"KAZUMAAAA" A voice screamed out

"LILY!" Kazuma shouted.

Kazuma and the others were chasing after Raze with Lily being carried over her shoulder.

"Hahahaha! Catch me if you can Kazuma, but I won't let you, I will make you pay!" Raze shouted as she dashed through the streets.

The streets of Lorm were relatively empty, save for a few adventurers that had already headed back, and civilians that had yet to evacuate. As such, heads turned towards the chaos.

'Damn, because she's holding Lily, the others can't use any offensive magic or else they might hit her too.' Kazuma thought as he ran.

Kazuma was having a hard time however keeping up, only barely trailing the two due to Raze carrying Lily, while Kazuma used his thief skills to boost his speed, on top of a buff that Aqua granted him. The rest were lagging behind as the chase went on.

Raze looked behind her to see that Kazuma was still chasing after her.

"Tch, you're becoming a bother!" She shouted before she threw a smoke bomb at him.

Kazuma stopped running as the bomb landed in front if him before exploding, covering the area with a dense cloud of smoke.

"Damn it! I can't see!" Kazuma said as he tried to navigate through the smoke. As he looked around, Raze's voice cut through.

"Hahahaha! Good luck trying to find me! I give you until sundown to find me, before the girl dies. But don't fret, I've left you a clue somewhere. Best of luck!" She said before taking off.

"KAZUMAAAAA!" Lily cried as Raze carried her off.

"Lily!" He cried out, but it was too late.

Once the smoke cleared, Raze and Lily were nowhere in sight.

"Grrr, DAMN IT ALL!" Kazuma shouted before dropping on his knees and slamming a fist on the ground.

The rest of the gang finally caught up to him.

"Kazuma! What happened?!" Dale asked as he looked around for Lily.

"They're gone, she managed to escape and take Lily with her..." Kazuma said.

"What?! I knew those bandits were bad, but this is just evil!" Megumin exclaimed.

"Damn it... this is all my fault... Because I got close to her, she became a target for Raze. I shouldn't have made friends once I got here..." Kazuma grumbled.

Dale who was nearby heard him, resulting in him wearing an angry look as he grabbed Kazuma by the collar, lifting him up.

"Listen here you! I can tell you had some past with those guys, or something that caused them to be so pissed off, but do not think for one second that you should have never become friends with us!" Dale shouted at Kazuna, making him look at him with wide eyes.

"Especially Lily, she would have been heart broken if she heard you say that. Now, I need you to man up, because we are going to find her, understood?" Dale asked.

Kazuma, with renewed resolve, nodded his head. Dale grinned at Kazuma before putting him down.

"Now, what's the first plan of action Kaz?" Dale asked.

"Raze gave me until sundown to find her, so we don't have much time to look around. She said she left a clue somewhere, but where could that be?"

"Well, if it's related to Lily, as she targeted her, then perhaps the clue may be at her house?" Darkness suggested.

"That's a good idea! Let's go there and see!" Aqua said.

"Alright then, let's go." Kazuma said, leading the group.

Unfortunately, just as they began walking towards her house, a a familiar voice stopped them.

"Halt!" Commanded a female voice.

"Oh for the love of- We're kind of in a rush, so please can we deal with this later-" Kazuma cut himself off when they turned to see the source of the voice.

Standing before them was Sena, behind her was a few guards, similar to the ones that had arrested him.

"You..." Kazuma said in a low voice.

"We meet again Kazuma. So you really did flee to Einshard. We came here out of suspicion when guards spotted you coming here, but to think you'd actually be here. This makes my job much easier. Satou Kazuma! You are hereby under arrest for terrorism, resisting arrest, and assaulting imperial guards! Men, apprehend this criminal!" Sena ordered the guards.

They broke their formation before forming a line, spears pointed at Kazuma.

