Am I the only one streaming Sword Art Online on the entire internet?

"Don't be so nervous, it's just a fairly simple monster. It won't take much effort... there's one over there." Yuna pointed to a rat-man monster directly in front of Asuna and launched a thrust attack first. Indeed, as she said, this kind of monster wasn't difficult, at least it was quite fragile. Asuna and Yuna each used a thrust skill to directly turn the unfortunate rat-man into a pile of light blue fragments.

"It seems quite simple, and we didn't see any zombies or ghosts." Yuna nodded in satisfaction. After this relatively easy battle, Asuna regained her confidence as a frontline player and gradually began to overcome her fear in this special environment.

The loot from the ratmen is unique because these monsters have a thieving skill, so after killing them, they will only drop the items they have stolen. This ratman seemed rather honest and didn't drop any particularly valuable items or equipment, just a crumpled little piece of paper.

"What's written on this?" Asuna leaned closer to look at the note Yuna was holding, but couldn't quite make it out at first. The note was very obscure, resembling a code, but mixed with numbers and English letters. The message read:

"53C2 13 12 36 31 4 17 21 41

Tomb 109 293 5 37 Coffin

26 Killer 9 47 171”

"This thing... looks really familiar." Yuna stood there, turning the note over and over, examining it for a long time. Then, she suddenly pointed at Asuna with her index finger, striking a classic Conan pose. "There's only one truth!"

"What's with suddenly striking a Conan pose, Yuna? What did you think of?" Asuna asked, still somewhat puzzled. "I do recognize this as a cipher, but it can't be solved using conventional Caesar ciphers or rail fence ciphers. If this cipher required a decoder, it wouldn't be our turn to decipher it."

“Let me explain. But this is just a guess, and further verification is needed. So, Asuna, do you have any of the strategy guides that Argo gave out? Bring me one.” Yuna held out her right hand to Asuna and took a strategy guide with rat whiskers drawn on the cover from her. “The reasoning process is like this: First of all, this familiar code structure is very likely from the ‘Uncanny Valley’ episode of Sherlock Holmes. The code left to Holmes by the patriarch who faked his death is just like this.”

"You mean Douglas Burstone?" Asuna immediately realized what Yuna was referring to. "So, in this code, the first few digits represent the page number, and the last few digits represent the corresponding word on that page?"

“That should be it. And right now, the only thing that can be considered a book in this game is the strategy guide Miss Argo made, so if we try a newer one, we can see what's written on it.” Yuna nodded, then, by the dim light of a nearby oil lamp, examined the contents, looking through the guide one by one. “Let me see… Meeting point, Smiling Coffin? PK? For our noble goal? What’s this?”

"This is the signal we use to gather in this catacombs, little girl." A sinister voice suddenly rang in Yuna's ear, and just as she was about to scream, an unknown target covered her mouth. "See, Molt, this is the advantage of having high stealth skills. Doesn't this perfectly solve our problem?"

“That makes sense, PoH boss. So what do we do now?” Asuna, on the other side, was also being held hostage by someone. She felt a cold sword pressed against her back, making her unable to move.

“Send someone out to tell Mr. Solin to come to this catacombs alone. If he doesn’t believe you, just tell me, and I’ll let this little girl bleed a bit to show him. If he still doesn’t believe you, I’ll do it again.” PoH’s voice sounded so sinister to Yuna. “And little girl, if I were you, I wouldn’t move. This dagger is coated with level five paralyzing poison and level five corpse poison. One poke and you might die.”

"What are you trying to do?" Yuna tried her best to remain calm. "If I were you, I wouldn't expect to use a woman to blackmail a shut-in who only knows how to play games."

“Unfortunately, he isn’t.” PoH ruthlessly exposed Yuna, revealing a small part of his plan, the rest of which was obvious to anyone. “Relax, once Mr. Sorin arrives as promised, you can leave.”

79. Going to the Meeting Alone

[Mr. Sorin, this is Johnny Black of Smiling Coffin. Our boss, PoH, wishes to see you. We hope you can disarm and meet us at coordinates {107,35} on the second level of the catacombs. By the way, Miss Yuna is on our side. Our boss said if you don't believe him, he can prove it to you.]

