Akimi and Asuna were walking through the dimly lit corridor, preparing to leave the area.
"By the way, Asuna, how did you even find this place?"
Akimi suddenly asked.
After hearing his question, Asuna's previously calm expression slowly turned cold.
She replied in an emotionless voice, "For my fourth skill, I chose Tracking."
Having been single for twenty-seven plus sixteen years, Akimi still hadn't realized the seriousness of the situation.
Obliviously, he said, "But didn't I tell you to stay in town and wait for me to come back? Morte and the others are still lurking in the shadows — it's dangerous right now."
"Dangerous? You're telling me it's dangerous now?"
Asuna suddenly stopped in her tracks, her expression darkening.
She took two firm steps forward, grabbed Akimi by the collar, and, visibly furious, shouted:
"You knew it was dangerous, and you still left me in town, then ran off alone to some remote place like this to face that kind of monster by yourself — and now you're telling me it's dangerous?!"
Asuna sniffled and widened her eyes, continuing angrily, "Do you have any idea how worried I was when I saw your HP suddenly dropping? If I hadn't secretly followed you, what would you have done back there?!"
"Uh… well… I mean… ha… ha ha…"
Akimi gave an awkward, dry laugh.
He knew full well that he had been completely out of options back then.
He'd even considered trying to use Eleventh Form to break out of that stone cage, but ever since he'd used that move against Asterios on the second floor, the sword-shaped skill icon had remained grayed out, marked as "Skill Not Learned."
Akimi was completely confused by it and had no idea how to unlock it.
"You're always the one reminding me to stay safe. So why don't you ever care about your own safety?!"
Asuna no longer spoke in a cold tone—instead, her voice carried a hint of sobbing.
The expression on her face gradually softened, and her large eyes were filled with mist.
Choking up slightly, she said:
"If something really happened to you… what would I do? You promised… you said you'd take me with you when we leave this prison…"
Akimi stood there, completely at a loss, staring at Asuna without a clue what to do—she had been ice-cold just moments ago, and now she was crying?
This was enough to make his head spin.
He frantically tried to recall how his airheaded mom used to cry and how his dad handled it.
But after thinking for a while, he realized—his airheaded mom almost never cried.
Tomioka Kazuya, his extremely protective father, would never let her get angry in the first place; if he ever made a mistake, he'd apologize immediately.
Yet somehow, despite that, his dad still managed to maintain a "normal" place in the family.
So… what should he do now?
Akimi was panicking a bit.
Even as a dense, emotionally clueless guy, he knew that if he just froze and did nothing now, things could go really badly.
So he gritted his teeth and went for the simplest solution—a direct frontal approach.
He stepped forward and pulled Asuna into a hug.
But as he held her tightly, Tomioka Akimi couldn't help but blush—
Fifteen and already developed like this?!
How did I not notice before?!
(Asuna's measurements at fifteen: 80/63/83)
This time, Asuna uncharacteristically didn't push Akimi away.
Instead, she slowly lifted her arms and gently wrapped them around his waist, burying her face in the boy's chest.
Her body was still trembling with the occasional sob.
"From now on, you're not allowed to act alone like this again, understand?" Asuna murmured into his chest.
"…Okay."
By the time they reached the entrance of the corridor, it was already past midnight.
The moment the two of them stepped out of the tunnel hand in hand, Akimi suddenly sensed a dangerous presence.
Without thinking, he immediately pulled Asuna back two steps.
Just as they stepped back, an axe and a dagger struck the spot where they had just been standing.
"Huh?"
The owner of the dagger—a man dressed in black, wearing a cloak resembling a raincoat—let out a confused sound, seemingly surprised that his attack had missed.
Accompanying him was a familiar face: Morte, their old acquaintance.
"Oho~" the guy said with a smirk after a brief moment of surprise.
"You actually dodged that, not bad. Your little friend last night didn't manage to notice me at all."
Although his face was obscured by the black cloak, the tone of his voice made it clear that he wasn't being serious—it carried a mocking, playful undertone.
Upon hearing this, Akimi immediately realized who he was—the raincoat-wearing guy who ambushed Kirito the previous night.
He was also the so-called boss that Morte had mentioned, the one who taught Nezha and the others their upgraded scam tactics.
The man stood a short distance ahead of Akimi and Asuna, toying with the dagger in his hand, while Morte stood beside him with his two-handed axe slung over his shoulder.
"Ah, right. I haven't introduced myself…" the guy said in a strange tone, making an exaggerated gesture.
"My name is PoH."
Akimi glared at him coldly. "What do you want?"
"Hmm? That's a good question," PoH replied with a twisted smile.
"Of course it's…"
His voice grew increasingly deranged.
"…to kill you both!"
With that, he suddenly charged at them.
As he closed in, he abruptly threw the dagger in his hand straight at them.
Akimi drew his sword and deflected the dagger PoH had thrown, but in the next moment, PoH pulled out a one-handed sword and swung it horizontally toward him.
However, before PoH's attack could reach Akimi, Asuna had already thrust her rapier at him, forcing him to abandon what would have been a successful strike.
"Aww, it didn't work~"
PoH continued speaking in his strange tone.
"Hmm… two against one feels a bit unfair. I'll leave the girl to you, Morte. Don't go losing to her now~"
Morte seemed to sneer and replied, "Oi, oi, boss, how could I possibly lose to some soft-skinned girl player? Aren't you underestimating me a little?"
"Haha."
PoH chuckled but didn't respond further.
Then, raising his one-handed sword again, he charged forward—and this time, Morte followed close behind, lifting his twin-bladed axe high above his head.
Watching them charge, Akimi said to Asuna, "Asuna, you hold off Morte first. I'll take care of that guy called PoH."
"Got it."
In the next instant, the Nichirin Blade clashed against the one-handed sword, producing a sharp, metallic clang.
Using his superior strength stats, Akimi forcefully suppressed PoH's weapon, slightly raised his blade, and activated Water Breathing, Second Form: Water Wheel.
Without holding back, Akimi swung his blade toward PoH—there was no room for mercy now.
These two had clearly come for their lives.
"Hm?"
PoH was somewhat surprised by Akimi's strength, but he reacted quickly, retreating just in time to narrowly evade the Nichirin Blade's arc.
Then, with a swift spin, he launched a triple-strike sword skill at Akimi—"Claw Slash."
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