A few minutes went by, and I was out with my same clothes on while running in the city as I had a scabbard on my waist with the sword in it. Damn it, I should’ve built that wand together. I think Desha should’ve just told Terits, but she still kind of has a point; if she does, then she could get fired. I’ll have to do my best and find her. "Rias!!!" I shouted as I continued running around in the city.

Desha was also helping but looking on the other side of the city. I noticed someone in a black cloak. "Excuse me!" I shouted at the person. The person would look back, and it would be Molly Salish.

She would say with a smile, "Oh, hey, aren’t you that one boy I met a day or two ago?"

I stood right in front of her. "Oh, Molly, it's you! Hey, have you seen Rias, the one with the blonde hair? You know, the one who liked your songs? Yes, yes? You know what I mean?" I said quickly.

Molly looked a little taken aback by my rapid talk. "Wow, jeez, calm down there. Uh, the blonde on… uhh..." She pondered for a moment, then looked back at me. "Well, there was this one guy with a blonde girl that could’ve been her, but then he also had another, so maybe it wasn’t her—"

I would interrupt her. "Just tell me where that guy is! Where did he go!?"

"U-Uh, that way." Molly would point to an alleyway.

I looked to where she pointed and back at her. "Thank you!" I would run over into the ally. Maybe it isn’t whoever Molly said, but a lead is a lead… but if it is that guy, then who is this other girl?

As I kept running, I would bump into a man. "Sorry!" I shouted as I continued running.

I would keep on running in multiple different alleyways, and some homeless-looking people were living in some of them. As I reached the end of the alleyways, I would reach one of the gates to the castle. "Damn it, do I go through there?" I looked back. "I’m sure Desha can look around here on her own." I looked back ahead of me. "He could be out there." I took a deep breath after all the running. Just have to keep going for a little longer. I would start running to the gates as the guards just stood there minding their own thing out the castle doors. I ran right out of the castle.

***

A few minutes went by, and I was now in a forest. I created a ball of fire magic in my hand as a source of light. "This was such a bad idea, but whoever took her could’ve gone this way." Oh, who am I kidding? He or she could’ve gone anywhere out here. Maybe Rias got lost or, I don’t know, she’s still in the city for goodness sake. I would stop running and start panting. "No… I can’t… I can’t stop..."I continued panting.

"If she dies, then I’ll fail Lumi, Desha would get fired, and…" I clenched my fist as I took another deep breath, but I quickly looked to my left as I heard something from the distance. "Huh?"

I would see a cloaked man on his knees, but I couldn’t see much else, with bushes and other trees in the way. I would run over there with a serious expression on my face as I got closer. I would sneak into the bush to see what he was doing.

The man would have his hands on a tree as if he was wrapping something up. I looked over at the tree, and he was tying Rias to the tree. Oh, thank God! She’s still alive.

She would also have a rope around her mouth, and she was scared and screaming as loud as possible, though it could barely be heard from the rope. The man was silent, and he also had a mask on, almost looking like a ninja.

There was also something else behind the tree moving, but I couldn’t see it since it was on the other side. Ah, shit, it’s one of these situations again, I said to myself.

As the man stopped tying the rope to her, I would come out of the bush. "Hey!" I shouted. The man would look back and notice me aiming my hand at him. I had a sharp piece of stone spinning around like a drill on my hand. "Back away from her!"

The man would be calm, and he would stand in front of Rias as he has his hand on his katana-shaped scabbard. As he was in front of Rias, she took the opportunity to kick him in the nuts. The man groaned in pain.

"Ha!" I shouted as I shot the sharp stone at him, and he rolled over to dodge it as he ran through the bushes. It also nearly hit Rias but cut the rope in her mouth.

"Tenshi, get me out of here!" She shouted with fear and anger.

"Right!" I would quickly run over to her and burn the rope but also accidentally burn the belly side of her dress.

"Ah!" She exclaimed as she noticed the fire.

"Oh, sorry!" I would quickly tap the fire before it would burn her whole dress.

"Don’t touch me!" she exclaimed as she slapped my face while looking a bit angry.

"Ow!" I would rub my cheek and look back at her. "You seriously can’t even let me help you!?"

"Hmph," she huffed as she looked away.

I would look back over to the ground and notice the man was gone. I looked back at Rias and grabbed her hand. "Listen, we need to get back as soon as possible, got it?"

