Dungeon—an intersection between their world and another, where the environments of both worlds coexist. A world where monsters originally came from.

"Lynn, you're not saying this place—"

"Not just this place, but possibly the entire town has become a dungeon, Mr. Arezu."

"How could the entire town become a dungeon?!" Arezu exclaimed, refusing to believe what Lynn said.

"I have some theories, but this isn't the time to explain—behind you, Mr. Arezu!"

At her warning, Arezu leapt to his right while still holding Lynn, wrapped in his arms.

It wasn't just the warrior adventurer wielding a warhammer who was attacking them, but also the locals, who lunged at them, trying to pin them to the ground.

"What's wrong with them? Why are they attacking us?"

Arezu continued evading the locals attempting to capture them and dodged the warhammer strikes of the attacking warrior—all while holding Lynn in a bridal carry.

With Arezu's fighting capability, dodging the adventurer's attacks was rather easy, suggesting that his opponent was weaker or at least a rank below him.

His speed made avoiding the locals an easy task, even while carrying Lynn. But with their sheer numbers, Arezu was bound to be cornered sooner or later.

"We've got nowhere else to run," Arezu said as they became surrounded by the locals.

"Barrier"

The moment the locals leapt at them, Lynn cast her divine blessing, invoking a white translucent spherical barrier around herself and Arezu for protection.

Lynn's barrier stopped the locals' charge, but the warrior adventurer kept bashing at it with his warhammer, trying to break through. Regardless—

"As if a weak adventurer like you could ever break through my barrier," Lynn said, mocking their opponent.

For now, they were safe, as long as Lynn could maintain her barrier.

With a chance to catch his breath, Arezu finally set Lynn down.

"Aren't you going to carry me until we escape?"

Feigning ignorance to Lynn's complaint, Arezu instead took the opportunity to observe their surroundings, especially their opponents.

The warrior adventurer and the locals looked normal at first glance. They had expressions on their faces—irritation, even anger—and moved like ordinary people, not like those possessed or corrupted by a monster's curse, monster core, or cursed weapon.

However, they had stopped speaking. They didn't even cry out as they rammed their bodies into the barrier, hurting themselves.

That was certainly odd—but something else caught Arezu's attention and made him feel uneasy. No, terrified.

"That's not a crack on the barrier, right, Lynn?"

"I wish it was, Mr. Arezu."

Even Lynn felt fear at the sight of what Arezu was pointing to.

One of the locals, an average-looking guy, kept smashing his head against the barrier, hurting himself. But instead of getting injured and bleeding from his forehead, his face began to crack, resembling that of someone staring into a broken mirror.

"What the heck is happening?!"

"Let go of me, bastards!"

"Help! Please help me!"

Lynn and Arezu's attention shifted from the locals attacking their barrier to the other people around them, who were also being attacked by more locals and adventurers.

They recognized them as adventurers from the Annual Caravan. Some, like them, were protected by divine blessing barriers. Others were pinned to the ground, while a few had already been captured and dragged away.

As they watched, the captured adventurers were shoved into glass walls, doors, and windows. At first, Lynn and Arezu thought the locals were simply forcing them inside the buildings. But to their shock, the captured adventurers vanished upon contact—as if they were being sucked into the glass or mirrors themselves.

"This is getting really scary, Mr. Arezu."

"Your barrier won't collapse, right, Lynn? We're done if it does."

"Of course, it won't."

Or so Lynn thought.

—Bam!—

Against one weak warrior adventurer, she was confident her barrier wouldn't break.

—Bam! Bam!—

Even with multiple locals ramming against it, Lynn stood her ground, holding her head high with confidence.

—Bam! Bam! Bam!—

But against more than a dozen, and their numbers still growing, the relentless assault began to take its toll. They rammed themselves again and again without hesitation, uncaring of their injuries. Lynn's confidence faltered as cracks formed on her barrier.

Seeing it begin to collapse, Arezu readied himself.

"We need to get out of here and find a place to hide," he said, grabbing the halberd-axe strapped to his back and taking his stance.

"Are you really going to attack the locals, Mr. Arezu?" Lynn asked, concern clear in her voice.

Seeing her worried expression reminded Arezu that Lynn truly was a good person who cared about others.

But Arezu's thoughtful remark about Lynn was immediately overshadowed by her audacity

"Then at least don't kill them. Cutting off their legs should be enough to immobilize them."

"I'm not gonna hurt them, okay?!"

"Why are you raising your voice? Are you mad at me?!"

While Lynn and Arezu squabbled—

—"ARGH!!!"—

—another group of adventurers were captured and shoved into mirrors by the locals.

"Can you protect yourself, Lynn?"

"Who do you think I am, Mr. Arezu?"

With her assurance, Arezu quickly explained his plan.

"Just stay behind me and keep up. We're going to push our way out once the barrier collapses."

Before it could collapse, Arezu scanned their surroundings, looking for an escape route.

The moment the barrier shattered—

"Gust"

—Lynn cast her mystic spell, unleashing a powerful gust of wind that blasted the locals away.

"Let's go!"

At Arezu's signal, they bolted forward with Lynn close behind.

Arezu gripped his halberd-axe tightly, using it to block the locals rushing at him from the front. With sheer strength, he forced his way through. When he could go no farther, he swung his weapon wide, clearing a path.

"Gust"

Lynn cast another mystic spell, blowing back the attackers from the sides and rear while Arezu broke through the front.

They repeated this cycle several times until they finally reached their destination—or rather, at the escape route Arezu had spotted earlier: a building without any large windows, its door left open.

"Hurry up and lock the door, Mr. Arezu!"

"What do you think I'm doing, Lynn?!"