"Switch defense! Rear line, take over the front! Front line, fall back and rest!" After an hour of relentless combat, the Crystal Guild began their orderly defensive rotation. Kurumi noted with quiet satisfaction—there had been no casualties. Though everyone's faces showed fatigue, not one person appeared anxious or afraid.
On the other side, after losing over a dozen players early on, the Knights of the Blood had finally calmed down. The bloody lesson had sobered them, and the guild once again displayed the composure worthy of one of the game's top forces. Their formation tightened, their movements became precise, and by the end of another hour, their losses had stabilized.
Sitting on the grass, Kirito checked his HP bar—barely scratched. Since he hadn't taken any real damage, there was no need for healing items. He then examined his gear; durability had dropped a bit, but most equipment could still hold out. His main sword, however, was already in the single digits—it would break within minutes.
Kirito swapped it for a spare sword, then neatly arranged the rest of his backup blades in order, from lowest to highest quality.
Once everything was prepared, he finally relaxed a little—resting while observing the wolves' behavior and the Knights' defenses.
His conclusion: the situation wasn't as dangerous as it had seemed. Although the initial wave of wolves had scared everyone half to death, these were all elite players. Their levels far exceeded those of the wolves. Even when attacked, the wolves dealt minimal damage, and natural HP regeneration made sustained harm unlikely unless someone was completely surrounded.
The Knights' early deaths—more than twenty—had been the result of panic and poor judgment. Once they regained composure, the wolf swarm no longer posed a serious threat.
Seeing this, Kirito sighed softly. So this floor's difficulty isn't as hopeless as it looked.
Meanwhile, Kurumi's heart tightened. Inside, she was gnashing her teeth.
Heathcliff, that scheming maniac! He had packed the field with countless low-level mobs, creating a suffocating illusion of despair. For the Crystal Guild, this wasn't insurmountable—but the other players didn't know that.
They would think, "If the small mobs are already this hard, the boss must be beyond terrifying!"
And just like that, the illusion was complete. The boss fight would automatically feel dreadful.
Looking out over the endless tide of wolves, Kurumi's sharp mind pieced it together. There's no way we're meant to kill them all. There has to be a Wolf King somewhere.
Which meant the only path forward was clear: Take down the leader.
And naturally, that meant she and Futayo would be the ones chosen to do it.
The final piece of the puzzle fell into place. Heathcliff had orchestrated this entire scenario—forcing her and Futayo into a one-on-one with a boss that was undoubtedly tuned to nightmare difficulty.
Time crawled forward. Hour after hour, the defense lines rotated, and the Knights' numbers dwindled further. By nightfall, more than fifty of them had fallen.
"Commander, I'm out of healing potions! My backup gear's almost broken!" a desperate Knight cried from the rear. Without supplies, he'd be doomed the next time he rotated forward.
"Hmm~ No potions or gear? Just ask your big sister!" Kurumi grinned, opening her system menu. With a flourish, she summoned a massive pile of equipment and recovery items, stacked so high it looked like a small mountain. Everyone stared, dumbfounded—who in their right mind carried this much on them?
"Heathcliff, here. You can distribute these to your people," Kurumi said, selecting Gift and transferring the entire mountain to him.
"Thank you. I owe you for this," Heathcliff said, accepting without hesitation. The heap vanished instantly as the items transferred into his inventory.
"You'd better remember that," Kurumi said with a radiant smile, arms crossed. You might be untouchable inside this game—but in my divine kingdom, we'll see how smug you look.
"As a guild leader, do you always carry this much equipment and medicine?" Heathcliff asked while distributing the items, realizing once again that Kurumi's sense of logic operated on a level beyond comprehension.
"Why carry all that? Money instead? Hah! You can't eat money, can't use it, and it won't cure poison. What's the point? It's just a number," Kurumi said, hands on her hips, lifting her chin proudly.
"Ohohohoho~" she continued, placing the back of her hand under her chin and letting out a queenly laugh. "My foolish little brothers and sisters, next time any of you dare complain that your big sister always hauls around a general store's worth of junk, remember this—your wise sister's foresight is beyond your comprehension!"
"That has to be coincidence," every member of the Crystal Guild thought in unison. But none of them dared say it aloud. Whether it was luck or wisdom, Kurumi had once again proven herself unfathomably capable.
