Chapter 101: Boss Strategy Battle, Begin

At ten o'clock the next morning, all the players who had participated in the strategy meeting yesterday gathered outside the Labyrinth Area.

"Move out!" Diabel looked at those present and said in a deep voice.

Everyone wore a solemn expression; they knew that the battle they would face today would be the most severe since they entered the game, and it was even possible they would lose their lives.

Kirito and Lingyun's two teams walked at the very back of the group, and Kirito was explaining to Asuna some essential things to pay attention to when fighting in a party.

Because quite a few people had come here some time ago, most of the monsters in the Labyrinth Area had been cleared out. The few monsters that had just respawned were also wiped out in front of this powerful group.

Not much time had passed before the players raiding the boss arrived in front of the room where the floor boss was located.

Looking at the great door in front of him, Lingyun frowned slightly. He had been to this place before, but he had overlooked this door; he never expected that this was actually the location of the floor boss's room.

Diabel stood before the door, thrust his long sword into the ground, placed both hands on the hilt, and said loudly, "Listen to me, everyone. I have only one thing to say: let's win!"

"Oh!" Fighting spirit rose in the eyes of those present, and they nodded vigorously.

Extending both hands, Diabel pushed open the bronze door with force. A cold, gloomy aura blew out from the boss's room, rushing toward everyone present. Seeing the pitch-black room, the players felt a hint of nervousness and tightened their grips on their weapons.

Lingyun, at the very back of the group, had his expression change slightly; this wind contained a trace of the aura of death. It seemed this boss truly possessed the power of the Underworld King of the End.

Diabel took a deep breath and was the first to walk into the room. Behind him, the numerous players also swarmed into the room.

In the darkness, a tall figure was sitting on a throne. After all the players had entered, a pair of scarlet eyes suddenly lit up from the eye sockets of the dark shadow.

A burst of colorful light suddenly erupted in the dark room, spreading rapidly and soon illuminating the entire space. Once the room was fully lit, the true appearance of the floor boss appeared before everyone.

This floor boss looked like a chimera, standing over two meters tall with a barrel-like physique, appearing just like a giant, oversized fat rat.

However, this floor boss with such a bloated body suddenly leaped from its throne, performed a somersault in mid-air completely inconsistent with its image, and then landed on the ground like a heavy bomb. While emitting a dull thud, it also kicked up a gust of wind that fluttered the hems of all the players' clothes.

Holding its battle axe and shield high, a violent roar erupted from the floor boss, shaking a small number of players into taking several steps back. After the boss roared, six small monsters suddenly spawned in front of it. These six small monsters were less than half the height of the boss and were covered in sturdy armor.

"Not three, but six?" Diabel was slightly startled, "This is different from the beta test."

Lingyun's gaze fell upon the floor boss, his brow furrowed. The monster indicator above this boss's head had turned completely gray-white, and according to the intelligence provided by Ruoxi, this boss's strength had increased by at least 1.5 times, which was indeed a huge challenge for the current players. Moreover, the monster indicators of the guards it summoned had also turned half gray-white, clearly indicating their strength had also improved to a certain extent.

Fortunately, thanks to Lingyun's previous warning, the players who entered the room did not lose their composure. However, facing a boss that was quite different from the strategy guide, they still felt a trace of nervousness in their hearts.

"Everyone, begin the attack!" Seeing the boss charging rapidly from the front leading its elite guard minions, Diabel drew his long sword and pointed it toward the boss.

"Attack start!"

Following Diabel's order, the raiding party of over a hundred people surged forward, launching a charge against the boss and its elite guards. The unique glow of Sword Skills began to shine on their weapons. Within a few seconds, the sound of weapons clashing was already echoing intensely throughout the room.

Having been strengthened by the power of the Underworld King of the End, these minions had seen a significant increase in their strength, and no single player was a match for them. Fortunately, Diabel had the foresight to have the players form parties, using their numerical advantage to suppress these elite guards and prevent them from interfering with the players attacking the boss.

Compared to the players attacking the elite guards, those attacking the boss were in more precarious situations. The boss's attacks were quite powerful; each strike could deal significant damage to the players defending in the front row, while the players responsible for attacking could only deal a small amount of damage with each hit.

Diabel stood in the rear, his eyes fixed on the HP slots of the front-line players while constantly directing the movements of each party. Whenever a player was hit by the boss's attack, they would immediately retreat to the back, and other players would fill their positions. It had to be said that Diabel had a decent talent for command; under his direction, these players attacked the boss in an orderly fashion, and no casualties occurred. For a time, the battle remained at a stalemate.

"Let's go too!" When Diabel issued the attack order, Kirito gripped her long sword and attacked a minion.

Behind her, the long sword in Asuna's hand transformed into a stream of light, following closely behind.

The strength of the two was among the best of the many players. Although they had never met before, their skillful switching of attacks made people look on in admiration. Under their combined assault, the HP bar of the elite guard minion decreased at a speed no slower than that of the other six-person parties.

As for Lingyun's six-person party, they had also surrounded an elite guard minion, though only Luo Yexi, Busujima Saeko, and Suguha were attacking. Suguha seemed to have been influenced by Busujima Saeko, as she had no intention of using Sword Skills during the battle.

However, the attack speed of the three was quite swift, and the elite guard minion had no power to fight back before them. Its HP dropped rapidly.

Lingyun's gaze remained fixed on the boss. Although the boss looked incredibly valiant, it was still being suppressed by the players, and one of its four HP slots had already been emptied. However, Lingyun understood that this boss would definitely not be this simple; otherwise, it would not be worthy of the power of the Underworld King of the End it possessed.

Just as all the elite guards were cleared away, the boss's HP was down to the last tenth of its final HP slot. It looked like the boss was about to fall, and it had even thrown its weapon to the side. A glimmer of hope appeared in the eyes of the players present.

At this moment, Diabel, who had been directing everyone from the rear, suddenly spoke: "Everyone, fall back! Leave the rest to me!"

Diabel's abnormal behavior did not arouse suspicion from others; after all, it was under his command that this strengthened boss had been whittled down to this much HP.

Kirito, on the other hand, was taken aback: "At a time like this, shouldn't the whole army press the attack?"

Lingyun looked at Diabel, who had suddenly stepped forward, and frowned slightly. Although he had already warned him, was he still unable to suppress the greed in his heart?

Just as the long sword in Diabel's hand began to glow, a sudden change occurred. The boss suddenly roared toward the sky, its right hand slowly reaching behind it, and a gray-white mist began to spread from its body.