Leaving Asuna and the others behind to act alone, Yusei arrived at the town on the 26th floor.
He didn't choose to go directly to the Dragon's Lake because the Dragon's Lake was located on the outskirts of the 26th floor's labyrinth area, not far from the labyrinth zone.
To get there, one needed to pass through the fields. And right now, the fields were undoubtedly filled with players searching for and killing elite bosses.
They were all looking for clues about the Dragon Knight, and these elite bosses were monsters they absolutely had to farm.
Yusei felt that swaggering through the fields was too risky. What if he ran into someone he knew? That wouldn't be good.
Especially since Asuna and Kaguya were also in the fields looking for elite bosses... Yusei wanted to avoid that risk even more.
Arriving at the town on the 26th floor, thanks to the quest, there were very few players in town now.
Even the players present were only quickly purchasing potions or repairing weapons.
Their ultimate goal was still to quickly find the Dragon Knight and slay the dragon Kanna.
In the town, Yusei quickly found a mask shop and purchased a black and white mask.
The mask had no expression overall… it was a very ordinary, stiff design primarily in black and white tones, meant solely to conceal one's appearance.
Yusei thought for a moment, then opened his mailbox and sent an email to Kayaba.
[Use administrator privileges to modify my game character's location. Change it to the town on the 15th floor.]
In less than a minute, Kayaba's email reply came swiftly.
[Done. Also, I apologize for being unable to assist you, Yusei-sama, in defeating the dragon Kanna. It's rather embarrassing, but I still don't know where the problem lies. I am currently working hard to resolve it. I will inform you as soon as there is progress...]
Yusei looked at the email and calmly let out a breath, thinking to himself, 'Of course you don't know where the problem lies. Because the problem is with me, after all.'
Putting the matter aside, Yusei quickly left the town and headed towards the wild forest.
Now wearing the mask, he prepared to cut straight through the wilderness directly to the Dragon's Lake.
26th Floor, Wilderness.
A petite lolita with twin tails and chestnut-colored hair was walking unhappily on a grassy slope in the forest, holding a small blue feathered dragon, Pina.
"Hmph, I'll go by myself then, it's no big deal."
The more the cute girl thought about what her teammates had said earlier, the angrier she became.
"Why can't I get the Dragon Knight's information? I don't need to rely on them, right, Pina?"
"Pii~!"
The feathered dragon in her arms chirped happily, flew two circles around her... then hovered and settled on her head.
Seemingly encouraged by the feathered dragon's cheerful chirps, the young girl felt her spirits lift.
"Then let's go find the dragon Kanna, just the two of us! It's a dragon like Pina. Maybe my Tamer skill will work on it too!"
"Pii~!"
With a goal in mind, the cute girl quickly made her way to the outskirts of the Dragon's Lake. But when she saw the Dragon's Lake, she couldn't help but gasp in surprise.
She had initially thought it was just a lake, but upon seeing it, she realized calling it a small ocean wouldn't be an overstatement.
At the very least, she could barely see the opposite shore at the distant horizon.
"Such a huge lake... Is this the Dragon's Lake? Do all you dragons live in such big places?"
The excited girl looked at the feathered dragon on her head. Seeing the latter's face full of question marks, she embarrassedly stuck out her tongue.
"I forgot Pina is still just a child, so it's still very small. But don't worry, I believe Pina will grow very big in the future."
"Pii~!"
"Okay! Let's go find Kanna!"
The girl raised her hand and shouted very happily! But before she could start moving, a tremendous explosion sounded.
A massive noise erupted, followed by a powerful storm that swept through, nearly blowing the girl off her feet.
"Ah!"
The water of the Dragon's Lake was also sent flying. The girl wasn't too far from the lake and was completely drenched by the water.
"What... what happened?"
The girl wiped the water from her eyes and looked around. Instantly, she covered her mouth, her face full of disbelief.
The originally beautiful and tranquil Dragon's Lake was now completely transformed. Not only was the lakeshore shattered, with a large gap constantly pouring water out...
But in the distance, half of a large mountain had been blown apart.
"What in the world is going on?!"
The girl was now in a sorry state, not only dirty but also soaked through.
Meanwhile, Pina beside her pointed in a direction, chirping melodiously.
The girl quickly looked in that direction and saw a group of players confronting a beautiful white dragon flying in the air.
Being just a young girl, Silica couldn't help but show fascination in her eyes upon seeing the beautiful white dragon.
However, the next moment, the beautiful white dragon let out a cry and fired a beam of light mixed with electricity.
The players had never seen a boss like this before and froze on the spot. They were completely enveloped by the beam's explosion.
When the light faded, the group of players who had been confronting the white dragon had completely vanished.
Seeing this, Silica's cute face instantly turned deathly pale, completely devoid of her earlier happiness.
"D-dead... They all died? Just like that?"
"Pii..." Pina flew over, hovering above the girl's head, comforting its master in a low voice.
The naive girl now realized that the dragon Kanna and the feathered dragon Pina were two completely different beings.
The huge commotion caused at the Dragon's Lake wasn't only known to those nearby, and everyone in the wild forest heard and saw it.
The beam of light that streaked overhead directly struck a distant mountain peak, causing the earth to shake. Those in the forest were the first to feel it.
In fact, the tremors felt by people near the Dragon's Lake were actually smaller than those felt further away in the forest.
"What exactly happened? Is that the dragon Kanna?"
"Has some idiot already gone ahead?"
"Hard to say. But what if they use attrition tactics and actually defeat Kanna?"
"Ah? Then wouldn't our efforts farming bosses for Dragon Knight's clues be wasted?"
"We have to hurry over there!"
The discussions from the surrounding players were incessant, but their final intention was the same… they had to hurry to the dragon Kanna to prevent someone from getting lucky and snatching the Last Attack!