A journey to another world starting from a sword

Because the Void Golem's Grip can destroy equipment, Diabel's armor had already disappeared, leaving him no choice but to put on previously discarded equipment, which reduced his defense by more than half.

"Help me! Help, help me!" The player being bitten by the Boss was screaming in terror.

The three people around him were also trying their best to rescue him, but they couldn't pry open the Boss's mouth no matter what they did.

"Attack the emblem on the Boss's head, that's its weak point!" Diabel shouted quickly.

"No! There's no emblem!" the player standing on the boss's head shouted anxiously.

"Then search! The floor, the walls, the ceiling!" Ya Wang commanded, turning his head, but everyone stood still, looking around without making a move.

"I...I don't want to die, I don't want to die...Mom..." The red HP bar was slowly sliding to the bottom, and the trapped player was now crying and screaming incessantly.

When that familiar sound of breaking rang out, the entire room was filled with a deathly silence.

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"Ha!" The thick blade glowed with an orange light, and the system's assistance made the sword even faster.

When the small golem's forehead was hit, its HP was reduced by 70% instantly, and the next horizontal slash blasted it into a solid rock.

After landing and standing up, Dante asked Argo, "How much further?"

"We'll be there soon." Argo continued to lead the way.

After Dante, Asuna, and Mito caught up with her, Argo continued, "Fortunately, the labyrinth itself hasn't changed much."

"Thanks to you," Dante said, feeling somewhat fortunate.

If they weren't on their way to the Dark Elf village of Char, but were in the main town, it would probably take them an entire afternoon to reach the labyrinth area, let alone climb to the top.

At that moment, Asuna gently poked his left arm. "Will we make it in time?"

Looking back, the worry on her face was almost overflowing, while Dante sighed silently, "Who knows?"

During the march, the atmosphere in the entire team was very tense.

“I recognize this place; we’re almost there,” Mite said, glancing left and right at the maze walls that had transformed from blue boulders into neat brick walls.

“That’s right.” Argo, speaking in a cheerful tone as if to offer comfort, slowed his pace slightly.

After turning the next corner, the space in front of you suddenly opened up considerably.

Of course, the open space wasn't empty; Dante immediately spotted Diabel's second-in-command, Lind, standing anxiously banging on the door of the Boss's room.

Besides him, there were more than a dozen other people, and he also saw the plate armor girl, Li Ting, among them.

"Where's Diabel?" Before he could even greet him, Dante stepped forward in Argo's place.

"How come you..." Linde, who was about to ask why he was there, stopped and immediately realized that it was a stupid question, so he replied instead, "Mr. Diabel led a small team in to rescue people."

"What's wrong? Can't you open the door?" Argo asked, peeking out from behind Dante.

"Yes." Lind's face was extremely ugly, and his fist, which had been pounding on the door, slowly lowered.

"That's impossible. This didn't happen during the closed beta." Argo hurriedly stepped forward and tried to push the door, but sure enough, the door didn't respond.

“Closed beta test…closed beta test…” Linde shook his head with a wry smile. At this moment, he had no mind to investigate the identity of Argo’s no longer concealed closed beta test player, after all, he was not the Tooth King.

Moreover, Linde vaguely discovered a truth: there had been rumors in the guild that Mr. Diabel was a closed beta player, but he hadn't taken it seriously at the time.

But when Mr. Diabel led them there, the journey was almost unimpeded, just as it had been before, and Lind almost guessed that the rumor was probably true.

Even Dante was helpless in the face of the door that could not be opened, and according to Lind, twenty minutes had passed since he discovered that the door could not be opened.

"Are you alright?" Asuna sat close to Dante, watching Dante and Mito's gloomy expressions. She was a little scared, but she still reached out and wrapped her small hand around someone's left hand.

Upon noticing the sudden warmth, Dante lowered his gaze and replied casually, "It's alright, don't worry."

He flipped his hand over, grasped Asuna's small, snow-white hand tightly, and then placed it on the ground—above the white cloak and silk cape.

"What will happen in the end?" Asuna looked up and whispered her unease.

“At least it won’t be as severe as the first level.” Dante smiled wryly.

“That depends on how many Aincrad Allied Forces are left.” Mitt sat down to his right, burying her face in her knees. “Even Aincrad’s largest guild perished on the mere fifth floor…”

Feeling the cold body temperature close to him, Dante remained silent; he understood what Mitt meant.

This is not only a loss for the strategy groups, but also a huge blow to the confidence of lower-level players.

Without the replenishment of lower-level players, the frontline conquest group is likely to fall into the predicament of not being able to form even a full-strength joint force. The once thriving cause of liberating all players of Aincrad may very well be ruined.

"Hey, maybe things aren't so bad," Argo said, leaning against the wall. She immediately shut her mouth after saying that, not as talkative as before. Maybe she was just trying to comfort herself.

"It's all that bastard Fang Wang's fault!" After hearing Argo's voice, Lin De could no longer suppress his anger. His face began to contort. His voice sounded particularly abrupt in the quiet space and in the next second, it aroused a chorus of condemnation from the other players.

After an unknown amount of time, out of fear to check the time, a member of the Aincrad Alliance shouted in surprise, "The door! The door can be opened!"

Everyone immediately stood up and walked to the door of the Boss's room.

But what they received was not a victorious army, but a "deserter".

A player stumbled down the stairs inside, and what an impressive expression that was on his face.

"Hey! Where's Mr. Diabel?" Lind grabbed him and asked sharply.

"President... President Diabel..."

Before he could finish speaking, players came running down the stairs one after another, their faces filled with terror.

Linde released the player who couldn't even speak clearly and shouted behind him, "Come in with me!"

Then, he coldly pushed away the player who was running away, completely disregarding the fact that they were guildmates.

“Let’s go up too,” Dante said to Asuna, Mitt, and Argo.

“Okay.” Asuna nodded firmly.

Mitt and Argo nodded silently, lifting their cloaks to reveal their hands gripping their weapons.

Following Linde up, an unimaginably tall stone statue stood in the center of the spacious, circular room, its back to them.

"Let me go... hurry, let me go!" Ya Wang was being dragged towards the stairs by the few remaining people.

"..." Dante clearly felt that Lind, who was standing in front of him, froze completely, because he felt the same way.

"You bastards, let me go!" Ya Wang's curses grew louder and louder.

"Let me go! I want revenge for Diabel! Diabel... Diabel...!"

His heart-wrenching screams caused a stir among the members of the Aincrad Union Army.

...Diabel is dead?

Chapter 130: It's about mutual dependence.

On the way back, Asuna kept glancing to the side because Dante's expression was different from usual, appearing somewhat gloomy.

He's been like this ever since Diabel sacrificed himself to cover the guild members' retreat.

Not having figured out how to comfort her, Asuna could only walk quietly on either side of Mito.

"Hey, the exit is just ahead," Argo, who was walking at the front, called back.

"Finally out." Asuna breathed a sigh of relief and forced a smile.

Standing once again under the gray sky, I finally felt a sense of warmth.

But soon, the cold wind, mixed with fine snow, blew it away as if it were an illusion.

"I'll give you face this time. We'll handle the guild matters and the issues between me and Ya Wang ourselves."

Lind, who had been following behind them, led the Aincrad Allied Forces over, including many surviving members.

The original full-strength troops were reduced to less than ten or twenty men. This was not a successful attack at all; it was just suicide!

The Aincrad Alliance has truly suffered a devastating blow.

"Hmm." Dante lowered his head, rubbing his temples as if in pain. "As long as no one dies, that's fine. Diabel wouldn't want to see that happen either."

He had just stopped Linde from attacking Ya Wang, not because he thought Ya Wang was innocent.

This is purely because the strategy group, as the banner of all players, must not be allowed to engage in infighting outside the circle.

Lin De's expression turned slightly cold, and he left without saying a word, leading his men along the road.

"Now the Aincrad Alliance is also facing collapse." Argo sighed as he watched Lind's departing figure with his hands behind his head.

"Yes," Dante murmured in agreement, shaking his head to clear his mind.

"Let's go back to Char. Will Argo come along too?" After saying this to Asuna and Mito, he extended an invitation to the information broker next to him.

"Never mind." Argo hesitated for a long time before finally refusing. "I'll go check out the main street. I'll let you know if anything happens."

"Okay." Dante nodded and then said, "Linde and the others should keep this a secret. Hopefully, it won't have any impact on the rear."

However, it's hard to say. If someone chooses to leave the guild, then they are no longer bound by the guild.

"I hope so," Argo shrugged. "I was originally planning to publish the first edition of the newspaper after we finished conquering the fifth floor..."

I'm going to publish the story of the strategy group that conquers the boss, as well as the performance of some of the members, and I plan to give them a good boast.

As she spoke, she couldn't help but smile wryly.

"Hmph." Dante couldn't help but chuckle, then looked at her solemnly and said, "Then you should start preparing now."

"Oh?" Argo's eyebrows twitched slightly, then she burst into laughter, "Hahaha... I actually took it seriously."

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The Xia Village in the northern part of the fifth level is a temporary map that only party members can enter, as it is a village of dark elves.

He wasn't even in the mood for a bath. After eating a little food, Dante settled into the guesthouse arranged by the village.

It is said that the baths here are particularly spacious. Even though they cannot compare to the great baths of the fourth-level city of Yofel, they are still granite baths that can accommodate ten people at the same time.

Dark elves are said to enjoy bathing, while forest elves reportedly have cramped bathrooms but delicious food. However, the dark elves are just as good at food.

"Aren't you going back to your room to rest?"

Around 7 o'clock, Asuna had returned. Since the Dark Elves arranged food and lodging according to the number of people, and it was free, there was nothing to complain about.

Two people shared a guest room. Mitt and the others returned to their own rooms. The guest rooms they were assigned were suites with the living room next to the bedroom, but unlike their previous rooms, there was only one door leading to the bedroom.

Dante silently pointed to the door, and Asuna blinked, tilted her head, and then crossed the living room to open the door.

The bedroom was quite luxuriously decorated, but... there was only one king-size bed in the center.

“I don’t care.” She sighed deeply, walked to the sofa, and took Dante’s wrist. “We’re companions, aren’t we? I think it’s wrong to put all the burden on one person.”

The implication is that you shouldn't even think about sleeping on the sofa alone.

It's a statement that's truly irrefutable.

As she spoke, Asuna pulled him into the dormitory, then pointed to the quilt on the large bed, "Half for each of us."

"Ha, I understand."

Upon hearing the answer, Asuna forced a calm expression and nodded. Then she moved to the other side of the bed and crawled under the covers.

While covered by a quilt, she called out to the window and quickly changed from her loungewear into pajamas.

The girl's reserve prevented her from changing clothes in front of others, even though changing clothes in SAO was simply a matter of pressing the equipment button.

However, Dante did not intend to rest. Instead, after removing his weapons and equipment, he sat on a soft chair by the window.

"If you're in a bad mood today, go to bed early. Don't do swordsmanship or meditation. Get a good night's sleep and you'll definitely be more energetic tomorrow."

The slight wriggling sound was unusually clear in the quiet room; it was probably coming from under the covers, and Asuna's light, airy voice drifted over.

"I'm not sleepy right now, Asuna, you should go to sleep." With his eyes lowered, Dante looked sadly at the hazy moonlight shining through the lace curtains. Snowflakes still covered the entire village; Christmas wasn't over yet.

He had always thought that Diabel's death wouldn't affect him, but when a familiar person completely disappeared, he suddenly found himself feeling unexpectedly heavy-hearted.

This world doesn't have an underworld or Soul Society, so there are no ghosts or reincarnations. Once a person dies, they are truly gone, and there's no possibility of resurrection.

"No! You sit there first!" Asuna suddenly said in a commanding tone, patting the other side of the bed.

She immediately threw off the covers and stepped barefoot onto the wooden floor of the room, the sound of her footsteps echoing.

Wearing a pink silk nightgown, she walked up to Dante, reached out her right hand, grabbed his wrist tightly, and pulled him, who could not resist, onto the bed.

Then, suddenly—

Asuna released his hand, wrapped her arms around Dante's head, and pulled him tightly onto her shoulders.