I, the spiritual mentor of beautiful girls from all over the world

No sooner had he finished speaking than a hot-tempered lone player slammed his hand on the table, stood up, and his eyes were bloodshot.

“This won’t work, that won’t work?! We’ve already wasted half a month here! Half a month!” he shouted, almost roaring.

"This was unimaginable before! Are we just going to be stuck here until we die?!"

"Then why are you yelling?! Do you have a solution?!" someone nearby immediately retorted irritably.

"Every time you charge in, you're the one who loses health the fastest! That's not bravery, that's suicide!"

"You're still better than a coward like you! You don't even dare to draw your sword, what kind of player are you!"

"What the hell did you say?!"

The atmosphere inside the stronghold instantly became tense, and the fear and anxiety that had been suppressed for half a month, like a volcano about to erupt, instantly reached a critical point.

Just as the situation was about to get out of control, a member of the Knights of the Blood Oath suddenly tapped the table with his sword sheath, making a dull thud.

"Shut up, all of you! Is this the time to argue?" he yelled, but the chaotic scene did not improve.

His gaze swept across the chaotic crowd, finally settling on the black-clad swordsman in the corner who had remained silent throughout.

"The Black-Clad Swordsman".

He raised his voice, drawing everyone's attention in that direction.

"You haven't said anything. With your analytical skills, you should have reached a conclusion by now, right?"

Instantly, all the arguing stopped.

Hundreds of eyes focused on Kirito's number 13, carrying the last glimmer of hope.

Faced with this sudden attention, Kirito simply raised his eyelids slowly, his usually expressionless face revealing neither joy nor anger.

He remained silent for a moment before speaking in his usual, emotionless voice.

"It's hard."

As soon as Kiritani uttered those two words, the temperature in the conference room seemed to drop several degrees.

"The Boss's attack pattern has a very short window of vulnerability, but that window is precisely the prelude to its next claw attack."

"To seize that opportunity to attack is basically like taking its claws with your face; the mortality rate... is probably over 30%."

Thirty percent!

This number made all the elite players present look extremely grim.

This is no longer a strategy guide; it's a gamble with your life.

While everyone was arguing fiercely, trying to find a way out of their predicament, one figure stood out from the crowd.

Asuna the Flash.

The vice-commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath, and the strongest sword in the strategy guide.

She wore a red and white knight's uniform, a symbol of the knightly order's honor, and her slender figure appeared somewhat frail in the dim light.

She didn't participate in any discussion; she just sat there quietly, her snow-white fingers unconsciously tracing a letter that no one could see on the table, over and over again.

【LE】.

Looking at her companions around her, who were doing their best to "survive," and at the look of trust and information exchanged between Kirito and the other lone players, an indescribable sense of loneliness quietly gripped her heart.

But she didn't care.

She even somewhat enjoyed this solitude.

This made her realize with absolute clarity just how different she was from this world struggling on the brink of death.

Her destiny, her deity, and her entire meaning lie in another distant world.

Here, she was just a passerby.

A traveler who has to stay temporarily in order to get a ticket home.

"enough."

The cool voice wasn't loud, but it instantly drowned out all the arguments.

Inside the stronghold, there was an instant silence.

Everyone's eyes were instinctively drawn to the silent girl.

Asuna slowly stood up, her gaze calmly sweeping over everyone present.

In those beautiful hazel eyes, there was no fear, no confusion, only an almost icy clarity.

"We used conventional tactics and hit a wall here for half a month."

She spoke calmly, but her words hit the nail on the head.

"And what was the result? Apart from the daily increase in wounded and the dwindling supplies, we gained nothing."

One sentence made everyone lower their heads in shame.

"Therefore, abandon the war of attrition."

She walked to the simple map, picked up the chess pieces representing the positions, and quickly arranged a brand new formation in an unquestionable tone.

"From now on, our goal is not to wear it down, but to force it to reveal its weaknesses."

"Frontline tank crew, your mission is not to withstand the attack head-on, but to 'tame' it."

"Take turns every thirty seconds, use taunt skills to disrupt its attack rhythm, constantly provoke it, and force it to use the 'Corruption and Decay' skill!"

"This...how is this possible?!" a veteran tank player immediately retorted.

"The rotation interval is only 30 seconds, the output downtime is too long!"

"Furthermore, the enraged Boss's attack power will increase, so we..."

