Kochou Shinobu looked at the temple gate standing before her and didn't find participating in the Dimensional Chat Group's mission tedious. Compared to demons.
The monsters in the SAO World were clearly more difficult to deal with.
Most importantly.
It was the she was undertaking with Shiraishi Kawa. Her clear purple eyes were filled with gentleness, and she didn't mind the extra girls in the .
"Shiraishi-kun, should we start the directly?"
Shiraishi Kawa glanced at the players who were resting. He didn't mind, but rather seriously assessed the overall combat power of the current team.
Asuna, who was gradually mastering combat skills.
Mito, an experienced online gamer, and Shigemura Yuna, a special class Singer who enhanced the team's strength, and Yuna, the vanguard Lancer.
In terms of strength, the difficulty of clearing was extremely high.
The SAO game had only been open for a few days, and all the players were in the novice stage. Their levels and equipment couldn't keep up at all, let alone their combat skills.
"Yes."
He shook his head with a relaxed tone: "But this time, let me do it."
"Shiraishi-kun, why... why are you doing this?"
Looking at Shiraishi Kawa like this, a hint of doubt flashed in Asuna's eyes. It couldn't be considered something that was agreed upon from the very beginning.
She knew he wanted to use combat to train the team.
Now, suddenly changing his mind, was it because the combat level shown during the fight against the Kobold Lord... didn't meet his expectations?
Asuna's expression became much more serious, and she said decisively, "In the coming battle, I will absolutely not be a burden!"
"It's not about that."
"You've done well enough as a novice player."
Shiraishi Kawa smiled and shook his head. The 2nd stage Boss was special; after defeating General Baran the Minotaur and Colonel Nator.
The final boss to appear was the true Temple Lord.
King Taurus, Asterius.
To find Kayaba Akihiko, who had merged his consciousness into SAO, unless he wanted to meet voluntarily, or by clearing Aincrad!
It was a bit of a waste of time.
Clearing the game also meant the collapse of the SAO game world. If the drawback of suffering a backlash in reality due to in-game death could be shielded.
Compared to the Dungeon in the DanMachi World, this was a relatively good place to train pure sword skills.
"I have my reasons for doing this."
Shiraishi Kawa didn't explain, as there were still many players gathered here. He directly pushed open the door to the 2nd floor Boss Temple.
He was preparing to use other methods.
The reason Kayaba Akihiko created a virtual game otherworld was to create a world that transcended all boundaries and laws of the real world.
If... real magic from another world existed, it should be fatally attractive to this guy. After luring Kayaba Akihiko out.
Trading for the SAO World and virtual world seeds he wanted from him.
Was the most convenient option!
Mito's eyes flashed with confusion as she looked at the opened temple gate, then at Asuna's rather relaxed expression, not understanding the situation.
All players started on the same starting line.
Even if Shiraishi Kawa had a more unique fighting style, it would be quite difficult for him to clear the Boss alone, she thought, her mind full of questions.
She still followed their steps into the temple.
Sachi and Shigemura Yuna exchanged glances; as members of the Strategy Group , they weren't sure how strong Shiraishi Kawa, their de facto leader, actually was.
Only Kochou Shinobu was full of anticipation.
"..."
"Should we go in, Commander Diavel?"
It had only been a few days since the server opened, yet the 1st Floor had been successfully cleared, and the key kill was made by Shiraishi Kawa... using magic not found in the SAO World.
No player wasn't curious.
How powerful was Shiraishi Kawa, facing the Boss alone?
After all, this concerned leaving SAO. If Shiraishi Kawa could guarantee the clear, even if it meant sweeping through maps,
they wouldn't have any objections.
"Go!"
"Perhaps there's something we can help with."
Diavel made a decisive choice; being able to build a Capture Team of this scale, he subconsciously felt that Shiraishi Kawa was not so simple.
Even if they truly encountered danger,
they could just retreat from the temple, avoiding significant player losses.
He led the way, and the originally hesitant player teams didn't fall behind, marching grandly towards the 2nd Floor temple.
And the scene that followed... would completely overturn their perception of strength!
Upon entering the temple, they were greeted by a monster as massive as a Kobold Lord, with red skin and wielding a giant axe, exuding an intense sense of oppression.
Kochou Shinobu and Asuna did not go forward.
They stood far away with the adventure party, observing. They were most aware of Shiraishi Kawa's strength. If there was anything they were curious about,
it was the specific plan.
Having just joined the team, Mito was still unaware of Shiraishi Kawa's strength, and asked, "Asuna, do you really... not need help?"
She looked into the distance ahead.
Shiraishi Kawa, facing two powerful Minotaur Bosses alone, had already entered their attack range and instantly drew their aggro.
