Everything seemed to run in slow motion. The sword flew down at me, and all I saw was red as my scream ripped through the area.

"That was Kazumi!" Wolfram shouted, gasping as he looked at the direction of the scream. Conrart, Wolfram and Murata had been freed from their bindings when she ran off, and they were in pursuit on their horses. Conrart wasted no time; he immediately began galloping in the direction of the scream. He only prayed he wasn't too late. Wolfram and Murata galloped after him, arriving at the spot to see nothing but a large pool of blood and her sword lying on the ground. Conrart stood there, looking down at the pool of blood with a horrified expression. He knelt, looking like he was trying to reach for the blood, but grabbed the sword, holding it in his hands. He grit his teeth, inhaling.

"KAZUMI!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, praying she would hear the shout and yell out to him in return. But no other sound resonated from the area except for the heavy rain that began to fall.

Chapter 1

Grave Departure

Conart

"You did what?" yelled Gwendal as his fist suddenly connected with Conrart's face, sending the man staggering back. Conrart winced in pain, trying to maintain his bearings.

"Conrad!" Yuri yelled, rushing to his side. He'd managed to regain consciousness after he'd passed out during Kazumi's attack, and was standing shakily by Conrart's side. Wolfram and Murata stood there, looking down at the ground sadly. Gwendal had completely gone bonkers when Conrart had informed him sadly that Kazumi had been attacked and was now missing. Gwendal shook, trying to control his anger so he wouldn't accidentally kill his younger brother. He sighed, his hands clenched into fists.

"So you found blood and her sword? We have no way of knowing if the blood is truly hers, but what I do know is that we can't let them get away! Close off all the ports! I don't want a single ship entering or leaving!" Gwendal commanded, his men quickly running off. He turned back to look at Conrart who was still looking down at the ground, his cheek bright red from where he'd made contact earlier.

"I don't have time to punish you all for your foolish actions. Help me rescue Her Majesty, or wallow in self-pity. The choice is yours" Gwendal stated, turning and walking quickly to his desk. He grabbed his feather quill and began writing a note furiously quick. He folded it up, grabbing one of his messenger pigeons and placed it in the small bag, sending the bird flying. He turned, quickly walking to the door.

"Brother! What are our plans now to save Kazumi?" Wolfram asked, stopping Gwendal at the door. Gwendal turned to look at them.

"I'm having scouts patrol the area, closing off all the roads, and locking down the dock. These bastard's aren't getting away with her, not if I can help it!" Gwendal stated, walking out the door. Wolfram ran after him, leaving Conrart, Yuri and Murata standing in the room.

"Lord Weller, if you don't mind me saying, you seem down… You should be using your longing to see her safe as your resolve to find her!" Ken stated, walking to him. Conrart turned, giving him a weak smile in return.

"Thank you… but I deserved what I got from Gwendal. I never should've taken her out like that with just one patrol unit – not with assassins after her. What if they killed her, or gravely injured her again? How could I live with myself?" Conrart asked, his hand clenching around his arm tightly. Yuri growled suddenly, smacking Conrart harshly on the back of the head.

"Sitting here like this won't change anything! If you sit here, then she's as good as dead! If you get up, there's at least a chance she'll survive! If you truly love her, you'll get up and search the ends of the earth for her!" Yuri shouted, making Conrart blink at him, stunned into silence. Ken even looked silently shocked, both their eyes considerably wide. Conrart then frowned in determination.

"You're right! Let's go!" he shouted, running out behind Gwendal as both Yuri and Ken followed behind him. They caught up to Gwendal quickly.

"Surround the perimeter! I want all roads in the next five towns closed immediately and all docks shut down! Not a single ship enters or leaves! Send out our naval ships; stop any ships within a 50,000-meter distance off the shore! Inspect everything from top to bottom; make sure Her Majesty is found!" Gwendal shouted, turning to each of his men. They saluted, quickly running off.

"Gwendal! We're going to help! Just tell us what we can do!" Conrart stated, arriving with the others. Gwendal looked at them, frowning in thought.

"Conrart, lead the patrol on the dock. Yuri, you lead the search through the woods. Your Eminence, I want you looking at these maps and telling me what would be the most logical thing to do in the enemy's position. Wolfram, you're in charge of the roadblocks. Everyone report to me. Let's move!" Gwendal stated, earning nods from everyone. Everyone ran off to do their selected task, praying that one of them would find the assassins.

