Everything around Kurt began to move like a movie in fast-forward.

The kid suddenly was finding himself getting dragged in the middle of the night by a group of dark figures with red eyes across a forest located on the edge of the city.

He tried his best to break free and scream for help, but his body was being completely tied up by one of the kidnapper's gigantic tail.

[Stop struggling, boy!] one of them ordered while striking his stomach so that he would stop moving.

The pain spread over his body and he could feel his consciousness starting to fade. As he continued to be carried, the last thing he saw was the silhouette of Dorothy in the night sky with the bright moon behind her.

'Dory!!' he screamed in his mind using their telepathic connection, 'Find my parents!!'

'Ugh... Do I have to...?' the owl groaned, 'Maybe these guys are nice! Maybe they are just taking you for a midnight walk and eat some ice cream!'

'DORY!!!' he yelled.

'Fine... Just give me a minute...' she responded before turning around and returning to the mansion.

Kurt was really starting to question the decision of not having any guards at home right now. He really could not understand what his father was thinking.

The group finally stopped running and arrived at its destination. A small open field in the middle of the forest at the feet of a massive cliff.

All three kidnappers began to bow all of sudden, making Kurt think that someone was about to appear. but only the cliff was in front of him. He then looked up, and a fourth figure was spotted standing on top of it, several feet above the ground.

'What is happening???' he asked himself in his thoughts.

The fourth figure then leaped from the cliff and revealed a large claymore in its hand, and right after that, stabbed the mountain in order to slow down its fall.

Once it finally landed, a massive pile of smoke rose up and blinded Kurt's vision for a moment, before slowly dissipating and revealing the claymore user once again.

An individual wearing full body armor that covered every inch of its skin, and a weapon that was nearly its size.

[Seems like things went well...] the knight mumbled.

The figures finally stood up and allowed Kurt to see what they looked like, three men in black robes covering themselves, with a few parts of their bodies transformed into a dragon.

Kurt couldn't stop shifting his gaze to each of them while trying to make sense of what was going on. He hadn't felt like this since the day his life was restarted.

"Who are you, people...?" he mumbled once the tail that was binding I'm got a little loose.

The four of them immediately shifted their gazes at him and stepped away for the knight to approach.

"You speak my language?" it whispered. The voice was that of a teenage lady.

"Wha...? Ah! You too!!" he gasped, "You understand me!!"

Kurt and the knight stared at each other for a couple of moments and began to feel like they both were thinking about a million things right now.

[Release him...] the black knight ordered.

The kidnapper that was tying Kurt finally freed him and allowed his small body to fall to the ground.

"Ouch!" Kurt cried as he crashed his nose on the soil, "Thanks... I guess..."

He proceeded to stand up and clean himself while the person inside the black armor started to circle him around like a hawk, studying him.

[Something wrong? My queen?] one of the men asked.

[This one might be useful to us...] she replied, [Maybe we could use him on our side...]

"What are you guys talking about...?" the kid wondered as he was too confused and tired to fully understand what was being said.

[My queen, he is the emperor's offspring! We can't take that risk!] another one spoke, the man with horns on his head.

[No... He's more than that...] the knight commented, [He's like me!]

All three of them gasped, [Li- Like you!!??]

[Yes... He is- Huh!?]

Before the lady could finish her sentence, yet another figure appeared through the woods and jumped on top of her while delivering a powerful punch.

The knight lady rushed to block the attack with her claymore and was sent against the wall of the mountain, creating a small crater from the impact.

[My queen!!!] all three of them yelled, [Who dares!!??]

They glared at the one that attacked her and realized that it was a lady with a red dress, long blond hair, and feet covered in blood. Both of her arms were revested with a layer of metal scales.

"Mother!!!" Kurt screamed with joy.

'And me!!' Dorothy added as she landed on his head, 'Miss me?'

"Dorothy!!! Ohhh!! I could kiss you right now!! You have no idea how terrified I was!!"

[Kurt! Honey! Are you okay?] the empress shouted.

[Aim faune, miom!] the boy replied.

[Good! Don't move! I'll be done soon!] his mother declared, [Every single one of you better start praying to whatever gods you believe might save you now... You're going to need it!!]

