That night the stars went out.
I was in human form, sitting on the cave ledge with a floating teacup Lirael had somehow brewed using ancient dragon magic and sheer maternal love. The tea tasted like victory and faint ozone. I sipped it slowly, legs dangling over a thousand-foot drop, watching the moon rise.
Then the sky tore.
A colossal eye of pure white light ripped through the clouds, bigger than the mountain itself. It stared down with the cold judgment of someone who had never been stuck in traffic or filled out expense reports.
[Divine Message – Goddess of Order, Administrator of Aetheria]
"Little dragon. Your existence threatens the balance of all things. Cease your growth immediately or face the full judgment of the Celestial Host."
The voice echoed inside my skull like every HR manager I'd ever had combined.
I lowered my teacup, looked straight into the eye, and smiled with zero fear.
"Lady, I was a corporate slave in my last life. I died because I worked too hard for people who didn't care. Now I have infinite power and zero responsibilities. Come at me."
The eye narrowed. The temperature dropped ten degrees. Wind howled like the world itself was offended.
[World Quest Generated: Survive the Descent of the Celestial Host]
Time Limit: 30 days
Objective: Do not die. Do not let Aetheria's balance shatter.
Reward: Full Godhood + Infinite Attribute System ×2 (yes, really)
Penalty: Soul deletion across all timelines.
Lirael landed beside me in a rush of wind, her massive form dwarfing the ledge. Her violet eyes glowed with protective fury. "Together?"
I stood up, robe fluttering, and placed a hand on her snout.
"Together."
The eye lingered for one final second, then vanished. Stars flickered back on like nothing had happened.
But everything had changed.
I opened my full System menu. The numbers were already climbing faster than before. My passive "Reality Friction" was working overtime—any scan from a distance now just returned "ERROR 404: Dragon Not Found."
I grinned at the empty sky.
"Round two, universe."
Lirael's telepathic laugh rolled through me. "You really did just tell a goddess to come at you."
"Someone had to." I summoned a new floating window and started planning. "Thirty days. We train. We recruit. We break the sky before it breaks us. First step: Dragon Summit 2.0. Then maybe kidnap a friendly goddess from that dungeon. After that… ramen for the entire alliance."
The moon watched silently as black flames flickered along my fingertips.
Far below, in the human kingdoms, bells of alarm began to ring. In the floating islands of the Dragon Lords, ancient beasts stirred from slumber. And somewhere in a hidden reincarnator tavern, Sato Kenji spilled his beer for the second time that week when the global announcement flashed across every System window on the planet:
[Breaking World Alert: The Void Dragon has been formally declared an enemy of Heaven itself. All heroes, kings, and gods are advised to pick a side before breakfast.]
I laughed into the night, the sound carrying on the wind like the start of the end times.
This was going to be fun.