Hitman with a Badass System
chapter-862

Noah sent all the nobles out, and to be honest, they didn't want to stick around any more than Noah wanted them to. Diana's body just froze as her mind went completely blank. The killing intent radiated from Diana surprised everyone. However, saving Ethan took priority over Diana's murderous aura. Sabrina squeezed Ethan's hands as tears rainbows down from her eyes.

"Father," Sabrina sobbed. On the other hand, Noah emptied the third bottle of healing potion into Ethan's mouth. King Porter and King Bredia couldn't help shivering. Considering their close relationship with the Winston family, they didn't leave as the others. The previously joyful atmosphere took a dark turn in a blink of an eye. The cake the assassin was hiding inside turned into a squishy mess. Everyone in the Winston family sat around Ethan and sobbed, praying for the gods to help Ethan. Most of them were still in shock at what just had transpired.

"Move," After seeing the healing potion have no effect on Ethan, Rowena placed her hand on Ethan's stab wound. Among everyone in the hall, Rowena remained the calmest. Contrary to how she looked, Rowena burned with intense rage inside. She knew saving her father's life was more important than finding the assassin at that moment. Since the healing potion couldn't close the wound, Rowena summoned frost energy as a thick layer of ice started to cover the wound slowly. The ice on the wound stopped the bleeding and somewhat lessened Ethan's pain.

"Why did you tell us he was cursed?" asked Rowena. This was the first time Rowena's hands trembled without her control. Her slender hands were drenched in Ethan's blood. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't cancel out the sobbing sounds.

"Do something," Sabrina stuttered, looking at Noah and Rowena. If someone could save her father, it was one of her siblings.

"Ethan," Diana sat beside Ethan's head and remained without uttering a word. Looking at Diana like this freaked the crap out of Emelda.

"I saw father dying of curse in my dream. I didn't know how to tell you. I should have told everyone. It's my fault," tears gushed out of Sabrina's eyes, and rain downed upon Ethan's chest.

"Andrew," before Noah answered Sabrina, he turned his gaze toward Andrews.

"Take your family and go to the shelter," Noah ordered Andrews. The Winston manor had a secure vault built underground for the family members to seek shelter in case of natural disasters or wars. Only the core members of Winston's family knew how to access the shelter, and Andrews was one of them.

"No-" Andrews refused to leave Ethan's side but was cut short by Rowena.

"Go," Rowena interjected. Her cold murderous voice shook Andrews to the core. After hearing her, his legs automatically moved upstairs. Emelda saw Natalia trying to approach Diana, but she quickly stopped her little sister by her arms and sent her with Andrews.

"I cannot leave him," Natalia shook her head,

"This is not the time to argue, Natalia. Go with Andrews and stay there until I say otherwise. Please," Emelda begged, tears running down her face. As much as Natalia wanted to stay with her big sisters, she knew there was nothing she could do to help Ethan. All she could do was pray to the gods for Ethan.

"Uncle…" Natalia and Emelda froze when they heard little Keith's first word out of his mouth. They all expected Keith's first word to be either mom or dad. But it was 'uncle' instead of what the others expected. Little Keith proved that he loved Ethan as much as he loved Andrews and Katherine or more. What should have been a joyous occasion turned out to be such a miserable situation. No one could laugh or celebrate Keith's first word. Instead, Emelda and Natalia led Andrews and Katherine outside the main hall under the protection of Winston manor guards.

"We need to take him to my palace," Rowena said.

"Let's go," Noah stood up, lifting Ethan in his arms. Diana stood up like a lifeless zombie and followed Noah behind. They headed for Rowena's room, where Rowena had a personal teleportation array to reach her flying castle. But when Noah was about to take a step outside the hall, Ethan's body shook as he began to cough of dark blood, almost the color of pitch black.

"What's happening?" Porter Forbes asked as Noah halted his steps.

"The curse is not letting him out of this hall," Diana spoke without any emotion. She sounded like a dead person. Just as she said, when Noah tried to step outside the hall, Ethan coughed up more blood. Noah immediately stepped away from the entrance as he didn't dare to play with his father's life. The green veins running through Ethan's neck reached his jaws. If not for the frost hindering the curse, the poisonous curse would have reached Ethan's head and ended his life.

"We can't leave this hall," Noah said to Rowena through the lump formed in his throat. Every word took an effort to come out of his mouth. The sadness and anger rendered Noah's brain useless. He looked for his big sister's guidance.

