-311- Feel free to give it a try

Filled with a mocking tone, both Agil and Klein were left speechless, unable to respond.

Kirito's expression also became alerted, his face tense and ready. Even the closed beta players of "Crimson Wing" displayed stern expressions. The atmosphere in the room turned more hostile in that moment.

Rozen, on the other hand, didn't change his expression. He looked forward as if he had expected the situation to unfold this way.

In front of the raid meeting venue, a group of players wearing armor dominated by silver and blue tones stood. Among them, a man carrying a heavy steel spear stood at the forefront. He looked at Rozen with a disdainful gaze, his face reflecting the same mocking expression as his earlier tone.

Naturally, Rozen addressed him without hesitation. "Hello there, Guild leader Zahard. You seem to be in good spirits today. It's really a bother that you always find ways to confront me in public gatherings like this. When will you get tired of it?"

Rozen's words, spoken naturally and with indifference, caused a slight twitch in the corner of Zahard's mouth.

The man who was sarcastically addressing Rozen was named Zahard.

Behind him, the players in armor of the same tones belonged to the guild "Divine Dragon's Alliance," a part of the raid group.

Not only Rozen, but Kirito, Klein, and Agil, along with other members of "Crimson Wing" and "Fuurin Kazan," wore unfriendly expressions toward these players.

Not only "Crimson Wing" and "FuurinKazan," even the rest of the clearing group regarded them with disdainful glances.

"Don't act like I'm intentionally causing trouble, Guild leader Rozen."

Zahard sneered and spoke in such a manner.

"You've been late to important raid meetings, a fact everyone in the raid group is well aware of. In the past, everyone let it slide because of your significant contributions to the raids. But this time, it's a crucial meeting, and everyone is worried that we might face a mishap like on the 25th Floor. As the commander of the clearing group, it's really inappropriate for you to be late in such a situation, don't you think?"

Zahard was levying a serious accusation against Rozen and even used the term "commander" rather than acknowledging him as a "leader."

This was expected.

As mentioned before, not everyone in the clearing group had personalities that matched their strengths. There were some guilds and players with poor reputations. They were scared, intimidated, and disliked by regular players.

Among them, the most representative guild was the "Divine Dragon's Alliance."

Most of the players in this guild would resort to any means necessary, considering the raid more important than anything else. They would even risk getting orange names.

For these players, rare items belonged to them so they could become stronger and better at clearing.

The same applied to other rare resources and even boss rewards, and they wouldn't team up with players from other guilds or willingly share useful information. The guild leadership had changed multiple times due to various conspiracies and power struggles. The reputation of "Divine Dragon's Alliance" in the raid group was even worse than that of "Crimson Wing," a guild composed entirely of closed beta players, making everyone disgusted by them.

However, unfortunately...

"I apologize. I'm just that bad with time management. Even in such an important situation, I'd still be late if I needed to be."

Rozen spoke nonchalantly to the ill-intentioned guild leader.

"If Mr Zahard can't wait, feel free to lead your guild members ahead. You don't need to wait for me."

With those words, Zahard's expression twitched.

Lead ahead?

If he could, Zahard would have done it a long time ago.

As long as they could take down the boss in the training area ahead, it meant enormous rewards in terms of experience, money, and dropped items. For the "Divine Dragon's Alliance," this was something they couldn't ignore.

But did Zahard dare?

Without Rozen's leadership, if the 26th Floor turned out to be as terrifying as the 25th Floor, the "Divine Dragon's Alliance" would follow the path of the "Aincrad Liberation Squad."

Hence, no matter how greedy Zahard was, he couldn't make that decision.

Zahard also understood that it was precisely because of this that Rozen held such a high position in the clearing group.

Who wouldn't want to follow someone who could lead everyone through challenges without casualties?

If it weren't for Rozen being a closed beta player, and "Crimson Wing" having only closed beta members, making ordinary players hesitant to approach, there would be many who wanted to join the guild Rozen led.

The reason those closed beta players, who were initially treated like outcasts, could now openly walk under the sunlight, even revealing their identities and joining the clearing group, was because of Rozen.

Without Rozen, "Crimson Wing" couldn't become the strongest guild.

That was why Zahard was so resentful.

"Guild leader Rozen, you're certainly fearless." Zahard said with extreme unwillingness. "You rely on your abilities and disregard the players in the clearing group to this extent. Do you think the clearing group can't go on without 'Crimson Wing'?"

Hearing these words, Rozen chuckled.

A sarcastic chuckle.

"Aren't you describing yourself, Guild leader Zahard?" Rozen said, his expression a mix of amusement and irony. "Isn't it because the 'Divine Dragon's Alliance' who knew they were needed in the clearing group to avoid losing a significant amount of combat power and resulting in disadvantage in the raid? That's why you're so fearless, monopolizing rare items, dominating efficient training areas, and even resorting to criminal actions?"

"That..." Zahard was momentarily speechless.

Because, in reality, that was the case.

"But don't take it too far," Rozen's expression turned indifferent, and he continued, "Attacking players can still be tolerated to some extent, but if there are actual casualties, then I'll make sure that the 'Divine Dragon's Alliance' will pay the price."

"Don't believe me? Feel free to give it a try."

Rozen's indifferent words angered Zahard.

"You...!"

Zahard's hand reached for the iron spear behind his back.

And in that instant...

"Gu!"

"Gu!"

Two rainbow butterfly flew out from behind Rozen, positioned in front of him and glaring at Zahard with hostile eyes.

//// About the guild leader of Divine dragon's alliance, I've searched multiple wiki but all said the guild leader unknown. There's only 4 known characters in that guild. So this Zahard is probably made up by the original author.... probably...I think ////