The darkness deep within the labyrinth materialized because of that man's presence.
PoH.
That name itself represented the deepest malice in SAO.
Chen Mo's gaze fell on the huge butcher knife embedded in the stone wall.
The blade reflected a cold, eerie glow; it was the infamous demonic weapon—friend-slaying cleaver.
Buzz—
Another teleportation light pillar ignited not far away, roughly dispelling the gloom of the area.
Kirito's figure emerged from the light. The moment he landed, his dark eyes immediately swept across the scene, instantly grasping the situation.
A standoff.
And in that patch of darkness, more than ten orange-named players' figures flickered indistinctly.
"PoH..." Kirito tightened his grip on his sword hilt, his voice very low and filled with caution.
"Oh my, oh my."
PoH's laughter came from under his hood, hoarse and distorted, steeped in morbid pleasure.
"I didn't expect the famous Black Swordsman to also join this carnival. How exciting."
He clapped his hands exaggeratedly, like a clumsy theater director.
Screech—
A harsh metallic scraping sound came from above as a huge iron cage was slowly lowered by ropes.
Inside the cage, a small figure was curled up.
It was Argo.
Her iconic cloak was torn in many places, and she leaned weakly against the iron bars.
The green HP bar above her head was slowly but continuously decreasing.
In her status bar, a yellow paralysis icon flickered ominously.
Chen Mo's pupils, in that instant, lost all focus.
The world fell silent.
The sound of the wind, the crackling of burning torches, the low growls of distant monsters... all sounds were stripped away at this moment.
The volcano of anger in his chest did not erupt; instead, it imploded, transforming into a cold black hole capable of devouring everything.
"There must be a trap," Kirito reminded him urgently, his voice low. "They just want to provoke you. Don't fall for it!"
Fall for it?
The word no longer existed in Chen Mo's mind.
He didn't even respond to Kirito.
He moved.
There was no preparatory stance, no sword skill light effects, not the slightest warning.
He simply took the first step in that direction.
As that step landed, the air in the entire space seemed to sink, as if gripped by an invisible giant hand.
"You damn lunatic! Kill him!"
The members of Laughing Coffin standing at the forefront let out bloodthirsty roars.
They had already laid out a net, just waiting for this dragon to charge in.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
Several poisoned throwing knives and several scrolls imbued with negative effects were activated simultaneously, transforming into a colorful rain of death that covered Chen Mo.
Kirito's expression changed drastically, his twin swords about to be drawn.
However, Chen Mo's figure "erased" from his original position just before all the attacks arrived.
It wasn't speed.
It was something more advanced, a trampling of relative space.
He was like a black lightning bolt, forcefully tearing through that barrage of death.
[System Notification: You have been poisoned, losing 30 HP per second...]
[System Notification: You have been cursed, all stats decreased by 5%...]
[System Notification: You have entered a slowed state, movement speed decreased...]
A series of negative status notifications frantically scrolled across his vision.
Chen Mo ignored them.
He exchanged a minor loss of HP for absolute, zero-distance proximity.
Pfft!
A golden light, not a sword skill, but the purest of slashes.
The two players at the very front didn't even have time to show expressions of shock; their bodies were neatly sliced in half from the middle, and even the data-collapse particles were half a beat slower than others.
"Eight."
"Nine."
Chen Mo's voice was devoid of any fluctuation, like an emotionless machine delivering a death sentence.
His figure weaved through the crowd; each time his blade was drawn, it was inevitably accompanied by the demise of a life.
This wasn't a battle.
It was a cleanup.
The fanaticism on the faces of the Laughing Coffin members was quickly replaced by a fear originating from the depths of their souls.
Their proud traps, those poisoned daggers, those insidious coordinated attacks... in front of this man, they were as fragile as paper.
He didn't dodge at all.
He didn't care at all.
He took all non-fatal attacks with his body, only to clear away all the "trash" blocking his path to the cage as quickly as possible.
PoH stood in the distance, the corners of his mouth under his hood curving into an increasingly insane arc.
"Yes, just like that... a little more, a little angrier..."
He reveled in the sight of a god falling to earth, going mad for mere ants.
