Chapter 109: The Near-Death Girl

Not long after Lingyun and his party entered the portal, all players on the 21st Floor received a system message simultaneously.

In a forest, Kirito cleaved a monster in front of him into fragments with one strike, then opened his information panel to see the system announcement. After reading the system announcement, Kirito could not help but give a wry smile; the strength of Lingyun and the others was truly too powerful, having defeated the 21st Floor's boss in such a short time. It seemed the distance between him and them was growing ever larger!

Touching the 【Midnight Coat】 on his body, a flash of determination crossed Kirito's eyes. That's right, what Kirito was wearing now was the item obtained after Lingyun landed the final blow on the 1st Floor boss, though Lingyun had borrowed Suguha's hand to deliver this equipment to Kirito. In Lingyun's view, Kirito equipped with the 【Midnight Coat】 was the true Black Swordsman Kirito.

"I can't let you guys leave me too far behind!" Kirito took a Teleport Crystal from his item menu. However, this Teleport Crystal was different from ordinary ones; it seemed to contain a faint, mysterious glow.

Kirito sent a message each to Suguha and Asuna, then activated the Teleport Crystal, his entire person disappearing into a sheet of white light.

At this time, Aincrad 21st Floor.

Lingyun and the others were touring this brand-new Town. As for quests and the like, they weren't too important to Lingyun and his group; after all, in their current state, they didn't need to rely on various quests to improve their strength, so it was better to leave these quests to those in need. After all, for ordinary Berserk Monsters, other players were the main force for eliminating them.

Unknowingly, several hours had passed, and quite a few other players had appeared in this town. Seeing that Lingqi's condition had mostly recovered, Lingyun and the others discussed it and left the town.

The goal of Lingyun's party was a cave outside the town. It was said that some strange skeleton monsters had appeared in the cave, often coming out to commit evil and posing a huge threat to the people in this town.

Seeing this quest description, Lingyun and the others knew that the monsters in this cave were definitely subordinates of the Underworld King of the End. After all, the theme of this floor was not skeletons; only the power of the Underworld King of the End could create a cave producing skeletons here. After all, skeletons represent death!

"Is this the cave?" Lingqi looked at the cave before him, his eyes filled with curiosity.

The land outside this cave had turned completely gray-white, and the ground was barren, without even a single plant, like a dead zone. Gusts of cold wind blew out from the cave, making those standing outside feel a chill.

"That's right, it's this aura!" Luo Yexi drew the long sword from her back; bearing the Nine Yang Power, she was extremely sensitive to this kind of power from the underworld.

"Let's go, let's go see what the difference is between the skeletons in this SAO and the skeletons in other games!" Lingyun led the way into the cave.

After entering the cave for a while, Lingyun could not help but frown. Logically speaking, with outsiders entering this cave, the skeletons inside should have gathered together to give the intruders a warm 'welcome'. Why hadn't they seen a single skeleton yet?

At first, Lingyun and the others thought the skeletons here had hidden themselves, waiting for an opportunity to launch a surprise attack. But after going deeper into the cave, they still hadn't found a single shadow of a skeleton.

"Could it be that someone arrived here before us and eliminated all the skeletons here?" Alice offered her opinion.

"It's possible, but now is not the time to jump to conclusions. Let's go a bit deeper and see what the situation really is!" Lingyun waved his hand.

After turning a corner, Lingyun and the others heard the sounds of battle. Hearing this, they quickened their pace and rushed forward. Not long after, they saw a player fighting against a group of skeletons.

This player was a girl, looking like a child of about eleven or twelve, with long purple hair. However, although the girl was young, the sword in her hand was incomparably sharp. Even though she was surrounded by a group of skeletons, the reality was that she was suppressing them.

"Such fast attack speed, it doesn't pale in comparison to Asuna, whom we saw before!" Luo Yexi exclaimed as she watched the girl's sword-swinging speed.

"This person, she looks a bit familiar!" Lingyun looked at the girl, a flash of doubt in his eyes; he felt he had seen information about this girl somewhere before.

The group watched the girl fight quietly, having no intention of intervening. After all, they weren't very familiar with each other yet, and the girl wasn't in any danger; rushing to support her rashly might lead to a misunderstanding.

