The next day, Aomori led the Azure Dragon Corps (Leader Heathcliff), the White Tiger Corps (Leader Thinker), and all members of the Boss Raid Team toward the Fifth Floor Labyrinth Area.
"All players are watching us, so we must execute this flawlessly. Heathcliff, Thinker, I demand zero casualties. Can you do it!"
"Yes!" Heathcliff and Thinker replied in unison.
"Good. Let's move out!"
Upon entering the Labyrinth Area, the Azure Dragon Corps and the White Tiger Corps were responsible for clearing the small fry, while Aomori, leading the Boss Raid Team, pierced straight toward the boss room like a javelin.
"Be careful, prioritize your safety, and just focus on clearing any stray mobs," Aomori warned before pushing open the heavy doors of the boss room.
"It's so dark, I can't see anything."
The team members filed into the room one after another. Except for Aomori, the others could not see the boss standing right in front of them.
'Kayaba Akihiko, is this your response? Heh, you underestimate me.'
Puff puff puff!
The braziers in the room automatically ignited with blue flames, and an enormous figure appeared before everyone.
It stood bipedally, over four meters tall, deep blue all over, with a goat's head, a serpent's tail, and cyan eyes. It grasped a large broadsword in its right hand, exuding endless pressure just by standing there.
It was the Gleam Eyes, The Gleam Eyes.
The five squad members were stunned.
"Hoo!" The Gleam Eyes let out a puff of white air, took a slight leap, and landed heavily in front of the team. It pulled its right arm back and swept the broadsword fiercely forward in a horizontal slash.
Clang!
Aomori blocked the blow and told the five squad members, "Get out of the room. It's mine."
The team members snapped out of their daze and scrambled out of the room, but they still couldn't shake off the nightmare-like cyan eyes.
"You're kidding, right? How could a guy like that be the Fifth Floor Boss?" Agil was sweating profusely.
"Hahahaha, a boss like this is much more interesting, more worth hunting, isn't it?" PoH grabbed his hair, half-mad and half-excited.
Nautilus gripped his sword hilt tightly, his expression calm, but the slight tremor in his hands betrayed his inner turmoil.
Asuna, who had discarded her hooded cloak and was dressed in white, hugged her arms to her chest, biting her lip as she anxiously watched the battle inside the room.
Kirito, however, was in disarray. As a beta tester, the boss's appearance completely contradicted his memory. He couldn't help but shout, "Aomori-san, be careful! Something's wrong with it! It shouldn't be the Fifth Floor Boss!"
Aomori, who had already exchanged several Sword Skills with the Gleam Eyes, gave a slight grin. He knew perfectly well that this Gleam Eyes was not the Fifth Floor Boss.
Aomori was extremely familiar with it; he had watched the episode in the original work where it debuted many times. Based on the model of the Demon Baphomet, it should have been on the 74th floor and was a high-level Boss of Level 80.
Kayaba Akihiko must have intentionally brought it down from the 74th floor to prevent Aomori from clearing the floors too quickly, likely with the intention of probing Aomori's strength and identity.
Regardless of Kayaba Akihiko's motives, he couldn't possibly guess Aomori's origin, so Aomori's only concern was to hack this Gleam Eyes down.
Clang, clang, ping, pong...
Aomori, with Thunder Breathing First Form activated, was already evenly matched with the Gleam Eyes. His Physique stat was a staggering 33 points, and his strength and agility were not inferior to the Level 80 Gleam Eyes. Leveraging his body's flexibility, he was already leaving numerous gashes on its body.
Watching the Gleam Eyes' HP drop steadily and Aomori remain virtually unscathed, the people outside the room finally let out the breath they were holding.
"The Leader is truly powerful. Without him, I can't imagine how many lives it would cost us to get past this boss," Agil said, rubbing his shiny bald head.
"Indeed," Kirito agreed, but he still harbored doubts about the boss's change, worrying that Kayaba Akihiko was pulling strings.
"Did you notice?" Nautilus spoke up actively for the first time. "The Leader never seems to suffer the stiffness that happens when a Sword Skill is blocked. His movements are consistently fluid, and the Sword Skill effects never stop. It looks like every casual swing counts as a Sword Skill."
"That's right," Kirito nodded. "Perhaps this is what Leader Aomori meant by GM privileges?"
Gazing at the continuous purple sword light Aomori was unleashing, Asuna couldn't help but murmur, "It's so beautiful."
