“Alright, alright, you two can stop bickering now.
We need to get moving,” Lumine said with a soft, affectionate smile toward Eve and Paimon.
“Mm,” Paimon nodded in agreement.
“Indeed.
If we dawdle any longer, it’ll be pitch dark by the time we reach Mondstadt,” Eve calculated the time and remarked.
Lumine scooped up Eve once more and plunged back into Starfall Lake, swimming steadily toward the opposite shore.
As for Paimon, she fluttered effortlessly just above Lumine’s head, keeping pace as they crossed.
Once they reached dry land on the other side, Lumine wrung out her clothes, the remaining water droplets evaporating rapidly under the bright afternoon sun.
The trio pressed forward, heading in the direction of Whispering Woods.
They hadn’t even covered half the distance, however, when a sudden, earth-shaking dragon’s roar echoed from the sky above, instantly followed by the howling scream of gale-force winds.
The violent gusts whipped Lumine’s clothes into a frenzy.
She immediately halted her steps, planting her feet firmly against the ground to resist the fierce storm.
“Look up!
What is that?!”
Paimon’s startled cry drew Lumine’s gaze upward.
Eve, too, raised her head to scan the sky.
A massive blue dragon, sporting three pairs of magnificent wings, swept past directly above them with a deafening roar.
Lumine’s jaw dropped in sheer astonishment.
“There’s…
there’s something huge flying in the sky.”
“It headed deep into the woods.
We’ll need to proceed with caution,” Paimon warned anxiously.
“What was that just now…
could it be—” Lumine stammered, shock freezing her words.
“That’s right.
That thing was exactly what you think it is—a dragon,” Eve finished for her.
“I knew it…” Lumine’s gaze flickered.
“Eve, do you happen to know anything about the origins of this dragon?” Lumine asked, tilting her head down to look at the little entity cradled in her arms.
“This…” Faced with Lumine’s inquiry, Eve hesitated.
To be completely honest, she had no intention of dragging herself into the mess surrounding Dvalin.
It was bound to be a troublesome ordeal, and inviting too many questions about her identity was the last thing she needed.
Just as Eve opened her mouth to dodge the question, Paimon’s voice chimed in.
“Hehe!
See, Eve?
You don’t have the slightest clue, do you?
And here you claimed to be a walking encyclopedia!”
Eve snapped her head around, glaring at Paimon’s delightfully smug, provocative expression.
“Who says I don’t know?
There are just…
certain reasons why I can’t say!” Eve shot back defensively.
“Oh~?
It’s fine, Eve, really!
There’s no shame in not knowing, we’re all good buddies here,” Paimon piled it on with a teasing grin.
It was glaringly obvious to Eve: Paimon was employing a classic reverse-psychology tactic.
“Hmph…” Read this novel at novelping.com for the best experience.
Predictably, Eve took the bait hook, line, and sinker.
“That giant dragon is one of the Four Winds—the Dragon of the East, and a familiar to the Anemo Archon of this world!” Eve declared proudly.
“Well?
What do you say to that, Paimon?” Eve puffed out her cheeks, staring down her rival.
“Uh…” Paimon blinked, momentarily at a loss for words.
“So that’s how it is!” Lumine nodded thoughtfully, her mind racing.
“Then what exactly are the Four Winds?” Lumine pressed on.
“The Four Winds are four immensely powerful guardians appointed by the Anemo Archon.”
“They are the sworn protectors of Mondstadt.”
“Namely: the Dragon of the East, the Falcon of the West, the Wolf of the North, and the Lion of the South.”
“The dragon we just saw should be the Dragon of the East,” Eve explained thoroughly.
“I see…” Lumine nodded.
“Oh, by the way, Eve—how on earth do you know all of this?” Lumine asked, casting a suspicious, inquiring look down at her.
“Yeah, how *do* you know?!” Paimon chimed in from the side, instantly seizing the offensive.
“Uh…” Beads of cold sweat instantly popped up on Eve’s forehead.
*Ah, here comes the trouble I was trying to avoid.*
Fortunately, Eve’s quick wits supplied an excuse in a flash.
“I—I heard about it from a group of bards I met during my travels!”
“They described the appearance of this giant dragon in great detail, so it clicked the moment I saw it,” Eve lied smoothly.
“Ohh, so that’s how it is!” Lumine nodded, thoroughly convinced.
“Hehe, well, Paimon?
Convinced yet?” Eve shifted her gaze triumphantly back to Paimon.
