Chapter 26: Further Advancement in Floor Progression
Early the next morning, the three of them set out for the Sanctum Labyrinth.
Time was running out—at the latest, the attack on the Dark Elf city would begin tomorrow.
Since they had been spotted during reconnaissance, and might even trigger the battle prematurely as punishment, they rushed at full speed, anchoring their boat at a suitable location.
Hachiman rubbed his chilled fingertips and looked at the faintly visible rocky archway ahead—this was the dangerous Sanctum Labyrinth entrance Kizmel had mentioned.
Thanks to their combat synergy developed over time, ordinary mobs posed no challenge to them.
The biggest problem was the labyrinth's vastness.
"This damn labyrinth definitely uses spatial folding tech, right?"
Hachiman couldn't help but complain as he kicked aside obstructing vines for the fifth time.
Asuna had just pulled her rapier from the chest of an unfortunate monster and let out a snicker upon hearing that: "Hachiman-kun, your stamina's not great in the real world either, right?"
"Hachiman-kun, your dark circles are almost rivaling a panda's."
Asuna tossed over a stamina potion she had just pulled out, her light brown ponytail swaying in the morning breeze.
They had discussed strategy at the camp until 3 a.m. last night, yet Asuna still looked like she had just walked out of a hair salon.
"We've been raiding non-stop for twelve hours!" Hachiman tugged at his cloak, drenched in sweat. "Miss Kizmel, aren't you tired?"
Kizmel elegantly flicked the blood droplets off her blade. "The blood of the Forest Folk does not..."
Before she could finish, the three of them squinted their eyes as they were suddenly blinded by a red light.
Floating above the plaza was a glaring HP bar, as if drenched in tomato juice.
Before the sanctum doors stood a Fallen Elf, its cursor pitch-black like ink, holding a sword and steaming—literally.
Roughly twelve hours had already passed.
Considering the time needed to return, they had little left to spare, so retreat wasn't an option. The three of them launched their challenge against the Fallen Elf.
'The captain of the Fallen Elves...'
As expected from someone bearing the title of captain, it was a formidable foe. Its sword skills were swift, fierce, and devastating.
Even so, the trio steadily whittled down its HP. When the HP bar turned red, the enemy's speed suddenly surged.
It became so fast that even Hachiman struggled to block. His own HP bar was dangerously red.
Asuna's white stockings had three slashes in them, and she gritted her teeth while growling: "This damn labyrinth absolutely has malicious design targeting female players!"
"Asuna, Kizmel! I'll break its attack rhythm! You two use that opening to go all out!"
Hachiman focused with everything he had, waiting for the perfect moment. The instant he caught a slight twitch of muscle, he dashed forward, parrying the enemy's weapon from below just before it could strike.
With his left hand, he executed a martial sword skill, landing a blow on the enemy's right shoulder.
The enemy spun half a turn clockwise, exposing its back.
The two flanking attackers struck with full force, but because the enemy had leaned backward, their hits weren't deep enough.
A sliver of HP remained.
Just as Hachiman moved to finish it off, he realized the enemy, which should have been stunned, recovered early and swung its sword toward Kizmel on the left.
(Damn it! Berserk mode doesn't just boost speed—it shortens stun time too?)
As Hachiman watched Kizmel on the brink of a fatal blow, a familiar streak of white light flashed at the edge of his vision.
With a sharp metallic clang, the enemy staggered inexplicably. A second later, a man in black armor dashed into the battlefield and delivered the final strike.
"Kirito!"
"Kirito-kun!"
With a flash of his blade, the enemy collapsed to the ground.
"Looks like we made it in time."
"Is everyone alright~?"
From a distance came the sound of running. Nezha had arrived as well.
"Saved us there—thanks, Kirito, Nezha."
"Thank goodness... I thought Kizmel was..." Asuna's eyes shimmered with unshed tears, clearly overwhelmed with emotion.
"What are you guys doing here?" Hachiman had both hands in his pockets, his dead-fish eyes twitching slightly.
This whole development felt like a forced side event in a galgame. Should he say "as expected of Kirito"?
"Blame the event planners and their twisted sense of humor." Kirito scratched the back of his neck. The hem of his black coat was still stained with purplish-black blood. "After we completed our task by defeating a group of Fallen Elves in the adjacent area, we passed by and heard fighting, so we came to check it out—then we saw you."
"No wonder there were no guards here."
"Yeah, those guards were probably the ones we took out."
"That makes sense. Only in non-instanced areas would that happen."
"Right. We figured you guys could handle it, so we didn't intervene initially. But when the enemy suddenly sped up, we got ready to assist at any moment."
"I see... Thank you both."
"Really... thank you so much."
"As long as everyone's okay. By the way..."
Hachiman suddenly noticed a fresh gash on Kirito's left shoulder armor.
A dark purple liquid was seeping from the crack. The sight made his throat tighten— The trauma from SAO's death game still lingered somewhere deep in his retina.
Hachiman briefly explained their mission process to Kirito, which clearly differed from the route Kirito's team had taken.
"We couldn't see it—there are three keyholes here?"
"Yeah, now we need to rescue the lord to get him to join the fight."
"Then you'd better hurry. Our event continues on the lower floors. This place is probably your final... cli...max? Since the final quest involves the Sanctum."
"Next should be an instanced area. We'll wait here. We can't help with the story, but we can assist during the retreat."
"Thanks. Then we're heading out."
The three of them inserted keys into the keyholes, and their figures vanished before Kirito and Nezha' eyes.
The disorienting sensation of warped space-time reminded Hachiman of the weightlessness he felt the first time he used NerveGear.
What appeared before them was a Dark Elf in luxurious armor, praying devoutly.
"Long time no see, Viscount Euphilis."
"Is that... Kizmel? What's going on?"
"Through our investigation, we've learned that the Forest Elf army will attack the city tomorrow."
"Another scheme by the Fallen Elves..."
"You know?"
"Yes. I sensed something off with the Fallen Elves and have been praying here for peace between our races."
"The situation is dire—please return at once."
"Looks like war is inevitable..."
The return journey felt like a musou (warrior) game—every slash of the lord's sword cleared an entire corridor. Fallen Elves fell like wheat before a scythe.
Nezha leaned over and whispered: "This guy's level... must be followed by three question marks, huh?"