The strongest and greatest enemy, Martell, who traverses mountains and has a huge body that can even cross the sea on foot.

Asuna couldn't believe that she was the sister of Jupiter, a child who was being evacuated to safety.

It was supposed to look similar to Jupiter, but due to the severe damage it received, it absorbed the monsters in this castle, along with their AI, which can be said to be their life, and finally turned into a hideous figure.

Although it is the same type of MHHP as Jupiter, Asuna subconsciously wondered if Jupiter would become like this if it was hit hard, and she couldn't help but feel a chill in her back.

(But...) ）

"I don't have time to think about these things." Although they are the same MHHP, Martell and Jupiter are completely different beings, and now that they have amnesia, they are complete strangers, albeit poor. Now Martell is a terrifying monster that will eventually devour the castle. They are enemies that the player must defeat.

"Holy, what's going on? My attack suddenly failed! ”

Hearing the words of Diabel, who was fighting nearby, Asuna turned her attention to Martell's health. At first, Martell's health was decreasing when he was hit, but now his health is stuck as if it's frozen.

The people who gathered here and kept trying to break through this white patch, despite the capture group's continuous sword skills with special effects, Martell's health seemed to be neutralized and no longer decreased.

Kirito, who is very fast in analysis, may have thought of something, but Kirito flies with Shino on his back, so he won't accept our ideas and give us instructions.

No, it's not that he won't give you instructions, but since he's your opponent, he doesn't seem to know what kind of instructions to give him.

"Of course, they don't know how to attack either." It can be said that it is an irrational composition in itself, as if you are facing an enemy who is powerless to be human.

Continuing to look at the composition, Godfrey said in alarm.

"Deputy Commander, it looks like your attack didn't work!?"

I'd like to say "it's okay, the attack is working, be careful, keep going", but as Godfrey said, Martell's health really stopped decreasing.

It looks like a fortress covered by thick walls, and it will not move even if it is attacked. And from there, what was unleashed was a fire attack that was like a million armies firing at the same time. The absurdity itself, as if it exists only to push the player into the abyss of despair.

However, in order to prevent that attack, every time the shapeshifting naked woman moved, a flying wolf dragon would attack and interfere, so that the damage of the capture team was kept to a minimum, but even against the wolf dragon's attack, the deformed naked woman remained calm.

The spectacle of the wolf dragon's firepower, which could not even deal massive damage to any boss, was enough to dampen the fighting spirit of the captive soldiers who continued to fight with hope. The power of the wolf dragon, the rice field.

"What should I do if I attack me!?"

Just as I was muttering involuntarily, I heard a familiar roar. When I turned my gaze, I saw that there was Yuki, who was infiltrating a nearby capture party and firing a purple sword flash that cut off one of the legs of a strange naked woman.

So far, Yuki's sword has sliced through the body of any boss, inflicting fatal wounds. - Even when he received it, Martell only emitted a black light, showing no signs of harm. Seeing that Yuki's sword didn't work, Asuna shuddered.

"Woo woo !!"

If you look elsewhere, your buddy Lizbet, your best friends Sirika, Lifa, and Filia all give themselves special effects, while unleashing all-out attacks with sword skills such as a one-handed staff, dagger, and one-handed sword. What I can confirm is that it is still ongoing. However, I can also confirm that they were all blocked by the thick black skin that Martell had created from the corpses of several bosses.

"Uriahahah!!"

Similarly, he turns to Klein, Ekir, Diabel, and others, who lend themselves powers when defeating bosses, but after all, each of them has a lot of special effects and hit sword skills, and all of them are Martell. Looks like it's been disabled.

It was as if a non-venomous ant had bitten a thick, hard elephant's leg, and there was an unbelievable thought in his heart: if he continued to attack, he would eventually be defeated. This is the relationship between the capture team and the strange naked woman.

\"Can't we if this doesn't work!? \"

A while ago I mixed with everyone and tried a stab attack that caused a big wound to the boss, but I only felt the weapon being sucked into my body and didn't feel like hitting the enemy. I couldn't even get through my own attacks.

Soon after, I began to hear the screams of my fellow knights.

"No, no! There is no opponent we can deal with! ”

"No, run!!"

The considerable knights gathered here must have realized that their attacks had been completely nullified, and they all screamed, their faces turned pale, and began to flee from the deformed naked woman.

