The bronze giant door slammed shut behind the Knights of the Blood Oath.
The heavy echo separated two worlds.
Inside the door, there was the BOSS's awakening roar and the clashing of metal in a deadly struggle.
Outside the door, there was dead silence.
The scattered players, blocked outside the door, looked at each other, their reluctance eventually turning into helplessness, and they teleported away in twos and threes.
This feast was no longer relevant to them.
Soon, at the end of the empty labyrinth, only three figures remained in the shadows of the corner.
The atmosphere was strangely solidified.
Kirito drew the brand new daylight - weapon half an inch, its clear sword light illuminating his conflicted face, then he abruptly sheathed it.
He had repeated this action more than a dozen times.
He finally couldn't bear it and turned to the man leaning against the wall, eyes closed in rest.
"You... why?"
Kirito couldn't understand, his voice carrying a hint of questioning he hadn't even noticed.
"Why give up the BOSS? This doesn't fit your style at all."
"Didn't you say that weakness is the original sin?"
Chen Mo didn't even flutter an eyelid, his voice lazy, as if every word exhausted his strength.
"Pathfinding is too troublesome."
"...Huh?"
Kirito was completely stunned, thinking he had misheard.
Chen Mo shifted to a more comfortable position and continued.
"Starting from the sixty-second floor, the Knights of the Blood Oath will meticulously map out every floor of the labyrinth."
"They will clear the safest and fastest route to the BOSS room."
"I just need to walk over and claim my spoils of war the moment they are at the city gates, ready for sacrifice and glory."
His voice was calm and unruffled, yet it sent shivers down Kirito's spine.
"This is called professional division of labor."
Kirito was speechless.
He felt that his mind, in front of this man, was like an old calculator, while the other was Deep Blue.
Exchanging the first clear of one floor for an unimpeded exclusive passage for the next three floors.
This deal was outrageously profitable.
This way of doing things was also outrageously scoundrel-like.
"You think he's going too far, right?"
Argo saw through Kirito's thoughts and nudged him playfully with her elbow.
"Kirito kid, your thinking is still stuck at the Assault Team level."
She extended a finger and tapped the still-vibrating bronze giant door.
"Listen to the commotion inside, it's been almost twenty minutes, and the battle isn't over yet."
"What does that mean?"
"It means the Knights of the Blood Oath will suffer unimaginable casualties, top-tier potions are being consumed like water, and the durability of their entire set of equipment is rapidly decreasing."
Argo's cat-like eyes curved into a sly crescent moon.
"After they fight this battle with their lives on the line, just resting and recuperating will take one to two days."
"And we, we'll be well-rested, waiting for them."
"We'll meet them when they are at their most exhausted and depleted, and we are at our peak strength."
"This isn't just about the ownership of three floors' BOSSes." Argo's voice lowered, carrying a thrill that sent shivers down Kirito's spine, "This is about completely seizing control of the entire Aincrad Assault Team's rhythm!"
Kirito fell silent.
He looked at the man who still had his eyes closed.
All of this was just a game of chess he had casually set up.
And the strongest guild in all of SAO, along with the fate of thousands of players, had become his pawns.
Time passed amidst the increasingly fierce sounds of battle inside the door and the eerie silence of the three outside.
Nearly ten more minutes passed.
The BOSS's roar inside the door finally ceased abruptly after a sharp and unwilling screaming.
What followed was a mixture of relief and exhaustion in the cheers of survival.
They won.
Creak—
The heavy bronze giant door was pushed open from within.
A thick scent, a mixture of blood, sweat, and burnt metal, wafted out.
The members of the Knights of the Blood Oath filed out.
Almost everyone's HP bar hovered in the dangerous yellow warning zone; their dazzling red and white knight armor was now covered with hideous scratches and dents, and two words were written on everyone's face—"burned out."
Asuna walked in the middle of the team, her face pale, but she still held her slender back straight.
Her gaze swept over Chen Mo and his two companions, who were unharmed and even a bit bored in the corner. Her lips moved slightly, but in the end, she just turned her head to the side, her eyes complex and unreadable.
Mito followed closely beside her, but she didn't look at her best friend, nor did she look at her exhausted companions.
Her gaze, from beginning to end, was fixed intently on Chen Mo.
As if she wanted to see through this mysterious and powerful man.
Just then, Kirito's pupils suddenly constricted.
He noticed a detail.
A detail that sent shivers down his spine.
Heathcliff, who was walking at the very front, his heavy cross-emblazoned armor, under the torchlight, was actually as pristine as new, without the slightest damage!
Even more terrifying was that his HP bar, above his head, was a full, overflowing, healthy green!
How... how was this possible?!
As the main tank of the team, as the guild leader, he must have been the one who took the most BOSS attacks!
Just as Kirito was filled with doubt and a ridiculous conjecture was wildly growing in his mind, Heathcliff moved.
He ignored his guild members behind him who needed immediate rest.
He took steady steps, walking straight through the crowd, one step at a time, until he stood before Chen Mo.
Everyone's movements in the entire space froze.
Everyone's gaze was focused on these two men.
"We are preparing to return to town to rest."
Heathcliff's voice came through his helmet, steady and strong, without any discernible emotion.
Chen Mo finally opened his eyes and calmly met that profound gaze.
"Hard work."
He uttered two words, the simplest of responses.
Heathcliff seemed not to care about his attitude and continued:
"Before we go back, I hope you can accept a request from me."
"A request?"
Chen Mo raised an eyebrow, finally showing a hint of interest.
"Tell me."
Heathcliff was silent for a moment, the entire space so quiet that the crackling of burning torches could be heard.
Then, in a declarative tone, he spoke those words, one by one.
"Find some time later."
"In the arena of the Central Plaza, in the Town of Beginnings on the first floor."
"Have a public one-on-one duel with me."