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 133
Chapter 133: The Golden Priestess
The attack by the followers of the ?Demon Dragon King? was swiftly dealt with by Shino, who acted even faster than Sora. By taking command of the adventurers alongside Shio, they successfully repelled the attack without any harm to the citizens.
When Shino, who had defeated what appeared to be the enemy’s boss, arrived, I asked her about it, and it seemed she had accepted a quest from the Dragon King to investigate the followers hiding within the country.
Knowing that there would be an attack by the followers during the festival, she had informed her companions in advance to prepare for a counterattack.
The reason she hadn’t told us was to let us focus on the stall competition.
Shino apologized for not explaining the situation once the quest was complete, which had resulted in this scenario.
“I’m sorry, Sora. I didn’t expect such an irregularity to show up…”
“Why are you apologizing? You’re not at fault, Master. The one to blame is me. I knew through my skill that the enemy was coming but didn’t immediately move to protect Alice and the others.”
In this unprecedented incident, the only casualty was Alice, who had taken a blow to her back from the gray-clad girl.
Since moving her hastily could be dangerous, she was laid down on something like a mat instead of a hard floor.
Beside her, the girl Alice had protected with her own body was tightly gripping Alice’s right hand, tears streaming down her face.
“Big sister…”
Alice, who was lying face-down on the floor, was given an instant-acting potion by a female cleric from the castle, a potion that cost a hefty 10,000 El per bottle.
However, the potion, which should have fully healed her immediately, had no effect.
On top of that, Alice’s HP continued to slowly decrease, causing those around her to grow tense.
“This… could it be a curse?”
“Sorry, but could you all step back? Maybe I can figure something out with my ?Insight? skill.”
“Sora-sama, please take care of the princess.”
“Yeah, leave it to me.”
The woman who had been crouching next to Alice stepped aside.
When Sora looked at Alice, who was clearly in pain, she activated her level 2 ?Insight? skill.
What she discovered was terrifying.
A skull icon had appeared below Alice’s HP, indicating a debuff called ?Life Eater?.
The effect of this curse prevents healing and deals a continuous slip damage of 10 HP every 60 seconds, until her HP reaches zero. It is one of the highest-level curses.
There is only one way to lift the curse.
Only ?Curse Liberation?, a skill available to high priests above level 1, can remove this curse.
“Excuse me, is there a ?High Priest? in this country?”
“…The ?High Priest? class only exists in the royal capital Yggdrasil and the Kingdom of Light…”
The female cleric, understanding the gravity of Alice’s situation from Sora’s question, responded with a strained voice, on the verge of tears.
The expressions of the surrounding retainers and King Otter were filled with despair, as if thinking, “How could this happen…”
Amidst this, Sora took a moment to reassess the situation.
Normally, the curse on Alice could only be lifted by the skill of a ?High Priest?.
Given the current circumstances, there was no choice but to use the ultimate trump card she had on hand.
As these thoughts passed through Sora’s mind, murmurs began to spread among some of the citizens who had been watching the situation unfold from around the stage.
“With the ?Demon Dragon King? reviving and the princess possibly losing her life, maybe it’s because that cursed child appeared…”
“Y-Yeah! Ever since that cursed child showed up, this country has faced all kinds of trouble!”
“In the four cities, we’ve been attacked by dragons, and skeletons have started appearing, causing damage! It’s all got to be the fault of that cursed child!”
The ripple caused by these words quickly spread, and in no time, the crowd’s growing negative emotions began to focus on an innocent, young child.
“If we offer the cursed child to the volcano, everything will be resolved!”
“Yeah, let’s sacrifice the cursed child to the ?Demon Dragon King?!”
“Sacrifice the cursed child!”
“Kill the cursed child!”
How ignorant and shallow these people were! It was a sight of sheer ugliness.
They were trying to thrust all the blame onto an innocent child, seeking salvation from the impending crisis.
These fools…
Sora, along with many of the adventurers present, felt a dangerous tension rising.
