When Akimi and Asuna returned to Urokodaki Sakonji's home with the news of Wakuraba's death, he didn't seem the least bit surprised.
Instead, he showed one of his rare smiles and invited the two of them inside for a meal.
With that, the demon-slaying mission could be considered wrapped up—though it probably wouldn't be long before another one began, since the raid on the thirty-ninth floor boss was already about to be put on the schedule.
But before they could begin that raid, there was a small conflict that needed resolving first—
The Moonlit Black Cats had inexplicably clashed with some guys from the DDA (Divine Dragon Alliance).
This was one of the reasons Heathcliff sought out Kirito, suggesting he bring the entire Moonlit Black Cats under the banner of the Knights of the Blood Oath.
The conflict had originally started over something trivial—whether or not the DDA squad had stolen monsters from the Moonlit Black Cats.
But the argument quickly escalated into shouting matches, and from there it was just a step away from a full-on fight.
Fortunately, the DDA squad leader, wary of Kirito, ran back to the guild headquarters to tattle to their guildmaster, Xilocart, leaving behind some harsh words like—
"Just you wait! We're not letting this slide!"
It was the same kind of thing as when some flunky from Class 2 at school gets beaten up and shouts,
"Just wait, I'm gonna get my big brother to deal with you!"
What shocked everyone most, though, was that after hearing about the incident, Xilocart, for some unknown reason, suddenly decided he'd personally "teach the Moonlit Black Cats a lesson."
When players read the full account of the events in Argo's Aincrad Weekly Tabloid, they were all left stunned for a long while—
The DDA openly declaring war on another player group? Had they drunk too much horse urine and lost all sense?
But the DDA members ignored the voices of other players and went ahead with their open hostility toward the Moonlit Black Cats.
To ensure their safety, Kirito had no choice but to stay with them inside the town's safe zone for the next few days.
However, even though Kirito and the others never once left the safe zone, the DDA still kept causing them trouble.
This included, but was not limited to: hurling insults outside their house, repeatedly challenging Keita and the others to duels, and threatening merchant players to stop trading with the Moonlit Black Cats.
And whenever Kirito came out to confront them, they would instantly scatter like startled animals, never facing him head-on.
In short, the DDA's behavior was like a toad on the top of your foot—not biting you, but unbearably irritating.
After a few days of this, Kirito finally lost patience.
He stormed into the DDA's headquarters alone, intending to confront Xilocart and settle things—only to find he wasn't even there.
According to a "helpful" member of the Alliance, Xilocart had already taken a team to the Labyrinth Area several days ago.
That "helpful" member was none other than Lind, who had recently been promoted to a lower-ranking officer by Xilocart.
This left Kirito completely baffled—
If Xilocart had already taken the main force to the Labyrinth Area, then why had he gone to all the trouble of targeting the Moonlit Black Cats in the first place?
In the northwest street of the Starting City, inside the Moonlit Black Cats guild base, Argo, Akimi, Asuna, and the members of the Moonlit Black Cats were sitting around the long table in the living room, seemingly discussing something.
"Ding ding—"
Argo tapped the empty teacup in front of her lightly with a spoon and said with a beaming smile, "Asu-chan! Another cup!"
After Asuna picked up the teapot and poured Argo another cup of black tea, Argo downed it in one gulp with astonishing speed, then immediately said again, "Another cup!"
Seeing this, Akimi said irritably, "Argo, are you here to discuss the situation or to have afternoon tea?"
"Of course I'm here for afternoon tea~"
As she spoke, Argo picked up one of the snacks that Asuna and Sachi had made together from the serving plate.
"A warm afternoon with Asu-chan and Sacc-chan's tea and snacks—this place is simply heaven Come on, let big sis give you a kiss"
Sachi replied with a smile, "I'm glad you like it, Argo-san," while politely declining Argo's request for a kiss; Asuna merely shrugged noncommittally—she had long grown used to Argo's unserious antics.
Looking at Argo sprawled out lazily, Akimi and Kirito's expressions grew darker and darker.
But this was Argo after all—her ability to read the room could easily rival that of any seasoned working adult.
Before Akimi and Kirito's faces could turn completely black, she straightened up, stirred the empty teacup with her spoon a few times, and said seriously, "I couldn't find much useful information… but one thing's certain—PoH has made a move. It's very likely that he was the one who suggested to Xilocart to target the Moonlit Black Cats."
"But everyone knows what kind of person PoH is, right?" Keita said in disbelief.
"Why would Xilocart accept his proposal?! That's impossible!"
After Keita finished speaking, Ducker and the others nodded in agreement.
"No, it's entirely possible."
Akimi and Kirito spoke in unison.
After exchanging a glance, Kirito gestured for Akimi to continue.
"You guys don't understand Xilocart… He's the kind of person who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals —if you put him in the trolley problem, he would change the track without hesitation." (You all know the trolley problem, right?)
"B-but everyone knows PoH is a PK. No matter what, Xilocart wouldn't just trust PoH to take us out…"
"Maybe his target was never the Moonlit Black Cats."
At this, Akimi turned his head to look at Kirito and said, "His target is Kirito… or rather, high-level players who aren't in the big guilds—and Kirito is his first target."
"W… why?"
Kirito slowly closed his eyes and said helplessly, "Because we take up too many resources… far too many compared to them."
It was no empty claim—Kirito and Akimi's levels were in a league of their own.
Akimi was already level 62, while Kirito and Asuna were level 61, and even Keita's group had an average level of 56.
Meanwhile, in the Knights of the Blood and the Divine Dragon Alliance, the highest-level player, Heathcliff, was level 60, and Xilocart was only level 58—perhaps 59 now.
Apart from these two, most ordinary members in the two major guilds were below level 50.
Although Akimi's group had indeed been a core force in many boss raids, Xilocart firmly believed that if the resources they had were concentrated on himself, he could do far better than they could—and that was the root cause of the conflict.
Since they didn't have the protection of a major guild, Xilocart became even more overbearing.
"We have to solve this problem at its root. Taking down PoH right now isn't really possible…"
Akimi narrowed his eyes. "So our target can only be…"
Everyone said in unison: "Xilocart!"
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