Chapter 760: An oddity, escape, and departure
Wu Yan, Asuna, Kirito, Souta, Klein, and Agil arrived at the same time. They exchanged smiles with each other when they saw humans behaving like proper humans with hearts.
The players noticed their arrival and they all cheered out loud. They were players who stood out on their own. Wu Yan the Strongest, a.k.a. the Fae Swordsman, Asuna The Flash, Kirito the Black Swordsman, Souta the Captain of Moonlit Black Cats, Klein the captain of Fuurinkazan. Only Agil lacked an epithet.
However, anyone familiar with this black guy with a black-heart of a businessman knows full well how much Agil paid to nurture promising players from the lower floor. He used almost all the money he earned from his business dealings to grow the next batch of talents. Are his actions not worthy of respect?…
Thus, while he lacked any title, his fame is on par with the other players who had their own titles.
The six of them will no doubt be the core force of this final raid.
“This is seriously…”
Agil couldn’t help but rub his head awkwardly when the crowd rained praises down on them.
“This oughta teach you a lesson for being so heavy-handed in doing business!”
Klein teased him while patting his own chest.
“I get this kind of treatment every day!”
“Alas, none of that luck helped you find a girlfriend, hmm…”
Kirito verbally kicked Klein in the nuts.
“You bastard, would it kill you to stop bringing girlfriends up?!”
“It can’t be helped…”
Souta jumped in.
“I mean, you’re the only one who is still a bachelor at this point…”
Wu Yan said nothing. Instead, he wrapped his arm around Asuna’s tiny waist and he gave Klein a smug look. This action was like a sharp arrow that pierced Klein’s already fragile heart. If they weren’t in front of a crowd, he would probably go gray again.
They started messing around, paying no heed to the players around them. If the other players didn’t know them, they would have pegged them for sightseeing players rather than clearers who were about to stake their lives.
The teleport platform started getting busier with the arrival of more clearers. Things got so bad that the plaza almost filled up with players. Ignoring the backups, the raid members were enough to fill up the teleport platform.
But, even when all the players who were supposed to show up for the Red Jade Palace came, the KoBs are still nowhere to be seen.
“Heathcliff, where is that bumhole?”
Klein ruffled his own hair out of impatience.
“Today’s the big fight and the leader is actually late!”
“Did something happen?…”
Kirito furrowed his brows. Subconsciously, Kirito hated Heathcliff. It felt like Heathcliff is hiding something very ugly beneath his calm gaze and look. But, he told himself Heathcliff couldn’t have got to where he is by being a crook so he ignored his gut feelings.
“Should we send him a direct message?”
Agil asked Souta.
“Maybe we should urge him to hurry…”
“I already sent multiple emails…”
Souta bitterly laughed. He pulled open his interface.
“I also sent messages to the other lieutenants of KoB but they didn’t reply at all…”
Asuna suddenly had a bad feeling when she heard Souta. She hugged Wu Yan’s arm with a worried look.
“I hope nothing’s wrong. The Captain never did anything like this when I was in the guild…”
Wu Yan narrowed his eyes. He patted Asuna’s hand. Before he can say anything, the KoBs arrived with their signature armor. They weren’t sighing in relief because…
Heathcliff is missing!
“What happened?”
Klein is the first one to fire a question at them.
“Where’s your captain?…”
A few Knights looked at each other and they gave Klein bitter and frustrated looks.
“We don’t know…”
Klein immediately grabbed one of them by the collar while other players gasped.
“Don’t give me that crap. You don’t know where your captain is? Are you guys that incompetent?…”
“We really don’t know!”
A Knight interrupted.
“We couldn’t find him since this morning. We have looked everywhere for him, he’s also not replying to his messages. The whole guild is in a mess.”
“What’s going on?…”
Souta knitted his brows.
“Is Heathcliff planning on sitting this one out?”
“Don’t tell me he ran away?!”
Klein glared at the Knights, angering them with his words.
“You..”
“Wait!”
Asuna stopped them. She used her sharp eyes on the Knights who were turning hostile.
“We are all allies here, are you guys planning on fighting among yourselves?…”
The knights lowered their heads with panic. Asuna was their vice-captain, her abilities and looks made her a very authoritative voice in the guild. Although she already quit the Knights of the Blood Oath, none of the members here had the audacity to challenge her.
“Asuna-sama…”
One of the Knights spoke out.
“With the captain missing, what do you think we should do?…”
Asuna replied with a troubled look.
“I already quit the guild, make your own decisions, I am not the vice-captain anymore…”
“But…”
The Knights looked at each other while standing around like a bunch of helpless dunces. Without proper leadership, they are not sure if they can properly fight in the upcoming boss fight…
The other raid members were also freaking out. With all members except the leader accounted for, they weren’t sure if they should proceed or wait longer.
Wu Yan finally spoke.
“No need to wait for Heathcliff, let’s go!”
“What…”
The others were flabbergasted.
“We don’t need to wait for him?”
Kirito hesitated.
“Heathcliff is the one in charge, he has the Holy Sword, his defense can help us block a lot of fatal attacks, he’s also only a little weaker than you…”
“Yeah!”
Klein said.
“Maybe something’s keeping him back…”
Wu Yan didn’t say anything, he also used an expressionless look. Inside, he bitterly laughed.
What is he going to say? Kayaba Akihiko is the Final Boss waiting for them in the Red Jade Palace?…
He’s sure the Knights will definitely flip out if he said that!
Wu Yan continued.
“Heathcliff is someone who keeps his word, he organized this raid and he’s not here. I am sure even if we wait for him, he still wouldn’t come, waiting is just going to waste more time…”
Wu Yan looked at every player here and he growled.
“Even if I have to enter the Red Jace Palace by myself, I will!”
Wu Yan marched towards the center of the city without waiting for further input from anyone else. Asuna tagged along with Kirito & co in tow. They only exchanged a look before they all followed Wu Yan.
In any case, he’s the strongest player here, they might as well do as he says…