"Arghhh, I don't have time for this! Right now someone important to me has just been kidnapped and could be in danger! I don't care what you have to say, I protected that backwater city only to be accused of being a terrorist, so how about you grab your friends, grab your shit, AND GO BACK TO BELZERG AND GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!" Kazuma shouted, making it clear that he was pissed.

"Apologies, but we will not be going back to Belzerg without you." Sena said sternly.

"Grrr, why you...!" Kazuma was about to draw his weapon when Dale and the others stood in front of him, blocking the guards from getting closer.

"Kazuma, you need to find Lily, we'll hold these guys back." Dale said.

"Dale!"

"Go!" He shouted at Kazuma, which he responded with a nod before running to Lily's house.

Once he was out of view, Dale returned his focus to the guards.

"So, you're the bastards who want to arrest Kazuma?" He asked.

"That is correct. I hope you realize that you have essentially assisted a criminal in escaping the law." Sena said as she pushed up her glasses.

"And last I checked, the law doesn't go after those who defend their city from monsters. On another note, I believe you don't have the rights to make an arrest on foreign grounds."

"That is true, which is why we intend to drag him back with us before making the official arrest, claiming to make the arrest on the grounds of Belzerg"

"So you want to forcibly drag him back and then arrest him, wicked bunch you are. But, like he said, we have a friend who's in danger, and I won't let you interfere if it means that you will get her killed." Dale said as he readied himself for battle, as did the others.

'Kazuma... Good Luck..." Dale thought before the two groups clashed.

While their skills were definitely high, so were the guards that Sena had brought with her.

Dale and Darkness stood at the frontlines, clashing against the guards.

Darkness used her sword to parry an attack from one of the guards, while another tried to attack from the side. However, when the attack landed, he found it to be useless due to Darkness' extremely high defense. She pushed back the guard that was in front of her, before striking them both with a swift slash with her sword. The two were knocked back, but were able to get up quickly.

Dale blocked one attack from a guard, kicking him back before clashing his blade with another guard. After a short battle of strength, he managed to push the guard back.

Behind them, Megumin and Wiz began preparing their spells.

With a few small explosions, Megumin knocked a few guards back, but with their armour they got back up in no time.

Wiz also shot a few ice shards at them, but they were blocked either by the high strength armour, shields or swords.

"Damn, with their high levels and armour, it's hard for us to do some serious damage to them." Dale said as he blocked another incoming attack.

"Even so, we need to hold them here while Kazuma looks for Lily." Darkness said as she attacked at a guard.

"Don't need to tell me twice!" He said before getting ready to block another attack from the guards.

"Damn it, of all times for them to catch up to me. Why can't things go my way for once?" Kazuma grumbled as he ran.

Once again, he saved the city but is still being arrested. Luckily this time around he had his friends to stand up for him. But first, he had someone to save!

"I just hope I can save her first before they try to take me away." He thought to himself.

In moments, Lily's house came into view. He stopped in front of the door before unlocking it, rushing inside.

"Lily?!" Kazuma called out, hoping they were there. Unfortunately he got no response. He ran upstairs and checked the rooms to see if she was there, but the house was empty.

"Damn it, where the hell could they have gone to?" Kazuma said as he walked back downstairs. As he went down, he noticed there was a note that rested on the table in the living room.

He walked over to it and picked it up. The writing was not the neatest, but still readable.

"This girl of yours sure is a sight to see, perhaps you fancy her? Giving such a girl a pretty flower at that time, it made her the perfect target. But now, can you find her? Or will she die crying for you?" The note read.

"So she targeted her for a while now... Damn it!" Kazuma said as he clenched his fists together

"I'll make her pay if she does anything to Lily... But first I need to find her. She wrote about giving her a flower, the only thing that comes to mind is... The hairpin! And I gave it to her at that park in the northern area of the city! I hope I'm right!" Kazuma said before sprinting towards his new destination.

Lily slowly begun to stir, she had been knocked out by Raze when she escaped from Kazuma's view.

"Wakey wakey! I need you to be awake for what's to come!" Raze said as she patted Lily's face.

