I am Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes.

Inside the vampire castle, the members of [No name] gathered together.

But at this moment, the atmosphere here is extremely oppressive.

Even Izayoi, who is usually arrogant and unruly, is very quiet today.

"...Clap."

Such a sound broke the silence in the small room.

“…Miss Enkidu…” Black Rabbit looked at Enkidu, who had crushed a piece of the chair armrest, and said in a low voice.

Enkidu shook his head. "I'm fine... I'm just a little worried about Gil's safety right now."

Her usually beautiful green eyes were now somewhat dim.

"Tch..." Izayoi gritted her teeth, her eyes filled with deep resentment.

He could never forget the image of Jill standing behind them, single-handedly challenging that absolutely evil demon king.

He clenched his fists, his eyes burning with intensity.

“Don’t worry, Enkidu said that Master is not dead, and I think so too,” Leticia said. “Because my contract with Master has not disappeared.”

Leticia was won back from Luos by Gilles and a master-servant contract was formed. Later, her role in the Demon Lord's Gift Game was violently broken by Gilles. It can be said that, apart from Enkidu and Estelle, she is the person here with the deepest relationship with Gilles.

“That’s great… If Mr. Gil is alright, then we just need to figure out how to deal with that demon king…” Ren was interrupted by another voice just as he started to speak.

"You little brats are no match for him? You wouldn't even be enough to fill that monster's teeth."

The newcomer was a young man with blond hair. His emerald eyes held a serious expression, which gave him an air of authority befitting an elder.

“Mr. Otto!” Ren exclaimed in surprise.

“You are… Oh, it’s Ren. It’s been three years. You’ve grown a bit taller.” Otto patted Ren’s head. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Otto Apocalypse. Just call me Otto.”

"I came here this time for that guy..." His tone carried a faint sense of indifference. "Next, I will tell you some information about that demon king, so you'd better remember it carefully."

……

Aincrad.

The 74-story maze area.

Jill slashed down a lizardman who lunged at her with a single stroke, then swung her longsword.

"Should we take down that boss on the 74th floor today?" Jill thought for a long time before finally deciding to rest for a while.

Upon arriving at the safe zone in the maze area, Jill sat down, preparing to eat something—

At that moment, he heard footsteps.

Jill looked toward the entrance to the maze area where the sound came from, and there appeared the players from the "army".

The troops stopped at the other end of the safe zone. As soon as the man in front said "Rest," the remaining eleven men collapsed or sat on the ground with a loud thud.

The man didn't even glance at his companion before walking towards Jill.

Upon closer inspection, it can be noticed that the man's equipment is slightly different from the other eleven. In addition to his high-grade metal armor, he also has an emblem on his chest that is not found on the others, designed with a panoramic view of Aincrad.

The man stopped in front of Jill and took off his helmet. He was a rather tall man, probably in his early thirties, with a square face, very short hair, small eyes under thick eyebrows that gleamed sharply, and his mouth tightly closed.

He looked directly at Jill and then said, "I am Lieutenant Colonel Kobaz, a member of the Aincrad Liberation Army."

Originally, "army" was just a nickname given to them by people outside the group to make fun of them, but somehow it has become their official name.

Jill chuckled inwardly, then said, "Solo player, Jill."

The man nodded slightly, then asked in an arrogant tone, "Have you already conquered the previous areas?"

"Ha, so what?" Jill asked with a sneer.

“Hmm. Then I hope you can provide me with the map files.” Kobaz said to Jill in this matter-of-fact manner.

"What did you say... that you need someone else to provide it? Do you even know how much effort it takes to record a map? How dare you say something like that!"

The sudden sound made Jill turn around. After seeing who it was, he blinked, looking somewhat surprised. "Klein?"

“Gill, don’t worry. Even if they outnumber us, they can’t make such unreasonable demands,” Klein said, having not seen Gil for several days.

Maps of unexplored areas are considered very important information. They can fetch a high price among treasure hunters who target treasure chests.

Seeing Klein's expression, Jill smiled helplessly, "Thanks, I'll treat you to dinner later."

Upon hearing Klein's voice, Kobaz immediately raised one eyebrow, lifted his chin, and shouted back, "We are fighting to liberate you ordinary players! Assisting us is your duty!"

“…You really dare to say that, you bastard.” Jill narrowed her eyes, a hint of coldness in them.

"You bastard..." Klein's voice was about to explode with anger.

The fact that the two of them understood you clearly startled Kobaz, which made Jill chuckle.

Bullying the weak and fearing the strong—that's probably the defining characteristic of Kobaz.

