---

Chapter 11: Trouble Approaches

Although there was no concrete evidence, Vilyric had a hunch that the reason for the recent magical beast uproar in Dragonfall Valley was linked to whatever was causing Dragon Blood Disease to spread in Flame Dragon City.

The timing was one aspect, but more importantly, both were fundamentally beings that had undergone “dragonization,” which raised quite a few questions.

Vilyric had felt something was off ever since she spotted those trees with crimson markings outside the city; it was clear that Flame Dragon City lay within the influence of Dragon Blood.

Yet, the people inside showed no signs of being affected.

Not just the people—animals living in Flame Dragon City and its surrounding areas also exhibited no noticeable abnormalities. Otherwise, that wealthy merchant’s dog wouldn’t have caused such a stir when it suddenly had issues.

So the conclusion was clear: while the “Blood of the Red Dragon” indeed affected Flame Dragon City and its vicinity, its influence wasn’t enough to cause mutations in humans or beasts directly.

There was a commonality between the magical beasts in Dragonfall Valley and the victims of Dragon Blood Disease in the city, and this common factor would connect to some unknown entity within Dragonfall Valley.

One side suffers loss, leading to the magical beast uprising.

The other side gains something, resulting in the emergence of Dragon Blood Disease.

Yes, that should be it.

Delving deeper.

“Master, there are creatures approaching us.”

“Hmm?”

Vilyric snapped out of her thoughts and released her skill to sense a bit further.

“This time, are they humans? Adventurers…?”

The warning from Miss Aileen echoed in her mind. Vilyric recognized that the other party wasn’t joking; as the poster girl of the Adventurer’s Guild, she undoubtedly knew the adventurer crowd well.

Thus, she wasn’t keen to engage with them at this moment—not out of fear, but because getting backstabbed is never comfortable, even if the encounter posed no real threat to her.

However, sometimes fate doesn’t align with one’s wishes.

The Priestess attempted to avoid them, but the situation didn’t unfold as she anticipated.

“Master, they are very close. One, two, there are two groups, one in front and one behind… Is it a chase and flight?”

“Tsk…”

Vilyric clicked her tongue in annoyance. Although she wanted to avoid trouble, it was practically in her face now; hiding would serve no purpose, especially since she wasn’t truly scared.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!!

In the distance, large sections of trees fell, clouds of dust rising as if a gigantic plow was plowing through at breakneck speed, destroying everything in its path.

“They’re coming!”

With the Little Dragon Daughter’s urgent shout, the parties in pursuit finally appeared at the edge of Vilyric’s vision.

There were a few figures and a strange-looking giant beast.

The fleeing people up ahead were dressed in armor or cloaks and holding weapons, looking rather flustered.

They moved quickly, and given that they managed to enter the Dragonfall Valley, they must be fairly competent adventurers.

As for that giant beast, Vilyric was baffled.

Because that creature wasn’t running on all fours but had curled its whole body into a ball, exposing its dirt-yellow and blood-red scales, rolling along!

It looked like a massive boulder rolling over flat ground.

“What the heck is that…?”

The Priestess had a whole bunch of question marks floating above her head.

Vilyric could guarantee she’d never seen anything like this in any magical beast encyclopedias. Even if something similar existed, it would never be this large.

That thing had to be at least five or six stories tall. While Xiao Guang’s true form or the ancient turtle Nasarion were bigger, in a forest setting, this creature’s terrifying scales still had a significant intimidating presence.

“Hey! You two up front, what are you doing just standing there? Run!”

Unlike Lester’s adventurer team, the person leading this group seemed to be a middle-aged mage who looked physically exhausted and was being carried along by a strong man. He immediately noticed Vilyric and Xiao Guang ahead and shouted out.

As the group carelessly approached, the Priestess couldn’t help but sweat a little, letting out a sigh.

“Really knows how to add to my troubles… Xiao Guang, go stop that big guy. Be gentle, don’t kill it right away.”

“Understood, Master!”

The Little Dragon Daughter slightly crouched, her incredible agility and strength turned her into a fleeting shadow, covering several dozen meters in an instant, positioning herself between the adventurers and the giant beast, raising a delicate, pale hand towards the rolling mass.

A gentle push.

Boom!

Accompanied by a sound like something sturdy crashing against an indestructible wall, that rolling, red-and-yellow “boulder” suddenly halted right in front of a girl who was barely over five feet tall, unable to move an inch.

From extreme motion to complete stillness, the instantaneous shift felt surreal and disorienting.

“Why are you still looking!? That thing is gonna crush us! Hurry and… wait? Why did the noise stop?”

Just as Xiao Guang acted, those adventurers reached Vilyric’s side. The leading mage hastily reached out to grab Vilyric, only for her to effortlessly sidestep.

Seemingly stunned by the agility of this girl who looked like a priest, the middle-aged mage momentarily broke away from his frantic escape and finally became aware of the situation behind him.

“Master, it’s taken care of.”

After quickly halting the magical beast, the Little Dragon Daughter returned by Vilyric’s side, her expression nonchalant as she reported back.

In front of outsiders, she always maintained a serious demeanor.

“Mm, well done.”

After brushing through her pet’s slightly disheveled golden hair from moving quickly, Vilyric turned her attention with a scowl towards the adventurers who looked completely baffled.

“Now then, you all should explain. We have no grievances against each other, so why the heck were you deliberately leading this thing toward us?”

There were four of them in total: the middle-aged mage in the front, the strong man wielding a dual-handed shield carrying him on his back, a masked young assassin, and a blonde girl with a winged cross on her armor who looked quite young, presumably a Holy Knight.

While there wasn’t a healing class among them, Holy Knights could also utilize some healing effects, making this group composition fairly reasonable, especially with the seemingly defensive-route strong man.

Hearing Vilyric’s cold question, the shield-wielding strong man and the Holy Knight looked utterly confused, seemingly not understanding her meaning, while the masked youth instinctively glanced at the mage, his gaze drifting to avoid meeting the sharp eyes of the black-haired girl.

Only the middle-aged mage who first greeted them smiled, pausing for a moment before quickly adopting a friendly demeanor.

“Dear lady, what are you saying? Why would we intentionally run towards you? Look, with all these trees around and such difficult terrain, this area happens to be more open. We were being chased and had to escape haphazardly without thinking too much, right?”

“Uh, yes, yes, yes! It was an accident, an accident!”

The young assassin immediately caught on and hurriedly nodded in agreement, while the other two, looking somewhat dim-witted, seemed still dazed, but clearly, this topic didn’t require their input.

The middle-aged mage, whose neatly styled short hair was somewhat disheveled from the chase, seized the opportunity and cried out indignantly.

“Little lady, if we had intended to harm you, why would we have warned you both to escape? It was truly an inadvertent mistake. How about we just let this go? I am Francis, the leader of this temporary adventurer team. May I ask how to address you two?”

Well, isn’t he smooth? Being chased like that, yet laying on the charm like a pro.

In a matter of moments, he had washed his hands of all the blame and even started building rapport?

Oh, selling me a favor? What if I don’t want to buy?