETECTED]

[TARGET: EMILY GABRIEL]

[STATUS: FATAL IMPACT IMMINENT — TIME REMAINING: 00:00:01]

April’s heart leaped straight into her throat, her blood running instantly ice-cold. What?!

Her brain found it hard to process the words right in front of her, and then a deafening BANG! shattered the peaceful evening air.

The crack of a gunshot echoed off the ocean water. High-pitched screams erupted across the beach as beachgoers dropped their things, panicking and scrambling in every direction.

April’s vision went completely white. A terrifying, phantom stab tore through the center of her chest, as if her own heart had been ripped out.

Slowly, as if moving through heavy water, April turned her head toward the boardwalk.

A few yards away, Emily was collapsing onto the sand like a broken doll. Blood was already pooling rapidly beneath her, staining her bright cover-up a horrific, dark crimson. Philippe was running frantically toward her from the catering tent, his face twisted in absolute horror.

Standing just beyond the crowd, holding a smoking pistol with trembling, terrified hands, was none other than Liora.

April’s mind completely halted. The world lost all color. Time... stopped.

Liora was shaking, looking at the woman she had just shot, but then, for some reason, it didn’t feel right. The relief didn’t come and then slowly, she turned her head, only for her eyes to lock onto April still sitting on the sand. Their eyes met and her heart stopped.

She quickly flicked her gaze back to the identical face bleeding out on the ground. A look of agonizing realization washed over Liora’s pale face—she had shot the wrong twin.

Panicking, Liora dropped her arm and turned, sprinting blindly into the crowd.

"LIORA!" April shrieked, a sound so raw and guttural it didn’t even sound human.

Her body moved on pure, desperate instinct. But she couldn’t chase Liora—not now. Emily. She had to reach Emily. She had her revitalization spring water; as long as Emily was breathing, as long as her heart was still pumping, the water could knit the flesh, stop the bleeding, and pull her back! She couldn’t die!

"Get out of my way! GET OUT OF MY WAY!" April screamed, shoving past screaming tourists, stumbling blindly through the heavy sand.

She reached Emily’s side just as Philippe dropped to his knees, his hands covered in blood as he frantically held her. "Someone call an ambulance! Call a medic! Please!"

April shoved him aside with unnatural strength, falling to her knees in the blood-stained sand. Her hands were shaking so violently she could barely summon the vial of revitalization water from her spatial dimension.

"Emily—Emily, look at me!" April sobbed, uncorking the glass vial and trying frantically to pour the glowing liquid past her sister’s pale, unmoving lips. "Swallow it! Please, Emily, drink it! Drink it!"

The liquid just spilled uselessly down Emily’s chin, mixing with the dark blood.

"No, no, no! Drink it!" April screamed, her voice cracking into desperate, agonized gasps. She pulled a second vial, splashing the water directly over the entrance wound on Emily’s temple, rubbing it into the tearing flesh with her bare hands. "Heal! Why aren’t you healing?! HEAL!"

She collapsed forward, pulling her sister’s head to her chest to listen to her heartbeat but...

Silence.

There was no residual impulse, no reflex, no lingering flicker of life. The bullet, unfortunately, had shot through the brainstem; and her body had yielded instantly to total shutdown.

"No! No, no, no, it’s not true."

As April cradled her sister’s weightless body against her shoulder, her hands coated in thick crimson, the world began to warp around her. The frantic screams of the beach, the shouting of the men rushing toward them, the roaring surf—it all dissolved into a deafening, high-pitched ringing that pierced her skull.

Her mind fractured. It made no sense. Why? How?

The system... The system did not inform her until it was one second left? Why? How? Did it have a malfunction? At such a critical moment? When it came to her sister? Impossible. This was impossible. And even past that, what about her class? Emily had a unique class.

Aegis Bearer.

The title echoed in her mind, distorted and hollow. Hadn’t the System designated Emily as the Aegis Bearer? A shield? Defensive power? A protector meant to stand beside her? Wasn’t an Aegis a shield to defend the master? To defend herself?

Just why?

Her eyes were hollow, pained, disbelieving as tears slipped down and she gazed down at a void.

Suddenly, a cold, mechanical ping chimed directly inside her brain, completely indifferent to the ocean of agony flooding her soul.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

[CLASS EXECUTION COMPLETE: ’AEGIS BEARER’]

[FULFILLING THE PRIMORDIAL ARRANGEMENT...]

[CLASS SPECIFICATION UNLOCKED: The Aegis Bearer is not a defensive unit. It is the Ultimate Sacrificial Vessel.]

[FUNCTIONS ACTIVATED:]

[FATAL DIVERSION]:All lethal strikes intended for the host within proximity are automatically redirected to the Aegis Bearer.

[BOUND SOUL ABSORPTION]:Upon the death of the Aegis Bearer, 100% of the target’s latent vitality, luck, and soul-essence are permanently transferred into the Master.

April’s breathing completely stopped. The translucent blue letters hovered mockingly over Emily’s lifeless, pale face.

All lethal strikes intended for the host... are automatically redirected...