[Vol. 7] Chapter 106: Ding! Ding! Ding! The Little Dragon Arrives!
Enrique and his sister quietly drew their weapons, exchanging a glance before looking toward the black-haired girl nearby. Violet, however, simply shook her head, signaling them to wait and observe.
"Creak… crack… crack…"
The eerie scratching and digging sounds grew clearer under the tense gazes of the adventurers, now resembling the sharp cracks of shattering glass. It became loud enough for everyone to hear distinctly.
"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
Then, with an especially sharp "Snap!", the noise reached its peak, right before a certain thief girl suddenly let out a shrill scream.
"Eeeeeek!!!"
To be fair, she wasn’t overreacting. Even the most seasoned, battle-hardened adventurers flinched in shock, instinctively raising their weapons, ready for an attack.
Because a pale and delicate hand had just emerged out of thin air!
Before anyone could react further, the small, porcelain-like hand chopped downward like a blade, slicing open what seemed to be a massive tear in the very fabric of space. The tear expanded into a shadowy rift over a meter wide, utterly different from the night sky surrounding them.
Only after this did the rest of the small figure step through the rift, as casually as walking through a door. She barely spared the stunned adventurers a glance before fixing her gaze on the loudest one of the group, Le Qiaoqiao, with an expression full of disdain.
"What are you screaming about this time? You’re as dumb as a certain someone I know."
"Huh?! You—You’re…?!"
Under the dim light of the crescent moon and the flickering campfire, the keen-eyed adventurers quickly recognized the newcomer. The moment realization struck, they all exchanged shocked looks.
And then, before anyone else could react—
"LITTLE DRAGON! YOU’RE REALLY OKAY!!! WAAAAH!!!"
With a tearful wail, the thief girl lunged forward, tackling the tiny figure into a full-on embrace.
"…?"
The small dragon girl completely froze, as if she hadn’t expected such an ambush.
More importantly, Le Qiaoqiao’s very well-developed curves, thanks to their height difference, ended up squishing right into her face, creating an overwhelmingly soft and smothering sensation.
Her tiny hands twitched, already raising into a slap position out of pure reflex.
The next moment, just as the tiny dragon girl was about to bring her hand down, another small, delicate hand, though noticeably larger than hers, gently grasped it.
Under the night sky, she looked up and saw her master's silver-blue eyes filled with a warm smile.
"......"
After a brief silence, the little dragon girl withdrew the power she had just begun to summon.
Hongyan, who had been watching the whole scene, quickly stepped forward, grabbed the back of the thief girl's collar, and pulled her away. She didn't forget to give a reminder as well.
"Alright, it’s fine to be excited, but if you dare wipe your snot on her, not even Miss Violet will be able to save you."
"Uh… yeah, that’s a good point… Wait, I didn’t even get caught?!"
Still standing beside Violet, the little dragon girl shot a sharp glare at Le Qiaoqiao, who had just realized how reckless her actions had been. Her expression was anything but pleasant.
"If you really feel that regretful, I can still catch you now."
"Ahaha… no, I’m good!"
Among the group, Enrique and Sophie were the only two members of [The Tree] who had seen the little dragon girl before. Seeing her suddenly appear out of nowhere left them both surprised and relieved, but they didn’t forget their current mission.
"Miss Light, earlier you…"
The golden-haired girl coldly glanced at the unfamiliar adventurers, showing no interest in the tree spirit man’s words. Instead, she lifted her head to look at the person she trusted the most, her master.
"Sister, do we need to exchange information?"
The priestess smiled gently, rubbing the golden little head that she hadn’t seen in a long time, then nodded.
"I’ll go first, then. Here’s what’s been happening…"
Taking a short moment to summarize the situation clearly, the little dragon girl quickly grasped the full picture.
"The Church of Truth... Hmm, that name does match what I’ve found. They are indeed trying to perform a large-scale ritual spell, and they’ve already started early. I managed to cause some trouble inside, but I can’t destroy it on my own. If stopping them is your goal, then, sister, you’ll have to go in yourself."
She turned and pointed at the mysterious dark rift she had just torn open.
"This is one of the passages those guys often use. It leads directly into the Shadow Realm. But since I don’t have the suitable type of power, I had to force it open with brute strength. That means we’ll need someone to stay behind and make sure it remains stable."
Violet nodded slightly, her gaze sweeping over the group as she considered the situation.
"In that case, there’s no time to waste. We’ll head in now to stop the ritual… Miss Qionghua and [Tree Branch], you two should stay outside to guard the entrance. One of you isn’t suited for combat, and the other is still recovering from an injury."
"Based on the timing, reinforcements from the nearby city, both military and adventurers, should be arriving soon. When they do, I’ll need you to guide them in and help wipe out the cultists hiding in the Shadow Realm."
It was rare for Violet to take the lead in organizing the team, so the others exchanged a brief look of surprise. But given the seriousness of the situation, no one questioned it too much. Instead, they simply nodded in agreement.
"That’s a solid plan. Anyone have objections?"
"I’m in."
"Enough talking! Let’s get in there and teach those bastards a lesson!"
"Alright! Let’s stay focused, this time, we’ll put an end to these disappearances!"
"Yeah!!!"
With that, the adventurers, including the little dragon girl, stepped through the passage she had torn open, vanishing into the Shadow Realm. Meanwhile, Qionghua and [Tree Branch] stayed behind to guard the entrance.
The once-lively temporary camp gradually fell silent.
Qionghua, now sitting back by the campfire, held her staff close. The wide brim of her mage hat cast a shadow over her face, her head slightly lowered as if lost in thought.
She understood that this arrangement was for her safety. After all, she had the lowest level and weakest combat ability in the team, without question. Even so, being assigned to stay behind, even for an important role, left a bitter feeling of frustration.
[Tree Branch], dressed in his usual scholar’s attire, said nothing. He simply poked at the firewood in the pit.
Though his wounds from the vampire duke’s attack had mostly healed thanks to Violet’s magic, she had warned that some hidden injuries remained, ones that couldn’t be fully cured just yet. It made sense for him to stay back as well.
"Dionysis… do you think Enrique and the others will be alright?"
Hearing the quiet question from not far away, [Tree Branch], called by his real name, lifted his gaze to look at her.
The flickering firelight reflected in his calm, intelligent eyes, making his silhouette seem deeper and more distant under the night sky.
"I don’t know… But as an astrologer, shouldn’t you be able to see some kind of sign in the stars?"