“Hmph!
Fine, you win this time!” Defeated, Paimon had nothing left to say.
While the two of them were busy trading barbs, Lumine fell deep into contemplation.
“If we follow it, does that mean we might be able to find the Anemo Archon?” Lumine suddenly asked, her eyes lighting up with a spark of hope.
“Hard to say,” Eve shook her head.
“We should head to Mondstadt first!
Besides, dealing with a dragon is way too dangerous,” Paimon advised urgently from the sidelines.
“True.” Lumine reluctantly shelved the idea.
They resumed their journey forward, stepping deeper into the dense, quiet expanse of Whispering Woods.
“Huh?
Look over there!”
Paimon, who had been scouting ahead while floating in the air, suddenly raised a warning hand.
Everyone’s eyes followed the direction of Paimon’s pointed finger.
“Hide, quickly,” Eve whispered under her breath.
Lumine nodded without hesitation, clutching Eve tightly as she dove behind the thick trunk of a giant tree.
Paimon zipped over and squeezed in beside them.
Peering cautiously around the edge of their cover, Lumine caught sight of the scene ahead, with Eve and Paimon peeking out right alongside her.
There, resting in the middle of a clearing, was the very same blue dragon they had seen earlier, its three pairs of massive wings twitching slightly.
Standing right before the dragon was a slender youth clad in emerald-green attire, wearing a matching green cap, a matching cape draped across his back, and his legs encased in pristine white stockings.
The green-capped youth stretched out both hands soothingly toward the colossal beast.
“Don’t be afraid… This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
It’s alright, I’m back.”
…
…
The youth spoke to the dragon in a voice dripping with gentle warmth.
“Is…
is she actually talking to a dragon?” Paimon whispered, her eyes wide with disbelief.
Watching the green-clad youth from behind cover, Eve’s expression turned grim.
*Barbatos…*
This was precisely the Anemo Archon of the mortal realm that Eve had been looking for: Barbatos.
Though in his current mortal guise, he should go by the name Venti.
As wheels turned in Eve’s mind, she began calculating her next move.
“Eve, what did you just mutter?” Lumine whispered, having caught the tail end of Eve’s mumbled words without quite making them out.
“Ah, nothing,” Eve snapped back to reality, shaking her head.
In that brief moment, a mountain of thoughts had raced through her mind.
Moreover, she had just confirmed it with her own senses: the Anemo Gnosis was resting safely within Barbatos’s body.
At the same time, Eve could faintly gauge Barbatos’s strength—he was immensely powerful, easily surpassing her current state.
“Wait…
is that person a girl?” Lumine suddenly whispered out of nowhere, leaning slightly toward Eve and Paimon.
“I suppose so?
I mean, she *is* wearing white stockings!” Paimon muttered, pointing a tiny finger at her own chin.
“He’s a guy!” Eve corrected flatly.
“He’s way too cute, he *has* to be a boy,” Eve added with absolute conviction.
“No way!
I still think she’s a girl,” Lumine insisted, stubbornly clinging to her own observation.
Right at that second, the decorative ornament hanging at Lumine’s waist suddenly flared with a sharp, brilliant cyan light.
“Who’s there?!”
The sudden flash instantly triggered the dragon’s agitation.
Dvalin snapped his gaze toward the three interlopers hiding by the tree, before shifting his fierce, furious glare right back down to Barbatos standing at his feet.
“Is this why you came to find me?
To bring others along to ambush and hunt me down?!”
The dragon roared in absolute fury.
He thrashed his massive wings violently, kicking up a crushing gale of wind.
“No, that’s not it, Dvalin, let me explain…” Venti raised his arms to shield his face against the howling hurricane whipped up by the dragon.
“Shut your mouth!
Humans are not to be trusted—and that includes you!” Dvalin bellowed, his voice trembling with bitter betrayal.
He reared back his colossal claw and lashed out fiercely toward Venti.
With a nimble leap backward, Venti narrowly dodged the dragon’s devastating strike.
Seizing the opening, Dvalin beat his wings, launched himself skyward, and vanished into the horizon at breakneck speed.
In that same instant, Venti whipped his head around, fixing a terrifying, piercing glare straight at Lumine and her companions.
Yet, he didn’t make a move.
Instead, his figure flickered and dissolved into a gust of wind, vanishing into thin air without a trace.
“What on earth…
just happened?” Lumine murmured, standing frozen in a daze.