Forty-three seconds since the portal sealed.
Lin Yue counted automatically, her archer's training keeping precise time even as her world collapsed around her.
Her bronze hands were steady as she gripped Mei Ling's trembling shoulders, her voice calm and authoritative as she barked orders about breathing and focus, but inside—inside she was screaming.
'He's gone. He's actually gone.'
Forty-seven seconds. Forty-eight. Forty-nine.
"Mei! Breathe!" she commanded, shaking the sobbing maid whose newly enhanced aura flickered like a dying candle.
Every warrior instinct she possessed demanded action—secure the area, assess threats, tend to wounded—but the wounded here was her own shattered heart, and there was no battlefield technique for that.
'Keep it together. They need you to be strong. Count the seconds. Focus on the count.'