"What... W-Where am I?! Who are you?!" Lily asked as she tried to move but found herself unable to.

She looked down to see that while she was unconscious, Raze had tied her to a tree in the middle of a park.

"Well, the name's Raze, I was part of the Blood Eyed Bandits, the leaders most trusted member. As for where you are, we are somewhere in the northern part of this city, where I currently am using you as a hostage." Raze answered simply.

"Oh, and don't bother trying to escape, we learned from our encounter with M

Kazuma that magic can be tricky when tying someone up, so we placed a talisman on you to prevent you from using magic." Raze said as she poked the paper that was stuck to Lily's forehead.

Lily took in her surroundings and recognized the location as it was the place Kazuma gave her the hairpin she wears.

"Why are you doing this?!" Lily asked, scared for her life.

"Because you are a perfect target to make Kazuma suffer! I've been watching him, and by extension you, ever since he arrived here. Ever since that day he escaped from us I wanted to make that pervert pay! It's quite clear that he has a friendship with you and that other guard, but you in particular, it seems he has strong feelings for you." Raze said, tracing a finger under Lily's chin.

"Unfortunately, that bastard has now killed my leader, thus dismantling my group" She said angrily, stabbing a dagger into the tree beside Lily's head, making her wince, tears forming in her eyes at the close call.

"So now it's revenge I desire. One way or another, I am going to make him pay. Either I kill him when he comes for you, or I present your dead body to him, either way he will feel pain."

'Oh no...' Lily thought as she gulped.

"But perhaps, a better option would be both." Raze said with a sinister grin, making Lily's blood run cold at the thought.

'Kazuma... I don't know whether I want you to find me or not... But I hope you can do something to stop this...' Lily prayed, fearing for both the lives of herself and Kazuma.

Kazuma ran through the streets of Lorm, with a potential destination in mind. The sun was not yet close to sundown, so he had time to reach the location if he was quick enough.

Just when he thought things were going to go smoothly, he soon saw Dale and the others still fighting the guards.

"Dale!" Kazuma called out.

"Kazuma! What are you doing here?!" Dale asked him as he got closer.

"I have an idea of where Lily might be, but first it looks like you guys need some help."

"Maybe, these guards are definitely tough."

"But of course, we brought nothing but the best to bring this coward back to deliver justice!" Sena proclaimed as the guards formed up.

"Justice my ass, I save two cities and you're still hellbent on calling me a terrorist because some rich assholes house got nuked, bet if it was a regular village you'd pay no mind to it and write songs of praise to me..." Kazuma grumbled which got some snickers out of his group, yet seemed to tick off Sena.

"How dare you-! Apprehend this scum!" Sena commanded.

The guards made their way to the group as they has to step back.

"Well, got any plans Kazuma?" Megumin asked.

"I have one, Dale, Darkness, you two will serve as our defense line. While you occupy them, I will flank around them, and stab them with my sword, I suspect their armour won't let me kill them, but it'll stick. Once I do, Wiz, I need you to target my sword with a lightning spell. While Wiz attacks, Megumin, I want you to use a burst on the guard that gets electrocuted. Aqua, support us as much as you can, alright?"

"Roger!" They all said to him.

"Good! Let's do this!" Kazuma said before executing the plan.

The guards began charging at the group, but once again were met by Dale and Darkness.

"You will not get by me!" The two said at the same time.

"Increase strength, Enhance Defence!" Aqua cast her buff spells, giving the two a boost in each aspect.

They each held back a portion of the guards, giving Kazuma the opening he needed.

"Increase strength, Improve Speed!" Aqua then cast bluffs onto Kazuma.

"Thanks Aqua! Lurk!" Kazuma used the skill to sneak by the guards before taking his sword and shoving the blade into the back of one of the guard's armour.

"Now, Wiz! Megumin!" He called out as he jumped back, away from the guard.

