When Lynn's consciousness finally clawed its way back from the chaotic void of pure white, he was half-kneeling on the ground in a textbook "Tarnished landing," one hand bracing himself against the cold, damp stone floor.
The sickly-sweet scent of the teleportation mist still lingered in his nose, making him gag slightly.
"Dammit, no matter how many times I experience that transporter trap, I can never get used to it."
He shook his dizzy head and stood up quickly, immediately scanning his surroundings with practiced vigilance. The air here was much more humid, and the cave walls were blanketed in thick, bioluminescent moss that cast a dim, ghostly green glow across the cavern. Visibility was poor.
He had just been here yesterday. The 13th Floor of the Dungeon—the Middle Floors.
Before he could even begin to complain about being "forbidden" from teleporting back and having to walk all the way out, a flurry of rapid footsteps and chaotic shouts echoed from a tunnel corner not far away. The sounds grew louder at an alarming speed.
"Hurry! Faster!"
"The monsters... the monsters are catching up!"
"Hang in there, Chigusa!"
Lynn's eyebrows shot up. He instinctively ducked into the shadow of a massive boulder, peeking out with only half his head. A second later, a bedraggled four-person adventurer party burst into his field of vision.
Leading the group was a burly man wielding a greatsword. He looked back anxiously as he ran, his face a mask of desperation. Behind him was a black-haired girl clad in Japanese-style armor, gripping a katana; her expression was equally grim. Between them, another adventurer struggled to run while carrying a girl on his back—she was covered in blood and appeared to be unconscious.
Nipping at their heels was a swarming mass of monsters. It was a mixed pursuit force of over a dozen Hellhounds and seven or eight Killer Ants, all letting out bloodthirsty growls. Their fangs and claws glinted with a cold light under the green moss, completely clogging the passage.
Lynn "The Tarnished" En made the most logical judgment for someone of his status within 0.01 seconds of seeing this scene.
—Run!
Was this a joke? Being hunted by a dozen rabid dogs and a pile of giant insects? What else was there to do but bolt? Charge in and fight a dozen hounds at once? That was for heroes, not for a Tarnished. Without a hint of hesitation, as the party scrambled past his hiding spot, he slipped out of the shadows and silently joined the rear of the retreating army.
"What did you guys do to piss off this many monsters?"
His sudden greeting nearly scared the life out of the burly man bringing up the rear.
"Who?!" The big guy whipped his head around, almost swinging his greatsword on reflex, only to see a strange youth in simple light armor with a large curved sword on his back, running alongside them with a remarkably light step.
"Where the hell did you come from?!"
"Never mind that, just focus on running," Lynn said, waving a hand dismissively.
"..." The big man's lip twitched. This kid's nerves are made of steel!
However, Lynn quickly realized something was wrong. This party was moving too slowly. The member carrying the casualty was gasping for air, his footsteps beginning to stumble, which severely dragged down the entire group's pace. The snarling behind them grew closer; he could already smell the sulfurous stench of the Hellhounds' breath.
Lynn glanced back and frowned. At this rate, they would be overrun in less than thirty seconds.
They couldn't outrun them.
"Hey! You guys in front!" Lynn suddenly shouted.
"What?!" The black-haired girl in the middle looked back, her tone sharp and frantic.
"Stop running! You won't make it!" Lynn's voice rang out clearly. "Find an open space and get ready to fight!"
"Are you insane?!" the girl roared. "There are too many of them! Stopping is suicide!"
"Running is suicide too, just a more pathetic one!"
Lynn's tone brooked no argument. His judgment, honed through countless life-and-death encounters, allowed him to see the situation with total clarity. "Listen to me, and we might actually live!"
There was a strange sense of composure in his voice that resonated with the desperate party. The two leaders shared a look, seeing a flicker of hesitation in each other's eyes. In that moment, Lynn had already come to a stop.
He turned to face the surging tide of monsters, reaching back to grip the Bloodhound's Fang.
"Madman!" the girl hissed, but she gritted her teeth and stopped as well, turning to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Lynn. Seeing this, the big man immediately shouted to the companion carrying the wounded girl:
"Take Chigusa and go! Find a place to hide! We'll hold them off!"
"Understood!"
The member gave a desperate nod and, using the last of his strength, sprinted toward a different fork in the path with Chigusa. In the blink of an eye, the frantic retreat had turned into a final stand.
"Kid, you'd better have a damn good plan!" the big man panted, planting his greatsword in the ground and glaring fiercely at the oncoming swarm.
Lynn reached into his item pouch and withdrew a silver bell that shimmered with a cold, pale light.
Ding-aling—!
He flicked his wrist, sending an ethereal chime echoing through the cavern. Under the stunned gazes of the two adventurers, three spheres of blue ghost-fire appeared out of thin air and solidified. Three sleek, semi-transparent giant wolves manifested beside Lynn. They lowered their bodies, guttural growls vibrating in their throats as their glowing eyes locked onto the monster horde.
"Wha... What is this?!" The girl was so shocked her grip on her katana nearly slipped.
Summoning magic? No, there was no such thing as this kind of summoning magic in Orario!
"My boys," Lynn smirked. His gaze sharpened as he pointed the Bloodhound's Fang forward, delivering the simplest of commands:
"Go!"
Awoo!
The three wolves didn't hesitate. Like three blue arrows shot from a bow, they lunged from three cunning angles, throwing themselves into the monster swarm without a second thought. The monsters' aggro was instantly diverted toward these three spectral intruders.
"Opportunity!"
Lynn roared, his body lunging forward. He gripped the Bloodhound's Fang as he glided across the ground like a low-flying hawk, cutting into the heart of the swarm through the gap created by the wolves.
A bloody arc of blade-light flashed and vanished. Before the three leading Hellhounds could even react, their toughened heads were sent flying, spraying dark green ichor into the air.
One strike, three kills!
The two adventurers were frozen in shock. These three wolves hadn't just appeared out of nowhere; they fought with an incredibly high combat IQ. They were perfectly executing a strategy of partitioning, harassing, and focused fire, effectively halting the charge of over a dozen monsters in their tracks!
"What are you standing there for?"
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