It's hard to say exactly when it began, but once players realized that monsters stopped being frightening as long as they leveled diligently, the current situation became an inevitable result. Put on gear that matches your level, raise your stats, then build confidence and practical combat experience through a few battles.
This is the path most players go through now.
Human emotions are hard to measure. Sometimes they can drive a person mad, yet they can cool with frightening speed.
But the true frontliners, those who had already cooled their hearts and proudly called themselves the top guild, had to do more than ordinary players grinding levels every day. They also had to organize parties again and again to explore labyrinths, search for rare items and weapons, and open up unknown territory.
In other words, they had to do the work of heroes.
Her longsword knocked aside the incoming club. Even that full defensive maneuver only reduced the HP bar above her head by an almost invisible amount. Then, almost instantly, though she had entered a staggered state, she recovered before anyone else. Her golden hair flared upward, and in battle she radiated an overwhelming presence.
In the next instant, her nimble figure vanished from where she stood.
Four flashes of light burst across the Elite Goblin's body at the same time. A sound like shattering glass followed, and with a howl the monster disappeared into the labyrinth.
With the leader killed first, the remaining goblins fighting the girl's teammates suddenly went wild, desperately trying to break away as though forced into a half-confused state. It was the perfect chance. The other members of the Divine Dragon Alliance immediately charged after them.
One after another, the hideous goblins were cut down, their twisted faces frozen in death.
A few minor enemies occasionally managed to flee combat, but Sheeta caught up to them and eliminated each one.
The battle was over.
Once again.
Sheeta let out a soft breath and slid the longsword back into the sheath at her left hip. The crimson blade, like falling fire, was gradually swallowed by the scabbard. It was the same sword as Satoru's Flameforged, but with even higher enhancement. Though the two had interacted less and less lately, this alone still tightly connected them.
She quietly dismissed the notification window for EXP items. As the blade returned to its sheath, the girl also returned to her calm self. Her soft golden hair rested neatly against her slender back, completely different from the dazzling figure she had displayed moments ago.
Then she walked toward the party with small, closely spaced steps.
Watching her like this, several players wore familiar, helpless smiles.
Normally, players used group tactics against high level monsters. At minimum, one person would block and deflect the enemy's weapon while another attacked directly. It greatly improved both efficiency and safety. The tactic known as Switch had long since become an essential combat skill.
In fact, this party was a standard squad. One shield swordsman served as tank, one curved sword user guarded the rear against ambushes, and two one-handed sword users handled the main damage output.
But no matter what, bosses, or elite monsters, always became Sheeta's battle alone. In the end, the others only had to clean up the lesser mobs. That indirectly took half the pressure off them, and an easy fight was naturally welcome.
But.
"Sorry about that. That goblin was way too fast. I couldn't catch it."
The shield swordsman scratched his head as he apologized to Sheeta.
"No, it's fine."
It wasn't anything important, and Sheeta answered with her usual flawless smile.
It was the expected reply, so no one paid it much mind.
Welcoming a super high school level beauty had not brought them a second spring in life. Instead, they constantly had to admit that the girl far surpassed them in strength. Even if they disliked it, there was nothing they could do. And as for her attitude, it was hard to describe. Calling her distant felt wrong, because she did care about others. Calling her familiar felt wrong too, because her manners were almost too perfectly formal.
Gentle, composed, and strong enough to need no one.
At least, the beautiful scene they had imagined never came to pass.
"Um, hey?"
While everyone took a moment to sort their bags, a voice came from beside the quietly standing Sheeta. The girl with black whisker-like marks on her face leaned close and whispered softly.
"I heard there are rare items in the inner section of this labyrinth. I'll share the map with you. For that man's sake, I'll give you twenty percent off. Two thousand Col, how about it?"
Sheeta, poor with words and unsure how to deal with salespeople, was no match for the silver-tongued information broker who could probably sell a flashlight as the ultimate final battle laser weapon.
In the end, for reasons she barely understood, she bought a map that was only slightly more complete than her own.
When she loaded it, the fog on the map had shrunk by maybe one centimeter.
It seemed even more of a scam than expected, and she stood there with her lips slightly parted.
"Alright, everyone. Two minute break, then we move again."
The helpless voice came from the shield swordsman who had watched everything happen. He glanced at Argo, who looked thoroughly pleased with herself.
She was definitely useful.
But her reputation being half good and half bad made sense.
A profiteer's true nature always slipped out sooner or later.
"This is great though. Tagging along with you all means I don't have to waste time dodging monsters anymore," Argo said with an enthusiastic nod, completely unconcerned about freeloading.
"That's good," Sheeta replied.
Please stop looking so harmless all the time. Didn't you just get swindled?
The party members silently broke into a sweat for her.
"Enjoying the protection of Miss Sheeta, blessed with both beauty and strength. This is the first time since going to Minotauros on the Second Floor. She always makes people feel safe, and she's kind, generous, and selfless." Argo sighed as if remembering something. "Way better than a certain someone."
