A journey to another world starting from a sword

suddenly--

Asuna wrapped her arms around his head and pulled Dante tightly against her chest, which was covered by a thin dress.

"Well, taking a short break is a good idea. You've already worked very hard."

"..." Dante looked up at the ceiling with his only exposed eye, thinking it best not to explain.

His nasal cavity was filled with a special, comforting fragrance, and the warmth of their close proximity felt like a pair of hands touching the softest part of his heart.

"Ah—good morning." Leafa yawned as she came down the stairs.

With a "whoosh," Asuna quickly let go of Dante's head and pushed it away, then stood up with her back against the sofa.

Dante crossed his legs, touched his flattened hair, and looked up at Leafa as she walked down. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Leafa," Asuna said with a smile. "What would you like for breakfast?"

"Bacon and eggs," Dante replied instantly. Asuna's homemade bacon, made with the Grade A ingredient "herb pork cutlet," was incredibly fragrant.

"I didn't ask you." Asuna glanced at someone, then quickly turned her face away before their eyes met, because her cheeks were turning slightly red.

"Then let's have bacon and eggs." Leafa felt the atmosphere between them was a little strange, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"I've made up my mind." Asuna patted the sofa, then got up and walked towards the kitchen.

"Isn't this the same thing?" Even Dante couldn't help but chuckle and remark.

-----------------

On the morning of the battle, the transfer gate square was filled with onlookers.

The 40th floor is an important floor, so everyone is very concerned about the progress of the strategy and spontaneously came to see us off.

The raiding force will depart from the main district "Zeyreum" and, using the corridor crystals provided by "Eternal Garden" that can transport the force to the recorded location in a short time, the group will be teleported there directly.

The Corridor Crystal is an extremely rare item. It is said that it will only drop once per floor for the entire team during the entire campaign. Although I don't know where this rumor came from, it is indeed very rare. Even in "Eternal Garden", not counting individuals, only five crystals have been acquired, and one of them has already been used.

The floor boss, "Warden Braken," is such a troublesome monster; you must avoid expending too much energy before the battle.

A single corridor crystal can only teleport a maximum of forty-eight people. Even if a force of ninety-six people could be formed, it would still be impossible to teleport them. Therefore, each guild sends out its strongest members. Upon closer inspection, one can recognize that the allied forces walking into the swaying blue portal are all the top elites of their respective guilds.

A man not to be ignored—Heathcliff, clad in heavy red armor, stood at the very front of the Knights of the Blood Oath, while Nochiras was not among them.

The largest guild, "Holy Dragon Union," had its guild leader, Lind, standing side-by-side with Heathcliff, surrounded by guild members.

In addition, some smaller guilds also joined together to form the remaining teams. Among them was the guild with the most Japanese style, "Fūrin Kazan". Thanks to the outstanding leadership of "Klein", "Fūrin Kazan" was the only guild besides the three major guilds that was capable of forming a team on its own.

A black-clad swordsman, accompanied by his guild leader and a warhammer user, stood with Agil. Teaming up with players they knew could effectively increase their combat power, as they were all familiar with each other.

"Let's go!" Asuna shouted in a beautiful voice, holding her magnificent rapier high.

"Oh, oh." The crowd of onlookers exclaimed in a cacophony of admiration. No matter how many times they looked at that beautiful figure with her chestnut hair, they never grew tired of it, and it also boosted the morale of the punitive expeditionary force.

Amid cheers from the players in the plaza, the last person walked through the gate, and the blue, wavy corridor disappeared.

Nochiras forced a sigh, but the look of disappointment on his face was hard to hide.

"Try harder next time." Yuna, his childhood friend, who was completely covered by a white hood, gently patted his back.

“That’s not the reason,” Nochiras said stubbornly.

But somewhere in his heart, he fantasized a little about getting the final blow reward in the 40th floor boss battle, which was a watershed moment, and preferably getting an ultra-rare item.

Then he sold his fortune at the auction and became rich, then left the group and bought a house with Yuna on a safer floor below to live together.

Unfortunately, the guild hoped to reverse the situation of being suppressed by "Eternal Garden" in this battle, so the selected members were all veterans who had participated in the boss battle.

In fact, Noziras did not think he was inferior to those veteran guild members. In terms of combat skills, he was rated as a top player in the strategy group by the guild leader, so it was a great pity that he was not selected this time.

"Nochiras-kun wasn't selected either," a busty female player standing on Yuna's other side said, glancing sideways. Next to her stood a girl with short black hair.

"Eternal Garden is supposed to be the commanding guild this time, so why didn't they bring everyone?" Nochiras asked the player he knew, finding it unbelievable.

A white cloak covered most of her body. Leafa shook her head and said, "Dante thinks we should give other guilds more opportunities, so that even if something happens to a guild, we will have enough backup members."

"Then you shouldn't have taken on the boss by yourselves!" Nochiras retorted, recalling the discussion at the previous meeting.

Leafa didn't choose to refute, but muttered to herself, "You wouldn't think that way if you saw Dante's strength."

