-365- The remaining two familiars

In fact, Rozen had always entrusted Argo to help him gather information about the remaining Rainbow Flower Butterflies.

While Rozen's lineup had already been completed after acquiring Hanachou, the art of Puppetry acquired from the Akabane Clan allowed Rozen to manipulate more targets, resulting in a significant increase in his combat power. Naturally, he wanted to acquire the remaining Rainbow Flower Butterflies.

However, Rozen knew that this was somewhat unrealistic. There were only seven of these rare familiars on the entire server, spread across numerous floors. How could he possibly keep discovering them?

Take Saichou, for example. Rozen only knew where it appeared thanks to his experience from the closed beta period. As for Hanachou, it was voluntarily given to Rozen by the "Moonlit Black Cats" guild.

That was already considered extremely lucky. Could such good fortune continue?

Most likely, it was impossible.

In the two years of SAO's operation, Rainbow Flower Butterflies had been successively discovered by players. However, starting from the third Rainbow Flower Butterfly, Rozen had not encountered any of them personally.

They had all been discovered by other players and subsequently killed.

Initially, when players found Rainbow Flower Butterflies, they were excited and tried to tame them due to Rozen's influence. However, Rainbow Flower Butterflies had three strict conditions for taming, and the requirement of not having equipped any weapons alone made it impossible for players to succeed.

In such a situation, Rainbow Flower Butterflies had high perception and incredible speed. Once spotted by players, they would immediately flee. Even if players managed to catch up, the "Paralysis Powder" skill would immobilize them for three seconds, preventing them from stopping the Rainbow Flower Butterflies' escape.

As a result, players were forced to attack them in desperation, hoping to keep the Rainbow Flower Butterflies, but with their pitifully low HP, they would be killed instantly with a single blow, leaving no room for suspense.

Thus, one by one, Rainbow Flower Butterflies were discovered and subsequently killed. As word spread that they have extremely low hp, players' intentions to attack the Rainbow Flower Butterflies were somewhat restrained. However, the news about the rewards for killing Rainbow Flower Butterflies had also spread.

In this situation, where players couldn't keep or tame the Rainbow Flower Butterflies, they eventually chose to kill them and obtain the rich rewards.

Now, the last Rainbow Flower Butterfly had also been discovered and similarly killed yesterday.

It was likely that this would make tomorrow's headlines, as players loved to discuss events where familiar of the same type as the "Magus" had, were killed.

"So, apart from Saichou and Hanachou, there won't be a third Rainbow Flower Butterfly in this world," Rozen muttered as he watched his familiars playing in the forest.

In the past, Rozen had considered offering a substantial reward as an incentive for players to immediately inform him upon discovering a Rainbow Flower Butterfly. That way, players might prefer selling the information to the Crimson Wing rather than killing the Rainbow Flower Butterfly, as the rewards would be more tempting. However, this idea ultimately went nowhere.

The reason was simple.

"I can't find the flags from the two kingdoms I used as sacrifices."

To obtain Hanachou, Rozen had taken an unconventional approach, ultimately using flags from two kingdoms that had previously struggled against each other as offerings and burning them to change the taming condition of Rainbow Flower Butterflies of "never equipped any weapons." Now, those two flags had been burned, and Rozen couldn't find any other taming method.

Since that's the case, offering a reward would be in vain.

"Instead of that, why not find a player in the Starting Town who has never equipped a weapon, have them tame the Rainbow Flower Butterfly, and then train them."

However, finding a player who hadn't equipped a weapon even after two years and hadn't ventured out of the Starting Town, wasn't of much value for training.

Furthermore, Rozen had perfected his control over "Mind's Eye," continually increasing the precision and strength of this technique. He could now see more than ever. At this point, even without the assistance of familiars, Rozen had the confidence to solo battle someone like Heathcliff with his unique skill, as he tried with kirito.

Rozen had faced Kirito in numerous battles recently, and Rozen's win rate had consistently been higher, with Rozen winning at least eight out of ten matches. That was normal since with the "Mind's Eye" ability, Rozen could read Kirito's attacks, and Rozen's attacks were almost always critical hits, which secured his victory in the first exchange.

However, Kirito was not to be underestimated. His attack speed with the "Dual Blades" sword skill was dazzlingly fast, even if Rozen could read his moves, his body couldn't react in time, and he still got hit, leading to Kirito securing a few victories as well.

But overall, Rozen still had a higher win rate. There was no doubt about that.

"I wonder what Heathcliff's current strength is like."

Rozen recalled the situation during the boss battle on the lower floors. In that boss fight, Heathcliff, as the leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath, naturally couldn't be absent. However, in the boss fight, Heathcliff had always focused on defense, maintaining the frontline, showcasing formidable defensive capabilities, but rarely revealing his combat abilities.

Yet, even with that playstyle, Heathcliff had become a legend. To this day, his HP bar had never dropped into the yellow zone, achieving an undefeated legend on another front, just like Rozen.

"Do I have any way to end his undefeated legend?" Rozen thought and found himself surprisingly interested in the matter.

"When did I become so passionate and eager for battle?" Rozen couldn't help but chuckle. He then summoned Saichou and Hanachou, deciding not to waste time walking back and directly took out a teleportation crystal from his inventory.

"These things have been quite expensive lately. Luckily, I still have plenty in stock."

Rozen played with it for a moment and then raised the teleportation crystal high.

"Teleport! Floria!"

A blue radiance instantly enveloped Rozen, and the crystal shattered, making Rozen's figure disappear in the light, teleporting him to the distant city on the lower floor.

...

When Rozen opened his eyes again, he found himself in a beautiful town. Various flowers adorned the surroundings, and a faint floral fragrance filled the air. Flowerbeds were scattered everywhere.

This was the main district of Floor 47—Floria.

Coincidentally, as Rozen returned, another player was about to enter a teleportation gate and bumped into him.

"Oh?"

"Eh!"

Both of them were startled, and they quickly moved apart.

What made it even more surprising was that they recognized each other.

"Rozen?"

A melodious voice came from the other person's mouth.

"Asuna?"

Rozen was equally astonished.

The person who had nearly collided with Rozen was none other than Asuna.