You can fight and act-have you considered a career in showbiz?

Before Kirito had finished speaking, the BOSS leaped up with its long blade in hand, then came crashing down under the horrified gazes of the players!

An advanced Sword Skill exclusive to great blades, a wide-area attack with a full 360-degree striking angle: [Spinning Wheel]!

The red light surging over the enormous blade no longer merely coated it! Sword Skill energy spread up it like flames, its erupting particle effects dazzlingly brilliant!

The red blade whirled past, and the bursting red light and fierce winds sent everyone flying.

Almost everyone in the encirclement instantly dropped below half health. Worse still, every player struck was inflicted with [Stun] and [Intimidation]!

Crowd control was lethal in SAO.

Everyone present... including the last three teams, who had escaped the attack because they were still clearing elite monsters, as well as the reserves and spectators, was stunned by this savage combat display.

By then, the BOSS had already recovered from the somewhat lengthy recovery lag of its advanced Sword Skill.

"Watch out for the follow-up!"

That shout came from Kirito. He had encountered this weapon, called a [Nodachi], before, and the instant he saw the BOSS raise its hand, he remembered how powerful its follow-ups were.

The nearest two-handed weapon users who could still move, such as the big, dark-skinned Agil, also recognized the danger and immediately tried to interrupt it.

But they were already too late.

The Kobold Lord swiftly unleashed an upward slash that nearly scraped the ground, carrying equally breathtaking Sword Skill effects-the single-hit slash [Ukifune]!

Its target was the blue-haired knight Diabel. During the encirclement, he had not only been in front of it, but right at the forefront.

This blow did not deal particularly high damage, but it was only the combo's opener.

The Kobold Lord seemed to be grinning savagely. It drew its long blade back slightly, scarlet effects crawling up the edge again, then delivered an up-and-down double strike too fast to follow, immediately followed by a third thrust!

The high-damage, three-hit skill [Hiougi]! And every hit was a critical!

Diabel was blasted twenty or thirty meters away, slammed hard into a stone pillar, then tumbled down in a miserable heap.

He had taken tremendous damage. As he fell beside Kirito like a rag, Kirito hurriedly pulled out a healing potion, but it was too late.

Although Diabel's health bar was still slowly draining, it had already turned gray. In other words, that combo had far exceeded the damage he could survive. He probably owed another whole health bar.

Under Kirito's shocked and sorrowful gaze, he seemed to deliver his final words, but Wang Shui did not hear them. Wang Shui and Shino were sprinting toward the BOSS!

"Uwaaaaaah!"

The players stunned in place had not actually lost consciousness; they simply could not control their bodies. They could only watch as the BOSS roared after recovering from its lag, then raised its great blade toward them.

Playing through cutscenes gets people killed!

After listening to those last words, Kirito was trying to provoke Kibaou to encourage him to take over handling the elite monsters. Asuna also stepped forward to fight alongside Kirito, but while they were working through their cutscene dialogue, the enraged BOSS, which would not stand around waiting for them to finish talking, had already swung its attack down.

Buzzz-

That was the humming of air being swept up and stretched out. Not a thin red line, but a dazzling red comet, it shot upward straight at the BOSS's face with power visible to the naked eye!

[-477!], [Intimidation], [Stun], [Knockdown]

The single-hit, ranged, charged advanced Sword Skill [Meteor Counterthrow]! Its damage was barely satisfactory, but it had extremely high knockdown priority!

"Hey, could everyone show the enraged BOSS a little respect? Kirito, you take command. Chat after we're done." Wang Shui joined the battle in an even tone. Shino had already gone to engage the elite monsters, and fresh elites had just spawned.

"Heavenly Book! You came after all."

"Cut the chatter,

get up there and fill the line. The BOSS has high status resistance. We can't chain crowd control on it." Wang Shui's tone was less than pleasant, but Kirito did not mind. If anything, that exchange gave him the reassurance of an old friend. Asuna stepped closer, met Kirito's gaze, and nodded. Together, they charged toward the BOSS as it rose.

