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

“The footprints are still fresh; it looks like they just passed through here not long ago.” He looked up and said to Sorin, “They should be just ahead. Follow me.”

"Speed ​​up, everyone keep up, and don't fall behind." After giving the instructions, Solin quickly followed. "Relax, these red-named players don't have as many resources as us. They can't get good equipment if they can't replenish their supplies in the wild."

"But... generally speaking, these raiders would also have the property of the players they killed, right? That property... can make a lot of good stuff." Kirito still sounded worried as he said this. "Over here! They're guiding the trail!"

"To put it bluntly, they're just a bunch of bandits, so we'll use the same methods to suppress them. Now adjust the teams, making sure each team has at least one long-range weapon and one tank. We outnumber them, we'll overwhelm them." Solin paused, briefly dividing the mixed teams from the three major guilds into groups, then looked at the temporary base Kirito was pointing to. "Don't let them break up later. They know the terrain around here better than we do. And whoever is most confident in their PvP skills should join my group, ready to chase them down at any time."

“I think you’ll need this, Guild Master.” Yura suddenly walked up to him and took out a purple bottle. “I found this while I was leading a team to collect trash. It’s called Trick Fog. Its effect is similar to Trick Fog. Friendly units within its range can ignore the effects of target acquisition skills.”

"There's such a good thing? You stand in the middle, and I'll tell you when to open it." Solin nodded in surprise, showing an approving expression. "Now we might be able to do some cool tricks... Just follow my instructions."

One characteristic of the ruins' terrain is that it's filled with various low walls and stone pillars, which not only restricts the charging skills of shield-wielding players, but the overly complex terrain also makes it easy to get lost. However, Sorin had specifically considered this when arranging his teams, ensuring that each team had a player capable of using a high-level target acquisition skill. Of course, since Kirito was in his team, no one else was needed.

He crouched behind a low wall, raised his right hand, and the people behind him stopped and hid nearby.

"Yura, clear the fog and sneak along the edge. I see them. In a moment, each team's main tank should prioritize targets they can charge at, DPS follow up with focused fire. Try to reduce their numbers by at least four in the first round." Sorin said, leading his team along the low wall, slowly making their way towards the PoH tents under the cover of dust and sand. At this time, the red-named players were still resting. Although there were sentries on the outer perimeter with their target-detection abilities activated, they didn't seem very professional; they were actually taking a nap at this time.

"Heaven is on my side... Kirito, come with me and take out their sentries." After saying that, Sorin took out his katana and slowly approached the entrance of the camp. He gestured and said, "You take the one that's far away, I'll take the one that's close. The rest of you, form small teams and surround the camp to block all the entrances."

The only response to Sorin was the rustling of footsteps, which stopped after a while. He glanced at the minimap and saw that everyone in the RAID had found their positions. He then made a hand gesture to Kirito on the other side and placed a marker on the heads of the two sentries.

"3, 2, 1, charge!"

The two rushed out of cover almost simultaneously, each targeting one of the sentries. Sorin charged with his one-handed sword, switched to his katana to detonate the mark, and then unleashed a Demon Dance with his dual daggers, instantly depleting the sentry's health. Kirito's damage, while not as high, still took away half of the other sentry's health.

The surviving sentry's first reaction wasn't to draw his weapon, but to sit down in terror, his eyes filled with despair, muttering things like, "Don't kill me...don't kill me..." Kirito, seeing this, stopped his pursuit, while Sorin, seemingly unconcerned, gripped his katana and with a swift, decisive strike, took the unfortunate man's life.

"Who are you trying to fool with this pitiful act? It's like you'd let people you've killed go if they said that to you. It's ridiculous." Sorin sneered. He was actually saying this to Kirito, because if Kirito had continued to chase and slash him a couple more times in that situation, Sorin wouldn't have gotten the kill at all.

"...I understand. So what do we do now?" Kirito nodded through gritted teeth, his tone much more determined. "Should we just charge in?"

"Then let's just charge in," Solin said, placing something that looked like a firework on the ground and pressing the use button.

