We traveled through time together, but I'm the only dragon? The others are all beautiful girls?

Ying put on her Mondstadt outfit, a symbol of freedom and adventure, again. She was so excited that she had forgotten about it for a moment. Akalion must have ruined it too many times!

Hopefully, the distance between the two worlds will render whispers ineffective.

Even if the ancient evil creatures are incredibly powerful, their strength probably couldn't easily cross the multiverse, right?

"set off!"

With a light leap, Ying landed directly on Akalion's back. She extended her slender index finger, pointing to her own world painting within the Golden Realm.

"The target is Teyvat, Mondstadt!"

In an instant, that golden realm erupted with unprecedented brilliance, transforming into a flowing river of gold that completely engulfed them.

—————Tiwat Dadaupa Valley—————

As Akalion's massive dragon form quietly emerged from the void and landed steadily in this temporary landing spot that had already been cleared away by Ying, a warm wind element filled with the aura of [life] swept over them.

Here, there is neither the eternal stillness and cold of Eldra, nor the sorrow of Dark Souls filled with decay and despair.

The verdant meadows, the lush forests, and the faint fragrance of dandelions and Cecilia flowers carried on the wind... everything, everything, proclaimed to him that this was a living world.

Ying did not bring a being of Akalion's caliber directly to Mondstadt. After all, even a fool could understand what kind of misunderstanding would arise if a dragon suddenly appeared in Mondstadt, which was suffering from the Dragon Plague.

The Dragon Plague had been raging in Mondstadt for some time when she broke free from the seal of Heaven's Law.

She will, as the "Savior of Mondstadt," work alongside Akalion to gain a legitimate and respected identity in this land.

"Eh!"

Ying suddenly noticed that every part of Akalion's body was emitting a soft white light.

"Why are you glowing?! Are you a threat?"

She immediately became alert and looked around.

Volume 1 Snowfield Dragon Lord: 66. Elemental Joy

"No... it's these 'elements,' the power of this world, that are too welcoming to me."

Akalion's voice carried an unprecedented sense of unease.

From the moment he was born, the elemental forces unique to Teyvat surged toward him like subjects before a king, trying to offer him everything they had.

“But I don’t want to accept them. After all, these powers all have owners, or rather, they used to have owners.”

"I can hear from their 'cheers'... I think it's their names? Never mind, it doesn't matter."

"The important thing is that accepting them won't bring me much long-term benefit. Once I leave Teyvat and go to other worlds, this convenient elemental power will vanish."

"Welcome?" Ying leaped lightly off Akalion's broad back, tilting her head back, her golden eyes gleaming with contemplation. "They... don't mistake you for the ancient dragon kings who fell before the 'First Throne,' do they?"

"Who knows?"

Akalion attempted to use his will and force field to dispel the elemental energy points that surrounded him like stars.

However, they kept gathering more and more.

These elements, like a plaster monkey, grabbed him and refused to let go.

Seeing that he could not merge with Akalion, the elemental forces slowly began to condense into solidified elemental crystals above his head, and began to rotate slowly above his pair of majestic dragon horns.

It resembles a broken, chaotic, yet incomparably magnificent crown of a king.

Akalion had to admit that the crown was quite beautiful, and it did indeed allow him to draw upon a portion of the elemental power of the Teyvat world.

It was that... that crystal of grass element brimming with life, the emerald green light emanating from it, that he instinctively found somewhat irritating.

He tried to remove the crown with his hands and crush it, but the elemental forces would quickly reform on his head.

This left Akalion with no choice but to accept it.

"It seems that in my current state, I am unable to completely get rid of them."

“In that case, let’s leave them for now. Besides, look, these elements seem quite happy.” The sheer volume of elemental energy allowed Yingdu to clearly perceive the joy and happiness within it.

“And Akalion,” she suddenly pointed to his body as if she had discovered something new, “your scales seem… to be slowly turning white?”

"what!"

Akalion was completely panicked. He absolutely didn't want his entire body to turn into that kind of brainless white dragon, despised by all his kin as a disgrace to the true dragons in the memories of the Dragon Heritage!

"No, no, this isn't that rough, ice-like white. It's more like... a color closer to pure white crystal. It must be caused by a strange reaction between the energy intensity of this world and your essence?"

"Forehead--"

Ying didn't know whether she should try to persuade Akalion to face reality. Right now, he was a pure white dragon, as if sculpted by the hand of a god, full of holy and majestic beauty, especially his two huge dragon horns, which were really handsome.

His scales had completely transformed into an appearance like ice.

However, when Ying reached out and gently touched it, she felt a wonderful sensation that was warmer than ever before, even calming her mind.

Does this... also have a calming effect?

"Isn't this good enough?"

"good?"

Akalion's eyes were somewhat dazed.

"That's true... This isn't the D&D multiverse after all. No one should think I'm an idiotic white dragon."

"Cough cough!"

Just as Akalion was comforting himself, Ying suddenly seemed to remember something and her eyes widened.

"It's alright. The elements here are like loyal dogs eager to please their master, willingly exposing their bellies; they absolutely won't reveal any information—"

“I mean, Paimon.”

"?!"

Akalion looked at Luminous. "Yeah, where's that flying, noisy, white floating thing that's supposed to be emergency food?"

"Where is she?!"

His tone suddenly turned incredibly sinister.

