A journey to another world starting from a sword

Team D, now the main offensive force, has carefully reduced Boss's second line to almost half.

The performance just now clearly shows the differences between the teams. For example, Team C, where Diabel is located, is significantly better than the other teams. They were able to quickly reduce the boss's health bar.

As for Team E, which is outside the standard, Dante believes that these people don't need to be ranked.

After discovering that Team E could easily hold off and eliminate the Boss's two minions, Diabel immediately moved Team H to the front to support the main battlefield, preparing to have them join Team G in the third wave of attacks against the Kobold Lord.

Perhaps with the intention of training the team, Diabel completely disregarded the player team's poor performance and instead chose to encourage them.

He kept repeating, "Very good! Well done!"

And the final sentence, "Take a break and rest well."

However, Diabel seemed to have deliberately forgotten about the two squads behind him, and it was very likely that he led his C squad to attack when the final boss's HP was reduced to zero.

Just like Asuna said, if things continue like this, they won't be able to attack the Boss even once.

But will things really go that smoothly?

During the long wait, the boss's HP, which had reached four bars, was finally down to just one bar, prompting cheers of "Great!" from the front.

With the scythe slung behind her back, Mitt's fingers rubbed the long handle of the scythe as she followed Dante slowly forward.

During a lull in the battle, Ya-o glanced at them. Since he didn't have a bad impression of Dante, he didn't pay much attention to their subtle movements when he saw Kirito standing still.

"Almost there!" With this excited shout, almost all the players breathed a sigh of relief.

In their eyes, the dying kobold lord was simultaneously dropping the bone axe and leather shield from his left and right hands.

It let out another sharp roar, then reached its right hand behind its waist, grasped the hilt of the knife which was casually rolled up with rags, and was about to draw the vicious "long curved knife".

"Looks like the intelligence was right." Ya Wang laughed smugly after dealing with the enemy.

"Team C, surround the Boss! I'll take care of the target!" Diabel suddenly shouted, then charged ahead.

Teams G and H, having successfully depleted the third HP bar, retreated to the rear, while Team C, now fully recovered, charged towards the Boss.

Generally speaking, it is perfectly normal for the commander-in-chief to launch the final attack and annihilate the enemy in one fell swoop.

Diabel, the squad leader of Team C and commander of the Allied Forces, has blue hair that shines brightly even as it reflects the dazzling light of the maze.

"...It's coming." Dante murmured, a sound only the three of them could hear.

Those who don't know might think he was talking about the fourth wave of kobold guards.

When Ilfangu fully drew the long sword from his waist, even though he had expected it, Mitt's pupils still widened in shock. "The weapon is really different from the one in the closed beta!"

Compared to scimitar-type weapons that unleash straightforward sword techniques, katana-type weapons primarily employ area-of-effect attacks focused on slashing!

"Heh heh heh heh..." Diabel's sword was already flashing with the light of swordsmanship as he swung it toward the kobold lord.

However, the surrounded kobold lord suddenly leaped vertically into the air, the recoil from his massive body even causing the floor to shake.

It twisted its body in mid-air, and an ominous scarlet light began to gather on the katana it held behind its back.

"Ah..." Diabel stared blankly at the Boss in the air, and he and his team members instinctively stepped back.

By the time he realized something was wrong, it was too late.

"Boom!!!"

With a heavy thud, the crimson light on the blade released a storm of sword energy, like a swirl.

Chapter 52: We can win!

The situation took everyone by surprise.

A red storm swept through the area, affecting even Team A, who were responsible for absorbing the damage.

In an instant, 12 people were thrown backward and crashed to the ground. Their HP bars turned yellow, meaning they had dropped by more than half, and some even had their HP bars turn a critical red.

That's a special sword technique for the katana, a wide-range attack called "Spinning Wheel" that can cover 360 degrees.

Despite being a wide-range attack, it possesses the astonishing power to take away more than half of the HP of everyone within its range in a single strike.

Moreover, the effects of the sword technique were not limited to that; all 12 people who fell to the ground had flashes of yellow electricity on their bodies.

That means the debuff that has been applied—the stun status.

Although this is not the most serious debuff, among the dozen or so abnormal statuses in SAO, the most terrifying are paralysis and blindness.

It lasts longer and the effects are even more disgusting.

In comparison, the dizziness is much milder, but this is only relative, because the player will be unable to move for the next ten seconds or so.

Just like now, the 12 people who have fallen to the ground are in danger of being attacked at any moment.

"What...?" The players in the distance stared in disbelief at everything that happened so suddenly that almost everyone froze in place.

In the strange silence, the kobold lord had recovered from the shock of using his advanced sword technique.

Its wolf-like maw revealed a ferocious grin.

Then the kobold lord Irvangu roared and charged forward, his katana, held in one hand, almost dragging across the floor.

This is the sword technique "Floating Boat," and the target is Diabel, who is lying in front of it.

It vividly demonstrated how Dante had just dealt with his kobold guards, and with a red arc of light, Diabel was suddenly launched into the air.

That was a swing that was just like a home run.

In fact, Diabel did not suffer much damage at this time. "Floating Boat" is strictly speaking a sword technique that inflicts a negative status effect. Players cannot use sword techniques at all in the air and can only passively shrink their bodies and try to assume a defensive posture.

But the danger was that the kobold lord's actions did not stop, and his next move was a three-hit sword technique called "Crimson Fan".

"Don't just stand there!"

A green sword light flashed past Diabel and slashed towards the kobold lord, forcibly interrupting its attack trajectory.

Two-handed sword double-hit sword technique "Tornado".

