A few hours after the kidnapping, the carriage finally stopped. A man in a mask told them to get out of the carriage. The rope on their feet was loosened for them to walk. Anyone who was slow was pulled violently to the ground.

Kairi, who was already out, looked around them.

"Is this their base?" He thought silently.

In front of him stood six large tents and two small tents with a campfire on his right. The area was also filled with masked people walking and guarding each tent.

"Who are they? They look like some kind of an organisation."

"You, hurry up!" Someone kicked him from behind.

Kairi grunted in pain and realised all the victims were forced to move to a nearby tent and then locked up inside it. Not only both of them were there but several other kidnapped people were also in the tent. Aries sat next to him while leaning against the tent wall behind them.

"What do these people want to do with us?" Asked Kairi in his mind.

He knows Aries has been eavesdropping on him.

"Can't you guess? They might want to sell us or kill us for our organs." Aries replied in his mind.

Kairi instantly felt sick.

"Or they want something from us..." Aries continued while shrugging.

Kairi gives her a dead stare. That answer was still not helpful. A moment later, two masked men entered the tent looking at all of them.

Kairi noticed that they had been staring at all the young adults around him. Which means he and Aries were one too. One of them approached him and then pulled his collar down.

Kairi immediately went alert. It was really obvious that they were looking for people with a necklace.

"Aries, be careful! I think they are looking for stellar users!" Shouted Kairi in his mind.

Aries already knew without Kairi reminding her. Luckily, she had hidden her emblem elsewhere. After the man searched Kairi, he went for Aries next. The man chuckled and looked hotly at her.

"Such a good figure.” He chuckled. “Our boss surely will love it. Come!" Then, he grabbed her right arm.

"Aries!"

Kairi understood his meaning and was afraid that something bad would happen to her. He stood up and tried to stop the man from taking her away. He kicked the man's leg but was shocked to feel his leg hurt instead. He groans in pain while falling and rolling to his side.

What the heck does this man wear on his legs?!

"What's this? Does someone want to rescue the damsel in distress? Haha!"

The man laughed. Kairi's kick only tickled him. After all, he did wear a steel plate on his legs so it was obvious who was going to get hurt. The man's partner got near and laughed too.

"Maybe they're a couple. It'll be interesting to see their heartbroken expression when... Our boss violates her in front of him." He said evilly.

For that reason, Kairi was also taken to their boss. Their boss stays in one of the biggest tents at the back of their base.

"Kairi, are you okay?" Aries asked him.

She was carried on one of the man's shoulders. Kairi glared at her. He was in much pain. Both the masked men take pleasure at him by pulling one of his feet while his body was dragged along to their boss's tent. He couldn’t even fight back because of the pain on his back.

"I kinda wish the time goes back to where I met Virgo. I wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for him!" Kairi's heart was in tears.

Aries felt sympathies for him and also felt guilty for not being able to help their future leader. She was not that strong with her star power. She was thrown down in front of someone after being brought into their boss' tent.

As for Kairi, they just throw him beside her. Another groan came out of him. Aries's attention was not on Kairi anymore. She was stunned in place due to the ominous aura near her.

While holding his pain, Kairi's eyes saw a large pair of boots. How big is this guy?! He swallowed his saliva several times before daring himself to look up. His eyes widened while his face whitened.

The man who was sitting on a couch in front of him was so big that he felt the man come from the WWF arena. His thick eyebrows and fierce complexion made Kairi label this man as one of the big mafias. Also, probably his main hobby was torturing people.

Kairi's body let out a heavy sweat. The look in the man's eyes shows that he was looking at a rat. The man smiled while he swayed his hand for the two masked men to leave.

"Interesting, I didn't expect to meet one of the Bright Star users. I'm sure am lucky today!" The man's voice with a laugh scared Kairi and Aries.

Their expression went paler. He knows!

The man got up from the couch and headed towards Aries. Despite knowing that their life was in danger, Kairi still didn't want her to be harmed. So, he prevented the man from getting closer to her by moving his painful body in front of her.

The man stopped and stared at Kairi. His lips slowly formed a small smile.

"You got yourself a wonderful boyfriend, little user. Good, good!" He said before his smile fell.

In the blink of an eye, Kairi was lifted and thrown to the end of the tent. His body clashed against something hard. Because of this, his tattered body throbbed in pain again. Low groans were coming from him.

Aries looked at Kairi in panic and was even more anxious when the man approached Kairi.

"Let's see how long your boyfriend can last, little user."

The man found out who Aries was, just from her aura. And he gives a wicked smile to her without hiding his intention to torture Kairi which will also make her get despair slowly. Arriving in front of Kairi, the man grabbed Kairi's face and lifted him.

"You might not know me so I'll introduce myself. My name is Dark Ries, the last person you will remember before you die." The man laughed again.

"Kairi!" Aries exclaimed and tried getting up quickly to help Kairi.

She awakens her power while focusing her attack on Dark Ries. Unfortunately, before she could use it, Dark Ries, who knew the power of all Bright Star users, summoned his power. The shadow below him extended and went to wrap Aries’s body until her neck was choked by it.

Aries began to have short breaths. She tried to escape the shadow but it was unsuccessful because Dark Ries has the power of shadows instead of physical objects.

Kairi opened his eyes to see what was happening to her but his gaze was focused on something glowing coming from Dark Ries' chest. A black emblem with the carving shape of an unknown monster was hanging on Dark Ries' chest.

This emblem looks familiar…

"Rafiz... Didn’t Rafiz have one too?" He thought of old memories.