"On it! Lightning!" Wiz quickly cast the lighting spell which struck the sword, and in turn conducted through the guards armour.

"Don't forget about me! Burst!" Megumin said as she casted the spell, which resulted in a stronger blast than the usual burst spell. The guards emerged from the smoke, but collapsed onto the ground.

"Incredible! Such power from a lesser explosion spell! I'm impressed Kazuma!" Megumin exclaimed.

"Thank me later! We have more to go through!" Kazuma said as he went over to the guard to retrieve his sword that surprisingly survived the ordeal.

After one of them had went down, the others had caught wind of what they were planning.

They took a defensive form, making it difficult for Kazuma make a move against them.

"Dammit, their defense is too tight. Fine then, Aqua I need you to create enough water to cover the ground at their feet, Wiz, you need to freeze the water."

"You got it! Create Water!"

"Freeze!"

Aqua casted her water creation spell, which due to her water affinity allowed her to create enough water to cover the ground that the knights were standing. Simultaneously, Wiz froze the water, creating a sheet of ice under the knights.

"Dale, Darkness, push them now!"

The two shared a nod before charging at the knights at full force, knocking them back before slipping on the ice.

As the knights toppled over each other, Kazuma took this opportunity to stab his sword into the knight's, armour, before Wiz and Megumin dealt the final blows.

The knights were all rendered unconscious.

"It's over Sena, just leave me alone." Kazuma said to the prosector before turning to the group.

"Now, we need to hurry, if we're too late, Lily's going to die!" Kazuma said as he ran off, everyone else following behind him, leaving Sena with the pile of unconscious knights.

The group ran through the streets, the sun was slowly reaching the horizon, painting the city in an orange glow.

"We're almost there! Just a little further ahead!" Kazuma said.

He prayed that he was right on this location, because if not then Lily would be doomed, and it would be his fault.

They rounded a corner and infront of them was the big park that Kazuma and Lily had previously visited.

Kazuma looked around before he noticed a figure that was tied to a tree. When he recognized the person, he felt that he could almost cry at the sight, relived that he was right.

"Lily!" Kazuma called out as he ran forward to help her.

The girl looked up before her eyes went wide in fear, while she was happy that Kazuma found her, she feared what would happen to him.

"Kazuma! Watch out!" She cried out.

"Huh?" Kazuma was confused for a moment before someone tackled him from the side.

Once he opened his eyes from the impact, he saw Raze staring down at him, a sinister smirk on her face as she held out a dagger over his neck.

"Kazuma!" The group called out, making a move to help him.

"Hold it right there! If you move any closer I will kill him now!" Raze threatened as she moved the dagger closer to his neck, forcing the group to stand back.

"Now, Kazuma... You killed my leader, you dismantled my group, you humiliated me! So now, it's time for a bit of payback." She said before she punched him in the stomach.

Kazuma coughed and recoiled from the hit. As he was recovering, he felt her grab his bow from his back and steal an arrow.

Before he could see what she was doin, she quickly grabbed him, lifted him to a kneeling position, and shoved the bow into one hand. She held her hand tight over his, forcing him to grip the bow, before grabbing his other hand to hold the arrow and drawing the arrow back.

Kazuma looked forward to see where she had aimed him and his heart nearly stopped when he realized she had him pointing a primed bow right at Lily.

Raze held the dagger close to his neck with the hand that also forced his hand to have the arrow pulled back.

"Please... Don't make me do this!" Kazuma begged, but Raze laughed.

"I want you to witness this, the moment that you see your beloved die, and your dying thoughts will be that of how she died by your hands. Now, anything you have to say, Kazuma?" Raze asked.

"To hell with you..." He grumbled out.

"A fine choice of words for a dead man, farewell!"

With those words, Raze plunged her knife into Kazuma's neck, the shock rendering his hands useless. While she still had one hand forcing him to hold the bow, the other let go of the arrow, and the arrow begun its flight.

"KAZUMAAAA!!!" Everyone cried out.