"Hm?" Suddenly, Luo Yexi's brow furrowed. She noticed that the girl in the middle of the fight swayed violently, the sword in her hand slowed down suddenly, and the HP Slot above her head dropped by a large chunk.

"Not good!"

Seeing a skeleton raise the rusted sword in its hand to cleave at the girl, Alice acted without the slightest hesitation. Several Ice Arrows shot from her hands, hitting the skeleton, and the skeletons surrounding the girl were instantly frozen in a sheet of ice.

The moment Alice attacked, Luo Yexi also rushed out. With a flash, she arrived at the girl's side, the long sword in her hand tracing a gorgeous red trajectory, slicing all the skeletons encased in ice into fragments.

"So, so amazing!" The girl looked at Luo Yexi's figure as she swung her sword, little stars appearing in her eyes.

"Are you alright?" Luo Yexi reached out to steady the girl, who was struggling to stand. Upon seeing this girl for the first time, the optimistic and positive aura radiating from her gave Luo Yexi quite a good impression.

"I'm fine!" The girl shook her head, then looked at Luo Yexi with excitement, "Big sister, you're so amazing!"

To the girl's praise, Luo Yexi only shook her head slightly.

As the surrounding skeletons hissed silently and surrounded them, Luo Yexi raised her brows slightly and gripped her long sword. However, before she could act, Busujima Saeko and Lingqi moved first. To them, a mere group of skeletons was no different from dirt and dogs; in a short while, they were all turned into fragments and disappeared.

"My name is Yuuki. May I ask what the names of you big brothers and big sisters are?" The girl tilted her head as she looked at everyone present.

"My name is Luo Yexi, and they are Lingyun, Busujima Saeko, Xili Ailisi, and Lingqi." Luo Yexi smiled as she introduced everyone present to her one by one.

Lingyun smiled at Yuuki, a flash of sudden realization in his eyes. This girl was none other than the protagonist of the Mother's Rosario arc in Sword Art Online; he hadn't expected her to be dragged into this world as well. Lingyun also had a good impression of this energetic girl who faced life optimistically despite the constant threat of death.

"Eh, what is this status?" Luo Yexi suddenly saw a status on Yuuki's avatar, and her brow furrowed instantly.

Near Death: Due to physical reasons, there is a possibility of death at any time due to the HP Slot automatically emptying.

"Master, what is this status?" Luo Yexi looked at Lingyun with some confusion.

"Yuuki probably doesn't have good health in reality!" Lingyun said as he looked at Yuuki. To be honest, he was also surprised; he hadn't expected the illness in Yuuki's body to turn into a status in this world.

Regarding this question, Yuuki just smiled: "It's nothing. At least I can still move around in this world, right?"

"This..." Luo Yexi looked at Lingyun with hope, "Master, you have a way, right!"

"Master?" Yuuki was a bit surprised by how Luo Yexi addressed Lingyun.

"If it were in reality, I would have quite a few simple methods. But now that we are in this world, the illness in Yuuki's body has become a permanent status, so it's a bit troublesome to resolve!" Lingyun frowned slightly.

"Big sister Luo Yexi, it doesn't matter. I'm already very satisfied to be able to move freely in this world, so don't trouble big brother." Yuuki gently tugged on Luo Yexi's clothes.

"Don't worry, my master is very amazing; he will definitely be able to solve the trouble you have!" Luo Yexi smiled and patted Yuuki's head.

Yuuki squinted her eyes, seeming to enjoy the head-patting from Luo Yexi.

"It's just like a big sister!" Yuuki thought in her heart.

Lingyun smiled and explained: "Don't worry, it's just a bit troublesome, I will solve it soon! You don't need to worry."

"Lingyun, shall we return to the town now, or continue exploring this cave?" Lingqi asked.

"Big sister, did you guys also accept this quest?" Yuuki looked at Luo Yexi and blinked, while stretching her body, "Yuuki is fine now, let's continue exploring this cave!"

Looking at Yuuki, Lingyun and the others exchanged glances and nodded. Luo Yexi invited Yuuki into their party, and then the group walked toward the deeper parts of the cave.