A week has passed since Night Wing's assault. Fear was still hovering in the air, but the citizens remained steadfast and business went on as usual. Due to the increase in security by the City Guard, Nikki, as a Captain of the City Guard, was supposed to be busier than usual. However, in lieu of the injuries she had received in battle, she was given a few days of leave as compensation for her contributions.

Of course, she spent all her free time with her fiancé, Ray. He had surprisingly been getting more occupied lately, having decided to spend more time training his 2 students after the Night Wing incursion as they needn't attend school amidst the reparations.

Nikki had to admit she felt a little jealous at times that Ray was spending so much time with those kids, but at the same time, she enjoyed seeing him hard at work. Kai and Adeline were also such adorable kids, she simply can't bring herself to dislike them for such a petty reason.

Today was special, however, as Ray decided to give his students (and himself) a break. It was a rare time for Nikki to finally be able to go out on a date with her boyfriend alone without the company of his students, who must have felt awkward whenever she hung around. Nikki was definitely going to make the best out of this golden opportunity to have a great time.

The couple visited the Central Market, where they were greeted by several shopkeepers selling a wide spectrum of wares. Of course, Ray was only interested in delicacies and nothing more, which Nikki happily obliged. Most girls loved shopping for clothes, accessories etc but when you're a Princess, chances are you have too many of those sort of things to desire more.

As they continued to explore the market, suddenly, Ray stopped in his tracks as he turned to face an alley. Nikki asked, "What's wrong, dear? Is there something there?" Without replying, Ray simply walked into the alley, Nikki swiftly following him. At the end of the alley, Nikki discovered that it was a warehouse at the end of the alley, used to store the merchandise of the shopkeepers nearby.

Ray looked on stoically before remarking, "Ah, I remember this place. Don't you find this place familiar? I believe this was the place where I rescued you from those kidnappers and I received your first kiss, hahaha." Nikki blushed furiously and pouted, "Really? If you hadn't reminded me, I would have forgotten all about that incident! I don't like to keep traumatising memories after all. I do remember the kiss though…"

"Hmph! To reject my request, how dare he?" Nikki pouted as her attendant attempted to calm her down. She soothed, "My lady, please understand that Young Master Ray is really busy. At such a young age, he's already serving in the Nirvanian Black Ops, just like his father before him.

You know, this elite force is operational 24/7, and even when on standby, they have to undergo rigorous training to keep themselves fit and ready. Without such stringent standards, how can we entrust missions of the greatest importance to them? I believe that when he has some time to spare, he'll go out with you, okay?"

Nikki calmed down a little after hearing her attendant's advice. The truth was, she felt lonely and now, she had lost her sole companion whom she had spent her childhood with. After all, as a young member of royalty, she was kept in the royal palace most of the time, with the exception of school at Zion Academy. Thus, in the palace, she only had Ray as her playmate.

Ray was the son of her father's cousin, making him a distant relative. After his father, who was the Head of Nirvanian Black Ops in his time, passed away in the line of duty, her father, King Alan Stormfury, took Ray in to live with them in the palace. Due to these circumstances, like her, Ray didn't have a lot of friends, thus when he grew of age, at age 12 he began training with the Nirvanian Black Ops, devoting all his free time to training with the very best.

Ray was deemed a prodigy, praised by King Stormfury himself, who encouraged him to continue his training and even bringing in the heads of the Martial Arts Federation to train the boy. Nonetheless, in spite of his training regime, Ray never failed to spend time with Nikki, always listening to her stories patiently in his time outside training. Sadly, all this came to an end at the start of this year, where Ray was officially a member of the Nirvanian Black Ops, which meant he was now liable for missions all year round.

Nikki was rudely awoken by the sound of an explosion. She quickly got out of her bed and looked out through the window. There, she was horrified to see her parents' room on fire as hasty orders broke the silence of the night. Nikki was about to rush out of her room to check on her parents when she heard muffled gun shots outside her room. Nikki readied herself for an attack. The assassins were probably after the entire royal family. Fortunately, she had trained hard in school and at home, making her confident in defending herself.

As the door to her room suddenly flung open, Nikki quickly cast an [Air Bullet] spell to catch the intruders off guard. To her surprise, there was no one outside apart from the dead bodies of the Royal Guard. Nikki clasped her mouth in horror as her 2 guards lay in pools of their own blood, their eyes still opened in shock. Nikki couldn't sense where her enemies were hiding, as she realised too late that her eyes were getting extremely heavy as she drifted off into deep sleep…

After the fire was put out and the King and Queen's safety assured, the Nirvanian Black Ops were summoned to investigate the incident. Ray was among those selected, and to his surprise, he noticed that all whom were called were bigwigs within the Black Ops. There was the Head, Arkad, his deputy, Steven and the 3rd in command, Katrina. The only non-key personnel present apart from Ray was Melvin, a seasoned veteran nonetheless.

