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 126
Chapter 126: Imaginary Magma
Finally, the day of the ?Dragon King Festival? had arrived.
Though Sora managed to get some sleep afterward, her awakening was far from pleasant.
What occupied her foggy mind was the revelation from the dragon princess that her sister had passed away before she was born.
In a VRMMORPG, Sora had never witnessed how NPCs give birth, and even she found that hard to imagine.
However, the story she told reinforced a hypothesis that had formed in her mind.
The information from Dragon King Otter, stating that Satanas resembled a young Alice.
The words from the ghost of the late king, asking to protect her grandchild.
When combined, this suggested that Satanas resembled Alice, and the previous king’s plea was directed at the two of them.
???If this is true, could the mysterious identity of Satanas actually be the “sister of Alice” who was supposed to have died?
For them, this would be the happiest truth possible, but would it be right to convey it openly?
If she were to speak up, there were three possible outcomes: both would joyfully accept it, both would be confused, or one would be confused while the other accepted it.
Yet, considering the possibility of causing awkwardness with unnecessary words, it seemed better to remain silent.
Whether or not they were actual sisters, their bond would not change.
Sora was deeply troubled by her thoughts.
“Ugh, what am I supposed to do…?”
She gazed at the ceiling, spread her arms wide, and let herself fall back onto the bed.
Suddenly, someone rushed up the stairs and burst through the door to her room.
Cautiously, she turned to see who it was, and there stood Kurono Takanashi in sporty attire, looking quite frantic.
“Sora, it’s bad! Outside!”
“Huh?”
“Don’t react like a little animal! Just look outside already!”
“Okay, okay…”
Feeling uneasy about what was happening, Sora got out of bed and walked over to the closed curtains as instructed.
I slid the blackout curtains wide open and looked out at the familiar view of the residential area, where the World Tree could be seen in the distance.
What was causing the commotion became clear at a glance.
“W-What is going on…?”
The ground was covered with flowers that hadn’t been there the day before.
These were the familiar red ?Refractory Flowers? that thrived in the volcanic region of ?Astral Online?.
As long as it was just flowers, it seemed harmless, and she thought she could relax, imagining the world turning into a field of red blossoms.
But knowing what those flowers represented, Sora was gripped by a fear that was far worse than what she had felt in the ?Forest of Spirits?. Sweat dripped down her forehead.
Why was she scared just because flowers were blooming?
Because the nutrients for the ?Refractory Flower? came from “magma.”
‘No way,’ she thought, denying reality in her mind, but just then, cracks suddenly appeared in the road, as if to shatter Sora’s peace of mind, and a magma-like substance burst forth like a fountain.
Moreover, a woman walking her dog happened to pass by, and magma began to rain down from above.
“?!”
Kurono let out a small scream at the incredible sight.
Sora instinctively turned away, but before she could, an invisible shield seemed to expand and deflected the magma aimed at the woman.
The woman, startled, panicked slightly but quickly ran away with her dog.
She had no idea what was happening.
Relieved that the woman and her dog were safe, Sora couldn’t help but mutter from the depths of her heart.
“This is bad.”
…………………………
Regarding the alarming contamination of the real world, the self-proclaimed god El Aurum made a statement using television and the internet.
“Until the end of August, that is the deadline for us to protect you.”
It seems that the shield Sora saw protecting the woman this morning is an emergency, world-scale barrier prepared by El Aurum and the other ?Guardian?.
A barrier that affirms reality and rejects fantasy.
From our perspective, that power feels like a fantasy in itself, which is quite contradictory, but if it can protect us from magma, it might be rude to nitpick.
Furthermore, she appears to look a bit fatigued this time, perhaps because she is using the trump card barrier that was prepared as one of the emergency measures.
Thus, the deadline is set for the end of this month, as determined by them.
If we cannot defeat the ?Demon Dragon King? Belial by then, the magma will reach our bodies.
In other words, it would mean game over.
After El finished speaking, the broadcast switched to the news.
There, a person holding a microphone, with a pale face, reported to the camera that ?it’s impossible to observe magma erupting right beneath the ground? and that ?the same phenomenon occurred on the deck of a ship?.
This confirmed that the incident was not a normal physical phenomenon.
Really, even though today is the ?Dragon King Festival?, troubles seem to be rushing in like a clearance sale.
Sora sighed and leaned back against the living room sofa.
Across from her, her cousin Shino let out a wry smile.
“Even without an event occurring, things like this can happen. It’s chilling to think what might happen without the barrier.”
“I saw earlier that the cracked road returned to normal after the magma erupted. If the barrier disappears, I think going outside would be quite frightening.”
“Haha, it really is a fantastical story. That said, the barrier’s deadline is the end of this month. Since the previous issue in the ?Forest of Spirits? was resolved by defeating Leviathan, the solution this time should be the same.”
“Defeating the ?Demon Dragon King? Belial, right?”
“That’s the only solution…”
When Shiori and Kurono spoke the correct answer, their faces tightened with tension.
“Well, everyone, let’s relax a bit. If it comes down to it, I can use my unique skill to revert back to being a man, and that will turn any disadvantage around.”
“But, big brother, that skill…”
When Sora mentioned the unique skill she had used before, the three of them looked slightly troubled.
The reason was simple.
The unique skill ?Lucifer? has tremendous power, but it comes with a cost.
Each time it’s used, the amount by which the player’s remaining lives decreases by one.
The next consumption is 1 plus 1, so the remaining lives will only decrease by [2]. However, after that, it will increase to 3, 4, and 5.
Considering the number of times one might die during normal gameplay, Sora likely only has about ten chances left to revert back to the strongest man.
When thinking about the final battle against the Demon Lord, Shaitan, she couldn’t afford to die unnecessarily, and she needed to save at least one chance.
“Well, I’m already pretty invincible, so reverting back is really a last resort. Plus, all the players have gotten stronger due to the recent balance adjustments, and we’ll only know how it goes when we actually fight Belial. So…”
To lighten the somewhat heavy atmosphere, Sora clapped her hands to force the trio’s attention back to her.
Then she stood up and said, “First, let’s tackle the problem right in front of us. We need to complete the ?Dragon King Festival? stall quest, defeat the former king, collect all the Dragon Jewels, and then prepare for the resurrection of Belial. That’s what we can do right now.”
At Sora’s words, the three of them nodded vigorously.
“Yes, we need to focus on what’s right in front of us.”
“Sora is right. First, let’s defeat the former Dragon King.”
“I have another matter to attend to, so I can’t help, but I’ll drop by the stall.”
“Alright, let’s go!”
And with that, our long day began.