The moment Sorin saw this message, the health bar in the upper left corner, labeled "Yuna," dropped by about a tenth. Immediately following, the next message from the guy calling himself Johnny Black appeared before him.

The boss said he'll slash like this every three minutes. If you don't get here before Yuna's health bar runs out, you might have to say goodbye to Yuna forever.

"Damn it... I have to leave for a while, so I'll have to trouble you two to think this over carefully." Solin said this and hurriedly ran towards the entrance of the underground cemetery in the city, leaving only the King of Fangs and Diabel still sitting in their seats, looking at each other in bewilderment.

He no longer cared what his two partners thought of his actions, or rather, in his eyes, nothing was more important than rescuing Yuna. This solo mission was extremely dangerous; Sorin knew without a doubt that PoH had prepared three hundred axemen, just waiting for the signal to smash the cup before attacking him, but he had no other choice.

He couldn't contact Yuna at the moment because this underground cemetery was a small maze area, and it was impossible to communicate with the outside world in this area. Only two players in the same maze area could have private chats.

Traveling at full speed, it didn't take him long to reach the entrance to the catacombs. He quickly arrived at the second floor and found the coordinates Johnny Black had sent him on the map. The coordinates indicated a relatively spacious hall, where about thirty red-named players were standing. PoH was in the center, with Yuna in front of him and Asuna, who was being controlled by Mort, beside him.

"I'm glad you've arrived as promised, Mr. Sorin. But it seems you haven't disarmed yourself. Was my second-in-command not thorough enough?" PoH's elegant yet cruel voice echoed in the hall, sounding somewhat mocking. "That doesn't count as you arriving on time. Look at the time, three minutes have passed."

No sooner had he finished speaking than another red-named attacker slashed at Yuna, taking away 10% of her health.

“I’m sorry about that, Mr. PoH. I encountered a few monsters on my way here, so I picked up my weapon again.” Sorin spread his hands, pretending to be calm, and then unloaded his equipment piece by piece onto the ground, before throwing a rapier on the ground as well.

“I don’t consider myself a fool, and you shouldn’t treat me like one either, Mr. Sorin. You’re not going to say that this is the only weapon you have,” PoH said sarcastically after seeing Sorin’s actions, without making any further moves.

“…You win.” Solin said this as if he had used up all his strength. He sighed helplessly, then removed the kaleidoscope and threw it onto the open ground in front of him. A red-named player nearby saw Solin’s actions, quickly came over, put everything into his backpack, and then drew his weapon, pointing it at him.

This was no longer a simple solo mission. At this moment, Solin didn't even have a weapon, and there were so many red-named players around him. It seemed like a certain death situation.

"No!" Yuna cried out as she saw Sorin disarm herself. Her forced composure instantly turned into panic. "Sorin! Run! They're going to kill you!"

"Do you think I can still leave now that things have come to this?" Solin gave a bitter smile, looked at the red-named players surrounding him, and shook his head helplessly. "I hope you keep your promise, Mr. PoH. I think you can consider letting these two innocent ladies go."

“Of course, after all, they weren’t our target to begin with. And to put it another way, if you didn’t have a live stream, we wouldn’t be in such a hurry to take action against you.” PoH said, kicking Yuna in the waist to move her away from him, and then drew the longsword hanging from his waist. “Morte, release Asuna over there too. We are reasonable people after all, this is enough.”

Yuna remained standing there without moving, while Asuna pulled her to a side away from the red-named individuals, her eyes also turning red.

"Let's go. Sorin didn't sacrifice himself so that you could die with him here." Asuna's voice was trembling with tears. "If we leave now, we'll have another chance to avenge him later."

Yuna seemed incapable of thinking. She stood there blankly as Asuna pulled her aside, her left hand flailing aimlessly in the air before she suddenly knelt on the ground and began to sob softly. Asuna wanted to comfort her, but Yuna instead took Asuna's hand and gently traced a few lines on Asuna's palm.

“By the way, Mr. PoH, could you grant me one last request?” Solin sighed, squatted down, and said to PoH, who was walking towards him step by step, his voice filled with desolation, “I know I will die here, and I hope that before I die, my fiancée will play me a funeral song, is that alright?”

