"I am Almanfi the Radiant. Step aside woman, if that boy is causing this then killing him may stop the anomaly."

The name was vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place it. Not that it mattered. The man in the fox mask had appeared out of nowhere and tried to kill Rudy. He was standing in front of me with a dagger in hand. I could sense his power and knew he was a serious threat.

"I am the Sword King Ghislaine Dedoldia! I swear in the name of my teacher the Sword God Gal Farion and on the honor of the Dedoldia clan, Rudeus has nothing to do with this!"

The man with the fox mask paused. I couldn't see his face, but I could tell he was considering it. The word of a Sword King is not to be taken lightly.

"Very well," he sheathed his dagger. "If he is not responsible, I have nothing more to do here. But know that if you are lying my master will not be pleased."

I nodded. I had no clue who he served but if he was not going to attack us that was good enough for me. I thought the danger was over.

Then all at once there was a blinding light coming from the city of Roa. It expanded like a newborn sun and in a heartbeat the whole city was swallowed up. It kept growing, heading towards us. The man in the mask vanished but I hardly noticed. On sheer instinct I turned and sprinted for the kids.

"Eris!"

Rudy had grabbed her and was shielding her with his body. I ran towards them using my battle aura to push my legs to their limits. Even with my back turned to it, the light was getting blinding. Didn't matter! Didn't matter! All that mattered was protecting them!

Just as the light was about to reach me, I leapt and got hold of both of them and pulled them tight into my chest.

Then the world disappeared.

XXX

For a moment everything was just white. I couldn't see either of the kids, couldn't even see my own hands. I tried calling to them but couldn't speak. I tried flipping up my eye patch to see what kind of mana this was but couldn't move. I couldn't do anything at all. It was like my body wasn't even there. I wondered if I was dead, and this was the afterlife. I thought about how the ancestors would judge me. Would they mock me for being such a useless hothead when I was a kid? Or would they give me credit for everything I'd done since then?

Before I could get too philosophical the light faded and I could feel the ground beneath my feet. I had to blink and steady myself, whatever had just happened had sapped away a lot of my strength. But it was nothing I couldn't handle. When I got my bearings, I found myself in the middle of a vast wasteland without a single plant anywhere to be seen. It was nothing like the forest we'd just been in. Fortunately, Hiramune was still in my hand. I looked around to find my charges and spotted them on the ground close by, not moving. For one horrible instant I thought they might be dead. But when I checked they were both breathing with strong steady heartbeats. Whatever it was that had happened had only knocked them out. I breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they were both okay, I could manage.

With my immediate worried settled I took a bit to consider my situation. My old master had taught me to be rational, and all the lessons with Rudy had reminded me how important it was to think about things and not just rush in headfirst. I'd already noted how desolate everything was, I'd traveled all over the central continent back in my adventuring days and never once seen terrain this bad. Also, I noted the sun was about to reach the horizon. It had still been morning when that light appeared. Now it was nearly sunset. That meant…

I could feel my ears twitch as I tried to sort it out. I'm not the muscle brain Paul and others think I am, but I'm not really that smart. I'm sure Rudy would know exactly what it meant, but even I could tell we were probably a long way from home.

I shrugged. It didn't really matter how far we were. I knew what had to be done. I was Eris's bodyguard. Lord Soros had hired me to teach her the sword and protect her and that was what I would do. I would keep Eris and Rudeus safe and get them back to Roa no matter how long that took. The thought didn't bother me, I liked it when everything was simple and there was one clear goal.

That was when I picked up the scents of a pair of monsters. I drew out my katana and went in their direction. They were bigger and more dangerous than anything you'd find in the Fitoa Region, B ranked I'd guess, two horned lizards about the size of a horse. I hacked their heads off with no problem, then carved out the meatiest bits. If there were plenty of monsters, then at least food wouldn't be a problem.

I laid the kids together in the shadow of a boulder and covered them both with my cloak. We didn't have blankets or a tent so it would have to do until we got supplies. There wasn't a stick of firewood anywhere, but thanks to Rudy's teachings I could make a magical flame and keep it going. I found some flat rocks and used them as pans to start cooking the meat. I wasn't good with water magic, but Rudy could more than take care of that. Now that I thought about it, once he was awake, he could make us shelter too.

The sun was just barely still out when I picked up a scent that was a lot closer than it should have been. I jumped to my feet and put my hand on Hiramune's hilt. There, not more than fifteen feet away, was a man with a spear in his hand. How had he gotten so close?! I hadn't heard or smelled a thing! He had to be very skilled to get that close. His body was lean and well-muscled, obviously that of a warrior. The real problem was that he had green hair and a rubylike gem stuck in the middle of his forehead. This man was a Superd!

"Who are you? What do you want?"

He just stood there, eyeing me, looking calm as could be. Then his eyes drifted to where the kids were.

"Take one stop towards them and I'll cut you down!"

His eyes returned to me, not looking the least bit upset by my threat.

"My name is Ruijerd Superdia. I saw a flash of light and came to see what it was."

"I see." I didn't relax.

"Are you the guardian of those children?"

"That's right, I am the Sword King Ghislaine Dedoldia, Servant to the Boreas house and bodyguard to Eris Boreas Greyrat. I will protect both Eris and Rudeus with my life!"

He gave a solemn nod, still showing nothing on his face. "If those children have you to protect them, they should be safe then."

He turned to go.

"Wait!" Normally, I'd have been relieved to have a Superd leave, but I really needed information.

He stopped and looked at me. "Yes?"

"Before that light touched us, we were in the Asura Kingdom. Where is this place?"

"We're in the northeast section of the Demon Continent near Kirishika Castle in the Biegoya region."

My eyes went wide, and both my ears and tail went ramrod straight. Most of what he said meant nothing to me, but 'northeast section of the Demon Continent' was enough. Thanks to some of the lessons with Rudeus I had a rough idea of what the world looked like. We were very, very, very, VERY far away from Roa.

He pointed south. "Ten days from here is the city of Rikaris, I suppose that's where you should go first."

With that he began walking away.

"Thanks for the information."

He didn't reply and kept walking. I didn't try to stop him. It might have been good to have a guide, but no way would I let a Superd stay near us. I'd have to rely on my own skills and experience to get us home.

I took a deep breath and looked up into a sky that was beginning to darken. The stars were coming out.

I expected it to be quite an adventure.