I'm a Sword Master in Sword Art Online

The arrogance towards Tana and the malice towards the silver-haired boy had all transformed into primal fear: "I really don't know! Please... we're not core members, just lowly minions..."

The boy stared at him quietly for a moment, seemingly trying to determine whether it was true or false.

Finally, he straightened up and turned to look at the four red-named players who were trying to crawl away:

"Move again..." The voice was neither loud nor soft, but it made the four of them freeze instantly. "Next time, it'll be your neck that gets broken."

The forest fell into dead silence.

The silver-haired youth pulled out a teleportation crystal, his voice calm and undisturbed: "This is a teleportation crystal. The exit is set in the prison area. All of you, go and wait in jail."

Then, after thinking for a moment, he added, "Hand over all your high-level equipment and Ke'er. If anyone resists..."

The gray eyes beneath the demon mask suddenly turned icy cold, and the surrounding temperature seemed to drop several degrees.

"I won't show mercy anymore."

Tana stood there, stunned, watching as everything settled down.

The silver-haired boy packed up his equipment and turned to leave.

The black coat billowed in the forest breeze, gradually blending into the depths of the tree shadows.

Back at the guild, Tana truthfully recounted Joe's betrayal and their encounter in the forest to the King of Fangs. In the following days, rumors about the "mysterious silver-haired player" quietly began circulating among the ordinary players—

"When I was ambushed in the wilderness by a player with a red name (indicating a high risk of being attacked), a player wearing a ghost mask saved me..."

"I encountered him too! The way he wielded the Thunder Blade was simply..."

"I heard he specifically ambushes players with high-level names?"

All eyewitness accounts are remarkably consistent:

Silver hair, black coat, thunder blade, demon mask.

Some say he is the judge who wanders in Aincrad.

Some people say he's just another madman obsessed with killing.

【Silver Asura】—It's unclear who first uttered this name, but it quickly spread by word of mouth among lower-level players.

However, these are all things for later.

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Thanks to [Bradley] for the monthly pass!

Chapter 103: Argo, Fish, and Axe

After teleporting Joe and the four red-named players to the prison area, Mochizuki Kaede didn't speak to Tanado and turned to leave. He walked through the dense forest and came to a clear stream.

Argo sat leisurely on a rock by the river, her fishing rod trembling slightly. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, dappling her skin.

"Fengzi, how's it going?" she asked without turning her head, her voice carrying its usual playful tone.

Mochizuki Kaede sat down on the tree stump beside her, her voice coming through the mask, sounding somewhat muffled: "The intelligence is correct."

Argo smiled smugly, the float on her fishing rod bobbing gently with her movements: "Of course!"

She turned to look at Mochizuki Maple, the wrinkles on her face appearing particularly vivid in the sunlight: "Who do you think I am? I am the most professional intelligence broker—[Rat] Argo."

Mochizuki Kaede nodded: "Thanks to your investigation of Joe and tracking of his whereabouts."

"No need for thanks~"

Argo suddenly lifted her fishing rod, only to find it empty, and couldn't help but purse her lips. She cast the rod back into the water and continued, "Didn't I tell you to confiscate the equipment and Cor from those red-named players?"

Mochizuki Kaede swiped her fingertip to bring up the semi-transparent system interface, showing her the item inventory: "Yes, it's all been confiscated. As agreed, we'll split it 50/50."

He paused for a moment: "How about we split it 70/30, you get 70% and I get 30%. After all, investigating red-named players is too dangerous, and I was able to find them thanks to your intelligence."

Argo stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly burst into laughter: "Not bad, Maple!"

She patted Mochizuki Kaede's shoulder hard: "You're spot on!"

Then, she excitedly browsed the equipment list in the trading interface: "Tsk tsk tsk~ Griffin Steel Sword, Crescent Armor... These guys really have a lot of stock! Wow! There's even a Samurai Katana, that's a rare drop!"

She clicked on the attribute panel of a dark purple leather armor: "This piece adds 15% poison resistance..."

Scrolling to the next bracer: "Wow! It even has a critical strike chance bonus!"

Just as she was excitedly counting her spoils, the fishing rod suddenly began to shake violently.