“No problem. If you can’t even fulfill a person’s last request before they die, then such an assassin deserves to go to hell.” PoH said this as he walked up to Sorin, pointing his longsword at Sorin’s head in an executioner’s pose. “Although I am the Prince of Hell, hehehe. But I suddenly realized that Mr. Sorin is quite a rare beauty. It would be a shame to kill him.”

In his view, having lost all his weapons and unable to contact other guild members outside, Sorin had no chance of turning the tide, so he didn't take any precautions. The current situation was like Potato Ming leading a mixed force of over 180 cockroaches, dogs, and dragons to stand below the 130-plus population of Alija's high ground, and he really didn't know how he could lose.

Upon hearing Sorin's words, Yuna reluctantly wiped away her tears and, with Asuna's support, slowly stood up, picking up her flute. She played the Titanic theme song, "My Heart Will Go On," but at the twenty-eighth second, the melody changed key, suddenly transforming into "He's a Pirate." The mournful funeral song instantly became a rousing battle anthem.

“Oh, right, I have a last word that I don’t really want my fiancée to hear. Mr. PoH, could you please come closer?” Solin suddenly said. PoH, caught off guard, leaned his head in front of Solin and heard the most unforgettable sentence in Chinese of his life.

"I don't like strangers making jokes about my face. You son of a bitch, your mother's gone mad."

An unexpected flash of cold light pierced through PoH, instantly reducing his health by half, startling him into retreating several steps. After launching this desperate counterattack, Sorin spun around and unleashed a whirlwind slash, forcing back the three red-named enemies beside him. He then immediately rolled away to create distance, reaching Yuna and Asuna. Instantly, he activated the [All Items Materialize] command, using his lightning-fast looting skills honed in PUBG to collect all the equipment he had just given to PoH's men, equipping it and drawing the Phantom Blade from the [Kaleidoscope].

"Let me teach you a lesson. Villains die from talking too much. And now I'll show you how those scoundrels who dared to red-click the ID [SorinMarkov] in Dark Zone 9 died."

80. Kill the enemy on sight!

If we review Sorin's actions from a God's-eye view, we can easily understand what just happened.

Indeed, Sorin didn't contact any of his guild members, but seeing him leave in such a hurry, either Ya Wang or Diabel would definitely guess what he was up to. So there's no need to worry about manpower for the brawl. The problem is that Yuna is very likely, or rather, definitely, in a hostage position. In that case, some tricks will be needed to help the whole plan be implemented.

So after he met PoH and assessed the situation, he sent Yuna the message "Stand by a short distance and act according to the situation" while removing his equipment.

This step was still a gamble, a gamble that PoH wasn't the kind of ruthless villain who would stop at nothing, but rather a villain with his own style of doing things. Frankly, relying entirely on the premise that the opponent would make a fool of themselves was extremely risky, but Thorin had no other choice at the time. His only chance of turning the tide was the "Nothing is True & Everything is Permissive" ability, which didn't occupy a normal equipment slot and couldn't be stored in the Kaleidoscope—something PoH couldn't possibly detect.

At the time, he thought that even if PoH allowed Yuna to escape his control for a moment, he could rush in and rescue her. As for Asuna, she could use her abilities to escape from Molt's clutches; her attributes were sufficient to do so.

Unexpectedly, PoH released Yuna and Asuna, intending to execute Sorin himself.

So, besides Sorin, there is also Yuna who knows about this adventure plan from beginning to end, and Yuna has been acting the whole time from when Sorin was unarmed to when she played music for him.

As for Asuna, she didn't know what Sorin and Yuna had discussed at first. However, when Yuna came over to comfort her, she wrote the general meaning in Morse code on her palm. As a result, the three people present ended up causing a bunch of red names on PoH's side to be tricked.

"Brothers coming down from up there, polearms and light weapons, get into position nearby and don't move. Plate armor, go for it! Attack that PoH! Attack the PoH!" Thorin shouted as soon as he drew his Phantom Blade. "When two armies meet on a narrow path, the brave shall prevail! For the Horde! Crush their bones!"

