Asuka's hands were shaking in disbelief.

Not because she killed a person but because the person she shot seems to be standing there without any problems with a smile on his face.

"You should've shot one of these three instead" the said. His shoulder, which was shot by a gun just few seconds ago has already returned back to normal, leaving only trace of blood and hole on his shirt. "Anyway, that thing will ruin my plan so I'll keep it"

With that the gun in her hand was pulled towards him by an unknown force.

John was the only person who expected such outcome. Before things could get worse, he grabbed Asuka's hand and started running.

"Katsuragi-san, I'm gonna chase after her. Please take care of these two" Sakura joyfully shouted before chasing after them in full speed. She accidentally bumped into the strange guy (dark angel) on her way but didn't pay any attention and kept going. It was amazing how a little girl like her can run that fast. Little by little she was slowly catching up to the two.

"Tsk, stupid woman. Always leaving the hard work to others"

Kazuma was trying his best to keep his cool but it was difficult. After all, he literally teleported to an unknown place from his home, in front of the girl he was desperately searching for. It was as if the god has heard his prayer and made his wish came true.

And the strange guy in uniform... he didn't die or even bleed much after getting shot like a mythical being that only appears on movies. Perhaps he's the one who brought the three of them using magic or whatever thing it's called.

It was just too much information to take in within such a short period of time.

'And that idiot seems to care none of it'

He sighed towards the direction where Sakura ran off and took his phone out for a call.

"Send reinforcement to my location" He ended the call with that one sentence since there were more important things to care about.

"Tell me, who.. no, what are you? Did you bring us here?" Usato was the first to break the silence between the three. The strange man only smiled towards them. And with just snap of his fingers, an invisible force pressured their entire body, until they fell on their knees without being able to do much.

"It's nice to see my children turning into the real deal every passing day" His words were directed towards Usato. Then with a cold look, he turned towards Katsuragi.

"As for you.. well, you can go. I'll just satisfy my hunger with him for now"

The heavy pressure was lifted off from Katsuragi and he was able to move again. It was strange. Very strange. How can he make him kneel with just snap of a finger? Also hunger? Is he some kind of cannibal?

He felt frightened for the first time. Without caring for the other guy, he just ran towards the building where the other three has ran into.

Asuka was more important than that guy anyway. It'll be troublesome if Sakura does something stupid and accidentally hurt his girlfriend. Suddenly his attention was brought back to the unknown man who was holding hands with her.

'That scum.. Is he her lover? I don't think so. He looked too old to be a lover. No matter who it is, he won't die an easy death'

*******

"J-John.. I..I can't.. r-rest.. I'm dying..."

Asuka desperately gasped for breath. It was strange how she couldn't run more than this. Back in P.E class, with Asuka's body she easily outrun her classmates and was able to run several laps without single hint of exhaustion.

'Is it because the system is gone?'

As the main character, the system made sure to make her look perfect in every aspect. However now that it's gone, the magical support and cheats were also gone as well.

"Let's hide there"

Currently they were in a floor with full of boxes, which she assumed as mails. Weirdly enough, not a single worker can be seen.

They hid behind a bunch of boxes and hoped for Sakura to keep going upstairs. But like a hyena, she naturally knew they were on that floor somehow.

(A/n: how? Because she's a yandere lol)

"Yoshino-chan~ Please come out. If you come out now, I promise, I won't do anything to you"

Her sweet voice made Asuka cringe even more. It seems like the girl didn't lose her cheat skills even though the system isn't working.

How unfair.

"Are you here?... hmm.. not here. Or maybe here? .. again, I guessed wrong. Oh my, I'm so silly~"

Asuka was able to release a sigh of relief when the girl suddenly turned around and started walking towards the opposite direction.

"Let's count to three and make a run for it" John whispered into her ears, which Asuka nodded in response. Their hiding spot was too relevant to stay.

"..one...two...thr-.."

"Found ya~"

Before they could even stand up, a familiar voice can be heard from next to her.

