-382- Seem to be doing well?

The 74th floor, Kamdet.

As the current frontline floor, there were very few players active in Kamdet.

When a floor was first opened, players from throughout SAO would gather like they were celebrating a festival, crowding into the Teleport Gate Plaza from the lower floors to explore. However, if the floor itself didn't have any significant attractions, the players would quickly disperse, leaving the clearing group members to continue their activities here, targeting the labyrinth area.

The 74th floor was one of these unremarkable floors. Its main street, Kamdet, lacked the blooming flowers of the 47th floor or the advanced steel city of the 55th floor. As a result, after the floor's opening day, no players from the lower floors came here.

Thanks to this, the Teleport Gate Plaza in Kamdet was usually only used by members of the clearing group. It could serve as an assembly point.

At this moment, players belonging to the clearing group rushed here from various floors, some even returned from the labyrinth area, gathering at the Teleport Gate Plaza.

Among them were players from various large guilds affiliated with the clearing group, including the Crimson Wing and Knights of the Blood Oath. Well-known guilds were present, creating a stir.

Kirito was naturally among them, and he was a particularly prominent figure.

After two years, Kirito was still dressed in black, his face still fair and somewhat feminine, giving a hint of youthful charm.

However, behind Kirito were two swords, one black and one white, making him the center of attention for all the players present.

Kirito, the Dual Blades user.

Just mentioning this nickname in today's SAO, who wouldn't cast various kinds of glances toward him?

As one of the only two players in SAO with unique skills, Kirito was regarded as one of the strongest player candidate, competing with the other unique skill user, Heathcliff, for the title of the world's strongest player in players' hearts.

In terms of players' perceptions of strength, not even Rozen could surpass Kirito and Heathcliff.

After all, Rozen, in the eyes of players, was more known for his command abilities and familiar. At most, he occasionally demonstrated formidable combat abilities when contesting for LA rewards, except for his performance on the 1st floor. He rarely displayed astonishing combat prowess.

Therefore, players acknowledged Rozen's strength but didn't believe he could match Kirito and Heathcliff, who possessed unique skills.

In other words, in the players' eyes, Kirito was the strongest in Crimson Wing, equivalent to Heathcliff from Knights of the Blood Oath, and that's how they saw it.

As a result, Kirito naturally attracted the attention of everyone.

But...

"No matter how many times it happens, I just can't get used to it..."

Kirito sighed and muttered to himself as he felt the gazes from all directions.

However, his words only elicited teasing from others.

"What can't you get used to?" a frivolous voice came from beside Kirito.

"Aren't you looking quite confident?" a calm voice followed.

Kirito turned his head to look at the source of the voices.

He saw a disheveled swordsman carrying a nodachi and a burly man with a battle axe approaching together.

"Klein, Agil," Kirito called out their names.

It was indeed Klein and Agil.

"Hey, Kirito, you seem to be doing well," Klein said with a wry smile, his words dripping with sarcasm.

It was inevitable.

"I heard your luck with the ladies has been pretty good lately. The players from Crimson Wing who came to my shop have been complaining. Of course, that also includes this guild leader of Fuurinkazan," Egil said, shrugging his shoulders in resignation.

This left Kirito feeling utterly powerless.

"There's no such thing," Kirito could only weakly defend himself.

Naturally, he wouldn't get any sympathy from them.

"You, seriously, you're just a bit strong, that's all. Stop acting all high and mighty!" Klein pounced on Kirito's neck with envy and jealousy, squeezing hard.

"Who... who's acting high and mighty? Let go already! My HP is going down! You idiot!"

Kirito struggled incessantly and patted Klein's hand, signaling his surrender.

"This is a safe zone! It won't deduct HP here! You moron!"

Klein, however, was unyielding, continuing to exert pressure.

Watching the two of them grappling, Agil, like a parent watching two immature children, sighed on one hand and tried to get serious on the other.

"Anyway, what's going on?" Agil looked around, saying, "To gather all members of the clearing group like this, it's not a joking matter."

Hearing this, Kirito and Klein couldn't help but stop their scuffle and their expressions gradually turned serious.

Upon closer inspection, there were hundreds of clearing group players gathered in the Teleport Gate Plaza.

Not only guilds like Crimson Wing, Knights of the Blood Oath, and Fuurinkazan, but also players like Agil, who weren't part of any guild, as well as various player teams and solo players, had all come together.

As long as they were part of the clearing group, no one was absent.

From this, it was clear just how high Rozen's charisma was.

"After all, he's the player everyone in SAO has high hopes for. Anyone who doesn't respond to his call is essentially going against all the players," Klein scratched his messy hair, explaining.

Kirito couldn't help but feel deeply affected.

However...

"I didn't expect them to show up," Kirito said as he looked in two directions at the Teleport Gate Plaza.

In those two directions, there were figures rarely seen at clearing meetings and others who hadn't been on the front lines for a long time.

One of them was a man dressed in a suit of armor with red and white accents, like a knight, standing at the forefront of a group of players. He wasn't carrying any weapons but had a cross-shaped shield. It was none other than Heathcliff.

The other was a man among a group of players wearing bronze-colored armor like an army. He had a single-handed sword strapped to his back and a spiky haircut, his expression fierce and hostile. It couldn't be anyone other than Kibaou.

Among those who responded to the call were not only Heathcliff, who rarely attended clearing meetings, but also Kibaou, leading the Army.

However, unlike the composed Heathcliff, Kibaou seemed restless and agitated, causing the players of the Army behind him to appear somewhat uneasy.

This told Kirito that this gathering was definitely not simple.

Initially, Kirito thought Rozen had called the clearing group members to prepare for the upcoming 74th floor boss raid and that the boss room had finally been discovered.

Now it seemed that things were not so straightforward.

"What could have happened?" Kirito murmured under his breath.

Just then...

"Clang!"

The Teleport Gate Plaza lit up again, and two figures walked out of it.

Seeing these two figures, the spirits of all the players were lifted.

At the same time, the atmosphere became even more heavy.