Miracle Summoner

Seeing Asuna fall silent, Rozen didn't seem to mind. With a slight smile, he began to share his findings.

"Let me tell you about the information I've gathered on the Floor 27 Boss."

This was the most valuable intel for floor clearing.

Due to the introduction of magic and other enhanced elements, even SAO players couldn't claim to fully understand the Floor Bosses in Aincrad. Thus, whether it was former SAO players or old ALO players, everyone had to start collecting boss information from scratch to formulate a proper strategy.

Last night, Rozen had specifically ventured into the Boss room and faced the Floor 27 Boss himself.

Thus, Rozen could be considered the player who knew the Floor 27 Boss best at this moment.

"The Boss is a four-meter-tall black giant with immense strength and astonishing durability. Its muscular body has two heads and four arms, each holding a fearsome blunt weapon capable of unleashing four distinct attack modes. While it's a bit tricky to deal with, it's far easier than fighting those formless non-standard monsters."

Rozen began explaining.

"Its attack patterns include hammer swings, chain sweeps, and a charge attack after lowering its heads. When its HP drops to half, it gains a wide-range breath attack, and when its HP bar enters the red zone, it goes berserk. In this state, its four arms can execute an eight-hit combo with its weapons, making it rather difficult to handle."

Rozen opened a holographic interface in front of Asuna, switching to a free-drawing window. With swift hand movements, he displayed pictures of the Boss's attack patterns and listed the countermeasures for each.

"Although its attacks are troublesome to handle, it has quite a few weaknesses. The chain attack has a clear wind-up animation, making it easy to dodge even if it can't be interrupted. The hammer attacks cannot be blocked; otherwise, even the highest defense will result in being knocked back, stunned, or grounded.

However, if you can bait the hammer into hitting the ground, there will be about a 0.7-second delay, during which you can launch powerful sword skills or magic attacks. You can even apply debuff or binding magic to temporarily immobilize it.

Additionally, its back is a significant blind spot—if you use thrusting sword skills on its back, you can deal substantial damage. However, the chains can still sweep behind, so be cautious. As for the charge attack, it's not hard to counter; it also has a wind-up animation. Once you see it lower its heads, just dodge out of its trajectory. As for the breath attack, I think..."

Rozen continued explaining in great detail until he was interrupted.

Asuna, who had been silent all this time, suddenly threw herself into Rozen's arms, tightly hugging him.

"Wha… what's wrong?"

Rozen stopped mid-sentence and instinctively embraced her back, surprised.

Asuna's voice, however, was filled with gratitude.

"Thank you."

This simple phrase conveyed the depth of Asuna's emotions.

Even though Rozen spoke as if it were all straightforward, as the Vice Leader of Crimson Wing and a veteran of numerous frontline battles, Asuna understood better than anyone how arduous it must have been to gather such detailed information.

In the labyrinth zones where flying was prohibited, Rozen had to traverse every inch of the terrain on foot to map the remaining 20% of the 27th Floor Maze. Even at his speed, it would have taken four to five hours to complete.

The Boss's information was even harder to gather. Rozen had to lure out all the Boss's attack patterns and take them head-on to analyze and counter them. For the attacks triggered when the Boss's HP was halved, he had to reduce its health in the midst of intense combat to observe its hidden attack modes. Finally, by lowering its HP bar to the red zone, Rozen proved that he could have defeated the Boss right then and there for substantial rewards and recognition.

Had Rozen done so, he could have used the rewards for his guild and himself, achieving even greater development.

As for fame, it was already widely believed that Rozen's solo defeat of the Floor 24 Boss was a miracle unlikely to be repeated. If Rozen had soloed another Boss, this rumor would have been disproven, elevating his reputation further.

However, Rozen had abandoned all of that, retreating with only the information and sharing it with Asuna.

She could even imagine Rozen staying up all night, sacrificing his sleep to complete this task.

Afterward, Rozen accompanied her in addressing the guild, explaining their temporary collaboration with the Sleeping Knights and reassuring everyone about Asuna's safety. All these efforts left Asuna deeply touched.

At this moment, Asuna felt she was the happiest person in the world.

Rozen, sensing her emotions, gave a wry smile and softly spoke while hugging her.

"You're my future wife. If I don't treat you well, what would I do if you decided to leave me?"

His words made Asuna giggle.

"I won't." Asuna looked at him with deep affection and said firmly, "In this life, I'll never leave you. I'll never marry anyone but you."

Asuna's declaration was resolute.

"Really?" Rozen smiled teasingly. "What if I find another girl?"

Though he seemed to be joking, Rozen's heart tightened.

After all, in other worlds, Rozen had someone like Edelweiss, and there were also Mash, La Folia, and other girls who shared deep bonds with him. Asuna would inevitably meet them someday, so dropping a hint now didn't seem like a bad idea.

Unfortunately...

"...Another girl?"

Asuna's smile faded, her eyes losing their light, becoming empty.

Seeing this, Rozen shuddered.

Th-this seems dangerous…