"Don't worry, it's fine, it's fine. Sensei will also protect everyone if something happens!" Seeing everyone's worried expressions, the teacher, Miyauchi Kazuho, waved her hand, not thinking there would be any danger on this trip.
"Those words coming from my sister have zero credibility!" Looking at Kazuho's expression, Miyauchi Hikage directly complained. After all, everyone knew very well how unreliable Kazuho could be.
"Indeed. Compared to Sensei, Renge would be more reliable. Though I don't know how Renge is doing with her studies now." Hearing Hikage's words, Natsumi agreed.
"Yes? By the way, I haven't seen Renge for a long time. Where has Renge gone?" Hearing everyone mention Renge, Konomi was somewhat surprised, realizing she hadn't seen her since returning.
"You mean Renge? Renge, she..."
"Ah, th-this is..."
Just as Hikage was about to explain due to Konomi's confusion, they heard Komari's scream.
After climbing for over an hour, they had finally reached the area where the commotion occurred. And upon arrival, the form of a green dragon appeared before them.
"It's a dragon..." Seeing the dragon's form, the lively Natsumi was too scared to breathe heavily.
Even Konomi, feeling the pressure emanating from the dragon, trembled slightly. But seeing the giant divine sword on the dragon's back, she realized something. She understood clearly that the reason the dragon was currently in a dormant state was likely due to severe injury.
"So noisy... humans!" Awakened by the loud sounds, the dragon, Tohru, opened its huge pupils and then noticed Konomi and the others before her.
"A-a living dragon... O-Onee, Onee-chan, hurry, protect us!" Seeing the giant dragon's eyes fixed on them, Hikage nearly wet herself.
"Th-this, I... I..." Hearing Hikage's words, Kazuho was about to cry. She had just been speaking casually. Who knew a dragon would be here? If she had known, she definitely wouldn't have come.
"Everyone, don't panic. It should be injured. You all leave quickly. I'll hold it back." Although Konomi was also very nervous, having experienced so many Reincarnation Worlds, she regained her composure after taking a deep breath. She directly took out her magic staff and watched Tohru warily.
"K-Konomi-nee!" Watching Konomi pull out a magic staff from thin air, Komari, Natsumi, and the others were stunned and instinctively hid behind her.
"A staff? A mage?" Noticing Konomi's actions, Tohru's eyes also filled with wariness.
Thinking Konomi was about to attack her, she began to gather energy. Although most of her power was sealed, Tohru was the daughter of the Chaos Dragon Clan's leader, a naturally gifted dragon.
So, after gathering energy and resting for a night, the remaining trace of her energy was quickly mobilized, gathering in her mouth and turning into blazing fire.
"You all run! Earth Wall!" Seeing Tohru's actions, Konomi said nervously and quickly released a thick earth wall to shield herself.
Tohru's flame attack soon arrived, landing on the earth wall, putting Konomi under pressure.
In this situation, if she were alone, even if she couldn't defeat the injured Tohru, escaping would be easy.
But with Kazuho and the others as liabilities, it was harder. Besides, they were all childhood friends... she couldn't abandon them.
"Komari-senpai, Natsumi, Hikage, Kazuho-sensei, let's leave quickly, or we'll only hold Konomi-nee back!" Finally, Hotaru, who had been captured by a bat before, reacted and shouted to everyone.
"Th-that's right. L-let's go quickly," Hearing Hotaru's words, Natsumi nodded.
"M-my legs are weak!" Hearing their words, Komari had tears in her eyes, speaking pitifully.
"Senpai, I'll help you!" Hearing Komari's words, Hotaru quickly came to her side and helped her away.
"Thank you, Hotaru," Seeing Hotaru's actions, Komari's eyes were full of gratitude, feeling that Hotaru was incredibly reliable...
Konomi, still holding off Tohru's flame attack, saw everyone retreating and breathed a sigh of relief.
