Our group stands in front of the door to the Boss Room. I'm at the head of the group with Diabel, Egil, and a few others whose names I don't know. If I look behind me, I can see Kirito-kun smiling and waving at me. I attempt a feeble wave back at him. Suddenly I see something move out of the corner of my eye. Just for a moment, I think I see a flash of black hair ducking behind the dense foliage. I dismiss it; better to focus on the battle ahead.

Diabel turns to all of us. "Are you ready?" he yells. The rest of the crowd cheers, and I raise my fist so as not to be left out. "Let's do this!" At this I join the crowd in cheering. Then Diabel opens the door and lights go on in the room.

Six Ruin Kobold Sentinels, clad in knights' armor, surround Illfang, whom I finally get my first good look at. He's an enormous, dog-like creature with glowing red eyes and a diamond pattern on his protruding stomach. I draw my sword and prepare for the battle. With a loud cry, our forces rush in. I rush in with them, stirred by their energy.

I look around, trying to find someplace where no one's already hacking the beasts to death. Finally I see a Sentinel clattering towards me, and I want to take it on. Its sword rushes toward my head and I raise mine to block it. As our blades collide I feel the electricity running through the air. I push its double-bladed sword away and strike at its side. It blocks without any real effort. Looking out of the corner of my eye I see Illfang, red-skinned and with teeth bared, finish a player and start walking toward someone with turquoise hair.

Diabel.

I kick the Sentinel to the side and rush straight for the Boss, who's raising his cleaver. As soon as he swings downward, I grip my hilt with my left hand and set the flat of the blade on my right. Turning it perpendicular to his strike, I prepare for the impact. It brings me down to one knee as I struggle to keep the blade from hitting my head. But I finally manage to push it away and get a grip on my hilt. I take a swing at Illfang's rotund stomach, expecting Pocky and Meiji Hello Panda to roll out by the box. But instead it makes a gash, marking a temporary strip of red, grid-like pattern. As soon as it disappears Illfang swings again. The impact is almost more than I can handle. I'm not skilled enough for this.

His next swing catches me diagonally across the chest.

I fly to the end of the room, where I can see my HP slowly fall into the yellow and continue to drop. I can't feel the wound, since the game contains pain absorbers, but I can feel myself getting weaker. I watch helplessly as Diabel is struck by Illfang, just like I was. He lands a few feet in front of me and to my left. His HP drops faster than mine does. I look at him, then hear someone yelling from across the room. Kirito-kun is fighting the Boss.

And he's winning.