Cecil stared up at the night sky above, watching as the stars twinkled brightly in the darkness of space, unaware of the tragedy that transpired here on earth.
Her consciousness was fading away from losing too much blood, leaving her weak and unable to do anything.
Yet her thoughts were somehow becoming clear, as if the thick fog that had clouded her judgment and led her into the path of disaster was disappearing.
As she continued gazing into the vast universe above, she remembered her family and how loving and caring they were towards her, and how she always loved playing with them as a child.
Those happy memories brought a faint smile to her lips, bringing warmth into her heart for a moment before it was replaced by sorrow, as she also remembered the slaughter caused by bandits, leaving her all alone until she was discovered by the elder in the sect, who saved her.
'Why did everything change so suddenly? Why was I so foolish and naive, despite knowing the cruelty of the world? Why did I believe his lies, falling into his schemes and becoming a puppet for his ambitions?' Cecil thought to herself while tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.
She reminisced about her past, about those days when she spent time together with Scarlet before getting her thoughts distorted by the insect planted by Rick.
At that moment, she heard Scarlet's loud scream, calling out her name while pulling her into her embrace and cradling her in her arms as if protecting her from harm.
"No! Don't go, please..." Scarlet cried out as she tried to prevent her from leaving this world forever while doing everything possible.
And when she saw her space ring on Cecil's finger, she took it before pulling out a healing pill, which she fed to Cecil.
However, no matter how hard she tried to bring back the light to Cecil's eyes, her efforts proved to be useless as it did not help the situation. It seemed the insect's life was connected to it, so after it was killed, Cecil would die too.
Seeing this, Scarlet shook her head and cried harder, crying for the death of her friend and for her mistakes.
As she felt her friends efforts, Cecil struggled to stay awake, wanting to talk to Scarlet one last time as her vision started blurring more and more.
"Because it wasn't you who did that to me!" Scarlet replied in anger, ignoring the pain in her body as she used all her remaining strength to call out for the mysterious stranger who had helped her before.
"Please help us..." Scarlet screamed out, hoping he could hear her cries, before she lost her friend in front of her.
It wasn't long before she saw that man's figure rushing toward her from afar which made her smile in relief.
When he got close, Asher looked at them for a moment before letting out a frustrated sigh.
"I won't ask you if you are alright, as your current condition is definitely not good. But do you care to explain why you are protecting the one who betrayed you and almost caused you to fall into that pervert's hands?" He asked in a cold voice while looking at Cecil with contempt in his eyes.
"I don't care about that. Please! Just hurry up and do something! Cecil is going to die if you don't treat her wounds soon!" Scarlet shouted in frustration while crying, as she didn't have time to explain anything to him right now and feared that Cecil would pass away anytime soon.
Asher couldn't help but grumble in annoyance, "You are the same as before. Always so absurd and unreasonable. I really want to spank your ass hard to cure your foolishness."
"You can spank me all you want later. Now hurry up and do something. Or else... she will be..." Scarlet yelled back without giving any thought to his words. She was in no mood for jokes at the moment.
Asher raised one of his eyebrows, listening to her words, before glancing at the injured Cecil, whose life was hanging by a thin thread.
"Hmmm... Do you take me as an omni-purpose doctor? Why do you think I'd be able to do something about her?" He asked in a curious tone while crossing his arms across his broad chest.
His question made Scarlet freeze in her spot and realize the mistake she had committed.
She bit her lip hard until it bled before looking down at Cecil's face.
"I don't know... I don't have any other options or anyone to depend on anymore. I failed to protect my friend before and then ended up hurting her with my own hands..."
"Scarlet... Don't cry... I don't blame you for anything... It was my own foolishness that brought these consequences." Cecil murmured as she tried to reassure her friend while she could barely hold onto her consciousness anymore.