Still, deep down, they all believed it: it was pure coincidence. Kimi-nee simply had a habit of hoarding miscellaneous items, and this just happened to be her lucky break.
The sky suddenly dimmed. Overhead, three moons appeared—one a large crescent, a smaller full moon nestled within it, and a third, violet moon glowing faintly beside them.
Awooooo! The wolves halted their assault and howled at the sky. Their gray fur darkened to blood red, and their bodies swelled to twice their size.
"Cancel rotation! All members, full defensive formation! Equip your main weapons and use combo skills freely—hold the line no matter what!" Kurumi barked the order the moment the wolves mutated.
Kirito rose, gripping his twin swords tightly. Yuki's face flashed through his mind—her gentle voice echoing, 'Please, come back safely.'
"Kimi-nee! Are we... are we really going to make it out alive?" he asked, unable to hide the tremor in his voice. The situation was spiraling out of control.
"We'll live. I'll make sure of it," Kurumi said calmly. Her soft tone and unshakable, domineering smile filled the air with confidence. It was impossible not to believe her. Kirito smiled faintly, drew both blades, and strode toward the front line.
Awooooo! The mutated blood wolves charged, tearing into the ranks. The Knights of the Blood's formation crumbled instantly. HP bars plummeted. Healing potions flashed in desperation before their users vanished in showers of blue fragments.
The Crystal Guild, however, met the assault with terrifying precision. Their glowing swords carved arcs of light through the horde. Combo skills flared across the battlefield like fireworks—each member chaining seven to eight attacks seamlessly. Wolves fell by the dozens every few seconds.
Among them, Yulier and Klein executed ten-hit combos, Diavel reached thirteen, Asuna twenty-one. And Kirito—dual blades in hand—was an unstoppable storm of infinite combos. Every wolf that lunged at him was reduced to glittering shards before it could touch him.
The guild moved like a perfectly tuned machine—each fighter alternating attacks and retreats in rhythm. Even as the blood wolves raged, they couldn't so much as dent the Crystal Guild's defense. The pack was being slaughtered, utterly helpless.
The battlefield had become a massive meat grinder. The mutated wolves died in endless waves, the contrast between the disciplined Crystal Guild and the collapsing Knights of the Blood stark and undeniable. It proved beyond all doubt—the Crystal Guild's strength dwarfed that of their rivals.
But Kurumi frowned. "No... this momentum won't last forever. If we keep this up, fatigue will eat us alive. We have to finish this before the tide turns."
She raised her voice. "Wolf King! I know you're here! Keep this up and I can't say what'll happen to us—but I can promise your pack will be wiped out! Without your underlings, you'll be the most miserable wolf alive!" Her mocking laughter echoed across the battlefield.
"Kimi-nee... monsters don't think," Asuna said hesitantly. It was common sense—monsters had no intelligence. If they did, players wouldn't stand a chance.
"Arrogant woman. How did you discover my presence?" A deep, sinister voice answered. Moonlight spilled across the wolves, and suddenly the pack parted to reveal a massive, two-headed purple direwolf standing tall in their midst.
"The monster... can talk?!" Everyone's eyes widened in shock. A chill swept through the crowd. A sentient boss—something utterly beyond the system's norm. He had been hiding all along, likely cloaked by invisibility or illusion magic.
"Oh my~ Are you an idiot? Who in their right mind would reveal that to their enemy?" Kurumi said, folding her arms with a smirk that made the Wolf King's fangs grind audibly.
"Kimi-nee, how did you even figure out the boss was here?" Asuna asked, baffled.
"Oh~ Asuna didn't realize?" Kurumi glanced at her with feigned surprise, then turned back to the twin-headed wolf, smiling proudly. "Fine then, I'll be generous and explain it to you, foolish little mutt."
"As a member of the feline family, I know a thing or two about your kind. When wolves hunt, if casualties exceed a certain point, they abandon their prey and seek new targets. Your pack has already lost over half its number, yet they keep attacking relentlessly. The only explanation—there's a thinking wolf commanding them."
She tilted her head, her voice full of mocking sweetness. "You really thought we wouldn't notice, little dog? Honestly, you're lucky I even bothered to call you out."
The rest of the guild glanced away awkwardly, silently sweating. Let's be real... only you could've figured that out, Kimi-nee.