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 15

Chapter 15: The Purple Lightning Hand Strike

 

The clash of the silvery blade, cloaked in a brilliant light, and the jet-black blade, enveloped in a soft glow, sparked and locked in a stalemate.

 

But that was only a moment.

 

As the jet-black blade was gradually pushed back by the silver blade, Kuro could not withstand it and took a back step, withdrawing from the blade clash.

 

The black-haired girl, who had once again put some distance between them, looked at my face with a surprised expression.

 

Her eyes were wide open, as if to say she couldn’t believe it.

 

“That’s not the same ?Sonic Sword?.”

 

“Hmm, is it?”

 

“Don’t play dumb. What is that, really?”

 

“Even if you ask me, I can only say it’s ?Sonic Sword?.”

 

“No way, I can’t believe it.”

 

Hmm.

 

To be overpowered in a direct clash, despite using the same technique at the exact same timing and with the same movements.

 

It seemed Kuro was quite surprised by this.

 

Indeed, the skill she used was a basic ?Sonic Sword? that can be used early on, while I used ?Sonic Sword II?, which is enhanced with a one-handed sword’s skill proficiency of 20.

 

The difference in technique’s power makes it only natural to lose in a direct push.

 

However, this is a serious duel. There’s no need to straightforwardly reveal the details.

 

“…You really are not an ordinary person, then.”

 

Muttering to herself, Kuro activated ?Sonic Sword? again with her jet-black sword in hand.

 

But this time, she didn’t come straight at me.

 

She alternated between activating and canceling the skill in rapid succession, closing in with an unbelievable zigzag speed.

 

This was an advanced technique called ?Sonic Turn?, used by top players in Astral Online.

 

The high-speed skill activation and cancellation, combined with posture control, can easily cause motion sickness and make it hard for ordinary people to keep up with their thoughts.

 

The players practicing on the roadside often fall due to failing to control their posture.

 

Moreover, connecting this to an attack raises the difficulty even more.

 

It’s like riding a bucking horse and accurately shooting the center of a target with a bow.

 

Kuro, who perfectly masters this advanced technique that only a handful of experts can master, truly has outstanding talent.

 

However, her skill is being wasted.

 

The murderous intent makes her aim too obvious.

 

With this, there’s no need to use the ?Perception? skill I acquired, so Sora tightened her grip on her sword.

 

Kuro, who had disappeared from view, launched a ?Strike Sword? from a right diagonal rear position.

 

As Sora turned around, she activated ?Sword Guard? and deflected the deadly thrust with a side sweep.

 

“Being fast is good, but it’s easy to read.”

 

“…Tch.”

 

With that, she used the momentum from the deflected sword to activate ?Dual Nail?.

 

With incredible speed, she unleashed a two-hit skill, her blade glowing faintly as it aimed to slice through Sora.

 

Using the trained eyes from my VR game experience in ?Sword Master?, I saw through the first strike, deflecting it with the ?Sword Guard? skill, and timed the second, heavier strike from the spin to perfectly block it with a just guard.

 

In the blade clash, Sora made eye contact with her and said:

 

“Certainly fast and sharp. But that’s all. With such a use of your skill, you won’t be able to finish me off.”

 

“…What a pompous attitude from someone on the defensive.”

 

“Then I’ll show you. This is how you use a skill.”

 

On the spot, Sora used ?Sonic Turn?, repeatedly activating and deactivating the skill at incredible speed to get behind Kuro.

 

The chosen skill was the two-hit ?Dual Nail?.

 

Mirroring Kuro’s previous attack, Sora unleashed the same two-hit attack that Kuro had used.

 

Barely reacting, Kuro defended the first hit with her sword and tried to block the second hit, which was coming from the spin.

 

However, Sora did not release the second hit of the skill.

 

Instead, she canceled ?Dual Nail? mid-way and seamlessly transitioned into ?Strike Sword II? with the momentum of her high-speed spin.

 

Kuro, expecting consecutive slashes from the system, panicked and tried to evade upon seeing the blue glow of the sword.

 

— Too slow!

 

The deadly thrust deeply cut into Kuro’s left shoulder, as she failed to evade it completely.

 

Kuro’s life points dropped by about 20%.

 

“Ugh… Gah!?”

 

Wincing in pain, Kuro pressed her left shoulder with her right hand and withdrew using ?Sonic Turn?.

 

Her face was wide-eyed, as if she couldn’t believe what had happened.

 

“…To cancel the high-speed slashes of ?Dual Nail? midway and switch to ?Strike Sword?…”

 

There was only a 0.3-second gap between launching the first hit and executing the second spinning hit.