She continued releasing mana to maintain the earth wall, preventing it from being destroyed by the flames...
Tohru, seeing her flames blocked, frowned. Unfortunately, her current strength was less than one percent of her peak.
Moreover, every movement now caused severe pain, so she could only maintain an unskilled flame spray.
A few minutes later, with Kazuho and the others running, they finally moved away from Tohru. However, they now began to worry about Konomi.
"Konomi is still facing the dragon. What should we do?" After momentarily safe, they worried about Konomi.
"Kazuho-sensei, can you contact Renge's master? Can you ask him to come help?" Soon, Hotaru thought of Takeru and spoke expectantly.
"Takeru-san, right, I'll call him now!" Hearing Hotaru's words, everyone reacted. Kazuho quickly took out her phone.
Meanwhile, Takeru, who was eating food voraciously, received a call. Seeing the caller ID, Takeru wondered why Kazuho was calling him, 'Was she missing Renge?'
"Hello?" Answering the phone, Takeru spoke directly to the other end.
"Takeru-san, this is Miyauchi Kazuho. We're in big trouble here. Can you come and save us?" Hearing Takeru's familiar voice, Kazuho got straight to the point.
"Trouble? I see. Is it in the village?" Hearing her words, Takeru's expression became serious.
"Yes, but it's on a mountain in the village. Apparently, a dragon appeared because of last night's incident." Hearing Takeru's words, Kazuho quickly explained.
"A dragon? Okay, I'll be right there." Hearing her words, Takeru directly nodded.
"Master, did something happen to my sister?" Renge, not far away, had vaguely heard Kazuho's voice and asked nervously.
"Yes, it seems a dragon appeared in the village. I'll go take a look." Hearing her words, Takeru said directly.
"A dragon? I'm coming too!" Hearing Takeru's words, Renge stood up.
"Just a moment. Don't worry, Renge. I'll save everyone." Hearing Renge's words, Takeru shook his head gently. Then, under everyone's gaze, he disappeared from the spot.
Watching Takeru's disappearing figure, Renge felt a bit silent and disappointed. She knew Takeru wouldn't let her go because she was too weak to be helpful.
"Renge, my brother is very strong. There won't be a problem!" Seeing Renge's expression, Miu came to her side to comfort her.
"That's right. Whether it's a dragon or anything, Master will definitely solve all problems." Hinata also said seriously to Renge.
"I know. I need to work hard too, so I can protect everyone in the future." Hearing their comfort, Renge strengthened her resolve to become stronger.
...
In the small mountain village, Takeru's figure appeared out of thin air, directly in front of Renge's house.
After a quick sense, Kazuho and the others weren't there, which didn't surprise Takeru. He looked towards the mountain.
Quickly spreading his Observation Haki, he soon found Kazuho and the others. Without much thought, Takeru directly teleported in front of them.
"Takeru-san!" Seeing Takeru arrive in front of them less than a minute after hanging up, everyone showed shocked expressions.
"Good, you're all uninjured. Let me go check that side first." After scanning everyone and seeing they were unhurt, Takeru spoke quickly and then disappeared again.
He came here first to check if anyone was hurt and to let them know he had arrived, so they wouldn't worry...
After speaking to Kazuho and the others, Takeru directly went to the area where Tohru and Konomi were fighting.
With Kazuho and the others gone, Konomi could act more freely. However, against the injured Tohru, Konomi's attacks mostly had little effect.
After all, although most of her mana was sealed, her magical and physical defense were still extremely high.
At least, Konomi's current magic had a hard time harming Tohru. Thinking this, Konomi prepared to retreat.
Draining her mana would put her in danger. It would be better to leave and call the Ability User Organization for help.
"You are..." Just as she was about to retreat, Konomi noticed Takeru's arrival. She showed a surprised expression, wondering why Takeru had suddenly appeared here.
She, of course, remembered Takeru. After all, he had bought many things from her, and she even had his number.