After much deliberation, Nautilus finally decided to join Fuurinkazan.
"Heh heh, don't worry, from now on Fuurinkazan's got your back." Klein said with a wide grin as he hooked an arm around Nautilus's neck.
Nautilus, clearly not used to Klein's overly enthusiastic and outgoing nature, could only put on an awkward smile.
Yuna, meanwhile, stood smiling at the side—it seemed she wasn't surprised at all by Nautilus's choice.
"Hoo—well, since things are more or less settled, we can probably head back now." Akimi stretched as he spoke.
"I bet once tomorrow's raid meeting is over, we'll start preparing to fight the boss—after all, we've been on the 40th floor for over ten days now, and Argo should have already finished the boss quest."
Asuna shot him a glare. "You know, there was a boss quest we could've cleared along the way just a couple of days ago, but you insisted on sending the location to Argo and letting her do it."
Akimi gave an awkward cough and tried to justify himself: "Well, as the saying goes, each craft has its master. When it comes to boss quests, Argo is far more professional than us… Besides, if we had taken that quest, Argo definitely would've complained that we were stealing her business."
"If you just didn't want the hassle, you could've said so directly—why beat around the bush?" Asuna, already well-accustomed to Akimi's sophistry, exposed his real thoughts without hesitation.
"How could that be—" Akimi wanted to argue back, but he had to admit Asuna had hit the mark.
All he could do was weakly deny it without being able to offer any reason.
"…At least say it with some conviction."
Asuna was completely speechless.
—————-
Because the 40th floor was themed around a prison, with its dense cages and endless traps, the oppressive atmosphere of its labyrinth far exceeded that of any previous floor.
Even though they hadn't run into many of the monsters that usually ambushed players around corners, Akimi and his party still felt mentally drained.
As they were nearing the labyrinth's exit, Akimi rubbed his temples and quietly said to Asuna, "Hey… Asuna, once we're done with everything on the 40th floor, let's take a break for a while."
"Eh? Why the sudden thought of taking a break?"
"Mm—no particular reason." Akimi shook his head before adding, "Just feels like I'm a little worn out."
"Is that so… Well, we really haven't had a proper rest in some time."
"What do you mean 'some time'? The last time we actually rested was three months ago."
"Hmm—you're right. Then let's take a few days off when the time comes… but what should we do? We can't just lie around at home sleeping the whole time, right?"
Akimi paused mid-step, stroked his chin in thought for a moment, then suddenly leaned in close to Asuna.
"Wah—! What are you doing?! Just say it normally, why are you suddenly leaning in like that?"
Startled by how close his face was to hers, Asuna's cheeks flushed red.
She pouted and quickly pushed him away.
Laughing, Akimi rubbed his nose before saying, "Aincrad is already nearly halfway cleared, but there are still so many places we haven't been to, right? And even the places we have been, it was usually just for quests, without really taking the time to explore… Like unique foods that don't exist in the real world, or buildings with completely different styles."
Asuna blinked, then nodded quietly.
Then Akimi seemed to think of something.
He glanced up and down at Asuna, then quickly looked away, his eyes suddenly shifty.
"And also… in this hot August weather, going to Volupta's seaside for a swim would feel amazing, wouldn't it?"
At first, Asuna instinctively nodded.
But the moment she caught the faint hint of mischief in his tone, she immediately understood what he really had in mind.
Raising an eyebrow, she glared at him and huffed, "Swimming is fine, but don't you dare think about anything else!"
"Mmh—"
Akimi made a sound of acknowledgment, though his expression looked suspiciously strained (barely holding back laughter).
"Then it's settled—" Asuna lifted her chin slightly.
"But let me be clear: you're covering all the expenses."
"Heh heh, no problem."
————–
"Bang!"
Xaxa, growing impatient, kicked a clump of soil near his foot.
The chunk flew four or five meters before smashing on the ground; Johnny lazily ripped leaves from a nearby bush, glancing toward the labyrinth entrance every time he tore one off.
Only PoH remained calm, leaning against a rock, staring motionless in that direction.
After kicking a few more stones, Xaxa couldn't hold back.
He stepped over to PoH and asked, "Boss, are they just refusing to come out of the dungeon area? It's been nearly two hours."
PoH said nothing, instead picking up his weapon "Friend-Cutting Cleaver," stroking its spine.
After a moment, he gave Xaxa a sidelong glance and said, "Be patient, Xaxa. What we're about to dine on is a feast—a feast takes time to prepare, that's unavoidable."
"Tsk. Fine." Xaxa forced down his impatience and plopped himself down on the ground.
PoH seemed to notice the dissatisfaction in Xaxa's tone.
The corner of his mouth curved into a slight smile as he continued, "Don't worry—this feast isn't just happening once… Our next target will be that Black Swordsman, the famous Beater Kirito. How does that sound?"
The moment those words left PoH's lips, Xaxa sat up eagerly, crawling closer to PoH with excitement.
"Is that for real?" he asked.
Even though most of his face was covered by a pale mask, the tone of his voice and the grin behind it betrayed his excitement—the red glow in the mask's eyes brightened noticeably.
PoH closed his eyes, as though recalling something…