"Don't worry."
"Actually... what you should be worried about is whether the temple will be blown through, right?"
"..."
"Blown through the temple?"
Just as she was about to ask in detail, the subsequent battle scene made the worried expressions of Mito and Shigemura Yuna freeze.
He didn't even carry any weapons.
Facing the Minotaur General and Colonel,
even with pure physical combat, relying on the divine panel's amplification, which was over 50 times that of ordinary people, even with the most basic weapons,
Shiraishi Kawa would easily deal with them.
"Beginner magic should be enough... With completely sufficient magic power, should I consider skill spamming?"
He looked into the distance ahead, at the Minotaurs constantly approaching with their giant axes.
As the extremely vast and boundless magic power within him surged, dozens of magic circles formed behind him. With the Archmage's Elemental Mastery talent,
he mastered all basic elemental skills!
Pure magic power continuously transformed into ice, akin to the sight of the Gate of Babylon. Countless ice shards caused the surrounding temperature to plummet.
Ice Breaker.
Shiraishi Kawa's expression was calm. As all his magic power transformed, countless ice shards instantly poured towards the two Minotaurs not far ahead.
The surge of coldness
caused the moisture in the air to freeze into frost. The flying speed, too fast for the naked eye to capture, gave the ice shards extreme penetrating power.
Upon hitting the Minotaurs,
the damage caused by the explosion directly made the monsters skip their berserk red-rage mechanism, instantly depleting all 3 HP bars, and their massive bodies completely vanished!
You have successfully killed the Minotaur Colonel, gaining 3000 experience points.
You have successfully killed the Minotaur General, gaining 5000 experience points.
For monsters of this level,
Shiraishi Kawa was worried that if he just used Explosion Magic to clear the area, he might blow through the entire temple, he murmured with a calm expression.
"Now, can Kayaba Akihiko be lured out?"
"..."
The fleeting battle left the many players watching from behind stunned in place. They just widened their eyes,
their thoughts completely stopped.
The two massive, highly oppressive Minotaur Bosses were instantly pierced by countless ice shards formed from magic, without any chance to resist.
After a while,
it was the turning of gears in the center of the temple, and the slowly rising steps, that made the players present snap back to reality.
"Is... is it over?"
"I actually think it's better for us to handle clearing the small fry. Clearing Aincrad while lying down,"
"Such a good thing!"
"Could it be a game bug exploit, and then an edited spell skill?"
"Is it possible that he's a game GM? But if he were a game GM, he could just let us leave the SAO World!"
"..."
In the face of overwhelming power, even if Shiraishi Kawa used a game bug to acquire his skills, the players present had no complaints.
At this moment... that figure was their hope of leaving the SAO World.
As a member of the Capture Team, Mito's emotions after witnessing this battle could no longer be described as mere shock. She turned her head,
and found Asuna and Kochou Shinobu calm.
They clearly knew in advance.
Mito then looked at the bewildered Sachi and Shigemura Yuna, and seeing their equally confused expressions, she felt a strange sense of relief.
Turns out... she wasn't the only ignorant one!
Looking at the Taurus King appearing from the steps, she couldn't help but remind, "Shiraishi-kun, watch out, there are still monsters appearing behind you!"
"..."
"I don't eat beef."
There was no need for a reminder. Facing a Floor Boss still required a slight show of respect. Arbitrarily unleashed magic filled the air above the temple.
The familiar Explosion Magic continuously formed.
Pure magic power swirled into a vortex, instantly dimming the temple environment. There were even continuous explosions of colorful, radiant light.
This oppressive feeling,
as if it would suck all the air out of the surroundings. Asuna and Kochou Shinobu, realizing something was wrong, had already begun to retreat.
Through the Dimensional Chat Group, they were well aware of the intensity of this method.
Perhaps... the entire temple was about to be completely destroyed!
The belated players were also desperately trying to escape. They only had one thought in their minds: if they didn't leave,
they would definitely die here!
And Kayaba Akihiko, whose consciousness was integrated into the SAO game, seeing things heading in an uncontrollable direction, did not continue to observe.
He used GM privileges to instantly kill the Taurus King.
His player avatar, created from his soul, took the place of the Taurus King. Looking at Shiraishi Kawa's indifferent expression, he ignored everything else.
He only felt the aura of annihilation.
Kayaba Akihiko quickly stopped him, his tone anxious: "Stop!"
"Stop quickly! The temple floor will completely collapse. Didn't you just want to force me out? I'm out now."
"..."
Looking at the skill that showed no signs of stopping,
Kayaba Akihiko, as the developer of the SAO game, put aside his pride and pleaded, "Outsider, please recall your skill!"