December 3, 2022 Evening was approaching, but Tolbana’s fountain plaza was once again crowded with players, much like it had been the day before.
Diavel stood atop the stone steps surrounding the fountain, delivering another impassioned speech to the assembled front-line players.
Earlier that afternoon, his party had reached the twentieth level of the First Floor Labyrinth and finally discovered the chamber containing the Floor Boss.
They had even taken the considerable risk of opening the Boss Room doors on the spot, allowing them to confirm the identity of the creature waiting inside.
That very evening, Diavel had called everyone together again to announce the news.
At the same time, the NPC item shops around the fountain plaza had begun offering a new strategy guide.
Calling it selling would have been misleading, since players could pick up a copy for exactly zero col.
Shindo was holding one now.
The booklet contained general information about the First Floor Boss of Aincrad: Illfang the Kobold Lord.
What attracted even more attention, however, was the person responsible for publishing it.
Argo had stopped hiding behind anonymity.
Her player ID was printed openly in the guide.
It was her answer to what had happened between Diavel and Kibaou the previous day.
In what amounted to a public declaration that she herself was a former beta tester, Argo had laid out almost everything she knew about the First Floor Boss from the beta—its HP, attack speed, movement speed, approximate damage, Sword Skills, and other combat information.
The cover identified it plainly as Argo’s Strategy Guide.
A disclaimer appeared beneath the title: [This guide contains information obtained during the Sword Art Online Closed Beta Test.
Current game content may differ from the beta version.] Argo’s own signature was printed on the back page.
At this point, she was not merely hinting at her beta tester status.
She might as well have been announcing it from the top of the Black Iron Palace.
Shindo raised his eyes toward the highest row of stone seats.
Argo was sitting there alone.
Something tightened faintly inside him at the sight.
If their positions had been reversed, Shindo was not sure he would have done anything at all.
People liked to say that actions mattered more than whatever motives lay behind them, and by that standard, Shindo had to admit that Argo had gone farther than he probably could.
Sacrificing himself for everyone else had never particularly suited his philosophy on life.
Murmurs were already spreading through the plaza when Diavel finally stepped into the role Shindo believed he was best suited for.
“Everyone, what we should be doing right now is thanking the person who gave us this information!” Diavel’s voice carried across the gathering with all the force and charisma of a natural leader.
“No matter where this guide came from, it allows us to avoid spending valuable time conducting reconnaissance against the Boss ourselves.
And personally, I’m grateful for that.
The reconnaissance battle is where casualties would have been most likely.” The players who had fought their way from the Town of Beginnings to the front line could hardly disagree.
One after another, heads began to nod.
“If the information in this guide is accurate, then judging by the Boss’s known abilities, we could probably defeat it even if all of us were several levels weaker than we are now.
So if we establish a proper strategy and bring enough recovery items, I believe we can clear the First Floor Boss without losing a single person.” Diavel placed a hand over his chest.
“On my honor as a knight, I, Diavel, promise everyone here that there will be no casualties!” The effect was immediate.
His declaration sent morale soaring, and Diavel’s standing as the raid’s leader rose with it.
The plaza erupted into the loudest applause he had received yet.
“Knight-sama, you’re way too cool!” With the mood at its peak, everyone who intended to participate in the Boss battle began forming six-person parties at Diavel’s suggestion.
Only people such as Argo, who had no intention of joining the raid in the first place, remained outside the organization.
The final arrangement created eight full parties.
Party A consisted of Yuuki, Yuna, Nautilus, Asuna, Mito, and one of the players Shindo and the others had previously rescued in the mountain cave.
Party B consisted of Aiko, Shindo, Kirito, and three more of those rescued players.
Yuuki and Aiko were made the respective honorary leaders of Parties A and B.
The Monument of Challenge could only record the IDs of a limited number of players responsible for defeating a Floor Boss.
When a full forty-eight-person raid cleared one, the monument instead engraved the IDs of the eight party leaders.
This would be the first step toward fulfilling Aiko and Yuuki’s wish.
It was not the future Shindo himself wanted for them, selfish as his hopes might be, but it was still a dream that belonged to the sisters.
