8

The forest path leading to the labyrinth was enveloped in a comforting warmth that was a far cry from the previous night’s eeriness. Morning light fell through the branches in golden pillars, and delicate butterflies flitted in and out of the gaps. Unfortunately, they were only a visual effect, not actual material creatures, so there was no use trying to catch them.

The soft, thick undergrowth made pleasant rustling noises as we marched through it.

“I’ve noticed you’re always dressed the same way,” Asuna teased. I looked down at my outfit with a start. An aging black leather coat, black shirt, and black pants. Hardly a sign of any metallic armor.

“Uh, I don’t mind. If I have money for clothes, I’d rather spend it on good food…”

“Is there a logical reason for all that black? Or is it just for style?”

“W-well, speak for yourself. What’s up with that stupid red and white?”

As we chatted, I ran a Search scan out of habit. No sign of any monsters. But…

“What else am I going to wear? It’s my guild uniform…Hmm? What’s up—”

“Hang on.” I cut her off, raising my hand. There was a player presence right at the edge of my Search radius. I focused on the distance behind us, and a number of green cursors that represented human players sprang into sight.

It couldn’t be a gang of criminals. They preferred targets that were clearly weaker than themselves, so they virtually never ventured to the front lines, where the strongest players gathered. On top of that, any player who committed even a single crime was marked as a criminal for a lengthy period, their green cursor automatically displaying orange as a warning to all. No, what concerned me was the number and formation of these players.

I called up the map screen and set it to be visible so that Asuna could see as well. The map displayed our forest surroundings, and in combination with my Search scan, a series of green dots represented these new visitors. There were twelve in total.

“That’s a lot…”

I agreed. Parties were harder to manage when the number grew too high, so five or six was considered ideal.

“And look at the way they’re lined up.”

The grouping of dots at the edge of the map was coming this way at considerable speed, arranged in two orderly columns. Dungeons were one thing, but I’d never seen such precision out in the open, where there was little danger to worry about.

Had I been able to at least see the levels of the members, I might have discerned their identities, but the cursor didn’t display names or levels of absolute strangers. It was designed that way by default to protect against PKing—player killing—which meant that in this case, I’d have to see them for myself and make an educated guess based on their equipment.

I closed the map and looked at Asuna.

“I just want to be sure. Let’s find a hiding spot and watch them pass.”

“Good idea.” She nodded nervously. We left the path and climbed up an embankment, hiding in the shadows of a clump of bushes about our height. It was the perfect position for watching the road.

“Ah…”

Asuna was looking down at her outfit. Red and white wasn’t the greatest combination for blending in with the undergrowth.

“What should I do? I don’t have a change of clothes…”

The lights on the map were bearing down. They’d be coming into range any second now.

“Pardon me.”

I opened up the front of my leather coat and swung my arm around Asuna, who was crouching at my side. She glared at me for an instant but let herself be covered by the protection of the coat. It might not look great, but it had an excellent hiding bonus. With as many concealing factors as we had, they wouldn’t find us without an exceedingly high-rank Search skill.

“See? Sometimes it helps to wear a one-color outfit.”

“Oh, shut up! Here they come.”

She put a finger to her lips. We crouched lower and heard the first signs of rhythmic, diligent footsteps. Finally, the group appeared around the bend in the path ahead.

They were all swordsmen, outfitted in matching gunmetal armor and dark green battlewear. It was designed to be practical rather than ornamental, but the front six did carry large shields emblazoned with the image of a familiar castle.

The front line bore one-handed swords, the rear line halberds. All wore long helmet visors that hid their faces from view. Their progress was so clean and mechanical that it gave the impression that the system had cloned a dozen copies of the same NPC and set them marching across the map together.

There was no mistaking it: They were from the Army, the mega-guild based out of the bottom floor of Aincrad. Asuna had realized this as well; she froze next to me, her breath held.

They didn’t antagonize ordinary players. In fact, they were the most proactive, player-run source upholding any kind of justice in the game. But their methods could be extreme. They immediately attacked without hesitation when they spotted a marked criminal—nicknamed “orange players” for the color of their cursors—and disarmed those who surrendered, imprisoning them in the jail beneath their base at Blackiron Palace. Rumor also spoke of more unsavory ends for those who did not surrender and failed to escape the fight.

