Astral Online: Cursed by the Demon Lord to Become the Strongest Beautiful Girl, I Rapidly Grow and Dominate with Cheat Skills Despite Being the Weakest Profession - Chapter 101
Chapter 101: Dream and a Dear One
Before Sora realized it, he was in a world of pure white.
There were no buildings around.
The sky was a clear blue, without a single cloud.
The ground was covered in bright red flowers.
There was no sound.
His sense of smell wasn’t working at all.
His thoughts were slightly foggy, but his awareness was sharp.
It felt real, but not quite reality.
Considering all of this, he guessed that this must be a dream.
The biggest proof was his appearance—he was no longer the silver-haired, blue-eyed girl but a black-haired boy.
As he pondered this, someone suddenly clung to his arm.
When he looked to see who it was, a girl with white hair and golden eyes, wearing a white dress, was looking up at him.
As soon as their eyes met, she smiled warmly like the sun and pointed at something.
Following her gaze, Sora saw the small “World Trees”, the Yggdrasil—the same ones he had seen at the Astral Online.
What does that mean…? Wait, what?
Puzzled, Sora felt a sense of unease and focused on the small *World Trees.*
He then realized that each “Yggdrasil Branch” had a person nailed to it.
…Hey, what the hell is that?
Faced with a scene straight out of a horror game, I gasped.
Just within my line of sight, there were already dozens of people bound to the small *World Trees*.
The horror of this scene—like something out of a nightmare—paralyzed me.
The white-haired girl beside me pointed to one particular tree.
Naturally, I followed her gaze and froze.
Because what I saw was a shocking sight—?Ilya?, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl, was nailed to one of the trees.
???!?!
A painful sensation gripped my chest, as if the air had been sucked out of my lungs.
I couldn’t think.
My body moved on its own.
??Ilya!
Forgetting it was a dream, I shoved the girl clinging to my arm aside and rushed toward Ilya, my face pale.
But before I could reach her, a girl stood in my way.
She had silver hair and golden eyes—a beautiful girl of unparalleled beauty.
It was ?Shaitan?, the ?Demon Lord of Calamity?.
She was the one who had once cursed me.
With the sword that had once killed me in ?Astral Online? in hand, she laughed, blocking my way to Ilya.
“Get out of my way!”
Driven by desperation, I swung my current companion, the one-handed sword ?Silver Magic Sword?, which I was suddenly holding in my right hand.
The Demon Lord blocked the strike that had been delivered at supersonic speed, stepping back while wearing an amused expression.
“What’s so funny!?”
Frustrated by her smile as she continued to block her path, the boy yelled and jumped back, creating some distance.
The technique he was about to use wasn’t one from ?Astral Online?.
If this was a dream world, then he should be able to use “that”.
Positioning his sword in a low-left stance, he prepared to unleash an ultimate technique that had been etched deeply into his soul and body after hundreds of uses.
The blade glowed in two colors—jet black and pure white—radiating a power so intense that it shook both heaven and earth.
Sora leaned his body forward, gathering all his strength in his right leg, and then powerfully kicked his left foot forward.
All the force he generated flowed directly into his blade.
Twisting his body, he swung the sword upward from the low-left to the high-right stance.
It was the highest-ranked sword technique of the warrior god—?Meteor Slash?.
The unleashed technique cut through the air, becoming a non-elemental strike that nullified all defenses, hurtling straight at the Demon Lord.
Shaitan, in response, infused her beautifully adorned magic sword with dark light, assuming the same stance and activating a skill similar to ?Meteor Slash?.
The two ultimate techniques clashed head-on, the resulting shockwave obliterating the surroundings as the attacks canceled each other out.
Their power was perfectly equal.
As expected of the final boss, even in a dream, it wasn’t going to be easy.
The Demon Lord seemed to relish the murderous intent directed at her, looking at Sora with a loving gaze.
“Heh, so this is your true form, etched into your soul.”
My true form, etched into my soul…
With the Demon Lord’s words, the boy realized something.
At some point, his appearance had changed—he was now dressed in a black-and-white outfit with minimal armor.
This was the appearance of his avatar from ?Sky Fantasy?, the one that had won every tournament and dominated every content, except for one, earning the title of the world’s strongest.
It was ?Black Flash?.
Just then, the white-haired girl she had shaken off earlier interrupted the space between her and Shaitan, humming softly.
She spread her arms wide like an actor on stage, gazing up at the sky as she spoke:
“Oh, how magnificent! O chosen hero, if you wish to save those trapped in this world, you must defeat all seven calamities, and finally, slay the Demon Lord. Then…”
“You will be able to reclaim everything.”
With a snap of the white-haired girl’s fingers, Sora’s vision warped drastically.
Unable to stay on his feet, he fell to one knee. The Demon Lord moved her lips, silently mouthing:
?I’ll be waiting.?
…Ilya.
As his consciousness began to fade under an irresistible force, Sora desperately reached out toward the girl bound to the World Tree.
And then, her awareness returned as she awoke from the dream.
……………………….
“Ilya!”
Sora woke up, stretching out her right hand as she quickly sat up.
Where am I…?
Light streamed through a gap in the curtains. In the silence, only the song of birds outside reached her ears. This wasn’t some strange place but the familiar comfort of her own room.
“Hah… hah… hah… It was… just a dream.”
Bringing her outstretched hand to her chest, Sora whispered quietly as she tried to calm her ragged breathing.
This was the second time she’d experienced such a weird dream, but having it after reuniting with Ilya… Wasn’t this a bit much, even for her?
After taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, Sora finally noticed that something was seriously off with her body.
“Ugh, I’m drenched in sweat.”
Her clothes clung to her skin as if he’d just finished a jog. she knew she had been extremely tense during the dream, but she hadn’t realized he’d sweated so much.
Thinking she might catch a cold if she stayed like this, Sora folded her blanket and moved to the edge of the bed to grab the sportswear she had prepared on her desk.
As she tried to get out of bed, her eyes locked with those of Kurono Takanashi, who was inexplicably lying on the floor in her sportswear, staring up at her.
“Good morning, Kurono. What are you doing down there?”
As soon as I greeted her and asked why, she looked embarrassed.
“Good morning! I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened yesterday. You were muttering in your sleep, so when I tried to wake you up, you sat up suddenly, and it really surprised me…”
“Oh, I see. Sorry about that. Are you hurt?”
To be honest, she felt an impulse to point out that it shouldn’t have turned out that way, but she decided against it since she looked so pitiful.
Sora extended her hand to help Kurono get up.
She grabbed it with one hand and cautiously placed the other on the floor as she sat up.
They weren’t so foolish as to cause a second disaster.
Once they successfully got Kurono up without any issues, Sora decided to change into her sportswear.
Just then, even though she was still drenched in sweat, Kurono hugged her tightly from behind.
Wondering what was happening, Sora turned around to see the silver-haired girl smiling gently at her.
“Don’t push yourself too hard, Sora.”
“…Yeah, I understand.”
Just that one sentence filled her heart.
The others didn’t know about her meeting with Ilya yesterday. she had asked Kurono to keep it a secret, so she wouldn’t tell the others either. If she spoke about it, they would undoubtedly worry about him.
“Sorry, Kurono. For dragging you into my selfishness.”
“No, it’s okay! I’m your partner, after all.”
She released her and sat on the bed, wearing a flower-like smile.
As long as Kurono was by her side, she felt no fear. Sora was truly grateful for her presence.