VRMMO: Am I The Strongest Yet?

The moon casts a silver glow over a pristine small gazebo-like shrine, a silver white structure no bigger than a small hut.

Its light reflects off the giant crystal stone at the center, a marvel of an otherworldly wonder… at least, that's how they all had perceived it when they first came here.

Embedded within the crystal was a unique Green Dagger, its emerald hue pulsing with a bright present worldly energy. It was the item that She had been looking for since she entered this Jungle. And she had found it a night ago.

She could have just made it her own had this been a simple scenario, but, a treasure is never obtained so easily in any of the heroic tale present in this, or their original world.

-Booooooooooooooooooooom!

Guarding this treasure was a formidable creature, a being so unique that it gave them goosebumps just looking at it.

Lord of Capybara. That's what these creatures were called by the players, but unlike the funny name that was given to them, these beings were a field boss of (Level-180) a creature that was several times stronger than a simple (Level-180) creature.

This was a being that one could not fathom the power of, a being that was visibly so terrible that the cute name given by the players was a stark contradiction of their actual, deadly appearance.

"Scriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiag!!!"

A giant creature with fur as tough as armor and eyes that glowed with ancient wisdom, an intelligent being that was guarding a treasure of primordial history. A being that was not simply a field boss, but also a guardian that had existed before this shrine ever since the previous owner of that dagger built this place.

"Muuuuuuuuuu!"

-Swish! Swish! Swish!

-Oooooooooooooooong!

"Now!"

She had been fighting this creature for over a day now, and after fighting for so long, she had finally reached the point where they could finish this long battle of attention!

"Muuuuuuuu!"

Alex stood her ground before the beast. Her sword gleamed under the moonlight, ready to strike like it had been since the last many hours. To her side, her partners Rin and Misha lay heavily wounded, cornered and unable to assist her, under the protective barrier of Misha's natural Ichor, Their breaths ragged, and their eyes filled with worry as they watched the final battle unfold.

"SCRIIIIIIIIIIIAG…!"

-Ooooooooooooooooong!

The Lord of Capybara let out a thunderous roar in its last moments, charging at Alex with surprising speed for its enormous size.

-Swish!

But she dodged the attack with her {Blink}, her movements fluid and precise, even with the unfathomable exhaustion.

"Muuuuuuuuuu!"

-Swiiiiiish!

With a swift motion, she slashed at the creature's flank, but her blade barely scratched its tough, bloodied hide… the creature was using ancient magic runes to fortify its body with whatever life force still remained in its wounded body.

"Tsk!"

"Miu!" a voice gurgled from behind her.

"MIU!"

-Ooooooooooooooooooong…!

Miu used the power to control nature for the last time, and created a passage on the body of the Lord that would decide this battle for them.

And then it fell to the ground, too exhausted to even stand on its small reptilian feet.

"Muuuuuuuuu!"

At the same time, Az came and positioned itself between Alex and the Capybara Lord, summoning Higher ranking spirits than it had ever been able to, materializing them with its Mana, and using their powers to create waters so sharp that… when released, they tore through the very atmosphere before crashing into the passage Miu had created!

"SCARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

The Lord of Capybara screamed with every fiber of its being, but this time, it was met with a Crimson sword slash that pushed it back, rupturing the most innate parts of the being that kept it alive.

"Muuuuuuuuuuuu!" the Slime urged her to not waste this opportunity.

It could tell that despite the utter pain that it was feeling, that creature was still alive from the raging storm of hatred and anger that was surging within it!

"This is it!"

-Swish!

Seizing the opportunity, Alex blinked forward, her sword aimed at the creature's vulnerable underbelly that was now exposed, all of the inside of the creature including its heart, the core of this ancient being, in her line of sight!

-ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…!

"Ghaaaaaa!"

"SCArrrrrrrrr…"

With a powerful thrust, added with a swirling twist of her powerful, colorful Aura, she drove her blade into the beast, causing it to howl in pain once again… however, this was the last bit of sound that he had left inside of it… Lord of Capybara staggered, its strength waning.

It was not dead just yet, there was some life left in it still, so…

"Muuuuuuuuuuu!"

Az, the slime, continued to assault the creature with waves of water, each strike weakening it further.

-Swish!

"Hmph…!"

Finally, with a mighty swing, she struck the creature's head, and…

"Grrrr…"

The Lord of Capybara collapsed to the ground, defeated.

[Ding.]

The message window was a testament to the end of what had taken them nearly an eternity. But, it was over now…

"Haaaa… haaaa…"

Breathing heavily, almost on her last bit of energy points and barely conscious at that point, Alex turned to her fallen comrades, a triumphant smile present on her blood-ridden face.

"Rin… Misha…" she fell to the ground, her hand still grabbing the handle of her crimson sword.

"It's over…" she lay down on the ground, before them, with a smile, with a joyous expression of victory, with a feeling that she thought she had forgotten a while ago…

"We did it." She was happy. And she knew…

"Muuuuu~!"

It would not have been possible without even one of these individuals. Alone by herself? She wouldn't even consider the possibility at the level she was at.

"Miu~!"
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Az and Miu bounced over to them, an excited expression present on the adorable gecko and the grown up faceless slime creature as well.

"We did it…"

She was unnaturally happy right now, Misha and Rin seeing this smile couldn't understand the reasoning behind it, however they understood the kind of emotions that Alex might be feeling right now.

"Then…"

Her eyes turned to the center of the shrine, at the giant crystal holding her trophy.

"Shall we?"

She had worked hard, the hardest she had ever since she fell to this lower level. And that Green dagger was her reward. A reward that she had earned with her, as well as her companion's blood sweat and tears…

She had earned it, and she had proven herself before the Second Key on her [Existential quest].

The white sword acknowledged her efforts, but it was sad that it didn't get to experience the fun battle.

Alex had won, and she was going to be rewarded for that victory, but… a battle was more important than the rewards that one gets.

Experience, the concept of [{(Kal)}], the truth of perpetual learning of an existence, was prevalent among the Truth Seekers.

She knew what she had experienced here was more precious than that dagger… but, that dagger was the key that was going to bring her closer to her darling.

Not this experience which was still an abstract 'concept' branched from a truth that Shaped the entirety of this world.