“Sorry for the late introduction. I am the King of Kratos, Rufus. Feel free to call me older brother Rufus? I have been succeeded by my excellent son and am now free to go sightseeing. I’m still thirty. Despite still being this young, I’m already retired—don’t you think it’s terrible?”
He was a chatty man.
While flicking the heavenly sword from below, Hadith replied.
“As I already said earlier—I’m not interested.”
“I see, I see. Do you answer and talk like that? I always thought about it when I was young—what kind of face does the Dragon Emperor have? How does he talk? How does he laugh or cry? How does he fight?!”
A sword with a shape similar to that of the heavenly sword was swung down. Even after receiving a blow from the true heavenly sword, it didn’t have a single dent.
Jill recalled seeing the same sword somewhere.
That was right.
It was the fake sword Hadith’s uncle had used. It was made of the Holy Spear of the Goddess.
Meanwhile, that man was the King of Kratos. In other words, the substitute for the Dragon Emperor, the man who would become the husband of the Goddess. As such, for such a man to exert the same power as the heavenly sword wasn’t impossible. Moreover, half of Hadith’s magical power was currently sealed.
“I don’t know.”
“It seems that I’m the first man to ever discover this! Such a fun meet and greet session! It was worth coming all the way here!”
“Well, then, why don’t you just go home?”
Towards Hadith’s cold remark, Rufus laughed, lifting both ends of his lips.
“That can’t do! I haven’t met Dragon Princess-chan, yet!”
Before the frowning Hadith, Rufus licked his lips.
“Be it our battle, or anything else, the Dragon Princess is the start of it all, don’t you think?”
“…What are you saying?”
“Oh, I see, you don’t know? As expected of the rational Dragon God of Reason. He immediately forgets about any inconvenience, just to stay rational!”
The sword that swept Hadith from the side broke his stance. At that moment, Rufus’ magical power hit Hadith directly.
“I’m a compassionate fella. I pity our Goddess of Love, she who goes crazy after remembering everything.”
Rufus’ magical power scattered as it was. Hadith had spread his arms to create a barrier.
“Is that it? You’re going to protect the city? Then, as to be expected—”
—Rufus laughed and swung his sword down. His slash turned into magical attack.
Unable to receive the blow, Hadith crashed into the ground on his back. He vomited blood, but got up immediately. If he didn’t, he’d die.
Soon enough, Rufus came chasing him from the sky.
“Come on, show me your true nature, Dragon Emperor~!”
Rufus’ black eyes reflected Hadith. He turned around and shook his sword. However, attacks descended on him one after another as if to stop him.
“…Rave.”
“That’s right.”
The light belonged to the Dragon Princess’ sacred relic. A girl flew down in front of Hadith like a meteor.
“A, aren’t you, His Majesty the King—no, the Southern King?”
Rufus, who had landed on the ground, turned around after deflecting all the magical arrows that rained upon him.
“So, you know about me? Oh, by the way, I overheard your name. You’re from the Saber family, right, Dragon Princess-chan?”
“That’s right.”
The petite girl transformed the golden bow in her hand into a golden sword and pointed it at the man.
Seeing how beautiful she was, like that of a war goddess, Hadith couldn’t help but reach towards her.
What a relief—
—such was Jill’s initial impression when she saw Hadith.
Although he stood tall, he was full of wounds. There was no doubt that he had gone without sleep for three days. If he was already like that, how was she going to wring his neck?
“You can’t, Jill. You won’t be able to win.”
When she wondered what he was about to say, he said that instead.
Pissed, Jill grabbed his extended hand and threw him to the ground.
After Hadith had fell to the ground, she grabbed his collar.
“Your Majesty, what did you say just now?”
“W, well, even if you have the sacred relic, there’s no way you’d win…”
“After finally reuniting, that’s the first thing you say?! You stupid husband!!!”
That was it.
She’d strangle his neck with both hands.
Rufus stood right behind her, but she didn’t care. Without regard for Rufus, Jill got mad at Hadith.
“Don’t you have anything else to say!? What about when you left to start a bakery without permission!?”
“You’re still saying that?! Don’t you know how worried I was?!”
Towards Jill, who was shouting, Hadith shut up.
Her vision got blurry for some reason. Jill wiped her eyes, deciding that they were sweating.
It had to be sweat.
There was no way she was that soft.
Jill turned to Rufus.
“You! You’re the one who made My Majesty this way!”
“It seems so.”
“So, any intention of retreating, yet!?”
“Nope. There’s no way I’d lose to you. Even if you have the sacred relic, you don’t have the gold ring.”
Jill dropped her gaze on her left hand. Certainly, the gold ring couldn’t be seen. That was because Jill’s magical power hadn’t returned. The gold ring was the proof that she was the Dragon Princess. It was also understood that the amount of magic she possessed was directly linked to the strength of the sacred relic.
“Besides, I came to see you. Therefore, you have to entertain me!”
“Jill, no—!”
Hadith, who tried to stand in front of Jill, was kicked away.
You’re in the way.
“As a wife, you’re pretty scary, Dragon Princess-chan.”
“I won’t give you any chances!”
She wielded the golden sword and swung it around. With ease, Rufus deflected her attacks, and even blew her away at some point. After trying to reposition herself, Jill was overtaken from behind, and her back was slammed by the bottom of his hilt.
Hadith got up and shouted.
“Jill, I will assist you!”
“Hmm? Well, this development is to be expected.”
Jill spun and landed on the ground. Briefly after, Rufus came charging from above. A round crater appeared on the ground due to the heavy pressure. As she tried to block his attack, her golden sword was slowly pushed back.
He’s strong!
She knew it from the time Hadith was pushed back, but their difference in ability was also more than she imagined.
His amount of magical power—it was probably due to his weapon.
“How disappointing, Dragon Princess-chan. Should I find a replacement for you?”
As he kept pushing her sword, Rufus laughed. Jill groaned. Her knees were starting to buckle.
“Replacement, you say…”
“Yes. If I kill you, he’ll have to look for a new Dragon Princess all over again.”
Such a thing…
Jill gritted her teeth and raised her head. Her ring hadn’t returned to the ring finger of her left hand. She didn’t have enough magical power. The golden light was fading. Rufus’ eyes were narrowed in pity.
“I understand what you’ve gone through. You carry a heavy burden. Be it the Dragon Emperor, or the Dragon God, none of them understand love. Even the Goddess’ love failed to reach them.”
For some reason, the previous event resurfaced in her mind.
[—I wish I hadn’t loved such a man.]
She had no reason to dwell on that.
But, what happened, really?
I love His Majesty.
She knew that.
There was no misunderstanding.
I feel powerful.
Her feelings were reciprocated.
With all her strength in her knees, she stood up. The golden magical power shone.
“Good! That’s it! That’s what I came for!”
Rufus’ eyes widened as he got pushed back.
The golden sword blew Rufus to the side. At the same time, the sword transformed into a spear. Jill threw the large golden spear at Rufus who was blown back.
Right on the verge of being stabbed, Rufus caught the golden spear. However, the Dragon Princess’ sacred relic, which transformed into a whip, captured his body.
The tip of the whip and the ring that shone on Jill’s left ring finger were connected.
“If so, tell the Goddess that my love for His Majesty is better!”
Jill pulled the whip and slammed Rufus on the ground as he was.
Rufus sank along with the sound of the earth, and the impact caused buildings to collapse from above.