Chapter 82, The Deadly Sword (Part 2) (Bonus Chapter 1/75)

The fireworks were clearly a signal for an attack. Although there wasn't the classic line, "Negotiations have broken down, prepare for a full-scale assault," upon closer inspection, it seemed that Sorin had no intention of negotiating with these red-named individuals. His initial plan was to resolve the situation by force, using the advantage of a surprise attack to storm into the red-named society's territory.

This completely caught PoH off guard. He had assumed that even if Sorin had mobilized his forces, he would only wait for a later opportunity to fight them. However, his intelligence had failed him there. Sorin launched a direct assault after mobilizing his troops, and his intelligence personnel hadn't yet informed the raiding party of their deployment. As a result, when Sorin's team entered the stronghold, some members of the Smiling Coffin were still resting in their tents, and the raiding party members stormed in and killed them in their sleep.

One thing Solin hadn't considered was that he had initially thought many of these game-obsessed guys might be reluctant to kill, so he had repeatedly instructed them not to hold back. However, it now seemed that some of them were even more ruthless than him, specifically targeting those red-named players who hadn't yet managed to get out of their tents. They opened the tents, charged in, controlled the attackers, finished them off, and looted their supplies all in one smooth motion, their movements incredibly efficient.

"Assemble! Assemble!" PoH shouted angrily from his tent. "Damn it... when did they get here? Where are the sentries at the gate? Where are the people you planted in those two guilds?"

“Boss, it seems the sentries were wiped out by their men in a second, they didn’t even get to send a message. As for them… they probably didn’t have time or didn’t realize that these guys could catch up here so quickly.” Molt stood beside him, forcing back several raiding party members who wanted to rush over. “We’ve already lost half our men, and they haven’t even lost a single one. We should retreat.”

"Retreat...? Gather everyone and break out!" PoH glanced around. If the entire camp could be described in one idiom, it would be surrounded by enemies on all sides. Of the more than forty red-named players he had painstakingly recruited, only about twenty remained standing near him. Meanwhile, the raiding team, which outnumbered them by more than double, had formed an encirclement, controlling all the entrances to the camp and waiting for their breakout attempt.

Of course, the situation is actually quite delicate. Previously, they only took advantage of the surprise attack to kill some less important members, while PoH and his subordinates are still alive, and the remaining members are among the more powerful ones among the red-named members. If they can preserve these people and break out now, it would be like letting a powerful general return to his homeland; although severely weakened, there would always be a chance to rise again.

Sorin had no intention of giving them that chance. Or rather, his current personal grudges were already enough to justify his killing of PoH.

“So far, we haven’t suffered any casualties, right… Good.” Sorin nodded in satisfaction. He stood at one of the entrances to the temporary red-name camp, looking at the PoH who had assembled into a team. “The tough battle is about to begin. The remaining PoH members are his trusted officers or relatively strong red-names, but their terrain is not good.”

"Should we try to persuade them to surrender? After all, if we just lead the team to push forward like this, even if we can wipe them all out, we will lose a lot of people." Kirito suggested from the side, "If I were PoH, at this time I would only be thinking about either breaking through or surrendering. Why not help them? At the very least, it can dampen some of their fighting spirit."

“Good idea. But don’t you think… who will watch over these prisoners is still a problem?” After hearing Kirito’s suggestion, Sorin shook his head at first, but then suddenly thought of something. “Take two people from each entrance to fill the ranks here, and then have Diabel shout to persuade them to surrender. When they see me going, they’ll all follow me and we’ll just charge them all in one wave.”

The order was quickly relayed, and soon Sorin's original two six-man teams became three six-man teams, while Diabel on the opposite side started using a megaphone-like device to shout at PoH.

"We are only trying to maintain order in the game! Our intention is not to wipe you out! Lay down your weapons and submit to our control now, and you will have a chance to live! There is no point in resisting!"

"What a piece of trash, tell him to find another one." Upon hearing Diabel's shout, Solin immediately covered his forehead and quickly sent Diabel a private message. After seeing Solin's message, Diabel nodded knowingly and changed his words.

"Chairman Sorin has learned that Lord PoH comes from a samurai family and is proficient in swordsmanship! However, Chairman Sorin believes that your clumsy killing swordsmanship is merely superficial! The superiority of one over the other was determined as early as the Edo period! Chairman Sorin is willing to have a duel with you! If you are defeated, the strategy team is willing to make way for Chairman PoH to leave!"

