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 136
Chapter 136: Michael
When they returned to the kingdom, even the main street, which was usually bustling with people even at night, was now deserted.
The only sound echoing through the corridor was the footsteps of the adventurers, who were sprinting at their absolute limit, thanks to the enhanced power of their granted skill, ?Speed Boost Enhancement V?. They were running just at the edge of control.
In addition to that, there was the intense sound of battle unfolding beyond the kingdom’s walls—the adventurers, led by the Dragon King’s army, fiercely clashing with monsters.
As far as Sora could tell using the dual skills ?Perception? and ?Insight? while running, the NPCs without combat capabilities had taken refuge inside their homes, which had become indestructible objects during the event, and they were now barricaded inside.
This was something quite common in RPGs. When something went wrong, the villagers would dash into their homes, and the players and their companions would find themselves locked outside.
Villagers were essential for offering quests to players. Additionally, if shops and other buildings were destroyed, it would be a huge inconvenience to those who came afterward. So, it made sense that this kind of protective measure was in place.
As they were running, they passed by the skill shop they had used previously.
In a brief glance inside the shop, they noticed a young girl huddled in a corner, her hands clasped in prayer, trembling as if hoping for salvation.
Most likely, everyone in this kingdom was praying just like that, hoping for the battle to end soon.
“I’ve got to give it my all.”
Sora gave his cheeks a quick slap while running, reinvigorating his resolve.
Fortunately, the route to the royal castle was mostly a straight path, so they didn’t need to worry about making any sharp turns at this speed.
As they continued running, the castle gates finally came into view. Unfortunately, the gates were closed, and there were no soldiers in sight.
Under normal circumstances, they would have had to request the gates to be opened in order to enter. However, this was the world of a highly flexible VRMMORPG.
Sora gave the order to maintain their speed and then applied ?Jump Power Boost Enchantment V? to everyone.
“I’ve applied the enhancement skill that boosts jump power to all of you. This should give everyone an intermediate-level skill now.”
What Sora gained when the “enhancement skill” applied 5 times was the ability to grant an intermediate-level skill to the target, depending on the category of enhancement applied.
Furthermore, for ordinary adventurers, if all five available enhancement slots were filled with the same enhancement skill, it would provide an even more powerful high-level skill.
This time, however, if all the slots were allocated to jumping, their speed would decrease drastically, so the distribution was four slots for speed and one for jumping.
“If you mess up the timing of your jump, you’ll end up kissing the gate, so be careful, everyone!”
“Got it!”
After hearing their energetic responses, Sora timed it perfectly and activated the intermediate-level jump skill ?Growth Spring?.
With the enhanced jump power, they instantly soared to a height of nearly 10 meters.
Leaping gracefully over the gate, they landed safely without taking any damage, thanks to the effect of ?Fall Resistance?.
While the others landed smoothly as well…
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!?”
Only one person, Kuro, seemed unfamiliar with this kind of maneuver, and she stumbled as she tried to land, losing her balance and almost falling.
Sora, who was next to her, gently supported her body, preventing her from falling. Embarrassed, Kuro’s face turned red.
“Thank you, Sora.”
“You’re welcome. Is this your first time doing something like this, Kuro?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“In that case, I’ll have to train you so you can do it smoothly next time something like this happens.”
When he said that with a smile, Kuro’s face tensed up for some reason, and she muttered, “Sora’s training…” as she took a small step back.
What kind of reaction is this?
Not understanding what was meant, Sora tilted his head in confusion. Nearby, Shin and Rou both gave him a bitter look and offered a warning.
“Hey, she’s not a masochist like you, so take it easy.”
“Knowing Sora, there’s no way it’ll be ordinary training.”
“Yeah, he’s the type who’ll say, ‘Just in case there’s ever a time when you need to jump off the top of the castle,’ and make you climb up and jump off the top of ?Fafnir Castle? over and over again.”
“That sounds like a good guess. If it’s him, he’d probably come up with that kind of training and enjoy it.”
As the two said whatever they pleased, Sora frowned and defended himself.
