Roar.
As the players advanced, they finally triggered the boss's alert radius. With a ferocious roar from the Kobold Lord, Illfang, three armed Ruin Kobold sentries appeared. These weren't ordinary minions but elite enemies.
"Divide them!" Diavel shouted as the three kobolds charged. He dashed toward one, while half of the shield-wielding players peeled off to intercept the Kobold Lord. The rest followed the pre-arranged strategy: splitting up the elite kobolds to focus on them individually and take them down as quickly as possible.
The first rule of boss fighting was to clear out any adds. A solo boss, once its patterns and skills were understood, wasn't that hard to deal with if players were well-prepared. But with other enemies around to interfere, bosses became exponentially harder to handle. Many group wipes happened because minions distracted the players, giving the boss opportunities to strike.
This raid team had two main groups: Diavel's core group of trusted teammates and a handful of solo players like Daniel, Kirito, and Klein—the highest-level, best-equipped players. Diavel had brought them in because, although his group had a solid strategy, they lacked the firepower to defeat the boss after taking down the elite kobolds. Diavel had previously been forced to retreat from the boss due to running out of potions.
In a regular game, players could sacrifice lives to defeat a boss. But in this death game, such tactics were impossible. SAO's combat strategy universally emphasized keeping players' health above 50% at all times. This principle became a cornerstone for future boss raids, with players often maintaining two-thirds health as a minimum. Anyone dropping below this threshold was to immediately retreat and heal.
Some people crumble under extreme pressure, while others find unexpected strength.
"Let's go." Daniel nodded to Asuna beside him, drew his sword, and charged at one of the elite kobolds. The plan was straightforward: Diavel would handle one, Kirito and Klein's group another, while Daniel and Asuna tackled the third.
Daniel had chosen the sword as his primary weapon. If he wanted to unlock the coveted dual-wielding style, mastering sword skills was essential. SAO didn't have formal classes; players essentially defined their class based on their preferred weapon and skill choices.
The main "classes" could be loosely divided into swordsmen, lancers, shield warriors, and hammer warriors, among others. The weapons chosen determined the skills that would level up. Practicing skill proficiencies required extensive repetition to unlock the next tier. Kirito had acquired the dual-wielding skill only after hours of solo practice in remote areas.
Skill training was monotonous, but it brought benefits beyond increased damage output. Mastery of a skill also helped players understand the nuances of movement after skill execution. Unlike traditional games, where players press a button to activate a skill, here they had to physically control their characters' movements.
"Truly the Flash herself," Daniel remarked, admiring Asuna's attack speed. Though cloaked in a dark hood, her quick strikes with her rapier—focusing on piercing techniques—were unmistakable.
Daniel himself launched his attack, focusing intensely. While his powers were limited in this game, his swordsmanship and combat experience remained invaluable. Sword energy techniques might be unusable, but his knowledge of swordsmanship, including moves like "Cross Slash" and "Eightfold Slash," gave him an edge. Although these techniques didn't qualify as SAO skills, they were still highly effective in dealing damage.
Kirito's rapid progress in SAO came partly from his faster reflexes and partly from his childhood training in kendo, which honed his understanding of physical combat.
In this raid, Daniel only brought one of his shadow clones, leaving the other two to level up outside and gather intelligence.
Thanks to the divided strategy, the three elite kobolds were quickly defeated without casualties. After a brief rest to heal and let cooldowns reset, the group launched their assault on the boss, protected by the shield warriors.
"This guy's pretty capable. Though I remember he tried to steal the boss kill and got himself killed," Daniel thought, glancing at Diavel and the shield warriors holding off Illfang. Unlike Kibaou, who only stirred up trouble, Diavel had genuine skill. His shield warriors were specialized defenders, trained exclusively in defensive skills, which couldn't be self-taught as they had no offensive skills for leveling up alone.
One of Daniel's clones had chosen the shield warrior path, but it was a hybrid setup with sword and shield, similar to Kayaba's in-game persona, Heathcliff.
From Diavel's preparations, it was clear he had invested serious effort into this boss fight.
Illfang's bone axe and leather buckler, combined with his massive frame, exuded an intimidating presence, especially in a death game.
But intimidation meant little to Daniel. As the team charged the boss, he reached it first, opening with a three-hit combo.
Although they were in a party, loot distribution was based on individual damage. In SAO, loot could be allocated in two ways: damage-based or leader-assigned. While guilds preferred leader distribution, this temporary raid group opted for damage-based allocation. This explained Diavel's attempt to secure the last hit on the boss in the original story.