At some point, Leafa realized that the idiom "one person can form an army" was not an exaggeration.

If Lisbeth were here, she would definitely yell, "We've already done you a favor by giving it to us!" But as the guild's tank, she'd definitely have to stay with the raid.

"Alright, alright, Arno, stop arguing." Yuna, who had been silent all along, grabbed Leafa's arm and tried to stop Nochiras.

"I didn't." Nochiras shut his mouth; he was just a little resentful.

"Hey, what should we do next?" Yuna asked Lifa and Xiaochun.

Leafa and Haru exchanged glances, and after a long while, they said, "We plan to go to the Boss room in the maze area to wait for the results."

This boss battle won't end so easily. We'll definitely be testing the boss's moves little by little. If everything goes smoothly, it's expected to take at least an hour to finish.

"That's it."

Seeing Yuna's eager expression, Nochiras began to get anxious. Hadn't he said that the area outside the circle was dangerous?

Just then, a player appeared at the towering gate on the west side of the square, running frantically while shouting.

"Someone, someone please help us! Please! Someone save us!"

Chapter 199: The Wind Sprite's Rescue

Leafa and Haru reflexively looked in that direction and saw a male rapier wielder with light blond hair.

"Could it be a punitive expedition..." Nochiras almost misunderstood, for a moment thinking that the troops that had just set off had encountered some kind of trap.

However, if he uses the teleportation crystal to return, he won't come back from the west gate direction, and he's never seen this man's face before.

Besides, the equipment worn by the young male player in front of him was similar to the low-key leather armor worn by Noziras, and did not seem to be that high-level, but the rapier at his waist had been upgraded to its maximum level.

Moreover, he appeared to have suffered considerable damage, his body was tattered and torn, and a short black spear was stuck in his back.

"Are you alright?!" Xiaochun rushed over upon seeing this. Although HP wouldn't decrease much once inside the circle, she still immediately ran up to help him pull the spear off his back.

Leafa and Yuna followed closely behind. Leafa saw in its entirety the short spear with its simple design but ominous aura. It was the weapon used by the "Torturer" series of monsters that appear in the fortieth floor of the dungeon.

Because it was a monster that I repeatedly defeated, it left a deep impression on me.

So, the person who attacked the male rapier user wasn't a criminal player.

"Looks like it wasn't a PvP fight." Leafa's assessment relieved Xiaochun, and Yuna also recalled the events from long ago, when she met Dante and Mito. It was great that it wasn't a malicious attack by players.

The male swordsman seemed completely unconcerned about his injuries. He didn't accept the healing potion Xiaochun offered, but instead shouted again at the top of his lungs, "I...I still have six companions. They're trapped in a dungeon in the wilderness, being chased by monsters. They won't last much longer. Who...who can come with me to rescue them?!"

His face contorted and contorted with rage from the exertion, but it was this expression of despair that allowed Koharu and Leafa, who were standing close by, to vaguely sense each other's feelings of falling into the abyss.

Upon hearing this, the dozen or so players still remaining in the square all gasped.

In the forty-story maze themed around "prisons," troublesome "imprisonment traps" often appear. This is a new type of trap. Even though there are usually mechanisms in the sealed space that can be used to unlock it, many monsters will swarm out when the trap is activated. Often, you can't operate the mechanism to open the prison door without defeating the monsters first.

Even the raiding team found it difficult; only an elite squad, relying on combat skills and superior equipment, could successfully escape.

It seems the male rapier wielder's squad was unable to eliminate the monsters, and in the end, only he managed to escape using some means.

"You all should have teleportation crystals, right?" Leafa found it a bit strange; if this man used a teleportation crystal, he shouldn't have come from the West Gate.

“Yeah, if you can fight monsters on this floor, you must have one on you, right?” Nochiras asked in the same way. Since he could hunt in the front-line labyrinth, strictly speaking, he was also a member of the strategy team.

Teleportation crystals are practically lifesavers for players fighting on the front lines, and it's almost a consensus that everyone has one. Even if they're expensive, they're not unaffordable for players in strategy groups fighting on the front lines, especially those who have joined guilds.

Nochiras has a teleportation crystal given as a gift by the guild, a guild benefit of the "Knights of the Blood Oath," and only the strategy team guild has the resources to distribute one to each member for free. If anyone wants to buy one later, the guild can offer an internal discount.

To everyone's surprise, the pale-faced male swordsman shook his head. "It won't work. Some of the monsters that spawned can inflict a 'silence' debuff, which means none of us can use crystals. I just removed the debuff myself."

"..." Upon hearing this, all the players present tensed up again.

The normal effect of the "silence" status is simply to prevent players from speaking, making them unable to make a sound. However, after various crystal items started dropping, this debuff became one of the most annoying statuses in the eyes of everyone.

Because crystals, regardless of type—whether healing crystals, detoxifying crystals, or life-saving teleportation crystals—must be held in hand and the voice command spoken.

Once silenced, you can no longer use crystals, which is equivalent to losing your life-saving item.

"Didn't you bring any cough medicine?" Leafa asked in surprise.