…
The raid departed the following day, December 4, to challenge Aincrad’s First Floor Boss.
Throughout the journey, nearly everyone found themselves repeatedly rereading Argo’s Strategy Guide.
Tension and urgency spread through the raid as they approached the Labyrinth’s highest level, and those few thin sheets of parchment seemed to be the only thing capable of easing the pressure even slightly.
Clang.
Standing before the enormous doors of the Boss Room, Diavel planted his one-handed greatsword upright before him and gave the raid one final round of encouragement.
Then the doors opened.
A crimson carpet embroidered with gold stretched straight through the enormous hall.
Braziers suddenly ignited along the walls, one after another, eerie blue flames spreading from the entrance toward the interior until the light climbed the steps at the far end of the chamber.
Two larger flames burned atop fixtures shaped like withered hands.
Their light revealed the massive figure seated upon the throne, one arm resting against its side.
Illfang the Kobold Lord.
“Raid begins—!!!” Diavel thrust his sword toward the Boss.
The eight parties immediately moved into their assigned formations.
The atmosphere inside the enormous throne room became heavy and solemn, as though an invisible fog had settled over everything.
Every player advanced with heightened caution.
Illfang rose from its throne.
Beneath its long name appeared four horizontal HP bars representing the Boss’s four phases.
Its head resembled something between a wolf and a dog, with one eye glowing a vicious copper-red.
Its muscular body stood well over two meters tall beneath blue-gray fur.
In one hand it carried a massive bone axe, while the other held a round shield covered in hide.
Another weapon hung behind its waist, though its exact shape was difficult to make out at a distance.
The moment the players approached the foot of the throne, Illfang suddenly leaped high into the air.
It crashed down hard enough to send a ring of dust sweeping across the floor and threw back its head in a savage roar.
“ROOOOAAAR!” Three polygonal formations appeared before the Boss.
Crystalline shapes rapidly assembled themselves into three monsters.
Ruin Kobold Sentinels.
“Parties G and H, hold the three Sentinels!” Diavel shouted.
“Party B takes the main offensive!
Parties A and C, pressure the Boss from both sides!
D, E, and F remain outside and prepare to Switch whenever needed!” The raid spread around Illfang as instructed.
As two of the highest-level players present, Shindo and Kirito naturally found themselves at the foremost edge of the battle.
The difference in raw STR between the players and Illfang was simply too great for anyone to meet its attacks head-on for long.
Whenever the Kobold Lord swung its enormously heavy axe, the players in front had to withdraw and Switch.
Trying to absorb the full impact alone would send a player flying and could easily tear apart the formation behind them.
The advantage was that, until Illfang entered its fourth HP phase, its fighting style remained extremely crude and predictable.
Its enormous attacks came with equally obvious wind-ups.
Every moment the Boss froze before releasing a Skill offered both a clear opportunity to evade and an equally valuable opening to attack.
As Illfang continued behaving exactly as Argo’s guide had described, confidence spread through the raid.
The information was accurate.
Beyond the immediate front line, Yuna stood beneath Nautilus’s careful protection and began to sing.
Her special «Chant» Skill spread through the throne room like a saint’s blessing.
Buff icons appeared across the raid.
Resistance to stun.
Resistance to paralysis.
Critical-hit resistance.
HP recovery.
EP recovery.
One enhancement after another settled over the players, and the raid’s momentum rose dramatically.
Under the relentless cycle of coordinated Switches, Illfang’s HP soon fell into the yellow third phase.
Each time another phase began, the Boss summoned additional Ruin Kobold Sentinels.
Nine of the guards had appeared in total so far, yet Parties G and H kept them contained and eliminated them one after another.
Everything was going almost perfectly.
At the front, players shouted to one another as they desperately intercepted Illfang whenever Yuna’s «Chant» drew its aggression toward the rear of the formation.
“Switch!” Kirito’s «Horizontal» tore across Illfang’s arm.
The attack left him caught in the brief post-Skill delay, while the Boss’s guard opened in response.
Shindo immediately cut past him, moving even closer to the Kobold Lord.