Can't let go of such a terrible enemy, but then think you can't win and run away - sorry, Asuna feels the same way, and now wants to run away and go to Jupiter on the first floor. be

"Hey everyone!!"

Just as Asuna turned her attention to the fleeing people, a loud voice reached her ears.

"Deputy Commander!!"

A man's voice that I wasn't used to hearing yet. By the time the voice reached overhead, Asuna had already been knocked to the ground. Immediately after, a roar sounded, as if something big had fallen, and the thick dust was flying, making it impossible to see anything clearly.

I didn't know what was going on, I fell to the ground, and finally the dust cleared and I could see what was happening around me, but when I looked up, Asuna was stunned.

Martell's giant legs were enshrined where he had just stood, surrounded by many of his companions, all of whom had red health. Perhaps Martell lifted his foot and tried to step on himself.

Asuna is horrified to find that if she stands there, she will really be trampled to death, but at the same time, she doesn't know how she survived.

"Everyone, what the hell is going on"

"Vice Captain, are you alright?"

Hearing the voice again, Asuna was taken aback and looked around, but she was taken aback when her gaze fell on her. Like everyone else, the blonde man was lying face down on the ground, his health turning red - he was a man who wanted to join the Order and came to the Knights of the Blood Oath, but that was it. Alberich decided to take part in the battle.

\"Ah, Mr. Alberridge! Could it be you!? \"

"Yes, it's unforgivable for a man to be hurt by a beautiful woman, and even then, it's terrible.

Alberridge's face was tattered and he had an optimistic smile on his face. Hearing this, Asuna realized that it was Alberridge who pushed her away at that time, and that she had also suffered the hurt she deserved, and almost cried.

"Mr. Alberridge"

"However, I can't seem to continue fighting, I didn't expect something like this to happen, so I didn't bring any recovery tools, and if a fight like this happens, I'll have to be more prepared. If you keep it."

Asuna pulled out a blue crystal from her inventory and handed it to Alberich.

"I see, Mr. Alberridge, I will give you my transfer crystal, please escape from this level with it, and then regain your strength and get ready to return."

"You're sure I'll be able to fight when I'm recovered, but the precious teleportation crystal"

"Now that you've protected me, there's nothing to worry about. So, please do something about it. ”

After making a somewhat surprised expression, Alberridge whispered "I understand", took the teleportation crystal handed by Asuna, and after saying the name of the seventy-fifth layer, his whole body was shrouded in blue light, and he withdrew from the battle.

Next, Asuna casts a combat skill called "Healing Circle", which has the effect of healing the surroundings, forming a formation around it that emits a warm green light, and the health of everyone who enters it is reduced to green. He recovered and stood up, but Asuna knew that it was nothing more than a consolation.

(His attack damage is)

Even if your stamina is green and heals completely, it will turn red with just one hit, or you will die instantly. Even if you use your recovery skill as usual, if you get hit again, you will be on the verge of death. No matter how you look at it, he is terribly poor.

"What should I do, what should I do!"

Those who stood up attacked again, but this did nothing for Martell, who had developed antibodies against the attack and spread them throughout his body.

One way to harm Martell's Yui was to destroy the antibodies that protect Martell's body, but I didn't know what to do.

For a moment, Asuna remembered Alice who created Martell, but immediately felt that Alice was also unreliable. This is because even Alice no longer understands what kind of existence Martell has become, and there is no countermeasure.

Even the developers were at a loss, and they themselves did not understand what to do with Martell.

"What should I do, what should I do"

"Martell, he can't do anything on his own." Martell still continued to launch a relentless attack to get rid of the invaders. Every time the huge body moves, it generates earthquake-like vibrations and shock waves that cause the mountain to collapse, engulf plants, and trigger landslides.

In fact, thanks to Martell's activities around the mountainous region where we are currently fighting, it has become a country that no longer retains its original form. It is said that it was through destruction and creation that a replica of the giant Daedaraboki created this country.

"Ahhh!!hhh

This time, a familiar scream rang out, and Asuna turned her head to look, but her face turned pale with surprise.

It was where Celica sits, but it was dyed black. At the top of the silica is Martell's giant feet, casting a shadow that slowly falls on the silica.

"S, Sirika-chan !!"

