Jill kept her eyes on the Goddess as she said, “Your Majesty, you can’t listen to her.”
“I know that, but…” Hadis started.
“Why? I turned back time to before my brother and I lost our divinity!” Kratos shrieked. “Where did I go wrong? No, I did well! Before the war got serious, I turned Kratos back as much as I could! I decided it with Faris, and I couldn’t have made a mistake on such an important matter! I know I turned everything back as it once was!”
One thing came to Jill’s mind. When Rave rewrote logic in Laika, he had turned Hadis into the Dragon Emperor of the previous generation. The Dragon Emperor of three centuries ago, before Rave had lost his divinity, was supposed to appear. And yet, the one that manifested was Hadis from six years ago. And if that was the previous generation… Jill thought.
Time hadn’t been turned back. Time, which was supposed to have ended when the Sacred Spear pierced Jill and she reverted to a ten-year-old, had continued to tick by.
“I was only able to do it because I wasn’t tied by logic!” Kratos cried. “I-Is it because B-Brother lost his divinity and…disappeared?”
Kratos glared at Hadis and Rave.
“A-Are you bRoTheR?” she asked.
Both Rave and Hadis frowned as they fell silent. Kratos began to laugh as her eyes, glossed over, gazed into the far distance.
“You must be! You can’t be anyone else! Of course not! No, no, no!” Kratos shouted. “Don’t you remember? Oh, I don’t mind if you don’t! Even if that’s logical!”
Kratos vanished and took the form of a spear of the darkest black—the Sacred Spear of the Goddess. Jill braced herself.
“That vessel, that Dragon Emperor, isn’t the one!” Kratos shouted. “If time has truly continued since then, nothing has become null and void!”
“Your Majesty, stand back!” Jill shouted.
“Move, Dragon ConsOOOOOrt!”
The furious Goddess flew forward, and Jill parried the attack with her sword, but she could barely defend herself. Damn, she’s got her magic back! The Goddess had absorbed the magical energy from the red and blue spears.
“yOU CaN’t WiN, dRAgON cONsOrT!”
“Don’t screw with me! I’ll protect His Majesty!” Jill roared back. “That’s why I’m the Dragon Consort!”
When the Goddess was pushed back, she regained her balance in the air and split into pieces, just as she’d done in Beilburg. But this time, she didn’t aim for the city—she focused it all on Jill and Hadis behind her. The shrill laughs of the Goddess echoed through the bright sky. The pieces of the Goddess around Jill began to jeer with glee.
“yOU THInK YoU CaN WiN wItH LoVe? nOT A CHaNcE! zErO! zILcH! yOU’Ve GoT nO HOpE! dON’T YoU WAnT To KnOw?”
“dOES hE REaLlY NoT REmEmBEr?”
“dON’t YoU WaNT tO kNOw WHaT HAppENeD To ThE mAN yOU lOvE?”
I can’t lend an ear to her words! This is what the Arks tried to do to me! But…
“You want to know, don’t you? That’s what it means to love another.”
The Sacred Spear glided by Jill’s side as though to take advantage of the Dragon Consort’s hesitance. Hadis gripped his Heavenly Sword, but Rave was exhausted, and there was no telling how long he could last. Kratos laughed loudly.
“This is love! Logic can’t defend against it! You, who has no love, cannot protect yourself!”
The Heavenly Sword and the Sacred Spear clashed, but the former clearly had a fainter glow.
“Your Majesty!” Jill cried.
No, I can’t have him remember! I can’t have him revert! Jill didn’t want Hadis to become the frightful emperor who cursed the world and smiled as he killed his siblings, burned the people, destroyed the villages, and lost even his adoptive father again.
“Recall your past, Dragon Emperor! Back then, you were truly—”
Just then, a clear sound cut her off. It sounded like a bell or a ringer. It purified all evil and made one want to stand up straight and be on the side of justice. A blast of wind blew the Sacred Spear back, and it slammed against a spire and fell. A magic circle glimmered in the sky. It was difficult to see amid the bright, azure sky and the sunlight, but it was awfully similar to the magic circle that had appeared earlier. Anyone could instinctively tell what it was by its sheer aura—it was the divine crest of Dragon God Rave.
“Cut it out, Kratos,” a voice said. The God of Dragons descended from the sky, his small form manifesting properly. He sternly arrived to show the right path. “If we fight here, another war will break out.”
“Why… Why do you always… What did you do?!”
The Goddess of Love refused to agree, knowing there may be no love on the correct path.
“What did you do back then, dRAGON gOD rAAAVE?!”
“Kratos,” a small voice rang out.
The Goddess gasped and saw the tiny queen. She was standing atop a half-destroyed castle wall, supported by Lawrence as the breeze blew against her.
“Stop. We promised, didn’t we?” Faris asked.
“F-Faris…”
“You’re not alone anymore.”
Strength and murderous intent left the Sacred Spear.
“I apologize for the inconvenience caused, everyone,” Faris said. “Goddess Kratos is simply a touch confused after being abducted by the Arks.”
Under the sunny, blue sky, the queen smiled brightly.
“Now then, we can finally begin our meeting.”