Kazumi

My entire body hurt. What happened again? As I struggled to open my eyes, I realized one of them wasn't opening. I lifted my hand, touching my left eye when I felt a bandage placed on it. I looked down, seeing more bandages wrapped around my torso. I was also shirtless, and when I say that, I mean my jacket, shirt and bra. Great… Just who'd stripped me nude again? Better yet, where was I? As I looked around, the door opened and a woman stepped in. I blinked in shock, seeing she looked about middle aged, a little plump, but not fat, wearing an old dress. She was beautiful for someone of her age, and I could see a lot of kindness on her face. She held a tray with a bowl of what looked like soup on it.

"You're finally awake. I must say, you gave me quite a scare. There was a sudden knocking on the door and when I opened it, I found you unconscious on the floor, completely covered in blood and injuries. I'm still wondering how you survived your attackers for so long with all the blood you lost." she stated, sitting on the edge of the bed. She placed the tray on my lap, placing the spoon down with a smile.

"I'm just glad you're awake and seem fairly okay." She said thankfully, tilting her head in a fairly cute way.

"I'm sorry for scaring you… Assassins were chasing me and they managed to take away my blade, so they made quick work of slicing at me. I guess they thought they'd finished the job or something after dragging me away for quite a while, so they dumped me. I managed to crawl a little, but I don't recall making it to your doorstep." I replied, giving her a thankful smile.

"You must've been running on pure adrenaline. You're very lucky at having made it here; otherwise you would've died. If you don't mind me asking, dearie, may I know your name? I'm Gloria." she asked. I gave her a smile.

"Gloria huh? Thank you for saving me. I'm Kazumi" I replied, seeing her gasp in shock.

"By glory, when you say assassins were after you, your hair and eyes are black, and your name's Kazumi, are you by any chance the Demon Queen? Our Demon Queen?" Gloria asked, looking amazed. I looked a little hesitant, unsure if I should tell her or not, but nodded. She smiled, nodding in understanding.

"I understand now. I'll let the first patrol officer I see know you're here." Gloria stated, urging me to begin eating the soup. I thanked her for the food, picking up the spoon and began eating. The soup, which was made from a variety of vegetables and gravy, tasted absolutely heavenly.

Blood Pledge Castle

Hisako sighed, sitting on the bed in her 'Kazumi' disguise, waiting for the assassins to go after her. It had been too long and they weren't making their move. They couldn't have realized what was happening and had gone after her, had they? Just as she was thinking this, the door burst open and Gunter came rushing in.

"It's terrible, Your Eminence! The assassins! They got Her Majesty while they were on their way to Gwendal and Yuri! What do we do?" Gunter cried out, going into hysteria. Hisako stood, glaring.

"I knew it! Things were too quiet to begin with! Keep the castle on high alert! They may use this opportunity of confusion to attack our country! Don't let anyone lose track of what their true goal is! Our goal is to keep the castle safe for when Kazumi returns! Now move it!" Hisako shouted, looking deadly serious. Gunter blinked in shock, having being stunned out of his hysteria. He nodded, becoming just as serious. He rushed out, doing what he was ordered.

Hisako turned to look at the window, her expression serious. She walked to the window, placing a hand on the glass.

"Is this all part of your scheme? I'll warn you now, I've taken a liking to Kazumi, and I won't let her get killed…" Hisako stated, her voice as cold as ice.

Kazumi

I managed to sleep for a little when the door opened. I opened my eye, seeing Gloria standing there. She was smiling sweetly at me.

"I saw a patrol officer and informed him you were here. He's gone to go alert his superior and then they'll come and get you. Until then, get some rest." Gloria stated, closing the door. As I closed my eyes, about to drift off again, I heard knocking on the door. I tossed the blankets away, pulling myself up into a painful sit. I grabbed my bloodstained shirt, putting my arms through, and stood. I was going to begin walking to the door to see who it was when I suddenly heard Gloria scream. I froze, my blood freezing in my veins. They found me again! Instead of going to that door, I grabbed my jacket, slinging it over my shoulder, and pulled the window open. I jumped out, landing painfully on the ground, and closed the window. I rose to my feet, taking off in a sprint.

I had to get away. I couldn't let Gloria's death be in vain. She didn't save my life just to have me die by the assassins! I had to make sure I survived! As I continued running, I gasped, seeing a familiar face. Well, a bunch of them actually. Gwendal, Conrart, Wolfram and Yuri were running towards me with a bunch of soldiers.

