A journey to another world starting from a sword

Then Asuna saw the man's expression change from relaxed to serious, and the gentle smile he always wore vanished without a trace.

"Has something happened?" Mite also sensed that something was wrong.

"Something came up." Dante looked up apologetically and said seriously to them, "The scheduled event has been canceled. Asuna and Mito, come with me."

As he spoke, he took off the ring from his finger, a symbol of the friendship of the dark elves, and tossed it to Lingyin, who was closest to him.

"As for Lingyin, you should go to 'Xia' hot spring as planned. After you're done, don't wander off. Just wait for us to come back."

"Eh? Eh? Eh?" Lingyin hurriedly took the small ring, clutching it in her hand with a worried look on her face. "Are you sure we don't need to come with us?"

“There’s no need,” Dante shook his head.

The more people there are when facing the fifth-floor boss, the more troublesome it becomes.

He hadn't expected that the King of Fangs might lead a large force of the Aincrad Alliance to challenge the Boss, but almost instantly he realized that if it was true, it must be PoH's doing.

Given Ya Wang's impulsive and reckless nature, he could easily fall into a trap, as long as he uses an irresistible bait.

That's right, it's the LA reward from the fifth floor boss. It's highly likely that this is what the King of Fangs is after, so he needs to make it a fait accompli before Diabel finds out.

But in reality, he and Diabel had already privately agreed on the ownership of the flag, and it would be more beneficial for the Aincrad Union Army, which currently and for a long time to come, to use it.

How stupid.

On their way to the labyrinth area, Dante explained the situation to Asuna and Mito, including his promise to Diabel.

"Ah, there really is such a gadget." Mito also remembered the rare gadget that he originally thought was a piece of junk but which later caused a great stir in Aincrad.

"It's unbelievable that you're only telling us now." Asuna was annoyed by this, as she wasn't particularly obsessed with rare items.

"Sorry, I was planning to tell you in a few days before the Boss battle," Dante said with a wry smile, turning around.

"So Diabel was also keeping it from the guild?" Mitt speculated.

"Most likely, since he can't let the guild members know that he's hiding his identity as a closed beta player." Dante sighed deeply at this.

If they had confessed earlier, Ya Wang wouldn't have acted on his own, but that was almost impossible for Diabel.

Similar to Diabel, he also couldn't reveal the fact that he was a time traveler. His act of hiding the Boss's information would eventually backfire, perhaps today.

He consistently refrained from using intelligence to proactively guide the strategy group to accelerate their conquest, hoping to have more time to accumulate his own strength.

Otherwise, he could have simply organized his own raiding party to clear the fifth and sixth floors, requiring very few people. The bosses on those floors are mechanic-driven monsters, easily dealt with with a strategy guide.

After passing through the jungle, the multi-level maze is now in sight.

Upon reaching the outer wall of the maze, he encountered the helpers he had sought.

"Hey, it seems I'm not late." Argo, wearing a brown cloak, deactivated his "stealth" ability from the shadows beside the main entrance.

“No.” Dante shook his head. “Please, Argo, lend me a hand.”

“You don’t need to tell me, I’ll definitely help you.” Argo looked up and laughed, then gestured for the three to follow her. “Come this way, I know a shortcut.”

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

Meanwhile, Ya Wang had already led his men into the Boss's room.

"What? It's not lit at all," Ya Wang complained impatiently.

The room has a diameter of about 30 meters and a height of about 15 meters, which is indeed smaller than the lower floors in terms of room size.

Originally, after entering the Boss room, there would be a process such as turning on the lights, and then the floor Boss would appear in front of the player.

But by this time everyone had moved from the stairs to the floor of the room, which was still pitch black. The walls were peculiarly serrated, and the floor had inexplicable patterns.

The crowd, each carrying a cheap torch, scattered in all directions, searching for any possible mechanisms.

What is highly suspicious is the square shape that is now shining and moving in a strange rhythm, sometimes large and sometimes small, right in the center of the floor.

"Mr. Fang, this feels very dangerous." Okotang, an axe-wielder and an important member of Fang's faction, reminded Fang as he went over to investigate.

"But if we don't move a little, the Boss won't come out, right?" Ya Wang said fearlessly.

Before Ouk Tang could finish speaking, Ya Wang had already stepped onto the central square.