[Crazy woman! You think you scare us?? We are the- Blueaargh!!!] the man with a pair of horns on his head shouted before being sent flying by an uppercut from the empress.

The other two were busy trying to help out the armored lady but they instantly stopped upon seeing their ally getting knocked out.

[She's dangerous...] the black knight commented.

[Should we escape?] the man with a long tail wondered.

The lady in armor gazed at Kurt that was now hiding behind his mother and began to consider her options. Fight to obtain him now or run to try again another day.

[If we wait too much... They might corrupt his mind... We need to take him now while he's still young...] she stated while picking up her blade.

Kurt's mother noticed that the knight still wanted to fight and began to assume a battle stance with her arms held up, her back lowered, and one foot in front of the other.

The boy was surprised seeing that his own mom was looking like an expert in combat. Even her expression was calm and focused.

"Is that really my mom...?" he whispered.

'Shouldn't you be focusing on getting out of here??' Dorothy asked.

"I can't leave her alone against these guys!!"

'What do you plan on doing? Are you going to cheer for her?'

The knight and the two kidnappers also assumed a battle stance.

[I'll handle her... You two fetch the boy and get as far away as possible! We will reunite later!] she ordered.

However, the empress apparently had great hearing and managed to listen to their intentions,[You try to touch my son... And you better forget ever seeing the light of day again...]

The lady in armor couldn't wait any longer and simply leaped towards the empress swinging her claymore in a vertical arc.

But her opponent proved to be slightly faster and managed to avoid it by dodging to her side, proceeded by dashing towards the knight, and shoving her fist on her face.

The knight pulled her sword back and blocked the punch with it, but the empress continued to attack in an attempt to tear the sword into pieces with her hands.

[Why! Won't! This! Thing! Break!!??] the empress shouted while delivering strike after strike.

With every hit the knight would get pushed back more and more, but little did the empress know that this was all part of a plan to get Kurt away from his mother.

[Now!!] the kidnappers shouted as they jumped on the boy and grabbed him again.

"Aaahhh!! Let go of me!!"

[Kurt!!!] the empress screamed upon seeing the scene.

The black knight noticed her losing focus and slashed her arm.

[Aaaarghhhh!!!!!!] she screamed upon receiving the blow. The metal scales managed to protect her, but it still left a large wound on her skin as blood started to drop.

"Mother!!!!" Kurt yelled even louder, feeling his heartbeat accelerating.

The only thing he could think of right now was where the hell was his father to help them??

[Stay down!! We don't need to make this any worse than it needs to be!] the knight declared.

The empress began to glare at the knight, [First you take my son... Then you harm my flesh... And now you dare to tell me what to do!!??]

She then used her other arm and grabbed the knight by the helmet, proceeded by throwing her on her allies like a missile.

[Guaaahhh!!!]

[Uuuhkggg!!]

The two shrieked as they got bombarded by the human bullet in the form of a suit of armor, releasing Kurt in the process.

"Mother!! Mother!!" the kid cried while rushing to her side.

She grabbed him in a tight hug and began to sharpen her claws while daring anyone to approach.

The two kidnappers tried to stand up, but they could feel the pressure coming from the blond lady, [My queen... Should we-]

[No...] the black knight announced, [She's much more skilled than we imagined... Further fighting will only lead to us losing our lives... Retreat!]

The knight and the men grabbed the fallen ally that was knocked out early and began to vanish into the sea of trees.

[They're gone...] the empress mumbled.

She continued to look for a few more seconds to make sure they were really gone before finally taking a deep breath and relaxing.

As she did so, she noticed that her kid was crying while hugging her wounded arm.

"Mother! Mother!!"

She smiled at the scene of him worried about her and began to pat his head, [Hey, hey... It's okay... I'll pick a healing flame crystal when we get home and will... Will...]

Before she realized it, the wound that Kurt was hugging had completely vanished, as if it was never there before. Only a large amount of blood spreading over her skin remained.

[What the- How????] she asked while trying to look again and again. She was sure that the knight had landed an injury on her.

"Mother...?" the boy whispered as he looked at her distress.

The mother gazed at the son and wondered if he might have been behind that.

[Kurt...? What... What did you do??]