"Guys!" I yelled, seeing them notice me.

"Your Majesty!" Gwendal yelled, looking relieved.

"We have to go help Gloria! She's in the house with assassins on her own! She's risking her life to protect me! Please help her!" I shouted. Wolfram and Yuri gasped, unsheathing their swords and running to the house. Conrart had run to me, hugging me gently. He looked down, noticing my injuries.

"You're hurt." he stated, placing a hand on my cheek, near my injured eye.

"Yeah, but Gloria took care of me. Please, we have to go back" I pleaded. Conrart sighed, looking back at Gwendal. Gwendal sighed, nodding. I smiled, running behind Conrart and in front of Gwendal. When we reached the entrance to the house, I gasped, frozen in horror. Multiple assassins lay dead on the floor, and an injured Gloria sat in the corner, holding her pan in her hand.

"Gloria!" I shouted, seeing her look at me.

"Your Majesty! Run!" she shouted, standing and running to me. I gasped, wondering what had caused her to become so panicked. I turned, seeing one of the cloaked assassins behind me. I gasped, feeling everything begin to go in slow motion. As the assassin threw his knife in my direction, a mop of brown, long curls covered my vision. I felt my whole body freeze as I processed what had just happened. I felt my heart beat rapidly in my head, loud and pulsing. My anger boiled over, and next thing I knew, I was screaming loudly into the night sky. My body began to feel warm as I felt my consciousness fade out. A blue glow covered me as lightning shot from the sky, striking the ground loudly.

I lifted my head to glare at the remaining assassins. My eyes had become slits and my hair was dancing in invisible flames. Tears were still falling on my expressionless face.

"Men of human country, you have crossed the line. Not only do you enter my country uninvited, but you also attempt to murder me, the icon and symbol of the Great Demon Kingdom. And if not to make matters worse, you then go and kill someone dear, who only tried to help others. I shall make you all pay!" my voice shouted from the sky. Lightning fell down, striking the assassin in front of me. The other assassins that had been hiding were also struck down by lightning. Their bodies fell from their hiding spots, littering the ground.

When I was sure all the assassins had been taken care of, I knelt down, lifting Gloria into my arms. She struggled to open her eyes.

"Your… Majesty… You've changed… You're even more… beautiful… Like an angel… I guess… I'm blessed… after all…" Gloria stated, her voice shaking. Her wounds were bad, and there was unfortunately no hope of saving her. More tears fell from my eyes on my expressionless face.

"My dear child of the Great Demon Kingdom, you have done a great service indeed. As the Demon Queen, I thank you from the bottom of my heart… I pray for your soul's return to this world one day." my voice said through the sky. Gloria smiled gently.

"Knowing that… I can… sleep easy… Thank you… So much…" Gloria thanked, her voice growing weaker as her eyes closed and her head rolled back. Everyone else looked away sadly as a downpour of rain washed over the land, as if mourning Gloria. When my consciousness returned, I didn't pass out. Instead, my eyes welled with more tears. I hugged Gloria closer to myself, burying my face in her dark brown curls. My sobs and screams for Gloria echoed through the town for a good half an hour. During that time, other villagers had stepped out their homes into the freezing rain, crying and mourning for Gloria.

The next day, I stood there with Conrart, Wolfram, Ken, Gwendal, Yuri, and all the villagers. We stood in front of a small cross standing in the ground. The village elder was chanting a sutra of some kind, sending Gloria's soul into the afterlife. I looked down, a small smile on my face as tears streamed down from my already red eyes.

"Goodbye, Gloria… Until we meet again." I said, smiling up at the sky as I swore I saw her smiling down at me. I looked startled for a second, but smiled back. Thank you, I would never forget your sacrifice. You didn't even know me, and yet you risked your life, sacrificing it in the end, in order to save mine. And in the process, all the assassins had been eliminated. If not for Gloria, I would've surely died yesterday.

"Your Majesty… We should return to the castle now. Gunter is probably still panicking due to the fact that I haven't sent him a letter, informing him of the situation yet" Gwendal stated. I giggled, nodding, but turned to smile one last time at the grave.

"I have to go now, Gloria. Goodbye!" I gave my farewell before running after Gwendal. The others saluted to Gloria's grave, then began running after Gwendal and me. We had a fairly harsh journey back, and my wounds still weren't healed yet.