"Pop!"
The sharp crack echoed above the trees as Glenn and Hermione appeared simultaneously in mid-air through Apparition, landing lightly on the branches without making a sound.
The two were still approaching the fierce battlefield using what they considered the safest method—using long-distance movement magic to get close, then judging by the danger level of combat to end their magical movement not far from the target point, approaching the battlefield on foot while concealed.
However, they'd stopped Apparating now not because they'd reached their intended area, but because they'd discovered something during their movement.
"Glenn, look over there. That person running on the ground—doesn't he look like one of the upperclassmen from our team?"
Hermione gestured for Glenn to look in the direction she was pointing, where a rapidly moving splash of bright red stood out strikingly against the green vegetation of the secret realm.
"That person is called Yaolin—he's also one of the more capable members of our team... From the traces on his body and the direction he's moving quickly, he should have left Lin Yu's battlefield and is preparing to return for support."
Glenn had a deep impression of this practitioner who mastered blood-related magic. Throughout this journey, Yaolin's sensitivity to blood had helped Glenn and Lin Yu discover many traces of dark practitioners, and it was through this person that he learned students in the Dragon Country's magical world could freely choose whether to study dark arts.
"Why don't we give him a ride? From the looks of it, he probably doesn't know Shrinking Ground to Inches."
Hermione suggested this, and Glenn, being indifferent, nodded in agreement.
Having gained Glenn's approval for her idea, Hermione called out to Yaolin, who was moving at high speed on the ground:
"Yaolin, we're also going to find Lin Yu! Let us give you a ride!"
Yaolin, who was running while concentrating on fighting the inner demons emerging from practicing dark arts, suddenly heard someone calling his name. Thinking it was an auditory hallucination, he initially ignored Hermione's shout. Only after Hermione called his name again did he suddenly realize something was wrong. His figure leaped into the air, his waist twisted, and he raised his hand to send a sword energy toward Glenn and Hermione's position in the sky.
Fortunately, in the moment before swinging his blood sword, he saw clearly who the visitors in the sky were and barely managed to stop his attack.
Then, due to the backlash from dark arts, he spat blood and crashed to the ground, plowing a long furrow.
"..."
Hermione's expression froze, and she quietly put the wand she'd raised back into her pocket.
"...Glenn, did I scare him?"
"It's fine, it's not your fault. Lin Yu said practitioners of dark arts are all somewhat neurotic."
Though he said this, Glenn's revolver hadn't moved from the man's head even now.
After all, who knew when a madman might suddenly go crazy? This was experience from his previous life.
"I see. Well, we should probably go down first—I feel like this upperclassman fell pretty hard."
Hermione sweatdropped and took the lead jumping down from the treetop, with Glenn having no choice but to quickly follow.
On the ground, Yaolin violently pulled his head out of the dirt pile, spitting out the layer of grass he'd bitten off, then turned to look at Glenn and Hermione.
"You two... forget it, since you've both made it here, I won't ask how you escaped those dark practitioners' trap. But are you sure you want to go support Lin Yu?"
Yaolin wasn't angry about Hermione suddenly calling out to him and causing him to fall flat on his face. Instead, he looked at the two with a puzzled expression.
Although Lin Yu had briefly mentioned to Yaolin that he needn't worry about Glenn and Hermione's safety, Yaolin still felt in his heart that these two foreigners who looked younger than them falling into the dark practitioners' trap would be terrible. He hadn't expected to encounter them here, and these two were even saying they wanted to go support Lin Yu together.
It seemed Glenn and Hermione's abilities were indeed as Lin Yu had said, but to be safe, Yaolin chose to confirm once more that he hadn't misheard.
After all, his mind was still echoing with the whispers of inner demons—it was quite noisy.
"The battle over there is no joke."
"Don't worry, we know what we're doing."
Hermione nodded confidently, muttering to herself:
"I didn't expect this somewhat neurotic upperclassman to be quite kind. I thought he'd be another Feng Lian."
Glenn beside her didn't speak but also nodded, indicating his thoughts aligned with Hermione's.
Seeing that both their attitudes didn't seem like joking and their faces showed no signs of playfulness, Yaolin immediately stopped doubting the matter.
"You just said you'd take me along, combined with how you suddenly appeared in the air... do you two know Shrinking Ground to Inches?"
"To be precise, we both do."
Hermione proudly raised her head, looking somewhat pleased with herself. After all, long-distance movement magic wasn't easy to learn, and each of them had mastered both Apparition and Shrinking Ground to Inches—quite remarkable indeed.
"Impressive. I haven't learned that yet, so I'll have to trouble you."
Yaolin directly believed Hermione's words. After all, Lin Yu trusted these two little ones very much, and they'd also demonstrated corresponding partial abilities, so he didn't need to doubt the truthfulness of their words too much.
With a free ride available, why not take it? Yaolin was already angry that Lin Yu had heartlessly abandoned him to join the battlefield first, so now that these two little ones who knew Shrinking Ground to Inches were willing to give him a ride, it couldn't be better.
Seeing the other party agree, Glenn and Hermione didn't waste time. Each grabbed one of Yaolin's arms and began reciting the Apparition incantation.
"Wait, this doesn't seem like the Shrinking Ground to Inches incan—"
"Pop."
The three figures disappeared from their spot.
The next second, they arrived at Glenn and Hermione's intended destination.
"Ugh—"
Yaolin, who had never tried Apparition before, immediately knelt and vomited. Even those accustomed to Shrinking Ground to Inches couldn't avoid the dizzying spinning motion of Apparition on their first try.
Yaolin even vomited up the blood he'd drunk during his run.
"No, this Shrinking Ground to Inches isn't right. Why is it so dizzy?"
Hermione scratched her head embarrassedly:
"Um, forgot to switch methods. This is our side's long-distance movement magic. Sorry..."
"Get up and stay alert. The battle here might be very dangerous."
Glenn didn't bother with Yaolin, who was kneeling and retching violently, because in his field of vision, an enormous blood-colored humanoid figure was slowly taking shape.
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