Ray whispered to Melvin, "What's going on? I don't see many people being summoned but all the key command staff are here! This must mean that things are pretty grave! In that case, why is a novice like me doing here?" Melvin answered coldly, "Though there were no casualties in this attack, the Princess has been kidnapped."

Ray exclaimed in shock, "What? Princess Nicolette has been kidnapped? Why?" Arkad said calmly, "Slow down, kid. From the evidence we've collected thus far, the enemy is most likely from our opposing number, Miran Z. Only they possess the necessary infiltration ability required to breach our city's lookouts. They are highly skilled operatives after all."

Ray pressed further, "Chief, why would they take Princess Nicolette if they'd already successfully breached the defences of the royal palace? Wouldn't it be wiser just to assassinate King Stormfury for a start?" Arkad explained, "These guys knew what they were doing. They knew that the Royal Guard protecting the King and Queen are the strongest among the Royal Guard unlike those simply protecting the palace as a whole. Subsequently, this meant that it would be much harder to go after the King's head.

As a result, they created an explosion at the King's residential block as a ruse to distract all the patrolling Royal Guard, since the King's safety is their priority. Consequently, they were able to kidnap Princess Nicolette with minimal interference as the guards left to protect her were just too few. Nonetheless, I must commend their ability as Royal Guard personnel are all minimally mid-Master tier, which means that our enemies are decently strong."

Ray gritted his teeth as he cursed, "Why would they do such a despicable thing? The Princess is only but a child!" Steven, who was nonchalantly smoking his cigar, replied, "Yes, the Princess is a child, but a powerful bargaining chip at the same time. If they successfully bring her out of Nirvania and hold her hostage, they would have a big sway over King Stormfury, who's known to be a family man."

Ray cried, "These spineless cowards! I'll kill them all!" Melvin punched Ray's head as he chided, "What're you getting so worked up for, kid? We don't even have a trail on them, so we don't know where to start! Instead of falling prey to your emotions, how about calmly thinking of how we can find them and take action?"

Arkad added, "Melvin's right. We've already taken immediate action by tightening border security of Nirvana. Even if they're skilled operatives, this should at least delay their escape from the capital. We have to catch them while they still remain in the confines of this city!

Steven and Katrina, you would form Team A. Melvin and Ray, Team B and I would be the overall commander in charge of this mission. Our mission is to search for the kidnappers and Princess Nicolette, and prioritise her rescue over all others. When you have contacted the enemy, alert the rest of us so that we may regroup before we take action. Is that clear?" Everyone nodded in acknowledgement as the meeting was dismissed.

As Ray left the room, Katrina went up to him and warned, "Ray, I understand how important the Princess is to you. Promise me you won't be rash and risk your life, okay? You're still a kid and have a long way to go." Ray gruffly nodded as he disappeared down the hallway. As he was walking, he chanced across the quarters of the King and Queen, as he could hear the Queen bawling in grief over her lost daughter, the King comforting her. Ray wanted to assure them, but chose not to in the end.

Suddenly, King Stormfury said, "I know you're there, Ray. Come in." Ray obliged and said, "Your Highness, please accept my condolences for the loss of your daughter, I…"

To his surprise, King Stormfury placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and said gently, "I was the one who requested your inclusion in the mission to recover my daughter. Knowing you, even if you weren't chosen, if you'd found out that Nikki was kidnapped, you would have gone to rescue her alone. By formalising you as a member of the mission, at least I ensured that you won't act rashly. Remember, my boy, you're just as important to me as Nikki. I pray for your success and safe return."

Ray, with tears in his eyes, said with determination as he wiped the tears off his eyes, "Your Highness, I promise you, I would return with Nikki safely." The King nodded gently as Ray took his leave, full of resolve to rescue the Princess, his best friend.

It was nearing dawn and yet their search yielded no results. It was difficult to rely on solely 5 people after all, but King Stormfury wanted to keep the kidnapping incident as low-profile as possible to prevent the spread of panic throughout the country, which could adversely affect Nirvania's reputation and stability. Nirvana was a pretty large city after all, and searching for the missing princess was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Ray and Melvin were leaping from building to building as they searched for possible hiding spots. Melvin muttered, "Man, this is going nowhere. Who knows, they might have already left the capital?" Ray gave Melvin an ugly stare as he retorted, "No matter how bleak it may seem, I'm not giving up on the Princess! If you want faster results, I suggest we split up here!"

