If you look at the time, it's 9:30 a.m. in the real world and 10:00 a.m. in the game. The time is relatively close to real-world time, which is unusual in the world of ALo, as there is often a big difference between in-game time and real-world time. If that's the case, we'll be able to carry out our strategy today.

Other than that, however, there was nothing remarkable, and it became increasingly unclear why Quinera had asked me to open the window like that. Why did this girl do this?

\"Ah, Kiritoro-sama, don't close the window. \"

Just as I was about to close the window, Quinella stopped me, and I couldn't help but stop. Just as I was about to say what I was about to say, I noticed something floating in the open window. This is a notification that you have acquired a new item and that the message has arrived.

"Oh, what is this?"

"It's important."

Hearing Quinella's words, I tilted my head, opened the item window, clicked on the tab for the newly acquired item, and found that it belonged to a valuable item called "mhhp_003", which is unlikely to be found in ALo. At the same time, my mind was reminded of yesterday's events.

If I'm not mistaken, when I completed the mission yesterday, I got a lot of items that I wouldn't normally use, such as weapons, materials, and consumables. Since there were so many items that could be obtained, I checked and sorted out the number and variety of items I obtained before exiting this room, but at the time I remembered that there were items with such names, but there were none.

However, I understand what "mhhp_003" means. Mental Health Healing Program No. 3, in other words, the model and official name of the quinella in front of you. The item of this name refers to the main body of MHHP and is a program that cannot be used in the game.

In other words, I am now facing a situation where I have put the body of the girl in front of me in my inventory and am looking at it.

\"Hey, why are you here!? \"

\"Got it? Kirito Arai-sama. \"

Of course, I don't remember ever getting something like this, and Alice was the first to have it, so I couldn't possibly have it. Why and how to get Quinella's body? With that in mind, I continued to open the message window that Quinella had instructed me to check, where I had also discovered something that had only appeared yesterday. The sender is "Alice" and the title is "To Kirito".

New news from Alice, the developer and mother of Quinella, and the owner of the Quinella program.

(Maybe from Alice?) ）

Shino's mentor, and my mentor, Alice, is sometimes teasing, sometimes telling serious stories, sometimes firmly taught. Quinella, who was supposed to be by Alice's side, came to me with a message, and I couldn't help but feel like I understood Alice's thoughts.

The content of this message was probably as far as I could imagine it - I opened the window with this in mind. The next moment, a relatively large window appeared, and my eyes followed the sentence written on it.

\"To Kirito-kun.

If you're reading this, it means that Quinella greets you when you log in to ALo. It's sudden, but I've entrusted Quinella to you.

"Compared to Lilan and Yui, Quinella's growth has been delayed." To facilitate this growth, I need your power to nurture Yui, Lilan, and Strea so far, as well as yourself, yourself in an environment that has been diving into this ALo longer than I am.

Quinella still has the functions of a nautical elf, and together with Yui, she becomes a double nautical elf. In addition, I asked Yui to teach Quinella how to support her, which will be useful for future captures.

"Although it was a sudden request, please take care of Quinera for a while. \"

"By the way, I can still log in, so you don't have to worry."

From irises \"

"The content of the message is exactly what I imagined." Quenella, who was supposed to have been by Alice's side all along, is now by my side, and Quenella's essence is also presented on my Amusphere, which is impossible.

Aside from the fact that there is no set login time or a habit of taking immediate action when something comes to mind - we can do it normally, but not - sometimes the data files are sent directly to Amusphere, and since it's about Alice, it's probably that she sent Quenella's body data to my Amusphere while I was logged out.

Then, the other players transferred the navigation sprites they rarely did, and changed the owner of Quinella from themselves to me. Quinella must have gained access to this room and entered here by becoming my navigation elf.

When I learned the truth, I closed the message window and turned to look at Quinnera.

"I see, did you come here at your mother's behest?"

\"Hmm. Kasama asked Kirito to stay with me for a while from now on. \"

"You also said you could open my room."

\"yes. Originally, I wanted to ask Yui to open it for me, but I did it anyway. \"

"I think so. You're my navigation elf. ”

I gently placed my hand on Quinella's head and stroked it gently, just like I did with Yui.

It was only recently that we got to know the girl, Quinella, and learned that she was the third member of MHHP, the other two being Liran and Jupiter.

From then on, Quinella began to act as Alice's navigation elf, and when Alice was involved in our strategy, she would also support Yui, but Alice's message said: As expected, Quinella felt weird.

Mental health therapy programs like Lilan and Jupiter, as well as mental health counseling programs like Yui and Strea, are set up to be extremely powerful and advanced in learning compared to the AI here, and will grow quickly if you teach them all sorts of things.

And the Quinella in front of her is also the third mhhp, so she has the ability to learn and evolve that other AIs can't match. So, there's no doubt that quinella will grow into a stronger and smarter AI in the future, but in any case, I feel like quinella is growing a little slower than Lilan and Yui.

It's been a while since Quinella got to know us. Girls like "And Relan" take them to the city shopping, so they must have learned a lot and grown.

However, despite how it should be, Quinella still speaks slurred, and her speech and movements are still somewhat childish, showing no signs of growth or evolution. Previously, Jupiter, the elder brother of the same type as Quinnera, was in this state, but Jupiter later grew and evolved through various events to reach his current state. Quinella should have gone through just as many experiences a day, but as expected, she showed no signs of growth.