Kirito felt a chill run down his spine.
He knew that Chen Mo had completely lost control.
If this continued, even if he could kill everyone, he himself would inevitably fall under the sustained damage and negative statuses.
He can't be left alone!
Kirito no longer hesitated.
elucidator and daylight - weapon were drawn simultaneously, their black blades cutting two cold trajectories in the gloom.
"Chen Mo!"
He roared, unleashing his Dual Blades skill's opening stance, transforming into a black whirlwind that fiercely cut into the battle from the flank!
Kirito's entry was like a sharp dagger, instantly tearing open Laughing Coffin's seemingly tight encirclement.
The Black Swordsman's Dual Blades style was sharp and swift; unlike Chen Mo, he didn't charge head-on but relied on exquisite footwork and precise control of sword skills to constantly harass the enemy's flanks, greatly relieving pressure on Chen Mo.
For a moment, sword light crisscrossed the labyrinth entrance, with golden lights of destruction and the dark shadows of starbursts interweaving.
The members of Laughing Coffin retreated steadily, their casualty count rising at an alarming rate.
"Ten."
"Eleven."
Chen Mo's count continued, each step landing on the collapsing data fragments of an enemy, getting closer and closer to the iron cage.
PoH watched all of this with interest.
"What a splendid performance," he chuckled softly, then snapped his fingers.
Just as Kirito used a Double Circular to force back three enemies and was about to chain into his next sword skill, a strange dark purple magic circle suddenly lit up on the ground beneath his feet!
"Oh no!"
Kirito's heart skipped a beat, but it was too late.
An invisible sensation of paralysis instantly shot through his entire body from his feet; he felt his body stiffen, and all his movements halted at that moment.
In his status bar, a yellow paralysis icon identical to Argo's glowed brightly.
A delayed-trigger trap!
A vicious cage specifically designed for top players who continuously use high-level sword skills!
"Kirito!"
Chen Mo's peripheral vision caught this scene, but he couldn't turn back.
In front of him, the last five members of Laughing Coffin had gone red-eyed, launching a suicidal attack.
"Hahaha! Black Swordsman, just watch!"
A rogue sneered, his poisoned blade thrusting directly at Kirito's immobile body.
Clang!
A golden light arrived first, precisely deflecting the poisoned blade.
It was Chen Mo.
The moment he dealt with the enemies in front of him, he forcibly twisted his body and threw his longsword!
The longsword spun, knocking away the rogue's weapon and embedding itself deeply into the distant stone wall, while Chen Mo himself, distracted by this action, was solidly struck in the back by a berserker's axe.
Pfft!
Due to the Overlay of various DEBUFFs, Chen Mo's current defense attribute was less than half of his usual.
His HP bar plummeted dramatically.
"Twelve."
Chen Mo emotionlessly called out the number, as if he wasn't the one injured.
Empty-handed, he faced the last few enemies with his bare fists.
Without a sword, his fists, his feet, every part of his body became the most lethal weapon.
He parried a spear with his elbow, while the fingers of his other hand formed a claw, directly crushing the opponent's throat.
Bang!
Data fragments scattered.
"Thir...teen."
He kicked away a swordsman, using the momentum to spin, dodging a dagger coming from behind, and in a return move, delivered a palm strike that precisely cut into the opponent's neck.
"Fourteen."
In an instant, all the obstructing fodder was cleared away.
The entire labyrinth entrance was left with only Chen Mo standing, Kirito unable to move, and PoH watching from afar, always spectating.
And the iron cage, getting closer and closer.
"Bravo!"
PoH clapped his hands vigorously, his laughter echoing in the empty labyrinth, particularly grating.
"As expected of the god of strategy, you truly opened my eyes."
He stepped out of the shadows, playing with the huge butcher knife in his hand; on the blade of friend-slaying cleaver, countless resentful souls seemed to be wailing.
"However, the game should end now."
PoH's footsteps stopped beside the iron cage; he reached out and gently caressed the cold iron bars, as if admiring a work of art.
"Tell me, if I kill her now, will your expression be even more spectacular than before?"
He looked up, his gaze from under his hood, filled with mockery and cruelty, falling upon Chen Mo.