I am Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes.

It's just a virtual body... but this fighting spirit—

The minotaur boss raised his hammer high and brought it down hard on Jill.

"Click..."

That was the sound of metal boots scraping against the gravel.

Jill slammed on the brakes, stopping just outside the BOSS's attack range.

Then, Jill's speed increased once again.

"Soul Flash - One Star!" It was clearly a sword skill, but it looked so pleasing to the eye, leaving a wound on the BOSS in an instant, and the BOSS's health bar dropped a bit.

"Tch, its skin is really tough—Soul Flash: Moon Chaser!" The sword technique, which traced a crescent moon in mid-air, once again left a huge red mark on the BOSS.

The BOSS's first health bar clearly fluctuated, losing approximately 30%.

"What kind of attack power is that..." Kirito clicked his tongue, observing the situation. However, considering that the opponent had even instantly killed a boss in the wild, he felt that such attack power was not excessive.

The boss in front of us has five health bars.

Moreover, it can cause debuffs such as "paralysis" and "dizziness," not to mention the uncertainty of the information at hand.

Even so, Jill still rushed forward.

"That movement was almost like a sword dance..." Diabel and the others maintained a certain distance from Gil's direction, but it wasn't difficult to observe Gil's condition.

"Pfft!" Huge slashes landed on the BOSS again and again, constantly reducing the BOSS's health bar.

The omniscient and omnipotent star perfectly predicted the BOSS's attacks time and time again. Jill had been fighting the BOSS for so long, yet her health bar hadn't decreased at all.

"It's practically like he's using a cheat code," Ya Wang commented. The somewhat sleazy-looking man now had a serious look in his eyes. "However, cheat codes don't exist in SAO. It can only mean that he's extremely... familiar with the boss's attack rhythm?"

“No… I feel more like a prediction…” Diabel looked at the BOSS warily, knowing how troublesome this BOSS was.

"Ha!" Jill slashed with her sword once again, and two bars of the BOSS's health bar had disappeared.

“…The health bar is off, and it’s a little fragile…” Jill frowned. “This guy… is strange…”

"Then there's no need to hold back..." Jill charged forward, unleashing a sword strike, "Soul Flash - Full Moon!"

The round moon's circular slash instantly severed about 25% of the BOSS's third health bar. Jill gritted her teeth.

This guy has such a thick health bar?

"Get ready. If he shows signs of giving up, we'll step in," Diabel said, looking at Jill who was single-handedly challenging the imposing BOSS.

“But Diabel…” a dark-haired man next to Diabel asked, “He looks like this…”

“Pay close attention to the BOSS’s attack rhythm and his advance and retreat rhythm. We’ll use the same rhythm to deal with the BOSS later,” Diabel said.

“…Okay.” The man next to Diabel nodded, agreeing to Diabel’s proposal.

At this moment, Diabel was still thinking about what Jill had said before she opened the BOSS's room door.

"A one-on-one fight against the BOSS... Is such a thing really possible?" Diabel stared intently at Gil. "Let me see it."

Soon, the BOSS's health bar gradually dwindled, and as the third bar shattered, Jill immediately became alert.

“…Hoo…” The feeling emanating from Jill gradually changed from a raging stormy sea to a calm stream.

However, this does not mean that Jill's attack power has weakened.

The Reaper, which has already been upgraded to +16, has had its Sharpness enhanced ten times, and the remaining enhancements have all been focused on its Durability.

The increased sharpness translates to increased attack power, but the Crescent Moon, which ignores 80% of the defense, can only scrape off a quarter of this boss's health bar, demonstrating just how thick this Minotaur General's health bar is...

“…General?” Jill’s gaze shifted to the minotaur’s head.

The ID is General...

Jill's face darkened.

This boss is not the boss guarding this floor at all!

The first floor's boss is the Kobold King... but why is this floor only guarded by a general? Although this general is stronger than the Kobold King, the incongruity is just too strong!

Gil immediately stepped back, and then Diabel and the others quickly pressed forward.

Next, Jill began searching for the anomaly she was looking for.

“Where…? Where is it?!” Jill looked around.

He noticed it very quickly...

There was no way to miss it, because that location emitted the most easily noticeable noise.

The entire BOSS room was set up like an arena.

And there, in the heart of the arena...

The dark blue-green stone is carved with bas-reliefs of bulls, arranged in concentric circles over there...

The stone began to move.

The stone slabs that form the triple rings gradually increase in speed and begin to slide counterclockwise.

