Anselot stopped his attack, noticing Piya’s serious demeanor.

“Piya? What’s wrong?”

―Pi, Piya might have made a mistake.

“Huh?”

―I’ll be right back.

Piya suspended the system and vanished in a flash.

With Anselot’s attack halted, I sat on the ground, breathing heavily.

Then I glared at Anselot with resentment.

“Do we really have to go this far?”

Anselot looked at me quietly and answered when I asked with a gloomy face.

“You could have died.”

‘You were worried.’

Suddenly, the damp and dry voice he murmured while clutching my shoulder after we returned from that space yesterday overlapped in my mind.

Anselot approached me and crouched down.

Then he lightly tapped the red pendant hanging around my neck.

“Didn’t you feel anything?”

It was then I realized he brought me to the training ground so abruptly because of this pendant.

“If it’s about this, you should have told me earlier.”

I replied grumpily while fiddling with the gem on the pendant.

This ordinary-looking red gem was half of a dragon’s heart and at the same time, a key to breaking down the system.

“The messenger is listening.”

“If Piya hadn’t disappeared, would you have kept attacking?”

“That’s why I got rid of her.”

“Huh? You sent Piya away?”

Instead of answering my question, Anselot just smiled faintly.

“The power of the gods, albeit to varying degrees, is imbued in all the orders of this world. And the dragon’s heart nullifies the power of the gods.”

“First, you said this pendant is a weapon that can defeat the dragon and destroy the system. Now suddenly, it’s about the power of the gods?”

I tilted my head in confusion, and Anselot made a subtle expression.

“What do you think the system is, Princess?”

“Something that arbitrarily moves the world… Rules? Order?”

I answered hesitantly, and suddenly something flickered through my mind.

‘Huh?’

Order. If the system is the order of this world…

Suddenly, I recalled a verse from the scripture.

‘When Ruth became the master of the world, he established order in this land, and from then on, people worshipped the god of light, Ruth.’

It’s impossible, but. This is really absurd, but.

“Then the system… is a god…?”

“Maybe.”

“……!”

My eyes flashed open in surprise.

A god.

An existence I had never considered before.
I had often seen priests and paladins using divine power, but I never deeply considered the existence of gods themselves.

It might be due to my mother’s influence that I had little faith, but more likely because I was a person who had possessed another’s body.

It was strange for me, who had lived in another dimension, to have faith in the gods of this world.

The chief deity, known for establishing the order of this world, Ruth.

Until now, I had only thought of it as a conceptual entity.

Looking back, Cedric, who was the system administrator, also exploited people’s faith when he needed to manipulate them.

“It can’t be…”

“Why can’t it be?”

“That I… that I have to fight against a god who rules this world. That’s too…”

I tried to stay calm, but my voice, contrary to my will, was filled with fear.

“That’s too scary.”

Suddenly, it felt like a huge and terrifying enemy had emerged.

Reading my fear, Anselot’s eyes slightly hardened.

“That’s why I hesitated to tell you.”

“Why did you tell me?”

I wished he hadn’t.

Then, I wouldn’t have to tremble in fear in front of this unknown enemy, the system.

“Because you almost died yesterday.”

“…”

“I thought it wouldn’t be dangerous if I was beside you, but I was wrong.”

Anselot’s expression darkened as he mentioned yesterday’s events.

“Anything that threatens you, Princess, is part of the system’s order.”

“The system’s order…”

“That includes the erosion phenomenon in the space yesterday, and the previous attack on you by a player.”

“…”

So, everything that attacked me was part of the system’s order, in other words, the will of a god.

“If you can freely use the power of this pendant, you could protect yourself in situations like yesterday.”

“…”

I swallowed hard and asked.

“Aren’t you afraid…?”

Anselot was a bug.

The target of expulsion by the system, the enemy of the system, the enemy of the chief deity.

“You’re hated by a god.”

“Not really.”

Anselot casually replied and chuckled lightly.

“There’s something scarier than gods.”

“…”

I was curious, but it seemed wrong to pry further.

So, I asked something else instead.

“So, the power you use is also divine?”

I remembered the red gem of the pendant nullifying Anselot’s attack once.

“Well, yes.”

“So you’re a bug using divine power?”

“You’re also a bug using divine power, Princess.”

That made sense. After all, my swordsmanship was also a divine blessing.

Originally, my role was the ‘descendant inheriting the power of light from the oracle.’

“I brought this up for one reason, Princess.”

Anselot slowly stood up and said.

“For times when a situation like yesterday happens again, and I can’t be there to protect you.”

“…”

“You need to be able to protect yourself.”

“Okay. I will.”

I nodded and stood up, following him.

The fact that my enemy was the god of this world was terrifying and daunting.

‘But if I’ve decided to confront it, I can’t just stay scared.’

I clenched the half heart of the dragon pendant hanging around my neck.

Seeing me, Anselot curled his lips into a smirk.

“Then, will you try to block my attack one more time?”

“Ah, we have to do that again… Aaah!”

Boom!

He launched the attack without warning.

‘Anselot, you jerk!’

I was a fool to think I could have a normal conversation with him for even a moment!