"...Wait, Solin, are you really going to duel him?" Kirito asked, somewhat surprised. "Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

"Who the hell dares to duel him? Just wait and see. If PoH steps forward, we'll each charge at him and hack him to death. If he doesn't come out, we'll have the guys over there take turns and play this song on repeat until he's disgusted to death." Sorin calmly answered Kirito's question. "Come on, let's go around to the back of them. We'll leave a bunch of people here to guard them."

After saying that, he selected six tanks to continue holding the entrance, and then led more than ten DPS to bypass a nearby low wall and flank the high ground where the PoH group of twenty or so people were located, hugging the edge of the camp.

By this time, Diabel was exhausted from shouting, so the task was handed over to the other side, Ya Wang. His Kansai accent delivered such sarcastic lines, instantly enhancing the show's effect. Even PoH, with his good temper, couldn't help but feel the urge to curse.

"Solin! If you've got the guts, bring your men and come at me! What kind of skill is it to just shout from here?" He finally couldn't hold back and yelled the most vicious words he could think of, "You're nothing but a coward hiding behind your subordinates, and you dare to challenge me to a one-on-one fight?"

However, he was met with another shout from Ya Wang. Solin was quite eager to exchange a few words with him, but he was currently in a strategic retreat, and if he shouted back, he would expose his position.

“Hey PoH, the other side specifically challenged you to a duel by name, why don’t you go up and give it a try?” Sasa suggested from the side. “I think as a guild leader, he should at least have some self-respect. He can’t just let everyone swarm him after losing a duel.”

However, Sasa overestimated Sorin's integrity, or rather, he subconsciously mistook him for a samurai from the Warring States period in this game world full of swords. Of course, PoH wasn't foolish enough to make a mistake at this moment; he was also waiting, waiting for Sorin to make his move.

While he remained calm, his companions were becoming increasingly impatient. They suggested that PoH either break through the encirclement or try to duel with Sorin, and unknowingly, the previously tightly packed positions of these red-named players began to loosen considerably.

"Alright! Sorin, I agree to fight you! Come out!" PoH was already plotting his own plan. He intended to swarm Sorin and kill him all at once, then use the chaos to break out. Unfortunately for him, Sorin had the same idea.

Seeing that it was almost time, he gestured to the DPS teammates around him and then sent a message in the strategy group channel:

"All of you, the entire strategy team! Charge! Get to the top!"

Chapter 83, The Deadly Sword (Final)

PoH is the second Japanese soldier to be tricked and rendered dumbfounded by similar tactics. The first one was already riddled with holes by a grenade on the battlefield, and PoH's current situation isn't much better than that guy's.

"Let me tell you, when the protagonist is even more shameless than the villain, the villain is usually doomed. You see, that's exactly what's happening now." Solin displayed his swordsmanship with ease. Those red-named enemies he targeted often didn't even have a chance to parry before he switched weapons four or five times and unleashed the same number of sword skills, instantly eliminating them. And this was the case in almost every team; even the weakest among them could lose 50% of their health within three seconds of engaging.

This unexpected dagger caught PoH off guard once again. Now he had no way of thinking about how to fight back, or rather, it was difficult for him to even ensure that he would not be killed on the spot by Sorin.

At this moment, only Sasa, Johnny Black, and the remaining four or five members remained by his side. Meanwhile, Molt, who was also a member of Laughing Coffin, had just been taken down by a single combo from Lufior and Kirito, and now he looked like he was at his last gasp.

"What do you mean, Mr. PoH? Did you expect this before you messed with my fiancée?" Sorin looked down at PoH, suddenly feeling like the villain. "We didn't even lose any members. I think you have absolutely no idea how to lead a PvP raid."

“But you wouldn’t dare touch me, Sorin.” PoH walked confidently toward Sorin, attracting everyone’s attention. Sorin didn’t understand why PoH suddenly came over, but after taking a closer look, he understood the source of this confidence.

"You, a leader with a red name, are still a green name? Are you kidding me?" He looked at the green cursor above PoH's head with a look of utter disgust. "So you've left all the dirty work and hard work to your underlings, and now you're still an innocent green name yourself?"