I called out to her, but Sirika was so frightened that she didn't dare to move while holding Pina. No, even if he moved, Martell's foot would crush Cilica first.

Even if we rush over now, it's too late, and even if we help Sirika, he'll be trampled under Martell's feet. Even knowing this, Asuna's legs moved on their own and rushed towards Sirika.

\"Celica, run!! ”

I tried to change position, but Sirika couldn't move. Measured to the naked eye, it was about 30 meters away from Silica, but to Asuna, this distance seemed very far away.

His footsteps moved slowly, as if time had slowed down only for him, and Martell's footsteps seemed to fall faster as he fell.

Those feet would soon crush Silica's body and life. Although she knew it was too late, Asuna didn't stop.

\"Sirika-chan!! \"

At the moment when Asuna's voice sounded, a blue flash suddenly flashed in front of Celica, and Celica's body jumped out of the black shadow. When I opened my eyes to see what was happening, the blue flash revealed its true identity.

- The one who has supported the captives so far is Diabel, the leader of the Holy Dragon Alliance.

\"Diabel!? \"

Celica emerges from the shadows with Pina in her arms, but Diabel is in the shadows as if she has taken over.

"Celica was saved, but Diabel would be trampled underfoot. "The moment Kirito's precious comrade-in-arms was killed, he became the leader of the Holy Dragon Alliance, and the moment the cleaning group lost, it did not help to avoid the crisis.

\"Diabelsan!! \"

Before Asuna's screams could reach her ears, Diabel gritted her teeth, raised her sword, and looked up at Martell's feet approaching from above.

"Ahhh!!hhh

Diabel then raised his sword as he roared. It's like putting a thin needle into the sole of an elephant's foot – when the foot touches the ground, it crushes the needle and the person trying to pierce it. Diaberu's last resistance was pointless, he was crushed by Martell's legs.

Asuna could easily imagine the moment as she closed her eyes tightly.

The next moment, the sound of Diabel being crushed was heard. Flesh and bones shattered, and the sound of nausea came to my ears - just as I thought so, a sudden scream sounded like the voice of a woman and the voice of a beast. Paddy field. This is no different from the sound Martell made when he was first attacked.

When I turned my head to see what was really happening, the figure of Diabel, who was supposed to be crushed, raised his sword and raised his legs, as if feeling intense pain, surprised. Martell's figure, standing there.

For a moment I thought Asuna must be dreaming, but as soon as Diabel moved, she came to her senses and walked there on her numb legs.

"Mr. Diel, Mr. Diabel, what are you doing? \"

Diabel replied to Asuna with a numb expression.

"Wow, I don't know, if I poke the soles of his feet with a sword, I'll be saved"

The next moment, a huge roar and shock wave hit, and the surrounding mountains collapsed all at once, and thick dust raged. Asuna and Diabel covered their faces, wondering what had happened, and when the dust cleared, they turned their heads to see Martell lying on the ground.

A living fortress that would never fall no matter how many times it was attacked had fallen at this time, much to the incomprehension of the occupying team, and Asuna moved her mouth slightly.

\"Kneel, kneel!? \"

"What the hell is going on?" Asuna wondered if Diaberu's blow was that effective, and as she turned her attention to Martell's leg, she noticed something.

- An intricate pattern of red light emerges from the soles of Martell's feet and torso as he lies down. And it flashes red like a beating heart.

"This can't be"

Martell took on a wide variety of bosses and grew into this form, but first, people almost always said that bosses had weaknesses compared to other bosses. Martell absorbs the boss and keeps getting stronger, but at the same time absorbs the boss's weaknesses, creating many overlapping parts.

And even if the body is immune to attacks, this part can't be circulated - that's why Diaberu's sword is so effective.

If you look around, you'll see that when Martel goes down, all of his soles have weaknesses. If all the members of the capture group gathered here now can collide with their powers, they may be able to inflict great damage on Martell. Asuna thought of the idea and raised her voice hard from deep within her abdomen.

"Everyone, attack the red light part!! That's Martell's weakness!! ”

Asuna's voice echoed through the devastated mountains and reached the ears of everyone on the ground, the wolf dragon flying in the sky, and Kirito and Shino on their backs, and the people who received the order rushed to the corpse of the fallen "alien". The "naked woman" seems to have made up her mind and begins to attack with a heart-beating light.

