On January 1st, 2023, although many players were still reluctant to part with the joy of the previous night, the members of the Clearers group had already quickly adjusted their mindset and once again threw themselves into the game's progression.
However, Akimi didn't head to the sixth floor to continue the quest; instead, he went to the blacksmith's shop to enhance his Nichirin Blade and upgrade his Terrain Ring using the materials dropped by the previous boss.
He was doing all this in preparation for the upcoming quest — The Millennia-Old Demon King, Phase One: eliminating the demons hiding in the labyrinth area on the fifth floor of Aincrad.
Originally, he had wanted to bring Asuna along — after all, the rewards for this quest were quite generous.
But an unexpected incident made him abandon that idea: the night before, just after the New Year's countdown event, Kirito had been attacked by the man in the raincoat and Morte's group.
Those guys had set their sights on Kirito, approached him in a secluded corner, and tried to lure him outside the safe zone.
Fortunately, Kirito saw through their scheme and managed to escape.
After the incident, Kirito immediately informed Akimi, Argo, and the others, warning them to stay alert and keep an eye on Morte and his crew.
This served as a wake-up call for Akimi— from now on, Asuna must not act alone.
It wasn't that he doubted Asuna's strength — she was certainly powerful when it came to monster fight—but she lacked PvP experience, and in a confrontation with people like Morte, the outcome was unpredictable.
Moreover, based on what had happened so far, Morte's group would stop at nothing to achieve their goals.
It was likely that they were already well-versed in shady tactics like kidnapping and threats.
When leaving the inn, Akimi repeatedly reminded Asuna to stay inside and not go out.
Even if she had to leave the inn, she should never leave the safe zone.
If she encountered Morte's group, she was to immediately send a distress message through the chat box to Agil, who would be staying in Karluin for business over the next few days.
Since Akimi was heading to the labyrinth for his quest, Kirito had already gone up to the sixth floor, and Argo wasn't strong in combat, asking Agil for help was the best option.
As for Agil, Akimi had already asked him to look after Asuna while he was off doing his quest, and Agil readily agreed in his usual forthright manner.
After making all the necessary preparations, Akimi left Karluin at 9 a.m. and headed to the labyrinth area on the fifth floor.
By around 10 a.m., he arrived at an entrance on the western side of the labyrinth.
"According to the quest description, a kasugai crow should appear to guide me from here..."
Akimi said while stroking his chin.
As soon as he finished speaking, a crow flew out from the depths of the labyrinth.
The crow circled a few times in the sky before landing on Akimis shoulder.
It was only then that he got a good look at the creature—its feathers were entirely jet-black, with a tuft of white on its forehead.
A faint green sheen shimmered from the crown of its head and the tips of its wings.
Unlike the black beaks of ordinary crows, this one had a dark red beak, and its deep green eyes reflected an almost human-like intelligence.
While Akimi was carefully observing the crow, it tilted its head and stared back at him.
The two locked eyes for about ten seconds before a system prompt appeared in front of Akimi : "Would you like to tame the kasugai crow (unnamed) as your familiar?"
Without much hesitation, Akimi clicked "Accept."
After thinking for a moment, he extended his index finger and gently tapped the crow's head, saying, "Alright, from now on, your name will be... Suzaku."
The kasugai crow, now named Suzaku, pecked Akimi's finger twice, then nodded and called out in a sharp crow's voice, "Suzaku! Suzaku!"
This made Akimi chuckle. "What a clever little guy."
After calling out twice, Suzaku took to the air and shouted down, "Follow me! Follow me!"
Then it began to lead the way.
Seeing this, Akimi quickly followed.
Just over a minute after Akimi entered the labyrinth, a cloaked figure appeared at the same entrance.
After using the Tracking skill, the figure started running in the same direction Akimi had gone—completely unnoticed by him.
With Suzaku leading the way, Akimi ran through the winding corridors of the labyrinth for quite a while, but didn't encounter a single monster along the way.
This made him sincerely appreciate how great it was to have a high-quality guide.
About an hour later, Akimi arrived at the southeastern part of the labyrinth area, where he found a descending passage.
It was impossible to tell how deep the passage went—it stretched downward as far as the eye could see, the depths shrouded in darkness, making it hard to discern anything clearly.
After lighting a fossil tree branch, Akimi slowly made his way into the passage.
When he reached the bottom, he found that this area gave off a completely different vibe compared to the underground catacombs of Karluin.
If Karluin's catacombs felt eerie and damp, then this place felt utterly silent and filled with the stench of death.
At first glance, it looked like an underground town, but there was not a trace of life.
The once neatly arranged storefronts now had dilapidated doors and windows, and the interiors were covered in cobwebs.
Following Suzaku, Akimi arrived in front of a large building, just as rundown as the shops before it.
After rummaging through the place for a while, he found a notebook in a room with a bookshelf.
The notebook was covered in dust.
Even though it was just a scene prop within the game, Akimi still handled it cautiously, worried that it might crumble into a pile of paper scraps the moment he opened it.
The notebook appeared to record the history of this town.
Originally, it was just an underground tunnel—one used by the dwarven kingdom to launch surprise attacks against the human kingdoms.
But just as the tunnel was nearing completion, the event known as the "Severing of the Earth" occurred.
At the time, many dwarves were still stationed within the tunnel.
The "Severing of the Earth" caused the passage to the dwarven kingdom to collapse, cutting them off from returning home.
There were no essential survival resources within the tunnel, so the dwarves made a bold decision: they completely opened the exit leading to the human kingdom's surface.
Fortunately, it seemed to be far from any human settlements, so there was no immediate threat of human attacks.
Thus, the dwarves gathered resources from the surface and built a town in the underground tunnel, managing to survive there.
But fate had other plans.
The peaceful lives of the dwarves were shattered by the arrival of demons.
After the demons descended upon the dwarven town, they took over the deeper parts of the tunnel and would emerge from time to time to prey on the dwarves.
The dwarves had no way to fight back—they couldn't even harm the demons.
Eventually, unable to bear the constant threat, the dwarves abandoned the hard-earned town and fled to the surface.
What happened afterward remained unknown, but judging by the current state of things, the demons still appeared to be slumbering deep within the tunnel.
---------------
Exclusive access : 80+ch on paetron
Join now : patreon*com/DeCakraWnloverz