On outer space, where a human goddess brought her followers to face a dragon god…

"I had to leave because a source of my power had been cut. That changed the conditions of the challenge."

"Is that so…? I fail to see how that would be a valid reason to turn tail in the middle of combat."

"I challenged you with a certain amount of strength. Then something happened outside of said challenge that weakened me. Continuing the challenge and taking advantage of that would be dishonorable, wouldn't it?"

"The challenge stipulates that the challenger is confident in their own strength and has the means to guarantee it. If they lose their ability to fight, it's merely proof of their own weakness and foolishness."

The dragon was approaching, slowly. He had diminished its speed from the faster-than-light he had before to one that would let the humans see him well as he approached.

He wasn't in a hurry anymore.

"If you want to challenge someone when your power can be snatched out just because you looked away, then the blame falls only upon yourself."

"You… You can't attack me here. I'm protected by this world."

"That's not true, Juno. It would be bad if I attacked or destroyed that planet over there. But my goal is only you, and I have a valid reason."

The dragon said that and then snorted.

"To think that you would imagine that I, the god of rulership, would tarnish the sacred laws... Outrageous!"

Nakata and Jonas were behind the goddess, but it didn't look like they wanted to be there anymore. Even Livia stepped back.

Despite the dragon's words, he still hasn't attacked. Instead, he was content talking as he got closer and closer to the goddess.

"God of rulership… Great ruler you are, you who abandoned this world!"

"You are one to talk… You who mistake tyranny for ruling. Look behind you. Do they look like they intend to follow you? They are only here because you forced them to do it."

"Hah! Isn't dragon society the same? It's hierarchy. The weak follow the strong."

"You are wrong, ape. But I wouldn't expect a human to understand the notion of hierarchy anyway. The weak follow the strong, but that is just half of the truth.

The reality is that the weak follow the strong because the strong work for the weak. That's the distinction between a ruler and a tyrant. A ruler is someone whom the ones below can trust.

If the weak don't trust the strong to provide for them and protect them, they will defect. Exactly like the people on your planet are doing right now. An orderly society is built upon mutual trust.

In a tyranny, the only one benefiting is the tyrant himself. Then, nobody trusts him, and nobody will stand by him when he falls."

"Beautiful speech. But you still abandoned this planet."

"I did not. Parents must let their children rule their own lives when they are big enough and want to be independent. That's what happened back then. It was a sacred contract signed in mutual agreement."

The dragon god was lecturing Juno, but she wasn't the true target of his words.

He didn't believe she would understand anyway. Gods aren't easy to convince about their core beliefs because of the binding of the emotions that form the base of their cult.

No, his aim was the ones who could step up to protect the goddess… and he hit the nail on the head.

Nakata stepped to the side of Juno and got down on her knees.

"That is… that is exactly what I always wanted the leaders of my world to think. If they really worked for the people, instead of fighting for political influence and domination, everything would be so much better…"

Her eyes were shining as she prostrated herself in adoration.

"Please. I want to learn how to be a proper ruler. I want to follow your way."

"You…!"

Juno moved to strike her, but a barrier immediately appeared, blocking her attack. It was Nurtawalladi who intervened to protect her.

"What are you doing, lizard?"

"She put herself under my protection. I wouldn't allow her to be killed like that, obviously. You have wronged too many people, human goddess. It's little wonder that your followers dwindle every day."

The dragon was now very close to the humans, and the full size of his body was mind-boggling. He was as big as a small moon, dwarfing the six of them.

"Is there anyone else who wants to come under my protection? I promise that no harm will come to you."

"What are you doing??? Hey! Livia??? Claudia, Flavia??? Are you really…?"

The three angels walked to Nakata's side, but Jonas still had doubts.

"By coming under your protection, do you mean worshiping you? Become your lackey? What is included in it?"

"No, nothing like that. I don't force anyone to follow me. Only Yumegami Nakata offered her heart to me, which I accepted. What I'm offering now is just protection from the battle that will ensue, no strings attached."

"Oh, okay, then."

Juno tried to strike at him, but the dragon's barrier was already active.

"You… fine! If you want to abandon me, then don't complain when I abandon you as well!"

She dispelled the magic that allowed for the presence of air and atmospheric pressure in a bubble, which was sustaining them.

But it had no effect, as Nurtawalladi had already created a new one, as he knew that humans wouldn't live in outer space, like he does.

"Now the pieces are all set, and your time is arriving, Juno. Are you ready for it?"

"Do you really believe that you can kill a deity?"

"It wouldn't be my first. But it isn't me who will do it. Oh, here they come."

:::

In that space, another atmospheric bubble appeared, with three people inside.

The one in the middle stepped forward and bowed to the dragon.

"Nurtawalladi Za Nadin Zeru'ibni Ere, I hereby thank you for waiting for us."

She was Saint Lily, goddess of compassion. And, at her side, were Aurea and Lovelace.

"It's nothing. But if you took longer to come, I might have ended up losing my patience and striking that bug."

"Lillian? What are you doing here? And… Cailleach?"

"Puny human goddess. You have defiled the old Draconic tradition of challenges, yes. But the charges these three hold against you are far greater than mine.

They are the ones who will execute your sentence, and I'm here just as a spectator.

:::

Moments ago, the raid in the Castro's main temple proceeded even more smoothly because of the Saint's direct assistance.

With Juno fully focused on the confrontation with the dragon god, they could proceed without fear of interference. And they had very limited time to work on it, because they didn't know for how long Nurtawalladi would stall her.

The plan was simple: beeline for the memory pearl, go to Lillian's divine temple, unlock Lovelace's memories, and work from there.

Lovelace was the one behind the architecture of both the Adventuring System and the system to train the planet and people's mana.

Juno knew that few would wholeheartedly worship a tyrant, so she used a mechanism to gather the mana from everyone who was physically present in the masses, even if they weren't really committed.

With that system in place, plus the Church's power making participation mandatory, she would have the influx of mana that allowed her to become a goddess.

The Adventuring System was a secondary system, designed to keep the humans in check by creating a need - through the war with the dragonkin - and selling the remedy.

But Lovelace had created some limitations in the system when she started suspecting Juno's plans.

The System had too much mana to be able to make so many people so powerful at the same time. It had even more mana than Juno herself. So she knew that the goddess would covet it.

So she put a double lock. The only way to direct extra power to a person was through the Hero and Champion titles, which had strict requirements. And those requirements included being born outside that world and not being divine.

During those thirteen centuries, Juno had tried to circumvent those limitations, to no avail.

If she had the ability to understand the magic involved in that craft, she wouldn't have needed Lovelace to begin with.

When she recovered her memories, she remembered all of that. She understood what she needed to do to defeat the goddess.

And she had the key to accessing the System at any moment, from any place. A superuser access that was higher than the one she had given to the goddess.

:::

Hearing what Nurtawalladi had just said, Juno broke a smile.

"Oh? Those weaklings? Really? It seems that I was worried for nothing, then."

"Is that so, Julia?"

Lovelace was also smiling. A cold and cruel smile, of a predator that had just found their prey.