Chapter 1220: Don’t let go.

The strong, harsh gust of wind almost threw Penny and Zoren off balance, if not for their position and where they stood. Despite the sudden wind inside the aircraft, Penny managed to peek. The moment she did, all she saw was the man lunging at Atlas from behind.

"Atlas!" she screamed, her eyes widening, her breath stopping completely.

Her piercing scream alerted Hugo right after the gust of wind almost pushed him to the floor. Even before seeing the situation, he knew something terrible had just happened. His heart pounded against his chest as an adrenaline rush surged throughout his body — something that hadn’t even happened during the fight earlier.

Clasping the nearest seat, Hugo forced his body to turn against the wind. As soon as he did, his pupils constricted and his irises dilated.

There, Zoren was grabbing onto the foot of the seat while his other hand held Penny’s ankle. He couldn’t see Penny because she was on the floor, with the seats blocking Hugo’s view. However, with the open emergency door and Atlas nowhere in sight, Zoren holding onto the seat with only one hand, painted the big picture.

"Kyahh!!" Another scream from Penny echoed as the aircraft suddenly tilted, making Zoren slide down. Hugo was also thrown off to the other side, almost tumbling if not for holding onto something to fight the force.

When Hugo forced himself to get up, another turbulence happened, making him lose balance in his panic state.

"Penny!" Zoren shouted, clenching his teeth as he held tightly to the seat. However, he could feel his hand slowly sliding from the weight of his other hand.

Turning his head, all he could see was his wife’s back. Penny was lying on her stomach, her chest dangling over the open door. Seeing this, Zoren clenched his teeth even more, trying to pull her back, but to no avail. She only moved half an inch.

It wasn’t that Zoren was weak.

The reason Zoren couldn’t pull his wife back was that he was literally holding onto three people to stop them from falling. Beyond that open door, Atlas and the other man were hanging on.

"Atlas!" Penny screamed, unfazed by the harsh wind at this altitude. She was holding Atlas’s arm with both her arms, and he was holding her back. "Hold tight! Do not let me go!"

Atlas clasped her hand tighter, staring straight into her eyes. Their gazes mirrored each other’s, and for some reason, they seemed to look very much alike. The fear, panic, and desperation in their eyes were exactly the same.

"Don’t let go." Her voice shook as she looked back at Zoren, only to see him doing his best to hold on to her. When Penny saw the man earlier, she didn’t think twice before leaping toward them. She didn’t think about where to hold on or anything else. All she could think was that if she didn’t do something, Atlas and the man would have been free-falling.

Thankfully, Zoren was with her and reacted quickly. If it weren’t for Zoren catching her ankle, it would have been three people free-falling.

Looking back down at Atlas, Penny pursed her lips. A thin layer of tears coated her eyes, her nails digging into his skin as if that would help her steady him.

"Hold tight," she breathed out through gritted teeth, shaking her head slightly. "Try kicking him to cut off some weight."

Atlas nodded and gazed down. He felt a little nauseous from the height, but he knew this wasn’t the time for weakness. Swallowing the building fear in his chest, Atlas raised his foot and kicked the man clinging to his waist.

"Get off," he whispered, kicking the man without much movement. "Get off...!"

After a few tries, Atlas made a bold move and launched a stronger kick. The man’s hold loosened, but just as it did, the aircraft tilted again. Atlas, Penny, Zoren, and the man moved a few inches lower.

A whimper escaped Penny as she almost cut off circulation to Atlas’s arm. Still, she held on to him as tightly as she could.

"I’m sorry," Atlas whispered, his breath jagged as he looked up at Penny.

Penny shook her head. "It’s okay. Kick him again. He’s... he’s on your leg now. I’ll hold on to you very tightly." After saying that, Penny looked back. "Renren, he’s going to kick the guy away again. Can you hold on?"

Zoren, still gritting his teeth, glanced at his wife. Knowing they had no choice, he tightened his grip on her ankle. "Be careful."

With that, Penny looked down at Atlas again. "Now!"

Again, Atlas gazed down and lifted his foot. The man was now clinging to his leg, hugging it tightly. Atlas carefully lifted his foot until it was positioned on the man’s face.

"Get off!" Kicking the man’s face, Atlas held onto Penny as tightly as he could. He wanted to do it just once to avoid burdening Penny and Zoren multiple times. So, he gave it his all.

With the man’s face under his foot, the man accidentally released Atlas’s leg. For a moment, Atlas almost sighed in relief as he felt himself move up an inch. Without the added weight, Zoren could pull them up with the adrenaline coursing through him.

But alas, the man grabbed onto Atlas’s ankle again. As soon as he did, Atlas and Penny moved down several inches.

"Kyah!" Penny let out another squeal. Now, her upper stomach was over the door. She closed her eyes, but her grip remained. After a moment, Penny opened her eyes and checked Atlas. She quickly looked at the man, grinding her teeth angrily as the man proved more persistent than she thought.

"That jerk—" she hissed, refocusing on Atlas. "Atlas, kick him again. One last kick, and he’ll come off!"

Atlas kept his eyes on her, watching her glance back. Every time she would instruct him, Penny would look back at Zoren. After all, Zoren was the one keeping them from falling. With the open door and the turbulence, Atlas didn’t even wonder what was going on with Hugo. The latter might be too busy trying to balance himself to reach them; perhaps he was crawling to reach them without losing his balance.

But then, he saw the look on Penny’s face as she glanced back at Zoren. He didn’t know what Zoren was telling her or showing her, but that expression gave him a hint.

Zoren might not be able to hold on much longer. One more moment like this, and they could all fall.

Penny gulped and looked down at Atlas. "Kick him, okay? Just one more, and then I’ll pull you up. I’ll count to two — one..." she trailed off when Atlas shook his head, causing her brows to rise.

"He’s not going to make it if we stay like this for another few seconds. Let me go," he whispered, his shoulder ironically relaxing as a small smile curled at the corner of his mouth. Yet, the corner of his eyes started to turn red as his eyes gleamed. "I’m sorry about our first life and... for failing to help you plan my murder."