It's as if experience points are accumulating, but they don't show up in the growth of rank or status.

Alice, a developer and mother, said, "All MHHP and MHCP are individual, so no child is the same. Even so, Quinella may have grown up a little more. It should be fine.

“”

If this continues, Quinella's growth will only be delayed, and we will not be able to enjoy Quinella. Judging by what is happening so far, Alice is well aware of this, and she believes that we have found a solution. I guess he was thinking about what to leave Quinella to me. "If we can log in to ALo longer than Alice and interact with Quinella for a long time, we can make Quinella grow faster and stronger." Alice, who saw the situation, had an idea.

I don't think so, I should have said it directly, but I gently removed my hand from the silver-haired girl's head, and the silver-haired girl listened to Alice's thoughts and nodded, and walked towards me.

"Quinella, you said your mother made you do this, but being with me means you won't see her very often, don't you feel lonely?"

"It's okay, I promised my mom. And Sister Lilan, Sister Jupiter, Yui and Strea are all there, and I won't feel alone. ”

When the silver-haired girl said this, she had the same smile on her face as the Kirito human girl.

Indeed, Lilan, Yui, and Strea have always been there for me, and Jupiter will join in when Asuna has nothing else to do. Also, all four of them have the fact that they were created by the same hand Alice, and they all regard the appearance and introduction of the belated Quinella as an important family member, so there is nothing malicious about it, and I have actually seen Quinella join the four of them many times, and she looks very happy.

Alice is probably well aware of this, which is why she decided to send Quinella to us. It's safe to say that after such a sudden event, Quinella couldn't have felt lonely.

\"I see, then, can you stay with us for a while? \"

"It doesn't matter. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kirito Arai-sama. \"

"Thank you very much, Quinnera."

Hearing my words, a big smile appeared on Quenella's face again. I left the room with the girl who had become my new navigation elf and made my way to the lobby of the hotel. There were already a lot of players gathered there, and there were conversations everywhere typical of ALo, discussing future strategies, exchanging mission information, and I found a few people in the corner.

A girl in a combat uniform with long blond hair, red eyes, platinum wolf ears and a tail, and a girl in a purple-based armor combat suit with white markings on her face, a girl with white and purple hair and big breasts, and a girl who is shorter than all of them and wears a unique white dress with long black hair. They are Quinella's family, Lilan, Streya, and Yui.

Before I could call them, the three of them found me and Quinella and called out to me, and I walked over to them in response. At the same time, my daughter Yui also came over, and she is usually my navigation elf.

"Good morning, Dad, you're here today."

"Ah, good morning, Yui. By the way, I greeted you guys at breakfast. \"

"But it's the first time we've met today. Good morning, Kirito. \"

"Ahh Good morning also in Streya. So is Lilan. ”

"Hmm..."

Among the three, Lilan's face was a little dull. In front of me was a quirky-looking Queenella. Before he could ask what was wrong, Lilan opened her mouth.

"Looks like Quinella did wake you up Kirito. \"

"yes, Quinella woke me up. Or rather, she just greeted me when I logged in. That's it? ”

According to Lilan, Lilan and his friends are cutting the input channel and organizing the information – similar to human sleep – and when Lilan is the first to finish, he suddenly says, "I've put Quinella in charge." Alice, it seems, sent me an email with only one word: ".

It seems that the email was also sent to Strea and Yui, and Yui apparently added the phrase "teach Quinella a lot of things", so I wonder what exactly this email meant, apparently people didn't really understand it at the time. By the way, he didn't talk about that email at breakfast because he thought it was rude.

After learning about the situation of the three of them, I first told Quinella to wait for a while, and then walked away gently with the three of them, and whispered to them all about the situation. When they were done, all three of them looked satisfied, and it wasn't long before Lilan crossed her arms and stared at Queeniera, who was still looking at her with a puzzled expression.

"I see, I see"

"Ah, according to Alice, Quinella's growth requires our cooperation. \"

"It seems that Quinella is really growing slower than we are. Although there are individual differences, they will not be stimulated to grow in the long run. ”

If Quinella grows more, then she will be able to enjoy all kinds of things and also be able to have a will to be useful for all kinds of things. In fact, the reason why these three people were able to engage in all kinds of things and enjoy them is partly because Alice created them and educated them to a certain extent, but also because they have grown since they met us.

\"So, can the three stay with Quiniera? \"

"Anyway, Quinella is also my family, so it doesn't matter. With the help of my family and others, I will help Quinella grow to the point where even Alice would be amazed. ”

"I think so too. Sister Quinella should be a little older and able to enjoy more things. In that case, Daddy, I'll help you. \"

Seeing the smiles on the faces of the three of them warmed my heart. Since it's a matter of the three of us, I'm sure Quinella won't refuse her, but I'm still relieved that she's saying that. Most of all, I'm glad that these three guys have an in-depth understanding of what they need to do for Quinella.

"Okay, I'll tell everybody, but when we're gone, I'll go find Quinella, you three."

As soon as I said that, the three of them nodded, and Yui and Strea immediately returned to Quenella's side, and she and Quenella began to talk happily. Although Quinella is like an older sister to the two, she is younger than anyone else in terms of age, so they must be happy to have a younger sister.

