His brother stubbornly muttered, “Laica,” while shoving him aside.  He tried to run, but quickly staggered and then leaned against a nearby tree.

“…Poi…son?”
“You shouldn’t heal it with magic.  That’ll only make it spread faster— although it looks like it’s already too late anyway.  It’s alright, you won’t feel any pain.  This will be a peaceful death, like falling asleep.  The same as me.”
“The antidote!”
“There is none.”

This was something he had prepared so that he could die easily at any time.  He had never carried an antidote.

“A double suicide with you hidden away in a forest?  That’s just the worst.  Well, for a half-measure like me, I suppose I did fairly well.”
“Don’t… mess… with me…!  I can… still…”
“Except, you weren’t able to do anything for Natalie.”

His brother, slumped at the base of the tree, turned around.

“That mother of yours, she sent an assassin after Natalie.  Simply abandoning her at the imperial castle wasn’t enough for her.”
“…Natalie’s whereabouts… are… unknown…”
“Is that meant to be consolation?  Of course she’s dead.  I even went all the way to Kratos, and still couldn’t find out who killed her.  To not even leave a body behind is quite meticulous. —My only hope is that she died without knowing anything at all.”

Neither that she had been betrayed by her mother nor the truth about the blood flowing in her body.

“Truly, I don’t like anything about this. —Hey, surely, this was a bad dream, right, Ludgar- aniue?  A life like this, wouldn’t you agree?”
“…Maynard.”
“It was a bad dream.  Which is why now, I shall sleep.”

He closed his eyes, which had been gazing, longingly, at the sky.  He had no intention of opening them again.  Yet, because something had wrapped around his closed hand, he reflexively opened his eyes.

Tears mixed with blood feel onto his cheeks like rain.  His older brother was crying, shedding tears while clenching his teeth.  Held in his right hand was the dagger he had dropped.

—Ah, so my older brother intends to struggle until the very end.  And precisely because there must be so little time left, he plans to take his brother’s head and gamble on the conflict coming to an end.

That’s just like him.

He smiled as he closed his eyes, feeling refreshed.

His brother would cut off his younger brother’s head while crying, all to end the war.

Rave, Dragon God of Reason; Kratos, Goddess of Love.

Yet neither human reasoning nor love, trapped within his throat, would be heeded by the gods.

If I am to open my eyes once more…

At that time, I will destroy you.

■

Reaching Hades around the same time that the army led by War God’s daughter began crossing the Rakia mountain range was a report stating that a head believed to be Mynard’s had been found.  What’s more, the one holding the head was said to be a lifeless body.  The identity of which was unknown.

It could have been a trap meant to make Maynard appear he was dead.  With no information from Kratos’ side regarding whether Maynard was alive or dead, they could not afford to jump to conclusions.  The hastily convened meeting should have been ripe with disorder, that was the expectation.

“Handle both of them appropriately.”

That single, indifferent, command from the Dragon Emperor, issued from the seat of honor in the council chamber, ended the meeting.  No one stopped Hades as he promptly tried to return to his chambers.  Rave spoke to him as he walked alone down the corridor.

“Is that really fine?  What about confirming the corpse’s identity?”
“It doesn’t matter whether its real or fake. We’ve taken back both Noitral and Lehrsatz.  More important is whether Kratos will quietly withdraw at this point—”
“Report, your Majesty!  The imperial capital has been occupied!”

Hades stopped and turned as the information flew into his ears.

“What about Vissel-aniue!?”
“A-About that…”

The army that had departed from the Duchy of Fairart passed the Grand Duchy of Laica and occupied the imperial capital. 

The Grand Duchy of Laica and Duke Fairart had joined hands—
and after inviting that army into the imperial capital, the one Duke Fairart recognized as the new emperor was Vissel Theos Rave.

Hades nodded at the soldier who was kneeling and speaking with a trembling voice. “I see.”

“The Noitral Dragon Knight Order should be free to move now.  Immediately send them to the Grand Duchy of Laica.  I will head to the imperial capital.”
“B-by yourself?”
“If there are any who object, tell them I’ll dispose of all of them at once.”

The reporting soldier trembled and immediately withdrew in order to relay Hades’ orders.

The wind brushed past Hades’ cheek as he was left alone.  The action didn’t tickle him, but laughter welled up from inside him.

Rave slipped out from within him and floated before Hades.

“…Why are you laughing?”
“Because, isn’t this all laughable?”

From the start, Vissel had possessed far too much information about Kratos.  He had only been overlooked because he used it to crush Hades’s political enemies.  He had always thought Vissel would betray him someday.  It just happened to be now.  Nothing different from usual.

If there was anything different, it was simply that Vissel was the only one left who would dare draw a bow against the Dragon Emperor.

“But with this, that all ends.  I feel refreshed.”

Rave wore a pained expression at Hades’ soft chuckling.  Hades, noticing, gave an “ah,” and his brows lowered slightly.  Rave was a kind foster parent.

“It’s all right.”

He reached out and touched him.  Warm.  A temperature familiar since childhood.  Even if no one else could see Rave, he was never an illusion.

“The Dragon Emperor can’t lose. Isn’t that right?”

The wind lifted his carelessly grown hair as it returned to the sky.

---

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