I hit Agil's arm as he declared with overstated body motions.

"I understand your sentiments very well. So we can count you out when we share the goods right?"

When I said that, the giant shook his bald head and gathered his eyebrows into an eight () sign.

"Well. Tha-that's a bit...."

As his faltering voice trailed off, Asuna and Klein simultaneously burst into laughter. It quickly spread to the other players and seemingly washed away everyone's anxiety.

At exactly one o'clock, several new players arrived at the gate. It was Heathcliff, dressed in his red overcoat with his huge cross-shaped shield in hand, and the elites of the KoB. A tense atmosphere overcame the players once again as they saw the newcomers.

If we were to compare only levels and stats, the only person who would be higher than Asuna and I would probably be Heathcliff himself. But their coordination projected the strength of their teamwork. Other than the red and white guild colors, their armor and weapons were all completely different; yet the strength of the bonds between them was far superior to that of "The Army" unit we had seen.

The paladin and his four subordinates walked straight towards us, which split the group of a.s.sembled players into two. Klein and Agil were both forced to take a few steps back, while Asuna calmly exchanged a salute with them.

After coming to a stop, Heathcliff nodded towards us before he spoke to the entire group: "It seems that everybody is here. Thank you all for that. I think that everybody understands our current situation. This will be a hard battle, but I believe that with your strength we will prevail. We shall fight for our freedom from this game-!"

As Heathcliff shouted in a powerful voice, the other players joined in with an inspiring roar of their own. I was surprised at the charisma which drew others to him like a magnet. It was surprising to see a person with such leadership qualities amongst the hardcore gamers that usually lack social coordination, or maybe it was this world that nurtured his talents? I wondered what he did in the real world...

Heathcliff turned my way as if he had felt my gaze, and then said with a smile: "Kirito-kun, I look forward to your efforts. I hope you'll use your "Dual Blades" to its fullest."

Neither pressure nor fear could be heard from his low and soft voice. One couldn't help but be amazed at the fact that Heathcliff maintained such a laid back att.i.tude despite facing a difficult battle ahead of us.

After I nodded silently, Heathcliff turned back towards the players and raised his hand up into the air.

"Then we start. I will open a corridor that leads directly to the area in front of the boss room."

He took out a navy blue crystal from his pouch as he said this, sending murmurs and awe through the other players.

Normal teleport crystals can only transport the user to a chosen city's teleport gate, but the item Heathcliff had taken out was a "Corridor Crystal", which could open a teleport gate to any location that the player marked. Needless to say, it was an exceptionally useful item.

But since it was so handy, it was also extremely rare and wasn't sold in NPC shops. It could only be acquired from labyrinth treasure chests or as a drop from monsters, so few players were willing to use it even if they had one. The reason that the players voiced their surprise was not because they had seen a rare item, but because Heathcliff was willing to use it.

Heathcliff raised the crystal, oblivious to the stares of the other players, and yelled: "Corridor open."

The exceedingly expensive crystal shattered and a blue whirlpool of light appeared.

"Then, everyone, follow me."

After he swept his gaze across the whole group, Heathcliff leapt into the blue light with his red clothes fluttering behind him. His body was immediately engulfed by the light and disappeared in an instant. His four KoB subordinates then followed him without delay.

At some point, many people began gathering around the plaza. They must have heard about the boss battle and had come out to see us off. The warriors walked into the light one after another amidst cries of encouragement.

Asuna and I were soon the only ones left. We looked at each other and exchanged a slight nod before we held our hands and jumped into the whirlpool of light together.

After the dizzying sensation of teleportation had pa.s.sed, I opened my eyes and saw that we were already in the labyrinth. It was a remarkably wide corridor, with two rows of thick pillars and a huge gate at the end.

The labyrinth of the seventy-fifth floor was built from some type of faintly transparent obsidian. Unlike the crude and rough labyrinths of the lower floors, the stones here were smoothly polished and stacked together with no gaps in between. The air was cold and damp, and a thin layer of mist covered the floor.