Just as I was about to walk over to join the conversation, Lilan stopped me. When I looked back, I saw that the expression on Lilan's face was slightly solemn.

"What's the matter, Lilan?"

"Kirito that, what happened after that? Do you remember anything? \"

Hearing Zhilan's words, I walked quickly in front of him. Last Sunday night, after hearing Alice/Airi say that Relan might have some kind of influence on me, I got home and immediately logged into ALo to ask Relan about it. ta。

As a result, Alice's guess was correct. Although it took some time for me to throw up, it seems that from the time I knew him until he and Shino got married, Lilan used his power on me while I was asleep. So even on the second day when I learned that I couldn't resurrect Xing, I was able to challenge the boss with everyone, and I had to go to great lengths to remember everyone's memories of the black cat on a moonlit night.

Lilan seemed a little embarrassed to keep such an important matter a secret, and after telling me everything, he lowered his head and apologized. At that time, I would be lying if I said that I was not angry that Rilan had been hiding such an important matter for so long, but I found out that Rilan had thoroughly confirmed my abnormality and continued to treat me without my knowledge. Maybe. Because she was so happy, she didn't want to be angry with Lilan and decided to forgive him completely and let him publicly talk to her about important things in the future.

However, despite Lilan telling me the truth, I still can't remember the girl who was hidden in the crowd in the Moonlit Night Black Cat. Sure enough, no matter how many times I thought about it, I couldn't remember the girl's name or the details.

"No, I don't remember anything since."

"But to be honest, I'm curious. Is that girl really Yuki's sister? \"

"Ah, I'm sure of that. But I don't know anything else."

\"No matter who you ask, but you're the one who Yui has seen the members of the Moonlit Black Cat as soon as I met Shiina, and Shino and I only met you after the Moonlit Black Cat incident. So I don't know. "Understands everything. ”

I thought that if I used Lilan's power again, I would be able to remember this information, but in the end, the power of Lilan and Jupiter both stabilize and heal people's mental states, and they are not things that bring out past memories. Moreover, I almost forgot about the 'Moonlit Night Black Cat Gang', and it was because of Lilan's power that I think I won't be able to remember in the future.

"I'm sure the time will come when I think I can remember, but I don't know when."

"I hope you remember him soon. You're Yuichi's one who knows him. ”

"But now, it's more of a strategic issue. All we have to do is solve the problem in front of us. ”

"I see. Hey, Kirito. \"

Rilan's demeanor and demeanor were as if he had suddenly changed his mind. It happened so suddenly that I was a little surprised.

"What's wrong?"

"When you're done with your big assignment for the day, or rather, when you're settled, I've got something to talk to you about. Would you like to listen to me? \"

"Is this something we can't talk about right now?"

"Hmm"

Lilan, who is usually very strong-willed, although he is my "acquaintance", sometimes ignores my instructions, and sometimes obediently follows my instructions, but now he is just asleep and looks like he is thinking about something. I used to have that expression when I was at SAo, but back then Lilan was usually thinking about important topics related to herself or me, so it's probably the same now.

Also, I've been talking a lot with Shino lately, and I don't have much time to talk to Leland, so it's perfect.

"Well, tell me when you're settled. But don't think about that when you're fighting, today is Flosheld's regional boss fight. ”

"Got it"

"I'm looking forward to this fight, man."

"Leave it to me"

Normally, before the boss fight, my 'dependents' would speak in a tone that was excited about the upcoming battle, but now he just muttered quietly. Obviously, there are a few things I need to ask when talking to "acquaintances" after arriving.

All in all, things went well this time - I thought to myself as I watched Yui, Strea, and Quinella talking happily.

After completely conquering the third floating island of Swatjärfheim, the annular iceberg Flohilde, we have finally successfully unlocked the mission to fight against the three divine beasts, so to speak, the master of Helohild.

As we got to this point, we often had to compete with the Grand Guild Clover, who had always been our take-off rivals, but after all, perhaps their numbers mattered, and they were much earlier than the regional chiefs of Helohild. We did it. I defeated it and headed to the last floating island in the Swat region.

That said, this is the second area boss fight we're going to play next. Previously we were number one, now we are number two, but no one regrets it, even if we are in a situation where Clover beats us first. I was able to continue the mission as usual and was able to face the boss battle in front of me.

Now, in the depths of the dungeon, we continue with the regional bosses and combat missions, shifting as usual, hovering over Herrohilde. So far in the mission clearance of Helohild, I have learned that sometimes there are blizzards, sometimes gentle snowflakes fall quietly, and I have indeed fought monsters in blizzards. It was an unusual time. Therefore, I have been praying that this kind of weather does not occur during boss fights.

In the sky of Flotilde where we are now, snowflakes are falling gently, and the weather is intertwined with the speed of the wind, making it difficult to feel the wind blowing on us. Sure, it's cold, but that doesn't bother me because I used winter items in advance. It looks like we can have a boss fight in the best weather conditions.

I breathed a brief sigh of relief when Yui and Quinella were in my pockets, and Yui spoke first.

"The weather is good, but it can change during the battle, so be careful if the weather is bad."

