Chapitre 386: -381- We'll find out then
"Congratulations!!"
When these words appeared in the air, the entire Guardian Boss room fell into silence once more.
No, there were two voices still echoing in the room.
"Huff... huff... huff... huff..."
"Ha... ha... ha... ha..."
These heavy breaths came from the mouths of the two swordsmen who had just fought to the death, resonating throughout the space.
At this moment, Rozen still maintained the stance of executing "Vorpal Strike," and Asuna was also holding the posture of using "Star Splash," standing neatly side by side. Their chests were heaving heavily, breathing laboriously.
Both of their HP bars had fallen into the red zone, and the danger was beyond imagination.
Even Saichou and Hanachou seemed exhausted, swaying in mid-air as if they might fall at any moment.
In this situation, the Guardian Boss of the 74th floor was successfully defeated, causing the flames in the room to dim and eventually disappear completely, leaving the surroundings in utter darkness.
The dark silence persisted for who knew how long, with only two sets of breaths echoing.
After a long while, Rozen felt footsteps approaching from behind.
The swordswoman seemed to be getting closer.
"Did we... defeat it...?" came an extremely uncertain voice from behind Rozen.
Hearing this, Rozen could only offer a wry smile in response.
"If we didn't defeat it now, I don't think I could go on."
All the healing potions were used up, and crystals were rendered ineffective in this world where magic couldn't be used. Rozen had reached his absolute limit.
At this point, if they hadn't defeated the boss, Rozen might really have considered giving up.
This battle was so dangerous that it pushed Rozen to his limits, and he gave it his all, even rivaling his past adventures in unique points.
And if Rozen was pushing himself to this extent, Asuna was even more so.
"Thud..."
With a light bump, a soft and delicate body pressed up against Rozen from behind, and a pair of slender hands wrapped around his front, exerting force.
"...!?"
Rozen's body stiffened instantly.
"Gu?"
Even Saichou and Hanachou, exhausted as they were, widened their eyes and made astonished sounds.
Asuna tightly hugged Rozen from behind, burying her head in his back, her voice barely audible.
"I thought it was over this time..."
Her voice trembled as she spoke these words.
This made Rozen's tense body gradually relax, and the crystal sword in his hand drooped down.
Even for Rozen, it was clear what to say at this moment.
"It's okay," Rozen said gently while looking straight ahead. "We're both still alive."
At this moment, these words were enough.
"Yeah..." Asuna fell silent for a long time before giving a soft response.
The two of them remained in this posture for a long time without parting.
When they finally separated, it had been who knows how long.
Since all their healing items were used up, and recovery crystals couldn't be used, they both sat down and waited for their HP bars to naturally refill.
Fortunately, both of them had the "Battle Healing" skill, so their HP gradually recovered from the red zone to the yellow zone and started heading towards the green zone.
While sitting down, the two of them began to analyze the situation they had just faced.
"Why was the gate suddenly closed?" Asuna asked with a serious expression. "Could someone deliberately trap us here and close the gate?"
"At least, that's the possibility I'm thinking of," Rozen replied. "If it's a design issue, the timing doesn't make sense."
If it were like the 4th floor, where the Guardian Boss closed the gate with a special ability, it wouldn't explain this situation. After all, the Gleam Eyes' special ability was just its breath attack, and it had no apparent connection to the gate's closure. It wasn't like the 4th floor Guardian Boss, where if the gate didn't close, water wouldn't fill the room.
So, Rozen ruled out this possibility and didn't believe that this time it was that type of design.
Apart from that, if it were the type where the gate closed automatically when the battle started or after a certain amount of time, it would also be hard to explain why it closed exactly when Rozen and Asuna were preparing to retreat.
While it was possible that it was set up so that the gate would close if players were preparing to retreat, Rozen didn't believe it was a new type of trap triggered just today when only he and Asuna decided to enter this room on this floor.
In other words, Rozen didn't believe that this crisis was the result of him triggering a new type of trap by chance.
Behind this issue, there is undoubtedly malicious intent.
Asuna seemed to sense this vaguely, and a slightly pained expression appeared on her face.
"Who could possibly do this to us?" Asuna couldn't comprehend it.
Rozen, on the other hand, remained remarkably composed.
"There are three possibilities," Rozen said, raising three fingers.
"One: Players from the clearing group who hold a grudge against me, you, or both of us."
"Two: Someone from the 'Army' who just left."
"Three: Some specific individual who harbors ill intentions towards us."
"These are the three possibilities I can think of."
Rozen continued, "Because this is the frontline labyrinth area, only top-tier players from the clearing group are active here. If someone holds a grudge against me or you, it's entirely possible they would do something like this. That's the first possible reason."
"As for the 'Army' people, they might feel resentful about being scared off by us and deliberately set a trap after they saw us enter the Guardian Boss room. That's the second possible reason."
"As for the third possibility, it's even simpler. This world isn't lacking individuals who harbor ill intentions towards us. Someone like PoH, who is still on the run, definitely wouldn't miss an opportunity to kill me. Your fanatical followers might also be tracking you and could do something like this out of inexplicable resentment. All of these are highly plausible."
Rozen's words left Asuna deep in thought.
"So, how do we find the culprit?" Asuna asked, raising this question.
To this, Rozen smiled coldly.
"It's simple."
Rozen didn't hesitate to speak.
"We'll gather all the individuals who entered the labyrinth area today, and we'll find out then."
After making this decision, Rozen, together with Asuna, used the stairs leading to the upper floor to enter the main street of the 75th floor. They activated a teleportation gate and returned to the 74th floor.
Then, as the leader of the clearing group, Rozen issued a notice.
"All members of the clearing group, gather at the Teleport Gate Plaza on the 74th floor."
An atmosphere of impending turmoil permeated the entire clearing group, making the air tense and ominous.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone