Just a few minutes after Morin, Asuna, and Yui left the Black Iron Palace, deep within the labyrinth area of the 79th floor of Aincrad, a fierce battle was unfolding.
In the dimly lit cave where the floor boss resided, the players of the Knights of the Blood Oath, clad in their white uniforms adorned with red cross patterns, rallied under the leadership and personal bravery of their commander, Heathcliff, ganging up on the formidable boss that resembled a centaur.
Awoo
Get out of the way
Puchi
Boom
The flat cavernous ground, spanning an area equivalent to two large playgrounds, was dominated by the towering centaur lord, standing over three meters tall. It moved with astonishing speed, wielding a massive battle axe and a shield in its hands. Along both sides of its horse-like back, two rows of short javelins were mounted, which it occasionally drew and hurled with deadly precision for ranged attacks.
Facing a boss adept in both ranged and melee combat, SAO's system dictated that a party of at least fifty elite players above level 85 was necessary to even have a thirty percent chance of clearing it in one attempt. Even then, losses amounting to half or even two thirds of the party were considered normal, especially for a first encounter without any prior information. In SAO's early internal testing, full party wipes during initial boss battles were practically routine.
However, now that SAO had become a death game, the elite members of the Knights of the Blood Oath showed no fear. Instead, they threw themselves into the clearing battle with fiery morale.
Because their leader, the man who had led them through the conquest of nearly twenty floors, stood unwavering before them.
Heathcliff, hailed as the strongest man in SAO.
Bang
The charging centaur lord collided head on with a shield radiating white light. The thunderous crash echoed throughout the cavern. The centaur lord let out a mournful roar as its massive body was forced back more than ten paces. Its battle axe, swung with the momentum of its charge, was pushed aside.
Standing firm in front of the centaur lord, Heathcliff showed no emotion. He held a medium sized shield emblazoned with a blood red cross in one hand and a one handed longsword in the other. Though he was a third shorter than the towering boss, he appeared like an unshakable mountain. Despite absorbing the full force of the assault, his health only dipped slightly, facing no real danger.
Seeing itself repelled and humiliated by a single enemy, the centaur lord, whose AI was as sophisticated as that of a dolphin, roared furiously and summoned twenty centaur cavalry, charging anew.
Charge
Follow the commander and charge
Prioritize taking down those summoned monsters
Shick shick
The centaur lord's attempt at a group assault was quickly met by the disciplined ranks of the Knights of the Blood Oath. The elite players, without hesitation, formed their combat formations and pushed forward.
Being part of Heathcliff's team for a floor boss raid was proof that none of these players were weak. Though taking on the centaur lord directly was beyond most of them, dealing with its summoned cavalry was within their abilities. In the very first clash, several centaur cavalry were torn apart and vanished into particles.
Everyone quickly finish the small fries then focus on the floor boss
Heathcliff shouted as he knocked the centaur lord back once more with his shield.
Understood
The commander's orders rang out and the players answered immediately, concentrating their fire to eliminate the howling cavalry.
The centaur lord tried to retaliate, but Heathcliff, activating his special skill Holy Sword, kept it firmly suppressed. With the white light of his shield and longsword gleaming fiercely, he ensured the boss could neither disengage nor create distance. Even when the centaur lord's health dropped to its last bar and it transformed into a lighter, high speed form wielding twin short javelins, Heathcliff remained unyielding.
His steadfast performance at the frontlines greatly boosted the morale of the players. With a tank standing firm against the boss, they could unleash their sword skills freely and confidently.
The centaur lord, despite its strength, could do nothing against Heathcliff. It could neither escape nor exploit any distance. Ultimately, it was trapped, slowly worn down toward defeat.
After seventeen minutes of fierce battle, the centaur lord finally exhausted its last shred of health and collapsed with a resounding crash.
Cheers erupted from the gathered players as Heathcliff calmly accepted the victory without a hint of smugness.
---
Later, on the first floor of Aincrad, in the Town of Beginnings.
On the black monolith, new words appeared announcing that the 79th floor had been cleared and that Heathcliff had defeated the floor boss. A wave of festivity spread across the Town of Beginnings. Almost all players were overjoyed, filled with renewed hope that escape from this death game was within reach.
Almost all.
Because among those trapped within SAO, there was one man who did not celebrate.
Heathcliff, the hero of the moment, did not look pleased at all.
What ignorant people. I am really looking forward to the expressions on your faces when you know the truth on the hundredth floor
Kayaba Akihiko, hidden behind Heathcliff's identity, stood in the Knights of the Blood Oath headquarters, looking out over the bustling celebration through the towering windows. A trace of playfulness and sarcasm gleamed in his eyes.
Apart from a certain transmigrator, no player in SAO had realized that Heathcliff, their supposed hero, was actually Kayaba Akihiko, the architect of their nightmare.
Unlike a detached god observing from afar, Kayaba had embedded himself among the players. He had even used GM privileges to secretly bestow himself special sword skills and cheats, rising to fame outside the Star Flame guild as the first top player to lead floor boss raids.
With his skill and influence, the Knights of the Blood Oath, founded by Kayaba himself, had become the second largest guild and were even regarded by many as likely to surpass Star Flame and Morin's momentum.
To Kayaba Akihiko, the players were like a gathering of heroes gradually nurtured under the shadow of a hidden demon lord.
And when the time came for the final confrontation, they would discover that the demon lord had always been standing beside them, the strongest of them all.
He could hardly wait for that moment.
Hmm The Black Iron Palace was triggered Let me check The set Grim Reaper did not die They retreated in time
While the players celebrated, Kayaba paid them no mind. As part of his routine surveillance of key individuals, he noticed that the Black Iron Palace had been disturbed.
Scanning the situation, he saw that those involved had survived and retreated.
He did not perceive any major threat at the time.
While preparing to casually investigate Morin's activities further, a new notification with a higher priority interrupted him.
The hidden sword skill Dual Blades has been obtained Interesting One of the heroes has been chosen Let me see who it is
Kayaba turned his attention fully to the acquisition of the hidden skill, far more intrigued by that event than by anything at the Black Iron Palace.
Thus, Morin remained unnoticed for now.
Thanks to the connection with Kirito, Kayaba overlooked the details of what had truly occurred at the Black Iron Palace.
Even later, when he finally reviewed the Black Iron Palace battle logs and noticed that Morin had tampered with the records, he still did not treat it with serious concern.
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