Suddenly, the wild hound opened its mouth wide and began spinning at a terrifying speed, like a red drill, crashing into the cannonball-like ball bug in mid-air.
In an instant, a screeching sound like fingernails scraping a chalkboard burst out.
Sparks flew from the point where the two monsters collided.
After holding their position in mid-air for a moment, both monsters' HP started to drop.
However, it was clear that the ball bug's HP was decreasing much faster—losing about one-fifth per second.
After just a few seconds, with a clang!, the ball bug exploded into light shards in mid-air, while the wild hound passed through the glowing fragments and landed on the ground.
The result left everyone in disbelief.
The previously noisy arena instantly fell into dead silence.
But in the next moment, that silence was shattered by the beating of gongs, and the hall was thrown into an uproar.
Shouts of anger and cheers filled the vast hall.
The NPC announcer shouted with all his might:
"Oh—my—god! The final winner is the Rusty Ly wild hound! Unbelievable! Unbelievable! It's a miracle comeback—!"
However, while the rest of the audience was getting emotional, Argo and the others—who were familiar with monsters from the beta test—looked a bit baffled.
"Did the Rusty Ly wild hound really have that kind of attack?" Argo asked in confusion.
Kirito also looked surprised and pulled at the corner of his mouth.
"No idea. At least during the beta, I never saw them use an attack like that. Maybe it was added after the official launch..."
"I couldn't find that attack in the data I have either. Though there is a higher-tier hound-type monster with a similar move, it looks quite different from the Rusty Ly wild hound," Akimi said thoughtfully after a moment.
As they were talking, the NPCs had already escorted the Rusty Ly wild hound off the field, and the announcer called out loudly:
"The first match is over! The Rusty Ly wild hound pulled off an incredible comeback, winning against the odds. The second match will begin in ten minutes. Whether you want to ride the winning streak or win back your losses, now's your chance to place bets!"
At the bar counters on both sides of the platform, members of the two major guilds had already started celebrating.
It seemed they had successfully turned their 1,000 chips into 2,410.
"By the way, that kind of special attack doesn't count as cheating, does it?" Asuna said, watching the exit where the wild hound had left the arena.
"Exactly, Asu-chan," Argo replied while opening the quest panel.
"And the quest panel hasn't updated either. It still says, 'In the first night match of the Monster Arena, uncover the cheating method used by the wild hound.' Kiri-bou, did you notice anything?"
"Ugh... I've got no clue," Kirito said with a bitter smile.
"What about you, Aki-bou?" Argo turned to look at Akimi.
He also shook his head.
"Hey, look over there,"
Just as the group was racking their brains, Yu Wenjun suddenly spoke up and pointed toward the iron cage where the Rusty Ly wild hound had crashed earlier.
The group paused, then followed his gaze—and spotted some red stains on the pitch-black iron bars.
"Is that... blood?" Argo asked in confusion.
Kirito stroked his chin and said, "Looks like it... but so far, has SAO ever shown blood effects?"
"Let's go take a closer look," Akimi said as he led the way to the part of the cage stained with red.
As he reached out to touch the red stains with his hand, Asuna grabbed his arm and frowned, saying, "Do you have to touch everything directly with your hands? Can't you be a little more cautious?"
After saying that, Asuna took a white handkerchief from her inventory and handed it to Akimi.
Scratching his nose awkwardly, Akimi took the handkerchief and wiped the red stains on the iron cage with it.
Everyone looked at the bright red color on the cloth—it didn't really resemble blood.
Just as Akimi was about to bring the handkerchief close to his nose, he suddenly recalled what Asuna had said earlier.
Embarrassed, he held the cloth in front of him and used the standard laboratory method for smelling chemicals to carefully sniff it.
"How is it? Is it blood?" Kirito asked.
Akimi shook his head and replied, "No, there's no smell of blood. If it really is blood, then I think it must be from a plant. This stuff has a floral scent..."
"Plant dye," said Yu Wenjun.
"My grandmother used to run a dye shop. I'm very familiar with the color and scent of plant dyes."
After he said that, Argo nodded in agreement. "That's right, it's plant dye."
She pointed at the quest interface and said, "The quest description has updated. It now says: 'Tell the client about the cheating method used by the Rusty Ly wild hound.' Let's go turn it in."
"The client's in the casino?" Kirito asked.
"Yup, on the third floor in the VIP restaurant. Thanks to the quest privileges, we're allowed up today—so appreciate the rare opportunity," Argo said cheerfully, then led the group out of the Monster Arena to the door on the left side of the main hall.
Seeing the strong NPC standing guard in a black uniform at the door, Argo seemed a bit hesitant and said, "Ahem, my companions and I need to go up—can we?"
The NPC silently nodded and opened the rope barrier, which made Argo breathe a sigh of relief.
They bypassed the luxurious second-floor VIP casino and headed up to the third floor.
The hall on the third floor had a similar structure to the others, except that the central statue was replaced with one of a fish-headed monk.
Argo led them into a corridor lined with pure black velvet carpet, giving off an air of luxury and sophistication.
After turning left at the end of the hallway and walking a bit further, Argo stopped in front of a door.
"Room 17... this should be it."
---------------
Exclusive access : 100+ch on paetron
Join now : patreon*com/DeCakraWnloverz