“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”
The two spears activated their magic circles and surrounded the Heavenly Sword, changing the deity’s form. The familiar shape of a fat snake with wings emerged. People called him a god. They laughed at him because they couldn’t see him. They mocked him because they couldn’t hear him. Hadis reached out.
“No!” he cried.
A black spear and golden light rained down from the sky. The tears that had formed in the Dragon Emperor’s eyes were blown away as a fiery wind of magical energy blew through the area. The blinding light obscured his vision, but it was clear that Rave was within the sphere, trapped by the magic circles. The Sacred Spear swung its tip down from above. Jill immediately followed with her sword from the Sacred Treasure and used all her might to crack the orb.
“lET…GOOOO!” the Goddess furiously roared.
Hadis recalled Faris mentioning that the Goddess would transform at the sight of her brother.
“yOU LoWlY hUMaN sCUUUm!”
Magic circles glowed in the air, reminiscent of the ones the Arks had used. Jill was surprised, but she showed no signs of her magical energy being sapped away. The magical sphere began to transfer to the black spear.
“You guys always, aLWays ruin my bROthEr! You don’t even bat an eye as you try to eAt me aLiVe, too! aGHHH!”
A loud crack rang out from the magic circle. In a last-ditch effort, an explosive gust of magic blew toward them. Jill could barely hang onto her sword, but Kratos didn’t even flinch.
“eVEN IF My BrOTHeR OffERS FORGiVEnESS, i’LL NEvER fORgIVE YoUUU!”
The Goddess of Love used the tip of her blade to pierce through all that barred her path. Jill reached out and grabbed the adoptive father of her beloved. The two spears began to glow, and the magic circles exploded, blowing her back. Hadis caught her.
“Rave! Jill!” he shouted.
“Your Majesty, take Rave!” Jill ordered.
She placed Rave and Hadis behind her as she turned to the Goddess. A lady stood there, her slender shoulders rising and falling as she caught her breath, her hair glimmering under the morning sunrise. The Goddess no longer took the shape of the spear since the magical shield of the Rakia mountains had been shattered.
The Goddess looked as though she stepped straight out of a myth. Her slender limbs were pale and beautiful, her skin smooth as porcelain. She looked as evanescent as a flower petal flying away in the breeze, yet the sunlight couldn’t outshine her beauty. Only a flower crown adorned her head.
“Missy, I troubled you, didn’t I? I’m sorry,” Rave said.
He told Hadis, who was on the brink of tears as he called out the deity’s name, that he was all right. The deity slithered onto the Dragon Emperor’s shoulder, assuming his usual position.
“Long time no see, Kratos,” Rave said calmly.
Hadis didn’t seem as vigilant as usual; in fact, he seemed troubled when he realized that Kratos had saved him this time. But Jill kept a firm grip on her Sacred Treasure and pointed the blade at Kratos. She felt an inexplicable sense of unease.
“I’ll thank you for saving me,” Rave said.
“Who…are you?” Kratos asked.
Rave blinked, and Hadis furrowed his brows. Jill tightly held onto her blade. Alarm bells rang loudly in her head—she’d experienced the same scene on that snowy night. The Goddess’s glassy eyes reflected the Dragon God as she spoke like a dazed child.
“WhO aRe yOu?” she asked.
The sound of a bell that moved time rang out. It was Rave who spoke first, perplexed.
“You don’t know who I am?” he asked.
“You’re… Are you Rave? Dragon God Rave?” she asked.
“Did your memories get all scrambled?” Hadis laughed.
But the Goddess was still in a daze as she shook her head, her eyes wide with confusion.
“No… Why… How? Dragon Consort, this isn’t right, right?” The Goddess desperately turned to Jill. “He wasn’t like this, was he?”
“I first saw Rave at Prince Gerald’s birthday party,” Jill said quietly, telling the truth.
That day, when Kratos turned back time, changed Jill’s life. In her first life, the Dragon Consort had never seen Rave.
Kratos looked astonished. “That can’t be… I… I decided on a do-over!”
“Kratos, what are you on about? What did you do now?” Rave asked.
“Why aren’t you in the same form as the past?!” Kratos cried.
Hadis and Rave stiffened behind Jill.