Drifter glanced at his HP bar, teetering dangerously on the border of yellow. His whole chest was still aching. He may have blocked the trunk, but it had smashed his spear into him, and that hurt almost as bad.

  Pain was a bitch.

  As if SAO wasn't difficult enough already. But the frontliners had had 5 floors to adapt to the pain. They would never be able to fully ignore it, it wasn't humanly possible, but the spearmaster gritted his teeth and raised his head to glare at J?tunn Mammorath.

  He was angrier at the fate of the spearman before him than his own. Feeling your sternum, pretty much all your ribs, and a handful of other bones crushed to powder hurt. But definitely not nearly as much as being skewered by one of the giant tusks.

  The other player was still shaking, though he, like the frontliner he was, was already struggling to get up. Drifter made his way towards him while Ran, Yuuki, Kizmel, Klein, amd Gilgamesh distracted the boss.

  "Take a breather, Joha. You need it."

  "I don't--"

  The spearman scowled, but Drifter put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. His HP had already recovered with the help of a crystal, which meant the pain had gone away, but the memory of it remained.

  "Yes, you do. Take five. We have no use for a dead man."

  It sounded harsh, but it was the language spoken in the Assault Team. Joha snarled at Drifter and the boss - mostly the latter, though not all of it - but obeyed.

  "It's charging again!"

  The spearmaster turned towards the boss as J?tunn Mammorath thundered through the room once more, throwing snow everywhere. Players scattered in his wake.

  "Our numbers are working against us."

  It was Heathcliff who spoke, holding his sword and shield almost casually next to Drifter. The Reaver nodded.

  "Yeah. Attention, everyone! We are switching to plan B! Four parties only, all the rest fall back to outside the room! Guild leaders, establish rotation! Heathcliff, you are in charge of that."

  The other guild leader made a sound of acknowledgement. They had already discussed this possibility beforehand.

  Having the whole of the Assault Team in there sounded like a no-brainer, yes, but the room was too small, and the boss too big and its attacks of too large a scale to have everyone inside at the same time. It might make the battle quicker, but it would cost more in the long run.

  Their aim wasn't just to beat the boss, but to do it without any casualties.

  Of course keeping the majority of the Assault Team outside also had its disadvantages. For one, the raid would drag on for much longer as they wouldn't be able to offset the passive health regeneration of the boss as much as they could. For another, they would be delayed in their reaction time if things went to shit and they had to rush in.

  But there was no battle in Aincrad without risks. A boss raid most of all. They were prepared for this.

  The Assault Team adjusted their formation seamlessly, with the guild leaders directing where each of their members should go, all under Heathcliff's watchful eyes.

  As for Drifter, the spearmaster had only taken the time to crush a Healing Crystal against his chest before charging towards the boss again.

  A Rage Spike guided his spear between what would be a wrist joint of the boss, and punctured a large red wound into it.

  "BRRRAAAHHH-TOOOOM!"

  Again, J?tunn Mammorath bellowed, Drifter didn't know if it was because of his attack or all the others who were unleashing their skills onto the monster. Whatever the case may be, the albino mammoth was unhappy.

  Thankfully, for all that J?tunn Mammorath hit like a tank, it didn't have the most advanced AI. The boss tried to sweep its trunk across the floor to catch the 'ants' attacking it, but they used their skills to dash away.

  "Prepare for a switch! Fuurinkazan, third KoB party, and second and fourth DKB teams are in!"

  Drifter' leadership qualities had improved by leaps and bounds since SAO started. They had never been bad, but years as a frontliner and leading Reaver's Requiem in one manner or the other had transformed him from an outspoken, but normal young man, into a general with a commanding presence.

  It had only become more obvious since he assumed the position of de-facto leader of the Assault Team. Even in the middle of battle, his voice was unwavering, his orders thought out, and the weight behind them uncontested.

