"...All right, down you go~"
Gabrielina gently descended, loosening her arms around Lumine just before they reached the ground.
Lumine tapped her toes twice in midair, landing as nimbly as a cat.
"Gabrielina, aren't you coming down?" Lumine looked up at the angel still hovering above her, puzzled.
"Ah... me..."
The girl squirmed awkwardly, drawing her wings in slightly as she pointed bashfully at her dangling feet.
Lumine looked down-
The toes of her delicate, fair feet were slightly curled, her arches drawn into graceful curves and her soles faintly red.
If one listened closely, the cross on her anklet jingled with her movements.
"The streets here... are still a little rough on my feet," Gabrielina mumbled. "I'll just fly for a little while."
Lumine blinked, her gaze shifting between those bare feet and the angel's face.
...So why not wear shoes?
Although the Traveler had visited many worlds, she had never joined Some Forum, so she wouldn't be developing any strange feelings just yet.
Just then, Amber walked over from nearby.
"...I'm so jealous of you, Gabrielina."
The angel pointed at herself in confusion. "Me?"
"Yeah... you can actually fly all the time! I'd do anything if I could fly freely!"
Amber hugged herself in excitement, as if stroking wings she didn't have.
"When we were up there just now, I got a little tired after flying for a while. Gabrielina didn't seem to feel a thing..."
"Haha, it's perfectly normal to get a little tired... they're still man-made tools, after all." Amber gazed at the angel's wings, seemingly reluctant to look away. "Lumine, you did great for your first flight!"
"...Not really. You just taught me well, Amber," Lumine said modestly.
"No, taking that first step with the Wind Glider is really hard. Someone without courage couldn't do it at all!"
At Amber's words, Lumine instinctively glanced at Gabrielina, but the angel merely tilted her head back, seemingly watching the sky without any particular purpose.
"All right, let's rest here for a bit. Afterward, I'll treat you to some Mondstadt delicacies~"
"Delicacies! Do you mean that Sticky Honey Roast you mentioned?!"
At the mention of delicious food, little Paimon popped out of nowhere, staring at Amber with sparkling eyes.
But Amber wore a mysterious expression that left Paimon squirming with impatience.
"...All right, Paimon, shall we head over first?"
Before Lumine had even finished speaking, Paimon prepared to dash toward the restaurant, only for the girl behind her to grab her cape.
She turned back anxiously and saw Gabrielina looking utterly unmoved.
"Gabrielina! Gabrielina! Let's go get something yummy~"
...What gluttony! Judge her!
System, tell me! How am I supposed to save the world with a glutton like this around?
The system refused to respond and retracted a message sent by Gabrielina.
*...*
So Gabrielina ignored Paimon outright and turned to Amber beside her. "Amber, does it rain often in Mondstadt?"
"No... especially lately, we've-"
Amber abruptly looked up. The once-blue sky was rapidly turning gray, the temperature plummeting, and a faint unrest stirred within the turbulent air.
"...What's happening?" Lumine sensed something was wrong too.
Passersby fled into the surrounding buildings as an ominous presence rapidly spread.
Yet when she instinctively looked at Gabrielina, she saw that the girl's golden eyes had lit up, and a smile still lingered on her lips.
"Oh no, it's Stormterror! Run!!"
"Roooar-"
Almost at the same instant Amber shouted, an enormous dark shape descended from the sky.
Stormterror appeared over Mondstadt without warning.
Following a long, furious dragon's roar, three storms began sweeping through the entire city, one pitch-black tornado hurtling straight toward them.
"Little Paimon, how high have you ever flown?!"
"Huh? Ah!?"
Before Paimon could react, Gabrielina spread her wings of light and plunged headfirst into the raging tornado, her slender figure swallowed instantly by the violent winds.
"Gabrielina!!" Lumine started to rush forward almost without thinking, completely forgetting the danger.
"Traveler! Are you crazy?! Come back!!" Paimon stamped her feet in midair in a panic.
"But she-"
Lumine broke off as Amber swiftly grabbed her arm and dragged her back.
"She'll be fine! We need to-"
Just then, another sudden gale struck from the side. Before Lumine could react, the wind swept her off her feet.
At that critical instant, she decisively let go of Amber's hand, allowing herself to vanish into the howling storm.
Amid the chaotic air currents, heaven and earth spun before Lumine's eyes. All she could feel was that she was getting farther and farther from the ground.
"Lumine..."
Seeing a white figure flying toward her, Lumine immediately reached out and caught her.
"Paimon, are you... okay?!" Lumine's voice was swallowed by the wind, coming through in fragments. "Hold on to me!"
Without needing another word, Paimon clung fiercely to Lumine's hair.
The pain in her scalp made the corners of the girl's eyes twitch, but this was clearly no time to argue about it.
The ornament on her chest flickered faintly. The instant she felt a break in the air currents, Lumine spread the Wind Glider on her back without hesitation.
She had barely begun flying steadily, with no time even to breathe a sigh of relief, when a blast of air suddenly struck from behind.
"Watch out!"
Without even time to look back, Lumine instinctively steered the Wind Glider into a sharp turn.
Almost simultaneously, a familiar figure tore through the storm and abruptly appeared, then-
She thrust out both arms, clamping the dragon's head between them from above and below.
Under Lumine's incredulous gaze, this girl, smaller than one of the dragon's claws, actually brought the enormous creature to a dead stop in such a straightforward way.
Boom-!
The dragon and the angel wrestled in midair, unleashing a deafening shock wave.
The violent blast drove Lumine farther away, yet her eyes remained fixed on the fantastical scene:
The dragon's mouth was slowly forced shut, its teeth grinding with an ugly creak. Its body, too, was slowly pushed backward, while Gabrielina still looked as though she had strength to spare.
...What did she grow up eating to get that strong?
"ROOOOAAAAR-!!"
The Dragon of the East Wind was furious. This was no ordinary enemy. He had to strike with everything he had!
A low hum reverberated deep in the dragon's throat, and teal fury surged-a raging torrent of elemental power.
"Boom-!"
Blazing light erupted.
At that same moment, the angel vanished, narrowly slipping past the beam the dragon had unleashed. When she reappeared, she was already beside Lumine.
"Gabrielina, are you okay?!" Lumine hastily grabbed the angel's wrist.
"I'm fine, Lumine." The girl extended her right hand and pointed at the enormous dragon roaring furiously at her.
In an instant, violent black energy surged like a tide, gradually forming more than a dozen longswords beside Gabrielina's hand and revolving around her.
...What should I say at a moment like this?
"ROAR!!!!!!"
The different energies collided in the most primal way, staining even the sky two different colors.
"Come! The blood of mortal kings must be paid with the sword... huh?!"
Just as battle was about to erupt, the enormous dragon twisted around, beat his six wings fiercely, and instead fled from her-
"...He ran away?" Paimon's mouth hung open blankly.
And in the distant sky, Dvalin's figure grew smaller and smaller, gradually dwindling to a single teal point of light.
Before you continue