Asuna's gaze fell on him, and she asked calmly, "You can't do it?"

The player felt uneasy under her gaze. Even though she was just a girl younger than him, her eyes seemed to see right through him, including his deepest fear of death.

"I……"

"If you can't do it, then find someone else." Asuna's tone was completely calm.

"Kladier, you'll lead the front line, any problems?"

Kradir, whose name was called, was taken aback for a moment, then puffed out his chest: "No problem, Vice Commander!"

Asuna nodded, then turned her gaze to the other side.

"Healing team, abandon all continuous healing spells and use all your divine power to prepare instant healing spells."

"Your mission is to pull people back from the brink of death in the instant the tanks are switching sides."

"But the mana cost..."

“We don’t have time for a battle where we have to consider mana consumption,” Asuna interrupted her.

“If this drags on any longer, we won’t even have black bread to eat, let alone medicine.”

"The logistics support for life skills players has run out of supplies."

"This is our last stand."

Finally, her gaze fell on Kirito.

"Kirito, you and your squad are the insurance for this tactic."

"When it is completely enraged and its attacks are out of control, you must cut off its spellcasting at any cost."

"Moreover, we cannot afford to make a single mistake."

Kirito frowned. He was cautious by nature, and Asuna's tactics seemed to him like walking a tightrope over a volcano, with every step fraught with deadly risk.

But he didn't argue.

Because just as Asuna was explaining the tactics, his brain was also working at lightning speed.

He saw the immense risk of death in this plan, but he also saw the only... chance of survival.

This is a tactic that gambles everyone's lives on a single flaw.

Crazy, yet possessing a deadly, precise beauty.

"Leave the final decapitation mission to me."

Asuna revealed the core of the plan, her voice filled with absolute confidence.

"The strategy guide indicates that after the boss casts 'Corruption and Decay,' there will be a 1.5-second period of absolute stun. That is our only chance."

She left with her last words, then turned and walked towards the door.

"Remember, all you need to do is create that one and a half seconds for me. The rest is irrelevant."

Her back view was resolute and aloof, as if she wasn't going to challenge a floor boss that could wipe them out at any moment, but simply to complete an ordinary task.

As the white figure disappeared through the door, the people in the conference room snapped out of their daze and looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Has she... gone mad?"

"This tactic is too reckless! One and a half seconds... how is it possible to catch someone like that!"

Kirito didn't speak; he just stared intently at the doorway, his unease growing stronger.

He finally began to understand.

Asuna wasn't gambling; she was absolutely certain that she could end everything after getting that 1.5 seconds.

And this is precisely the root of Kirito's unease.

It was this absolute confidence, which was beyond the realm of humanity and bordered on madness, that gave him a strange sense of unease.

This is so abnormal.

Everyone present, including himself, was struggling, calculating, and weighing the pros and cons for the most basic goal of "survival."

Every battle is a tightrope walk between fear and the will to survive.

Koasuna is different.

He sensed something from her that was far more terrifying than the will to survive.

It was a pure, extreme obsession, seemingly capable of burning the entire world...

She seemed to have no regard for her own life or death, nor for the rules of this world. Everything she did was solely to achieve some unknown purpose that transcended life and death.

This resolve to burn oneself completely and transform into a sharp sword sent a chill down Kirito's spine.

What exactly is she fighting for?

……

"hell"

When the battle truly began, only this word remained in everyone's mind.

The boss was far more powerful than they had imagined.

The corrosive breath of the skeletal dragon almost covered the entire battle area, and the strategy team's formation was instantly shattered.

"Hold on in the front row!!"

"Heal him! Quickly heal Klein! He's about to collapse!"

"No! The boss's attack frequency is too fast! My mana..."

Screams, roars, and the thunderous clang of clashing weapons intertwined to create a symphony of despair.

Kirito's assault squad, the spearhead of the entire raiding party, was now being driven back in defeat.

His prized reaction speed was barely enough to protect him from the Boss's relentless barrage of attacks.

A heavily armored tank made a positioning mistake and was struck by the Boss's claws. Its health bar was instantly emptied, and after a miserable scream of despair, it turned into countless blue data fragments.

The first victim appeared.

Despair, like a plague, began to spread among the people.

"Pina!" A shrill scream drew Kirito's attention.

It's Silica!

She was supposed to be providing support from the back of the team, but somehow she got caught up in the chaos at the front.