Perhaps thanks to those Criminal Players, the Strategy Group had finally killed the last Key Monster on the twenty-fourth floor.
They had also found the BOSS's room. Under Feng Chen's command and leadership, they had cleared it with no deaths once again.
But Feng Chen was ultimately no god. Unlike Kayaba Akihiko, he could not use system permissions. All he could do was watch as some Strategy Group players shattered into polyhedrons beneath the twenty-fifth-floor BOSS's attacks.
Once again, a player had died beneath the BOSS's attacks.
The twenty-fifth floor was considerably more difficult, just as Feng Chen had expected.
Even the strongest guild in the players' eyes, St. Freya, had nearly lost several players.
"We can't win at all from here on out..."
"This is only the twenty-fifth floor. If the monsters on the twenty-sixth floor are like this—or even stronger—won't we suffer even more casualties?"
"Our hope now lies with the two guild leaders of St. Freya and the Blue Dragon User. Those three must have noticed the rising difficulty long ago, right? If even they find it troublesome, what are we supposed to do?"
All kinds of negative feelings and emotions began to spread among the players.
"Kirito, Silica, Klein, I think we need to establish a policy for what comes next."
They could not let the players challenge the twenty-sixth floor with their morale continuing to plummet. There would inevitably be casualties even in the Labyrinth Area.
After sending that message, Feng Chen quietly sat in St. Freya's temporary base on the twenty-sixth floor.
"Yo, Feng Chen."
Kirito arrived first. He seemed to be in a good mood, but Feng Chen could tell that he, too, was carrying his own share of pressure.
"Feng Chen!"
"Yo, Kirito, Feng Chen."
Silica and Klein arrived shortly afterward.
"Since