"Kirito new sensei, come on, everyone! A strong boss is coming! ”

"I know. But we're not the kind of people who lose, so Quinella don't worry. ”

We don't know how many enemies will appear, but no matter how many enemies appear, as long as we overcome SAo's many eyes, there is no reason why we can't defeat them. At the same time as almost everyone who had experienced the battle and was familiar with this, I drew my weapon, and at that moment I heard the sound of the earth rumbling in my ears.

I've heard it not only when I was in SAo, but also in the ALo continent before coming to this Svart region. I felt the air tremble, as if it was resonating, and everyone was ready.

There was no doubt that this was a harbinger of the boss's appearance - immediately afterward, the ground in front of him suddenly cracked, and the roar was accompanied by a cloud of snowflakes. After a few seconds, something popped out of the cracked bottom of the ground and stretched high into the sky, like a fast-growing tree, suddenly blown backwards.

When we were in the floating castle, we could only fight with our feet on the ground, but now we escaped from there, with wings on our backs, passive in the air, and crumbling by the wind. After about two seconds he regained his balance and was facing forward again. From that moment on, we learned the full story of existence from the depths of the earth.

Its size and thickness are reminiscent of the trunk of the World Tree, and its body is long, as imagined by the oriental character "dragon", but it grows from the outline of the head and face. Its ten long, thick horns, eight dragon wings growing out of its back, and the pitch-black carapace that wraps its entire body in the shape of armor denies it more than any other monster it has faced so far. It broke through the frozen ground of the annular iceberg, tore through the snow smoke, and soared into the sky.

When it began to hover with its eight wings and create a storm, its name and "hp bar" appeared on the top of its head. The name shown is "Niddhog" - a spell by the giant serpent Nidhogg from Norse mythology, which is said to bite the roots of the World Tree Yggdrasil.

"Nidhogg". It's Nidhogg, after all. ”

"He looks like Nidhogg from Norse mythology."

I nodded to Shino, who was standing next to me. Ned Hogg exists in Norse mythology and is a popular reference for fantasy works. The name is also popular, not only in various works, but also in the RpG I have played as a name for monsters and weapons. However, while Nidhogg had the appearance of a snake in the original book, in recent fantasy works, it often has an appearance imagined from the word dragon.

When I heard the name Nidhogg in this ALo, I imagined a monster that looked like a dragon, but apparently this ALo's Nidhogg incorporated the element of a snake, which is the form of Nidhogg in Norse mythology, and it seems to be designed as a dragon.

And the Nidhogg Serpent Dragon in front of him is the last of the three divine beasts, and it is also the guardian who protects the seal to the next area.

Thinking of this number, I quietly jumped up to my partner and called out to him.

"Lilan, I'll ask you this time, if we defeat this guy, we can say goodbye to this cold region."

"I see, I'll be careful."

My companion, a maiden with long blond hair, white gold wolf ears, and a wolf tail, walked between us and the Serpent, her body shrouded in white light. Then, suddenly, the light grew stronger until it illuminated the entire sky of Flohilde, and then it exploded.

When the light was completely gone, the girl's whole body was covered with white-gold fur and armor-like shell, with a golden mane on her head, a horn like a holy sword on her forehead, and an angel on her back. It was a giant dragon with four pure white wings, reminiscent of a dragon, and a tail shaped like a giant sword, the most striking feature being the outline of a wolf.

Lilan's boss battle form is everyone's reliable companion and "acquaintance" I know in SAo, and since then, she has defeated many boss monsters and achieved complete victory. Watching its changes, I flapped my wings vigorously, approached my "familiar" wolf dragon, jumped on it, and grabbed its fur.

I could feel the powerful movement of the muscles underneath my body, the smell of beasts and wind entering my nostrils, and the sensation of body heat that is characteristic of monsters spreading throughout my body. After accomplishing the feat of "unity of man and dragon" that only those who can tame monsters with the power of dragons can feel and achieve, I gave instructions to everyone and my companions under me.

"Everyone, let's start the battle! Defeat this serpent and we'll move on to the next area!! ”

This was my order when I was the Leader of the Knights of the Blood, and although I had been on the run for a long time, they had never tried to escape from my body. It seemed to reach everyone's ears, and despite the sound of the wind blowing in the sky of Flosild, and the sound of the storm set off by the dragon's wings, everyone immediately scattered in all directions, surrounding the dragon, making the sound they should have. Different locations.

The giant snake dragon in front of me, named Nidhogg, was incredibly large, so people would think that it would make massive movements and open large openings, but somehow, it appeared in this ALo. These giant monsters often move in ways that are not suitable for their massive bodies. Therefore, when fighting boss monsters in ALo, the most basic thing is to carefully observe their movements and not make decisions based on first impressions. Everyone, including me, has learned this from the continent of ALo and the conquest of Swat so far.

"However, it's huge. How many times bigger than you, Lilan. ”

\"It's ten times my size\"

"It seems likely that this will still be your breath."

''This doesn't seem to work. Even my flames will be repelled by that shell.

The voice of an old woman sent to me by my partner echoed in my head, and I was a little surprised at the content of the words. Usually, Lilan was always smug, no matter how powerful his enemies looked, even if his proud flames, claws, and horns seemed to have no effect, he always said, "I will burn them with my flames." "'There's nothing my claws and horns can't cut,' he said boldly, and then put it into action.

In fact, until now, Lilan has said this when she encounters a strong enemy, and no matter how strong the enemy is, he has not felt intimidated. However, the current Lilan is obviously not the Lilan he usually confident.