Rias removed her hand from my grip. "All right, all right, fine. But shouldn’t we get that maid too?"

I would look at her, confused. "Uh, what maid?" Muffled shouting would be heard behind the tree I would walk over to it and notice a familiar green hair and maid outfit. I would be shocked to notice who it was. "V-Vieta!?" Holy shit! She was the other girl!?

Vieta would look away, looking a little embarrassed but still quite calm. I would quickly use earth magic to cut the rope off her. She would look back at me and say, "Thank you, Master Tenshi."

"Now can we go?" Rias asked with her arms crossed while looking impatient.

I would look at Vieta with shock. I quickly shook my head and looked back at Rias. "Good point. We should hurry back to the castle." I looked back at Vieta and noticed a slight shine of something behind her that got closer.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

My eyes widened as I looked at it coming at a very high speed. "Look out!" I shouted as I pushed both Vieta and me onto the ground. It was what looked to have been a ninja star, and it would hit another tree.

Rias would look at it hit a tree with confusion and back at where it came from.

Vieta would open her eyes after closing them during the fall, and she would see me as she was lying right on me. "O-Oh, I apologize," She said with embarrassment as her tone slightly changed.

I would look right at her eyes. Damn, she is cute. I shook my head quickly. No, not the time. "It’s fine," I reassured her. Both Vieta and I would quickly get up from the ground.

Both Rias and I would look unsettled as the man walked back to us, and even Vieta would look a little worried.

I would look at the man as I summoned lightning that sparkled around my finger. "Stay behind me, and when I tell you to run, you run."

Rias would look over at me. "I don’t have to do—" Rias would look back at the man and back at me. "Oh, right."

Man, people really do like to kidnap children in this world. I get Vieta looks cute, and Rias is a soon-to-be certified hottie, but seriously, man. "Hey man, I don’t care what you want; let’s all just forget about this, all right?"

The man looked at me in silence as he pulled his katana from its scabbard.

"Okay, I guess you don’t talk," I said, turning back to Rias and Vieta. "Vieta, go back to the castle and take Rias with you. Find Desha and tell her I need help. She should be out around the city, so I suggest you try shouting her name."

Vieta nodded. "I understand. Please be careful." She looked towards Rias. "Let’s go, Lady Rias."

Rias looked at Vieta as she spoke, then back at me. "...Don’t die, all right?"

I looked back at Rias with surprise. Don’t die? She cares!? I grinned. "I’ll be fine."

Rias would look back at Vieta, and they both ran off.

The man would pull another ninja star out of his waist, and I would notice it. I would take the sword out of my waist, which was the same sword Taren had before it accidentally left it with me. "Ah, nuh uh man, don’t even try it. I played a bunch of RPGs and MMOs before. You’re messing with an online neet who has speedrun almost every MMO and RPG out there!"

The man would not care and removed his hand from his waist. I would enter my stance. "Just like how father taught me. All right, don’t almost die again, for goodness sake, Tenshi."

We would look at each other for a few seconds, and he would come at me at an immense speed I quickly blocked. Oh god, I actually did that! "Hehe." I would use air magic to push him away. It would push him into the sky and back into the ground, but he would stand back up, and I would clash with him again as I yelled, "Ha!"

He jumped into the sky and used Wind Slash while I cast a powerful gust of wind magic that sliced through the sharp winds. "Stone Cannon!" I shouted, launching a barrage of earth-based stone magic at him.

He effortlessly sliced through each stone until one was actually lightning magic, but he managed to dodge that one. Damn, he's good. He charged at me and kicked me right in the gut. "Gah!" I fell to the ground. Oh crap, I’m almost out of MP. I would hold on to my stomach. You know, sometimes I forget I’m in the body of an eight-year-old…

He would walk towards me while breathing a bit heavily. I would lift my hand up into the sky. "Last one."

***

Two minutes earlier. Rias and Vieta kept on running until they reached the castle.

They would reach the castle doors, and the guards would stop them. "Hold it right there," One of the two guards said. "We will have to search you and you both need to pay a toll to enter."

Rias would step forward with anger in her eyes. "Oh, will you two morons move it! I’m Rias Yanery Trius!"

The guards looked at her with shock as they realized it was her. The other guard said, "L-Lady Rias? Why would you be outside the castle gates?"

"Just shut up and let us in before I ask Father to fire you both!"

