The moment he felt the knife in his neck, everything slowed down.

He felt the sharp, burning sensation of the knife. He could see the terrified looks on his friend's faces, but the thing that stood out the most.

Lily. The fear in her eyes, the sorrow. To witness one of her closest friends die, or at least is in the process of dying, right before her. All the while scared of what's to come now that the arrow had been released.

Kazuma couldn't do anything, his muscles failed to respond, he only had the mere moments to comprehend what is going on. He definitely had regrets though. Dragging Lily and Dale into this mess, and now Lily was going to die because of him. That was the last thing on his mind as his vision went dark.

Or at least that's what he thought.

The arrow launched from the bow as Kazuma fell to the ground.

Everyone cried out for Kazuma, but they all watched the arrow fly.

Lily closed her eyes as the arrow approached her, waiting for her incoming death.

And then...

*CLINK*

She felt the arrow hit, but it had bounced off her head. It took her a moment before she opened her eyes in confusion.

Everyone stared at her in shock, she looked down to see the arrow sitting there. She had felt the impact, but why was she still alive?

While everyone was taking in what had happened, Raze reacted first.

"No... NO NO NO! HOW THE HELL DID YOU SURVIVE?!" Raze shouted in a fit of fury.

"NO MATTER, I WILL KILL YOU MYSELF IF I HAVE TO!" Raze screamed as she grabbed the knife from Kazuma's body.

Once she had said that, Dale immediately reacted.

"LIKE HELL YOU WILL!" Dale charged at her.

He thrusted his sword towards her but she narrowly dodged the blade.

"You guys free Lily while I hold her back!" Dale said to the girls before turning back to Raze.

The girls nodded before running over to Lily.

"Lily! Are you okay?" Darkness asked as she inspected the girl while the others undid the restraints.

She got no response however as Lily still held the same shocked look on her face as she stared at the now lifeless body of Kazuma.

Once the rope was undone, and the talisman removed, they did a final check to confirm that she wasn't injured.

"As relived as I am that you are unharmed, I am curious however as to how the arrow was deflected." Darkness said as she looked at the arrow that laid on the ground.

"Yeah! I thought for sure that arrow was going to get you, but then it just bounced right off you!" Aqua said.

"The... arrow..?" Lily said quietly as she raised her hand to the area where she felt the impact of the arrow.

Her hand landed on a familiar object, the lily flower hairpin that she wore.

"Hm? Is that where the arrow hit? Wow! What a pretty hairpin!" Megumin said as she saw the hairpin.

"Is that what protected you from the arrow?" Darkness said as she inspected the pin.

"Well I have to say you are extremely lucky, and for it to not have even a scratch on it from the arrow, just what is the material of it? Where did you get it?" Wiz asked

"From... Kazu...ma..." Lily said which turned the mood quickly.

But in that instance, reality finally sunk in for her. With the mention of the boy's name, she looked at Kazuma's body, and she felt a flurry of emotions.

But the one that stood out the most, was anger.

"FIRE SPEAR!" Lily quickly summoned a spear of fire and launched the object to Raze, who noticed the oncoming attack and managed to dodge out of the way.

"Grrr... This is not good, now there are more of them, and now the girl is free and can use her magic." Raze grumbled.

Before she could come up with anything, another spear was launched at her, forcing her to dodge again.

"You brat! You want me to kill you?!" Raze asked angrily at the mage, but when she looked at her, she stood in shock to witness the array of spears that were floating around her.

"You killed him... You killed Kazuma..." Lily said quietly, her voice trembling.

"And just as I had planned, what of it?" Raze mocked.

As the words left her mouth, a spear flew past her, just barely grazing her cheek.

Raze was in shock as she slowly lifted her hand to the cut. It happened so suddenly she hadn't even seen it coming.

Before she had a chance to process everything, she saw another spear prepare to launch, and she quickly ducked as the spear flew above her.

Just as she started getting up, another spear shot through her leg.

Raze let out a cry in pain as she fell back. She grabbed her injured leg and saw the hole that was left behind from the attack.

"Y-You bitch!" Raze shouted at Lily, but she was unfazed by the insult.

Lily only walked towards her, aiming one more spear at her.

She did not have any words left to say to the bandit. She aimed one final spear at here, ready to end her life.

But she lacked the conviction to do it. She couldn't muster the courage easily to end another person's life.

With a trembling sigh, the spear dissipated.

"Ha! You don't even have the guts to kill me!" Raze mocked.

But she had forgotten that it was not just the two of them.

"She may not, but I certainly do." Dale said as he approached her with his sword drawn.