"Warriors gather here." When the weapons wielded by all of them pierced into the heart of the "Alien Nude", the "Alien Nude" let out a bloody scream, scattering a blood-red glow, indicating that the attack had taken effect. The roar of the warrior and the screams of the 'Alien Nude' engulfed the mountainous area that had been trampled by the 'Alien Nude' and turned it into an area close to the plain.

No matter how big they are, they are still bosses – bosses must be defeated - and the warriors relentlessly continue to fire swords at the heart of the "Strange Nude", bathed in blood-red light.

The vitality of the "Strange Nude Girl", which had never decreased, began to decrease significantly, and the first, second, and third fell in the blink of an eye. And, due to the constant attacks on her weakness, the body of the "naked woman" could not move, and was only stabbed multiple times in the heart on one side.

"It's not just the soles of the feet that are being attacked." The "naked" back reveals a weakness that is larger than the soles of the feet, and the remaining amount has been greatly reduced. Kirito, the owner of the wolf dragon, who was standing behind the wolf dragon and observing, shouted to the two.

\"Lilane and Shiina, please stop attacking for now!

"Impossible! What should I do if he moves while riding on his back!? \"

"In that case, fly to me and pick me up!"

As he spoke, Kirito kicked the wolf dragon in the back and flew into the sky, then plummeted. Her left hand inherited the longsword "Mad Ruler" that the former Blood Knight Commander had forged for herself, and when I approached the pattern, the sword glowed red.

"Hahahahaha!!"

Kirito roared as he unleashed a high-speed stab at the back of the "Alien Nude" like a flash flood. Its name is "Crimson Splash" and it pierces enemies at super high speeds, making them look like honeycombs.

Every time the sword was bitten, a red light like blood would scatter, and Kirito's body was instantly stained red by the red light emitted by the two-handed sword and the wound of the "alien nude".

"Ahhh!!hhh

Even though he looked like he was soaked in blood, Kirito didn't stop attacking and launched his next sword move. Begin. "Shine Circle", emitting an intense white-green glow, performs 15 cuts on enemies in a fraction of the time.

At the moment when the final blow was about to erupt, the thick legs of the "Alien Nude" turned into a pale blue figure and exploded into a large number of polygonal fragments. The torso, which had lost its limbs, fell to the ground with a bang.

As the weak point was constantly attacked by the samurai who attacked the castle, the castle collapsed like a wedge dropped. The last remaining weakness was struck by the leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath with a two-handed sword.

In the next moment, the "Strange Nude Girl" who trampled on the city and continued to devour countless lives finally devoured the castle itself, and the huge black body formed by the mixture of different life forms exploded into a pale blue glass, leaving only the upper body to stop moving completely.

"Is it over?"

It wasn't until a few minutes after the "strange naked woman" had completely collapsed that the warriors who had been fighting stopped holding up.

MHHP-01 Martel, has turned into a figure reminiscent of a living fortress. It was damaged while carrying out its previous mission, turning into an all-devouring monster.

Martell is about to devour the earth, devour life, and eventually Ayngrant itself. However, it was located on the eightieth floor, even lower than the top floor, and in the hands of those who wanted to reach the top floor of this castle, it lost its black volume and fell to the ground. Of course, the warriors who confronted them, that is, the assault group, were also heavily damaged, but only those who fled, and miraculously there were no casualties.

One of them, Asuna, came to the head of her guild and her friend, Kirito, and called out to her.

"Kirito, Martell is"

Mr. Martell, who heard from Alice's mouth, looked at the completely changed figure, and Kirito's face was extremely solemn. If you look closely, you can also see his teacher Rilan and his best friend Shino next to him, but both of them have extremely serious expressions.

"Your HP is already zero.

"You're saying Martell was manipulated by someone?"

"I don't know. But Martell had fallen. It looks like he completely lost his combat capability, restoring the damaged MHHP. ”

As Kirito said, Martell lay motionless on the ground. However, although Martell has become a monster, even if his health reaches zero, he will not disappear at all. This means that Martel is no longer a monster and is no longer an NPC.

"But isn't that weird? Martell, although your health is zero, it shows no signs of disappearing. ”

When Asuna listened to Shino's words and nodded, the next moment, Martell's body suddenly began to glow, shrinking from a size of 10m. Thinking that Martell would strike again, the gathered captives raised their voices and prepared their weapons. But instead of attacking, Martell gradually shrank until he was almost as big as them.

