"Are you still up for another four chimeras, Mr. Arezu?" Lynn asked, smiling cheerfully as she approached Arezu while hopping to avoid the pools of chimera blood on the ground.

Arezu took a deep breath, calming himself from his focused fighting demeanor to his laid-back one, before giving his response and attention to Lynn.

"Just have the others deal with them, Lynn."

It wasn't like he felt particularly tired after defeating three mid-level chimeras all by himself, which made him give Lynn a questioning look, asking why she hadn't helped.

But if Lynn promised to help fight this time, he wouldn't mind taking on the incoming four chimeras.

However, if they didn't give other groups a chance to fight and acquire some monster materials, their party might earn hateful criticism—especially over how Lynn used her title as the infamous Lady Impaler to scare other groups away if they opposed her.

That's another bad reputation for her, Arezu thought, glancing silently at Lynn.

Lynn, on the other hand, once again smiled cheerfully, as if telling Arezu that she appreciated his concern for her.

Then, Lynn loudly said:

"They're all yours, if you're fast enough to get them."

Ignoring what they thought was Lynn's taunting, the other adventurers charged, ready to intercept the incoming group of four chimeras.

—"WAAAARGH!"—

—ROAR!!!—

But before they could reach their targets, or before the chimeras could reach them, four chained daggers appeared from behind the chimeras, stabbing one of either two heads on each monster, with the chains wrapping around the other head to stop their charge.

At that instant, the adventurers realized Lynn wasn't exactly taunting them but warning them about the person chasing the four chimeras.

A female adventurer with stunning, shoulder-length obsidian-black hair, wearing a short black combat dress that highlighted her slender figure, and wielding silver-chained daggers.

An adventurer with enough strength to stop four two-meter-tall chimeras on her own yanked them high into the air by pulling on the chains restraining them, then slammed them back into the ground with enough force to create a wide crater where they landed.

The other adventurers couldn't believe what they saw—how a lady with such a slender frame could lift four chimeras, each weighing more than a dozen times her own weight.

But for Lynn and Arezu, that scene alone was enough to comprehend how it happened, along with the identity of the female adventurer.

"So Ms. Haughty finally made an appearance."

"At least call her by her real name already."

While everyone stared in awe at the four chimeras still struggling to stand, Gwen—one of the heroine candidates Lynn and Arezu had met on previous quests—gave the signal for her comrades to finish off their captured targets.

"Minions!"

It was an odd way to address her companions, yet the people running behind her to join her side truthfully answered her call.

Multiple wind blades manifested mid-air, cast by a group of three female mages, and shot forth toward the four chimeras.

As the barrage of wind blades shredded their targets, four minions charged forward, brandishing swords and aiming to end the fight. Two of them were Minion 1A and 1B, whom Lynn and Arezu had fought alongside before.

For the other two—

"Maybe they're actually... what's the word for it—" Lynn paused, searching for the right word until she finally found it. "—Right, masochistic."

"Please don't spread that kind of rumor, Lynn," Arezu said, feeling sorry for the other two Minions.

The other two—or rather, the new Minions—were the pair of swordsmen Lynn and Arezu, together with Gwen's party, had fought during the cursed weapons incident. They were the same two swordsmen Gwen had defeated in the same way she had restrained and immobilized the four chimeras.

They were Rust's juniors and had supposedly been applying to join another adventuring party instead of following their senior. Now, Lynn and Arezu finally knew whose party they had joined.

With more members joining her adventurer party and becoming loyal companions, Gwen's divine gift, Resonance, could boost her strength even more.

It didn't take long for the four Minions to completely defeat the chimeras, beheading both front heads and cutting off their snake-tail heads. While the Minions retrieved the remains, Gwen took the chance to approach Lynn and Arezu.

"It's a bit late to offer your gratitude, but I'm still willing to accept it," Lynn said, as she crossed her arms beneath her chest and held her head high.

"Can't you tone down the audacity for a little bit, Lynn?" Arezu grumbled, trying to lecture her for her rude greeting toward a fellow adventurer they had once fought alongside with their lives on the line—someone they already considered at least a friend.

But regardless of Lynn's audacity, Gwen didn't seem to mind. To Arezu's surprise, she indeed offered her gratitude and even an apology to both Lynn and him.

"Thank you for defending our title as Dungeon Conquerors... and I'm sorry I wasn't there to fight with you during the challenge, Lynn, Arezu."

However, even though Gwen was accustomed to Lynn's rudeness, her new companion was dissatisfied and openly hostile toward both Lynn and Arezu.

"Who exactly are these mongrels, Lady Gwen?" said the blonde twin-drills girl clinging to Gwen.

Obviously, that remark irritated Lynn so much that Arezu had to grab her hand as she immediately reached for her twin-arrow crossbow strapped to her belt.

Seriously, is your crossbow only for threatening people? Arezu thought, giving Lynn a look as if trying to send the thought directly into her head.

Lynn, in turn, responded with a threatening glare disguised as a gentle smile, still trying to break free of Arezu's grip to reach her weapon.

While Lynn and Arezu squabbled, and Gwen tried to explain the situation to her new companion—

—ROAR!!!—

Another loud roar echoed from the southern forest, and more chimeras emerged onto the forest road. This time, they appeared farther behind, at the end of the caravan where Lynn and Arezu's carriage was stationed.

All the adventurers and soldiers positioned at the rear took their stances, ready to defend their carriages against a dozen incoming chimeras.

However, once again, they didn't get the chance, as Lynn stepped forward—still annoyed by Gwen's companion's audacity.

"What's the front doing, letting these monsters reach our end?" Lynn said, walking proudly and confidently while gathering her mana to cast one of her most powerful mystic spells.

"What are you planning to do, Lynn?" Arezu asked—not worried about the dozen chimeras, but rather about what Lynn might be trying to unleash.

And his gut was right, because instead of giving a normal response, Lynn went on with her usual dramatic flair.

"Do you know why our group is positioned at the end of the caravan, Mr. Arezu?"

So that we'll cause the least trouble if you have a sudden unreasonable tantrum, Arezu thought, but decided to keep it to himself. And so as not to worsen her sour mood, he decided to humor her question.

"And why is that, Lynn?"

"In a traveling wolf pack, the ones in front are the oldest and the weakest—those who are nothing but bait and sacrifice for any enemies waiting in ambush..."

Did she just insult the whole cavalry in front?

Everyone thought it but kept it to themselves, considering the dangerous aura radiating from Lynn.

"...Next is the wolf pack's actual fighting force, followed by those who are the most important and need protection... And at the end, that is where the strongest are—ready to protect the pack from anyone who dares to sneak behind."

At the end of her remark, Lynn raised her right hand toward the incoming chimeras and activated her mystic spell.

"Avalanche"