"W-wait-" Raze tried to speak, but was cut off when Dale stabbed his sword through her chest, cutting her heart in the process.

Once he removed his sword, within moments she dropped to the floor, dead like the boy.

Dale let out a sigh of relief before looking at Lily.

She had walked over to Kazuma's body before dropping to her knees.

She raised a shaking hand towards the boys face, once she felt his cold body, the floodgates finally opened up.

"K-Kazuma!" She cried out as she hugged his body, crying at the death of a close one.

Dale approached her and placed a hand on her back, eyes also showing the same sorrow the she had.

The girls stood behind the two, giving them a moment to take in what happened.

"Why did this have to happen to him... There was still so much I wanted to do with him, I wanted to celebrate his birthday, to celebrate holidays with the three of us, to go on more adventures." Lily said quietly, Dale hugging her as he also felt the same.

"But most of all, I wanted to express my feelings for him... But now that will never happen."

Lily continued to cry for a few minutes until Aqua finally decided it was time to reveal some important news.

"Ahem!" Aqua cleared her throat, gaining the attention of everyone.

"You just might get that chance after all!"

Kazuma opened his eyes to see a familiar sight. A black sky, littered with particles, and a checkerboard tiled floor.

He was now in the afterlife

"Ah... I died then." He muttered to himself, realizing where he was.

"That is correct, Satou Kazuma." Said a familiar voice.

Kazuma looked up to see sitting across the space from him was the Goddess of Luck and Fortune, Eris.

"It may sound slightly off putting, but it is a pleasure to see you again, despite the requirements for an audience." Eris said, referring to his death.

"Right, well it is nice to see you again, I suppose it has been a long time since my last death." Kazuma replied.

"I'm glad it has been a time, the less often I see you here, the more time you have spent alive."

"Well as much as I like talking to you, I definitely prefer living." Kazuma said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Wait! What happened to the others?!Are they okay?! What about Lily?!" Kazuma asked in a panic.

"Worry not, your friends are safe. Lily and Dale have successfully taken down Raze. Aqua is probably giving them a moment to process your death before reviving you." Eris explained.

"Oh thank God... I was worried about them." Kazuma said as he let out a sigh of relief, leaning back into the chair.

"You care an awful lot about them. Especially for the girl." Eris said, letting out a mischievous giggle.

"W-Well of course I would be worried! Lily was shot by an arrow, and that Raze chick is dangerous. Those two have been extremely kind to me ever since I arrived, I wouldn't want them to get hurt because of me."

"I see. I'm glad you have made friends in your new home. It has been worrying ever since you dissapeared..." Eris said, saying the last part quietly to herself.

"Pardon?"

"N-Nothing! Ahem! I do have one question however. What will you do now? You have made quite a bit of a life in Lorm, but now your old party has come for you. What will you do?" Eris asked.

"I... I don't know..." Kazuma said.

"Part of the whole reason why I'm here in the first place is because of the kingdom accusing me of terrorism, and no one stood up for me. It's one of the reasons why I ran from Axel, among other things. Even Aqua and Megumin tried to avoid helping me, while Darkness' attempts were out of perversion desire."

"And yet, here they are, coming all the way from Axel, helping you fight the bandits, protecting you from Sena and her guards, and helping you find Lily. I'd say it's a good step towards redemption, is it not? And on another note, had you stayed in Axel, and gotten locked up in prison, your friends would have come to your aid. Whether it would be successful or not, I cannot determine, but they would have acted nonetheless." Eris said, giving Kazuma her own opinion.

"So... Then what do you think I should do?" Kazuma asked Eris.

"That I cannot decide for you. Whether you choose to forgive them or not is something you have to decide on your own. Perhaps this could give you the chance to return to Axel, or you can remain in Lorm. The decision is yours."

Just as she had finished talking, a light shone from above before a voice was heard.

"Kazuma, Kazuma! I cast resurrection on you, so tell Eris to open the gate!" Shouted Aqua from the other side.

"Looks like it's time for you to return Kazuma. Take care, and stay safe!" Eris said before she summoned a circle around Kazuma.

Just as he began floating upwards, Eris spoke again.

"Make sure the think about what I said, the decision on what to do is yours. And one last thing, maybe have a talk with Lily, perhaps you two should need tell each other something." Eris said with a wink, making him blush slightly.

Once he had dissapeared, returning to the world of the living, she muttered one last thing.

"And if you do come back, I'll buy you a drink next time..." Eris said with a small smile before walking off.

Kazuma slowly opened his eyes, adjusting his vision before groaning.

