"I had been waiting for you... Paladin of the Immortal One." All four of the dragon's heads spoke simultaneously. Just the voice was more than sufficient to send chills down their spine. Yet at that moment, all of them thought the same thing. 

"Who is he talking to?"

It was clear that the dragon had been waiting for someone's arrival and now that the one had arrived, it wasn't wasting any time. Also, the only new people to have arrived there were Johnny, Kolt and Arnold. But the strongest among them was... 

All of them instinctively turned towards Johnny. After all, he had to be the strongest among them right? But why was the dragon referring to him as 'paladin'?

Even Kolt was confused. For the first time in his life, he had heard a monster talking in human language. Yet he was more concerned about this 'parading rather than the dragon itself. 

"J, you know this dragon?" He asked Johnny who shook his head in reply. 

"Silence! You mongrels. I'm trying to have a conversation here..." The dragon lashed out on them. 

On the surface, they remained calm. Their training didn't allow them to show any emotion to the enemy. Yet on the inside, even they were terrified. It felt almost impossible to defeat the dragon. Just it's aura was overwhelming, and it hadn't even made its first move yet. The best among the country were overwhelmed by a single monster, no wonder the low rankers had to run away. If the monster could intimidate them so much, one could only imagine what would've happened if the low rankers had stayed to fight. A few brave souls, however, dared into the dragon's eyes. 

"Wait... It isn't looking at Johnny. But," Kolt mumbled and turned around to see what the dragon was looking at, "Arnold?"

Kolt then remembered the night they fought against Flying Swords guild. Jake was referring to Arnold as a 'Paladin'! So the dragon was actually there for Arnold? 

While the others were cowering away, Arnold gaze pierced the dragon's snake-like eyes. He was afraid of the dragon, yet despite the system's warnings, he had decided what he had to do. Abandoning the people wasn't something Arnold could do. It wasn't his nature. Even with the odds stacked up against him, his desire to fight was visible in his blazing eyes. The demigod seemed to have noticed it and at that moment a smile broke on its face. 

Arnold slowly stepped forward. His eyes drilling a hole in the dragon's soul. Although he was ready to fight, he would prefer not to. If talking could solve the issue, then he was more than willing to do so. As he was sure even if he could survive the battle, he was pretty sure the rest would inevitably die. Something he didn't want to happen. 

"Who are you?" Arnold confidently asked. A tinge of fear could be heard in his voice. 

"You amuse me, mortal. So, I shall entertain your request." One of the dragon's heads spoke, "I am Tiamut, the Goddess of dragons. And I'm here to put an end to you."

"Well, it isn't my first time hearing those words."

"I must say, when I heard you killed Vritra, I imagined you would be something else. Thus, I was keen to meet you. After all, I wanted to meet the one who killed my daughter." The dragon continued, "Thus, when the mortals of this realm summoned me, I readily agreed. But not to do their bidding. No. But to see your strength with my own eyes."

The next second, an evil, murderous aura surrounded them all. Arnold jumped back, summoning the elites while he was at it. Talos, Asterios, Dread, Bad-Breath, Alice, Duke and Cerberus, all instinctively rushed at their master's side.

The skies were immediately clouded in with the darkness. She might've been a goddess, but Arnold wasn't backing down from a fight. So were the rest of the warriors. 

"I'm not going ask how did you manage to piss that damn thing off, but I hope you have a plan?" Johnny asked Arnold while being shrouded in a thunderous aura. It looked like he was planning to go all out from the get-go.

"Kinda..." Arnold mumbled, and turned around to face the rest, "Ranged attacks won't work on this monster, so if you can only use those type of attacks I suggest you back down and focus on protecting the healers and support."

"Fight against that thing at close proximity is like committing suicide!" one of the mages yelled at him, "How do you know our attacks-"

"Just listen to what he's saying, you blithering moron!" Kolt cut the mage off, "His strategies have never been wrong before. So if he's saying something, then your only choice is to follow him. Understand!?"

"..."

Everyone went silent after that. There were no more protests, but their hearts began pounding like never before.

Arnold hurriedly analysed the situation. All in all, there were 10 S ranked warriors around him, and seven of his summons. Out of the seventeen of them, 3 were healers including Alice and 2 mages. None of the five could cause any harm to the dragon as they were proficient with ranged attacks only. Thus only the remaining twelve were even qualified to attack the dragon head-on. Still, without the support from healers, they wouldn't last for more than a minute against the dragon. 

After analysing Tiamut's stats once again, Arnold was sure of one thing. One direct hit could severely injure him and even destroy his summons, which would inevitably lead to his death. This was a battle which required Arnold to depend on his summons. But the summon he needed the most was-

"Alice, our victory depends on you." Arnold mumbled while equipping his gears, "No matter what, keep everyone in their top shape. I can't afford to lose anyone in this battle."

"Hey Arnold, you're a mage too, remember?" Johnny chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood once again. He knew it better than anyone what Arnold was capable of. Yes, not being able to use ranged attacks were a pain in the butt for him, but it wasn't like that's all he was good for. "Maybe you too should stand back and let us handle this guy?"

"First of all, that ain't a guy. That's a 'she' And second," Arnold tightly gripped the gloves made from Vritra's remains while wrapping Phoenix cloak around his neck, "this isn't my first rodeo against a dragon."

Yes... He had killed a dragon before. But not a God. For the first time after gaining the system, Arnold felt... Scared of a monster. Yet, for the sake of others, he had to act like everything was under his control.

Strangely, the fear made him realise something. 

'I'm still a human after all...' 

He might've been stronger than ever, but he was still human. The weakest creature to ever exist in the universe. But humans had a strange power within them. The power to take dumba*s decisions to overcome dumba*s situations. And he, being the biggest dumbass to have ever walked on the surface of the earth, was sure he was the only one who could kick the godly a*s of Tiamut. 

He looked around his summons. They were ready to follow him till the judgement day and so were Johnny and the others. But first, he needed to give them the absolute best chance at slaying the godly beast. He used enhancement on everyone. Not just his summons but on their weapons and gears as well. None of his summons were S rankers anymore... All of them were now SS. 

"I wonder, does dragon meat taste similar to alligator meat? Hm... Well, there's only one way to find out! ATTACK!"