Chapter 388 ~ Boss Raid

“Squad A and C! Switch!”

“Squad D, take it farther away from Illfang! Don’t let the sentinels get close!”

“Squad A! Draw back and flank it!”

Chaos ensued.

Although Diavel, through sheer will and hardwork, had impressively managed to somehow scrap over a semblance of coordination, expecting any sort of organization of a proper raid party would be too difficult for a group that had only gathered and met yesterday.

Some overextended, causing a disruption in their party’s timing. Some couldn’t follow his instructions in time, changing the course of their battle.

“Here it comes! Squad B, block!”

Illfang activated a sword skill. The party of five that made up squad B rushed with their shields and swords to the defense.

But the timing was precarious. A slight error in timing and they would take the brunt of Illfang’s attack.

“Brace-!”

Just then, a figure flew across the giant red kobold. And in the next moment, a massive wound burst forth across its chest, staggering it backward.

Diavel, Agil, Kibaou, and the rest of the vanguards widened their eyes in shock as the figure landed before them, his sword already raised up behind his shoulders, glowing with yet another sword skill.

“Sonic leap!”

He burst forward. Before Illfang could recover from his previous sword skill, Yuuji leapt and slashed down at the giant red kobold floor boss, fully pushing it a few meters backwards.

A stunned silence fell upon the chaotic battlefront, before a magnetic voice resounded with an order.

“Diavel-san! Reform the formation!”

Diavel snapped out of his daze, and immediately relayed his order.

“Squad A and C! Flank it! Squad B, focus on blocking! Squad D and E, keep those sentinels away from us!”

Yuuji was satisfied with this. He had bought time for the parties to reorganize themselves. And with Kirito and Asuna both helping with the final two sentinels, they would soon be able to have the entire’s raid group fighting force against Illfang.

The floor boss soon recovered and let out a bellowing roar towards Yuuji.

It raised its massive axe high above, before slamming it onto Yuuji, who had accumulated the most agro after damaging it greatly with his two sword skills.

Yuuji simply shifted, evading its attack effortlessly before retreating back, allowing squad B to take the aggro.

Then, he moved to its flank, and began targeting its critical points, dealing critical hits with each of his swings.

“Yuuji!”

“Yuuji-san!”

Yuuji shifted his gaze slightly and nodded when he saw Asuna and Kirito already dashing towards him.

There were no more sentinels. No more guards. The boss was alone.

Diavel noticed it as well, and began to shout once again.

“Press the attack! We can do this! Maintain formation!”

Reassured by the damage these three players alone could deal, Diavel felt re-energized and commanded the raid party with more vigor!

The hope in his heart burned brighter. He wasn’t thinking if they could successfully defeat Illfang or not anymore. He was thinking how to not lose even a single player in this raid boss.

And how to land the final hit to obtain the last-hit bonus item drop from Aincrad’s first floor boss.

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Illfang’s HP bar plummeted rapidly with the addition of Yuuji and Asuna’s DPS and the increased effectiveness of the party’s offensive rotations thanks to Yuuji’s capability of tanking the boss’s attacks while they switched.

Then finally, Illfang let out a bellowing roar.

*ROOOOOOOOOAR!*

His final HP bar reached its last third. It discarded its war axe and buckler, throwing it to the side.

A heavy thud and loud clang resounded throughout the boss room.

“Looks like that guidebook was right on the money.”

Kibaou smirked, his eyes now brimming with confidence and assurance.

“Stand back! I’ll finish him!”

They all looked in shock as Diavel charged forward, a small shield and sword in hand.

He briefly glanced at Yuuji’s figure, who had shifted his gaze towards Diavel, and smiled with gratitude.

Diavel raised his shield and began the pre-motion of his sword skill, and waited for the boss to come close.

Illfang grabbed the massive sword it had fixed behind its waist, and brandished it.

“!!!”

‘That…?! That’s not a talwar! It’s a nodachi!’

Kirito had noticed. Instead of a talwar, as Illfang had originally carried in the beta, he now wielded a nodachi.

Yuuji noticed the shocked look on Kirito’s face, and immediately noticed something wrong.

“Stop! Retreat as fast as you can!”

Some turned towards Kirito in confusion, but before they could make sense of his words, Illfang leapt.