"No, nobody brought any cough medicine, and we didn't expect to encounter a monster that could silence us."

"..." Leafa and Haru both fell silent. This kind of thing had already been written in the latest strategy guide for this floor!

Nochiras found it unbelievable too. If I wanted to get into the outer areas of the front line, I should at least read the free strategy guide first!

Suddenly Leafa and Xiaochun realized that not everyone would make detailed preparations before tackling a strategy, and not every guild would have a meticulous vice president who tirelessly repeats the precautions, or a super strong and handsome guild president who spends most of his time protecting the members.

Just last night, everyone sat around the fireplace, playing card games and talking about what happened during the day. Asuna's gentle words and Dante's reassuring voice still linger in our ears.

"I understand." Xiaochun stood up and looked at Leafa, who nodded in the same way.

“We will help you,” Leafa replied resolutely.

"Could you be Leafa, the 'Wind Sprite' from 'Eternal Garden'?" asked one of the two male players, both dressed in red Japanese-style armor.

"'Eternal Garden'?!" "...This will work!"

Leafa ignored the exclamations of the crowd and looked at the members of "Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain". Only some of the senior members were taken away by the guild leader Klein to participate in the BOSS subjugation team; some others remained in the main district.

"Could you please come with me?"

There is some connection between "Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain" and "Eternal Garden". The red armor they wear was actually custom-made by Lisbeth, so Leafa knows that their overall strength is not bad in the strategy group, at least in terms of equipment.

Faced with Leafa's question, the two members of "Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain" hesitated only slightly before nodding.

Then five or six more male players stepped forward, saying, "Let's go too."

Xiaochun helped the swordsman, whose HP had been restored, to his feet, and then stood up herself.

At the same time, Yuna walked up to Leafa and said, "I want to go too."

"Yuna! You stay here." Nochiras quickly ran out. "I'll go in your place."

Even though Nautilus said that, Yuna simply shook her head.

She used her right hand to operate the game menu, and a flash of light effect appeared under the white cloak, so she didn't have to worry about being exposed briefly while changing clothes.

After the light effect disappeared, Yuna suddenly flung open her cloak. Inside was a vibrant light blue dress with some leather trim. Although it was cloth armor, the gold trim, buckles, and unique leather texture suggested that it was a rare piece of equipment with considerable defensive capabilities.

In addition, she holds a white harp in her left hand, which, if identified, is the work of the famous carpenter Mahkel. She has an exquisite short sword at her right waist. Her hat remains unchanged, still the one with a pure white feather, yet it gives her the impression of a bard.

After transforming, Yuna flicked the brim of her hat with her index finger and said firmly, "Although I can't wield a sword, I can support everyone with my songs. I will definitely not hold anyone back."

"Song? Could it be that you are... the one with the 'chanting' skill...?" a player immediately exclaimed.

“What is ‘chanting’?” Nochiras asked, puzzled.

“That’s a special skill I learned,” Yuna said with a smug smile. “It allows me to apply different kinds of buffs to players around me who hear my singing.”

In an instant, the swordsman beside him broke into a ecstatic smile. "Please! Save us!"

Seeing his childhood sweetheart nod resolutely again, Noziras couldn't bring himself to ask her to stay. So he quickly manipulated his character's equipment bar, changing his plain leather armor for disguise into the striking white and red-patterned standard equipment of the Knights of the Blood Oath.

The swordsman's smile widened. He had initially thought the man was just a nobody, but it turned out he was a member of the "Knights of the Blood Oath".

Chapter 200: It's Show Time

The twelve-person team originally planned to set off like this, but Leafa suddenly remembered what the swordsman had just said.

"I'm going back to the guild to get some 'cough medicine.' Aren't there monsters that can 'silence'? Our guild leader made a whole bunch of them to level up his skills."

"By the way, didn't Dante participate in this campaign?" Yuna asked, realizing the same thing. "I didn't see him in the party just now."

“No, it’s said that on several occasions, the guild master of the Eternal Garden has been waiting for the extermination team in the labyrinth,” Nochiras explained to Yuna, although this explanation wasn’t entirely accurate.

The swordsman's tense expression immediately relaxed, replaced by worry. "My comrade could die at any moment..."

“You’re right, we’re rescuing people, we should set off immediately,” Noziras said, echoing the sentiments of the onlookers.

Indeed, saving lives should be done with utmost urgency, and no one knows how long the swordsman's companion can hold on.

"Then we won't go back. I have some spares in my backpack." After exchanging a glance with Xiaochun, Leafa said casually, because Dante couldn't go out during the day, as going out would cause him to lose health, and she couldn't meet Yuna's and the others' expectations.

After splitting into two full teams of six people each, the rescue team, consisting of a total of twelve people plus a guide, entered the outer perimeter from the west gate of the main street.

As a member of the Knights of the Blood Oath, Noziras volunteered to walk at the front with the swordsman, looking every bit like the leader of the group.

Moreover, this rescue team seems to trust Noziras more than the female players, even though they are all the same age.