"Man, it's been a while but being resurrected feels weird..."

Once his vision finally cleared up, he saw Lily and Dale huddled over him, both with tears in their eyes, and wearing shocked looks on their faces at the fact that Kazuma had indeed come back to life.

"H-Hey guys..." Kazuma said awkwardly.

"Kazuma!" The two cried out before hugging the boy with all their might.

The girls had stood off to the side, smiles on their faces at the reunion. Megumin and Darkness both fully aware of how they must feel, remembering the first time they witnessed Kazuma die to the winter shogun. Wiz also had tears in her eyes, but from the touching scene infront of her, while Aqua had a proud smile on her face.

"I'm so sorry! If it weren't for me getting kidnapped you wouldn't have died!" Lily said through her tears.

"No, it's because of me that Raze kidnapped you, if anything I should be apologizing for putting you guys in danger." Kazuma said.

"It doesn't matter, she's dead now, and the whole group is gone, we're safe now." Dale said.

"You got that right." Kazuma replied before he sat up.

Kazuma looked to the side at the girls and smiled.

"I guess most of all, thank you guys for coming. If you didn't show up, who knows how things could have gone. Especially you Aqua. I would've been a goner if you weren't here."

"No problem Kazuma! Reviving you was easy!" Aqua said.

Kazuma smiled before speaking again.

"Can you guys give us a moment?" He said as he turned back to Lily.

The girls nodded before walking off to the park entrance, Dale giving Kazuma one more hug before he also joined them, leaving Kazuma and Lily alone.

"Lily... I'm glad you're safe. Just how did you survive?" Kazuma asked.

"Well, it seemed that the arrow had bounced off the hairpin. Honestly it was quite lucky, if you hadn't gotten me this, I probably would have not survived." Lily said.

Kazuma could only chuckle lightly.

"Luck huh... I've always been lucky, I'm glad it extended to you."

"Yes, and I'm glad that your friends were here, without them... I would have lost you..." She said, tears forming in her eyes again at the thought of Kazuma being permanently dead.

"That's for certain... I guess I need to treat Aqua for that."

The two sat in silence for a moment before Kazuma decided to follow Eris' advice.

"Hey, Lily."

"Yes Kazuma?"

"This might sound a little weird, and maybe off putting... But I want to get this off my chest..." He said, closing his eyes as his nerves were going haywire.

"Ever since I've come to Lorm, you and Dale have been kind to me, you even let me, a stranger at the time, stay in your home while I recovered, even letting me live with you after I got on my feet. Somewhere along the line, I may have developed feelings for you. Now I know I'm not exactly the best mannered guy out there, but I just hope maybe you'd give me a chance?" He asked, eyes still closed.

"Kazuma... You are definitely a crude man, perverted even." Lily started, making him wince.

"But... You are definitely a kind person, you care for me and Dale, you even bought me this hairpin because I liked it, even when I said it wasn't necessary. Ever since you've come here, my life has certainly livened up more, going on quests and adventures with you two have been the best things I have done in a long time. I too have developed feelings for you Kazuma, and after today, it certainly cemented it after I feared that you were gone, so I will take my chance on you." Lily said with a , making Kazuma open his eyes.

"So you mean...?" Kazuma asked.

"Yes Kazuma, I reciprocate your feelings!"

Kazuma wore a big smile on his face before hugging Lily with all his strength, making the girl let out a squeak at the sudden gesture, but quickly adjusted and returned the hug.

The two sat in the comfort of each other before separating.

"I suppose we should join the others, shouldn't we?" Lily said.

"Yeah... I need to face them after all."

The two got up before walking to where the others were waiting for the two.

Dale noticed the two and waved at them.

"Hey guys! About time you joined us." He said.

"Yeah! What took you guys so long? I was getting bored!" Aqua said.

"Well, we decided to get some things out of the way." Kazuma said.

"Like what?" Megumin asked.

"Well..." Lily started, but finished her explanation by grabbing Kazuma's hand.

Wiz gasped, putting her hands to her mouth before a smile grew on her face, realizing the implication.

"Wait, you mean you two...?" She asked the two.

"Yeah, I was given some advice that I should tell her, so I decided to go for it. As luck would have it, she felt the same, so here we are now."

"Well aren't you a lucky guy, make sure you treat her well Kaz, she's like a little sister to me, so you better not hurt her." Dale said, patting the two on the back.

"You got it man. Now I don't know about you guys, but between the monsters, bandits, and being resurrected, I could really go for some food!" Kazuma said.

"Yeah!" Everyone else cheered.