There will always be guys like that in any world...

However, as if she had just thought of something, Jill said to Kobaz, "You can have the map, as long as you don't regret it."

After saying that, Jill handed the map file over to Kobaz.

"..." Kobaz stared at Jill for a long time. "Thank you for your cooperation."

There was absolutely no gratitude in his tone.

"You guys, stand up right now!"

Hearing what Kobaz said, the players slowly stood up and lined up in two columns.

Without even glancing around, Kobaz stepped to the front of the group, raised one hand, and quickly swung it down. The twelve men raised their weapons in unison, the heavy equipment clanging as they resumed their advance.

Although their HP may appear to be full, the intense battles within SAO will bring an unseen sense of fatigue.

Although the physical bodies left in the other world are not moving, the fatigue can only be relieved by sleep and rest here. In my opinion, the players in the army are exhausted because they are not used to frontline combat.

Jill's eyes wavered at this moment.

He definitely didn't like this Cobaz...

But taking your anger out on others... isn't that a good idea?

Never mind, let's go after them and see if Kobaz is dead or not, but at least see if there are any others worth saving.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: You're the Thirty-First

With that thought in mind, Jill said goodbye to Klein and left.

He moved quickly, following the map's markings.

Unfortunately, luck was not on Jill's side this time. Jill encountered a group of lizardmen on the way. After dealing with them, Jill once again headed deeper into the maze area.

"Aaaaaaahh ...

Although only faint sounds could be heard, they were undoubtedly screams of agony.

Jill's pupils narrowed slightly; his map already contained information about the room guarding the gate boss.

That guy, Kobaz, actually took that whole group to attack the boss? They haven't been on the front lines for almost half a year!

Those people with subpar gear went and challenged that boss?! Are they out of their minds? There's no way they're rushing to their deaths like that!

Jill spat, "I told you not to blame me!"

He accelerated once more and rushed towards the room guarding the boss.

Soon after, the large door, which had been opened to the left and right, appeared in the distance.

At the same time, one can see intensely burning blue flames flickering in the darkness.

Besides these effects, there was also the enormous figure lurking deep inside, and the intermittent metallic sounds and screams.

Jill rushed towards the gate.

He looked into the interior of the gate, where a scene resembling hell unfolded.

The entire floor was spewing out grid-like blue and white flames. And the huge metal body standing in the center with its back to Jill was the guardian boss of this floor, the blue demon The Cleameyes.

The Shining Eye's entire body was wrapped in muscles that bulged like thick ropes. Its skin was a deep blue, no less intense than the surrounding flames, and atop its massive chest was not the head of a human, but that of a goat.

Thick, curved horns rose high from the sides of its head. Its eyes shone as if burning with blue-white flames. Its lower body was covered in long, dark blue fur, which, though obscured by the flames, did not appear to be human but rather the lower half of an animal.

This boss can be described as a demon.

It was spewing fiery gas from the hideous goat's head and swinging its greatsword, which could be called a horse-slaying dagger, left and right. And its HP hadn't even decreased by a third.

Opposite it were figures that seemed tiny compared to the demon—army troops struggling to escape.

They have completely lost their discipline.

Jill glanced at their health bars.

They are all still alive, but three of them have already reached the red health threshold.

At this moment, another person was struck by the blade of the saber and fell to the ground, his HP also entering the red danger zone.

I don't know why things turned out this way, but the demons are entrenched between the army and the entrance, making it impossible to escape from the entrance.

"Use the transfer crystal! What are you hesitating for!?" Jill roared angrily.

But the man immediately turned his face, his face, blued by the flames, showing obvious despair, and shouted back, "No... water... crystal is useless!"

"A crystal-invalid zone!?" Gil clicked his tongue, his eyes filled with seriousness.

Although this is a trap that you might occasionally see in the maze area, I have never encountered this situation in the boss's room before.

At this moment, a player on the other side of the demon raised his sword high and roared, "What the hell are you talking about...! The word 'retreat' doesn't exist in the dictionary of our People's Liberation Army! Rise up and fight! Get up and fight!"

"Tsk!" Jill cursed angrily, about to say something.

On the other side of the demon, Kobaz regrouped his troops and then issued orders again.

"All personnel... charge...!"

Since four of the twelve people had already reached their HP limit and collapsed on the floor, the remaining eight people lined up in rows of four. Then, Kobaz, standing in the center of the group, raised his sword and began to charge forward.

"Are you an idiot?!" Jill was so angry she almost laughed.

Such an attack is extremely reckless and impulsive.