The white dragon—Kanna Kamui—widened her blue draconic eyes as she stared at Raize. After sniffing carefully, she confirmed it. He truly carried Tohru's scent.
Seeing Raize enter the battle, Vali and the others naturally couldn't continue standing by, and followed him down to help clear the battlefield.
When several more humans descended from the sky, Kanna briefly fixed her gaze on Vali, the devil radiating dragon power and aura, remaining highly vigilant toward him.
After the rest of the team joined the fight, Raize took a moment to approach the white dragon, tilting his head up to examine her.
Kanna, however, stared intently at the Seven Stars Guard hanging from Raize's neck—more precisely, at the green dragon scale affixed to the central gem.
Raize had placed the dragon scale that Tohru gave him there, and Kanna immediately recognized its owner.
"Human, why do you have Lady Tohru's dragon scale? What did you do to Lady Tohru?!"
Kanna's blue dragon eyes were filled with vigilance and barely restrained anger. A dragon's scale appearing on a human could only mean something had happened to its owner.
In Kanna's memory, Tohru deeply hated humans, so she never considered the possibility that the scale had been given willingly.
The most likely explanation was that this human was a dragon slayer who had taken it as a trophy.
So it really is Kanna.
Raize thought to himself. Seeing her increasingly hostile gaze, he understood she had misunderstood.
Grasping the green dragon scale at his neck, Raize met her gaze without fear and said,
"Tohru gave this to me. She and I are friends."
Roar!
"Lies! Lady Tohru hates humans the most! How could she possibly be friends with a human?!"
The white dragon roared angrily, her blue eyes blazing as she glared fiercely at Raize. If she weren't injured and nearly out of magic and stamina, she would have already charged at him.
A human being friends with Lady Tohru?
What a joke. In her memory, Lady Tohru, who despised and distrusted humans, could never have such a relationship.
Tohru's hatred and hostility toward humans were second only to Fafnir, the cursed dragon.
On top of that, Tohru had been missing for a long time already. It was very possible that this human before her had harmed Tohru and taken her dragon scale as a trophy.
The more she thought about it, the more hostile Kanna became toward the evil and cunning human in front of her. Raize, meanwhile, scratched his head with a bit of a headache, then took out his phone and opened the photo album, pulling up pictures taken at Kobayashi's home during group meals.
"I know it's hard to believe, but Tohru and I really are friends. She's currently living in the human world. These are photos I took with her."
"And if I had any malicious intent toward you, I would've taken you out long ago. In your current state—low magic and badly injured—it would be very easy for me to kill you."
When Kanna saw the familiar Tohru in the photos, smiling happily, she lowered her head slightly and looked carefully at the small device in Raize's hand, which seemed like a magical tool to her. That really was Tohru, and she was wearing that rare, happy smile.
Only… the light red–haired human next to Tohru and Raize was extremely annoying. Seeing the Tohru she revered being so close to other people made the little dragon feel very unhappy.
Hearing Raize say that he could easily kill her in her current state, Kanna snorted angrily, blowing out two streams of air from her nose. A magic circle suddenly unfolded before her, and amid pure white light, she transformed into a form Raize was very familiar with.
Silver hair tinged with pale violet, a baby-faced round face, a petite body, and a constantly swaying small tail behind her—along with those iconic short, thick legs.
Without a doubt, she was an adorable, cute little girl. However, bloodstains were slowly spreading across her clothes around her legs and waist, and her face was slightly pale. It was clear she was badly injured.
Crackle!
Kanna stared warily at the human before her, gathering the little remaining magic in her body. Blue lightning wrapped around her entire form as she turned into an afterimage and rushed straight at Raize.
Because he felt no killing intent or strong hostility, Raize only instinctively tensed his body and prepared to defend. He didn't want to hurt Kanna.
And Kanna indeed didn't attack him. After charging over, she simply snatched the phone from his hand, then reached toward the necklace at his neck, only to be blocked by Raize.