Argo frantically reeled in the line, muttering to himself, "Here it comes! This one's definitely a big one!"

However, when the fishing line was fully reeled in, only a clump of wet seaweed remained.

"Tch!" She angrily flung the waterweed back into the river, the splashing water refracting tiny sparkles in the sunlight. Turning to look at Wang Yuefeng, the playful smile on her face had faded somewhat: "By the way, did that player named Qiao provide any useful information?"

Mochizuki Kaede shook his head: "Just a small fry, but the Smiling Coffin tattoo has been confirmed."

The name "Smiling Coffin" instantly made the air between the two of them heavy.

This is the intelligence Argo found: a secret guild composed of players with red names (indicating they have negative online presence). Their members all have that eerie mark tattooed on their arms—a twisted smiling face carved on a black wooden coffin, just like the one on Joe's body.

They primarily operate in the lower levels, specifically hunting lone, ordinary players. Their purpose is currently unknown; it is only known that this group is slowly expanding.

Mochizuki Kaede gazed at the shimmering waves on the river, his brow furrowed beneath his mask. Through the tattoos on Joe's body, he finally confirmed the identities of Kradir and the mysterious cloaked man—they must both be members of [Smiling Coffin]. Kradir's address to the cloaked man as "Chairman" directly indicated the man's leadership.

The cloaked man's seductive words echoed in his mind once more: "Deep down, you've always longed to break all of this... You crave chaos, don't you?"

The voice disrupted his thoughts. Although he was still unclear about the man's ultimate goal, Mochizuki Kaede's intuition was frantically warning him: this man hidden under the cloak was far more dangerous than he appeared on the surface.

“However…” Argo’s voice pulled him back to reality. She gently shook the fishing rod, a rare serious expression on her face, “You sent all those red-named players to the prison area, which at least protected the safety of ordinary players, and that’s one of the reasons I was willing to help you.”

Mochizuki Kaede turned to look at her, and Argo continued, "Even though you're currently under a red name..."

She pointed to the green marker above her head: "But I know you're different from those red-named players who enjoy killing, so I'll continue to investigate for you secretly, regardless of whether there's danger or not."

Seemingly sensing the atmosphere was too serious, Argo suddenly coughed and resumed his usual sly tone: "Of course, the reward can't be small. From now on, we'll split 70/30 of the loot from the red-named players you capture."

A soft chuckle came from beneath Mochizuki Kaede's mask, and he nodded in agreement. After a moment of silence, he pointed to the fishing rod in Argo's hand: "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"This...?" Argo held up the fishing rod. "This fishing rod was a reward from a regular quest. I'm testing whether I can catch fish without having any fishing skills."

As Argo was speaking, the buoy suddenly started to shake again. Her eyes lit up, and she quickly reeled in the line, but all she pulled up was a clump of wet seaweed.

"Why is it water plants again..." She frowned in disappointment and reluctantly put the fishing rod into her inventory. "The conclusion is that without fishing skills, you can only catch water plants."

Mochizuki Kaede laughed and said, "Then you can learn the fishing skill."

“My skill gauge is already full, and besides… the fishing skill is pretty useless except for fishing,” Argo said.

She stretched lazily: "It's about time!"

Just as Mochizuki Kaede was wondering what she meant, Argo suddenly turned around and asked, "By the way, do you have a wooden axe?"

Mochizuki Kaede's profession is swordsman, so naturally she doesn't have a wooden axe.

He shook his head.

“As expected, there isn’t one.” Argo pulled a rough wooden axe from his inventory. “Luckily, I had one prepared.”

Before Wang Yuefeng could react, she threw the axe directly into the middle of the river. The wooden axe drew an arc in the air and sank to the bottom of the water with a "plop".

Is this... a case of getting angry because he couldn't catch any fish? Mochizuki Kaede's lips twitched beneath his mask.

But the next second, the river surface suddenly began to churn violently.

An old man with a white beard slowly rose from the water, holding a gleaming golden axe in one hand and a gleaming silver axe in the other. His majestic voice echoed across the river:

"Young woodcutter, did you drop this golden axe or this silver axe?"