Their large parties and lengthy control of hunting areas led to an understanding among other players to avoid the Army whenever possible. Then again, since they preferred to keep the peace and expand control in the weaker areas beneath the fiftieth floor, you didn’t have to worry about running into them on the front lines.

The twelve warriors marched down the path before us, their heavy boots and armor grinding loudly as they passed by. We held our breath until they disappeared farther into the forest.

Given the difficulties of simply procuring a first-day copy of Sword Art Online, every player currently held prisoner inside the game was presumably a hardcore gamer. And if any species of human being is allergic to rules and regulations, it’s a gamer. It was abnormal that any group of gamers could achieve that rigid discipline, even after two years’ time. They had to be an elite squad within the Army.

After confirming that they’d left the radius of my Search skill on the map, we both let out a long breath, still crouched over.

“So the rumor was true,” Asuna muttered, wrapped up in my coat.

“What rumor?”

“I heard it at a guild meeting. The Army’s changing focus and coming to the upper floors. Remember, they were formed to beat the game, just like we were. But after they got burned clearing the twenty-fifth floor, they stopped pushing upward and concentrated on strengthening their organization instead. Well, apparently there’s been some unrest from within about that. So they decided that rather than just sending chaotic waves of players into the labyrinth, they’d arrange smaller, elite parties to show their dedication to clearing the game. The report said they were just about to send out their first group.”

“So it’s mostly just a bit of propaganda for their organization? Still, do they know what they’re doing, charging into unfamiliar territory like that? I mean, they did look pretty tough, but…”

“Maybe they’re looking to head straight for the boss.”

Every floor had a boss monster deep in its labyrinth that guarded the staircase up to the next level. They only appeared once and were frightfully strong, but there was always a buzz after the latest boss fell. If they wanted good publicity, this was one way to get it.

“So that explains their numbers…Still, this is insane. No one’s even seen the seventy-fourth-floor boss yet. Normally, you send out numerous scouting parties to learn the boss’s power and patterns, then put together a huge raid group.”

“And it’s always a cooperative effort between multiple guilds. Are they planning to join in the effort, too?”

“We’ll see. Anyway, they can’t be reckless enough to challenge the boss blind like that. C’mon, let’s go and hope we don’t run into them inside.”

Reluctantly, I stood up and pulled my coat off of Asuna. She shivered in the open air.

“Brr, it’s almost winter…I’ll need a coat soon. Where’d you get that one?”

“Um…I think it was at a player shop in West Algade.”

“You’ll have to show me where when we’re done.”

She lithely leaped down to the path nearly ten feet below. I followed her—when your stats adjusted your fall damage, drops like this were nothing.

The sun was just about to reach the apex of its daily arc. We rushed ahead toward the labyrinth, paying close attention to our maps. We made it through the forest without running into a single monster and emerged in a field of sky-blue flowers. The path cut straight through to the west, and the ominous presence of the labyrinth tower loomed beyond.

Most labyrinth towers had an especially large room at the top where a boss monster would guard the staircase to the next level of Aincrad—in this case, the seventy-fifth floor. Once you defeated the boss, climbed the stairs, and made your way to the town on the next floor, a simple activation of the teleport gate there would officially mark the conquest of another floor.

“Town opening” was always a rowdy and exciting time, when players from lower floors would flood into the new outpost in search of fresh goods and shops. Today was the ninth day since reaching the seventy-fourth floor, which meant it was about the right time for the boss’s lair to be discovered.

The labyrinth beyond the field was a cylindrical, sandstone structure colored reddish brown. Asuna and I had visited it multiple times between the two of us, but the closer you approached and the more it seemed to blot out the sky, the more imposing it became. It was only one hundredth the height of Aincrad itself. Despite knowing it was impossible, I harbored a secret desire to one day see the entirety of Aincrad from the outside.

The Army was nowhere in sight—they were likely inside already. Our footsteps quickened as we grew closer and closer to the mouth of the tower.