Kanna's expression changed in shock, and she immediately tried to retreat—but instead, she was wrapped up by a pair of powerful arms. Crackling with lightning, she was pulled straight into Raize's embrace.
"Ah—let go of me! You evil, cunning human, you're finally showing your true colors!"
"W-waa… you really were lying to dragons… Lady Tohru, please come save me!"
"I'll never submit to humans! Once I recover my magic and injuries, I'll make you regret this!"
Held in Raize's arms, Kanna glared with watery eyes, flailing and screaming while pounding her small pink fists against his chest. Each hit produced a surprisingly loud impact.
The electricity around her body gradually weakened. She even opened her mouth fiercely to bite him, only for Raize to dodge it.
Feeling the several tons of struggling force coming from the little body in his arms, along with the massive impact on his chest, Raize knew that if his body weren't strong enough, he really wouldn't have been able to hold her.
Those "little punches" would've turned an ordinary person into mincemeat. Enduring the pressure on his chest, Raize released a pink healing light to treat Kanna's injuries.
"…Umu?!"
Feeling the warm power healing her body, Kanna suddenly widened her eyes. Her punches and struggling froze in place.
She looked up at Raize with her cute blue eyes, confused as to why he was healing her.
Kanna had never encountered a human who treated dragons kindly before. His actions left her deeply puzzled.
Though her mind still wanted to break free from his arms, her body, bathed in that warm healing power, didn't really want to move.
Raize gently patted Kanna's small head to soothe her. He didn't realize that the healing power he inherited from Kirby also had the effect of calming the heart.
Kirby could turn enemies into allies with the power of friendship, and in Raize's hands, that power allowed Kanna to directly feel his goodwill.
After her injuries were fully healed, Raize thought about Kanna's traits and decided to replenish her magic. He reached out and grabbed her small tail.
What Raize didn't know was that a dragon's tail could be extremely sensitive, moving in response to the dragon's emotions. Feeling her tail suddenly grabbed, Kanna's eyes, which had been comfortably half-closed from the healing, snapped wide open.
"Ah! You—! Pervert! What are you doing to a dragon?! Let go of my tail! Lady Tohru, help! This lecher is attacking innocent Kanna!"
Kanna's face instantly turned bright red as she began struggling again. Hearing her noisy shouting, Raize helplessly shook his head.
"Stop messing around. Be quiet."
As he spoke, Raize converted his energy into lightning and released an electric current.
Crackle!
Streams of lightning flowed along Kanna's small tail and directly into her body.
When unable to replenish magic from external sources, Kanna could absorb electricity to recover her magic. Based on his memories, Raize subconsciously treated her tail like a power socket and "charged" her by holding it.
By this time, the teammates who had finished clearing the surrounding BETA had gathered nearby. When Kuroka and Le Fay arrived, they saw Raize holding a horned little girl, grabbing her tail and sending electricity into her.
However, as Kanna felt the steady stream of electricity flowing in, she stopped struggling. Her expression turned shy, and she said something that made everyone's expressions change.
"U-uuu… Lady Tohru, I'm not pure anymore… that human's thing went into Kanna's body… but it feels so good."
Feeling the strange looks from his teammates—especially from Kuroka and Le Fay—Raize suddenly had the urge to smack Kanna's little butt.
Even though they could tell what he was actually doing, Kanna's extremely suggestive words were just too misleading.
Kuroka watched Raize and Kanna with obvious amusement, unable to hide the teasing look in her eyes. Le Fay's face flushed red, clearly thinking of something unhealthy after hearing Kanna's words.
After setting down Kanna, whose injuries were healed and magic restored, her face still red with embarrassment, Raize asked her,
"Kanna, why are you here?"
"Human, why do you know my name?"
Having had her body healed and magic replenished, Kanna no longer felt hostile. Hearing Raize call her by name made her feel confused and strange.
"Didn't I tell you? I'm friends with Tohru. She talked to me about you before. She said you're a dragon who really loves playing pranks."
"Uu… I believe you."
