[Levi: No.]
[Kiana: No.]
[Stelle: No.]
[Elysia: No.]
Seeing four identical replies pop up neatly in the chat group, Lumine's mouth twitched.
"You guys can't fool me!"
"Anyway, enough of that. Look who I brought with me!"
Lumine stepped aside so everyone could see who was behind her.
Meeting the gazes of Levi and the others, Paimon looked a little shy. "Hello, I'm..."
"Ow!"
"She's Paimon, my emergency food. I meant the ones behind her."
Shifting his attention away from Paimon, Levi looked toward the people Lumine was pointing to.
All familiar faces, acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, Jean.
Owner of the Dawn Winery, Diluc.
And Mondstadt's Anemo Archon, Barbatos.
Noticing Levi's glance, Venti waved cheerfully at him.
"Hi~"
Levi smiled just as brightly and waved back. "Hi~"
"Hello!" Jean stepped forward and performed the Knights of Favonius' salute.
"Thank you for your help to Mondstadt. On behalf of the Knights of Favonius and all the citizens of Mondstadt, I extend to you our highest respect!"
Accepting her thanks without hesitation, Levi then asked about Stormterror's whereabouts.
Hearing the question, Venti stepped up and said, "If you're asking where it usually lives, that would be the ruins on the far side of Mondstadt."
Following Venti's pointing finger, the three of them could indeed see the towering ruins rising into the sky.
"And since you wounded it, I'd say it's probably there right now, recovering."
"Then what are we waiting for!" Kiana clenched her fists. "Let's go finish it off right now!"
'No one can stop me from visiting Mei!'
'No one!'
Levi nodded in full agreement.
He turned to Lumine. "Time is tight and the mission's important!"
He still had to hurry back home to cook for his little sparrow.
Looking toward the distant ruins where the dragon lay, he silently estimated the distance.
The conclusion: walking there was clearly impossible, they'd have to fly.
Levi raised his hand, and a wand that looked straight out of a magical-girl show appeared.
He tapped it lightly on the ground. In an instant, the Origin Spirit that had just left earlier reappeared.
Levi hopped onto its back and patted the spot beside him.
"Hop in!"
Without hesitation, Kiana and Lumine jumped on. Stelle stood there, staring at the Origin Spirit's throat as it moved slightly up and down.
"I think I'll just wait here for you guys…"
"Oh no you don't!"
Levi extended the wand, hooked it onto Stelle's collar, and yanked her up.
"Anyone else could skip this ride, but not you!"
"No! I don't wanna!"
"Sit down!"
Pinning the struggling Stelle beside him, Levi grinned wickedly.
Kiana and Lumine suddenly had a very bad feeling.
———
"Ahhhhhh, " ×3
"Wow~ So high! So high!"
"..."
The three people on the ground looked at one another.
Jean's mouth twitched.
"The Honorary Knight's friends… certainly have unique personalities."
Watching the pink manta ray drift farther away, Venti suddenly froze, as if remembering something.
"I've got something to take care of, I'll go on ahead!"
'Crap, crap, crap! They're going after Dvalin!'
Venti ducked into a corner, glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then summoned a gust of wind under his feet and shot off toward the ruins.
"Dvalin, hang in there!"
"Stormterror! Prepare to die!"
The moment they arrived above the ruins, Kiana, now completely used to the altitude, started yelling.
The Stormterror Dragon lay weakly in the depths of the ruins, and beside it stood a small, doll-like creature, an Abyss Mage.
Hearing Kiana's shout from outside, the Abyss Mage shook its head. "Didn't expect that crazy woman to actually chase us here… poor dragon."
It immediately opened its shield and teleported away into the Abyss.
It had seen very clearly what happened in Mondstadt earlier.
That woman's power was not something a mere Abyss Mage like itself could handle.
Besides, Lord Prince had already given the order to retreat, if it didn't leave now, it would be making him look bad.
But it was still a step too late.
Whizz~
As it chanted its spell, a pink crystal arrow shot straight into its body.
The elemental shield shattered the instant it met the arrow tip...
Crack!
And vanished.
The arrow's momentum didn't slow; it pierced right through the Abyss Mage's head.
Levi lowered his crystalline longbow. "A painless end is also a fairy's blessing."
ROAR!
Stormterror roared in agony again. Levi stepped down from the Origin Spirit and looked at the weakened dragon.
Seeing the crystal arrow still embedded in its body, he grimaced slightly.
While everyone else was distracted, he quietly slipped up to the dragon's side and pulled the arrow out.
Whoosh~
Whether from pain or the death of the Abyss Mage controlling it, Stormterror's mind slowly cleared.
Its massive eyes looked down at Levi.
"Did Barbatos send you to finish me off?"
"Then go ahead…"
Dvalin closed his eyes, ready to accept death.
Even if he wanted to resist, he no longer had the strength.
The storm he'd raised over Mondstadt, the battle with Levi, both had drained nearly all of his elemental power.
Even as an elemental creature, he had nothing left to give.