 

In such a short time frame, inserting a cancel technique is not easy, but in the VR battle action game ?Sword Dance?, not being able to do this would make even defeating minor enemies difficult.

 

For someone like me, who had desperately experimented with cancel techniques down to the millisecond, switching like this is only natural.

 

Haha, I miss the days of playing and constantly calling it a crappy game.

 

By the way, it took me over two months to clear it due to overworking my brain and various other issues. I never want to do it again.

 

The spectators around were stunned by Sora’s divine skill.

 

If I can reduce her health by another 30%, I win. But Kuro is not someone whose limits are so shallow that she would end here.

 

She has yet to show her skills as a professional fighter.

 

“Kuro, you’re not serious yet, are you? Show me everything you’ve got.”

 

“…Understood.”

 

At my provocation, Kuro’s aura completely changed.

 

Her presence intensified, and a red aura seemed to blaze out from her body.

 

What is that?

 

Sora, puzzled, heard her say:

 

“Alright, here I go.”

 

“!?”

 

Kuro activated the thrust skill ?Sonic Sword? and lunged forward.

 

The speed was astonishingly sharper and faster than before.

 

This was no ordinary ?Sonic Sword?.

 

Understanding at a glance, Sora timed her move, raising her sword to intercept with a rightward sweep.

 

With a powerful leap, Kuro propelled herself into the sky.

 

She avoided Sora’s slash and leaped over it, landing behind her.

 

“Huh!?”

 

This took Sora by surprise.

 

Even with a thrust skill, it’s not as if she has rockets attached to her body.

 

Even with perfect timing, jumping over someone without any sort of jumping platform is impossible.

 

In other words, it was some sort of ?Martial Artist? skill.

 

Sora’s ?Insight? skill revealed its true nature.

 

The ?Martial Artist?’s level 5 acquired skill, ?Battle Spirit Boost?.

 

This skill consumes 50 MP to temporarily increase attack power, speed, and jumping ability.

 

She combined her enhanced jumping ability with ‘Sonic Sword,’ literally leaping into action.

 

I see, this is interesting.

 

Kuro, closing in from behind, attacked with the fastest ?Sonic Sword?.

 

There was no time to turn around and defend.

 

Kuro’s downward slash struck Sora’s back.

 

The enhanced ?Sonic Sword?, if it landed a direct hit, would combine with a back attack bonus, surely reducing the silver-haired girl’s life points by half.

 

Everyone watching was certain of Sora’s defeat.

 

However, in the face of this crisis, the silver-haired girl was the only one who smiled and said:

 

“Back attacks are common in various VR games, you know.”

 

Muttering to herself, she thrust her sword into the ground and, using the guard as a foothold, instantly activated ?Sonic Sword? to leap backward.

 

Avoiding Kuro’s attack from behind, she arced through the air and took position behind her.

 

But she had lost her weapon.

 

What is she going to do?

 

As everyone wondered, Sora activated her enhancement magic skills: ?Attack Power Increase Enchantment?, ?Defense Power Increase Enchantment?, and ?Lightning Attribute Enchantment? in a triple cast.

 

She consumed 140 MP from 170, leaving her with 30 MP.

 

Forming a blade of lightning with her right hand, she approached with ?Sonic Sword II?.

 

Turning around, Kuro activated the ?Martial Artist?’s initial attack skill, ?Dragon Fang?.

 

A sharp roundhouse kick accurately struck Sora’s side.

 

Without armor, Sora would normally have had her life points reduced by 50% there.

 

But thanks to the skill ?Physical Resistance II? and the ?Defense Power Increase Enchantment? she had cast on herself, the damage was reduced to only 30%.

 

Although she was momentarily winded by the impact, Sora continued to smile and did not stop moving.

 

Even after taking the kick, she advanced forward and, with all her strength, drove ?Strike Sword II? through the gaps in Kuro’s armor into her torso.

 

“Ah… Gah!?”

 

Lightning coursed through her body, combining with the enhanced finishing thrust to reduce her life points by half.

 

Supporting Kuro’s back as she seemed about to fall to the ground, Sora smiled as she received the ?WIN? victory judgment.

 

“That was a good match. Landing a hit on me was impressive.”

 

“…I didn’t know you could use skills without a weapon.”

 

“Yeah, there was no warning when using skills without a weapon. I tried it on a whim, and I’m glad it worked out.”

 

“You’re really crazy.”

 

With a proud look, Sora said to the wide-eyed Kuro:

 

“I often get told I’m crazy.”

 

Hearing this, Kuro gave a cute little chuckle at those words.