Two consecutive attacks, almost without interval, struck the kobold lord's waist and abdomen during the spin.

"Roar!" The kobold lord stumbled backward, but nimbly used the ground to get up and put some distance between himself and Dante.

At the same time, six blue orbs fell from the sky and transformed into kobold guards on the ground.

Six!

"It's different from the closed beta test!"

The commander lay dead in the crowd, his fate unknown. Two squads were wiped out, and the monsters outnumbered them.

In an instant, an unprecedented sense of panic rose in everyone's hearts, but it was interrupted in the next second.

"Teams B, D, and F, engage the enemy! Teams G and H, rescue your teammates first! I'll hold off the Boss." Dante, holding aloft "Bear Slayer," stood at the forefront.

Asuna, who was running next to Dante, seemed to find the wildly fluttering cloak too cumbersome, so she grabbed it and ripped it off.

Her smooth, chestnut-brown hair cascaded down, emitting a strong golden light that stunned all the players who witnessed it. Even some players who were gripped by extreme panic were captivated by her tragic beauty and fell silent.

The agonizing scream that someone was about to let out was abruptly choked back in their throat.

Based on common sense, the allied forces are facing three serious contingencies, and everyone should immediately evacuate to outside the Boss's room.

But that's just common sense; Dante would never let the first boss battle end like that.

Why retreat?

"Can win!"

Can win?

can win!

These words illuminated the dim hope of all the players, and the embers that were about to be extinguished were rekindled.

Dante, Asuna, and Mito rushed towards the Boss first, while Kirito and Silica also arrived from behind, charging towards the nearest kobold guard and saving a dying player who was about to be attacked.

"Ooooooooo!!!" Unable to contain his impulse, Agil roared as he charged toward the nearest kobold guard with his chocolate-skinned giant axe.

His squad members roared in response and charged alongside the burly giant.

It was as if there was a thread connecting them; as Team B moved, the other teams also began to act according to the initial instructions.

"Mite, over there." Dante looked to the right of the Boss. A player from Diabel's squad was being targeted by a kobold guard. With the enemy's remaining HP, it should only be able to withstand two heavy attacks.

"Understood." Mitt changed direction, his scythe flashing purple, and with a "Harvest Slash," he slashed the kobold away as it was about to unleash its second attack.

The rescued brown-haired player was breathing heavily, forgetting even to say thank you.

Another kobold guard was also drawn to Mitt and joined the first one in attacking her.

While protecting the players behind him, Mitt resolutely refused to retreat an inch, and spun his scythe to fend off the attack from the two kobold guards.

beautiful.

Like a fluttering purple monarch butterfly, she weaved through the monster's attacks, each step calculated with exquisite precision.

Her long purple hair flew wildly in the tense battle, her scythe flashing in afterimages as she clashed repeatedly with the enemy's fierce attacks.

Having repelled this wave of attacks, the three players arrived at Mitt's side.

“Leave this to us.” It was Agil who arrived with two companions. They stood side by side with Mitt, confronting the kobold guards who had temporarily distanced themselves.

"Go over there and help." His tone was tinged with anxiety, because Dante and Asuna were already engaged in battle with the Boss.

At this time, even a slight increase in combat strength would be a great help.

"I understand." Mitt knew very well that she should be in a place where she could play the most important role, so she flanked to the side and sped into the depths of the battlefield.

"boom"

Dante's greatsword clashed directly with Irvangel's katana, immediately producing a large number of sparks accompanied by a sharp "sizzle" of metal.

At the same time, Asuna lunged forward, shouting, "Hey!"

With a roar, the sword thrust upwards from the left, piercing deeply into the kobold lord's lower abdomen.

After knocking him back two meters, the Boss regained his footing and swung his sword down, only to have it cut in half by Dante.

The heavy blade traveled from the two-handed sword in his hand to his arm through the intersection of the weapons.

Using his own skills, Dante deflected the katana's attack once again.

Good weight.

But it can work!

With his right hand, Dante gripped the sword hilt tightly, one finger at a time, while with his left hand, he untied his cloak and threw it to the ground.

The man and the beast stared at each other, and half a second later, they clashed violently again.

Chapter 53: Bathing in Glory

You can't keep your distance from the Boss, otherwise you won't be able to judge the sword techniques it uses.

In close combat, the kobold lord Irvangu only uses short, frequent sword techniques.

There is no move that can be compared to a finishing move like "Spinning Wheel".

The katana's strikes were almost all wide and sweeping, with the sound of air being cut through echoing continuously.

The trajectory of the blade was clearly visible, but Dante didn't even swing his sword to block; he simply nimbly spun halfway around and dodged the attack.

At the same time, he swung his sword backhand, slashing a red gash across the kobold lord's stomach.

Taking advantage of the moment when the Boss raised his sword to charge up, Asuna used "Linear Attack" again, knocking him back half a step.

As the Boss retaliated angrily, Asuna, as graceful as a cat, made a feint and then nimbly jumped back.

Dante parried with his sword, and using the momentum from the parry, he half-turned around and unleashed a fierce slash.

Another wound.

Without the aid of sword skills, the Boss's HP only decreased slightly, roughly two-thirds of the damage caused by Asuna's sword skills.

However, he still avoided using sword techniques for defense, simply because they were too inflexible.

Sword techniques cannot be stopped. If the boss's attack is not blocked, Dante's sword technique will miss, leading to a fatal imbalance.

In conclusion, the two-handed sword in his hand was able to effectively block attacks with just a simple swing.

Theoretically, a boss can be successfully defeated at level 5, and the average level of the player's army is around level 8, while Dante has even reached level 10.