"Lilan, what's wrong? In general, you'll say that's not my enemy. ”

“... That's right."

"If you say that, it means that something is wrong, I'll ask you when you're done, let's fight first."

"Got it"

Lilan gave me an answer, and I was on top of him, flapping her wings vigorously and heading towards the serpent. Despite resembling a giant serpent, the serpent, which was far from the snake in terms of face and outline, emerged from the thick ice and snow of Hloshild. And since Hloshild itself is located in a cold region, as you continue to occupy this floating island, you will be able to engage many monsters with the shape and characteristics adapted to cold regions.

Judging from this and the current common sense, this giant snake dragon is also very strong against ice attributes and water attributes, and uses the ice attribute that freezes the body after bathing, but its weakness is the fire attribute attack, which should be there. In other words, Lilan, who had burned countless monsters with her arrogant flames and scorching light, should be worthy of being the greatest natural enemy, and if so, she should be able to defeat this huge flying snake.

"This is a monster from a cold climate, and it is very likely that it has a fire attribute attack as its weakness, so try to launch a fire attribute attack for the time being!!"

Around the same time as me, or perhaps before I thought of it, Diabel, the blue-haired knight elf who was the boss of my huge guild, shouted out the order. When he fired, Crane: With the ability to attack with the fire element, he immediately approached the Serpent, and with a flash of sword light, he rushed forward, slashing the Serpent Dragon's carapace with all his strength, and a slight explosion was produced at the wound.

The magic sword technique that Crane Yuichi can use, although it is a salamander with fire-attribute magic, is not good at using magic, that is, the explosion of the fire-attribute sword skill "Red". Immediately after, Egil, a dwarf with a two-handed axe, and Streya, a girl who is also a dwarf and uses a two-handed sword, approached the giant snake dragon, cutting off the scales of the snake dragon, and Strea also released a powerful single attack. - Perform a rotary slash with the two-handed sword of light.

In addition to Klein's, the dual-attack two-handed axe skill "Violent Spike" and the spinning attack two-handed axe sword skill "Around" rushed into the black body of the Serpent, but its body "health bar" remained almost unchanged. No, there must be a change in itself, and it may decrease, but the amount is so small that it doesn't seem to move even the slightest.

Following the three people, Lifa and Lizbet, Sirika and Filia launched their sword skills one after another, exploding in different places such as the wings, abdomen, and tail of the giant snake dragon, with different hardness, and the 'life bar' of the giant snake dragon did not explode. Completely reduced. Even the black shell of the Serpent's body, which was supposed to be attacked, did not have a single scratch on the surface, only shimmering with the light peculiar to the silver world.

"It's so hard. I guess it's because I live in a cold region. ”

That's why I say that. I wonder if my flames and fangs will pass through?

"You always say bullish, though!"

While listening to Lilan's "voice", which was not his usual tone, he was circling the giant snake dragon. It makes a dull loud noise and shuddered as it lands, and when its body is enveloped in the thick snow smoke produced by the snow around it, it opens its jaw, turns upward, and begins to breathe hard the next moment.

Suddenly, a gust of wind flowed towards the serpent's mouth, and even the air trembled violently.

A large amount of snow and ice was inhaled, and the inside of the serpent's mouth was dyed pure white, but strangely, this inhaled air did not affect us players, it was just a giant snake. A storm blows towards the dragon. Therefore, even in the presence of this suction airflow, everyone was able to fly calmly, but they also put on a posture of preparing for the next attack.

They must have made such a big move in preparation for some kind of attack - it seems that my hunch was correct, and Quineira's voice was heard in the wind caused by the giant serpent.

"Ice Breath is coming! And menacing!! ”

"I thought so too!"

Quinella's navigation seemed to reach everyone in the area where the Serpent was fighting, and everyone immediately turned to the dragon. The next moment, the serpent stopped sucking, closed its mouth, and lowered its head. Just as we were ready for the action, just as Lilan spewed out a scorching breath of light, the giant snake dragon raised its face again, opened its bloody mouth, and shot out a pillar of blue light close to the light from the depths of its huge body. The blue came out and gushed out.

It was a highly compressed, intense chill, and the dragon's body emitted a light that could be called a frozen beam, its thickness seemed larger than its own face, and it began to sweep in all directions. Immediately. The scorching glow of ice and snow, much greater than the scorching light that Li Ran spat out, pierced the atmosphere and headed straight ahead, almost at the same time as the impact occurred, the tip of which hit an iceberg in the distance. The majestic iceberg collapsed, roaring and shaking. In addition, a small floating island was involved, but the floating island disappeared when it entered the beam.

That alone was terrifying, but ever since the serpentus moved its face like this, the frozen light of ice and snow had cut through the mountains in the distance, and the cut icebergs emitted a roar unimaginable in reality, and one after another, it was crumbling. Compared to any attack the Three Divine Beasts had faced so far, this blow was prone to inflict huge and severe damage, and even the terrain changed, and the entire Herrohilde was shrouded in a huge roar and trembling.

Even though we were close enough to get away from the light source, we were able to dodge the beam, but as a result of the air exhaled by the giant snake and the cold air and the roar of the ice that was compressed to the point that it looked like a beam, almost nothing reached my ears, and even if I hadn't been hit by the beam breath, I felt as if I was going to be blown far into the sky.

