Chapter Seventy-Three: Burn Him Alive!

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"Kirito—who are they?" After the members of the FFF Group had finished clearing the area, Xing finally managed to calm her previously terrified heart. But upon seeing the figures around her—draped in purple robes, wearing pointed hats, and with sinister red glows in place of eyes—her freshly quelled fear surged back instantly.

"Ah!" She let out a sound as adorable as a startled little animal and hid behind Kirito.

A strange, flickering light flashed around them.

Kirito suddenly felt an evil aura, thick with resentment, envelop him. He swiftly drew his weapon from his back, only to realize there were no more monsters around. Awkwardly, he sheathed his sword but kept a wary hand on the hilt.

"Heretic!" someone shouted loudly, brandishing their weapon.

"Heretic!" The others, after exchanging glances, also raised their weapons.

“Looks like I can’t stop them.” Lancer took off his hat, walked over to Kirito, and patted him on the shoulder.

“Your words are touching, but—could you at least wipe that grin off your face?” Kirito complained, noting that everyone except Lancer had drawn their weapons against him.

“So, you dared to break the Blood Oath? That means you’re ready to pay the price.” A masked man, his clothes marked with grease stains, stepped forward.

“Break what? I never even joined in the first place!” Kirito realized he had become their target. If he’d actually done something, being burned at the stake would be expected, but to be sacrificed for nothing was not what he wanted.

“You’ve already confessed—just surrender quietly!”

“Are you even listening to me?” Kirito noticed that no one bothered responding—instead, colored lights began to glow on all their weapons.

“Seriously? Are you treating me like a boss monster? I’m being besieged by over twenty front-line players.” Despite being surrounded, Kirito had no intention of being captured so easily. He figured they’d let him go after learning the truth, though his reputation would probably be ruined. Wanting to make an impression in front of those he’d sworn to protect, he handed Xing over to Lancer, entrusting her safety, then prepared to face Lancer’s subordinates head-on.

“Hey, who exactly are you people?” Only now did a few bystanders, just regaining their senses, ask this question.

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“We? We’re Kirito’s comrades—in every sense of the word.” Lancer’s smile was sparkling with mischief.

“Then why are you attacking him?” Xing was confused by Lancer’s group. In her eyes, friends shouldn’t be fighting.

“It’s nothing. Kirito broke our oath, so they’re here for him. Don’t worry—we won’t take his life.” Lancer “thoughtfully” explained.

“What oath? I don’t recall any. Only idiots would swear anything with you!” Dodging an attack from a hammer-wielding player, Kirito took advantage of the cooldowns on the others’ skills to shout at Lancer.

“Don’t sweat the details, sasa. But there’s no point arguing with me—try convincing them,” Lancer replied with a shrug, hands raised in helplessness.

As he dodged the frenzied attacks again and again, Kirito was speechless. He could force his way out by strength, but his opponents had all switched to Lancer’s custom capture weapons, designed to deal only one point of damage per hit, but with a paralysis effect. These weapons were exclusive to the FFF Group and could only be used by those Lancer personally entrusted them to, preventing red players from abusing them. Relying on his so-called “hacked” intuition, as Lancer dubbed it, Kirito narrowly avoided several attacks, but the intensity of the battle was beginning to wear on him.

“What’s going on?” When Lancer and his group broke through the wall, the news that their group was trapped had already been sent to the leader of their guild—Keita. When he arrived, he was shocked by the forcibly broken main gate, the debris-strewn ground, and Kirito at the center, besieged by a crowd of players in purple.

“Hang in there, Kirito! I’m coming to help!” Seeing his guild’s new member under attack, Keita rushed forward—only to be stopped by a resounding clang.

A massive scythe blocked his path; it was Lancer, who had just been chatting with Xing.

“You’re…” Keita didn’t recognize the appearance, but the unique weapon jogged his memory.

“You’re the ‘Inquisitor’?” Though he’d never seen Lancer in person, the organization’s growing infamy had made Lancer’s weapon his signature—no one else could forge such a weapon.

“You know me? Good. We’re handling business here. If you want to pass, wait until we’re done.” Now, with his hat back on, Lancer had none of his usual mischievous smile—only a strange depth and gravity.

Despite some resistance, seeing Kirito narrowly dodge again and again, Keita no longer hesitated. He swept Lancer’s weapon aside with his longsword and dashed to join the fight.

“Kirito, look what I have here.” As the tide began to turn with Keita’s arrival, Lancer’s voice drifted to Kirito.

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“What are you doing?” Kirito did not expect Lancer to actually hold his weapon to Xing’s throat in threat. Though he knew his friend would never truly endanger her, he still shouted.

“It’s nothing. My underlings can’t handle you, so I had to use a little trick.” Lancer was now playing the villain who kidnaps the princess with absolute conviction.

“Hey, this is between us—don’t drag others into it.” Kirito’s heart pounded as he saw the blade at Xing’s neck, even if he suspected it was a bluff.

“Oh? Who knows? But if it doesn’t concern you, why are you worried? Or could it be that you really… like her?” Having read the novels, Lancer understood Kirito’s true nature—a total masochist, lacking any initiative in romance. Even in the end, it was Asuna who’d been the more proactive one. To help his friend find true love, Lancer decided to play the bad guy for a while. Of course, he would never admit it was also because he feared Kirito’s protagonist aura would make him a rival for the girls.

“Yes! That’s right! So let her go!” Kirito shouted in desperation, the words slipping out without thought.

After a deathly silence…

“Burn him at the stake!” “Burn him at the stake!” “Burn him at the stake!” “Burn him at the stake!”

Kirito suddenly realized what he’d said and ducked his head, but when he looked up, he saw Xing doing the same. Both, embarrassed, quickly lowered their heads again.

“Well then, since you’ve admitted it, I’ll step back now.” Lancer, seeing his goal achieved, naturally withdrew.

But Kirito’s ordeal was far from over. He now had to face over twenty fiercely determined front-line players.

“No! Don’t!” Kirito cried out desperately.