"Everyone! Take the people beside you and fall back ten paces toward the exit! As long as we don't surround the BOSS, it won't use area attacks!"

The front-line players were shaking off their stuns one after another. Hearing Kirito, they hurried outward and cleared a path straight to the BOSS.

The two protagonists picked up speed. When they were four or five meters away, Kirito lowered his body into a charging stance. [Rage Spike] successfully activated, blue Sword Skill light enveloped him, and an inexplicable force launched him toward the BOSS.

The enraged BOSS moved incredibly fast. Despite reacting later, it quickly gathered green light. Its motion indicated [Whirlwind], a basic straight-line Sword Skill shared by two-handed and polearm weapons. Given its size, it would strike first despite starting later.

Kirito roared, struggling to turn his thrust into a slash. By the time he saw the BOSS move, he could no longer stop his Sword Skill. He could only twist his blade to broaden its striking surface, hoping to meet that blow!

A shower of sparks accompanied a shrill metallic screech as the blades scraped together. The cancellation succeeded.

Kirito immediately turned away. To his surprise, Asuna swiftly filled the frontal position at a speed no slower than his charge, then unleashed a brief, practiced [Linear]. Its execution was frighteningly precise, the red effects extending the thrust into something like a laser blast.

Wang Shui's first reaction was-How did she train that agility stat?

With agility that high, could she have spent her level-up stat points? Wang Shui trained his agility entirely with strength's help. Roughly every four points of strength raised his agility by one.

He was probably the only person present with the leisure to think about that.

The previous damage dealers were all critically low on health. They hid beside more distant pillars and drank potions to recover. The teams handling the elites were inefficient in their unsettled state, unable to stop themselves from glancing toward Kirito.

Several members of the interrupt team who used two-handed weapons or polearms still had reasonably healthy HP. They watched anxiously as Kirito's sword hand trembled slightly, yet dared not recklessly step forward and draw the BOSS's attention.

Kirito moved. He could not let Asuna hold aggro alone at the front. Although Asuna dealt with ordinary monsters and even elites cleanly and efficiently, a BOSS was different. Damage-focused swordsmen like them could not take its hits!

So Kirito chose to concentrate on canceling the BOSS's Sword Skills and normal attacks, using Switch after recovery lag to let Asuna add damage. It was very inefficient. In fact, there was probably room for another one or two damage dealers beside the BOSS, but Kirito could not spare the attention to tell those nearby. The enraged BOSS's Sword Skills cooled down extremely quickly, and he had to stay utterly focused.

Wang Shui did not greed for damage, nor did he divide his attention to handle other elites. He stayed about ten meters away, ready to save someone with a ranged strike at any moment. Wang Shui also did not know there was room for more people beside the BOSS, but even if he had known, he would not have gone up.

He who would wear the crown must bear its weight.

Future number-one player, get a taste of the pressure of facing a BOSS head-on first.

Finally, after more than a dozen exchanges, Kirito slipped up. He misread an advanced Sword Skill, [Gengetsu].

This skill, exclusive to great blades, opened with an attack from above or below. Shoulder movements offered a vague indication of whether the blow was real or a feint, but Kirito's attention had wandered.

He assumed it was a real attack and slashed upward to meet the blade, only to cut the red Sword Skill effect in two. It was a feint!

The BOSS had already drawn its blade sideways. The second-stage horizontal slash of [Gengetsu] sent Kirito flying, instantly taking half his health.

Wang Shui initially failed to react as well, because he had recognized [Gengetsu]. When Kirito had farmed elite kobolds in the ruins with him before, this very move had sent him flying too.

He had assumed Kirito would be very familiar with the move, so he had not even considered a throwing interrupt!

At that moment, Asuna stepped straight up, ready to take over aggro, but Kirito, sliding across the floor after his fall, shouted:

"Don't-!"

