[Ding! Group member Levi (Elysia) has joined the world!]
"???"
At the outskirts of Mondstadt, three people discussing how to drive away the Stormterror Dragon were instantly distracted by the chat group notification.
"Why are their names together?"
Lumine was a little confused. Kiana, who had already experienced this kind of thing twice, immediately figured out what was going on based on what Elysia had said in the chat group earlier.
Stelle also guessed it, but Lumine hadn't checked the chat history, so she didn't know Levi had accepted Elysia's commission.
A soft pink glow appeared, and "Elysia" showed up smiling in front of the three.
"Hi~ Long time no see~ Did you miss me~?"
"Quit fooling around, Levi! We literally just saw you last night!"
Kiana cut her off decisively, pointing to the distant Stormterror. "Hurry up and figure out how to deal with that dragon. I'm still waiting to go visit Mei!"
From Theresa, Kiana had learned that Raiden Mei's surgery was complete and she was now resting under observation in the medical wing.
Once her condition was confirmed stable, she could be discharged.
Ever since they'd parted ways yesterday, Kiana had been looking forward to seeing Mei again.
'Hehe, my Mei, my Mei!'
Last time in Changkong City, she'd missed meeting Raiden Mei because of the chat group, and this time she definitely couldn't let it delay her visit again!
Hearing Kiana call Levi's name, Lumine leaned closer to him, stared carefully at his face, and poked it.
"You're Levi?"
"Who's Levi?" Levi put a finger to his lips with a puzzled look, then smiled sweetly.
"I'm the Pink Fairy Lady, don't get it wrong~"
She finished with a wink.
Elysia pouted.
'Go on, keep acting!'
Standing beside Lumine, Stelle folded her arms and said, "Looks like it's definitely Levi."
Because of his sudden appearance, the three who had been worrying about how to get rid of the dragon instantly relaxed.
They practically ignored the calamity right in front of them.
Watching Levi's movements, Lumine stared for a long moment before her face flushed red.
That scene was immediately caught by Kiana, Stelle, and Levi.
All three froze.
Seeing their dumbfounded looks, Lumine's face turned even redder. She turned her head away and muttered, "You know… people just can't resist cute things."
Kiana said, "You never blushed at Elysia before, so why..."
'Why blush now, when it's Levi wearing Elysia's face?'
Stelle stared intently at Levi's face, trying to figure out how he'd made Lumine blush.
Noticing her gaze, Levi met Stelle's eyes.
'Oh, you want to see, huh?'
He reached out his hand toward her and smiled. "Would you like to dance with me?"
Caught off guard by the sudden invitation, Stelle froze.
Seeing that, Levi took her hand and smiled. "Not saying anything? Then I'll take that as a yes~"
He pulled her close. The power of the Origin Herrscher descended upon him.
His outfit began to change.
Before Stelle could react, the Levi in front of her had completely transformed.
He opened Elysia's dazzling, gemlike eyes, in which Stelle saw her own reflection.
"It's rude to space out when you're dancing with a lady~"
His soft voice brushed past Stelle's ear.
Kiana, Lumine, and Stelle all stared blankly at Levi, who now looked like a fairy straight out of legend.
"…So the Pink Fairy Lady is real."
'Wait, I'm real?'
Levi took Stelle's hand, and pink crystals spread beneath their feet, rising toward the sky.
Illusory flowers began to fall over Mondstadt.
The citizens, caught off guard, were all drawn to the sight; a gentle song seemed to echo in their ears.
At the moment the flowers appeared, the gales sweeping through Mondstadt ceased, only Stormterror remained circling above.
"ROAR!"
Sensing a power building up within the city, the dragon opened its jaws and gathered wind energy in Levi's direction.
A moment later, a blast of furious wind shot toward him.
Walking along the crystalline path, Stelle suddenly heard Levi say, "Wanna try flying? I bet you've always wanted to!"
"?"
Levi brushed his hair aside and grinned. "Careful where you step~"
Crack!
As soon as he spoke, a pink manta ray–like creature, the Origin Spirit, burst from below, tearing through the air.
The crystalline path shattered. Levi sat atop the Origin Spirit's back, smiling up at the soaring dragon.
Beside him, Stelle clung tightly to the creature's head, trying not to fall to her doom.
The dragon's wind breath struck the Origin Spirit but caused no harm.
"Whew~ We're flying now~"
Levi teased, "Feeling flustered yet? If not, I'll be very disappointed."
Hearing that, Stelle finally realized, everything Levi had done earlier was just to trick her into riding this "roller coaster."
"Yes, yes~ Elysia really is an evil girl…"
'Hey hey hey! Don't pin your actions on me!'
Levi looked toward the oncoming dragon. "Too bad it's too late to get off now."
"Let's…"
"Keep dancing!"