Lifeless pottery-like white skin had regained its warm complexion, and the figure had lost its limbs, leaving only a woman visible from those parts that continued to glow as red as the light of annihilation. Even so, the surrounding assault groups were still armed, as if they thought they were going to attack.

However, one of them, Lizbet and Sirika, Filia and Yuki, Lifa and Klein, Achill and Diabel, are slowly walking towards us, and one of them, Lizbet, shouts to Asuna.

Asuna Martell stopped. \"

"yes, it looks like we attacked and stopped."

"Are you really not moving?

Just as he was about to answer Sirika's words, Kirito, who was closer to Martell, approached him silently and slowly picked up his body.

Although he had stopped moving, the presence of the Captain of the Knights of the Blood Oath picked up Martel, who might attack him again, and everyone around him let out an exclamation of surprise, while his sister Lifa called out to her brother...

"Hey, hey, Ernie sauce! \"

Kirito looked up and shook his head again. It was a declaration of intent that the guy would not attack again, and everyone who received it put away their weapons, but did not move. Of these, only Kirito's partner, Lilan, and his wife, Shino, are close to Kirito.

"I'm really good"

"yes, this guy doesn't even have the strength to move, and he'll be gone soon."

This world is inside VRmmo, and the life that lives here is nothing more than a program. Despite this, Kirito's face was still a little sad, and he continued to live in Lilan's existence, and understood that the programs in this world were also lives.

Then, the appearance of Martell, who was still domineering just now, made her only feel terrible, and now can only be regarded as a woman who has lost her limbs, made her feel a heart-wrenching sadness.

"What the hell is this guy trying to do?" \"

When Lilan's "voice" sounded in his head, Kirito whispered.

If this guy still has the strength to answer us, he might be able to hear it. \"

"Martell, do you understand what I'm talking about?" I'd like to hear your story. ”

She had waist-length blonde hair, and if it was the same as before, her eyes would be red, and he just didn't say anything and didn't answer.

"I don't even have the strength to answer"

Filia's sad words made Kirito gnash her teeth. However, immediately afterward, Martell seemed to sense Kirito's mood and let out a faint voice from his mouth.

"Child"

Hearing this, everyone gathered was taken aback, and Kirito also opened his eyes wide and said to Martell.

"Martell, do you understand what I'm talking about?"

When Kirito swayed, Martell opened his eyelids, revealing his eyes slightly. Its color is ruddy like a jewel, but it seems to have no focus, towering into the sky. In fact, Martell whispered out the words.

“... ki、hi、ko、a、ki、hi、ko”

“？”

"Aki, Hiko, A, Nozomi, Hiko, Aki, Hiko, Akihiko"

\"AKihiKo？ \"

"Akihiko." Those who heard Martell's words were stunned and speechless. In their own words, the word Akihiko is a name, the name of a person who can never forget. That's right, it's Akihiko Kayaba, the lead developer of this game, and the one who turned this game into a death game and trapped the player himself.

"Akihiko Akihiko is Akihiko Kayaba!?"

Before he could hear Asuna's words, Kirito asked Martell in a loud voice.

"Akihiko, are you talking about Akihiko Kayaba, Martell!"

Martell only mentioned the name awkwardly, then raised his lost hand to the sky, without attempting to answer any questions. Not only that, but the red light that appeared in Martell's body became stronger and stronger, and Shino found that the light was exactly the same as when Yui was about to be erased by Cardinal.

"Oh, Martell is gone!"

"Never!"

When Yui disappears like this, Yui is slashed by Lilan and saves him. Thinking of that time, Kirito immediately turned his head to face Lilan, but Lilane looked like he didn't know what was going on, just stared at Martell and made some kind of move. I'm not trying to get people's attention.

"Re-run, help Martell! It's like Yui! ”

"There is no answer to the re-run." At the time, Lilan was acting crazy and seemed to be helping Yui, but when I asked her later, she asked me why I did it and how I could have done such a thing, and I replied that I didn't know, disheartening my master.

"Now the replay may still be the same, and he doesn't know what to do." I didn't know what kind of action I should take to do something like that, so I couldn't even respond to my master's orders, and could only watch as the figure of a woman disappeared into my master's chest.

