"No..." Blanc looked at Ultear, who seemed to have misunderstood something and was ready to march nobly to her death. He tried to speak, feeling rather helpless, but the commotion that followed cut him off.
Smack!!
Ur had appeared behind Ultear at some point and swiftly delivered a knife-hand strike.
As her daughter slumped into her arms, Ur's face filled with a tender smile.
"How could I let the daughter I finally got back put herself in danger? Gray, Lyon, take Ultear and the others away!"
She slowly lowered her daughter to the ground, then her gaze hardened. Solemnly assuming the stance for Iced Shell, she said, "Seeing you all again has already made me so happy. Come back to save me once you're properly prepared..."
Caught off guard by the strike to a pressure point, Ultear couldn't move. All she could do was stare at her mother's back in utter terror and murmur, "No..."
Smack!!
But before those tearful last words were finished, another sharp smack rang out.
Behind Ur, Lyon slowly withdrew his knife hand. He had launched a sneak attack from behind too!
Ur instantly lost all strength and slowly crumpled to the ground. Turning her head, she stared at her eldest pupil in disbelief and cried out:
"Lyon?!"
Lyon merely looked at her with a smile, one that held both relief and a hint of triumph.
"Ur, I'm not the little boy I used to be. This time... I won't let you beat me to it!"
Scenes from his childhood flashed through Lyon's mind like a revolving lantern.
It was the memory of how jealous he had been when Ur took Gray in-
The young Lyon had demanded indignantly:
"Why did you take in that kid nobody wanted as your pupil?!"
Completely missing the awkward