Ray leapt in a separate direction before Melvin could stop him. Melvin complained, "What an annoying brat, he's gonna land himself in some real trouble. He's right, though. Splitting up now to search and regrouping later when we've found them is a better course of action." Melvin then continued searching alone, leaving Ray to his own devices.

As Ray continued rushing through the empty streets, he suddenly heard some suspicious sounds coming from an alley nearby. Fancying his chances, Ray crept surreptitiously through the alley to discover what lay at its end. To his surprise, he found 2 cloaked men whispering incoherently to each other. Suspicious indeed.

Ray decided to put his Black Ops training to good use as he attempted to lip read. One of the figures said, "Damn, they tightened border security! How're we gonna get out now?"

The other replied, "You fool, didn't Boss say that we'll be leaving the instant the sun rises? After all, when morning comes, the border would be packed with people entering and exiting the city, that's when we can blend in with the crowd and get our ticket home! We just need to ditch these cloaks and we'll look like conscientious Nirvanian citizens, hahaha! Those fools would never know what hit them! We even prepared the caravan and crate to smuggle our objective out."

Ray gritted his teeth anxiously. It was almost morning which was the peak period at the border. If he didn't take action now, these kidnappers would escape unscathed! Nirvana was so big, if he waited for reinforcements, Ray was afraid that they wouldn't make it in time. Ray spoke softly into his communication device, "I've discovered the enemy location. Track my communication device for my location. Going in now, situation urgent."

Before Arkad could say anything, Ray pulled out the communication device from his ear and stuffed it into his pocket. He didn't know how many enemies there were, but he had the element of surprise to his advantage. Sadly, the straightforward pathway leading to the warehouse meant that there was only one way to reach his enemies.

Or so it would seem, for Ray was no ordinary person. He had been trained by the very best after all. Using Lightning magic, he created a doppelganger of himself with the [Lightning Clone] spell, a Grandmaster tier spell for its intricacy. He then had the clone charge straight at his unsuspecting foes as he traversed the roof of the adjacent building to get behind them.

As expected, the two adversaries were surprised by the sudden entrance of Ray's clone, but quickly regained their composure to eliminate him. One flashed out a pistol equipped with a silencer as he infused his mana with his weapon. He then fired rapidly onto the advancing clone, the clone dodging several mana-enhanced bullets. Finally, just as it appeared that the clone was about to strike the gunner, his companion quickly drew a knife and stabbed the clone through the chest.

The knife wielder cackled, "Is that all you've got, kid? From your attire, you're a member of the Nirvanian Black Ops. Disappo-" Before he could complete his statement, the clone dissolved into electricity, electrocuting the man. His partner, shocked by the sudden reversal of events, failed to notice Ray landing behind him as Ray swiftly broke his neck with a quick snap. Ray then swiftly slit the throat of the remaining foe with his standard issue tanto.

Having no time to dispose of the corpses, Ray gingerly opened the door of the warehouse, only to be greeted by a giant fireball. Having no time to dodge, Ray took the attack head-on, dispelling the flames with concentrated electricity in his hands as he tore the fireball apart. A low voice greeted him, "Ho, not bad. Guess a squirt like you is a member of the Nirvanian Black Ops for good reason. You're strong indeed, but can you best me? [Fire Burst]!"

A huge swath of flames rushed towards Ray, far larger than the fireball earlier. Having time to react this time, Ray simply rolled diagonally into the warehouse, barely dodging the heinous flames that had consumed the entire alley. Ray muttered, "Such indiscrete use of power, how did this guy even become a Black Ops member?" His assailant, a burly man with a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek, taunted, "Guess you don't have the power to stand against my mighty spell. Sloan, take the girl and go! I've got this!"

Ray heard some commotion deeper within the warehouse and realised to his horror that there was probably another exit to the warehouse from the one he entered from. If he had wasted any more time, the other enemy would escape before the rest could get there. He had to put an end to this farce right now.

His burly opponent taunted, "You poor weak soul. Watching helplessly as your Princess gets snatched right in front of your very eyes. Now, die! [Volcanic Meteor]!" He gathered a huge amount of mana in his right fist and just before he unleashed his devastating spell, he was caught by surprise at Ray's sudden change of pace as Ray mercilessly impaled his heart with a [Lightning Blade].

The man asked while choking on his own blood, "How? I see…" as he slumped to the ground, dead. Ray had electricity rippling from every pore of his body as he retracted his bloody hand from the dead man's chest. This was Ray's [Lightning Body] spell, a spell that enhanced his speed, reflexes and electric power. The drawback of this spell was that it placed a heavy toll on the body's muscles and nerves, and improper use could lead to irreversible damage and death.

