Seven Hundred and Sixty-Two Duel? Unexpected Challenge! …

(Thanks to 'Naz Ignir', 'man01', 'Dream Falling Butterfly', 'Dream & Heart', and 'Dancing with the Maple' for their rewards!)

"The regiment... the head of the regiment..."

Asuna and the members of the 'Knights of the Blood Alliance' gasped lightly, and looked at the red figure sitting on the throne from a distance.

"You bastard!"

Klein pointed at Heathcliff and screamed furiously. "Why are you here?…"

"What about the final ss?..." An unpleasant feeling flooded into Kirito's heart, making him look ugly for a while, staring at Heathcliff, seeking his explanation, but the only thing he attracted was There was a steady laughter, listening to that laughter, Kirito's face became more and more ugly.

Heathcliff stood up from the throne without holding his cross shield in his hand, so he was empty-handed and looked around at everyone present, looking at their blank faces, and then, looking at Expressionless speechless.

"Mr. Yan..." Heathcliff's mouth twitched into a smile, as if pondering, but also like something else. "You don't seem to be surprised..."

"No, you're wrong..." Wu Yan smiled and shrugged, ignoring the bewildered expressions of the players around him, and turned his eyes to Heathcliff.

"I was really surprised when I heard that you didn't show up..."

"Oh?..." Heathcliff raised his brows, his eyes gradually narrowed. "But you don't look surprised at all..."

"It's okay..." Wu Yan turned to the side. Under Asuna's nervous gaze, she slowly stepped forward.

"After all, if even I am surprised, who will beat you..."

Hearing this, the expressions of the surrounding players changed again, but Heathcliff smiled, smiled lightly, and then laughed loudly. "Yan-jun, you really are not ordinary people!"

After speaking, Heathcliff reached out and grabbed the cross shield with his sword and walked down from the throne. He walked towards Wu Yan who was also walking towards him. While walking, he said, "From the first time I met you, I had a feeling..."

"Finally, to be able to come to this huge floating city, the topmost Ruby Palace of 'Aincrad'. The one standing in front of me. It must be you!"

"Oh? I didn't expect you to be so optimistic about me..." Wu Yan shook the hem of his coat.

He stopped five meters in front of Heathcliff and looked directly at the red figure.

"But my first impression of you was not so good..."

Heathcliff turned his head noncommittally. No longer looked at Wu Yan, but looked at the players who had not yet reacted, and said with a smile: "I haven't congratulated you yet, everyone, congratulations on your climb to the top!"

"Heathcliff!" Kirito stared at Heathcliff with an unprecedented serious expression. "What do you mean? What do you mean by 'Welcome to my Ruby Palace'!"

"What? Is it difficult to understand?..." Heathcliff said with a sneer: "Indeed, the person who used to fight side by side with me suddenly appeared in front of me in this posture, your performance is as I imagined. Same…"

"However, please trust your ears again, you did not hear it wrong!" Heathcliff raised his head sharply, the expression on his face had lost the shallow smile he had before, instead there was an indescribable seriousness. Different from evil.

"The Red Jade Palace is indeed mine, no, you can't say that, it should be said that the whole 'Aincrad' is mine, this world is also mine, everything here, including your current imaginary body, is I created it based on real images scanned from your 'nervgear' helmets!"

In a word, the air in the field immediately froze, and every player, including Kirito, Asuna and others, changed their faces for a while. In their eyes, a trace of disbelief accompanied the changing faces quietly. Floating up, some of the players even started to stand unsteadily, and fell to the ground with a sluggish look on their faces.

Heathcliff's words had already been said very clearly, and the only ones who couldn't hear what he meant were those who didn't want to believe it from the bottom of his heart.

In '', who is qualified to say that the whole 'Aincrad', and even the whole world is his, including those who can create imaginary bodies, besides one, are there other people? ? …

Even if you don't want to believe it, but now, the Ruby Palace that should be inhabited by the final SS is actually Heathcliff, isn't it enough to explain everything? …

Kirito sucked in the cold air, condensed his voice, and said slightly bitterly: "You are Kayaba Akihiko!"

Heathcliff smiled softly and shook his head, but before everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, a cruel sentence dispelled the last bit of reverie in the hearts of all players.

"Kirito-kun, in ' ', asking about things in the real world is a ban. Although I created this world, I also want to follow the rules of this world, so here, call me Heathcliff!"

"Captain..." Asuna covered her mouth and took a step back involuntarily. "you really are…"

Heathcliff didn't answer any more, but said: "Originally, in my script, I wanted to reveal my true identity when you reached the 95th floor, and then came here. Waiting for you to come, but..."

Turning his head to look at Wu Yan, who had been silent, the smile on Heathcliff's face disappeared, and he said solemnly, "Jun Yan, your appearance made me dispel such an idea!"

"Oh? Could it be that our Master Creator is also afraid of a player who is allowed to play?..." He looked at Heathcliff with a half-smiling smile, but in exchange Heathcliff shook his head for a while.

"I just want to observe you closely for a while..." Heathcliff's eyes began to harden. "After all, you're the only player who surprised me!"

"I've been thinking, why, as a player, can you have far more power than a player?" Heathcliff shook his head again.

"In '', there is a limit to the player's development. This limit, even me, can't be surpassed without certain settings, so I designed a unique skill, which is the only one that can make the player's strength. Existence beyond the scope of ordinary players!"

"I gave one of the unique skills 'Sacred Sword' to myself, and the other unique skill 'Two Swords' was given to the player with the strongest reaction ability, appearing as the hero character who finally defeated the Demon King, this is my original script..."

"I have always believed that only a player with another unique skill can become an existence against me!" Heathcliff's tone suddenly turned bitter. "But I was wrong, Mr. Yan, you are an exception, an existence beyond my expectations. Even in the normal state of not using the 'two swords', you still have the strength to fight against me and even defeat me!"

"Did you know? Yanjun..." Heathcliff turned his gaze to Wuyan. "For the first time, I'm not reconciled. I'm really not reconciled. As a player with unique skills, I don't have the confidence to defeat you who don't use unique skills..."

"So, Lord Yan..." Heathcliff glanced around and knocked the cross shield in his hand to the ground.

"Before the final battle, I want to duel with you, a one-on-one duel!"

"What..." Asuna's face became anxious. "Word…"

Wu Yan raised his hand, stopped Asuna from speaking, looked at Heathcliff, and smiled.

"Are you serious?..." Wu Yan narrowed his eyes. "Looking at your appearance, you don't seem to want to use administrator privileges to duel me as a player. Do you think you will win?"

"Indeed, I don't think that among the players, there is someone who can rival you!" Heathcliff said neatly: "So, although I am not going to use administrator privileges, I will not use the identity of an ordinary player to Duel with you, no matter what, I am the final SS, I will adjust my ability value to a value that the final SS should have!"

"How is it? Yanjun, do you have the confidence to face the gatekeeper alone again?..." (To be continued..)