-377- [ The Gleam Eyes ]

"..."

An invisible sense of oppression emanated from the demon-carved door.

Standing at a close distance, Rozen began to feel this oppressive force, causing his eyes to flicker.

Similarly, Asuna turned around, looking at the massive door in front of her, her expression filled with hesitation.

"Should... we go take a look?" Asuna tentatively proposed, sounding somewhat uneasy.

Typically, to defeat an floor boss, a team needed to discover its room first, then urgently notify clearing group players, hold a strategy meeting, dispatch a reconnaissance team to the floor boss's room to probe for information on attack patterns, HP, appearance, and strength. Afterward, they would retreat and formally organize a raiding party during the second strategy meeting based on the gathered intelligence.

If following this procedure, after finding the floor boss's room, Rozen and Asuna should return to the town, gather the clearing group players, and conduct a strategy meeting together.

However, if the players now were skilled at reconnaissance themselves or had the capability for it, they could initiate preliminary exploration of the floor boss.

It seemed like Asuna was thinking along these lines?

"We've finally found the boss's room; we should at least take a look to see what it's like and make some basic judgments," Asuna suggested.

Rozen stroked his chin, lost in thought.

Logically, if they only entered the boss's room for a quick look, it shouldn't pose much of a problem.

Guardian bosses, despite their immense power, had their limitations. One of the biggest limitations was that they couldn't leave their own room and could only guard the staircase leading to the previous floor.

Thus, they were called "Guardian" bosses. In other words, as long as the situation turned unfavorable, they could immediately retreat from the room. By doing so, they could avoid being pursued by the guardian boss and safely escape.

However, guardian bosses were not monsters that would stand idly by while enemies escaped. If anyone turned their back on them and tried to flee, they would likely face a fatal blow from behind, so it wasn't without risks.

Of course, players could all use advanced crystal items. If things went south, they could crush a Teleportation Crystal and instantly return to the town, which was an emergency escape method.

Due to the characteristics of Teleportation Crystals, all players who ventured outside the safe zone carried one, even mid-level and lower-level players didn't hesitate to spend a considerable amount to acquire one.

Rozen and Asuna, being among the top players, naturally had these crystal items on hand. Not to mention Teleportation Crystals, they were also equipped with Healing Crystals, Curing Crystals, Purification Crystals, and other crystal items.

Rozen even had a specially crafted Familiar Crystal, probably unique on the entire server. Additionally, he possessed the skill "Mind's Eye" and Familiars with debuff skills. There should be no problems escaping if necessary.

"Alright," Rozen finally made a decision and said to Asuna, "I'll go in to take a look, and you wait here."

This was the most sensible judgment Rozen could make.

However...

"No!" Asuna immediately rejected without a second thought and firmly declared, "If we're going in, we'll go together!"

Rozen was slightly surprised, and before he could say anything, he was met with Asuna's determined expression and gaze.

It seemed that this Rapier user wasn't going to compromise.

"Alright..." Rozen sighed in resignation, "But you have to prepare a Teleportation Crystal, be ready for an emergency escape at any time."

"Got it," Asuna eased her expression and nodded with a smile.

At that moment, both of them approached the massive door and placed their hands on the door's surface. With a gentle push...

"Creak..."

Accompanied by a slight sound of the door opening, the enormous door seemed to automatically swing open, slowly revealing what lay behind it.

The interior was pitch black, and nothing could be seen.

Rozen furrowed his brow.

Even with the "Mind's Eye" skill, Rozen couldn't make out what was inside.

If it were "Heaven's Eye," it would be a different story, but the "Mind's Eye" was not meant for observing the surrounding environment; it was used for deciphering the microcosm, allowing one to see only phenomena, not details.

To put it in a metaphorical way, "Mind's Eye" is like a microscope, while "Heaven's Eye" is like a telescope. The former is a precise analytical tool, while the latter is an all-encompassing scanner.

In this situation, without entering the room, Rozen had no idea what it looked like inside.

"What should we do?" Asuna cautiously asked for Rozen's opinion.

Rozen replied almost without hesitation, "Let's go in."

With that decision, Rozen took the first step into the dark room.

"Clang!"

In his hand, a rainbow crystal appeared seemingly out of nowhere, radiating beautiful light. Two familiars emerged from it.

"Gu!"

"Gu!"

As soon as Saichou and Hanachou appeared, they immediately assumed a battle-ready stance, flying on either side of Rozen.

Rozen made sure he was fully prepared, accompanied by his two familiars, as he ventured into the guardian boss's room.

"Wait... wait a moment!" Asuna hurriedly followed.

At that moment...

"Boom!"

Not far from the entrance, the floor on both sides suddenly burst into blue-white flames.

"——!"

Both Rozen and Asuna stopped in their tracks, their entire bodies tensed up.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

In the next second, one after another, the expanding flames on both sides burst, continuously igniting a path of fire on the floor, creating a flaming road that extended all the way into the depths of the room. Finally, two considerably large columns of fire erupted towards the ceiling at the room's farthest end, illuminating the entire space.

In that moment, both Rozen and Asuna saw it.

Behind the swaying pillars of fire, a massive figure slowly emerged. Its entire body was formed by bulging muscles resembling thick ropes.

Its skin was a deep blue color, rivaling the blue-white flames around it.

Above its robust chest, instead of a human head, there was the head of a goat. Curved, massive goat horns extended high from both sides of its head, its eyes emitted a blue-white flame-like glow, and although its upper body resembled that of a human, it was covered in deep blue fur.

The lower half of its body consisted of animal-like hooves, and it even had a tail.

That appearance was nothing short of a creature from legends—a demon.

The deep blue demon slowly walked out of the column of fire, carrying a massive sword in its hand.

Above its head, in addition to a red-to-black targeting reticle, there was its official monster name:

—The Gleam Eyes.

This was the guardian boss of the 74th floor.

"——ROARRRR!!!!!!!!"

The thunderous roar burst from its mouth, creating shockwaves like rolling waves. The intense shaking caused the flames on both sides to flicker, and even the floor trembled.

Bathed in these shockwaves, Asuna had completely forgotten to move, while Rozen snapped back to his senses.

"Watch out!"

Without any hesitation, Rozen tackled Asuna.

*Boom!*

A pillar of fire swept past, vaporizing the air where Rozen and Asuna had just been.