Ray panted as his spell wore off, "Darn, I'm still not used to using this spell for extended periods. Got to hurry though…" Mustering all his remaining strength, Ray sprinted out of the warehouse from its rear exit and followed the alley. Fortunately, his enemy was having problems lugging an unconscious Nikki, which allowed Ray to quickly catch up. Ray shouted, "Halt! Surrender now and I might spare your life!"

The figure, Sloan, who was scrawny with grey hair, quickly pulled Nikki's unconscious body up such that his sharp fingernails were pressing against her throat. He threatened, "Don't take a step further and drop all your weapons! If not, the Princess gets it! My fingernails are laced with a fatal poison that would kill her within minutes and just a little cut is enough to get infected! The only cure is with yours truly so if you think you dare to risk the Princess' life, come on!"

Ray complied slowly with Sloan's demands, as he had to buy time for his teammates to arrive at the scene. He laid his tanto on the ground slowly before raising his hands, advising, "Come on, Sloan. Put an end to this farce. You know that you can't get away now that you're alone. Just release the Princess and you don't have to pay with your life."

Sloan snapped, "Do you take me for a fool? Kidnapping is a capital punishment in Nirvania, not to mention that it's the Princess we're kidnapping! Now, stay right there if you want her to live! [Sleep Powder]!" Using the hand which previously pressed against the Princess' throat, Sloan released a sparkly gas that headed quickly towards Ray who remained hapless.

Unbeknownst to Sloan, in the middle of his exchange with Ray, Nikki began to stir and after he activated his Enigma Ability, Nikki quickly made use of his momentary weakness to elbow him in the gut with Wind magic. Sloan gasped in pain as he released Nikki immediately. Nikki swiftly followed up with a [Rising Tornado] spell that blew the gas up into the sky before it could reach Ray.

Before Sloan could scratch her with his claws, Ray quickly activated his [Lightning Body] and finished the detestable man off with a well-placed [Lightning Blade], careful to avoid his venomous claws. Sloan collapsed onto the ground like a ragdoll, devoid of life.

After Ray deactivated his spell, Nikki rushed towards him and embraced him tightly, crying, "I was so scared, seeing my guards killed in cold blood and then waking up to find a man holding me hostage!" Ray comforted her, "You're very brave, Nikki. If you hadn't reacted so quickly earlier, I would have got caught by his Enigma Ability and he would have escaped with you in custody. Thank you, Nikki."

Nikki was heartbroken to see Ray in such a terrible state. After all, he had activated his [Lightning Body] twice and even though he didn't suffer from any major injuries from his enemies, he was nonetheless in a very poor condition. Nikki asked tearfully, "You're in such a terrible shape…why would you go so far for me, Ray?"

To her surprise, Ray replied with a bright smile, "For you were my first and best friend. You were always there for me, through both good and bad. Without you and your family, I wouldn't have been able to overcome the grief of losing my only parent, not to mention achieve as much as I have today. I always want to be there for you too, because I…"

Nikki felt extremely ashamed of herself. Here, she had doubted that Ray no longer treasured their friendship when in reality, he had held it much closer to his heart. Suddenly, a strong wave of emotions bubbled within her, an inexplicable feeling she had never felt before. Ray suddenly appeared more charming than before, despite his haggard appearance.

Compelled by her emotions, Nikki lost control of her body as her lips pressed against Ray's, who was shocked at the princess' sudden gesture. Nonetheless, he let nature take its course as he closed his eyes and reciprocated her action, embracing for what felt like eternity.

When they were done, Ray was shocked to discover that they were surrounded by his fellow Black Ops members, who were standing out in the open as though they had been watching all this time. Ray stammered, "Woah! W-What's going on? How come all of you are suddenly here?" Melvin replied, "Everyone, how did you enjoy my display of art? With my [Stasis], I could freeze that special moment for everyone to enjoy, wahahaha!"

Steven shook his head in disapproval, Arkad was laughing awkwardly and Katrina said gently, "Well, I hope it just stays at kisses for now." Both Nikki and Ray exclaimed, "Katrina!" as the Nirvanians all laughed heartily, glad that the mission was a success.

Ray concluded, "And so that was it. My side of the story when you were busy being Sleeping Beauty." Nikki elbowed him as she retorted, "Hmph! I was just caught off guard okay? Haven't you forgotten that you owe me one for saving you from that man's [Sleeping Powder]!"

Ray replied cheekily, "I thought I repaid that debt already then? However, it's a debt I don't mind repaying over and over again for eternity." as he suddenly pulled Nikki close to him, his lips pressing against hers. In her delight, Nikki simply relaxed, closing her eyes as she rested on Ray's embrace. Ah, if only such moments lasted forever…