Asuna covered herself with both arms as if she felt cold and then spoke: "......Somehow......I have a really bad feeling..."

"Yeah..."

I agreed.

In the two years up until now, we have cleared seventy-four labyrinths and defeated an equal number of boss monsters. After gaining so much experience, we can roughly guess the strength of the boss just by looking at its lair.

The thirty players around us were all opening their windows and checking their equipped items; their expressions were all very serious.

I led Asuna behind a pillar and put my arm around her thin body. The anxiety that I had been holding back burst forth now that the fight was near. My body had even started shaking.

"...Don't worry."

Asuna whispered into my ear.

"I'll protect you."

"No...it's not that I'm afraid of fighting..."

"Fufu."

Asuna gave a small laugh and continued: "So...you have to protect me as well, Kirito-kun."

"Yeah...definitely."

I squeezed my arm around her once more before breaking apart. Heathcliff, who had now gotten his cross-shaped shield out, spoke with his equipment clanking.

"Is everyone ready? We have no information about the boss' behavioral patterns. The KoB will be in charge of holding back the enemy's attacks; everyone should take this chance to a.n.a.lyze the enemy's attack patterns and counterattack accordingly."

Everybody nodded silently.

"Then-let's go."

Heathcliff said softly. Then he walked confidently over to the obsidian door and placed his hand in the middle of it. This caused everyone to become extra tense.

I tapped the shoulders of Klein and Agil, who were both beside me, and told them as they turned around: "Don't die."

"Heh, worry about yourself instead."

"I have no intention of dying before I make a fortune with the rare items I'll get from today's fight."

As they gave their arrogantly-humored responses, the door began to open with a heavy sound. The players all readied their weapons, so I drew both my swords from my back as well. I glanced at Asuna, who had her rapier in hand, and then nodded to her.

Heathcliff drew his sword from his shield last. He then raised his hand up into the air and shouted, "-Begin battle!"

Then he walked past the wide-open gates and into the room, with everyone else following right behind him.

The room's inside was shaped like a huge dome. It seemed about as wide as the arena Heathcliff and I dueled in. The dark walls soared into the air and curved high above our heads. Right after the thirty-two players entered the room and got into formation-the doors behind us closed with a boom. Now it was impossible to open unless either the boss died or we got wiped out.

The entire group fell into silence for a long moment. Although we kept our watch on the surrounding floor, the boss still hadn't appeared. Time held our nerves tight as one second slowly pa.s.sed after another.

"Hey-"

Just as someone couldn't endure the tense silence any longer...

"Above us!!"

Asuna shouted next to me. I looked upwards in surprise.

On the ceiling of the dome-it was there.

It was exceptionally huge and long.

A centipede-!?

That thought pa.s.sed through my mind the moment I saw it. It was about ten meters long. But the body that was divided into numerous parts reminded me more of a human spine than an insect. Sharp legs made of bare bones could be seen protruding from every joint. As I shifted my glance down the body, it became thicker until the hideous skull came to sight. It wasn't the skull of a human. At the end of the smooth skull, there were two pairs of sharply upturned eye sockets with blue flames smoldering inside. The jaws jutted outward and were filled with a row of sharp teeth, while two ma.s.sive arms in the shape of scythes were attached on either side of the skull.

When I focused my gaze on it, the monster's name appeared along with a yellow cursor: "The Skullreaper" - the skeletal hunter-killer.

As the shocked players watched the skeletal centipede crawl along the ceiling on its numerous legs, it suddenly spread its legs wide - and then dove straight into us.

"Don't just stand there! Scatter!!"

Heathcliff's sharp voice cut through the frozen air. The players finally came to their senses and began to move. We hurried to get away from the estimated landing area as well.

But the three people who were positioned directly under the skeletal centipede's dive were a little slow. They simply stood there and looked up as if unsure of which direction to move in.

"This way!"