"So what if that's the case? Mr. Sorin, you're here to capture red-named players, while I... am not a red-named player." PoH looked smug, but the next moment his triumphant expression turned into astonishment.

Sorin swiftly sliced ​​his sword and charged at PoH with his shield, his character's cursor instantly turning orange, a color associated with crime. PoH, though briefly stunned by the sword and shield charge, wasn't completely drained of health. He quickly retreated two steps, exclaiming in shock, "You madman! You'd turn into a red name just to kill me?"

"When I didn't know this game was a death game, my first reaction after seeing Kirito steal my monster was to turn red and kill him, but thankfully I didn't actually do it." Sorin nodded calmly, then said something that chilled everyone to the bone, "You could say that if SAO wasn't a death game, you could all call me Sorin Mikazuki Markov now."

"In other words, I don't care about others, why would I be afraid of getting a red name when I kill a scumbag like you?"

As he said this, he picked up the curved sword [Survivor] that he had just obtained, and with a charged heavy slash he broke through PoH's defense, followed by a cleave to cancel the after-slash animation of the heavy slash, and then drew out the Phantom Light.

“In that case…” PoH said, throwing something that looked like a smoke bomb on the spot, and then instantly activating the [Concealment] skill. Most normal people present would have a hard time seeing PoH with concealment activated in such a large amount of smoke, let alone Sorin, who couldn't even learn the Target Acquisition skill. So, right before everyone's eyes, when the smoke cleared, PoH had disappeared without a trace, leaving only a few members of the original Smiling Coffin Guild and the two executives, Sasa and Johnny Black.

These seven people were surrounded by nearly sixty people from Solin's side. They stood back to back, looking at the players who had surrounded them in two circles with tense expressions, giving off a somewhat bluffing vibe.

“My personal suggestion is to kill them all, but the revolutionary predecessors shouted that surrendering their weapons would not result in death, so I’ll leave the decision to you.” Sorin glanced at the group and finally delivered his verdict, “I’m going to kill the one who messed with Yuna. Nobody stop me. The rest are up to you.”

“Let’s just throw them into the Black Iron Palace. I think this battle has gone far enough,” Yura said to Sorin. “In any case, these people can’t get in our way anymore.”

“The main thing is that I think even if we let them show their faces and send screenshots to the Ministry of Defense or something similar… what’s your Japanese police department called again… oh right, the Metropolitan Police Department, it’ll just be a painless prison sentence and then they’ll be released.” Solin shrugged. Anyway, he’s never had a good impression of these people. “In China, apart from a few minors, the rest of these people are good enough to be kicked out.”

Without prior arrangement, led by Shasa, these people took out all their equipment, including all their belongings in their backpacks, and then knelt on the ground one by one, looking like they were crying bitterly.

"So sometimes I just don't understand this. When it comes to this point, they start crying and regretting it, thinking about turning over a new leaf... Didn't those innocent people cry and beg for mercy when they died at your hands?" Solin looked at these people's ugly behavior and suddenly felt a little amused. He put all the swords back into the Kaleidoscope, pointed at these people, and then delivered his verdict, "Indeed, it's more appropriate to kill them all. If you want to blame me, blame me. I'll take the blame myself and rid you of a few scourges."

He was also considering that Japan might release these guys who were clearly murderers. If that happened, he might get taken down by some random street urchin with some unknown weapon when he went to Japan for competitions in the future. After all, he wasn't as overpowered in real life as he was in the game.

After saying this, he pulled the Illusionary Light out of the kaleidoscope again, walked to the nearest Shasa, and raised it high. However, at that moment, a large-scale teleportation notification suddenly appeared on the ground, and the seven red-named individuals who had just been kneeling there weeping had vanished without a trace.

"Is this even possible?" Solin was so angry he wanted to curse, but now that everyone was gone, he couldn't dwell on it anymore. "You have ten minutes to clean up the battlefield. We'll go back and discuss how to distribute the spoils. Then, find out as soon as possible how those people escaped and where they went."

“No need to investigate anymore, Sorin. They appeared in the Black Iron Palace prison on the first floor.” Yura suddenly walked to Sorin’s side and replied, “A friend of mine who stayed on the first floor just told me.”