Sakura was smiling towards them as usual like an innocent child.

Both of them couldn't move. Not because they were surprised of her or anything. Because she had a gun, pointed towards their direction.

"Long time no see, Yoshino-chan. I missed you soooooo much! However it looks like you haven't missed me at all"

All of her hostility was directed towards the unknown man next to her.

"I feel like I've seen you before.. Well, nevermind. You stole my thing so you should die!"

"STOP!"

Bang!

Asuka couldn't do anything as John's huge body fell over her.

"J-John, hey, I, I've to s-stop the bleeding.. d-do something, John, you're an immortal creature right? Please do something"

"Eh? I was aiming for the arm though. He shouldn't have moved. How stupid"

That comment only deepened the guilt Asuka was feeling. He got shot in the back because he moved to protect Asuka.

"I-I'm sorry.."

"No, don't go! Don't leave me alone! Y-you promised! You promised that you'll get me out of here!"

He felt bad leaving this weak unlucky human behind and not being able to help the god he serves.

"I- *cough *cough.. I won't die. I'll be watching over you"

That was the only thing he could do to make the little human feel better.

It could've been possible to save himself if he got a small injury but his new body, which was created by his last remaining power got damaged beyond fixing and took too much of his power. Because of this reason, his original body will cease to exist since it has no power left.

But unlike other mortals he'll turn into part of the life circle. Thus he had no regret left except from leaving this human behind.

'If only the lord was here..' he thought of the god who he served for thousands of years. But no matter how desperately he prayed, the god didn't come to save him.

'...Maybe he isn't coming because I lied to her'

John looked through the window, towards the clean blue sky.

'..Before this, I've never believed in gods. Because no matter how much I pray, nothing changes. It's better to rely on yourself rather than relying on something that won't come anyway'

He didn't know why but the voice of the human echoed in his head.

'I really wanted to prove her wrong..'

He felt himself slowly losing consciousness.

"J-John?".

Asuka was so shocked that she couldn't think clearly for a moment. On the other hand Sakura was also thinking of different thing.

"Yoshino, are you crying?"

It was her first time seeing her cry.

The Asuka Yoshino she knows is strong girl who barely even shows expressions. She's strong, cool, beautiful and good at everything she does. As far as she knows, Asuka is the perfect creature she has ever seen.

But seeing her so weak and vulnerable... It didn't feel right. If anything, she should be the one to cause Asuka's happiness, suffering or any other emotions but.... her beautiful doll was feeling sad for someone else instead.

"N, no, John.. please.. you promised!.." Asuka couldn't stop crying which worsened Sakura's mood even more.

"Yoshino-chan? W-why're you sad? He's nothing special anyway. Do you really care about this guy that much? Why?"

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

Sakura wanted to know. She wanted to know why her beautiful doll was acting in such an ugly manner for a that weird guy.

'Yoshino would never do that'

After thinking for a bit she reached a conclusion.

"Y-you're not Yoshino. You've changed.. I don't like it" Sakura slowly pointed the gun towards Asuka with shaking hand while her other hand clutched her hair to calm down the whisper that just kept screaming to kill.

"You should've remained the way you were. I'll just find a better way to keep you the way you are forever"

Asuka didn't care about all the crazy stuff Sakura was mumbling about. She also didn't care about the gun that was pointed towards her. Because she was scared.

Maybe it's better to die. It doesn't matter even if the dark angel or whatever eats her. She didn't have enough courage to keep going forward just by herself. Gripping John's hand in hers tightly, she clenched her eyes shut and waited for Sakura to finally end everything.

Thud!

Strangely, instead of a gun shot, she heard something fell down. When she opened her eyes, a man in full black clothes was standing over Sakura's body with a knife that was covered in red liquid.

"Wh-who.."

"Get up. I'll help you"

At the same time, the familiar bell sounds of messages overflowed.

*ding!