With relatively little combat experience and no experience of great-blade Sword Skills at all, Asuna had no idea how short [Gengetsu]'s recovery lag was. Before she reached striking distance, the BOSS had already raised a blood-red glow high overhead. Its effects resembled viscous flames: the high-damage triple strike that had instantly killed Diabel, [Hiougi]!

A red comet trailing a blue tail swiftly overtook Asuna, who was about to take the finisher to the face, and met the BOSS's Sword Skill head-on.

Naturally, [Meteor Counterthrow] was in front, while the blue tail was Wang Shui using [Sonic Leap]-Hmph, who doesn't know how to trail blade light!

The thrown iron ball struck the nodachi's edge precisely, canceling the first blow, but it did not interrupt the entire Sword Skill.

With his left hand still locked in recovery lag, Wang Shui forcibly activated [Sonic Leap] with his right and blocked the second blow. Although he was swept away, the Sword Skill cancellation succeeded, and he lost no HP.

The BOSS's third strike thrust at high speed toward Asuna, the closest person to it. By then, Asuna had time to react and prepare herself. She leaned gently backward, then swayed forward, letting the BOSS's blade pass. The gale stirred up by the Sword Skill blew off her hood, and her glossy chestnut hair spread and danced in the wind. All the lights in the room seemed to gather on her in an instant, draping her in a golden halo. At that moment, she drew everyone's eyes more than the BOSS did.

But Asuna did not let the cloak distract her. Her body straightened fluidly, and she immediately lunged a short distance with her rapier. The bright red four-hit Sword Skill [Quadruple Pain] landed rapidly on the BOSS's lower abdomen. Then, rather than standing foolishly in place, she circled to the side, which would at least slow its next attack a little.

Kirito, who had begun healing the moment he was knocked back, now had time to speak:

"As long as we don't exceed four people, we're fine! Polearms, move up to interrupt and deal damage. I'll call out the Sword Skill names and directions!"

The two most confident and courageous members of the dedicated interrupt team charged out: the muscular giant-axe wielder Agil and a giant-scythe-wielding girl with a purple side ponytail.

The girl in particular wielded a giant scythe, a difficult weapon built around all three stats of strength, agility, and dexterity. She was incredibly fast, filling the position before Asuna's recovery lag had even ended.

Kirito's health was almost back to a safe level, so Wang Shui, who had been swept away, did not approach again. He simply kept watch.

Despite Kirito's constant calls, the three at the front were showing slight signs of struggling. Surprisingly, the most composed among them was the unknown scythe girl. Her coordination with Asuna was exceptionally seamless.

After Wang Shui's next ranged interrupt, Kirito rejoined the fight. By then, the BOSS had only about a tenth of its health left, and its frenzy seemed to have intensified.

Agil, whose movements were aggressive, was the first to withdraw with dangerously low health. The purple-haired scythe girl took two hits for Asuna and was forced to retreat as well. Only Kirito and Asuna remained. They exchanged a glance and launched an all-out assault together!

Ah, yes, that's it. Now this looks more like what I remember.

Wang Shui watched the final performance from the side like a kindly old father, suppressing the urge to steal the last hit. Lord Kirito's exclusive item was best left to him.

Although the final, dazzling assault looked beautiful, it was less captivating than the earlier desperate, perilous battle.

Equipped with [Special Equipment: Violent Execution], Kirito claimed the last hit with an exaggerated [Sonic Leap].

The enormous Kobold Lord dissolved into a sky full of shimmering fragments, and huge white characters stretched across the air:

[!!] (Congratulations)

The remaining elite monsters on the field also dissolved into shimmering fragments, and a results panel appeared before every player who had participated in the battle.

The entire raid group fell silent for a second, then erupted in thunderous cheers-they had cleared it!

Wang Shui was happy too. He had only chipped in a few hits, yet he still received a huge amount of experience and a full 8,000 Cor, though no item drops.

"-Why!"