After the shouts, PoH did indeed hear a lot of footsteps coming from the direction of the stairs. After some deliberation, he made a difficult decision.

"All personnel retreat! Return to Settlement Point Two!"

The group of red-named individuals scattered like birds and beasts, disappearing completely right under Solin's nose. Solin shouted, but showed no intention of moving, coldly watching as the group of red-named individuals escaped the underground cemetery through another underground passage.

"With an IQ like that, you're a celebrity?" Solin mocked from afar, then turned to look at Youna and praised, "Well done, you'll get a chicken leg in your lunchbox when you get back."

"Um... Sorin, I don't quite understand. What just happened?" Asuna was still completely bewildered. She had just witnessed the entire process from Sorin removing all his equipment to single-handedly scaring away more than thirty red-named players, and she still couldn't figure out how Sorin had done it. Moreover, Sorin's final shout was clearly a command, yet she hadn't seen any players appear here.

“Let’s go back to the safe zone first. They’ll probably realize they’ve been tricked after running a short distance.” Solin shook his head and pointed to the stairs leading into the city. “They’ll probably be inside the safe zone halfway up. Even if they come back, they won’t dare to go in. As for what happened just now… I’ll explain it to you when we get back.”

The three quickly returned to the safe area via the stairs, and without lingering in the catacombs, ran into the city as fast as they could. Now, even if PoH realized Sorin's empty city ploy and rushed back to the original location, he would only find nothing.

After confirming that she was out of danger, Yuna finally couldn't hold back her emotions and buried her face in Sorin's arms, sobbing softly. Sorin smiled helplessly, stroking Yuna's back as he comforted her.

"Don't overthink it. I'm going to spend the rest of my life protecting you. How could something happen to you now?" He whispered in Yuna's ear, feeling her slight trembling in his arms. After a while, the slight trembling stopped, but the girl in his arms was still sobbing, unwilling to leave this warm embrace.

"Damn it...you got shit on your head, PoH." Sorin cursed under his breath, then sent three messages to Diabel, Fang Wang, and Agil. Half an hour later, more than fifty people from the three major raiding groups stood in the square of the ruined city, all of them fully armed.

"Here, I must make a point, because the current situation no longer allows us to tolerate those cancerous elements who try to hinder or even sabotage our plan to conquer the floors."

Solin stood before everyone, scanning each player from the strategy group present, his voice filled with anger and passion.

“There is currently a hidden red player organization, and what red players represent is obviously self-evident. They have tried to dismantle the entire raiding group time and time again, and I'm sure Mr. Fang and Mr. Diabel's friends in their teams have heard about this scourge. In order to continue the raiding without any worries, we must wipe them out at this time.”

"Wait a minute, Mr. Solin, what do you mean by 'wiping them all out'?" a voice below asked.

"Literal meaning. Red players are those who have already committed murder in this death game; in other words, they are actual murderers. To satisfy their bloodlust, they are willing to pay the price of being imprisoned and unable to escape from the death game. There are no courts or corresponding laws in the usual sense to judge their crimes here, so we can only rely on ourselves to judge them." Sorin's answer was as full of the iron-blooded atmosphere of gunpowder and death as ever. "Someone once suggested to me that we restrain them and lock them up in the Black Iron Palace prison on the first floor, but I think that if the premise of the operation is capture, it will be difficult for us to fight against those skilled murderers who are also determined in their hearts. So my requirement is: kill on sight."

"Kill the enemy on sight?" A voice below trembled as he repeated Solin's words as if in disbelief.

"That's right, kill them on sight. Reducing their HP to the minimum possible value is the greatest mercy and release they can receive. This is not only for our raiding group, but also for the other players who might be killed outside the safe zone at any moment. There will be bloodshed and sacrifices in this battle, but even if it's not for others, it's for ourselves. Think about it, how many people would have died in that raiding battle on the third floor without Yuna's healing buff?"

Many of those present had participated in the raid and had indeed been in danger because of PoH. After much deliberation, they all drew their weapons.

