“What, does this… what do you mean by this, older sister?!”
Listeard’s scream was drowned out by the loud cries of the soldiers charging towards him. The sound of the soldier’s boots was exactly like that of falling debris. Zeke pulled out his great sword and clicked his tongue.
“The worst-case scenario has happened! The leader betrayed us!”
“Abandon the horses and run for the forest!”
“Let’s meet at the planned location—but what about Jill-chan~?!”
As Hadith looked up, Jill, whom was being restrained by Elynsia, was placed on a dragon. Elynsia must be planning to take Jill to the Imperial Capital as a hostage. A smile descended to his lips—
—his gentle half-sister seemed to appreciate Jill a lot.
“Your Highness Listeard, let’s escape! The difference in numbers is too big! We also don’t have dragons on our side!”
“I will be fine! All of you, just escape with Hadith!”
By the time Listeard uttered those words, he was already straddling his horse, about to unsheathe the sword on his waist.
Hadith, who stood his ground, appeared to be dazed.
“…Listeard, are you going to betray us too?”
“What nonsense are you spouting—! I’m going to talk with oOlder Ssister! I’ll also do something about Jill! That’s why, Hadith, you have to run! All of you, protect Hadith! This is an order!”
“…No.”
Elynsia’s dragon began to fly.
While desperately resisting, Jill kept staring at Hadith. The only good thing was instead of being scared, Jill was full of concern.
Even in that situation, Jill was worried about Hadith.
“Everyone, leave me behind and focus on retrieving Jill.”
“Wait a minute, Your Majesty, what exactly are you planning~? No can do~!”
“That’s right, you’re coming with us!”
“It’s an order—Dragon Knights of the Dragon Princess.”
The two Dragon Knights stiffened in an instant—it was as if they were struck through the chest.
Listeard, whom was desperately screaming, was being stopped by his subordinates.
That alone was enough.
For everyone to still not betray me, it’s considered a miracle.
The magical power, which coursed through his right hand, gave a numbing reaction instead of manifesting the heavenly sword. Instead, Hadith drew the long sword on his waist.
“Let’s go, Rave.”
“You don’t have enough magical power to contest against that fake heavenly sword! Be careful!”
“Who do you think I am? My current power is enough.”
If it was only to retrieve Jill, then it would be.
***
A tornado of magical power rose up from the ground, the noise was akin to an erupting geyser. The soldiers engulfed by it screamed as they were thrown into the air.
Jill, who was watching from the back of the dragon, turned around.
“Your Majesty…!”
“!? Roza, what’s the matter—…”
Roza, who turned her back on Hadith, and was preparing to ascend into the clouds, suddenly stopped, as if frozen. On the contrary, Roza awkwardly turned to the opposite direction while maintaining her altitude in the sky.
Surrounded by soldiers on the ground diagonally below, Hadith stood alone and laughed.
“To utilize a dragon right before me, the Dragon Emperor. Could it be you’re trying to make it easy for me?”
“No, Roza! Don’t fall under Hadith’s command!”
“Don’t falter! His magical power should be exhausted by now, everyone, charge!”
Following Georg’s command, the dragons spout out fire, even though the trajectories were off. Infantrymen with spears, soldiers on the back of the horses—everyone began to charge at the lone Hadith.
“Your Majesty—!!”
With his posture lowered, Hadith truncated and kicked his enemies as he ran through them. He trampled on some of their heads, and leaped over others. He even managed to cut off a dragon’s wing, and kicked it down.
Amidst the screams, there was an angry commanding voice —
“—There’s only a single enemy! What the hell are you doing!?”
“T, this monster…!”
That’s not true, Jill thought.
Even when Hadith’s thigh was pierced by a spear, or a chunk of his shoulder was scooped out by the tip of a sword—he never stopped.
That was precisely because he was strong.
From the tip of his sword, only a small amount of magical power could be felt—
The day had finally arrived where he used his enchanting silvery-white magic to protect someone.
The stardust-like magical power shone from the man whom was running straight for Jill.
“—!”
Gakun—!
Roza dropped her altitude. Elynsia held Jill. Jill didn’t think it was so she wouldn’t escape—no, Elynsia was protecting Jill from the wind pressure.
“Don’t let cry out. You don’t have a dragon guardian. You’ll bite off your tongue.”
“—!”
“…My little brother sure is strong… no, I no longer have the right to call him that, don’t I?”
That hopeless look. That tone full of self-depreciation. Jill was very familiar with them.
It was at that one-time encounter. It was the exact same expression Elynsia wore before she struck her own neck with a dagger so that at the very least she wouldn’t be Hadith’s weakness. Even though she knew Hadith was coming, Elynsia didn’t unsheathe her sword.
“This monster—!”
Hadith, who escaped Georg’s powerful blow, kicked his back and jumped into the sky using the green dragon beside him as a stepping stone. Stomping on the descending Roza’s head, his bloody longsword lunged—
—to separate his sister’s neck.
“Don’t kill her, Your Majesty!”
Hadith’s sword sheared off a lot of Elynsia’s silver hair before it stopped. The wind coming from the sky unraveled that hair as it blew it away.
However, Hadith’s eyes, filled with murderous intent, remained the same.
“Why, Jill? She’s a traitor.”
The Hadith who longer thought of the woman before him as his sister pained Jill’s chest.
Still, Jill reached out.
“It’s alright, Your Majesty. It’s fine, there’s still no need to kill her.”
“…”
“If you exert yourself more than that, you’ll collapse again—it’s alright, I’m here for you.”
The moment her fingertips gently touched his bangs, Hadith fell back like a doll with broken strings.
Elynsia reached out in a hurry.
“Hadith—!”
“Your Majesty!?”
The moment she saw Elynsia receiving Hadith, Jill’s collar was pulled from behind and her body floated in the air.
Georg’s cold expression was reflected in her eyes.
“Now that Hadith has been captured, you’re of no use to me.”
“Uncle! That’s not what you promised me! Jill—!”
While holding Hadith, Elynsia tried to reach out, but she was too late.
The wind blowing from the sky swept off the light body of a child.
If I fall, I’ll surely die.
Up until this point, Hadith jumped up from numerous platforms using small amounts of magical power. However, because their magical power capacities were different to begin with, the two could not be said to have recovered the same amount of magic.
In short, Jill didn’t have the necessary amount of magic to block the impact of falling onto the ground from that height.
Your Majesty, you’re strong enough by yourself—
—despite so,
I still want to support you.
Reaching out towards her one and only dear husband whom was being embraced by Elynsia and wasn’t move at all, what came into view was but a small hand.
I want to support him. I want to protect him—
—because I have decided so.
Because I’m here, now, to change that future—that future in which only he himself remained.
“Die.”
Georg’s red dragon opened his mouth. The flame which approached her was the flame of judgment which belonged to the Dragon God.
Jill shouted, clenching her fists which couldn’t reach anything, into balls.
“If you think you can do it, then feel free to try—for I am the Dragon Princess!”
Due to the flame, her field of vision was dyed red.
The flame, which radiated from the ground, burned the air, the earth, and Jill’s body along with her consciousness.