Levi looked at the resigned dragon, cleared his throat, and said, "A Guardian of the Four Winds who once fought the poison dragon Durin shouldn't look like this."
"And you guessed wrong, it wasn't Barbatos who sent me. I came on my own."
Dvalin opened his eyes. Levi was already at his neck.
Looking at the venomous spines there, Levi said, "Bear with it, this is gonna hurt!"
The poisonous blood had seeped deep into the bone, it wasn't as simple as in the game to purge it.
Levi took a deep breath. A crystal arrow formed from Herrscher power, and he drove it into the flesh around the infected veins, trying to dig the poison out from the root.
Feeling the stabbing pain in its neck, Dvalin's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
"ROAR!"
"Dvalin!"
Hearing the sound, Venti, who had rushed all the way there, winced in anguish.
Was he really about to lose his only friend this time?
In all of Mondstadt, Dvalin was the only old companion he still had.
If Dvalin died, he'd truly be alone.
Soon, Venti reached the dragon's nest.
Seeing Dvalin lying there, only the infected parts of his back cut away, Venti finally let out a breath of relief.
Just then, Lumine extended her hand toward him.
"Payment, one million Mora for the healing service!"
Hearing that, Venti immediately backed away from the dragon.
"I'm just here to take a look. I don't even know him."
Stare~
Lumine just stared at him silently, shaking her outstretched hand. "Payment, one million Mora."
Seeing there was no way to talk his way out of it, Venti looked around and decided to change the subject.
"So, where are the others? I haven't had a chance to thank them for their help to Mondstadt."
Curious, he asked.
By logic, they'd come together, and even if they left after dealing with Dvalin, they wouldn't just abandon Lumine alone.
"They all had urgent business and went home… Payment, one million Mora."
'Are you still thinking about that million Mora?!'
'Do I look like someone who has a million Mora?'
'You could sell me and still not get that much!'
Venti grumbled internally, but meeting Lumine's eyes, he glanced toward Dvalin and suddenly had an idea.
"Wanna ride a dragon?"
"No…"
"Oh come on! Don't be shy!"
Smiling, Venti walked up to Dvalin and whispered, "Please, help me out."
Hearing his voice, Dvalin opened one eye. "Last time!"
Inside the Wind Dragon Ruins, Dvalin's body shot upward into the sky.
Far away on a cliff, a man sitting in the palm of a Ruin Guard watched the dragon disappear into the distance.
"Lumine… since when did you know so many people?"
He murmured to himself.
He recalled the pink-haired girl who had so easily defeated Dvalin, the power she used clearly didn't belong to any system in Teyvat.
And he was sure he'd never met her during their travels through other worlds.
"What a mysterious one… I just hope she won't be a threat to Lumine."
———
[Ding! Congratulations, you've earned: 25,000 points!]
[Ding! Congratulations, you've earned: 5,000 points!]
'! 5000! I got 5000 this time!' Elysia exclaimed in delight.
She'd been ready to get only 1000 like Kiana, but the group actually gave her 5000.
She had to tell Kiana about this.
[Elysia: @Kiana Look! Did the chat group glitch? Why did I get 5000?]
[Kiana: …]
Kiana glanced at her own 2000 points, then at her role in the group.
She was the group leader.
So why did she always end up with the lowest tier of rewards?
[Kiana: @Levi You owe me 3000 points, got it?]
[Levi: Got it!]
[Kiana: ? You agreed that easily?]
Levi smiled faintly.
[Levi: Pay attention to my wording. "Got it" ≠ "I agree." Similarly, "Got it" ≠ "I'll repay you."]
Using formulas really does make problem-solving faster.
Without caring how Kiana would react, he immediately logged off to go prepare lunch for his little sparrow.
———
At St. Freya Academy, after failing to reach Levi, Kiana left the restroom.
Seeing that it was already after school, she immediately ran toward the medical ward where Raiden Mei was resting.
"Kiana…"
Halfway there, a gloomy voice stopped her.
Kiana turned, and saw her morning class teacher, Welt Yang.
Right now, Welt Yang looked deeply exasperated. "What reason could you possibly have for ditching class on your very first day?"
Because Kiana had skipped class, Theresa had summoned him to her office to "evaluate" his teaching.
If not for his proven competence, he might've been fired.
He'd been recovering peacefully at St. Freya all this time, and now he'd almost been taken down by Siegfried's daughter on her first day.
But Kiana wasn't even looking at him.
Compared to Welt Yang's complaint, her attention was on the white-haired woman standing beside him.
"Ki. A. Na." Theresa pronounced her name one syllable at a time.
Meeting her eyes, Kiana could feel the fury radiating from her.
Her gaze fell to the Judah cross planted in the ground.
At this moment, she realized, the words she'd just said, "No one can stop me from seeing Mei," now felt like a cruel joke.
[Kiana: @Levi Hurry, come help me see Mei!]
[🥳 New novel guys—"Online Game: SSS-Tier Skills From Scratching Tickets". It is from the same author who wrote "Awoke As a God After Auto-Battling For 100000 Years". Do give it a try and hope you all had a great year.]