[Special Mission: Savior of "Aincrad."]
[Objective: Reach the 100th floor and obtain the divine authority left by the world goddess "Leliantia."]
[Time Limit: None.]
[Reward: ???]
[Warning: This mission is extremely dangerous. Players should proceed with caution.]
If the elven priest "Krestin"'s kneeling pleas only surprised Luo Jie, the system prompt that popped up in the visual projection was a complete surprise.
As is typical of the system, most missions only reveal their requirements after they've been completed.
This time, the mission details were announced in advance, and a warning was issued, demonstrating the mission's immense difficulty.
Did I previously think reaching the 100th floor was too easy?
"Your Excellency, High Priest, can you first tell me what lies at the very top of "Aincrad"?" "
While Luo Jie wasn't worried about his own death, he wouldn't resort to reckless manipulation based on his demihuman ancestry. After all, within the fantasy world, there were countless magical items and abilities that could counteract his immortality.
Better safe than sorry, he decided to inquire before accepting this mission.
The elven priest, Krestin, remained in a reverent posture as he explained everything: "The 100th floor of the floating city of Aincrad was once the Ruby Palace, where the world goddess, Leliantia, resided... After her spirit was reincarnated, the goddess left her original body and divine authority there. However, because her body had been contaminated by the demonic essence of the demon lord, Lance, and without the suppression of her spirit, she had become the most powerful monster in all of Aincrad, practically immortal." "
Luo Jie couldn't help but frown. This was indeed no easy task.
In the original novel, the protagonist, Kirito, relied entirely on his hero's aura and a steady stream of cheats to finally defeat the final boss of the 100th floor in the subsequent theatrical version, "Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale," with the help of a group of powerful teammates.
But now he's alone. Even the title of "savior" doesn't offer any combat power boost.
"Your Excellency, High Priest, please stand up and speak. You kneeling like this makes me feel a little..."
As a modern man, Luo Jie wasn't used to the formality of kneeling.
Of course, the key point was that this angle made him feel a little dizzy.
It was amazing. After seeing Marikawa Shizuka wandering around naked all day, he still had this physiological reaction. Could it really be because Asians are prone to lactose intolerance...?
Elf Priest Christine rose gracefully, apologetically saying, "I know this request will be quite difficult for you, Lord Savior..."
"No, it's not a matter of difficulty." Luo Jie raised his hand to interrupt her, questioning, "If the demonized body of the goddess Leliantia is truly immortal as you claim, what can I do even if I can reach the 100th floor?"
"Although the goddess' body cannot be killed, it can be sealed."
Elven Priest Christine raised his hand, and the light elements gathered in his palm formed a lifelike humanoid figure.
"When the world goddess Leliantia reincarnated, she discovered that her soul had also been contaminated by the demon king Lance's lustful demonic energy. She was forced to split her soul in two. The uncontaminated half now resides in me, while the other half resides in the body of the current dark elf queen, Olika." "
"As long as the Lord Savior finds her and reunites the souls of Leliantia within both of us, he can completely seal the demonized body. Then, the Lord Savior can obtain divine authority and save the floating city of Aincrad."
"I see."
Luo Jie nodded. It seemed this was another quest whose difficulty could be reduced by increasing the time.
If the player has a strong team like the protagonist's in the original novel, they can completely ignore the other tasks and advance directly to the 100th floor to face the final boss head-on.
If their abilities are insufficient, they can still complete the quest by following the instructions of the elven priestess, Christine, and searching for the dark elf queen, Orika, to seal the final boss.
Regardless of whether the so-called "divine authority" is actually the true form of the SAO core [the_seed], Luo Jie actually intended to ascend to the 100th floor to take a look. Since there was such an additional quest, he considered it a convenient opportunity.
"Well, Your Excellency, High Priest..."
"Call me 'Krestin'... From the moment you accepted this difficult mission, you are the true savior of the world of 'Aincrad'. You have the right to address me as such."
After Luo Jie accepted the mission of 'Savior of 'Aincrad', the elven priest 'Krestin' became increasingly approachable and gentle.
"Well, you don't have to call me 'Savior' all the time. Just call me by my name, 'Nightmare'... Then, 'Krestin', can you tell me where the Dark Elf Queen 'Olika' is now?"
"In the 'Land of Eternal Darkness' on the 27th floor, the home of the Dark Elves."
"Yes, thank you."
Luo Jie turned to leave, but 'Krestin' called him back again.
"Nightmare, are you planning to go to the 27th floor alone?"
"What? Is there a problem?"
Luo Jie paused, turned, and looked curiously at the blonde beauty behind him, seemingly enveloped in light.
The elven priest, "Krestin," chuckled and shook his head. "It seems you really don't know... Each floor of the floating city, "Aincrad," is connected by a teleportation array. Activating it requires at least three people, and you're still short of two companions."
"Is there such a rule? "
Luo Jie couldn't help but frown. This time, the SAO illusion had been magically altered a bit too much. In the original novel, there wasn't any teleportation array activated by multiple people; it was just a simple staircase.
It seemed he would have to find companions this time.
...
When they returned to the inn from the Heritage Temple, it was dusk again, with smoke rising from the chimneys of thousands of houses.
After having dinner with Asuna and Katsura Kotonoha, Luo Jie excused himself to fatigue and returned to his room early.
He had something big to do tonight.
Something big that would likely shock the entire royal city.
That's right, he was going to assassinate the white-haired minister "Thomas" he had encountered in the palace that day.
Previous signs indicated that this minister, dressed like a nouveau riche, had been secretly colluding with the Black Beast Mercenaries.
He had killed the mercenary messenger that day, ruining their plans. Even if it was simply for the sake of face, Minister "Thomas" would not tolerate a "hero from another world" like him, with no foundation or background. Luo Jie didn't want to speculate about when or how the other party's revenge would unfold. As was his habit, he preferred to take the initiative in his own hands when faced with such inevitable trouble.
So tonight was destined to be a dark and windy night, a sleepless one.