“You two! No matter how I am, I wouldn’t make a girl go through such inhumane training!”
When Sora glared at them, the two returned doubtful looks, as if saying, “Are you sure?”
Meanwhile, Kuro, standing nearby, hid behind Shio, peeking out slightly and giving Sora an anxious look, as if to ask, “You wouldn’t do that, right?”
“I wouldn’t. Besides, if I did something like that, my master and Shio would give me more than just a scolding.”
Sora averted his gaze and tried to brush off his friends’ question.
As they chatted, the fatigue they had accumulated about 10% recovered.
Sora and the others began moving again, positioning themselves in the center of a garden that looked like an arena, surrounded by trees.
When Sora saw the giant dragon had begun its descent, he drew the ?Silver Magic Sword? and took a combat stance.
“Alright, it’s coming! Once the boss shows up, hit it hard and bring it down here!”
Everyone’s gaze turned toward one person, a boy named Shin.
The one I entrusted with the ?Ruby Ring? is the most exceptional ?Mage? in this game.
When I handed him the ring earlier, the first thing he asked was, “Why me?”
The reason is simple. Among our group, he’s the only one with the precision to take down the ?Demon Dragon King? from a distance using magic.
Plus, when I think of the color red, I associate it with passion.
In my mind, passion equals Shin. That image is strong for me.
After hearing my explanation, Shin responded with a sigh of understanding and accepted the ring challenge.
To be honest, I was worried about what would happen if the ring didn’t choose him.
But thankfully, the ring recognized him as its rightful owner and granted him a unique skill.
I recalled how tense everyone was, and as I watched the world’s strongest ?Mage?, I couldn’t help but smile.
In ?Astral Online?, this black-haired boy is known as the ?Supreme Mage?. He raised his left hand to the sky and activated the unique skill he had just obtained—?Michael?.
In exchange, he was given a ?Permanent Debuff?, halving his maximum HP for the duration of the boss battle. However, in return, he was granted two powerful skills.
The first was a unique, indestructible, permanent enhancement skill that applied to everyone around him.
The enhancement skill granted to the adventurers present, appeared as a ?Red Angel Wings? icon below the ?HP? bar.
During the boss fight, this skill, ?Fire’s Protection?, increases all damage dealt by 20%.
The second skill allows him to transform into the ?Angel of Fire?.
The skills he gains in his ?Angel of Fire? form are as follows:
– ?Support Skill?: Fire Attribute Enhancement EX
– ?Support Skill?: Auto MP Regen
– ?Support Skill?: Status Immunity
– ?Support Skill?: Perception II
With his angelic powers unleashed, Shin’s eyes turned gold, and his hair changed to a deep crimson.
Just like my ?Lucifer?, Shin entered ?Michael? mode, spinning his spear in his hand as he prepared to counterattack.
The highest-level magic ritual was being deployed.
Requesting activation code.
“—O great fire, symbol of immense power, with your mighty strength, reduce my obstacles to ash.”
Code confirmed.
Verifying that the requester is the ?Angel of Fire?.
Verification complete, all seals released.
In exchange, all MP will be consumed.
The process is now complete.
Ready to fire. Aim at your target and verbally cast the final spell.
The use of the highest-level annihilation magic is granted to ?Angel of Fire? Shin.
A massive six-pointed star magic circle, large enough to cover the entire castle, appeared over the garden, and the young ?Mage? gazed up at the night sky.
“Oh, so this is what Sora always sees. Yeah, this is pretty insane.”
Using the ?Perception? skill to pinpoint the enemy’s location, Shin locked onto the massive dragon, falling from the sky like a meteor. He pointed the tip of his spear, which he had been spinning in his hand, directly at it.
“Alright then, as the one chosen by the mighty silver angel, I’ll be the one to kick off this boss battle!”
With all the top-level adventurers’ eyes focused on him, Shin aimed at the enormous 10-meter dragon speeding straight toward ?Fafnir Castle?.
“—Take it down! ?Explosion Nova?!”
The unleashed explosion painted the world in a brilliant red, signaling the start of the battle.