"Is that true? Then here's the question: where is the NERvGear given away?"
"It's a lie. A large number of NERvGears were produced on the market. I bought one and tried it, but I couldn't transform into a Ruler at all."
"The brother above didn't say the whole thing! Not just any NERvGear will do. Only the 1,000 units from the closed beta and the 10,000 units from the first public beta can allow one to transform into a Ruler."
"I heard there's a research institute in East Capital that wanted to manufacture countless NERvGears that can transform people into Rulers. So they tried to take apart a NERvGear that could transform, and it exploded as soon as it was opened. The whole research institute was blown away."
"My home is near that research institute. The scene of the explosion was truly spectacular."
"Holy crap! Is it that powerful? I wanted to buy one and take it apart to see. Since it explodes, never mind. Looks like another way to get rich is gone."
"Now the NERvGears that can transform into Rulers are being hyped up to one billion yen, and it's the kind where there's a price but no market."
"Holy crap! One billion yen! I actually missed out on a billion. The chance to make a fortune is gone just like that. If I had known, I would have gone to the store to buy a NERvGear a day before it was released."
"What's the point of going one day early! I went to the store to line up three days in advance back then, and I still didn't get one."
"If I had known that getting a NERvGear would make me a Ruler, I definitely would have lined up there ten days in advance! Sigh! It's too late for any of that now."
People on the internet were buzzing with discussion, filled with envy toward those who could become Rulers. After all, once you become a Ruler, as long as you aren't killed by a monster, even nuclear bombs can't threaten a Ruler's life.
The group continued their fierce assault on the BOSS. Soon, the Boss Kobold was covered in wounds and gasping for breath, looking as if a single hit could finish it off completely.
"Die! Illfang the Kobold Lord!" Illustrious took the lead, charging toward the BOSS with her sword raised.
Seeing Illustrious charge forward, Asuna followed closely behind, and Kirito, who was behind the BOSS, also charged in.
Seeing the BOSS only had one hit left, Alice immediately took a few steps back while no one was paying attention.
In the sword art online game, whoever lands the Last Attack to kill the BOSS obtains rare items. Only the players who were beta testers and raided the BOSS knew this information. Both Illustrious, who had seen the plot, and Kirito, who had participated in the beta, wanted to secure this Last Attack.
Now, Illustrious and Kirito were closest to the BOSS. Illustrious began to accelerate, and Kirito accelerated as well. Just as their swords were about to strike the BOSS, they were blocked by two people using their own blades.
Illustrious and Kirito recognized these two; they were members of Team E. Shouldn't they be dealing with the Kobold Sentinels? Why were they attacking them instead?
"What are you doing! Why are you stopping us from killing the BOSS?" Illustrious said angrily.
"Exactly! If you don't block the Kobold Sentinels, they'll interfere with us. What if we can't kill the BOSS then?" Kirito said worriedly.
As soon as he finished speaking, a Kobold appeared next to the BOSS and swung its War Hammer viciously at Asuna!
"Clang!"
Asuna stopped her attack on the BOSS and began attacking the Kobold Sentinel.
Daiya, who was using his sword to block Illustrious, laughed loudly: "We won't trouble you with the Last Attack on the BOSS. Diabel, get in there! I'm about to lose my hold on this woman."
Diabel took a deep look at Illustrious and Kirito before smiling, "Thanks, Daiya! Then I, Diabel, will take the Last Attack on the BOSS."
Diabel's sword erupted with blue light as he lunged toward the Boss Kobold.
Seeing Diabel trying to steal the Last Attack on the BOSS, Kirito, who was locked in a sword struggle with the Team E member, fell into thought. Diabel knew that the Last Attack dropped rare items—could it be that he was also a closed beta tester for sword art online?
Looking at Diabel, Illustrious had a look of displeasure. How dare he steal her kill! This Diabel really deserves to die! "Get out of my way!"
"I simply won't let you. Although you're ranked first on the Ruler leaderboard, I can still hold you back for a while," Daiya said with a grin.
"Dammit!" Illustrious said through gritted teeth.
Seeing the Rulers actually fighting amongst themselves instead of landing the final blow on the Boss Kobold, the viewers watching East Capital Television Station began sending bullet comments again.
"What's going on! Why are they fighting their own people? They were clearly just a bit away from taking down the Boss Kobold. Can someone explain the situation!"
"The cameraman isn't getting close enough, so we can't hear what they're saying at all."
"They aren't actual war correspondents, don't be too hard on the cameraman. If they get too close to the BOSS, the cameraman and reporter will definitely be killed."
"Which Analysis God can analyze the situation for us!"
