Baran the General Taurus

In the closed beta test of Sword Art Online, Baran the General Taurus (バラン・ザ・ジェネラルトーラス) was the Floor Boss of the 2nd Floor of Aincrad. However, in the official service of the game, Baran was only one of the two sub-bosses supporting Asterius the Taurus King. Baran had a five-bar Hit Point (HP) gauge.

Appearance
Baran's rippling muscles were enveloped in a bristly, crimson red pelt. Its waist was covered with a luxurious golden cloth, but his upper half was bare. Additionally, a golden chain dangled over its shoulder, and the taurus wielded a golden battle hammer that shone with a dazzling brilliance.

Attack Patterns
Baran has a special debuff skill, called «Numbing Detonation» (ナミング・デトネーション), which has twice the effective range of Nato's «Numbing Impact». Players caught in the golden sparks released by the skill are rendered stunned for three seconds. If the same player is hit twice with the skill in succession, the stun effect is changed to a more dangerous paralysis effect.

Like Nato, once Baran is near death, it enters a state of frenzy and begins to use Numbing Detonation at every chance it gets.

Weak Points
Like all tauruses that do not have armour protecting their head, Baran's weakness is its horns. Attacks against its horns have an increased chance of staggering the creature.

Preparations
The main raid party did not conduct any scouting attempts, as Argo's strategy guide based on the beta was deemed to be sufficient for the battle, thus the preparations consisted only of reviewing Argo's guide on the boss's attack patterns.

Strategy
The raid party for the battle consisted of forty-seven players. The players were divided into eight parties:
 * Group A - Dragon Knights Brigade members
 * Group B - Dragon Knights Brigade members
 * Group C - Dragon Knights Brigade members
 * Group D - Aincrad Liberation Squad members
 * Groue E - Aincrad Liberation Squad members
 * Group F - Aincrad Liberation Squad members
 * Group G - Legend Braves members
 * Group H - group led by Agil

Lind was chosen to be the leader of the raid via winning a coin flip against Kibaou. Initially, groups G and H were to be assigned to deal with the sub-boss, but due to Orlando's protests, Lind agreed to allow them to participate in the battle against Baran, promising to send support for group H if the sub-boss proved to be too difficult. Before the beginning of the battle, Kirito warned everyone to watch out for the boss's consecutive numbing attacks.

Summary

 * ~14:00 AST on December 14, 2022: The raid party enters the boss room.
 * ~14:10 AST: Baran's HP is halfway depleted. Kirito attempts to persuade Lind to regroup in case of a retreat.
 * Baran's last HP enters the yellow zone. Asterius the Taurus King spawns.
 * After defeating Nato the Colonel Taurus, group H join the rest of the raid in defeating Baran. Baran's last HP reaches the red zone and Baran enters a berserk state.
 * Kirito staggers the boss with his «Sonic Leap», allowing everyone to unleash their Sword Skills.
 * Kirito deals the Last Attack on Baran by using «Senda».