I shouted in a hurry. The three players then became unfrozen and started running towards me- But in that moment, the centipede landed behind them and the whole floor shook violently. The three lost their balance as a result, just as the centipede swung its right arm- a huge bone scythe that was as long as a person- and cleaved directly into them.

The three players were sliced once in their backs and sent flying simultaneously. Their HP decreased quickly as they flew through the air-straight past the yellow area and into the red danger area- "-!?"

Then they all reached zero, and the three bodies that were still in the air shattered into countless shards and scattered. The sound effects of death overlapped one another.

I heard Asuna hold her breath beside me. I could feel my body becoming rigid with shock.

They died-in one hit-?!

In the SAO system, which used both levels and skills, one's maximum HP rose with level, so higher level meant harder to kill regardless of one's fighting skills. The party here today was composed of only high-level players, so even if it was a boss, everyone should still be able to withstand at least a short combo attack-that's what everyone had thought. Yet in just one hit- "This...is impossible...."

Asuna muttered in a forced voice.

The skeletal centipede that had taken the lives of three people in an instant raised its upper body and charged at another group of players with a thunderous roar.

"Ahhhh-!!"

The players in that direction screamed in panic. The bone scythe was raised high up into the air once again.

In this critical moment, a figure jumped in right beneath the scythe. It was Heathcliff. He raised his large shield and blocked the attack, sending out an ear-rending sound of impact and a shower of sparks.

But there were two scythes. While its left arm continued to attack Heathcliff, it raised its right scythe and swung down at the frozen players.

"Dammit......!"

I ran in almost subconsciously, quickly covering the distance as if I was flying, and flung myself directly in front of the scythe. Then I crossed my swords and blocked its attack.

The tremulous force of impact struck my body. But-the scythe didn't stop. As sparks flew from it, the scythe pushed back my swords and came towards me.

It's too powerful-!

At this moment, a new sword flew in with a trail of white light and struck the scythe. A clashing noise resounded. As the scythe weakened during this moment, I immediately pushed with all my might and managed to force the bone scythe back.

Next to me, Asuna glanced my way and said, "If we both hit it at the same time-we can block its attacks! If it's us, then it's possible!!"

"Okay-let's do this!"

I nodded. Just knowing that Asuna was next to me gave me boundless strength.

As the scythe swung horizontally towards us once again, both Asuna and I swung towards the lower right to parry. Our swords struck the scythe head on in perfect unison, and this time it was the scythe that was knocked back.

I strengthened my voice and shouted: "We'll stop the scythes! Everyone else attack its sides!"

It was as if my voice finally freed everyone from some spell. The players shouted, raised their weapons, and charged at the body of the skeletal centipede. A number of hits cut deeply into the enemy's body and the boss' HP finally decreased a bit.

But immediately afterwards, I could hear the screaming of several players. I risked a glance after countering the scythe again and saw a few people get knocked down by the long, spear-like bone at the end of the centipede's tail.

"Argh...!"

I gritted my teeth. We should help, but Asuna and I, as well as Heathcliff who was guarding against the left scythe by himself only a little further away, already had our hands full.

"Kirito-kun...!"

At Asuna's voice, I turned my gaze over to her.

-No! If we get distracted we'll be hit!

-Yeah, you're right... It's coming again!!

-Block with a left vertical upward cut!

We spoke to each other with only exchanged glances and blocked the scythe with perfectly synchronized movements.

We forced ourselves to ignore the screams that could be heard from time to time and concentrated on blocking the enemy's powerful blows. Amazingly, we didn't need to talk or even glance at one another. It was as if we were directly linked to the other. The enemy attacked so fast that it didn't even leave breathing room, but we still managed to counter it every time by activating the same skills at precisely the same instant.

Just then-as I fought at my limits for my very life, I experienced a feeling that I had never felt before. It was a totally surreal experience-as if Asuna and I had fused into one person and were swinging one sword. Our HP continued to decrease bit by bit due to the aftershock of the enemy's strikes we blocked, but we were already beyond caring about such things.