For a moment, Rowena closed her eyes as the others saw a strange light appear from her forehead and form a light beam. The light beam radiated a whistling noise and glowed bright enough to blind everyone. When Rowena opened her eyes, the light beam lost its glow as Bai Ning stepped out of the beam. The moment Bai Ning laid her eyes on Rowena, she was stunned by the scene before her. The air that should have smelled of freshly baked cake and sandal paste reeked of blood and evil energy.

"Cure him," Rowena ordered Bai Ning. the old woman limped toward Ethan with her hunched back and cane in her hand.

"What happened here, Holy Maiden?" Bai Ning's words sounded calm despite the bloody body of Ethan in Noah's arms.

"Lift the curse first," Rowena coldly said instead of narrating the events that led to the current situation. To be honest, she had no idea what had happened while they were outside. If she was inside, she would have torn apart the assassin before he could have raised a finger against her father.

Bai Ning unfettered no word as she placed her hand on Ethan's chest. As soon as Bai Ning touched Ethan, she felt a bolt of lightning running down her spine. The backlash almost knocked Bai Ning down to the ground. Noah saw the sweat beads forming on the old woman's face as she gritted her teeth as though she was enduring intense pain. While Bai Ning was trying to lift the curse, Rowena continued to apply frost on Ethan's face to prevent the blood from gushing out. She had to keep the blood loss in control until Bai Ning lifted the curse.

"This curse is nothing like I've ever seen," Bai Ning mumbled. Her words snuffed out the little bit of hope Sabrina had for her father. Recently, everything she dreamed about began to happen in real life. The only person she shared this with was Ethan. However, he asked her to ignore and pay no mind to this phenomenon because Ethan didn't want Sabrina to become a freak of nature like her siblings. Instead, he wished Sabrina to have a normal life away from all the wars and hostility. Normal life may be just a wishful dream for her siblings, unlike Sabrina. However, Sabrina had started to develop powers that were beyond any mortal comprehension and joined her siblings as another freak of nature. If the word of her power to foresee the future escaped, the Skyhall would swoop up Sabrina in the name of the greater good. They would groom Sabrina to be the next Holy Maiden after Rowena.

"Argh!" Suddenly, a grayish mist shot out of Ethan's body and blasted Bai Ning away. The old woman flung in the air and hit the wall pretty hard before falling down. The ground beneath Noah cracked when he resisted the force that blasted away Bai Ning. When the old woman got back to her feet, her face looked pale like paper.

"The curse," Rowena growled with intense killing intent in her eyes. The temperature in the room dropped by several degrees to the point everyone began to see their own breath in the air. Bai Ning shivered to even look Rowena in the eyes. However, the curse she felt terrified Bai Ning more than Rowena. One thing for certain, the curse radiated an energy that didn't belong to the mortal world. It was a miracle Ethan was able to resist the curse to this point. She even doubted whether Ethan was a mere mortal or someone special like Diana and her children, except Sabrina.

"I…I…" Bai Ning stuttered.

"Speak before I lose my patience," Rowena's thunderous voice swept across the hall, pushing the old woman several steps back.

"The curse cannot be lifted, Holy Maiden. I am sorry," As soon as Sabrina heard Bai Ning's words, she collapsed to the ground. A tear rolled out of King Bredia's eyes and Porter stood beside Bredia with his eyes glimmering with fear. When Chanel was cursed, more than one healer told him the same but at the end, the Dark Lord was able to lift the cure in a few mere moments. So Porter knew there was still a chance that the Dark Lord would be able to do the same to Ethan. However, he didn't dare to utter the name of the Dark Lord in front of the Holy Maiden and the Supreme Guardian who vowed to take down the Dark Lord.

Finally, the tears caged within Rowena's eyes escaped and trickled down on her rosy cheeks. For the first time in her life, Rowena shed tears and when Noah saw the scene, his heart shattered into pieces.

"It's…okay…" Ethan mumbled, shocking everyone around him. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at Diana. He tried to smile through the pain.

"Father,"

"Ethan,"

Noah gently placed Ethan on the floor as Diana grabbed both Ethan's hands.

"I am not going to let you die. You hear me. You're gonna be alright," Diana said.

Ethan tried to speak but he couldn' even open his mouth. While Ethan was struggling in pain, Diana bent down and kissed him on the forehead. Then, she turned her gaze toward Noah.

"You know who to summon. Do it," Diana's voice completely changed from caring mother to a domineering warrior.

"Rowena, if anyone has a problem with it, deal with them," Diana ordered Rowena as she nodded without asking her mother a question.