They had interacted with Satanas at the stalls and knew that she was a pure and innocent being, certainly not a cursed child.
The adventurers, prepared to restrain the crowd if they moved, steeled themselves inwardly.
If things continued like this, a full-scale conflict between the citizens of the ?Hephaestus Kingdom? and the adventurers would inevitably break out.
If such a thing were to happen, the situation could spiral even further out of control.
King Otter, sensing the danger of the situation, felt that things were taking a turn for the worse and was about to raise his voice to stop everyone.
But in the midst of the commotion, the sound of a staff striking the ground sharply echoed through the air, reaching the ears of everyone present.
“Silence.”
A calm and gentle voice followed.
All eyes turned toward the direction from which the voice had come, and a single girl stepped onto the stage.
Her hair was long and straight, a beautiful golden color that reached down to her back.
Her gentle, slightly drooping emerald eyes radiated calm.
Her face was perfectly balanced, and judging by her appearance, she seemed to be about high school age.
Dressed in a kimono-style armor reminiscent of a Japanese samurai, the girl held a staff in her left hand and had a katana at her waist.
The citizens of the ?Hephaestus Kingdom? were captivated by the strong yet kind aura that surrounded her.
Meanwhile, the veteran VR gamers, who recognized her immediately, froze in shock at the sight.
“The Golden Priestess…”
King Otter, his voice trembling, whispered these words as he fell to his knees.
Sora, who knew her, softly muttered her name.
“Ilya…”
The girl did not respond to Sora’s call.
With every gaze upon her, she quietly approached Alice’s side. She smiled gently at the tearful Satanas and raised her right hand over Alice.
“Curse that erodes life, vanish! —?Curse Liberation?.”
A warm light radiated from her palm, enveloping Alice and expelling the black smoke from her body, which dissipated into the air.
Seeing this, the dragon woman hurriedly pulled out the same potion from earlier and handed it to Satanas, saying, “Give this to the princess!”
Satanas took the bottle, opened the lid, and gently helped Alice drink the potion.
Before Sora and the others, the young girl’s HP, which had been on the brink of death, recovered to its maximum.
As Alice’s pale, pained face softened into a peaceful sleeping expression, Ilya turned her back and faced the dragon people to protect the innocent child.
“Do you all know why the ?Dragon King Festival? is held every year? Do you know its true meaning?”
The people of this country wondered why she was asking something so obvious.
But Sora, realizing Ilya’s intent, stood up and deliberately answered her question aloud.
“I’ve heard from the Dragon King that it’s a ritual to empower the ?Dragon Crystal? so we can live safely for another year.”
In response to Sora’s words, Ilya shook her head.
“That’s not all. There’s also a heartfelt wish and hope behind it.”
“A wish and hope…”
Ilya shifted her gaze from Sora and looked at the people of the ?Hephaestus Kingdom?, who were silently staring at her. With firm conviction, she shouted.
“This festival is a way for the living to express their gratitude and wishes to the world so that they may live tomorrow!”
The word “tomorrow” also symbolized the future, and the ones who carry that future are none other than the children.
In other words, children are the “symbol of the future.”
If you condemn and cast out a single innocent child just because they’re called cursed, what kind of future will you have?
With these words laden with emotion, she asked them one final question:
“As a priestess of the ?White Rainbow Knights?, I ask you, if you sacrifice this child, even if it secures your tomorrow, will you be able to live with pride in your hearts?”
Immediately, one of the adventurers shouted in a loud voice, “No!”
That single word became a catalyst, and all the adventurers echoed Ilya’s sentiment.
Then, one by one, the dragon people, who had been too afraid to speak out for fear of being labeled heretics, gathered their courage and loudly declared, “It’s wrong to cast out that child!”
The wave of sentiment spread rapidly, and in no time, the atmosphere shifted completely.
As the negative emotions that had ruled the scene vanished, Ilya turned around, smiling wryly.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” she said with a laugh.