"Gabriela, are you alright..."
"Look up, what is that!"
Paimon's startled cry drew Lumine's gaze upwards.
They saw a massive, sky-blue creature with six wings whistling directly above their heads.
Lumine's golden hair whipped wildly in the gale, and she widened her eyes, momentarily speechless.
'Dragon of the East Wind...'
Gabriela calmly retracted her wings, smoothed her pink hair that had been ruffled by the wind, and watched the departing giant dragon thoughtfully.
If the plot continues as expected..."Hm?"
A tingling sensation, like an electric current passing through her body, suddenly shot up her spine from the tips of her wings. Gabriela spun around abruptly, her hair tracing a beautiful arc in the air.
"S-sorry... I..."
Lumine hastily withdrew her hand, only to see the angel's face turning visibly red, even the tips of her ears blushing a lovely pink.
"...Ahem, what's wrong?" Gabriela feigned composure, but tucked her wings tightly behind her back, like a small animal guarding its food.
"You were blocking me just now, and I was a little worried," Lumine said, looking confusedly at the suddenly strange angel. After checking carefully and confirming she wasn't hurt, she added, "...I'm glad you're okay."
...I am not okay.
Just a light brush caused this kind of reaction! Isn't that a bit much?!
'Generally speaking, even though the wings contain the element (spirit) corridor, it wouldn't usually reach this extent, but... for you, specific people will trigger a more intense reaction~'
A drop of cold sweat slowly trickled down Gabriela's forehead.
Even without the System telling her, she probably knew who the "specific person" was.
And the Damselette who had unintentionally managed to completely fluster the Winged Race member was standing innocently nearby.
"Traveler... let's leave first. What if it comes back later..."
"Ah, don't worry about that!" Gabriela declared loudly, as if trying to save face, patting her rather ample chest. "It definitely can't beat me!"
Dvalin: Indeed.
"R-right!" Paimon also adopted a proud expression, as if she were the one about to fight the dragon.
"...Alright, let's go check out the situation first. It's best not to easily provoke a conflict with the dragon."
Gabriela had no choice but to suppress her eager heart and followed behind Lumine. The three continued deeper into the Whispering Woods.
Before long, the group saw the giant dragon lying prone on a rocky slope behind a large tree.
"Let's hide first," Lumine whispered, immediately pulling Gabriela behind the tree. Paimon also hurriedly floated over.
After barely using the "cover" to conceal her wings and trying her best to avoid being touched by Lumine, Gabriela slightly poked her head out to look.
Sure enough, she saw it... 'Barbatos!'
The sky-blue giant dragon was resting in the clearing, lowering its head, seemingly talking to a green figure.
The youth was wearing a green hat, sporting a pair of delicate braids, and his slender legs were encased in white stockings.
"She's talking to the dragon!?" Paimon watched the scene in shock.
Because they were far away, the group could barely hear their conversation, only getting a general idea.
"...That person must be a girl!"
"Probably, he looks quite good and is wearing stockings."
"No," Gabriela shook her head at Lumine and said with certainty, "Someone so cute must be... a boy!"
"Seriously..."
Suddenly, the ornament on Lumine's chest burst into a cyan light, with faint patterns seemingly flickering on it.
And this immediately startled the giant dragon.
Roar————!!
"Who's there!?"
The giant dragon opened its massive maw, and the enormous roar brought a huge hurricane sweeping towards the surroundings. Everyone except Gabriela, including Venti, quickly raised their arms.
You ask what Gabriela was doing?
She was watching Dvalin breathe out... She hadn't seen it before, how interesting.
Seeing that Venti was about to turn around, Gabriela, before Lumine and Paimon could react, transformed into a Rainbow Phantom and teleported in front of them.
Thus, when the Anemo God was about to display his most imposing scene in the entire main story, this is what he saw:
A creature resembling an angel suddenly appeared, dark colors continuously staining the halo and the wings behind her. In her Molten-Gold eyes, cross-shaped pupils locked onto him, seemingly twisting the air around her.
Venti's gaze gradually shifted from anger to a subtle shock and confusion, and he even involuntarily took a step back.
Gabriela: I was just trying to scare him.
With virtually no hesitation, Venti flashed away, vanishing from the spot as a gentle breeze.
Similarly, the giant dragon chose not to linger either, flapping its three pairs of wings and immediately flying away from the forest, leaving behind the slightly disappointed angel.
If it had dared to breathe out again, Gabriela wouldn't have minded giving it a "cupping therapy."
"That was close, I almost thought we were going to fight it~"
Retracting her imposing aura, Gabriela dusted herself off and smiled casually at Lumine and Paimon.
"It's alright now, Lumine."
Only then did Lumine slowly open her eyes, letting out a long sigh of relief.
To be honest, when Gabriela entered that terrifying state again just now, Lumine had truly prepared herself to fight... or rather, to run away.
Fortunately, they didn't actually come to blows in the end; the dragon just grazed them as it flew overhead.
"...Is talking to a dragon normal in this world?"
"Not very common," Gabriela muttered softly in response.
Paimon still seemed a bit dazed, swaying as she floated next to Lumine, pointing towards the slope not far away.
Where Dvalin had just been, a dark red Crystalize now remained, continuously emitting an eerie light.
"Let's go take a look."
"Be very careful. It gives me a... bad feeling," Paimon whispered a reminder.
Lumine nodded while following Gabriela up the hill.
The closer she got to the Shitou, the more clearly Gabriela could feel the sadness, despair, and anger contained within it.
...It seems the influence of the Toxic Blood is indeed significant. Poor Haki Dragon... If I had known earlier, I would have used a single 'Heavenly Strike' to give him a neck massage.
Just as the angel was quietly pondering how much power to output, Lumine and Paimon had already arrived next to the Shitou.
"What a strange Shitou. Paimon has never seen one... What about you, Gabriela?"
Gabriela shook her head decisively. "I don't recognize it, but it looks very dangerous. Should I dispose of it? Or... should we keep it? Maybe it will be useful?"
Lumine looked at the Shitou suspended in mid-air, lightly stroking her chin with her finger.
"Hmm... let's keep it for now. We can ask someone about it once we get into the city."
The Damselette reached out, grasped the teardrop-shaped red Shitou, and carefully stored it in her backpack.
"Let's... gulp, let's hurry and leave," Paimon said nervously, looking around as if afraid the giant dragon or the "green guy" might suddenly return.
"Little Paimon, I told you... you don't need to—"
"Don't fight!"
"..."