"Lynn... You..."
"My, my... Are you prepared for the consequences of what you're about to do, Mr. Arezu?"
Having reached the limit of his patience with Lynn's deceitfulness, Arezu raised his hand, intending to give her another smack on the head—this time a serious one, not just a light tap. Yet Lynn simply tilted her head, ready to receive her punishment, but with a silent threat in her eyes: doing so might compel him to make another promise.
Not wanting to play into her game, Arezu lowered his hand and sat down on the ground, taking a moment to calm himself and gather his thoughts before reasoning with her.
"It's better for us to retreat for now, Lynn. There's no way we can take on more than two dozen corrupted adventurers."
"But it's not like we need to fight them all, Mr. Arezu."
According to Lynn, the remaining adventurers were scattered throughout the Dungeon, roaming different areas. The fact that they'd only encountered eight of them as they neared the center of the Dungeon lent some credibility to her assumption.
Still, regardless of whether that assumption was correct, something else Lynn said caught Arezu's attention.
"We're about to reach the center of the Dungeon?"
"Mhm! Based on my estimate of how wide its Domain is."
It was a simple calculation. By gauging the distance they had traveled around the Dungeon's perimeter in search of the entrance, Lynn had deduced the Dungeon's approximate size. It wasn't precise, but it gave her a general sense of its scale.
"It's about the size of an average town, I suppose," Lynn said, eyes closed, one hand thoughtfully on her chin as she tilted her head, pondering how best to explain it to Arezu.
Assuming the center was just a bit farther, past the underground tunnel ahead, the group continued forward, hoping to find more of the missing adventurers—and perhaps even the Dungeon Core.
Lynn had already ruled out the possibility of a monster being chosen as the Dungeon Master, given that the deeper they ventured, the fewer monsters or undead they encountered.
"Either way, considering the nature of this Dungeon, it's possible the chosen Master isn't a monster at all." Lynn said, peeking around the corner where their group was hidden.
Ahead of them, at the end of the tunnel, was a vast clearing. It branched away from the ruined town above and the underground labyrinth behind.
Though located below ground, it resembled an open field, surrounded by towering rock canopies with a visible night sky overhead. In the center stood a barren hill, littered with abandoned weapons embedded in the earth.
A graveyard, Arezu thought, unaware that his mournful expression had not escaped Lynn's notice.
Atop the hill, surrounded by the fallen weapons, hovered a large gray crystal, guarded by a group of five adventurers.
A female archer, a mage, and three swordsmen.
"You're saying one of them is the Dungeon Master?" Arezu asked, pulling Lynn back before they could be spotted.
"Whether it's one of them or not doesn't change what we have to do," Lynn replied, her resolve to save the corrupted adventurers clear—or so Arezu believed.
If they could defeat and restrain this party, they wouldn't need to face the rest of the corrupted adventurers. All they had to do was destroy the Dungeon Core—the source of the curse within the weapons—and the others would be freed, just like Alex had been. At least, that's how Arezu interpreted their situation.
Either way, this would be the last spurt of their exploration in this Dungeon.
With that belief, the group steeled themselves for the coming confrontation.
"Aegis"
Using her ancient relic dagger, Lynn invoked Aegis, a divine blessing that shrouded its targets with a protective veil against both physical and magical attacks.
Casting it on the vanguard—Arezu, Gwen, and Minions 1A and 1B—prompted Minion 1C, a priest, to gaze at Lynn with admiration, recognizing that her blessing exceeded the capability of an average priest.
Naturally, Lynn took the opportunity to show off with a smug smile, though the sweat forming on her brow didn't escape Arezu's attention. It told him just how much the divine blessing had taken out of her.
So even she's wary of this fight, Arezu thought, realizing that Lynn only used divine blessings in situations she considered dangerous.
Despite his anxiety and the unease gnawing at him—as if sensing a grim outcome ahead—Arezu gripped his halberd-axe with trembling hands.
"Not gonna say anything before the fight?" he asked, trying to shake off his fear by recalling Lynn's teasing during his duel with Alex.
"Hmm..." Lynn paused for a moment, then responded in a soft, gentle voice.
"...I did take us to our destination, just like I said. So, I leave the task of bringing us home to you, Mr. Arezu."
That flustered him more than he cared to admit—but it was enough to steady his hands. With a faint smile, he replied,
"I thought you were talking to Chevaline that time."
With that, Arezu led the charge, followed by Gwen and Minions 1A and 1B, leaving Lynn and Minion 1C to support from the rear.
Surrounded by cursed weapons, Arezu intercepted the lead swordsman of the enemy party.
'Cleave'
Activating the same combat skill, their weapons clashed—halberd-axe against buster-sword—splitting the ground beneath them with a shockwave of aura.
In that instant, Arezu realized: if he held back, he would be cut down.
He drew back, planting his feet, tightening his grip on the halberd-axe's shaft, and unleashed another combat skill.
'Shatter'
The ground erupted under their feet with a violent blast, the enemy countering his skill with the exact same move.
From that second clash, Arezu understood something else: he couldn't overpower this opponent through sheer strength.
So, he would fight another way.
He switched focus to speed and precision, expertly rotating the halberd-axe to generate momentum and force, delivering a flurry of strikes—each faster and heavier than the last.
Yet his opponent remained solid, deflecting every blow with the massive buster-sword, retaliating with devastating, earth-shaking swings.
Arezu didn't even have time to check on Gwen or the Minions.
Every strike he blocked pushed him back. The weapon clashes sent reverberations through his arms and deep into his body. The cutting shockwaves even began to pierce the divine protection of Aegis.
Once again, Arezu found himself cornered—just like in his fight against Alex. Once again, he was holding back, trying not to seriously injure his opponent.
But this time was different. The opponent in front of him was clearly stronger than Alex.
And with the next swing, it became clear:
His enemy was aiming for the kill.
'Shockwave'