The same goes for Lilan, he is more capable of flying than any of us, I can feel his flight unstable, like a bird flying in a gale, but I can also see that he is flying without losing his balance.

After shining continuously from its mouth for more than ten seconds, the giant snake dragon finally stopped, and its mouth emitted a pillar of light that was enough to reshape the terrain, and people couldn't help but wonder what kind of attack the previous boss launched. By this time, perhaps due to excessive power output, the clouds had been blown away, the wind blowing snowflakes had completely stopped, and there was silence all around.

Philia flew towards me in a panic, presumably panicked by the power of the serpent's breath.

"The mountains in the distance have also been blown away!?"

"Not only that, but some of the floating islands around here have also disappeared, and this guy seems to be a great boss."

Compared to SAo, ALo's bosses tend to have a lot of attack power, but this serpent's attacks are larger and stronger than any previous boss, and seem to have some characteristics. If it's a mission where you have to fight while defending your base or town, you've already failed.

And even if Lilan fought against the aura that had the power to change the terrain, his chances of winning would be zero. We've been using the tactic of shooting the opponent with Lilan's breath as soon as it arrives, but we can already see that this time it won't work. Unless we use a different strategy than before, it will be impossible to defeat that giant serpent.

"How do I defeat a boss with enough output to change the terrain?"

"My attack doesn't work anymore and I don't really know what to do."

Spiegel's voice, which served as a defender because he was an archer, varied, while Shino's voice calmly analyzed. Although the giant snake dragon had so much power, it also had an indestructible defense. However, such a serpent is also a monster in ALo, and it is designed to be defeated, so it is likely to have some kind of weakness, and it is likely that there is a way to break its defenses.

However, attacking with a seemingly weak fire attribute had little effect, and even attacking places other than the carapace did not cause much damage. I've tried everything to check for weaknesses, but so far I haven't found any weaknesses that seem obvious.

Just when everyone was wondering, the dragon snake flapped its eight wings again, soared into the sky, and hovered in the air. Obviously, the dragon only descended to the ground when it breathed, and stayed in the air the rest of the time. However, you're unlikely to find any strategy tips on that alone.

"It's the first time I've encountered a monster that can't get any hints on how to conquer, this guy's strength is definitely stronger than yours, be careful, Lilan."

\"This guy is better than me?

"That's right, you see his breath, he can shoot something like that, obviously stronger than you."

"It has such a powerful attack and defense, as well as a huge frame." That serpent is more powerful than any monster I've encountered in ALo so far, and it's probably the strongest monster at this stage. If I were to be attacked by a monster like that, even Lilan would be in danger, so I had to fight carefully, and just as I was thinking about it, I suddenly felt as if my body was being pulled.

I turned my head to look at me in confusion when I saw the body of a dragon snake approaching me at a speed that broke through the wind. I was just leaning against Lilan and giving orders, so Lilan, who I was straddled, was quickly approaching the Serpent.

"R, run again!?"

"You say you're better than me? Don't laugh anymore!! \"

The wolf dragon beneath him let out a powerful roar and at the same time made a "sound", and fired a flame bullet from its open mouth. The blazing flame charge, which has different properties than the magic release, headed straight for the Serpent at an almost invisible speed, exploding when it collided with the Serpent's shell.

The sound of the explosion resounded through the icy sky of the iceberg, and the next moment the carapace of the giant snake dragon was dyed red by the explosion, and Lilan flew around the giant snake dragon at high speed, shooting a continuous stream of flame bullets and bombarding the giant snake dragon's body. Over and over again dragons. Whenever a firebomb explodes, the sky will resound with a roar, the surrounding area will glow orange-red, and the heat will blow onto your face.

Monsters of normal strength will be smashed to pieces, and even the health of boss monsters will be greatly reduced. I couldn't help but be stunned when I saw the Serpent's 'life bar' constantly bombarded by Lilan's flame bombardment. Stare. Do. Although it was supposed to be its weak point, the fire attack, was repeatedly attacked by Lilan, the "health bar" of the giant snake dragon barely changed.

Our trump card,?? Lilan's breath attack was ignored by the giant snake dragon. The hp itself is decreasing, but the decrease is not significant.

"No, Lilan, stop breath attacking!"

"Burn out!! \"

After giving the order, Lilan did not stop attacking, but intensified, and began to radiate her most powerful attack, the scorching light aura. Emitting scorching rays that burn even the atmosphere, blowing hot air that is hotter than a fire bomb explodes, the inhaled air itself contains a considerable amount of heat, so the inside of the lungs becomes very cold. Hot. I want to cough.

It felt like I was at the scene of a fire, and I lay on top of Lilan, took a breath, and when I was finally able to breathe again, I returned my attention to the body of the giant snake dragon that was passing by. The power of the scorching rays emitted by Lilan, who has slaughtered countless monsters since SAo, has not changed even after becoming ALo, and she is able to quickly turn ordinary monsters into charcoal.

However, even after being directly attacked by it, the Serpent's health did not change in the slightest, and there was not even a trace of scorch marks on its black carapace. Not only was Serpent's carapace strong enough to repel attacks, but it also seemed to be heat-resistant enough to withstand Lilan's scorching rays.

