"Jibril! Are you alright..."
"Look up! What is that?!"
Paimon's startled cry drew Lumine's gaze upwards.
They saw a massive sky-blue dragon with six wings flying directly above their heads.
Lumine's golden hair whipped wildly in the air. Her eyes widened as she was momentarily speechless.
'Dragon of the East...'
Jibril calmly retracted her wing and smoothed out her pink hair that had been ruffled by the wind. She watched as the dragon departed.
If the plot continues as expected–
A tingling sensation, like an electric current, had suddenly shot up her spine from her wings. Jibril immediately turned around, her hair tracing a beautiful arc in the air.
"S-sorry... I-I..."
Lumine hastily withdrew her hand, only to see the flügel's face turning bright red. Even the tips of her bird ears blushing a lovely pink.
"Ahem.. What's wrong?" Jibril feigned composure. But she immediately tucked her wings behind her back, like a small animal guarding its food.
"You were blocking me just now and I was worried about you." Lumine said, looking confusedly at the suddenly strange 'angel'. After carefully checking and confirming she wasn't hurt, she added. "I'm glad you're okay."
There's no way I'm okay after that!
Just a casual light brush caused this sort of reaction! Isn't that too much of a reaction?!
[Even though the wings contain a large concentration of elements (spirit). Normally it wouldn't usually trigger a reaction to this extent, but... for you, a certain someone will trigger a more intense reaction~]
A drop of cold sweat slowly trickled down Jibril's forehead.
Even without the System telling her. She already knew who the "certain person" was.
And the girl who had unintentionally managed to completely fluster the flügel was standing innocently nearby.
"Traveler... let's leave first. W-What if it comes back later…?"
"Ah, there's no need to worry about that!" Jibril declared loudly as she tried to save her face. She patted her rather large chest. "It definitely can't beat me!"
Dvalin: Indeed.
"R-right!" Paimon also adopted a proud expression, as if she were the one that was going to fight the dragon.
"Alright.. Then let's go check out the area first. It'll be best not to cause a conflict with the dragon."
Jibril had no choice but to suppress her eager heart and followed behind Lumine. The three continued deeper into Whispering Woods.
It didn't take long for the group to find the giant dragon again. This time, the dragon was on a rocky slope behind a tree.
"Let's hide first.." Lumine whispered, immediately pulling Jibril behind the tree. Paimon also hurriedly floated over.
After barely using the "cover" to hide her wings and trying her best to avoid being touched by Lumine. Jibril slightly poked her head out to look.
Sure enough, she saw him... 'Barbatos!'
The sky-blue dragon was resting, lowering its head and seemingly talking to a green figure.
The man was wearing a green hat, sporting a pair of braids, and his legs were encased in white stockings.
"Is he talking… to a dragon!?" Paimon watched the scene in shock.
Because they were far away, the group could barely hear their conversation, only getting a general idea.
Then suddenly the ornament on Lumine's chest burst into a cyan light, with faint patterns seemingly flickering on it.
And this immediately startled the dragon.
Roar————!!
The giant dragon opened its massive jaw and the roar caused a huge wind current sweeping towards the surroundings. Everyone except Jibril, including Venti, quickly raised their arms.
"Who's there!?"
Seeing that Venti was about to teleport, Jibril, before Lumine and Paimon could even react, immediately teleported in front of Venti.
Thus, when the Anemo Archon was about to display his most imposing scene in the Archon quest. All he saw was.
A creature resembling an 'angel' suddenly appeared. A dark pitch black continuously stained the halo and wings. Her golden turning slightly black crossed shaped eyes locked onto him. The air around her seemingly started to twist.
Venti's eyes gradually shifted from anger to a subtle shock and confusion. He even took a step back.
Jibril: I just wanted to scare him.
With hesitation, Venti teleported away, vanishing away from the spot with a gentle breeze.
Similarly, the dragon had also chosen not to linger either. Flapping his six wings and immediately flying away from the forest, leaving behind the disappointed flügel.
If the dragon had dared to stay any longer… Jibril wouldn't have minded giving it a "gentle massage."
"That was close! I almost thought we were going to fight it~"
Her halo, eyes, and wings then returned to its original color. Jibril then 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 Jibril entered that terrifying state again just now. Lumine had truly prepared herself to fight... or rather, to run away!
Fortunately enough, nobody actually fought. The dragon had only quickly flown away and the boy disappeared.
"...Is talking to dragons normal?"
"Nope." Jibril muttered softly in response.
Paimon was still a bit dazed as she kept swaying while floating next to Lumine. She then pointed towards the slope not far away.
Where Dvalin had just been, a dark red crystal now remained, continuously emitting an eerie light.
"Oh? What's that? There's some kind of shiny red thingy on the big rock over there… Let's go take a close look. Be very careful! Paimon doesn't have a good feeling about this…" Paimon whispered.
Lumine nodded while following Jibril up the hill.
The closer she got to the red crystal the more clearly Jibril was able to feel the sadness, hatred, and anger contained within it.
It seems the influence of the Abyssal poison is indeed causing great harm to him. Poor little dragon... If I had known earlier, I would've used a single 'Heavenly Strike' against him to give him a neck massage.
Just as the Flügel was quietly thinking about how much power to use against the dragon, Lumine and Paimon had already arrived next to the crystal.
"Paimon's never seen a stone like this before. What about you, Jibril?"
Jibril shook her head. "Neither have I but it looks very dangerous. Should I get rid of it? Or should we keep it? It could possibly be useful later."
Lumine looked at the crystal that was floating mid-air. She lightly stroked her chin with her fingers.
"Hmm... let's keep it for now. We can ask someone about it once we get into the city."
The blonde reached out and grasped the teardrop-shaped red crystal. Carefully storing it in her backpack.
"L-Let's... gulp Let's hurry and leave," Paimon nervously said as she looked around, afraid that the giant dragon or the "green guy" might suddenly decided to return.
"Paimon, I've already told you... there's no need to—"
"Don't!!!"
"..."