«Slant» carved viciously from left to right across Illfang’s waist.
As the Boss recoiled, Shindo and Kirito crossed past one another on opposite sides.
Through the opening they created came a scarlet flash.
The Wind Fleuret in Asuna’s hand erupted in glowing particles.
She had seen the opportunity instantly.
Her body accelerated into «Shooting Star».
The charging rapier Skill streaked between Shindo and Kirito like a ray of light and drove directly into the weak point at Illfang’s throat, leaving two deep puncture wounds.
Even the experienced players nearby stared in amazement at her speed.
Illfang’s HP finally plunged into the red.
The fourth phase had begun.
Three more Ruin Kobold Sentinels materialized immediately, and the twelve players of Parties G and H rushed forward to contain them.
Diavel, who had been commanding the raid from a position in front of Yuna, finally removed the fleur-de-lis-shaped kite shield from his back.
His entire set of equipment had been heavily enhanced specifically for the raid, and the metal gleamed with the distinctive polish of high-quality gear.
Diavel began to run.
His armor rang with solid metallic impacts as he charged forward.
Players turned toward him and instinctively moved aside, opening a path for the man who had led them this far to personally enter the front line.
“Grrr…” Now fully in its fourth phase, Illfang ground its fangs together in fury.
Then, with a violent roar that sounded almost like the last struggle of a dying beast, it hurled away both its bone axe and hide-covered shield.
The front-line players were focused enough to dodge them easily.
Illfang reached behind its waist.
Its hand closed around the hilt of the hidden weapon.
The blade it drew was not the curved sword described in the beta information.
It was a long nodachi.
The activation stance that followed was faster than anything the Boss had shown during the previous three phases.
It faced the approaching Diavel.
Diavel clearly had not expected the change either, but confidence in his own equipment won out.
He raised his reinforced kite shield and braced himself.
The Skill Illfang was activating, however, did not belong to the curved-sword category recorded during the beta.
It was a higher-level Katana Sword Skill.
«Tsumujiguruma».
Illfang’s enormous body surged forward with a speed no one expected from something so large.
The throne room shook violently beneath its charge, almost as though an earthquake were running through the floor.
Diavel’s eyes widened.
He had understood the danger.
Too late.
All he could do was trust the shield in his hands.
BOOM—!!!
The blow sent Diavel flying.
He shot across the throne room like a ball driven from a bat and smashed heavily into one of the enormous stone support pillars.
Shindo moved immediately.
Kirito reacted almost at the same instant.
Neither activated a Sword Skill.
Shindo already knew what Illfang would do next.
Kirito had recognized it from the Boss’s renewed activation stance.
“Diavel!” Shindo shouted toward the immobilized raid leader.
“That weapon is a nodachi!” The realization struck Diavel along with Shindo’s warning.
He struggled desperately against the stun preventing him from moving.
Yuna’s song suddenly rose through the throne room again.
Nautilus reacted immediately and stepped in front of her.
The rest of the raid seemed to understand at the same instant.
Players converged around Yuna.
Asuna, Mito, Yuuki, and Aiko took the foremost positions.
They were not abandoning Diavel.
Quite the opposite.
The entire raid had independently reached the same conclusion.
With the Floor Boss entering its most dangerous phase, Yuna had deliberately exposed herself to Illfang’s Hate, using «Chant» to draw its attention away from Diavel and give him a chance to survive.
The moment her voice rose, the others understood what she was doing.
Protecting her was now the correct response.
The paralysis resistance provided by Yuna’s song also allowed Diavel to regain limited movement.
He dropped away from the pillar and looked up just as Illfang turned toward Yuna’s position.
His composure returned.
“It’s «Hiōgi»!
Everyone, evade!” Diavel’s warning echoed across the hall.
“Kirito!” “Yeah!” Shindo and Kirito launched themselves forward with consecutive activations of «Linear», rapidly closing the distance before Illfang could complete «Hiōgi».
The high-level combination Skill inflicted three devastating consecutive strikes and was accompanied by a wide-area control effect capable of disabling multiple players for several seconds.
Those few seconds would be more than enough for Illfang to prepare another Skill and trap much of the raid beneath overlapping debuffs and control effects.
