⌜Chapter 28⌟

The match started with the 6 remaining players being alert with each other and not moving from their places, was the pressure too much? no, they all have the same thoughts, the first one to move will be their target.

"Swooosh!

The first one to move was the weakest among them and he attacked the one nearest to him, but the moment he showed his back towards the other who was near him, that guy immediately attacked.

"Oh, they are vicious"

Tanaka commented in amusement, but with the attacks, everyone started fighting each other, Tanaka expected them to fight 1 vs 1 in the Battle Royale but no, they were looking to strike the careless person and make the competitors less.

It was not only the battle of skills but also brains, but to be honest, Tanaka found their swordsmanship crude and unrefined, they were just trying to swing their sword to attack, no such this as footwork nor rhythm in their attacks.

Simply, in Tanaka's eyes, they were like a bunch of kids who just knows how to swing their sword, but there are still some players who have the potential, for example, Kirito, lacked footwork but he has a rhythm and he is also good at counter-attacking and parrying attacks.

It was no wonder he survived this death game, but if you compare him to Asuna, he will lose terribly, there was also Kayaba/Heathcliff, that man seemed to be a trained knight as he was good at blocking and striking when he has the chance.

There is also one of the participants named Nautilus, this kid is very patient and doesn't attack in a beat, it was as if he could analyze what his opponents were thinking, he is a good strategist, he would be a leader type if he joins the front liners.

Then there was this other kid who was pure talent, an unpolished gem who shines above others but he was still inexperienced, this kid named Erucio, he doesn't have any of those the others have but he has this powerful instinct, not ultra instinct but it was as if the sword was guiding him.

He was talented, he just relies on his instinct too much, he was the one that gave every player the hardest time but in the end, he lost against 3 players who ganged up on him making him the 2nd player who lost.

'Hmm, I can put him under me'

Tanaka thought as he looked at the player named Erucio, yes, he had already decided to build a guild, but not under the name of Madara, that identity is like a monster to other players and was meant to walk by itself until the end.

What Tanaka wanted to use was his other identity as 'Iceinmyveins' he can also use the Moonlit Black cats Guild as his base guild, he was sure that they would be happy to help him, after all, they owed their life to him.

Anyway, the battle continued, as time goes on, the battle got more intense, after all, Tanaka added a timer for them, if they weren't able to finish the fight in the allotted time, Tanaka will join to make the fight faster.

A few seconds in, the second to fall is surprisingly Agil, that poor bulky guy was tripped and immediately got bombarded with attacks, well, he seemed to be okay with it, speaking of Agil, in the anime, he didn't join any guild and became a store owner, maybe he could invite this guy and become his assistant or something since he was experienced in managing a shop.

Speaking of money, can Tanaka even use the money he got from this game? can it be converted or something? it would be a waste to not use it, but thinking about it, Kirito seemed to be rich after leaving the SAO.

Well, that is for another time, 5 minutes left before Tanaka joins the fight, this time, even the brain guy Nautilus started fighting savagely and Kirito also even went as far as fighting 2 players at the same time.

Kirito under the besieged of two players was able to repel the two of them and even counter-attack while he was at it too, making one of the players who were attacking him have their health bar halved.

The Kirito in this timeline still doesn't have the dual-wielding skill? or maybe he was just hiding it, there was no information of when Kirito received it on the anime so Tanaka was not sure.

Anyway seeing two players are not enough to fight off Kirito, Nautilus joined to take him down, but just as they were about to reach the climax of their fight, they heard the voice.

"Time is up, I will now teach you how to fight properly"

This voice sent a shiver on their spines and immediately, they all stopped fighting each other and turned towards 'Madara' who was going to join the fight, they already lost their fighting spirit when they saw him but what happened next surprised them.

Instead of taking out his iconic weapon which was the scythe, on 'Madara's' hand was a katana.

*Swooosh!

Tanaka then charged towards them with the Katana, not very fast though as he limited his stats to be the same level as them, seeing this, the other players regained their confidence, their pride of being the strongest swordsman is on the line.

They immediately charged towards Tanaka and attacked him at the same time.

"Don't swing your sword too high up, you are not attacking a fly"

*Bam!

With Tanaka's words, one guy who had his sword high up wanting to give a big swing was kicked on the stomach sending him flying away.

"Your weapon is not only your swords, don't always rely on it"

Tanaka then bent his body to avoid the slash that Kirito attacked him.

"Steady your form"

*Boom!

Kirito was sent flying as he blocked the slash of Tanaka.

Their battle continued as Tanaka taught them how to fight. it was not like he had to do it, but it just felt frustrating for him to watch amateurs fight like this and they are prideful with it.

In the end, the battle ended with surprisingly, Kirito winning with 2% health remaining, was it his plot armor? anyway, just like Tanaka promised, he gave the sword to Kirito who thanked him, but Madara ignored it and climbed towards the 51st floor followed by other players.

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Time skip coming up in the next chapter, but anyway, hope you guys enjoy, also we are back with regular updates! I think, sometimes my laziness strikes so let's not get our hopes up.

Quotes:

I don't blame anyone for leaving me. I mean look at me, I want to leave me too.