"Attention everyone! The BOSS is enraged!"
Diabel's voice echoed in the stone chamber, but before he finished speaking, an unexpected change occurred!
"Roar—!!!"
Lord Illfang's roar was no longer a mere threat; the sound waves transformed into a tangible shockwave, sweeping across the entire area with brute force.
The air was instantly sucked out, forming an invisible wall that slammed into everyone!
"Boom—!"
Including Kirito and Asuna, all the close-range players were struck as if by a heavy hammer, sent flying backward, and a portion of their HP bars vanished into thin air!
"What?!"
The confidence on Diabel's face instantly froze.
This skill was completely absent in the beta test!
Before everyone could recover from their stun, a deeper despair spread from beneath their feet.
"Crack... crack..."
The hard stone floor cracked like a spiderweb, and dark holes opened up, as if entrances to hell.
Piercing howls erupted from deep underground.
One, two, three... a total of twelve armed Goblin Sentinels struggled out of the cracks, their crimson eyes fixed on the living beings in the chamber!
Each one was a Level 12 elite!
"Are you kidding me?!"
"Intelligence error! There were no summoned creatures in the beta test!"
"Damn it! We've been tricked!"
Panic spread like a plague, the seemingly impregnable formation instantly collapsed, and a meticulously planned raid battle instantly devolved into a chaotic slaughter.
Argo's face turned pale in an instant.
"The data is wrong! There was absolutely no such phase in the beta test records!"
Chen Mo's eyes, however, were as cold as ice. His gaze quickly swept across the chaotic battlefield, his mind clear.
The problem wasn't the BOSS; it was them.
The players' clear efficiency was too high.
Because of his intervention, the team's overall equipment and technical level were far superior to the same period in the original story.
The HP depletion rate was at least thirty percent faster than the system's preset.
Thus, the hidden dynamic difficulty balancing mechanism was triggered.
The system was actively increasing variables!
"Don't panic, everyone!"
Diabel forcefully suppressed the horror in his heart, commanding hoarsely: "Groups A and B hold off the BOSS! Groups C and D clear the small fry!"
The command was pale and powerless.
Twelve bloodthirsty Sentinels, like wolves entering a flock of sheep, instantly elevated the battlefield's difficulty to another dimension.
"Ah—!"
A piercing scream cut through the din, a Group D lancer was tackled by three Sentinels, his HP bar instantly emptied under the frantic assault, his body dissolving into scattered blue polygons.
The first death had occurred.
The shadow of death truly enveloped everyone's hearts.
"Bastard!"
Kirito gritted his teeth, his longsword a blur of light, but he could only barely fend off the pincer attack of two Sentinels, his own HP already dropping to the dangerous yellow zone.
Asuna's situation was slightly better; her rapier in the melee was like a butterfly flitting through flowers, precise and deadly.
But her close friend, Mito, wasn't so lucky.
"Ah!"
Mito failed to dodge in time and was struck hard on the shoulder by a Sentinel's stone axe. The immense force made her lose her footing, and her HP bar suddenly turned yellow.
"Mito!"
Asuna cried out, attempting to rescue her, but was firmly entangled by two other Sentinels, unable to break free.
Seeing another stone axe about to fall, Mito's eyes were filled with despair.
Just then, a dark shadow cut in.
Extremely fast.
"Swish!"
A flash of icy sword light arrived from behind, precisely severing the falling stone axe.
Immediately after, the blade traced an incredibly intricate arc, and a goblin head flew into the air.
Chen Mo's figure appeared in front of Mito, a drop of data residue slowly sliding down the blade of the Blade of Perseverance.
"Can you still move?"
His voice was devoid of any warmth.
"I... I can move!" Mito endured the intense pain and nodded vigorously.
"Then fall back."
Chen Mo didn't look back.
"Do what you can."
Before he finished speaking, he had already darted towards the next target like a phantom.
Sword light wove through the air, tracing paths of death in the dimness.
No unnecessary movements, no flashy sword skills.
Every sword strike cut in from the most unexpected angles.
Every blow precisely hit the monster's vital points.
In just a few breaths, two more Goblin Sentinels fell silently.
"This guy..."
Kirito watched the figure moving through the monster crowd as if strolling in a garden, his heart churning.
His proud speed and sword skills seemed so clumsy and laughable in front of him.
Both were players, yet the gap... why was it as vast as a chasm?
Argo also moved, her figure completely melting into the shadows, her dagger like a viper's fangs, always appearing at the most crucial moment, from the most unexpected places, harvesting the lives of those with low HP.
Under Chen Mo's near-slaughter efficiency, the twelve Sentinels were quickly dealt with.
"Beautiful!"
Diabel was overjoyed at the sight, shouting: "That's it! Everyone, keep it up!"
However, his heart was burning with anxiety.
The BOSS's HP was down to its last bar!
If he didn't get the Last Attack... Before the thought finished, the ultimate mutation descended.
"Roar——!!!"
Lord Illfang let out an earth-shattering roar, and the last bar of HP, representing its life, officially dropped below the critical point, turning a dazzling crimson!
Instantly, its iron-gray armor peeled off piece by piece, and the katana and round shield in its hands dissipated into points of light.
In their place was a massive, two-meter-long Nodachi, emanating an ominous aura!
"Everyone be careful! It changed weapons!"
Diabel finally shouted out the information he had been desperately hiding in his heart.
However, it was too late.
"Whoosh—!"
The Nodachi, without any warning, let out a shriek that tore through the vacuum, carving a desperate half-moon.
The three A-group shield warriors at the very front couldn't even make a blocking motion.
The sword light swept past.
Their upper bodies and lower bodies were cleanly separated.
Three vivid red "DEAD" markers silently appeared in the air.
"No—!"
The entire battlefield fell into a deathly silence.
This was a death game.
One mistake, one hidden piece of information, meant eternal farewell.
Just as everyone was too stunned by this absolute power to move, a figure quietly broke away from the formation.
Diabel.
His chance had come!
Everyone was scared stiff! Now was the time!
Taking advantage of this golden moment when no one dared to move, he would rush forward and seize that sole glory!
The blade of the guardian sword glowed with a holy blue light, and Diabel's eyes burned with fervent flames. He gathered all his strength into one sword strike, unleashing the strongest sword skill of his life!
"Holy Sword Slash!"