He leapt off the Origin Spirit's back, drawing a magnificent bow formed from the power of origin itself.
Hooking the string with his thumb and forefinger, he aimed at the charging dragon.
"Got you!"
The arrow pierced the dragon's wing, and a pained roar echoed through the sky.
"ROAR!"
"Ahhhh! Where are you taking me?!"
Stelle gripped the Origin Spirit's head in panic, they were flying straight toward Stormterror.
"Ahhh! Kafka, take me away!!"
"You're already calling for your mom?" Levi teased beside her.
When Stelle looked up, he was suddenly right in front of her.
"Don't worry~ I'll always be right here with you…"
He pressed his hand over hers, both of them lying on the creature's back. Compared to Stelle's fear, Levi's eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Let's soar to the heavens!"
The Origin Spirit rammed into the dragon from below.
The impact resounded through the sky, followed by the dragon's anguished roar.
Realizing it couldn't defeat this pink devil, the dragon flapped its wings frantically and fled far from Mondstadt.
"Hehehe~" Levi stood atop the Origin Spirit's head, chin raised proudly as he watched the dragon retreat. "A mere Stormterror Dragon is no match for my Pink Fatty!"
Elysia, 'I'm angry! And I can't be coaxed this time!'
Levi, 'Then I won't coax you.'
Elysia, 'How can you not coax me?!'
Levi, 'You literally just said you can't be coaxed.'
Elysia, 'What I meant was, I'm really mad, so you'd better use extra effort to coax me!'
Levi, 'So troublesome. Still not doing it.'
Bantering with Elysia, Levi steered the Origin Spirit back toward where Kiana and Lumine were waiting.
He gently jumped off its back and patted its head.
"The enemy's gone. See you next time~"
"Wooo~"
The Origin Spirit gave a soft reply, then shattered space and vanished from sight.
"Group leader! You have to stand up for me!"
As soon as she got off that terrifying ride, Stelle rushed to Kiana, clinging to her leg and pointing accusingly at Levi.
"That guy said he wanted to 'dance with me,' but he just tricked me into riding a roller coaster!"
And it was a black-market roller coaster, no seatbelts.
She'd really been dazzled by that dreamy scene earlier.
How blind she'd been to trust his so-called invitation to dance.
If it weren't for her exceptional stamina, she'd probably be splattered on the ground as "Star Jam" by now.
Facing three pairs of eyes staring at him, Levi nonchalantly pulled out a mirror from nowhere and fixed his hair.
"Ah, my irresistible charm strikes again, yet another cute girl falls for me. I truly am a sinful woman~"
He tucked away the mirror and reached out a hand to help Stelle up.
"Alright, alright~ I admit your act caught my attention. I'll accept your date invitation tonight."
"When did I invite you on a date?!" Stelle shot back.
Lumine raised her hand. "I did."
"..." ×3
Levi looked at Lumine until she started to feel awkward, then said quietly, "I don't date broke people who can't afford the Jade Chamber."
"How could you say that!"
Lumine dropped to her knees in despair.
Watching them, Kiana's mouth twitched.
'Just what kind of people are in my chat group, seriously…'
———
[Some Time Later]
Kiana looked up at the now calm skies of Mondstadt, puzzled.
"Why haven't we been sent back to our worlds yet?"
They'd thought maybe the dragon hadn't gone home yet, so they waited a bit.
But a long time passed, soon it would already be midday at St. Freya, and still no system message announced mission completion.
"Could it be that the dragon's still nearby, waiting for us to leave so it can attack again?" Stelle analyzed.
Levi opened the chat group's mission log carefully.
After a look, he found the issue.
He pointed to the task description. "Seems the mission isn't just to drive the dragon away, it's to completely resolve Mondstadt's dragon disaster."
"Huh? Completely resolve it? I didn't notice that when I accepted it."
"So what do we do? Maybe when Lumine gets back, we can ask her where Stormterror's lair is and go wipe it out," Stelle suggested.
Anyway, with Levi, the powerhouse who could both tank and carry, they didn't have to worry about difficulty.
Once they found the dragon, it'd never come back alive.
"Nice speech, but don't say it again," Levi muttered dryly, glancing at the sky.
Now that all the group members' times were synced, the time in Teyvat roughly matched the time in the Xianzhou world.
'Almost noon… I remember Qingque asked me to make her lunch…'
Levi rubbed his temples, a little regretful that he hadn't read the mission details more carefully from the start.
Otherwise, during the battle, he could've just used one arrow to purge the poisonous blood from the dragon's body.
At that moment, Lumine's voice called from the distance, "I'm back! You guys didn't leave yet, right?"
[🎉 Shoutout to Cube, Shadic, Hugo and Slashdog for joining patreon. Thank you very much.🤗]