-312- The first appearance and astonishment

"What is this...!?"

Seeing the Rainbow Butterflies, Saichou and Hanachou, fly out from behind Rozen with warning cries directed towards him, Zahard's complexion changed dramatically.

And he wasn't the only one.

Seeing the two rainbow butterflies protecting Rozen, all the players present widened their eyes and began to buzz with chatter.

"Two... two of them...!?"

Agil was astonished.

"Hey hey hey! What's going on!?"

Klein was equally shocked.

"Two... two familiars...?"

"How can this be...?"

"Could it be..."

Players from the raid group started discussing fervently, their eyes and expressions changing as they looked at the two rainbow butterflies.

In contrast, Kirito and the other closed beta players stood tall, a sense of pride in their faces.

Rozen didn't react to anyone's surprise; he remained indifferent and spoke nonchalantly.

"Saichou, Hanachou, come back."

At Rozen's words, the two rainbow butterflies emitted pleasant cries and obediently flew back to Rozen's side, hovering above his left and right shoulders.

This caused Zahard's complexion to change repeatedly, his gaze fixed on Rozen's two familiars. After a brief moment, he finally spoke with difficulty.

"So you've tamed a second familiar, huh?"

This was an evident situation.

Zahard was merely unwilling to accept the reality.

But Rozen heartlessly exposed the truth.

"It's just that I've tamed it recently. I still need to nurture it properly before it can be of use."

Rozen's nonchalant words left everyone speechless.

Especially Zahard, who clenched his fist tightly.

For the players, the existence of familiars was no longer a secret. After all, with Rozen's Rainbow Butterflies so active on the front lines, players of all types would want one.

But many players with such aspirations had faced difficulties.

Not to mention the fact that familiars were already quite challenging to tame, limited only to small-sized monsters. It was impossible to tame other types of monsters as familiars. Even if they managed to find suitable subjects and succeed, familiars' direct combat capabilities were weak, making them unsuitable for active front-line battles. At best, they provided support during combat.

As a result, players who aimed to prosper and level up using familiars had all faced hardships. Either they couldn't find monsters that could be tamed, or they couldn't fulfill the taming conditions even if they found them. Even if they succeeded by chance, the outcome was often bringing the familiars to the training area to fight monsters. Naturally, familiars with generally low HP couldn't hold on for long and were quickly killed by monsters.

Moreover, some players treated familiars merely as battle tools, neglecting them without feeding or taking care of them. This led to a sharp drop in familiars' intimacy and favorability levels, resulting in them breaking free of the taming state and leaving on their own. There were even cases where familiars turned around and attacked the players.

Over time, many players lost the familiars they had worked so hard to tame. Ultimately, when only Rozen held a familiar, the entire server concluded:

"Only 'Magus' familiars are special."

This conclusion was, of course, incorrect.

The reason Rozen's Rainbow Butterflies were so powerful was not due to their inherent uniqueness. It was because Rozen had the ability to nurture and command them. Certainly, the rarity of having only seven rainbow butterflies across the entire server was quite special, along with their ability to use various skills that induced negative states in monsters or players. But these were just attributes of rarity.

Without Rozen's capabilities, who could train Rainbow Butterflies to a state that their debuff can affect high-level bosses that possess strong debuff resistance and immunity.

Without Rozen's abilities, who would dare to let two familiars with such low HP fly directly above a Floor boss's head and act recklessly without getting hit?

Upon hearing this rumor, Rozen uttered a sentence.

"The special ones are not the familiars, but the players."

For some reason, this sentence later became the headline of news, making it known to players across the entire server.

With this simple statement, players came to understand that possessing familiars wouldn't automatically make them figures like the "Magus." The key factor still depended on the player's own abilities.

This likely meant that occurrences of familiars being killed in battle or betraying their masters wouldn't be as frequent in the future.

However, this also indicated that within Sword Art Online (SAO), the most powerful familiars were undoubtedly Rozen's familiars. Rozen had the capability to nurture the most formidable familiars, allowing them to display astonishing effects even before formidable layer bosses.

Zahard, with his greedy and jealous gaze, had watched Rozen suppressing the vast horde of monsters on the battlefield under his order. He saw them being forced into various abnormal states, becoming targets, and even the floor boss had been controlled by the Rainbow Butterflies.

Without that familiar, Rozen's legend wouldn't have been so extraordinary. His reputation and status wouldn't have been as high, and his guild "Crimson Wing" would have struggled to rise to prominence and become the strongest guild.

And now, Rozen had tamed another familiar of the same type?

Even with his current demeanor, Zahard was still considered one of the top players in SAO. He knew very well what having two familiars of the same type meant.

It meant that Rozen could switch the familiars, exchanging skills and cooldown times, continuously controlling monsters until they perished.

Considering Rozen's ability to control even formidable floor bosses, there was a possibility that these bosses might eventually become toys at his disposal.

(With this, his reputation and status will rise again, and the clearing group will be even more obedient to him...!)

This was something Zahard didn't want to see.

Now, Rozen's guild "Crimson Wing" was already hailed as the strongest guild, and Zahard's "Divine Dragon's Alliance" could only surpass them in terms of numbers.

However, this was also because "Crimson Wing" was a closed beta player guild, making regular players hesitate to approach it easily.

If Rozen's reputation and status continued to rise, and if his legendary exploits continued, there would come a day when regular players would set aside their reservations. They would willingly join "Crimson Wing" to continue surviving and climb to higher positions.

By then, the "Divine Dragon's Alliance" would have no chance to surpass "Crimson Wing" anymore.

Perhaps the other members of the "Divine Dragon's Alliance" had also realized this, as their expressions turned even uglier than before.

However, now the displeasure on their faces wasn't just because they disapproved of Rozen's actions; it was because they felt threatened by him.

On the other hand, Rozen seemed completely unaware, addressing Zahard.

"It seems Guild leader Zahard doesn't want to do anything rash. Can we start the strategy meeting now?"

His tone was as if the farce had ended, causing Zahard's chest to heave heavily several times.

In the end, Zahard could only withdraw, harboring resentment.

Rozen then rolled his eyes, yawned once again, and turned his head to address everyone present.

"Alright, let's begin the strategy meeting for the 26th-floor training area boss."