Diavel’s eyes widened.

It was a different attack pattern from the beta.

He tried to follow its movement, but its speed was something he couldn’t follow without understanding its attack pattern.

‘Damn it-!’

He felt his stomach drop as death in the form of a giant red kobold monster fell upon his figure, its nodachi glowing with an ominous red glow.

Then suddenly…

*ROOOOOOOOOOAR!*

A golden light streaked through his vision.

Illfang flew backwards, and before him a figure landed with a heavy slam, kicking up dust and clouds.

“What…”

“Did he just… parry a boss’s sword skill with his own?”

In theory, such a thing was not impossible.

In theory, many things were not impossible. But to execute it in such extreme situations was another matter entirely.

But what they had just witnessed was undoubtedly something they deemed impossible executed to perfection.

The raid party all turned to look at the figure clouded in dust.

Illfang slammed onto the ground, blowing up tremendous winds that made many shield their eyes from the dust.

But as the cloud of dust was blown away from the figure, they saw something that shocked them to the core.

“That’s…”

Yuuji stood before Diavel and shifted his gaze down at him, who had fallen to the ground after losing the strength from his legs.

Diavel looked up to see the visage of a young man whose appearance surpassed any handsome actors and idols he had ever seen in his life.

“Diavel-san… You should retreat. I am… disappointed. I thought you were a good leader.”

His words struck Diavel right in his heart.

But, he found no words of retaliation.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Please think of the people who had put their trust in you first and foremost. Items and strength can always be gained. But lives, once lost, will never return.”

Yuuji turned his gaze back at Illfang, who had begun to recover from its stagger.

“I will be ending this, if you don’t mind.”

Diavel looked down. Perhaps in shame. Perhaps in contemplation. But no response came to Yuuji.

“Asuna!”

“Y-Yes!”

Asuna, still shocked at seeing Yuuji’s true appearance and trying to keep her heart beat from beating too quickly, snapped out of her daze and charged at the boss along with Yuuji from either of its flanks.

A series of sword skills were linked effortlessly and seamlessly with each slash and brandishing of his swords as Yuuji danced around the giant red kobold.

*ROAAAAAAR*

Illfang raised its nodachi up high, its length began glowing with crimson red, and slammed down at Yuuji. But instead of dodging, he raised his sword.

The Anneal Blade began to glow with golden light, and Yuuji unleashed a sword skill at its nodachi, perfectly parrying its strike.

“Asuna!”

“Take this!”

Asuna leapt up and thrust her glowing rapier, activating her sword skill, and struck right at its neck, piercing it perfectly at the center of its throat.

“Switch!”

Asuna planted her feet on its bulbous belly and jumped off as Yuuji was freed off his momentary lag after the post-motion delay of his sword skill, and Yuuji continued his relentless assault on the dying, frantic floor boss.

“That guy…”

Kibaou stood frozen, his gruff face still twisted in shock. Both at the true appearance the mysterious figures had under their ever present hood, and their ridiculous skill. The rest of the raid group were no less dumbfounded by them.

Diavel looked up, still collapsed on the ground and recovering, helped by the leader of squad C, Lind.

He clenched his teeth. A sense of disappointment and frustration crept up in his heart. Then regret over not being able to obtain the rare item drop from getting the last attack reward on the first floor boss.

But in the end, it all washed away by a deep sense of admiration, awe, and acceptance.

“He’s truly in a league of his own, isn’t he.”

“…Indeed.”

Lind couldn’t help but agree, despite his deep rooted admiration for the blue-haired man before him.

It was inevitable, after seeing the sheer difference in power.

Moreover, he had also saved Diavel from certain death. That, in of itself, deserved praise.

The last bit of Illfang’s HP bar depleted fast, faster than before.

Then with a final, dying roar, Illfang the Kobold Lord dispersed into particles of light.

And in front of every member of the raid party, a pop up notification of their success appeared.

They all looked at it, then towards the back of the man who saved them and defeated the first floor boss of Aincrad.

Yuuji raised his sword up into the air, his figure bathed in particles of light that was Illfang.

And a roar of cheers reverberated throughout the throne room.

“We did it!”

“Yeeeah!!!”

“We did it! We killed the boss!”

“Let’s goo!!!!!”