  Under his command, the Assault Team moved smoother than it ever had before. He was intimately familiar with each and every member, their strengths and weaknesses, their quirks, who worked better with who, who had butted heads before, everything.

  He knew exactly which players to connect to get the maximum results. And it showed as the parties he called switched flawlessly with him and the others, to the point the boss didn't even notice when it was Taunted and its aggro shifted.

  The spearmaster retreated to the edge of the room, watching the ongoing battle without blinking. Aided by Yuna's Rest and Pina's healing bubbles, his HP was already almost back to full in no time.

  "Heathcliff, get ready. I want you on the next wave. The boss is more susceptible to high-level Taunts than I expected. Use Holy Sword to tank at first. Liten, take your party and circle to the other side of the boss. Taunt, Brace, and Shield Wall are the order of the day. Once Heathcliff's starting to falter, you take over so he can breath. Try to box the boss in, don't give it space to charge. If it does anyway, Mountain Power it if you have more than half your HP, get the hell outta the way otherwise. Heathcliff, once J?tunn switches his aggro to Liten, put Holy Sword into offense and let it feel it. Three rounds, no more. Then switch."

  His words left no room for discussion, and, though he didn't show it, Heathcliff was impressed. As the creator of all bosses and most mobs in Aincrad, he obviously knew how to best deal with them. And, in a matter of minutes, Drifter had come up with a plan that was, almost word for word, what he and Cardinal worked out to be the best strategy to beat J?tunn Mammorath.

  And the spearmaster wasn't done yet.

  "Heathcliff and Liten, Nautilus and Vallerk, Shivata and Enkidu. Those six will be our main configuration. Each leads a party. Two secondary tanks per group, and the other two parties in the rotation take the sides of the boss, focus on attack."

  He briefly glanced around to make sure the players he named all understood their roles, and that the rest of the Assault Team was paying attention.

  "The six of you work in the pairs I said, and we will stagger switches so each has time to recover before it's their turn again. Yuna, Song of Stone unless I call otherwise or you make a judgement call. Silica, I need Pina on stand-by to heal our tanks before their turn comes up again. Liz, set up your Volcano Forge for the same priority. That thing hits like a truck, and eats durability the same."

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  "Yes, Drifter!"

  "Priiii!"

  "Roger that, boss."

  The spearmaster looked around again, then thumped the butt of his spear against the ground.

  "Alright, Heathcliff, Liten, your time's up. Get in there. Switch!"

  ...

  "Papa, Mama!"

  They had barely come out of the teleport room in their headquarters when a black and pink blur slammed into Kirito and Asuna, almost taking them both down.

  All the Reavers smiled at the sight. Regardless of her origins, they already considered Yui family. That's how endearing the girl was.

  "Yui! What are you doing here? We were going to come down to get you as soon as we settled things here."

  "I couldn't wait! You were all so amazing! Papa was like, cut cut cut, his swords all shiny! And Mama was so fast! And Uncle Drifter told everyone what to do, Miss Sasha said he is a real hero! All of you are! It was so cool!"

  The Reavers burst into laughter at her description of the battle, especially Kirito's actions. She wasn't wrong, he really did 'cut cut cut', and even scored the last-hit bonus.

  "Once the transmission ended, she was practically bouncing off the walls to go to you. It was all I could do to convince her to come here instead of teleporting straight away to the 56th floor."

  Drifter looked over the living room, where Sasha was sitting on a sofa while sipping some tea. He had added her to the manor's guest list as soon as they agreed Yui would stay with her during raids.

  Keita and the other two Black Cats had volunteered to look after the girl at first, but soon realized their duties as clearers clashed with that. Even now, barely an hour after the raid ended, they were already exploring the 56th floor with some other clearers who were on good terms with Reaver's Requiem.

  "Thanks for bringing her here, Sasha. A safe zone is a safe zone, but we wouldn't want her wandering there before we get more of a feel for the next floor."

  "Is it bad?"

