The black haired dragon girl sniffed the air. "Master, I smell blood."
Hikari nodded. The iron scent had also reached her. Moreover, there was the sound of clashing steel. The elf looked towards the west where the wind carried the smell. "Let's see what's going on."
Kurayami didn't say anything, choosing to follow closely behind her master. Even with Hikari's heightened senses, the dragon's bare feet seemed to make no sound. Hikari felt that if the dragon wanted she could obscure her presence completely. However, in the elf's mind there was an intangible thread that connected her soul to the dragon's. They were both contract bound.
They both arrived to the scene of a one-sided massacre. There were five adventurers, and the two front liners were bleeding profusely. The one resembling a tank had his abdomen stabbed through by a massive claw.
The creature pulled its claw out of the rugged man, and he hopelessly fell to the ground. The monster was a massive saber-toothed tiger with black and orange stripes. Its form was coated with a dark aura, and the beast seemed to be toying with this group. Hikari could have sworn she saw the monster laugh.
Hikari didn't stand on ceremony and watch it toy with its prey. "Kurayami, kill that monster."
The dragon wasted no time obeying the command, and the ground beneath her ruptured into a crater as the dragon took off. Hikari was amazed her eyes could follow the girl at all. In less than a millisecond, Kurayami's knee collided with the beast's head.
A gross sound echoed in the small clearing, and the cat monster's head exploded on impact. Before the monster could even sense their presence it was dead. The saber-tooth died without ever knowing its killers.
Hikari frowned from the scene. The gore didn't do anything to her psych, but something unbelievable happened. A black ghost cat floated out of the monster's body. It twisted towards the elf who stood stunned, and then it zipped through the air towards her.
The girl had no idea what to make of this thing, but before it could collide with her, she opened her inventory, sucking it inside like it was an item from [Gensuba]. Once the ghost disappeared into that space, nothing else happened.
Of course, it was obvious the observing adventurers saw none of this. Their eyes were transfixed to the girl with horns and a thick scaly tail. Kurayami stood on top of the corpse with eyes narrowed at the poor souls.
The remaining front liner—wielding a great sword—prepared for another battle. He yelled towards his comrades, "get to the village! I will hold this one off somehow!"
Before they could all start running, Hikari made herself visible. She left the trees and walked gracefully towards the large man with a gaping hole in his stomach.
The adventurers who took sight of her were immediately awestruck. Their mouths hung open like fish, and the singular priestess among them knelt in prayer—tears filling her eyes.
Hikari ignored the fanatical blonde-haired woman and pointed her staff at the dying man. Wait, it could be dangerous to use a big healing spell if they are low level. I should check his status.
Name: Sable
Age: 20
Race: Human
Level: 7
Title: None
Strength: 34
Agility: 21
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 14
Faith: 6
Health: 2/77
Mana: 5
Stamina: 0/44
Condition: Bleeding, Punctured Organs, Dying
In a moment of realization, Hikari checked her own status again, but there was no level or condition. Strange, in the game I was max level [lvl-1,020].
The elf shook those thoughts from her head and channeled magic into her staff. With her levels and equipment, she knew that even the lowest level [Area Heal: Low] would be enough.
"Low area heal," Hikari said the words out loud to be on the safe side. Golden light erupted from her grand staff—with an accompanying jingle sound—and it spread out over the clearing. The golden glow mended the hole in Sable's body, and the wounds of the other adventurers rapidly closed.
However, that wasn't it. Flowers started blooming around the corpse of the fallen cat monster. The nearest trees began to fruit, and glistening apples hung from their branches. Moreover, even further out, the nearly dead trees were revitalized. Hikari felt her eye twitch for a moment from the spectacle.
Sable gasped out in shock. He rapidly sat up and looked at the elf who healed him. In the next instant he was prostrating on the ground. "Thank you so much...to think an angel would save us!"
The dragon girl who had returned to Hikari's side looked down at the man with disgust. It was as if she was looking at a cockroach. "Master, this man is making light of your position. To think he would compare you to a mere an-"
Her words were cut off by Hikari's hand. The elf girl felt a headache coming on, especially when she looked at the priestess of the adventurer's party. The blonde haired woman's heavy breaths left her mouth. She looked at the elf with something resembling an ahegao. Hikari herself wanted to disappear. That girl's lust filled eyes were beyond terrifying!
She found solace by looking at the other adventurers. Their eyes were not as crazed. Her heavenly voice was like a chime to their ears when she finally spoke.
"Nice to meet you. I am Priestess Hikari. I hope my partner didn't scare you."
"P-p-partner!?" The wiggling priestess on the ground shouted in surprise. "No, wait, priestess!?"
The archer of their group slammed her fist against the helpless woman's head. "Please, calm yourself in front of our benefactor!" The archer's angry gaze turned soft when she looked back at the elf. "I am sorry for my friend here...My name's Levi. The pervert is Kyra. The one making himself small behind me is Meldrin. And over there are our front liners, Saber and Horace respectively. Thank you so much for saving us, Miss Hikari." Levi finished with a deep bow of gratitude.
Kurayami huffed and crossed her arms. "Hmph, your behavior is passable, human. In front of master, at least this much is required."
Somehow, Hikari felt her headache getting stronger. Was there a priestess who could heal the headache of a goddess?