The group began to make their way back, opting first to head back to Lily's so they could change into clean clothes. Kazuma would probably cause an uproar with the blood on his clothes.

Just as they reached the city centre, a voice called out to them.

"STOP RIGHT THERE SATOU KAZUMA!"

Everyone turned to see Sena standing with a couple of guards that recovered enough to follow her. The people that were around turned their heads to the group.

"For the love of- Are we really doing this now?!" Kazuma cried out.

"I will not give up! You are a terrorist and you must be arrested!"

"Why you-" Lily was about to give the prosecutor a piece of her mind, until another voice called out.

"Who are you calling a terrorist?!" John Smith said as he walked up to the group with Jean by his side.

"You got some nerve calling him of all people a terrorist. He just saved the city from the monsters, from those bandits!" Jean said, defending Kazuma.

"Yeah! He put out the most effort in the fight!" One adventurer shouted out.

"He faced that dragon head on with that knight and crusader!" Another shouted.

Adventurers began to crowd the group, all shouting their defenses for Kazuma.

"Quiet! Any who assists this man will also be branded as an assailant, and face the full extent of the law!" Sena shouted, which quickly got everyone to shut up.

'No... not again...' Kazuma thought in panic.

'Will the same thing happen again? Will everyone desert me, after all I did?'

"Then by all means, call me a terrorist, but I will stand by Kazuma, the man who protected not only this city, but his old one too!" Dale said as he firmly stood in front of Kazuma.

"I agree, Kazuma came to save me, what kind of terrorist would go out of his way to save me and this city?" Lily said as she firmly grasped Kazuma's hand.

"We may have failed to defend his honour before, but we will stand by him this time." Darkness said, standing right beside Dale.

"I will not let anyone threaten my comrades, I swear on it as a Crimson Demon!" Megumin said as she took a stance.

"Kazuma may have claimed responsibility for the explosion, but he had no control of the destination, he made a call to save us all back then, so now we will stand by him too!" Aqua said as she summoned her staff.

"If anything, it's my fault that the core went to the noble's mansion, he gave me his mana and claimed responsibility!" Wiz said as she placed a hand on Kazuma's shoulder.

"You guys..." Kazuma said, tears forming in his eyes.

"Sena, I request that you give Kazuma a fair trial. You have claimed him to be a terrorist on false pretenses, he is the man who killed a Demon King General, and taken down the Destroyer. What kind of terrorist against the Kingdom of Belzerg would do that?" Darkness said.

"And why should I do that?" Sena asked.

"I wanted to avoid doing this, but I suppose I must play this card. As daughter of the Dustiness family, Dustiness Ford Lalatina, I demand you give Satou Kazuma a fair trial, should there be any reason that the trial is fabricated to be unfairly against Kazuma, the royal family will be hearing this." Darkness said as she pulled out the Crest of her family.

"L-Lady Dustiness! So even you will stand by this man. Fine, I will give him a fair trial. It will be held in two weeks in Axel. That should give you plenty of time to return, we will remove all the wanted posters, and you will not be hunted during your time in Belzerg. Until then." Sena said, pushing up her glasses before turning and leaving, taking her guards with her.

"I suppose that went rather well." Darkness said as she let out a sigh of relief. She turned around to see the shocked faces of the group.

"W-What? Is something the matter?"

"YOU'RE A RICH GIRL DARKNESS?!" Kazuma blurted out.

"E-Eh?"

"That was so cool Darkness! You used your authority on her and everything!" Megumin exclaimed.

"W-Well I-"

"How unexpected, you did have an air of nobility around you." Wiz said as she clapped her hands.

"That's only-"

"That was a pretty balsy move, you got guts lady!" Dale said as he gave her a thumbs up.

"Well thank you-"

"A noble rich girl... You better not make moves on my man!" Lily said, glaring at her as she hugged Kazuma's arm, which he enjoyed.

"I promise you I would not-"

"I never knew that Darkness wasn't really your name! Who would've thought your name was actually Lalatina! Come on everyone, let's cheer for Lalatina for saving your hero from that evil lady!" Aqua shouted.

"A-Aqua! That is really not-"

"LALATINA! LALATINA! LALATINA!" The crowd cheered, as Darkness' face turned a bright red from embarrassment.

"THIS ISN'T THE KIND OF HUMILIATION I ENJOY!" She cried out into the sky, all the while the crowd cheered.

Months later, got another chapter out! Raze is dead, Kazuma and Lily are now officially a couple, Kazuma gets a proper trial and Darkness was humiliated! Now we have probably a couple of chapters at most left!