"Hey, gargoyle... Wake up! —Thud!—"
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Grabbing the back of her robe and gently pulling her away, Arezu managed to spare the gargoyle—rather, George—from a second incoming kick, following the first that had already landed on his flank.
"Well, touching that thing with my hands is a little bit... disgusting," Lynn replied, showing every sign of repulsion.
"Then don't kick him either!" Arezu snapped, feeling sorry for the unconscious man.
Putting their playful squabble aside, Lynn knelt to check on George, who still hadn't regained consciousness.
"Can't you heal him with your divine blessing?" Arezu asked, recalling how Lynn, the self-proclaimed priestess, had once saved their companion Hannah, who had been on the brink of death after being stabbed by a sword that barely missed her heart.
"You mean end his suffering, Mr. Arezu?" Lynn asked innocently, tilting her head.
"By healing his injuries, Lynn. By healing him."
Though reluctant, Lynn followed Arezu's anxious request. She drew her ancient relic dagger, sheathed behind her waist, and gripped the handle tightly. In an instant, Arezu pulled her away again.
"Can you please heal him?" Arezu said firmly, referring to Minion 1C as he dragged Lynn away from George.
"What are you doing, Mr. Arezu?" Lynn protested, though she didn't resist his grasp.
A short distance away from the group, Arezu confronted her gently.
"Tell me, Lynn. For a second, you seriously thought about finishing him off, didn't you?"
What Arezu meant was clear—he had felt it, however faint: a flicker of killing intent from Lynn.
Seeing the seriousness in Arezu's expression, Lynn gave a small, guilty smile.
"That was just me being funny..." she admitted in an apologetic tone.
Arezu could tolerate her audacity, mischief, and constant teasing—but joking about someone's life was where he drew the line.
Still… it's not like Lynn would actually kill someone, right? Arezu wondered.
"Seriously... What's with you and Mr. George, anyway?" he asked, trying to shift the mood.
Lynn, who had been brooding a moment ago, was already back to her usual playful self.
"Jealous?"
"Of what?"
Smiling smugly at his feigned ignorance, Lynn ended the conversation with her usual dramatic flair.
"Don't worry, Mr. Arezu. That guy's just one of those who think I have low standards for choosing a companion."
Her words made her meaning clear—Arezu had passed her "high standards." And somehow, that made him feel oddly content.
Returning to the group, Lynn and Arezu found them troubled.
The reason? George still hadn't woken up, even after Minion 1C healed all his visible injuries.
"Maybe the problem's in his mind," Lynn suggested.
She explained further: George's condition might be similar to what happened to Alex, one of their previous companions who had been corrupted by the Curse of Lust. Although Arezu managed to save him, Alex remained unconscious the last time they saw him.
Minion 1C offered to use Fortitude, a divine blessing meant to strengthen the mind, but Lynn declined, reasoning that it would be ineffective now that the damage had already been done—and a waste of precious energy.
Still, George's condition posed another problem: carrying an unconscious person would hinder both their combat ability and their travel speed as they continued exploring the Dungeon.
To that, Lynn proposed a simple solution.
"You guys got a rope?"
Leaving George lying helpless on the ground was out of the question—an Undead Orc could stumble upon him at any time.
So, the solution? Tie him up and hang him from one of the columns.
"Are you sure he'll be fine up there, Lynn?" Arezu asked, looking up at George with concern.
"You worry too much, Mr. Arezu," Lynn said, turning her back to him and urging the group forward despite the darkness of night.
While night exploration sounded dangerous, it was quite normal—most Dungeons were underground labyrinths where sunlight never reached, day or night.
Their surroundings were even more illuminated than expected, thanks to moonlight shining through cracks in the ceiling, supplementing their lantern and Light blessing.
As they pressed on, they encountered more of the missing adventurers—all in the same state as George: mentally broken, under the influence of cursed weapons.
Right after finding George, their advance was halted by a female mage.
She unleashed a barrage of wind blades in the confined tunnel, forcing the group into a defensive stance as they slowly closed the distance, taking cover behind boulders until Lynn was close enough to strike.
"Iron Chain"
Her spell lashed out, restraining the mage. Though disarmed of her cursed staff, the mage remained conscious—and feral—until Lynn punched her in the gut, finally knocking her out.
Next came a male warrior wielding a spear. He was fast and skilled, but no match for Arezu.
Their weapons clashed—halberd-axe versus spear—until Arezu broke the spear with a series of powerful blows, leaving the warrior unconscious on the ground.
Meanwhile, Gwen faced off against a swordman who dodged her dagger's chain and skillfully deflected her strikes. But when his feet were caught by her chain, she hurled him into the walls, the floor, and finally the ceiling—ending the fight.
Each adventurer was left hanging—tied to walls, columns, or ceilings, with their cursed weapons confiscated.
They expected more encounters—but the next group was different. This time, it was a coordinated party of four adventurers, fighting as skillfully as their own.
"Barrier"
Minion 1C cast his divine blessing, shielding himself and Lynn from a volley of arrows.
Despite having multiple vanguards, the sheer number of opponents allowed an enemy archer to target their rearguard.
Realizing they were being overwhelmed, Arezu and Gwen stopped holding back.
While Minions 1A and 1B held off the enemy's vanguard—a warhammer-wielding warrior—Arezu swung his halberd-axe into a crumbling boulder overhead.
'Shatter'
His combat skill fractured the boulder, sending sharp debris flying—piercing the front line and startling the archer behind.
Though the debris didn't do much damage, the distraction was enough for Gwen to dash past her opponent and charge the archer.
The swordsman who had been dueling Gwen turned to pursue her, but Lynn was ready.
"Iron Chain"
The chain burst from the ground, coiling around the man's neck and slamming him into the dirt.
Before the archer could notch another arrow, Gwen hurled her dagger into the wall behind him. Then, yanking on the chain, she launched herself through the air and landed a crushing kick, knocking the archer out.
With the archer down, Arezu raised his halberd-axe and shattered his opponent's sword. Another swing clashed with the warhammer, sending both fighters reeling. Though it seemed like a stalemate, the impact broke the enemy's stance.
That opening allowed Minions 1A and 1B to rush in, disarm, and knock the vanguard unconscious.
The battle left them drained. As they rested and restrained the defeated adventurers, Arezu finally asked the question that had been bothering him since the beginning of their exploration.
"Lynn… I kind of forgot to ask, but how many adventurers are missing?"
Lynn raised three fingers.
"Three?" Arezu guessed. "Three parties?"
Lynn corrected him with a casual shrug.
"Not three parties, three dozen."
"...What?" Arezu echoed, stunned.
"I said three dozen adventurers..."
"Lynn!" he snapped, cutting her off before she could elaborate.
"Mhm? What is it, Mr. Arezu?"
"You should've told us that from the start!"