"Nero is a good person," Sheeta said seriously, blinking at her.
"Mm, well..." Argo gave an unclear response. "Now that I think about it, I really haven't seen him for a while."
"Ever since the Vice Commander reached the thirty-fifth floor, he's been running down to the lower floors," said the curved sword user after overhearing. "No idea what he's doing."
"Come to think of it, he missed several meetings too," added one of the sword users.
Argo looked at them, her expression complicated, then turned back to Sheeta.
"What about you? You two used to be inseparable."
"We've been keeping in touch through messages," Sheeta said. "So there's no need to worry."
"Ah, well... just texting doesn't really count for that," Argo sighed. "Haven't you felt that something's a little strange?"
Sheeta frowned slightly and stared at her for a few seconds.
Then said:
"Nero is always full of energy."
"..."
Ah, I should have known better than to bring this up with a woman suffering from terminal Yurnero syndrome.
It was hardly a secret that the famous Sword Princess held a mysterious fondness for the guild's Vice Commander.
Argo covered her forehead with one hand.
"But it really has been some time since I last saw him."
The party began moving forward again. In the deepening labyrinth zone, Sheeta spoke so softly that only Argo could hear.
Argo lowered her head and frowned.
There was no way she could forget the day Satoru openly admitted to her that he had misappropriated guild funds. Fairly speaking, she thought highly of that nicotine addict. In dealing with others, he never seemed immature, and he rarely gave people the unpleasant sense of insincerity.
In fact, one could even say he was the most serious of them all.
Even if no one knew what exactly he was serious about, that resolve could always be felt.
But at the same time, she would never forget the first time she met that man.
That face, tangled with all kinds of conflicting emotions, and the silent fire burning in his eyes.
Come to think of it... the first time she ever saw him without that constant tension was when this girl appeared at his side, wasn't it?
What was it... that was wrapped around him?
Why would he deliberately return to being that same guarded person who had once made others wary?
Argo's pace grew slower and slower. At last, as if making up her mind, she looked toward Sheeta ahead of her and spoke.
"Sheeta, I need to tell you something..."
But before she could finish, a cry of alarm from the party cut her off.
"The floor door?!"
Argo froze for a moment, then stepped around the girl and looked ahead.
At the end of the broad road, spotless and free of even a trace of dust, the ground opened out into a circular space like a giant droplet spreading across the floor. Slender stone pillars stood in orderly rows, stretching inward, each one bearing a flickering flame. The ember light, born from their eternally lonely burning, barely pushed back the black gloom beyond the labyrinth zone.
And at the farthest edge of that light lay a heavy shadow.
Mottled patterns crawled across its surface. An enormous, massive gate stood at the boundary of sight and light.
They had seen it many times before.
Thirty-five times so far.
The Floor Boss's... gate.
"That was faster than I expected." The shield swordsman let out a long breath, but the moment he relaxed, he rolled his arms again in annoyance. "Well, this means we can head back sooner, but it also means another hard fight is waiting for us."
"I wonder what kind of Boss it is this time."
"This floor's been full of demi-human monsters, so maybe it's the small, high attack, low defense type?"
"If that's the case, that actually makes the raid harder..."
"Yeah. Too few people isn't safe, but too many and there's no room to move."
The party members began discussing it among themselves.
"A boss raid." Sheeta gazed quietly at the gate, then suddenly looked relieved. "If that's the case, then I'll definitely get to see Yurnero."
Argo opened her mouth, but she could no longer bring herself to say everything she had meant to.
"Alright, alright. This is where the professionals step in. Let's see if there's any information around here." Pushing past the others, she walked forward. Floor Boss gates often had special relief carvings for decoration, and some of them even hinted at the Boss itself. It was not exactly vital, but it still had to be examined carefully.
The others said nothing and slowly followed after her. After all, monsters did not spawn in the area before a Floor Boss. In a sense, it was a kind of pseudo safe zone.
Sheeta had only taken four or five steps when she suddenly stopped.
In her field of vision, beneath the gate and inside the shadow below it, a sharp glint flashed.
Clang!
The sound of metal striking metal rang out with a burst of sparks. In the absolute silence of the Floor Boss area, it was especially jarring. A throwing knife was knocked flying away, and with the sound of shattering, it vanished midair.
"Wh. Who's there?!" One of the straight sword users shouted warily toward the direction the knife had come from, still shaken.
"As expected of the woman whose name is known throughout the Divine Dragon Alliance... I attacked at the very instant before my stealth wore off, and you still reacted?"
A low laugh spread out from the hard-to-see darkness.
A man wearing a cloak slowly stepped out from the shadows, idly flipping a small knife up and down in one hand. Beside him was a tall, heavily built man holding a plain spear.
From beneath his long bangs, his gaze fell silently on Sheeta and the others. His face showed neither joy nor sorrow, yet when Argo saw him, she was suddenly struck by a sense of déjà vu, as though she were looking at someone from the past.
The crystal above the poncho player's head, the marker used to identify a player, was a deep blood red.
In other words, a red player.