"Right there—"

Following the direction Ying's finger pointed.

Not far away, a small house constructed of rock elemental force suddenly trembled violently, like a startled hamster.

"Come out, Paimon, everything will be alright!"

The house continued to shake.

"Perhaps, he was scared."

Ying found Paimon's reaction somewhat strange. Why was he so afraid? She walked to the small stone house and gently knocked on the door, which was constructed of rock elemental energy.

"It's me, Paimon?"

"...What is the code?"

Paimon's muffled voice, deliberately tinged with a heavy nasal tone, slowly came from behind the door.

“The code is: Akalion has two.”

Ying glanced instinctively at Akalion behind her, a sudden, inexplicable sense of shame rising within her. It turned out that she hadn't given the correct code in the first place.

A tiny, trembling white sprite, seemingly about to burst into tears, opened the stone door and slowly flew out of the stone house.

"Ying! What's wrong? Why did you forget our code? Didn't we already agree on it?"

Paimon suddenly hugged Ying's head, his eyes, as bright as stars, glistening with crystal-clear tears.

"The absence of a code means that the Ying is no longer my Ying, but someone else, right?"

"I'm so scared, so scared that you'll become a different person!"

"Hahaha..." Facing Akalion's troubled and puzzled gaze, Ying gently removed Paimon from her face, revealing a slightly embarrassed chuckle. "Well... that was just a little joke to keep Paimon here obediently."

"Just kidding!"

Paimon was enraged; his small body trembled slightly with extreme anger.

"That's too much, Ying! I was so worried about you! I was afraid that if I took one step out, I would destroy your 'time travel magic' that I don't know the principle behind, and turn you into a completely different person!"

She puffed out her cheeks, like an enraged pufferfish, and lunged forward to grab Ying's brilliant blonde hair.

However, her figure was firmly controlled by an invisible wind barrier, and she could only wave her short arms in vain in mid-air, her little face puffed up with anger.

"I'm sorry, Paimon, it's my fault! But didn't I prepare lots of delicious food for you?!" Ying reached out and hugged her, then pointed to the silent, snow-white dragon, "Look, this is the Akalion I told you about!"

"This dragon...it's huge!" Paimon's attention was instantly drawn to the massive, imposing figure. But then, as if she'd discovered something, she tilted her small head in confusion. "But, Luminous, didn't you say Akalion was a gray dragon? How come this is...a white dragon—"

"Quack! I'm not an idiot white dragon!!!!"

A roar filled with despair and collapse exploded from Akalion's throat! The crown on his head, made of various elemental crystals, flickered wildly under this intense emotional surge, and the elemental power around him gathered even more.

"H-What happened to him?"

Paimon touched his heart, which had jumped in fright, and looked at Ying with great confusion.

"The white dragon is beautiful too. Why call it mentally challenged? Is there some explanation behind it?"

"Forehead--"

It seems Paimon heard everything.

Ying thought for a moment about whether or not to explain to Paimon. After a while, she decided to explain to her friend.

"Let's put it this way: in the world of Akalion, the white dragons among the true dragons are regarded by the other true dragons as beasts without intelligence. In fact, that's pretty much true. White dragons will only have the intelligence of ordinary humans when they live to the ancient dragon era, eight hundred years later."

"You wouldn't want to become a flying gorilla one day, would you?"

"Wow!" Paimon's face immediately showed deep sympathy for Akalion. "Then, why did he turn into a white dragon? Can he turn back?"

"It should be fine." Ying thought that this was most likely just a temporary, benign effect of the elemental energy of the Teyvat world on Akalion's "existential nature." As long as they left this place, everything should be alright. And—

“Akaglion, I think your color is clearly that of pure ice crystals. If you look closely, you can even detect a layer of almost transparent texture on top of that pure white. It shouldn't be—”

“White dragon, that’s the color.” Akalion’s mood was extremely low as he lay down on the ground. “Although my scales do have a certain icy transparency, that doesn’t change the fact that I look like a rather peculiar white dragon.”

"It's alright! No one in this world will know that the White Dragon is mentally challenged!" Paimon flew with all his might to the top of Akalion's huge head, gently stroking his warm scales with his small hands, and encouraging him, "Cheer up! You are Ying's husband!"

"Husband?!"

Akalion suddenly raised his head and looked at Ying beside him.

Ying nodded naturally.

"It's already like this. What else do you want me to say?"

"Should we just tell Paimon the truth about our relationship?"

"Eh?"

Upon hearing this conversation, Paimon's little mind completely went blank. She looked at Ying, then at Akalion.

"A real relationship? Like that?"

"Ying, between you two, it can't be—"

Volume 1: Snowfield Dragon Lord: Chapter 67. Heading to Mondstadt!

"It means a husband-wife relationship."

Akalion abruptly interrupted Paimon's rapidly spiraling thoughts.

"However, in this world, a union between me and Ying that transcends 'race' seems rather unusual, doesn't it?"

"No!"

Paimon shook his head very seriously, a knowing look on his face saying, "So that's how it is."

"In Liyue, those high and mighty immortals are not all in human form. But they can also marry humans and have offspring with immortal blood. Although the number is very small, it does happen."

“But I’m not an immortal—” Paimon clearly didn’t understand what he meant. Akalion looked at Luminous with some embarrassment, but Luminous didn’t seem to care at all.

He didn't want to delve any further into this awkward topic.