No matter what happened, they could not allow the Boss to release it.
At the center of everyone’s attention, Shindo and Kirito began chaining their attacks.
Their coordination became a seamless exchange, attacks raining down one after another without either interfering with the other’s movements.
They switched positions almost instinctively, each opening a path for the next strike.
Within only a few breaths, several deep diagonal gashes and cross-shaped wounds appeared across Illfang’s enormous body.
Its Sword Skill activation broke.
The interruption left Illfang caught both in the recovery from its failed activation and the stun created by the accumulated damage.
The enormous Kobold Lord lost its balance.
Its body crashed heavily onto the floor.
For the first time in the entire battle, Illfang became little more than an enormous stationary target.
Until it could rise again, there was nothing it could do to stop them.
Shindo and Kirito attacked without pause.
Ordinary strikes flowed into Sword Skills, then back into normal attacks with almost surgical precision.
The two swordsmen took full advantage of every second the Boss remained on the ground, carving away at its remaining HP as rapidly as possible.
Then both entered their final activation stances.
Kirito’s sword flashed.
Shindo’s followed.
«Vertical Arc».
«Horizontal Arc».
Two enormous V-shaped trails of light—one red, one blue—were carved through the air within their respective attack paths.
The glowing arcs crossed over one another.
Illfang’s last remaining HP vanished.
Completely.
For several seconds, no one reacted.
The raid simply stared at the two dark-clad swordsmen standing beneath the glittering rain of crystalline fragments.
Diavel, Kibaou, and Agil were no exception.
Then the emotionless voice of the system sounded.
[YOU GOT THE LAST ATTACK!] [Last Attack achieved.] Silence lingered for only another heartbeat.
Then the throne room exploded.
The cheers were unlike anything they had heard since entering Sword Art Online.
Players shouted, jumped, laughed, threw their arms around one another, and celebrated with everything they had.
For the first time since being trapped inside this impossible world, they had received an answer to all the fear and death surrounding them.
They had cleared a Floor Boss.
Kirito opened his rewards and equipped the unique item he had obtained from the battle.
The black Coat of Midnight settled around him, becoming the outfit that would eventually define his appearance.
Shindo opened his own reward window.
A weapon rested inside.
An enormous nodachi.
Like Kirito’s Coat of Midnight, it was a unique Boss drop.
Odachi — Splitter.
“Excellent swordsmanship.” A deep voice approached.
“Congratulations.” Agil walked toward them while applauding, with more than a dozen other raid members following behind him.
On the opposite side of the hall, Diavel pushed himself back to his feet.
His HP was still barely above the red zone, only a sliver separating him from genuine danger, but he did not look humiliated.
He had survived.
He had lost his opportunity to claim the Last Attack Bonus, yet the dignity of the self-proclaimed knight remained intact.
“You two are bet—” “SHUT UP!!!” Kibaou had barely begun his promised reckoning when Diavel’s roar cut him off.
The spiky-haired man, who had already started stepping forward, immediately shrank back.
Like a leader by nature, Diavel neither became arrogant in victory nor collapsed beneath failure.
Instead, he began applauding Shindo and Kirito.
Then he raised one hand toward the entire raid.
“This victory belongs to them!
But it also belongs to every front-line player who fought here today—and to every single person trapped inside Sword Art Online!” His voice rang through the throne room.
“We’ll keep going.
Again and again, floor after floor, no matter how many times it takes, until we’ve cleared all one hundred floors of Aincrad without losing anyone!
That is the resolve of the front line!” It was an impossibly ambitious declaration from people who had only just cleared the First Floor.
But no one could deny what this victory meant.
For the first time since the death game began, the players had been given something powerful enough to push back against despair.
“YEAHHHH—!!!” The raid answered Diavel with another deafening roar.
Shindo, Kirito, and Diavel looked at one another.
There were things behind those exchanged glances that none of them needed to say aloud.
But whatever else might exist between them, all three were smiling sincerely now.
Their fists met in the center.
Because in a world where no one had to be sacrificed for victory, only then could that victory truly be called perfect.