Being called out for loving pranks made Kanna even more embarrassed. Aside from dragons she had pranked, her father, and a few close acquaintances, Tohru understood her best.
She really had been exiled from her original world because of a prank. While trying to find Tohru, she had gotten lost and accidentally crossed into this ruined realm.
Crossing worlds consumed a lot of magic, and this infused realm only contained pervasive dark energy, with no usable power source to replenish her magic. After fighting the BETA, it was only natural she ended up badly injured.
If Raize and the others hadn't arrived, she probably really would have been finished.
Knowing Raize wasn't an enemy—and had even saved her and restored her magic—she wanted to say thank you, but her tsundere nature kept her silent.
"Raize, the Tohru you mentioned is…"
Vali glanced at the horned little girl. He wasn't particularly interested in her, but he was very curious about the dragon Raize had mentioned.
"The Tohru you're talking about… she's not the daughter of the Dragon Emperor of Demise, is she?"
Suddenly, silver light flared behind Vali as Albion, the White Dragon Emperor, spoke.
The Dragon Emperor of Demise was a terrifyingly powerful existence among dragonkind—one even Albion couldn't compare to.
Albion hadn't personally witnessed the Dragon of Demise's strength, but he had once crossed worlds and fought Tohru. Neither side won, yet Albion clearly recognized her overwhelming power.
If even the daughter was that strong, then her father had to be even stronger. Based on rumors from other worlds, Albion was certain the Dragon of Demise could crush him just like Ophis or the Great Red.
"Yes, that's the Tohru."
Raize replied calmly. Vali's eyes flashed with interest. In the region where he lived, Tohru had appeared before. His foster father Azazel had even sent him to investigate, strictly warning him to avoid any conflict.
He had already heard about her background and strength from Azazel and Albion. The daughter of the Dragon of Demise—Tohru—who had even crossed blades with Albion.
He hadn't expected Raize to actually know her, and even claim they were friends. That also explained why Raize had stepped in to save Kanna.
"Oh right, Kanna, you still haven't answered why you're here."
Raize narrowed his eyes slightly and repeated the question.
Why had Kanna appeared in this ruined realm? According to the original course of events, she should have gone to the human world to find Tohru.
Raize was glad he had come here in time to help her.
"I… I… I crossed worlds to find Lady Tohru, but…"
Bringing this up made Kanna grow awkward again. She lowered her head, clearly unwilling to answer.
Seeing her reluctance, Raize guessed with a twitch at the corner of his mouth.
"You… didn't get kicked out by your family for pulling pranks, then try to find Tohru, got lost, and end up here, did you?"
"Uu…"
Hearing this, Kanna's eyes widened in shock, as if shouting, How did you know?!
Then she immediately lowered her head again, unable to meet his gaze.
Looks like his guess was correct…
Sighing, Raize patted her small head and said,
"Stick with us for now. When we get back to the human world, I'll take you to Tohru, alright?"
"I… I don't trust humans… you must have some kind of scheme…"
Kanna wavered, though her words still instinctively rejected him.
Raize removed the Seven Star Guard from his neck and placed it around Kanna's neck as she stared blankly, then took his phone back from her hand.
Feeling the familiar, comforting aura of Tohru from the dragon scale, Kanna tightly grasped the necklace.
Raize scrolled through photo after photo of himself and Tohru and said,
"Being wary of strangers is normal."
"If I were you, I'd be the same. I'm friends with Tohru, not you, so I'm not asking you to trust me—just stay with me for now. If you wander into danger again, you might not be so lucky."
"If you don't want to, then keep this necklace. It's a charm Tohru gave me…"
He finished speaking and waited for Kanna's response. If something happened to her, it would be hard for him to face Tohru.
He understood Kanna's distrust of humans. In her world, humans had left terrible impressions on most dragons.
If not for her being Tohru's friend, Raize wouldn't have bothered helping her, nor would he have handed over the dragon scale Tohru personally gave him.
If she refused him, at least the scale could summon Tohru in a crisis and protect her.