Rozen and the three stared at each other intently. One of them had a cheerful smile, while the rest exuded way too obvious killing intent.
“Kyru!”
Pina, who probably felt the abnormal killing intent from the three Laughing Coffin’s members, immediately cried in fear and plunged into Silica’s arm, seeking protection.
Although Silica subconsciously embraced Pina as if trying to protect her, she didn’t have any means to protect herself either in case something happened to her.
Seeing one crazy thing after another unfolding in front of her, she was completely at a loss for words.
Even Rosalia and the rest of Titan’s Hand’s members were speechless.
In such a situation, Rozen still nonchalantly held a conversation with the three most vicious criminals in Aincrad. No, to be precise, he was talking with PoH.
“To think that the infamous Laughing Coffin’s leader would come all the way to this remote place, what’s the occasion?”
Rozen said jokingly.
But Rozen’s sarcastic remarks surprised the rest of the Players.
“Laughing Coffin…!? The strongest red guild that even the Clearers had trouble dealing with…!?”
Rosalia gasped.
“He…he is the Laughing Coffin’s leader…!?”
Silica’s eye widened, and fear was evident on her face.
Obviously, the name Laughing Coffin was so well known that it would strike fear in every middle-level Players’ heart for sure, and now that very Laughing Coffin’s leader was here, it couldn’t be helped if they were surprised beyond belief.
However, what truly surprised them has not yet to come.
“Isn’t that supposed to be my line?”
PoH responded with a laid back and relaxed voice.
“The famous Clearer’s commander and the strongest guild, Red Wings’ leader, Rozen-sama, actually comes all the way to the sub-dungeon in this Lower Floor. I’m having a hard time believing my eyes.”
PoH’s words, needless to say, surprised everyone who heard it.
“He…he is Red Wings’ leader…?”
Rosalia was the most shocked out of the rest.
As for Silica, it didn’t sink in just yet for her, apparently.
Unfortunately, Rozen was in no time to babysit her right now.
“I’m just here for a job.”
Rozen shrugged his shoulder and answered PoH’s question.
“What a coincidence! I am also here for a job.”
PoH said casually.
They talked like they were some sort of old friend who reminisced about old times because they haven’t seen each other for years, but their aura was scary enough to scare the birds nearby.
Of course, their so-called “job” was completely different from each other
“You mean when you heard that I’m alone here, so you took your strongest members to kill me, that kind of job?”
Rozen smiled while guessing the so-called “job” that PoH mentioned.
PoH, however, refused to be outdone.
“How about you? When you heard that Laughing Coffin planned to recruit members from orange guilds to restore our numbers, you ordered the rest of the Clearers to nip those orange guilds in the bud before we can recruit them. Heck, you even went all the way here by yourself to do so, am I wrong?”
Just as Rozen easily guessed PoH’s objective, PoH could easily figure out Rozen’s plan as well.
Both of them were that smart that they could read each other’s minds, and because they knew what each other would do, they will think about how to outwit each other.
For example, PoH believed that this was a perfect opportunity to get rid of Rozen.
“I haven’t forgotten that my plaything was ruined because of you, Rozen-san. The rest of our guild members also had to sneak around like sewer rats now because of the Clearers that you ordered to hunt us. I obviously wouldn’t waste this chance to kill you here, right?”
PoH said those words like it was no big deal, which sent a chill down everyone’s spine.
But PoH was right. For Laughing Coffin, Rozen was a thorn on their side.
If it weren’t for Rozen, Laughing Coffin wouldn’t have to sneak around to elude the Clearers and will have no trouble spreading death and terror throughout Aincrad, turning SAO completely into a death game, which was their ultimate goal.
They had no intention to clear the game at all. They simply wanted to enjoy the game.
However, what they enjoyed was the killing aspect. They wouldn’t bother to upgrade their gear on purpose like Clearers.
That was why the surviving Laughing Coffin’s members completely resented Rozen when he ordered a full-scale war to the Clearers against them.
So, knowing Rozen decided to handle this matter personally and went to this floor all by himself, of course, PoH wouldn’t miss this opportunity.
Of course, despite being tempted by this opportunity, PoH didn’t forget to consider all sorts of possibilities.
“Did it not cross your mind that this might be part of my plan?”
Rozen kindly reminded PoH about this.
Being the Clearers’ commander who hasn’t allowed any casualty during the raid for the past year and a half, of course, Rozen has thoroughly considered the possibility that he will be targeted if he acted alone.
But Rozen did it fearlessly anyway, meaning this was Rozen’s plan to lure out Laughing Coffin’s members, including PoH himself.
In other words, crushing Titan’s Hand was nothing but a ruse. Rozen’s real objective was to use himself as a bait to lure out PoH and the two others.
Rozen deliberately said that to convey his real objective from the beginning.
Of course, it was not like PoH never considered this possibility from the beginning.
“But, you just had to choose Forest of Wandering out of all places.”
PoH said with a smile.
“You should’ve known that you can’t send messages in this place, your friends can’t track you down either here, not to mention Teleport Crystal is useless in this place. We’ve confirmed every Clearers’ whereabouts before we came here, and all of them went to various Floors to crush the orange guilds, including your guild; none of them is in town right now.”
In other words, no matter how Rozen planned things out, he was completely alone in this place.
“Besides, if you’re really smart, you think I won’t notice that this is your plan to lure us out?”
PoH implied that Rozen should’ve known that PoH will see through his plan.
“You think that I will send some random members to deal with you because I know you plan to lure us out and kill the members I sent effortlessly. Although it’s true that I don’t care about them, at this rate, Laughing Coffin will be slowly weakened and eventually destroyed as our members diminished.”
PoH looked at Rozen as if he has already outwitted him.
“You must have never thought that I would come here myself along with our two strongest members. Your cleverness is blinding you.”
With those words, the smell of blood swirled in the air.
Even Silica could see that they were in trouble.