  The caretaker took another sip of her tea and asked curiously as the Reavers dispersed, Drifter, Liz, Wolv, and Griselda joining her in the living room while the rest went to do their own things.

  "Creepy more like. Giant anthills everywhere. Like, actually house-sized, and we saw some even bigger in the distance."

  Liz shuddered, a gesture Sasha mimicked. Giant insects was a recurrent mob type in Aincrad, and they were always an even mix between gross and terrifying.

  "Yeah, good luck with that. I think I'll stick to my church. The children have been surprisingly obedient about not organizing unsactioned 'field trips' to the upper floors."

  Sasha had almost had a heart attack when she woke up one day to a message from some of the older kids saying that they had gone to explore some of the 30s floors.

  Their promise to stay inside the safe zones had done little to reassure her, and she had activated Argo, Fuumaningun, and the Aincrad Defense Force to search for them.

  Needless to say, the children had been grounded for quite a long time once they were found, even though they did, in fact, stick to the safe zones.

  "Kids will be kids. Besides, Shun and some of the others are nearly 12, or there already, no? Same age as Silica when she joined us."

  "I'm not letting them fight! No way in hell!"

  "Woah, peace, Sasha. I'm not saying you should. Just that you can probably understand why they are getting restless."

  Wolv raised his hand in surrender. Sasha, for all her appearance was as inoffensive as one could possibly be, could be really scary when the safety of her charges was in question.

  "We already have enough frontliners. But maybe we should organize some more outings when we have the time? Just so the children don't get restless and do something stupid."

  Griselda proposed, and Sasha sighed. If it was up to her, the children would never get even close to the edge of the safe zone.

  But it wouldn't be fair. They, much like the rest of the players, deserved a chance to live, not just survive.

  "Yes, that's probably a good idea. As long as you keep an eye on them."

  "Wouldn't dream otherwise. And thanks again for doing the same for Yui today."

  Drifter raised his teacup in a toast, and Sasha snorted. Yep, this was the Reaver's Requiem she was well familiar with.

  They chatted for a couple more minutes about meaningless topics before Liz uttered a noise of surprise.

  "Huh."

  "What's up?"

  "Guild chat. Keita says they found something odd. His words."

  "Already?"

  Drifter raised an eyebrow. It hadn't even been 2 hours since the new floor opened. Swiping his finger, he looked through the messages himself.

  [ Keita: Everyone, we are at another settlement, about an hour's walk from the primary town. But it's... odd, I guess. ]

  [ Agil: How so? ]

  [ Keita: It has everything a town has. NPCs, vendors, shops, restaurants, blacksmiths, the whole thing. ]

  [ Yuuki: What's strange about that? ]

  [ Sachi: It's not a safe zone. ]

  Drifter blinked. That was odd.

  [ Drifter: You sure? ]

  [ Tetsuo: 100%. Marrv's party can confirm, as can one of the KoB's clear groups. They are all here. ]

  [ Kirito: A trap? ]

  [ Keita: Maybe, but I don't think so. Doesn't feel like it. Or look like it. ]

  [ Tetsuo: Green cursors all around. And the mobs, those hyena-looking things, stay clear of the town boundary. ]

  The spearmaster almost suggested the possibility of it being a glitch, but Cardinal would never let such a glaring flaw go unchecked.

  The more he thought about it, the more he felt that Kirito might be right. Maybe the trap simply hadn't been sprung yet.

  Knocking back the last of his tea, he stood up in unison woth the rest of his guild members, and bowed to Sasha.

  "Something came up. Can you stay with Yui for a little bit more?"

  "Of course. Is there a problem?"

  The caretaker was also jaded after years in Aincrad. Though uneasy, she didn't ask why they were suddenly leaving.

  "Maybe. We will see."

  Having said that, Drifter turned around and walked towards the teleporter, where the rest of the Reavers was already converging. His fingers danced on empty air.

  [ Drifter: Stay put. We are on our way. ]