Soon enough, she spotted the end of the dragon flight, flying under the dark sky. It was an impressive army, and Jill and Meine had no other support. Still, neither of them faltered.
“Go forth, my strong golden wings!” Jill shouted.
Meine expelled a breath of fire that tore through the night sky. A dark-misted dragon evaporated in a flash, and one of the Arks fell. They all flew in a vertical line without assuming formation, so Meine continued to expel fire straight ahead, taking down as many as it could. The panicking Arks began to disperse in a horizontal line, leaving the center wide open. Jill aimed straight for Millay at the front. Some of the Arks with backbones regained their balance and pointed their guns at Jill.
The Dragon Consort kicked the saddle and soared through the sky. She transformed her Sacred Treasure into a whip and aimed for the black spear in Millay’s hand, but her attack was easily parried. Millay locked eyes with Jill above her.
“Dragon Consort…” Millay mumbled with a troubled expression.
“If you surrender, I’ll spare your life,” Jill said.
Meine flew right below Jill’s feet, and the Dragon Consort landed as the pair barred Millay’s path.
“Or do you think you’re stronger than me, Millay, commander of the Arks?” Jill asked.
Millay narrowed her blue eyes and drew her chin back. She could see the Rakia mountains in the distance, and the sky was turning a light purple hue. Dawn was about to break, and she was still nowhere near the border.
“My parents were taken by the Arks,” Millay said.
Jill stared back blankly.
“The Arks saw my talent with spells, and had me infiltrate the imperial castle to get closer to His Majesty,” Millay said sadly. “But His Majesty was just so nice to me… He told me to flee so that my life would be spared, at the very least.”
“You’re saying that His Majesty agreed to this plan?” Jill asked.
“That’s right. This will allow us to make the first move against Kratos.”
Millay stared right at Jill, and the Dragon Consort didn’t avert her gaze as she let out a hearty chuckle.
“You don’t believe me?” Millay asked.
“How can I?” Jill replied. “You’ve got the Sacred Spear in your hand.”
Millay widened her eyes with surprise.
“A person who can wield the Goddess like that, being threatened?” Jill laughed. “Oh, that’s too funny.”
“Ah, I see you’re more wary than the Dragon Emperor, Dragon Consort,” Millay replied.
“Pardon? Do you think that His Majesty lacks vigilance?”
“Why else would he make me into an empress candidate?” Millay adamantly mocked. She sounded triumphant and like she pitied Jill. “He made no effort to search for you and relied on me as he wooed me. I was so disappointed to see the Dragon Emperor just being a normal guy.”
Woo? Jill could easily imagine Hadis going, “W-Woo you?! You’re too young for that, you pervert!” His face would be red as he mumbled sheepishly. How could wooing be perverted anyway? Wait, now’s not the time for that.
“I understand that the Dragon Consort serves as the Dragon Emperor’s shield, but I sympathize,” Millay continued. “You didn’t even get a search team sent out for you. Move, Dragon Consort. You can’t overturn the difference in numbers.”
Jill sighed. It seemed the two ladies differed greatly in their understanding of Hadis; perhaps it would be kind to allow Millay to keep misunderstanding the situation.
“His Majesty didn’t search for me because he wanted to hide me from you,” Jill said.
“You sound like a sore loser,” Millay replied.
“You’re happy, aren’t you? I get it. His Majesty is so handsome. But he doesn’t care about you one bit.” Jill couldn’t take the high road—she couldn’t be so mature. “You’ve misread all the signals. And for that, I apologize in my husband’s stead.”
A ball of magical energy came flying, and Jill jumped from Meine to leap into the air. She transformed her Sacred Treasure into a sword and attacked Millay from above. The Ark commander thrust out the spear to parry the blow.
“Misread?! That’s impossible!” Millay declared.
It wasn’t the tip of the spear that made contact with the sword, but the magic circle that appeared from it. Jill didn’t feel threatened by Millay’s magical energy, implying that the Sacred Spear was the main force. The Ark commander used a spell to siphon up magical energy, absorbed the energy from the Sacred Spear, and converted it into new spells. This entire process had two or three layers to it, and under normal circumstances, this sort of conversion was nigh impossible. It seemed calling Millay a genius wasn’t an overestimation of her skills.
“How dare you say such careless words just because you’re a child with no charm!” Millay shouted. “Apologize!”
The magic circle shattered as though it had caused a tantrum of its own, and Jill was blown back. Meine soared through the air to catch the Dragon Consort’s body from the side while getting rid of the enemies shrouded in black mist. The red dragon glided around Millay, searching for an opening to seize.
“You think he doesn’t care about me?! That’s impossible!” Millay roared. “I even sealed up the Goddess!”
Yeah, that Sacred Spear’s the problem here. As long as she continues to use that, I’ll be needlessly wasting my magical energy.
“I’m even winning against the Dragon Consort!” Millay shouted. “It’s no wonder the Dragon Emperor tries to woo me!”
I feel like I stepped on a sore spot somehow… Did I trigger something?
“I’m really sorry about my Dragon Emperor,” Jill hastily said. “Um, I do advise you to forget about him soon.”
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” Millay screeched.
“Maybe he’s just too much for you…”
“I told you to shut up!”
Meine flew above, dodging all the anti-flight magic circles. Several tiny magic circles appeared, all aimed squarely at Jill above the Arks’ heads.
“Die, Dragon Consort,” Millay rumbled. “I never had any business with you in the first place.”
But spells were of little use if they never made contact with their opponent. Jill channeled her magical energy into the soles of her shoes and kicked the saddle to fly as fast as she could go. Before the magic circle could explode, she landed behind Millay and swung down her sword. The Sacred Spear seemed to pull Millay along as it defended her against the attack.
“Damn it! Why didn’t you die from that?!” Millay cried with frustration.
She didn’t react to that attack. The Sacred Spear had sensed a sliver of Jill’s magical energy and moved to protect its wielder. Is the Sacred Spear mistaking Millay for Faris?
“I’m the commander of the Arks!” Millay shouted. “I’ll never lose to you!”
“Freaking snap out of it, Goddess Kratos!” Jill roared as loud as she could.
Millay shut her mouth in surprise.
“How much longer will you be used by this pathetic child?!” Jill shouted. “You want me to snap you in half again? Are you sure you’re fine with that?”
“Wh-What are you…” Millay stammered. “The Goddess is just a source of magical energy and nothing more! She exists so that I can use her—”
“And you, cut it out!”
Jill used sheer might to push Millay away with her sword. The Ark commander was blown away, and Jill swung her blade down from above. Millay immediately used a spell to create a barrier of protection, and Jill shattered it almost instantly. The Dragon Consort saw herself reflected in Millay’s surprised eyes.