The moment they confirmed that, the expressions of the squad changed.
The shield swordsman immediately drew his sword and stepped forward with shield raised in front of everyone. As the tank of the party, his reaction was flawless. The others drew their weapons as well and braced themselves.
"Who are you people?!"
"Nice reaction. As expected of the Divine Dragon Alliance's elite."
The praise came from behind them.
It was accompanied by a playful laugh with a mocking, clownish edge, and a cold draft swept past the backs of their necks. It was like a blade scraping across their skin, raising goosebumps all at once.
An ambush?!
The curved sword user, already on guard, immediately tried to turn around.
But the one who intercepted the attack before he could was the girl who had drawn her blazing red blade.
Her right hand drew the longsword at her left hip with a speed no ordinary person could imagine. The twist of her waist and the command sent from mind to body were completed in mere fractions of a second.
The sword flashed upward from below in the most efficient defensive motion possible and struck the incoming attack with perfect precision. A crisp metallic clash rang out, and sparks scattered into the air.
Within those sparks, a red gleam of eyes flickered and retreated at high speed.
"No wonder you could keep up with that person without getting left behind. Looks like you're not dead weight after all." The third attacker, who had been lurking behind them the entire time, let out a snickering laugh.
He wore a striking skull oni mask, with the eye sockets deliberately painted red. The shifting blood colored light in those eyeholes was deeply unsettling.
"XaXa." A gloomy voice came from elsewhere, sounding faintly troubled. "Didn't I tell you to use throwing knives? A rapier's attacks are too one dimensional."
"Ah, sorry, sorry." The man called XaXa swung his sickly steel-blue rapier and shrugged. "Ever since I got rid of that two handed axe, I've been working hard on my rapier proficiency. Gotta grab every chance I can to use my skills."
"Hah... what a pain. If you do that, doesn't that just put us at a disadvantage?" The poncho man shook his head.
"Hey now. Don't get discouraged. Stay fired up!" The red player called XaXa bounced on his feet.
"There are five high level Divine Dragon Alliance players here, you know!"
"Yeah, so let's plan this properly." XaXa cheerfully swept his gaze over their grim faces. "Alright then, you and I each take two. Didos can go play with the little girl. Hm... oh, there's another little girl? Ah, that useless information broker. Nah, no thanks, no thanks!"
"What the hell is wrong with these people?" The shield swordsman glared at them.
"Like I said before, let's each pick our own opponent." The poncho player approached them with a light laugh, but the gaze hidden under his hood was icy and devoid of warmth.
"There are only three of you, and you still dare to act this arrogant? Hey, you lot. You're red players guilty of unforgivable crimes, right? If you willingly put down your weapons, maybe there's still room to talk!"
Whoosh!
A throwing knife flew in from behind, but as expected, it was knocked aside by someone already prepared for it.
"Why are you dragging this out so much?" XaXa mocked. "If you're not coming to me, then I'll come to you."
The moment he finished speaking, his entire body was engulfed in the blue light of a Sword Skill, and he shot straight toward them with a thrust.
"Front.!" The shield swordsman, who had been watching the front the entire time, shouted a warning.
The poncho player had already rushed in as well.
Sheeta's eyes went first to Argo, who was standing some distance away. Without a word, she used a charging skill to dash to Argo's side, and then she launched an attack at the poncho player.
"I'm not your opponent. I already told you that."
A violent clash rang out. The weapon beneath the poncho vanished back into hiding, and the man did not exchange a second blow with Sheeta. Instead, he completely slipped past her and, together with XaXa, attacked the rest of the party from front and rear.
Sheeta was about to chase after them.
"You're the one, right?"
The tall man who had not moved at all until now, the one standing before the gate, looked at the girl protecting Argo as he spoke. His eyes slowly sized up her slender frame.
"You're the bait that can draw that person out, aren't you?"
Sheeta stopped.
"I won't kill you." The man raised his spear.
"Who are you looking for?" Sheeta asked quietly.
"A person who threatens my companions. His name is Yurnero." The man spoke in an even tone, without the slightest emotional ripple.
Argo looked at him in shock.
"I won't... let you meet him."
It was a voice they had never heard from her before.
A voice full of absolute resolve.
And those words had come from the mouth of a girl who had always been soft and timid.
Didos looked at her, then closed his eyes.
"Then there's no other choice."
Boom!!
It was almost like an explosion.
But what burst apart was the air itself.
SAO's sound simulation was extremely lifelike, and it also had its own unique calculations.
A thrown projectile could cut through the air with a sharp sound, clashing blades could produce a vibrating metallic ring, and these heart shaking roars were not uncommon either, but they usually came from massive attacks, or from the unreasonable brute force of a Floor Boss.
But here, it came only from the charging skill unleashed by that spearman.
A flash of light, bright as daylight, came crashing forward with unstoppable force.
Right before Argo's eyes, the resilient girl was sent flying brutally through the air, looking more broken and helpless than ever before.
"Sheeta!!"
Argo cried out in alarm.