Back to four years ago…

A male teenager was laying on the ground with his head covered in blood. Eyes half-closed and still conscious, he felt someone appear beside him but he had no energy to see that person. Due to the lack of blood and fatigue that enveloped him, he finally fell into darkness.

He woke up again but was no longer in the woods where he fainted. Instead, he was in a small room that only had a single bed on which he lay. There’s a small table in the middle of the room with two wooden chairs, and a door that likely led out of the room. The window is at the end of the bed. He could not move and stared blankly at the canopy above.

A moment later, someone entered the room and approached him. It was a man with short spiky black purple hair. His eyes were the colour of blackness.

"You're awake?!" The man was surprised.

But Kairi didn’t respond to him. His eyes looked blank at the man.

"Erm, hello?" The man swayed his palm in front of his face.

The man's eyes widened and immediately checked the vein on his wrist.

"Nerve is unresponsive and... Brain damage… Might have memory loss too." The man mumbled in sympathy.

"But, don't worry! You'll get better. I'm sure of it!" The man smiled.

"My name is Rafiz. Since I don’t know if you still remember your name, I'll call you Kairi for now."

From that day on, every single day, Rafiz would come and help him with his daily needs like bathing, changing clothes, and feeding him. But, one day, Rafiz did not come at the same time he should have. Kairi has to wait for a long time until the day turns to night.

"Ra... Raf..."

Kairi, whose mind was a little clear and his body was getting a bit better, was able to speak but not in full sentences yet. His mind got worried since Rafiz didn’t appear after a long time.

"Rafiz..."

Then, he heard a rush of footsteps outside the room. The door was open quickly.

"Kairi! Sorry! I'm terribly sorry! You must be very hungry! I brought you dinner!" Rafiz apologised and immediately opened the package he brought with him.

While Rafiz was handling the dinner, Kairi looked at him. Rafiz was wearing dark attires and he saw a glimmer of something hanging around Rafiz's chest. The shape was like a locket but it had something crafted on it. He had never seen Rafiz wear it before.

"Okay, you rest first. I'll come again tomorrow. I promise to be on time from now on." Rafiz got up from the bed and moved to the door.

"Rafiz..."

Rafiz's movement stopped. He turned sharply at Kairi with eyes widened. He saw Kairi smiling at him in a slow motion.

"Tha, Thank... You..." Kairi still stuttered when he wanted to say thanks for Rafiz’s care.

"Ah, you speak! You...! You can speak now?! Oh my god!" Rafiz runs back to Kairi's bed. He expressed happiness that Kairi was able to recover a little.

Kairi nodded. He was truly grateful for Rafiz's concern. He slowly gets better at talking and then walking. But, he doesn’t remember anything from his past.

Since then, Kairi has lived with Rafiz and Rafael adopted him. His attitude changed as he lived with them and became who he was today. After three years, he still cannot forget the wonderful moments with his new family in Ryam Town.

"Could it be Rafiz... Is one of them...? But, I don't care who he is as long as Rafiz never changes. I need to help Aries now!"

Kairi just realized that his legs were free. Without further delay, he lifted his right leg and kicked Dark Ries's side. Unfortunately, his attack fails because Dark Ries notices it.

"Tsk! Tsk! Don't think I'm easily fooled, boy." Smirked Dark Ries.

He tightened his grip on Kairi's head. However, his movement stopped. Kairi gave him a grin in return.

"Yes, but you're still a fool," he replied in silence because his mouth was still wrapped up.

"You... You're playing... Dirty!" Told Dark Ries then he fell while moaning in pain. His hands' cup between his legs.

Kairi was let go and immediately ran towards Aries. He had used his other foot to kick Dark Ries' crotch. While he never intended to attack the weakest spot for men before, he had no other choice if he wanted to save them both. He also felt Dark Ries's pain in such a place.

Aries was released from the shadows. She kept coughing as Kairi ran toward her.

"Aries, hurry! We have to get out of here!" Told Kairi through his mind.

He knew Aries heard it. Aries replied with a nod and stood up again. As they were just about to run out of the tent, Dark Ries' shadow grabbed their legs, causing them to fall. The shadows also move to drag them towards Dark Ries again which now was very furious.

The look on his face, which still had the remnants of sweat from the pain on his member, did not directly impact his resentment. He wants to kill them now.

"Kairi, I forgot to tell you something," said Aries.

"This is not the time, Aries," Kairi growled while his hands chuck the ground to stop his dragging body.

"Yes, but I'm sure you want to know who he is, right? He's... One of the Deorc Star users."

Kairi looked at Aries with a pale expression.

You're going to tell me now?! Good, good, he was doomed to die today after all! Is there anyone?! Anyone save us!

Just as he was praying, the tent behind Dark Ries was destroyed and three shadows of people appeared from behind it.

"Kairi!"

Virgo called and he was relieved to see Kairi was still alive. He also noticed Aries beside Kairi.

"Aries?! You're here too?" He was surprised because he didn't expect to meet Aries there.

Wait, how'd she get caught too?

"Hi," replied Aries into Virgo's mind as well as Agi and Pegasus that came along.

"Please help us. Dark Ries over there..." Pointed Aries.

"What?! Dark Ries?!"

Virgo, Agi, and Pegasus looked at Dark Ries who was now turning to the three of them. They were already aware that a Deorc Star user was there in one of the tents.

What bad luck do they have and they just have to go through one of them directly?! Dark Ries was known as strong as their second-in-command. How are they going to defeat him with their weak power?