Chapter 49

They had just begun walking again when they suddenly saw a wide set of stairs ahead of them. Advancing cautiously, they soon saw that behind the staircase was the back wall, stretching into the darkness on either side.

"Looks like there's only one way to go." Jae remarked. "I wonder what the point of this room was if we're just gonna go up."

Toyo glanced to the sides. "There's probably some mobs and other stuff deeper in that we can't see from here." He gave Jae an excited look. "We should come back and check out the rest of this room once the raid is done."

Jae nodded. "My thoughts exactly. I'm pretty sure the torches light up when players are nearby, so it probably isn't that dark the further in you go."

Giving the stairs a final look, Toyo began marching forward. "I hope we don't get any more surprises until we reach the top. I'm not a fan of uphill battles."

They had just begun walking again when they suddenly saw a wide set of stairs ahead of them. Advancing cautiously, they soon saw that behind the staircase was the back wall, stretching into the darkness on either side.

"Looks like there's only one way to go." Jae remarked. "I wonder what the point of this room was if we're just gonna go up."

Toyo glanced to the sides. "There's probably some mobs and other stuff deeper in that we can't see from here." He gave Jae an excited look. "We should come back and check out the rest of this room once the raid is done."

Jae nodded. "My thoughts exactly. I'm pretty sure the torches light up when players are nearby, so it probably isn't that dark the further in you go."

Giving the stairs a final look, Toyo began marching forward. "I hope we don't get any more surprises until we reach the top. I'm not a fan of uphill battles."

Following him up, Jae quickly sent a message about the staircase to Diabel before catching up and falling in on Toyo's right.

Though the stairs were wide, they didn't go on for long. Once they reached the top, Jae and Toyo could see that the next room was pretty much the same, except that now there were several rooms along the path instead of just an endless hall. Upon reading in Diabel's reply that the group was already on the stairs, Jae and Toyo began picking up the pace. As they moved throughout the different rooms along the path, Jae detected several skeletons in each one. Working together, the two brothers quickly cut down the enemies in their way.

Before long, several flights of stairs had been climbed, each leading to a more complex room. Though there were no traps, the number of enemies in each room began growing more numerous. The walls soon began to cut them off from the path, forcing them to take alternate routes before getting back on track. Carefully detailing every turn in his messages to Diabel, Jae made sure to pay close attention to the number of enemies in each new area.

After over an hour of skirmishing and winding their way through the veritable maze the Labyrinth had become, both of them were growing weary.

We should rest up for a second," Toyo said as he examined the room they had just cleared. "We need to be at full strength when we reach the Boss."

Jae nodded in agreement. "We're a good distance from the main group now, I'd say we can afford a few minutes."

Shouldering their weapons, the two brothers kept an eye on the three doors that lead out of the room as they sat against the wall.

"This is taking longer than I thought." Toyo commented. "I had no idea the Labyrinth was so damn big."

Jae closed his eyes, leaning his head back onto the wall. "Me neither, but Diabel said in his last message that we're close to twenty flights up. That's the one the Boss will be on."

"Almost there." Toyo glanced over at Jae. "You really want to prove yourself to these guys, don't you? How come?"

Jae opened his eyes as he thought it over.

"I guess it's because I want to keep doing this, and right now they're the only ones with the same mindset." He looked at his boots. "I believe that this is the right course of action. To clear this game, we need to keep fighting, keep finding these Floor Bosses. If this raid is successful, all the players still alive will see that SAO can be beaten." His eyes seemed to gleam as he spoke. "Killing this Boss will be a huge boost of morale for everyone. More will join up with the raid party. If we get enough strong people together and don't stop our momentum, we could probably do it in a matter of months. We can beat this game."

*****

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