Lina Inverse, a young sorceress with a fearsome reputation and an appetite for bandit treasure, wipes out the Dragon Fangs gang and walks off with an orihalcon statue from their hoard. The swordsman Gourry Gabriev mistakes her for a girl in need of rescue and tags along toward Atlas City. The statue turns out to be what the chimera Zelgadiss and the sorcerers working with him are after, and Lina's quick payday becomes a chase across the countryside.