SAO's equipment system had no level restrictions, only attribute requirements. For instance, using a heavy sword, warhammer, or shield required sufficient strength. Higher floors yielded better loot, especially from bosses, with rare items like the Midnight Coat, which Kirito famously wore until the game's end.
Kayaba had designed SAO with the goal of fulfilling a childhood dream, striving for realism. The strict limit of 100 floors also meant that floor bosses never respawned, as defeating each one unlocked the next level. Respawning them would require any players moving to higher floors to re-fight each boss.
In this game, no single player, no matter how skilled, could survive without support. The clearers relied heavily on support from blacksmiths, chefs, alchemists, and other support classes to maintain equipment and supply potions.
"Switch!" someone called out. A shield warrior stepped forward to block Illfang's attack, giving the attackers room to strike. When any player's health dropped to about half, they'd retreat and heal.
In the interest of realism, healing potions in SAO restored health gradually instead of instantly. The delay wasn't long, only a few seconds, but during a boss fight, a delay of even seconds could mean life or death.
"Not easy at all." Despite extensive preparation, knowledge of the boss's patterns, and skill mastery, the team's synchronization was imperfect. Under the strain of a death game, nerves finally led to a critical mistake.
The error was simple: a shield warrior couldn't heal fast enough, leaving a gap in the rotation. Illfang's sudden attack broke their formation, creating a dangerous opening. With the group's formation broken and death imminent, panic set in.
"I'll handle this." Seeing the imminent threat, Daniel quickly intervened, using a skill to block the boss's strike.
"Switch!" Daniel retreated just as a slender figure darted past him, leaping forward to attack the boss's weak points. It was Asuna, who had shed her cloak, revealing her face and long, flowing brown hair.
Seeing Asuna step in, Daniel glanced at his shadow clone, who had joined the raid under the alias "Sasuke." He had intended to team up with his clone to cover each other.
His shadow clone gave a resigned smile, as he had been about to act but stepped back once Asuna joined the fray.
"Oh well," Daniel thought, refocusing as Asuna retreated, signaling it was his turn again.
The ideal approach was a defense-offense rotation, where one player focused on defense while the other attacked. In the hands of true experts, however, two attackers could perform perfect switches without a dedicated defender.
Daniel was a master at this, and Asuna matched his timing perfectly—a testament to her future titles as "The Flash" and "The Berserk Healer." Even after choosing a healer class, she would often abandon her wand and charge into battle, wielding her rapier with deadly precision.
"Impressive," the other players whispered in awe as they watched Daniel and Asuna's synergy. While it had taken a group effort to hold off Illfang before, the boss was now fully contained under the duo's relentless assault. The health bar dropped at a remarkable pace, their combined damage outstripping what the entire group had managed before.
Kirito watched in amazement. He wasn't too surprised by Asuna—he knew he could match her. But Daniel's sword speed was astonishing, dealing the majority of the damage to the boss's health.
Finally, with its health nearly depleted, Illfang threw aside its bone axe and buckler, preparing to switch weapons. Diavel seized the moment, calling for a switch and charging forward.
Asuna instinctively stepped back to let Diavel take the lead.
"Wait, something's wrong!" Kirito shouted, realizing too late that Illfang had switched to a longsword instead of the anticipated scimitar.
Different weapons meant different attack patterns and ranges, and the group's strategy had been built around the scimitar. Diavel had prepared himself for a scimitar strike, but the sudden appearance of the longsword made his eyes fill with fear.
As a beta tester himself, he instantly knew he'd made a fatal error, but it was too late.
Just as the longsword swung toward Diavel, Daniel dashed in to intercept, blocking the blow with a skill. However, the force of the strike sent both him and Diavel flying backward.
While neither Kirito nor Diavel had been quick enough to react
, Daniel's instincts allowed him to save Diavel, though he was still knocked away by the impact.
"Asuna, fall back!" Daniel called as Illfang turned its attention to her. Without waiting for a response, he charged in.
Kirito, about to leap in himself, held back upon seeing Daniel engage. With the boss at critical health, joining now would seem like an attempt to steal the kill—a move Kirito noticed Diavel had been aiming for.
"Time to end this. Eightfold Cross!" Daniel executed an eight-hit combo. Although it wasn't a game skill, it was more than enough to finish off the boss.
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