The annihilation glow grew stronger, giving the illusion of fireflies flying around Martell's body.

"Martell, Martell!!"

"Minghiko, Ming, Yan, Ming, Hi, Brother, Ah Ki Hi Brother"

Martell did not respond to Kirito's call, but continued to call the name of the game's developer, the god of this world. And when it was cut off, its body emitted light that burned the eyes of those around it.

The light was so intense that it obscured his eyes, and by the time he finally came to his senses, Martell had disappeared from Kirito's chest, and Kirito was embracing the void.

"Hah!!"

Alice told me that Martell was Jupiter's sister and an immediate family member of Jupiter's Yuichi. Asuna thought that if she could get Martell back to normal, she could take him to Jupiter and live with him.

- Asuna, who witnessed the complete disappearance of this scene, felt a pain in her chest as if she had been pricked by a thick needle.

"Martel"

The final moments of that ugly "weird naked woman". Although the enemy who devoured so many bosses, destroyed the castle's layers and terrified them is now dead, no one can make a sound of joy.

However, a few seconds later, the sound of a horn sounding in the ears of everyone gathered at the level increase. Everyone was surprised when I zoomed out the status screen to see what was going on and check the levels.

"Your level is rising."

At the time of this battle, Kirito's level was level 110, the highest among them, but now upon inspection, his level has been raised to level 125.

Kirito discovers that Martell's experience points are infused into the attributes of all those who participate in the battle, and his level increases by an unimaginable degree in a single battle. I can understand that this increase of 15 is the result of the addition of the experience points of all the monsters and bosses that Martell eats.

"What is this way of going up, why is it jumping 15?"

Lyfa replied to Klein's whisper.

"Maybe the experience points of the bosses and monsters that Martell ate have come to us"

Hearing Lifa's words, everyone present understood the reason for the level increase, and immediately after, a loud bang resounded through the war zone destroyed by Martell. When I looked up a little dazed, I saw the "Congratulations!!" that appeared when I conquered the boss. words.

In the usual boss battles, there is nothing that makes me happier and more accomplished than this sentence, but now that the boss battle is over, no one raises their voice, and no one is happy. One of them, Egil, whispered.

"I'm not happy at all even though my rank has been raised"

The mountains were destroyed, all the flowers and trees were swallowed up by mud and sand, and all the animals were eaten by the "strange women".

Among them, the warriors just stood there and did not speak, but it didn't take long for Kirito, who was carrying Martell, who had turned into a "deformed nude", to stand up quietly.

"Kirito"

\"Everyone retreats. From the 77th floor to the 83rd floor, the boss battle where everything was frozen was successfully concluded. It's great that no one died. The strange monster is dead, and Ayn Grant's crisis is over. \"

"From tomorrow, we will attack the 84th floor." This Ayn Grant only has sixteen floors left, and he has a good rest and prepares for tomorrow's attack. Thank you for being with me today. At this point, the party was dissolved. ”

When Shishino whispered to the figure, Kirito couldn't make any effort with his usual voice, but the voice passed through the barren mountains and reached the ears of everyone present.

Immediately afterward, the "Alien Nude" attack force gathered there slowly stood up and began to walk towards the town where the portal was located. Although the mountain has completely collapsed, it does not mean that the exact location has been lost, and if necessary, it is possible to use the teleportation crystal to go back to various places, so everyone's faces are worried. It is not floating.

Lizbet and Sirika, Filia and Yuki, Lifa and Klein, Ekir and Diabel go to the Blood Knights and their friend Kirito. As she walked to her side, Lizzebert shouted to Kirito as he stared at the empty sky.

"Kirito"

Perhaps in response to this voice, Kirito looked around, at his reliable companions, and moved his mouth slightly.

"Everybody is still alive. I am happy. ”

\"yes. We've finally succeeded. But Kirito-san\"

Araki said after Celica.

"Just before Martell disappeared, you said Akihiko, didn't you? Akihiko that Akihiko? ”

Kirito nodded as if he understood what Yuki was trying to say.

"I think so, but I don't quite know the truth. - I'm going to check the truth now. \"

Asuna said immediately.

"Teacher Alice's location. If it was Alice-sensei, she would be on the first floor with Yui, Miss Streya, and Jupiter. \"

Kirito nodded, looking around again.