“We can do this! We can clear this game!”

The parties cheered, accepting their rewards which were much greater than anything they’ve received despite their contributions, and laughed at their success.

Asuna also accepted her raid’s clear rewards and turned towards Yuuji.

His extraordinary appearance made her heart skip a beat. And despite the brief glimpse she saw before Yuuji equipped a jet-black coat and a hood on top of it, obscuring his appearance once again, his appearance had been etched into her mind.

Yuuji turned to her. This time, his lower face was clearly visible as he had no spare cloth mask. And he smiled.

“Good work.”

He raised up his fist towards her, just like he always would after their hunt together, and she bumped it with her own.

“You too.”

Yuuji turned around and made his way towards Kirito, and did the same as well.

“Good job holding out.”

Kirito smiled helplessly and fist bumped him.

“Didn’t know you were such a pretty boy. No wonder you hide under that hood and mask.”

“Shut it.”

Then, Yuuji made his way towards Diavel and lended his hand.

“Diavel-san.”

“Yuuji…”

From below, Diavel could see the slight disappointment in the eyes of the young man. And under such gaze, he closed his eyes in guilt and shame.

“Please don’t act so recklessly next time… Your life is more important than getting some rare item drop you can always get next time.”

“…Yeah. I’ve learned my lesson.”

A sigh escaped his lips, and he took the hand Yuuji had extended to him, and raised up.

“You are an amazing player. I look forward to your future exploits, Yuuji.”

Yuuji smiled and nodded.

“You as well, Diavel-san. I hope we can meet again in the future.”

He shook his hands. Then, Yuuji turned towards Lind, who was standing by Diavel’s side.

“You were amazing as well, Lind-san. Please take care.”

“Y-Yeah… Good work. Take care.”

Yuuji shook his hand as well.

When suddenly a familiar boisterous noise resounded from the side.

“You! I knew it, you’re a beta tester, aren’t you?! You knew about Illfang’s nodachi! How could you not tell us! Diavel almost died because of you!”

“I-I…”

Kibaou shouted as Kirito backed away, pressured by the gruff, intimidating presence of the thug.

Agil was about to step up once again to confront the guy, before Yuuji’s voice stunned the blonde-haired thug.

“Kibaou-san, stop embarrassing yourself!”

He flinched, and slowly turned towards the hooded man who overwhelmed the monstrous floor boss by himself.

“W-What…?”

Kibaou froze once again, chill shooting down his spine, as Yuuji approached him and looked him down.

“I’ll repeat myself. Stop embarrassing yourself.”

He took out a guide book. Similar to the one Agil had shown off during their raid meeting the previous day in Tolbana’s amphitheatre. But slightly different. It was the more advanced version of the players’ guidebook.

“This is the advanced players’ guidebook that the Beta Testers have compiled. In it, there was unverified information that Illfang wielded a Talwar. And as we have seen today, it is false.”

Yuuji then turned towards the rest of the raid party, who had become silent after hearing the commotion.

“The beta testers may have more knowledge about the game than most of us. But plenty of information had been distributed to us in these guides! And as you can all see, not every information given by Beta Testers was reliable!”

Yuuji shifted his gaze slowly to each and every one of the raid party members. And although he wore a hood that obscured his gaze, they could feel it.

“This game is no longer the same as the beta version. So don’t blindly follow information about the game based on its beta version! We’ve seen it ourselves here, and I’m sure, many of you have realized the difference when you did your quests!”

Some murmured in agreement. Many nodded.

“This is a different game! The knowledge from the beta is a double edged sword!

Many beta testers have died because they’ve blindly followed what they knew from the beta version of this game! And many new players survived because they were cautious and prepared!

That is the only way to survive in this world! Be cautious! Be prepared! And fight until the end!”

A deafening cheers and applause erupted, filling the cleared boss room with echoing shouts and warcries.

And Yuuji made his way to the end of the chamber to activate the teleporter gate leading to the second floor with the reverberating cheers behind him.

VerglasX

AN: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter~! Please comment your thoughts~! I would love to hear what you think about it~!!!!

Also, if you’d like to read additional chapters ahead and get a pdf version (Light & Dark), please feel free to check out my at patr_eon.com/verglasx ~!

Thank you~!