"...I have something to say, but I don't know if I should say it, Yura."

84. Interlude

Tokyo, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, SAO Incident Response Headquarters Office.

"So I still don't understand why you still refuse to let the Rainbow Squad get involved in this incident when you can't come up with a clear plan to stop Kayaba Akihiko."

The speaker was a woman wearing a SAT uniform, and standing next to her was a man wearing the same uniform holding a Switch.

"Because we don't know if Kayaba has other methods. If he wants to, he can kill all the players inside SAO in an instant. No one can guarantee that you can solve this problem before he can react."

The man sitting at the desk threw his pen on the table and looked at the two people in front of him.

"To go further, Ms. Imagawa, this matter is not something our SAO Incident Response Headquarters can decide, but I can try to get the Metropolitan Police Department to stop obstructing your operations. From what you're saying, you've already come up with a rainbow-themed hostage rescue plan?"

"What the hell is this rainbow style, Kikuoka-kun? Have you guys even seen our internal drill videos?" The man holding the Switch shook his head in dissatisfaction. "Only Surat can calmly place shotgun explosives in the hostage room. Do we look like the kind of counter-terrorism unit that doesn't treat hostages like hostages?"

“It’s very similar. Anyway, I’m already having a headache dealing with your SIX, so please don’t ask me this question anymore. I’ve done my best.” He covered his forehead and slumped weakly on the table, seemingly unwilling to continue the discussion. “All we can do is bring all the victims together. If you think you can, I can offer you some assistance in a private capacity, but I can’t guarantee anything else.”

"...That's settled then. Sorry for the inconvenience. And thank you." After saying that, Imagawa pulled the person playing the Switch aside and left the office.

------

The entire raiding party had left; they were planning to have dinner at a tavern that evening to celebrate their glorious victory. There was one exception, of course: the commander of the battle.

"Did we really win?" Sorin sat under the tree, deep in thought. "With PoH's abilities, he could easily pull out another team. It seems there are quite a few scumbags who want to vent their frustrations in this lousy death game."

He didn't return to the city. The reason was simple: his attack on the green-named player PoH had put him in a criminal status, and his character marker had turned orange. Orange-named players are not allowed to enter the main city.

He instinctively reached into his pocket, only to find it empty, and angrily slammed his fist on the ground.

"Okay, Kayaba, you've done something I couldn't do in four or five years... I'll have to ask Kirito later how to clear this damn orange name."

Solin stood up dejectedly. He just wanted to find something to vent his already depressed mood, so he drew his twin daggers [Scattered Flow], went to the unlucky tree he had just been leaning against, and unleashed a Ghost Dance.

The flying blades slashed at the trees, creating streaks of purple light that almost obscured Solin's vision. When he came to his senses, he found a white and green figure suddenly appear in front of him, running over from a distance and immediately embracing him.

"I'm fine... I just can't go back to the main city for the time being, it's not that bad." Sorin ruffled Yuna's hair helplessly, his tone full of affection, "I chased away all the bad guys, you know, isn't that amazing?"

"I'm sorry... I really can't help you with anything, Sorin." Yuna's voice trembled, filled with unease. "When I saw them come back, you weren't leading the way like before, so I thought you had died in the battle."

“But look at me, I’m still standing here perfectly fine, aren’t I? Okay, okay, stop crying…” Solin thought for a moment, then sat down against the tree again, letting Youna half-lie on his chest. “Let me tell you, I’m the man who’s going to lead everyone to the Crimson Jade Palace, how could I possibly die in such a wretched place?”

"Hey, Sorin, is this alright?" Yuna suddenly sighed and looked at the sky not far away, which was largely obscured by the layer above. "I feel a sense of peace when I'm with you."

“…Okay, if you’re willing.” Solin smiled and ruffled You’s soft hair again, his voice still gentle. “It seems like it’s almost New Year’s Day. I hope I can get back to the city before New Year’s Day. I wonder how long it will take for my orange name to disappear after I killed someone.”

“If you can’t get rid of it, I won’t go back. I’ll stay outside with you.” Yuna said firmly. “That way, I’ll become more and more dependent on you. You’ll always protect me, right?”