Even if I continued like this, I wouldn't be able to deal effective damage to the Serpent or break through its shell. In order to conquer the Serpent, it was already necessary to try different methods - and the Lilan I was riding in was flying around the Serpent at high speed, firing fireballs and scorching rays, and being repeatedly illuminated. In general, if the attack does not work against the opponent, he will immediately stop the attack and wait and see.

Moreover, Lilan's flame charge and scorching ray are fired under the condition of consuming his own physical strength, if he continues to force the fire, his physical strength will be exhausted, and after recovery, he will not be able to fire again, he will be out of breath, turn off, and it will become difficult to even move.

It's because this game has such specs that I always tell Lilan to be careful not to shoot too much with her breath, and Lilan herself is mindful of this when using her breath attacks. But I can't help but feel that Lilan didn't fail to think about it.

"Run, stop! If this continues, the attack will be ineffective! ”

"You won't know unless you try! \"

"I'm doing it, but that's it! There is no point in shooting without taking into account physical strength! ”

At this moment, the sound of the flame bomb that had been going on just now stopped.

At the same time, even Lilan's movements stopped. I was struck by a feeling of being forced forward, as if I had suddenly hit the brakes, and I leaned forward, but I immediately regained my balance and turned my attention to Lilan's cause.

Lilan was sweating profusely, had trouble breathing with her mouth open, and was in a state of exhaustion that I had always said would never happen. And, if you look around, where we are now, there's a huge snake dragon there. In such a place, we are in a state where we cannot breathe, we cannot attack, we can only move slowly.

"Lilan, hurry up!

\"I know, I know, I know\"

That 'familiar' 'voice' that makes you feel out of breath and impatience echoes in your head. Lilan probably wanted to recover her posture as soon as possible, but because he forced himself to vomit his physical strength, his physical exertion was too great, so he couldn't even recover well. Such a mistake would never be made in the calm Lilan. I couldn't help but be surprised by Lilan, who was incapacitated.

The next moment, however, I heard a roar, and it felt like something was hitting me from behind. At the same time, there was darkness all around, as if a huge obstacle had appeared behind him. "What the hell is going on this time?" Just as I was thinking this, a voice suddenly came to my ears.

"Kirito, Lilan, come back !!"

It's Shino's voice that is heard, but if you listen carefully, the voices of the people around you are also heard, and everyone is saying things like "look behind me" and "avoid". As if guided by that voice, I turned around behind my back and was speechless for a moment.

A floating island is flying towards us. The floating islands that were used as scaffolding while exploring the site were rushing towards us at an alarming speed. However, I don't know why the floating islands are approaching.

In the setting of this giant snake dragon, there is something that can use telekinesis magic, so it seems that the floating island flies because the giant snake dragon used it. Or perhaps, with part of his massive body, he knocked off some of the floating islands around him—thinking to himself, when he was about to give the command to re-run, the floating islands were already approaching the front. His.

"Oh!!"

The next moment, we were attacked by a floating island that could be said to be a boulder. The roar robbed me of my hearing, and my whole body was devastated.

A strong dizzy sensation shook his head, the sound disappeared from the ringing in his ears, and the world in front of him spun at high speed. After a few seconds of what felt like sitting on a screaming machine that screamed and was more intoxicating than anything else, I finally hit the ground and rolled several laps on the snow.

The cold of the snow and ice, the cold wind from the tumbling, made my consciousness clear, and when the world stopped spinning and I was lying on the snow, my consciousness returned, but I felt a dull ache all over my body, and I couldn't move immediately because a similar sensation spread through me.

\"Kirito-kun!! \"

\"Kirito!! \"

Immediately after, two familiar voices alternated, and in less than two seconds, the sound of landing and multiple footsteps was heard. When I looked up in response to the voice, I realized that it was Shino and Asuna rushing in front of me, and I found that Asuna, who was in charge, was casting healing magic on me.

The moment the HP bar that I had left increased to near the right end, the pain that ran through my whole body disappeared and I immediately stood up. And immediately thanked Asuna for her recovery.

"This helps, Asuna. \"

\"Kirito-san, are you alright!? It looks like you've been attacked with Lilan. \"

That's when I was taken aback.

"Yes, I've been pushed to this point, but I want to know what's going on with Lilan."

"Since she has been attacked like this, Lilan must have been hurt a lot." I needed to recover as soon as possible – I was surprised to find something close to where I was as I muttered to myself while looking around.

In one corner of the plain, a reddish-orange fireball emerged, where the snow had peeled off from the serpent's inhalation, revealing bare skin. A state with a different color stat for each race, which becomes the status for players who lose all their HP.

Above the fireball are written "Lilan" and "Remain Light".

"Lilan lost?"

I fell under the attack of the giant snake dragon, and the next moment I saw an amazing scene.

I don't know what happened, but even with such a powerful attack, I didn't fall into a state where I couldn't fight, but my "acquaintance" Lilan, on the verge of being attacked, changed. Be a remnant of the light, showing that the world cannot fight.

Seeing Lilan, his physical strength is stronger than any of us, and his attributes are also quite high, and he has been fighting until now, without losing to any monsters, and his physical strength is all exhausted and turned into a ball of fire. I couldn't believe it, my brain was numb, and I could only stare blankly at the red-orange sunlight floating in the snowfield.

"Lilan lost!?"

"I can't believe Lilan lost."

I can't believe Lilan will lose.