"Hello everyone! I am the Analysis God. I have a bold theory: that green-haired guy is an undercover agent sent by the Boss Kobold to the Rulers. Seeing the Silver-Haired Girl and the black-haired boy about to kill the Boss Kobold, he was anxious to protect his master and jumped out to protect the Boss Kobold, dropping his cover."
"Incredible! Brilliant! Absolute mastery!"
"We both had twelve years of compulsory education, so why are you so outstanding!"
"How did ten years of hard study not freeze you to death!"
"That show-off over there, please take a seat. As a veteran gaming enthusiast, I'm telling you responsibly that the reason the green-haired guy sent people to stop the Silver-Haired Girl and the black-haired boy from attacking the dying BOSS is an eighty percent probability that the green-haired guy wants to get the Last Attack on the BOSS. That way, he can obtain rare items through the Last Attack."
"That's actually possible. I heard these monsters are from the sword art online game. Since they are monsters from a game appearing in reality, it's very likely that like other MMO games, the Last Attack on the BOSS will drop rare items!"
"Now this is the real Analysis God! I agree with this view."
"Roar!"
The Kobold let out a roar! It then discarded its battle axe and buckler, and with a draw from its lower back, a Nodachi appeared before everyone.
Looking at the weapon the Kobold drew, Kirito was inwardly shocked: It's not a scimitar, it's a Nodachi. This is different from the closed beta.
Kirito shouted at Diabel: "Diabel, fall back with everything you've got!"
"Hm?" Daiya looked at Kirito with confusion.
Seeing Daiya was distracted, Illustrious immediately used her sword to knock him flying.
"Ah! Crap, I couldn't stop her!" Daiya said with regret.
Blinded by greed, Diabel didn't take Kirito's words to heart and continued to charge toward the BOSS.
The Boss Kobold's eyes glowed red as it jumped, leaping back and forth across the East Capital High School building.
The attack was just about to hit the Boss Kobold, but it suddenly jumped, using the East Capital High School building as a stepping stone to dart through the air.
Unable to attack the Boss Kobold, Diabel could only keep his Gaze on the BOSS, his eyes darting back and forth following the BOSS to track its attack direction and prevent a sudden strike from behind.
"Bang!"
The Boss Kobold's jumping around was actually to increase its attack speed and power. Having reached its peak state, it descended from the sky, lunging toward Diabel with its Nodachi.
Although Diabel noticed the BOSS's attack, he couldn't block it because the speed and power of this attack were too strong.
"Thwack!"
The Boss Kobold descending from the sky used its Nodachi to deliver a vertical slash, cutting Diabel in half from the head down, until the two halves of his body fell to the ground.
Diabel was killed on the spot by the BOSS, making everyone tremble with fear, dreading that they would be the BOSS's next target.
After seeing Diabel sliced in half on the East Capital Television Station, the keyboard warriors on the internet immediately began sending bullet comments.
"Ugh! This is so damn bloody! Why isn't it censored!"
"It's a live broadcast, why the hell would it be censored! If you can't handle it, don't watch. I hate these weak people the most."
"Poor green-haired guy died just like that. He was actually not bad looking, what a shame!"
"I think he got what he deserved. He didn't have the skill but still rushed in to steal the Last Attack. Look what happened! He didn't kill the monster; instead, the monster killed him."
"Wasn't this Boss Kobold almost dead? How is it still this strong even when it's dying!"
"It's a deathbed struggle! It's best to avoid the brunt of its attack right now, otherwise, you're basically finished if you run up there!"
Illustrious saw that the BOSS's deathbed struggle was quite fierce and wanted to move away from its attack range. The BOSS couldn't maintain its state like in a game; this was reality, and given its burst state, she estimated it would collapse weakly in a moment.
But the Boss Kobold charged toward Asuna instead. Seeing Asuna in danger, Illustrious was instantly furious. Abandoning her plan to dodge, she immediately raised her sword and charged at the BOSS. "Old dog, take this!"
The elucidator erupted with purple light. Seeing Illustrious swing her sword at him, the Boss Kobold immediately abandoned its attack on Asuna. Its Nodachi burst with purple light as it swung its blade fiercely at Illustrious.
"Bang!"
The two weapons were like meteors colliding, the powerful impact sending out countless shockwaves. Stepping back, the two raised their weapons and began to fight again.
"Clang, clang, clang...!"
Illustrious and the Boss Kobold clashed with their weapons, the collision of blade and sword producing violent sparks; neither side knew how many times they had struck each other.
The flash of blades and shadows of swords, with sword energy crisscrossing, made for an incredibly lively fight. Such a fierce battle directly stunned the surrounding companions; they couldn't help but gasp, one after another moving away for fear of being caught in the crossfire.