Mochizuki Kaede turned to Argo in shock, only to see Argo wink smugly: "See? This is my real purpose."

While the old man was still waiting for an answer, Argo shouted, "Grandpa! I dropped that ordinary wooden axe."

“Honest child,” the old man with the beard nodded with satisfaction, handing all three axes to Argo. “These are yours as a reward.”

Argo immediately saw the rewards screen and clicked on the golden axe icon.

The golden axe instantly materialized in his hand, and Argo proudly brandished it: "See, this is the power of a professional information broker!"

As she spoke, she casually tossed the silver axe to Mochizuki Kaede: "Here, everyone who finds it gets a share."

Mochizuki Kaede caught the silver axe, a soft chuckle coming from beneath her mask. Argo was already eagerly studying the properties of the golden axe, muttering to himself, "I wonder how much it can sell for."

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Thank you [Chayanmo] for the razor blade!

Chapter 104: The Fallen Assassin

The eighth floor.

Twilight Forest.

The setting sun dyed the clouds blood red, and its afterglow filtered through the dense canopy, weaving distorted shadows through the forest. A pale purple mist permeated the entire forest, casting a hazy and dangerous hue over everything.

Kissmael raced through the towering ancient trees, her short purple hair soaked with sweat and clinging to her pale cheeks. Her rapid breaths condensed into white mist in the cold air, but she dared not slow her pace.

The sounds behind them grew closer and closer; the footsteps of the pursuers were like the urgent beat of a death knell.

"The Emerald Key must be delivered to the royal city..." she silently recited her mission. Her fingers traced the Emerald Key in the hidden pouch at her waist, a resolute glint flashing in her purple eyes. She had to deliver the key safely to the Dark Elf royal city on the ninth floor!

Therefore, the royal city specially dispatched ten elite guards to escort her.

Kismer started from the fortress on the fourth level.

The escort of the first few floors went relatively smoothly.

But just now, as they stepped into the Twilight Forest on the eighth level, a thick fog suddenly surged in from all directions. The fallen elves, like ghosts born from the fog, launched their attack without warning.

One by one, the guards fell, sacrificing their lives to buy her precious time to escape, but it was clearly far from enough.

"Shh!"

A flash of cold light grazed her cheek and embedded itself deeply in the tree trunk ahead. Kissmael swerved, changing direction and continuing her frantic run. She could feel her pursuers leaping through the treetops, relentlessly close by.

"Whizzing!"

Two more curved blades came hurtling through the air.

Kismer lunged forward, the blade grazing her hair and severing a few strands of purple lock. She could hear the sound of branches snapping behind her; the fallen elves were leaping nimbly through the canopy, much faster than she could run on the ground.

"【Fallen Assassins】..." Kismer's heart sank to the bottom. These were no ordinary fallen elves, but elite assassins specially trained for their craft. Their thin-bladed scimitars were coated with deadly poison, and combined with the mist in the forest, they were virtually impossible to defend against.

A dark shadow suddenly attacked from the side.

Kissmael barely managed to raise his saber to parry, the sparks from the clash of metal particularly glaring in the twilight.

The assassin used the momentum to flip backward and landed lightly on a tree branch.

"Hand over the key." The assassin's voice was like the scraping of metal, sending chills down your spine. "We can give you a quick death."

Kismael did not answer.

She slowly adjusted her breathing, the rise and fall of her chest becoming less and less pronounced. Her purple eyes gleamed faintly in the twilight, like two amethyst crystals immersed in a cold pool. The military knife in her hand remained motionless, its tip slightly raised, poised to deliver a fatal blow at any moment.

Although she was driven to the brink of despair, her pride as a royal guard of the dark elves did not allow her to show the slightest fear.

The assassin seemed to read her mind and let out a harsh, cold laugh: "Foolish."

He made a gesture, and six dark figures instantly appeared from among the surrounding tree canopies: "You think you can escape?"

Kezmer's face remained as cold as ice.

She suddenly flipped backward, the saber flashing a silver arc in the air—

"Qiang!"

Three poisoned arrows, fired from different angles, were simultaneously struck down by the saber.