Lilan, who was supposed to be the strongest, lost to my 'acquaintance'——。

I could only whisper in my mind and couldn't move. It's not just me, Shino, who has been watching Lilan win and remain undefeated since SAo, is also in a daze at the fireball.

"Run and run!!"

At this moment, Shino and I were stunned, and Asuna rushed to Lilan, who was using the prop to restore MP and turned into a fireball, and immediately began to chant. When the regeneration magic 'Resurrection' is activated, it can resurrect people who cannot fight within a minute, and the warm green light surrounds the red fireball, which soon turns into a blonde, wolf-eared character. , and the tail. I turned back into a girl.

In the ALo continent, if you drop to zero health and can't fight, if you don't respawn within a minute, you'll be sent back to your territory, but in Svatalfheim, you'll be sent back to the Conveyor Belt Sky Gate Capital Line, and you won't be able to participate in boss battles.

If Lilan's recovery time is a little later, he will be forced to leave the front line, unable to fight this boss until we start again. Seeing my partner return to the front before that, Shino and I came to our senses and walked towards him, who was sitting on an equal footing, which was unusual.

"Lilan, are you alright!?"

“！”

Now Rilan was staring at the giant snake dragon in the sky in a daze, and she didn't even answer my call. If you keep an eye on the 'HP bar', Asuna must have used recovery magic in addition to resurrection magic, as she has fully recovered, and it's hard to believe that she couldn't fight until now, so the damage has dropped. Less, it seems that he can't talk much anymore.

"Re-run, hey re-run!"

Just as I called out to him again, Lilan moved her face slowly, and my figure was reflected in her scarlet eyes. However, her eyes, which should have been very determined, trembled so much that it gave people the illusion of someone else.

"Did I lose?"

“？”

"Did I lose? Did I lose to that guy? Am I beaten by that guy? ”

His tone sounded as if he couldn't believe the scene happening in front of him, this series of events. Just some time ago, we ran into a floating island thrown by a giant snake dragon, and although I barely survived, Lilan was powerless to fight. It can be said that Lilan lost to the Serpent because he could not withstand the attack of the Serpent.

However, now that Lilan has been resurrected in time and can immediately return to the battle with the Serpent, he has not been defeated. If it weren't for Lilan's timely resurrection and being forced to leave the front line, it would have been a complete defeat, but it wasn't, so it's too early to conclude that we lost.

"We haven't lost yet, and we've come this far, we're going to win."

"You didn't lose, did you?"

“？”

Lilan bowed her head deeply and lowered her ears. Lilan conveyed the words in a trembling voice, making the gesture he usually does when he regrets something he did wrong.

"My flame didn't reach that guy, he didn't care about my flame at all, my flame had already defeated everyone. Not only that, but I fell under his attack and couldn't fight. It's over, it's not over yet. I'm putting you in danger. I've done a lot of damage to Awei! ”

Rilan spoke very quickly, and there was a feeling of weakness in his tone, which was not found in the usual Rilan. As soon as you look at the situation, you can see that Lilan has been completely shaken by this unknown event.

Indeed, Lilan is undefeated so far. It defeats any monster, its aura of fire can burn even those who are weak to flames, and its claws and horns can cut through the body of monsters no matter how hard. Not only in the missions of the ALo continent, but also in the big missions and side quests of Svartalheim, Lilan has never been defeated and has continued to win.

The serpent dragon defeated Lilan. He resisted Lilan's flames, fearless of continuous attacks, and knocked Lilan down with a single blow. The serpent dragon had successfully accomplished the feat of making Lilan unable to fight.

I don't know how much of this is true, but Lilan is frustrated because he has met someone who can beat him. However, while Lilan says he lost, the fight is not over and he has not been defeated.

Although we have not yet been able to inflict fatal damage on the Serpent, if Lilan loses his ability to fight, he will be at a disadvantage all of a sudden, so we can't afford to lose him here.

"Stay strong, Lillan. The battle is not over. ”

“？”

"You haven't lost, you haven't lost, you just can't fight, but you haven't lost yet, you still have a chance to take revenge on him."

"But, but, what should I do? He doesn't have my flame \"

Just as I was about to answer the confused Lilan's words, a roar rang out, and our bodies rose slightly into the air, as if we had been pushed up from the ground, and then fell again. Soon after, white snow smoke and a shockwave-like wind blew from my side, making it difficult for me to see my surroundings.

Just as I wondered what had happened, I felt a strong shiver in my stomach and realized that the cause was something huge that had fallen to the ground, but I wasn't sure what it was. And, because of the snow and smoke in front of me, I couldn't see my surroundings even more clearly.

"What...!?"

The attack of the giant snake dragon just now, this trembling, what the hell is going on this time? As I thought about it, I shook off the snow and smoke and regained my vision, and I couldn't help but exclaim. A giant snake dragon fell into the snow far away from us.

Previously, the Serpent had landed on the ground to unleash a breath attack powerful enough to destroy the surrounding mountains, but now it wasn't as firmly grounded in the ground as it was then, and it looked like it was shooting. It lay on the ground, as if it had been thrown down.

When I looked at the "life bar", which had just shown no signs of abating, the first one was empty, and the second one was starting to appear. The Giant Serpent's physical strength, which protects itself with an iron shell, has decreased.

"What's going on!?"

\"Kirito——! \"