Suddenly, the lines covering the entire floor of the room emitted a blue light, and at the same time, the room experienced a momentary but extremely strong tremor.

Then, with a deafening roar, five corner pillars emerged from the square—that was... a hand!

"Wh-what?" Just as everyone was still wondering what was happening.

Blue lines from all directions instantly illuminated the entire room.

Just then, the Black Hand emitted a deep, low-pitched sound like an explosion, rising high from the floor and lifting the Tooth King into the air. The next second, its five fingers clasped tightly together in mid-air.

"Mr. Tooth, Mr. Tooth!" Startled by the sudden turn of events, Ouk Tang was completely dumbfounded.

"Idiot, idiot! Help me!" Ya Wang roared, feeling a squeezing sensation that was almost unbearable. It wasn't very painful, but it was extremely uncomfortable.

"Quick!" The members of the Fang King Squad immediately launched their sword techniques to attack the outstretched arm.

At almost the same time, three other parts of the room were attacked by arms and feet.

If you look closely, you'll notice that the thumbs on the hands and feet are actually in different positions; this is because they are on the left and right.

Because the hand reached out from under the floor, it gave players almost no time to react. Players standing above had no chance to dodge and suffered the same fate as the Tooth King, being held in mid-air.

The feet, falling from the air, were relatively easy to avoid, but the black bare feet, which were probably two meters in size, created a considerable shockwave when they slammed into the floor.

This resulted in a squad of players being hit and falling into a negative state where they were unable to move.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!" The squad leaders shouted at the top of their lungs, drowning out the noise caused by panic.

At this time, the King of Fangs had been rescued by his players. He could loosen his grip by striking the arm hard with his sword.

This intelligence was quickly spread throughout the entire unit through word of mouth.

But they had almost no time to continue analyzing the intelligence. The entire unit of forty-eight men was subjected to a continuous barrage of grabs, grabs, stomps, and stomps in the cramped room.

Stepping over the blue lines on the floor, they barely managed to dodge the sudden attack in a panic.

As a result, they were separated from their teammates. Many of them were in temporary teams, not to mention some were even participating in a boss battle for the first time. At this point, the team structure was almost non-existent.

Only special squads like the Fang King's can maintain their unity because the members consciously gravitate towards him.

"Ugh!"

"Uoooh!"

Two horrific screams echoed through a corner of the room, but only a few people had the leisure to investigate.

Those were two low-level, lightly armed players who were hit by the shockwave and fell to the ground, unable to get up. Then, two huge feet appeared in the air and crushed them flat.

Two crisp sounds like shattering glass rang out, and when the foot lifted again, there was no one beneath it.

"What...?" When their squad leader caught a glimpse of the HP bar in the upper left corner of his eye, he realized that two of his teammates had been killed in battle.

But to him, his hands and feet seemed to rise and fall erratically, and he didn't realize that his feet could actually land in the same position as before.

This game, which resembled "whack-a-mole," continued until most of the players were close to the wall, at which point the pace of the attacks slowed down because the restless players had disappeared.

"Hey, look up there!"

Countless red cubes appeared in the center of the ceiling directly above the room, and they kept joining together with a low, booming sound.

It begins to form a symmetrical object, with a prominent forehead, sunken eye sockets, a square nose, and a mouth with a horizontal line.

Everyone could only hold their breath and look up. This angular, roughly shaped "giant face" made of black rocks was the Boss's true form.

With a roar, a gust of wind swept through the entire room, and blue-white halos emerged from the Boss's dark eye sockets, while a red emblem appeared in the center of his forehead.

Alongside the six HP bars, the boss's name appears: "Void Golem - Fuscus".

"Take this opportunity to attack its outstretched arm! It can cause damage." Fang Wang saw that the Boss's first HP bar had dropped by more than half, so he spoke up to boost morale.

At this point, most people seemed to believe that as long as they continued to attack, they could wear down the Boss.

When the three squad leaders saw that their team members were reduced to half their original number, out of a sense of honor for their guild and a glimmer of hope for the battlefield, they instinctively chose to remain silent.

Moreover, if they shouted at this moment and caused the troops to retreat, then their own soldiers would have sacrificed themselves in vain. They had similar thoughts.

So the members of the Aincrad Alliance stood once again in the center of the room, ready to receive the Boss's outstretched grasp and stomp.