The guards would look at her with fear. "R-Right, come on in, Lady Rias," he said as they both moved aside.

"Hmph," she huffed. Rias walked in as Vieta followed, and they saw Desha on a rooftop. Rias ran over in the direction of where she was, looked up, and shouted, "Desha! Desha, we are down here!"

Desha looked down at both Vieta and Rias, and she was surprised. "Lady Rias?" she questioned as she quickly jumped down and stood in front of her, going down on one knee. "Thank goodness you are all right," she said, looking behind her. "and…" Desha murmured as she looked at Vieta. "Vieta?" she said with confusion.

"I was caught in the same situation as her," Vieta said with a mild look on her face.

"Oh, I see," she said with a hint of surprise.

"Desha!" Rias exclaimed while looking serious, and Desha looked back at her. "Tenshi is in the forest; he’s fighting someone over there!"

Desha would be surprised. "Someone? Wait, Tenshi found you both?"

"I understand and apologize that I am not a part of this conversation, but the more talking there is, the less time you will have to save him," Vieta said. Desha and Rias looked back at her as she spoke, and Rias looked back at Desha.

"Just help him already," Rias said as she left no more room for discussion. A massive blast of lightning struck in the forest, and all three of them looked back to see it. "That’s him! I know it!" Rias said as she pointed to where it struck.

Desha looked over at Vieta. "Vieta, I put Rias’s safety in your hands. Get back without saying a word about what happened; you two understand?" Vieta nodded. "Good." Desha stood back up and ran out the castle gates.

***

A couple of minutes went by, and I was stabbed right in my chest "Gah!" I grunted as I spat out blood. The man pulled the sword out of my chest, and I fell to the ground, panting and looking visibly scared as I held my wound. As I looked up from him, I would get recent traumatic memories of when Flurisa was nearly about to stab me.

The man would leave me there and slowly walk away, walking to the path that led to the castle. "Wait!" I shouted. The man stopped and turned around to look at me. "Please, I don’t want to die here. I have a friend and a family that want me back." I would continue panting as blood kept flowing out my mouth, and it was getting harder to breathe. "Please just save me! I’ll do anything!" I exclaimed as I clenched my fist.

The man looked down at me for a few seconds as I spoke and later turned back and continued to walk away.

I lay there as the wound in my chest continued to bleed out. My vision was getting blurry, and I felt like I was dying again as I watched him leave. Not again, why? Why do I have to be stupid? I died once, I nearly died again, and now this… I coughed up more blood, and tears started to flow out of my eyes. I need to get back to Lumi, I need to see Larah again, I want to try to be a good big brother again.

My eyes would start closing, but I kept trying to fight to keep them open. This time, no one is actually around; I’m in a forest, so hidden. Am I… actually going to die? No, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t! This world was so perfect, but now I’m scared. I’m actually so fucking scared! Someone help me!

My eyes would close completely, and I would lose consciousness.

In the darkness, all I could see was void, with the expectation that I would soon reach Maria, but I wasn’t. It was just a shadowy space that stayed for a few seconds.

Then, in the distance, a small, shining light would appear, sparkling brightly, followed by more sparks ahead of me.

As my body lay on the ground, white, glowing veins began to emerge around my arm and up to my face. I opened my eyes, now glowing yellow.

As the man continued walking, I teleported a few feet away from him. Startled, he quickly attempted to slash me with his katana, but I was able to grab it and crush it in the palm of my hand with ease.

He was stunned at how I did that, and I looked up at him in his eyes. He felt extreme fear and started to tremble.

As he looked down, he noticed my hand already through his belly. He would look confused and wonder how to process it, and he would cough up blood as he started to feel the pain.

His whole body would begin to glow white and then explode with a massive light coming out of him slowly, and his whole body would just break apart as crumbs of him would fly everywhere, turning into just a pool and mist of blood.

I blinked, and my eye color turned back to normal. The right side of my body would be bruised again, and I saw my arm pointed in the middle of the air.

I looked around, completely confused, and I looked at my hands as my whole body was covered in his blood. "What… happened…? Why does it smell like metal…?" I murmur. I looked back, and I noticed Desha running up to me. My vision was starting to get blurry, and my ears started to ring.

"Tenshi!" She exclaimed as she got closer to me.

"...Huh?" I said, and I would fall to the ground and knock unconscious.