"It is," Kirito agreed. "It's like he's dancing, full of rhythm and grace."
"This already borders on a master-level state," PoH interjected.
"Indeed," Kirito shared the same opinion.
Agil, Nautilus, Asuna, and PoH all turned to look at Kirito. Noticing the gaze, Kirito asked in surprise, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," the four said in unison.
"Weird," Kirito muttered, turning his attention back to the room. Suddenly, his expression changed, and he exclaimed urgently, "The boss is in red HP!"
"Red HP?" Everyone looked at the Gleam Eyes.
Unbeknownst to them, three of the Gleam Eyes' four HP bars had disappeared, and the last bar was starting to slowly drop.
Noticing this, Aomori secretly adjusted his breathing and energy. To avoid any complications, he decided to finish off the Gleam Eyes' remaining HP in one move, preventing it from having a chance to go berserk.
Aomori tightened his grip on Ryuko, took a deep breath, deflected the Gleam Eyes' broadsword once more, and closed the distance in a single step. His right hand rapidly vibrated, delivering hundreds of consecutive slashes in an instant.
'Light Breathing: Ryuko Atomic Slash!'
Blinding light instantly erupted, filling the entire room. Kirito and the others had to cover their eyes. The damage from hundreds of sword strikes exploded at the same moment. The residual Sword Ki cracked the floor, kicking up massive clouds of dust.
This was a Sword Skill Aomori created by combining the Atomic Slash technique from Atomic Samurai. It pursued maximum burst power and placed a heavy burden on his body. Even Aomori could not use such a skill consecutively in a short period.
"Is it over?"
The figures of the Gleam Eyes and Aomori were obscured by dust. No one could clearly see the situation inside the room.
Suddenly, they heard a deafening roar.
"ROAR!"
A powerful surge of air blew away the dust. Kirito and the others saw a black figure thrown from inside, crashing into the opposite wall and being buried by rubble.
Immediately afterward, a familiar-looking large figure entered everyone's view. Its entire body was crimson, emitting high-temperature steam. It held two broadswords, one in each hand, and the veins on its goat head bulged. Its scarlet eyes were filled with pure savagery.
It let out a heaven-shaking bellow, its berserk state fully evident.
"How could this be..."
"It's the Gleam Eyes from before! It went berserk and turned into the Red-Eyed Demon! The Leader's final strike didn't finish it off."
"This is terrible."
"Will Leader Aomori be alright..."
Kirito noticed that the Red-Eyed Demon's HP bar only had a tiny sliver left. In his internal struggle, his legs trembled slightly, but he still lifted his foot and took a step forward.
"Wait, Kirito." Agil grabbed Kirito's shoulder and said in a deep voice, "Don't act rashly. Have faith in the Leader. He's not someone who's easily defeated."
"Agil-san, I..."
Kirito calmed down, realizing that if he went in now, he would be instantly killed.
At that moment, a figure emerged from the pile of rubble.
Aomori dusted off his clothing and said, "Not bad, you actually pulled out a Gear 2."
"Thank goodness! The Leader is fine after all," Kirito sighed in relief.
The Red-Eyed Demon immediately noticed Aomori's presence. It roared, and the ground beneath its feet cracked again. Its massive body actually left afterimages as it arrived behind Aomori like a phantom. It crossed its two swords, slashing toward Aomori.
"Ah, watch out!" Asuna couldn't help but cry out.
Clang! Clang!
The Red-Eyed Demon's two broadswords were both blocked by Aomori. In his hands, he now held two swords.
"Two swords? The Dual Blades skill?" Kirito murmured.
"What a coincidence, I can use Dual Blades too." Aomori decisively activated the Thunder Breathing Second Form. Amidst the flashing purple lightning, he launched into a furious exchange of blows with the berserk Red-Eyed Demon.
'Thunder Breathing: Starburst Stream!'
In just a few seconds, the man and the Monster exchanged dozens of blows, but the purple sword light shone with a dazzling brilliance, gradually overwhelming the steam-covered Red-Eyed Demon. Accompanied by a thrust that pierced the ceiling, the Red-Eyed Demon's HP finally reached zero, shattering into fragments amid a final howl.
Aomori's Legion successfully cleared the Fifth Floor.
At the same time, in the Labyrinth Area below, Heathcliff revealed a strange smile.