At this moment, all the Rulers present finally understood that Illustrious had been hiding her strength all along. This power that allowed her to fight the BOSS on equal terms was truly terrifying!
Seeing Illustrious and the Boss Kobold fighting so intensely, Kirito's blood instantly began to boil! Lifting his sword to join the battlefield, he was sent flying by the shockwaves of the two combatants in less than a moment.
Kirito spat out a mouthful of blood, his face full of horror. The shockwaves alone were this powerful? This was simply too exaggerated! He had originally thought the gap between him and Illustrious wasn't that large, but now it seemed they were poles apart!
"Clang, clang, clang..."
Blade and sword continuously collided as Illustrious and the Boss Kobold fought violently, causing both sides to sustain constant injuries. Illustrious's most serious wound was on her right leg, where the Boss Kobold had carved a hideous gash. Meanwhile, the Boss Kobold also had a severe wound on its belly, struck by Illustrious using the Horizontal Square sword skill.
"Die! Kobold Ilfen!" After dodging a strike from the Boss Kobold, Illustrious leaped heavily, swinging her sword continuously in mid-air, unleashing the top-tier ten-hit sword skill, New Star Ascension, at the BOSS.
"Pfft..."
Hit by such a powerful move, the Kobold spat blood and wobbled unsteadily before its heavy body finally crashed to the ground, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.
After defeating the Boss Kobold, Illustrious forcefully flicked the blood off her sword. "You were a worthy opponent."
Coughing a few times, the fallen Boss Kobold turned its head to look at Illustrious and said with a satisfied tone, "A beautiful strike. I do not feel wronged in my defeat."
After saying those words, the Kobold's weakening aura faded, its eyes slowly closed, and its heart stopped beating.
The other three Kobold Sentinels were also killed by the other Rulers, bringing the raid on the first-floor Boss Kobold, Ilfen, to its conclusion.
"Crack! Clatter!"
Following the Boss Kobold's death, its entire body immediately transformed into dozens of golden fragments. These fragments flew into the air and condensed into a massive golden sphere of light! The golden sphere then split into fifty-two light orbs of varying sizes.
These lights flew toward the Rulers. The largest light came before Illustrious and split in two; one half merged into Illustrious's body, while the other half appeared in her hand. It was a sword, entirely emerald green with a dazzling white blade and a hilt of silver tinged with cyan.
Seeing this sword, Illustrious felt an immense sense of familiarity. Wasn't this the dark repulser? Holding the dark repulser, Illustrious was very happy; it seemed she could now use Dual Blades as well.
Seeing that the BOSS had truly died and did not resurrect, everyone cheered joyfully.
"We won! We won! We defeated the BOSS! We truly achieved Victory!"
"That's great! This Boss Kobold actually died and didn't resurrect like the one in Eagle Country after being nuked. It seems we Rulers really are the hope of humanity."
"We Rulers can finally hold our heads high in front of people! Because we are the only ones who can eliminate BOSS-level Monsters in this world."
After the East Capital Rulers killed the Boss Kobold, half of the monsters in East Capital flew into the sky. Once these monsters reached five hundred meters, they turned into countless lights and vanished into the sky.
The audience watching East Capital Television Station cheered. The elimination of the Kobold—one of East Capital's two major BOSSes—and half the monsters gave them hope. This proved that humanity could eliminate BOSS-level Monsters by centering their efforts around Rulers, and in time, the world could return to its former peace.
"That Silver-Haired Girl is truly amazing. To think that at the final moment, she fought the Boss Kobold alone and, instead of losing, she eliminated it."
"I declare that from today on, I am her fan! Does anyone know her name? Also, where does she live? I want to ask her for an autograph."
"I know this! The cousin of the daughter of the husband of the aunt of my sister's classmate told me! The Silver-Haired Girl is named Illustrious, she lives in the Yuuki household, and she's currently working as a bodyguard for Mrs. Yuuki's daughter!"
"That network of relations is so convoluted! Is the information about the Silver-Haired Girl from your cousin actually accurate?"
"I'll bet my entire collection of figures on it—it's absolutely accurate!"
"I remember at the start of the program, that military expert said Rulers couldn't eliminate the Boss Kobold. Now that the BOSS has been eliminated by Rulers, that's quite a slap in the face!"
In the East Capital Television Station studio, the military expert Akima Ichiro's expression was very poor, and he felt very uneasy.
When the program started, he had boasted that those fifty-two Rulers simply couldn't eliminate the Boss Kobold, even calling their actions suicidal.
---------------------------------
I hope you enjoy this fanfiction! If you're having fun and want to read 30 chapters in advance, feel free to check out my Patreon: patreon.com/TLScarlet
Your support means a lot so if you like the story, don't forget to drop a Power Stone.