"Alright, Guild Master, you've convinced me." Agil sighed helplessly at Sorin's words, then raised his battle axe high. "Edelweiss Raid Team One, prepare for battle!"

"Edelweiss Team Two, follow me and shove your shields in their faces!" That was Yura's response. "Just go for it, smash them to pieces, I'm strong this time!"

"The Dragon Riders are ready to be deployed at any time!"

"We, the Aincrad Liberation Army, are following you too, Brother Solin!"

“Very well. I’ll repeat myself one last time: excessive mercy is unnecessary; kill the enemy on sight!” After repeating this last sentence, Sorin drew his Phantom Blade and pointed it straight at the entrance to the catacombs. “May the guiding blue star forever shine for you! Now, all of you, move out!”

81. The Deadly Sword (Part 1)

(ps1: The title of the series chapter, "The Fatal Sword," is the only designated background music for this series of chapters. You can search for it on NetEase Cloud Music or other software if you are interested.)

(ps2: Hun Tian is my home, Wu Lin to hell)

PoH stood in their makeshift base, increasingly uneasy. Even if Sorin had deployed men on the upper levels before his solo mission, they couldn't possibly have received Sorin's next instructions, let alone be able to chase after and surround them at his command.

"Damn it, we've been tricked." PoH slammed his fist on the table in frustration, then looked at Molt beside him, "How many new recruits have we gathered so far?"

“Eleven. Although many people support our actions, not many are willing to commit to becoming a red name and joining us. Fortunately, we have spies in the other two guilds, and only the Edelweiss Guild has no informants.” Molt glanced at the roster and replied, “The situation just now was indeed not suitable for continuing the fight. After all, no one knows whether Sorin is playing a ruse or if he really has reinforcements. We don’t have many people, and no one dares to take the gamble.”

“Alright, we’ll rest here for one last day, then head back to our base on the fourth floor. They haven’t discovered the underground waterway on the fourth floor yet.” PoH sighed helplessly, spreading out the map beside him. “Keep in touch with your people and try to disrupt the raid team as much as possible to buy us some time.”

"clear."

------

This time, it was said that elite members of the Dragon Riders and the Aincrad Liberation Army, as well as all members of the Edelweiss Guild, were mobilized. However, Yuna and Asuna did not come this time. Asuna did not want to point her sword at red-named players who were also human, while Yuna did not want Sorin to point her sword at red-named players who were also human.

Ultimately, the real reason Sorin was determined to deal with these red-named players was because Yuna and Asuna were caught alone while out. The note Yuna had not only revealed the exact coordinates of their first meeting point but also the approximate area of ​​their second. The reason they needed to go to the Catacombs was that after defeating the lowest level boss, [Immortal King Blago], a shortcut to the outside world would be revealed. This shortcut was usually used by the Smiling Coffin, but they all possessed high-level stealth skills, allowing them to bypass the boss. Sorin's main force, however, couldn't do that.

"There's not much of a mechanic. The main tank just needs to hold aggro and unleash a barrage of DPS. It's basically a ghost-type training dummy." Solin briefly explained the boss's mechanics, then charged in with his shield raised and began spamming attacks. "The rest of you, follow up! Long-handled users, keep an eye on the ghostly adds that spawn!"

Just like that weakling with the same name who was killed by Kaya, this boss still couldn't make a splash in front of the large number of players in the raid. After Blago was defeated, the passage hidden behind his huge body was revealed, which was a long stone staircase.

"Long-handled fighters stand in the middle, tanks stand in front and behind, and DPS stand behind the tanks." Sorin surveyed the terrain of the stairs and arranged the formation in advance to prevent red-named players from setting up ambushes. "Get through this passage as quickly as possible. Next... does anyone have a high level of enemy detection?"

"I'll do it," Kirito replied from the side. He had also rushed over to rescue Asuna after receiving Johnny Black's message, but when he was halfway there, Sorin had already come out with two other people.

The target acquisition skill in this game is similar to the scan in The Division at lower levels, but after reaching level 5, it unlocks two functions: trace detection and trace tracking, which can be seen as carrying a small vial of scoutbugs. After Kirito activated the skill, he found a large number of footprints near the stairs, indicating that someone had just passed by.