"Time"

Suddenly the unknown man aka the asked. Asuka didn't even notice him getting closer to her and kneeling down on one knee in front of her. His face can't be seen because of the mask and cap he was wearing but Asuka can tell he's a handsome man just by looking into his deep blue eyes.

"W-What?"

Not understanding what he meant by that one single word, she asked again but her words came out as stutter.

"Tell me how much time we've left. I meant the penalty time" the man repeated.

"Y-You know..?"

"I know about almost everything. Just tell me how much time we've left"

"Around ten minutes"

"Damn, I thought I managed to erase the penalty. Anyway, we've to hurry. Let's get going" he grabbed her hand and helped her move John's body from her lap before dragging her towards the stairs.

'How did he know? Isn't he just another character? Is he a yandere too? Should I trust him?'

Thousands of questions were swirling in her mind but she couldn't find the courage to ask him those questions.

"Where are we going?"

"Rooftop"

"Why?"

"Obviously to buy us time so that we can move to my route"

It was strange hearing those words from the character himself.

"Ahh.."

While running, Asuka tripped, hurting her ankle in the process. It wasn't severe but she was running out of breath and footsteps of people can be heard from downstairs getting closer and closer, making her nervous even more.

The unknown man stared at her for a second and lifted her in bridal style, as if she was made out of paper.

"Put me down, I can still run"

"Stay still"

Asuka just gave up and let him carry her. He was too strong for her to even refuse anyway.

'Damn, I'm a damsel in distress now. No, actually I have always been one but still..' she felt helpless but there was nothing she could do.

The system is already fixed anyway. So only way for her to escape is start a new route. Also it seems like this guy doesn't seem to be planning to hurt her or lock her up.

When they reached the rooftop, the unknown man asked for time again after putting her down. He didn't show any sign of fatigue despite carrying her all the way up here.

"4 minutes"

The door bursted open as soon as Asuka said that. The first one to show up was obviously Katsuragi, followed by many man that seems to be his bodyguards. Fortunately their magnificent entrance took quite long time, or at least that's what it felt like to Asuka.

"Ha..hahaha.. You're amazing Yoshino. Just a moment ago you were running with different man. Just how many guys do you have? If I remember correctly, you're still my girlfriend right? I don't ever remember breaking up with you"

Asuka used her every brain cell to buy both of them some time. She really wanted to end this route without experiencing the terrible pain of death again. Unfortunately with all of those guns pointed towards her, every second felt like a whole day.

"I didn't want to leave. It was Usato who kidnapped me"

She decided to converse with him first, though he looked like he was already planning to kill both of them.

"But you still choose to run away from me in the end. Answer me truthfully, do you love him?"

The answer was obvious. But she still took her sweet time to answer. Though it made her look like she was hesitating.

"I don't"

There's no reason for her to say she loves the guy when in reality she doesn't even know his name and that option can get both of them killed.

"Liar"

Nonetheless the outcome would be the same no matter what answer she give.

"Ariana, jump when I give you a signal"

Asuka stared at the guy in disbelief. Firstly, he knows her real name and secondly he was suggesting to jump from this tall building. They'll both die without doubt.

'But it might be better than getting shot'

Katsuragi started panicking when they suddenly started walking backwards, to the edge of the rooftop. He didn't like seeing her walking to her death with an unknown guy that wasn't him.

"Yoshino, I'll forgive you for betraying me if you leave that guy right now and return to me"

He carefully said and slowly approached them. She said she doesn't love him but why's she planning to jump with that guy?

Being a competitive person, Kazuma didn't like the idea of losing to whoever that guy was.

'If I can't have her then no one can'

"Ariana, now!"

"Fire!"

They both said in unison as Kazuma's guards started firing.

However he was one step late as Asuka has already disappeared from his sight.

"YOSHINO!" Kazuma's heart stopped beating for a second when he saw them jump.

She chose death over him.

He has lost her forever.

When he looked down, strangely not a single trace of them can be seen below.