The stones gradually rose from the ground, soon forming three steps.

The background above gradually distorted.

That effect is a precursor to the spawning of giant objects in SAO.

Then, a huge figure appeared.

The figure gradually transformed into human form, and its legs, as thick as tree trunks, slowly landed on the ground. Although it wore a black chainmail around its waist, its upper body was still naked.

Its curly beard hung down to near its belly. The head was, of course, that of a bull, but it had six horns, and in the very center was a round ornament that looked like it was made of platinum... that is, a crown, which was shining.

The black body, as black as if coated in ink, swayed, and the third, and largest, minotaur let out a roar that shook the earth. Perhaps it was just a simple entrance effect, but lightning bolts continuously struck around the minotaur, illuminating the plaza brightly.

Jill gritted her teeth, staring at the six HP bars and the text below them—

[Asterios The Taurus King]

Chapter Nineteen: The Real Boss Battle Begins!

Jill wasn't the only one who noticed the change in the center of the arena.

Kirito, who was fighting one of the monsters in the BOSS's vanguard on the other side, also witnessed this scene.

"Oh no..." Kirito gritted his teeth, "That... is that the final boss guarding the second floor?!"

Jill looked at the BOSS she had just defeated; it still had two health bars left, and the second to last health bar had already turned red.

“…” Jill bit her lip.

……Oops……

The condition for this boss to appear is that the last HP bar of the guy Jill just fought turns yellow. At this point, the real floor boss will spawn—the pitch-black minotaur, the King of Taurus.

"Quickly take care of those two bosses, hurry!" Jill couldn't think too much at this point. Gripping her katana tightly, Jill charged directly at the boss she had just dealt with.

At this moment, the Minotaur BOSS's last health bar has dwindled to 30%.

"Soul Flash—" Jill's speed reached its limit, "Full Moon!"

With a single blow, the Minotaur BOSS's health bar almost dropped to zero in an instant.

Diabel also rushed forward quickly, finishing off the Minotaur BOSS with LA (Last Attack), causing it to turn into countless red chips and disappear.

Meanwhile, Kirito and his friends also successfully defeated the minotaur, who was on par with a mid-level boss in the wild.

Thus, the two mini-bosses were defeated.

Immediately afterwards, an anomaly occurred.

The King of Dark Taurus leaned his entire upper body backward, his powerful frame swelling up like a barrel.

Jill's pupils contracted.

Long-range attack!?

Then, Jill's vision was stained pure white.

Then, a dry, throbbing sound, like thunder, hit Jill's ear.

The breath emitted by the King of Taurus is neither poison nor fire, but thunder.

"Should I complain... that a minotaur has to cosplay as a lizard and play with breath attacks and stuff..." Jill slowly stood up.

He was lucky enough not to get the debuff, so he only lost a small amount of HP.

In SAO, there are no attack, healing, or support magic.

However, this does not mean that all magical elements have been excluded.

For example, there are many magical items that can grant various buffs such as status enhancements simply by equipping them.

However, these extraordinary powers will not only help the player.

Rather, it's more accurate to say that there are more situations that hinder players.

In SAO, many monsters, especially bosses, possess special skills. Poison, fire, ice, and lightning breath are prime examples.

Among breath attacks, fire has the highest direct attack power, but lightning strikes are by no means to be underestimated.

First, there's the lightning's incredibly high speed; it can reach its maximum range very quickly after being launched.

Another consequence is a high probability of becoming dizzy after being hit. Depending on the situation, it may also cause more dangerous debuffs—dizziness or paralysis.

If it's just dizziness, that's a minor issue, because the dizziness debuff doesn't last long, at most three seconds.

The real problem is paralysis.

The duration of paralysis is generally quite long; unlike dizziness, paralysis does not recover after a few seconds. Although it is not a permanent effect, even the weakest paralysis effect takes five minutes to disappear... or three hundred seconds.

Furthermore, according to the strategy guide Jill is holding, the BOSS's attacks carry debuffs, and if you are hit by consecutive debuffs, you will be paralyzed.

"Is the difficulty in defeating this boss in dodging?" Jill glanced around.

There were more than a dozen players caught in the breath attack. Jill glanced at their positions; they were all in front of her.

Worst of all, Diabel and Fang Wang, as team leaders, were both hit by the breath attack and paralyzed, unable to give instructions to their teammates.

"We have no choice," Gil shouted. "Kirito, the rest is up to you!"