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 134

Chapter 134: The Promise Between Master and Disciple

 

Thanks to Ilya’s arrival, Alice narrowly escaped death, and the rampage of the citizens of the Hephaestus Kingdom was stopped beforehand.

 

Shortly after, a large earthquake occurred, and adventurers received an emergency event notice from the heavens.

 

A window automatically opened, and as expected, the announcement was the ?Great Calamity of Pride?: the revival of the ?Arrogance Dragon?, whose seal was broken by a dragon relic.

 

The title was exactly the same as the one Yggdrasil had previously announced in real life: “The Great Calamity of Pride.”

 

The ?Arrogance Dragon?, which I once defeated, is now leading an army of ?Alter Greater Dragons? and ?Skeletons?, marching towards us.

 

The victory condition for the raid battle is to annihilate this force.

 

The defeat condition is the death of ?Dragon King Otter? and ?Dragon Princess Alice?.

 

The rewards for clearing the event include a large sum of El and experience points.

 

Additionally, one rare item, “Magical Iron”, which can be used to create weapons and add a skill to them.

 

Many high-level adventurers, eager to claim these generous rewards, enthusiastically signed up for the ?Demon Dragon King? subjugation. Just like with ?Leviathan?, their morale was extremely high.

 

Watching from afar as adventurers gathered outside the kingdom, preparing to head in the direction where ?Demon Dragon King Belial?was sealed, Sora thought it was truly a magnificent sight.

 

This time, 59 members of the ?Hunters of the Twilight? (without their leader) and a full 60 members of ?Hell and Heaven? are participating in the raid.

 

It seems that ?Tenmoku Ichi-Ka? is also without their leader, and Kirie is leading 59 members to join the fight.

 

In total, three of the top clans in ?Astral Online?, representing the game’s strongest force, have joined forces, gathering 128 members in total.

 

Additionally, there seems to be a level restriction for participation in this event. Adventurers below level 50 are not allowed to enter the battlefield map.

 

From what I could sense using the ?Perception? skill, there were only about 50 unaffiliated adventurers, including myself.

 

In other words, this event will be tackled by a total of 178 people.

 

“That’s an impressive number for a full-scale raid in an RPG. In ?Sky Fantasy?, the maximum was only 30 players, so managing a raid of that size must be quite a challenge.”

 

“Ah, y-yeah, that’s right. So they divide into five-person squads, and from there, nine people handle communication and command. That’s the typical setup, it seems.”

 

Suddenly brought into the conversation by Ilya, who had switched out of her polite speech mode, I gave an awkward reply while explaining the clan’s combat style I’d heard from Shino.

 

She responded with, “Hmm, I see,” nodding while gazing into the distance, but then stopped and stood next to me.

 

A sweet, flowery scent unique to girls gently tickled my nose.

 

Ilya was right beside me.

 

The situation I’d been longing for had finally arrived, but now that it was just the two of us, my mind went blank, and I had no idea what to say.

 

Even if I wanted someone like Shio, who’s good at communication, to bail me out, there was no one around—just Ilya and me.

 

The reason there was no one else was because Ilya had asked to speak with me alone.

 

I also had something I wanted to talk to her about, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity. But here we are.

 

In a romantic comedy, this would be the kind of scene where a confession would happen, but looking at Ilya, there didn’t seem to be that kind of atmosphere at all.

 

After a moment of silence, I gathered my courage and spoke to her.

 

“Um, I—” x2

 

At that exact moment, we both tried to speak at the same time. Surprised, we quickly clammed up.

 

Even though we’re just master and disciple, it’s amazing how much we’re in sync.

 

Glancing at each other, we both found the situation amusing and couldn’t help but smile.

 

“Ladies first. If you have something to say, go ahead.”

 

“Right now, you’re a girl too, Master Sora. And on top of that, you’re younger than me as a girl.”

 

“Ah, well, that’s true…”

 

With a hesitant response, Ilya puffed out her chest and said proudly:

 

“So, as your senior with a longer history of being a girl, I’ll give you the right to speak first, Master.”

 

“…Got it.”

 

Sora agreed, then turned to face Ilya and, with a serious look, apologized.

 

“Three years ago, back then, I couldn’t protect you. I’m your master, yet I couldn’t do anything for you.”

 

“Oh, you mean that. It was really tough, but I don’t worry about it anymore.”

 

“…I see. Ilya, you’re strong.”

 

“Hehe, bouncing back quickly is one of my strong points. Honestly, having my mom take away my smartphone and internet was more of a mental blow.”

 

“Ah, so that’s why you didn’t respond to my messages.”

 

“Exactly! By the time I got it back, I had a mountain of notifications, and while I was wondering how to reply, I found out I’d been accepted as a beta player for ?Astral Online?. I played it, and I was so excited to surprise everyone with my super-strong data when the official release came… and then—”

 

“You couldn’t log out, huh.”

 

“Yeah. At first, I thought it was just a bug and kept playing, but there was no word from the game administrators. What do you think’s happening to our bodies in the real world?”

 

Sora hesitated briefly about how honest to be with Ilya.

 

But, deciding she had the right to know, she told her about Hart, a beta player she had met, who had turned into particles of light in front of his daughter while playing.

 

Ilya didn’t show much surprise, only murmuring sadly, “I see…”

 

Sora then took her hand and explained the deal she had made in the real world with a self-proclaimed god named El Aurum.

 

She told her that if they could rescue all the beta players under the game’s control and defeat the Demon Lord Shaitan, they could return to the real world.

 

“Ilya, I’ll save the beta players, no matter what. So for now…”

 

Before she could finish, Ilya suddenly wrapped her arms tightly around Sora’s small body.

 

She must be crying.

 

As she trembled, she whispered into Sora’s ear.

 

“Sora, you’re always doing crazy things, aren’t you? You haven’t changed at all since ?Sky Fantasy?.”

 

“…I see, I haven’t changed, huh.”

 

“Yeah, you always manage to pull off things no one else can. Even now, you’re saying you can do something that the rest of us beta players have already given up on…”

 

As the girl’s tears fell, Sora silently let them soak into her.

 

It must have lasted about three minutes.

 

Once her tears stopped, Ilya gently pulled away from Sora, turning her back so he wouldn’t see her tear-streaked face.

 

“I-I should go now. I need to tell the knights about all of this.”

 

“You’re not going to see Shio and the others?”

 

“Hehe, actually, we’re not allowed to interact with regular players. You see, as beta players, we’re irregulars in this world.”

 

Ilya turned back around, flashing a wide smile despite the remaining tears on her face.

 

“What about me?”

 

“Sora is special. After all, you’re the hero of this world!”

 

“Is that so.”

 

Though it didn’t feel like much of an explanation, Sora decided to accept it.

 

At that moment, the support system ?Lucifel? detected enemies in the distance.

 

The time for the final battle had arrived.

 

With renewed resolve, Sora activated the skill dwelling within her, unleashing the silver light hidden inside.

 

When the light faded, the adventurer known as the strongest emerged.

 

Having transformed from a girl into a boy with silver hair and golden eyes, Sora stood before Ilya, who gasped in awe.

 

“So this is the ?Bringer of Light?…”

 

Sora nodded and made one promise.

 

“We’ll meet again, Ilya.”

 

“Yeah, yeah! Let’s meet again, Master Sora!”

 

With their promise of reunion made, the two turned their backs to each other and began walking toward their respective paths.

 

Their steps felt a little lighter than they had the day before.