"Damn it, damn it!" As if venting his frustration at being grabbed earlier, Ya Wang used his one-handed sword's three-hit combo "Sharp Claw" to slash hard at the Boss's arm.

As the sword skills of the surrounding squad members struck the Boss's arm one after another, Ya** saw the Boss's first HP bar disappear instantly.

"Great!" he cheered, then encouraged, "Keep attacking like this, and the Boss will be defeated soon."

By this time, everyone had completely forgotten about the reconnaissance mission and was going all in like desperate gamblers.

The situation on the battlefield seemed to be tilting in the players' favor. As the boss's second HP bar slid to the bottom after a barrage of sword skills, the morale of the allied forces began to rise.

"Tooth King." Just then, a very familiar, beautiful voice came from the stairs.

"What... Guild Master Diabel?" The player closest to the stairwell immediately recognized him as their guild master.

Diabel, standing at the top of the stairs, observed the entire room and unexpectedly discovered lines that were constantly rotating on the floor.

When someone steps on the line, a hand or foot will extend out, and he also noticed that the Boss is completely different from the one in the closed beta.

"Where you stand! As long as you avoid the line you're on, you won't be attacked," he warned, appearing to take command. "Listen up, everyone, prepare to retreat..."

"and many more!"

Diabel was interrupted by the Tooth King as soon as he opened his mouth.

"What are you thinking about, Fang King!" Diabel led several players who had followed him in carefully toward Fang King.

"Diabelle, now that we've discovered the Boss's weakness, let's proceed with the attack!"

If we retreat, we can forget about attacking the Boss today. We'll have to organize another raid tomorrow, and given Diabel's style, other non-guild players will join in.

This is a situation that Ya Wang absolutely does not want to see, where the information he painstakingly obtained has provided convenience for others and given them the opportunity to seize the spoils that originally belonged to him.

"No!" After a brief hesitation, Diabel refused outright and grabbed Fang Wang by the collar. "I'm the guild master, listen to me, retreat immediately!"

Diabel knew very well that his guild was filled with a large number of ordinary players. Not to mention taking initiative, they might not even be able to do a good job of following instructions. With such a rabble, it would be difficult to deal with the second or even the third phase of the boss.

For example, the kobold lord on the first floor draws a katana capable of unleashing wide-range sword techniques; the bull king suddenly appears as an additional boss on the second floor; the poisonous fog attack that fills most of the room on the third floor; and the flood summoned by the horse-headed, fish-tailed monster boss on the fourth floor...

If this situation were to occur, it would likely come at a great cost. He knew that their guild was not yet prepared and lacked the strength to afford any mistakes.

"Stop joking!" Ya Wang was getting angry too. "We absolutely have to win this Boss raid! We're the strongest guild!"

An accident occurred suddenly.

In the midst of their argument, neither of them noticed the spinning lines on the ground, and a target appeared beneath their feet.

Diabel shoved the Fang King away, but he himself was tightly gripped by the Void Golem's hand.

"Ah..." Ya Wang sat on the ground, staring blankly at this scene.

"The stairs, the stairs... have turned into a mouth!" And then another thing that could make one despair happened.

In the center of the floor, the Boss's dark face rose from where the stairs had been just seconds before. The sight of a player who was closest to the stairwell and was about to evacuate being bitten by its huge mouth around the waist came into everyone's view.

"The stairs... have disappeared?"

Chapter 129: A Bloody Christmas

Why is this happening?

Where did the stairs leading down go?

Ya Wang froze on the spot until his teammates pulled him up.

At this point, the Boss's face had disappeared from the ceiling; if it had only appeared on the floor, that would have been fine.

But if the staircase, which is the only escape route, becomes the Boss's mouth, then no one will be able to leave this room.

This fact spread rapidly across the battlefield a few seconds late, causing the previously rising morale to plummet to rock bottom.

All the members of the joint forces gripped their weapons tightly, then stared wide-eyed.

How can we win?

A mournful cry of "Waaaaaahhhhhhh!" immediately echoed throughout the Boss's room.

The first person who couldn't take it anymore immediately turned around and ran towards the wall, as this was the only way to get away from the Boss's attack range.

Except for a few elderly people who still had the option of fighting or fleeing flickering in their minds, most of the joint forces had lost their will to fight.

After the King of Teeth and his men risked their lives to rescue Diabel, they also retreated to the edge of the area.