Just as the four main attackers were slowly relaxing, strained smiles on their faces, your very own Kibaou suddenly demanded through tear-filled eyes:

"Why did you stand by and let Captain Diabel die?!"

"Stand by and let him die...?" Kirito was somewhat bewildered too. Wang Shui, however, noticed that although Kibaou's words saddened many people, only the four behind him were close to tears.

Including Kibaou and Diabel, that made a full six-person party. In other words, Diabel had also been in on the accusations against the beta testers at the first meeting.

"That's right! Because-because you clearly knew the BOSS's Sword Skills! If you'd shared that information from the start, Diabel wouldn't have died!"

Kibaou's words sparked murmured discussion among the raid group. With enough voices, however quiet each was, they became a dull thunder of moral condemnation.

"I knew it! You're a beta tester! That's why you're so strong. You know the BOSS, you know how to rake in benefits, even hidden leveling spots! You knew everything, but you kept it from us!"

Before the atmosphere could grow any more strained, the dark-skinned, muscular Agil stepped forward and said:

"The strategy guide already stated that its BOSS information came from the beta. Even if he really is a beta tester, what he knows should be the same as what we know."

"Th-that could be a lie! That guide is fake too! It's false information published by that information broker called Argo. They must be in on it together! Why would beta testers give anyone real information for free?!"

Good. A fine contrarian. Wang Shui practically wanted to applaud that classic logic. At first glance, it almost made sense; on closer thought, it was better not to look closely.

Sharing false information? Going to all that trouble just to get people killed and become everyone's enemy? Good grief, that's even more self-destructive than players who kill for fun.

But the atmosphere still grew uncontrollably oppressive. The raid players, whose brains had temporarily gone away with the BOSS, gradually began casting scrutinizing looks around, seemingly searching for the "selfish" beta testers among them.

After a brief silence, just as Asuna and Agil were about to reason with the contrarian, Kirito stopped them.

"You-called me a beta tester? Can I take that as an insult?" Kiri-boy instantly unleashed some impressive acting, arrogance and contempt filling his youthful face while he kept his tone as level as possible.

"Y-you... what did you say...?" Kibaou was instantly intimidated.

"Idiot. Use that sea-urchin brain of yours. Beta access was decided by lottery. How strong do you think those beta testers were? Do you think those guys even knew how to pick up a sword and fight? Don't make me laugh. They weren't even as good as trash like you."

Wait, isn't this a little too aggressive? Kiri-boy, who taught you to talk trash?

"But I'm not like those guys. During the beta, I reached heights none of them could reach. Guess why I know the BOSS's Sword Skills? Because I fought monsters using great blades hundreds of times on higher floors! Of course I know plenty more. That information of Argo's is just the absolute basics."

Kirito sneered, radiating mockery toward the entire raid group.

"How could you..."

Someone could no longer hold it in and said hoarsely:

"You're even worse than a beta tester... This is practically cheating! We should call you a Beater!"

A simple fusion of "beta tester" and "cheater." Honestly, it did not sound cool in English; only the translation gave it a little flavor. So all Wang Shui felt was its derogatory meaning.

"A 'Beater'? Not a bad name. Just don't compare me to those amateurs. It makes me sick."

Kirito continued his devilishly arrogant act. Once the raid group spread the news after today, ordinary players' hatred of beta testers would probably all fall on his head.

That was what he wanted.

Although everyone present felt a mixture of anger and various complicated emotions, they all fell silent like utter cowards.

Kirito decided to take the performance all the way. He brought out the BOSS's last-hit drop, the [Coat of Midnight], and equipped it. The glossy black leather coat hung below his knees, instantly giving him the look.

"Hmph. I'll go activate the teleport gate in the second-floor town. The monsters all the way there are ones you've never seen. Follow me if you've got the guts. Otherwise, head back to town and wait for the teleport."

With that, Kirito strode toward the small door at the far end of the room, bringing his performance to a close.