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 161

Chapter 161: Departure and the Queen of the Great Battle Axe

 

In games, quests where you must reach your destination without being spotted by enemies are called “sneaking quests” or “sneaking missions.”

 

These types of missions are usually incredibly tedious. The main strategy is to carefully observe the enemy’s movements, timing your progress when they turn their backs or purposely making noise to divert their attention.

 

Back in the day, there was a trend of RTA videos where players would speedrun old, retro third-person games by exploiting the AI’s vulnerabilities to speedrun missions, squeezing past enemies, and pushing the limits of being caught. However, this kind of gameplay is much harder in VR games that don’t use controllers.

 

The hallmark of these quests is how much effort they require, but now I have the ultimate rare skill: ?Perception?.

 

With this skill, I can constantly see everything within a radius of more than ten meters around me, ignoring obstacles. Thanks to this, I could completely avoid the soldiers’ movements without even watching them and effortlessly break through.

 

I’ve played several VR games that are heavily focused on sneaking, but for someone like Sora, who has won against NPCs with absurd eagle-eye vision, it’s a walk in the park.

 

Halfway through the city, the soldiers started throwing in some feints, but with careful observation and memorizing their patterns, it wasn’t difficult.

 

Finally, when I reached the port, surprisingly, there was no one stationed there.

 

Within the range of my ?Perception? skill, there was no sign of any soldiers hiding.

 

Still on alert, I approached the old man in charge of the port, Liam, and spoke to him. He said, “We’ve been expecting you, Lady Laura,” and led us to the ship.

 

The vessel before us was a large sailing ship, over 100 meters long.

 

It was about 15 meters wide, with three masts. The voices of sailors preparing for departure echoed across the deck.

 

Liam guided us to the gangplank leading to the ship, telling us to hurry while keeping an eye on our surroundings.

 

“Go now, before the overprotective king finds you.”

 

“…Thank you, Liam-san.”

 

“The queen became a great songstress during her travels. I look forward to seeing Lady Laura become just as great a Songstress on this journey and returning home.”

 

After thanking him, I let Laura, Inori, and Kuro board the ship in that order, and then I boarded last.

 

Once Liam removed the gangplank, a male dog-eared crewmember, who seemed to be the captain at the helm, shouted out the order to depart.

 

“The great adventurers and the princess have boarded, men! We’re setting sail!”

 

“Aye aye, sir!”

 

The crew’s roar, powerful enough to resonate deep in my gut, sent a tingling sensation across my skin.

 

Feeling an excitement so intense it made my chest stir, Sora smiled softly.

 

At last, the first-ever voyage in ?Astral Online?, something no one had experienced before, was beginning.

 

The ship started moving gently.

 

By now, soldiers were rushing to the port, but the ship carrying Sora and the others had already set sail. There was nothing they could do at this point.

 

The ship, now distant from the port, caught the wind in its sails and sped across the sea, heading straight for the distant island.

 

Suddenly, Sora’s ?Perception? skill detected a monster.

 

It emerged from the depths of the sea, as if it had been waiting for this moment, and appeared directly in their path.

 

Blocking the ship’s course was a massive crab-like monster,?Increasing King Crab?, the very same type they had fought recently.

 

“You’ve got to be kidding me! Now of all times?!”

 

With a loud, deep screech, the enormous crab stood in the ship’s way. I clicked my tongue in frustration.

 

At this rate, we couldn’t continue forward. The ship turned left, away from its direct course, to fire the cannons mounted on both sides.

 

To prepare for the counterattack, I gripped the hilt of my sword like Kuro and readied the long-distance attack skill, ?Angriff Fliegen?.

 

“Hmph, it seems it’s come for revenge for its fallen comrades, but we shall send it to the same fate!” Inori said with a dark smile as she aimed her ?Indra’s Bow? at the King Crab, ready to fire at any moment.

 

Just as we were prepared for the counterattack, a low rumbling sound, like an earthquake, came from the direction of the castle.

 

Could that sound be… cannon fire?

 

Could the king be so desperate to stop his daughter from leaving that he’s resorted to sinking the ship at this moment…?

 

While this unsettling thought lingered in my mind, I sensed something even more unexpected within the range of my ?Perception? skill.

 

“No way… You’ve got to be kidding me.”

 

“What’s wrong, Sora?”

 

“Ah, no, it’s just… I thought I was mistaken, but…”

 

“Sora?”

 

Sora’s uncharacteristically hesitant response made both Kuro and Inori tilt their heads in confusion, sensing that something unusual was happening.

 

Then, what appeared to be a massive black shadow, likely a cannonball fired from the kingdom, rapidly approached the King Crab.

 

Suddenly, someone who had been using the ‘large cannonball’ as a platform leaped high and landed on top of the King Crab’s head.

 

The figure, wielding an enormous battle axe with a long handle that seemed impossible to swing with one hand, raised it high.

 

“Oh dear, it seems we have a naughty crab trying to interfere with my daughter’s journey. Let’s have you exit the stage quickly, shall we?”

 

With a blinding flash from activating a skill, the figure struck the ?Increasing King Crab? with such force that the impact shook the space around them.

 

“No way…!”

 

Sora gasped in disbelief as she watched, seeing the King Crab’s two HP bars—one of them instantly reduced by half due to the massive blow from the battle axe wielder.

 

The monster frantically shook its body, trying to throw off the dangerous figure perched atop its head.

 

But the figure used the skill ?Immobility? to stabilize their footing, preventing them from being thrown off.

 

With a graceful movement, they delivered another strike, completely depleting one of the HP bars, and with the King Crab now stunned, they prepared for the next attack by raising the battle axe for a powerful overhead swing.

 

The ?Burst Axe?, a charged heavy attack from the battle axe skill category.

 

After charging the attack to its maximum limit, the figure swung the axe down with full force, aiming directly at the monster’s head.

 

The third overwhelming strike landed, and in an instant, the King Crab’s remaining HP disappeared, its gigantic form dissolving into particles of light.

 

…Impossible.

 

A boss-class monster was defeated in just three hits…?!

 

First, they used a cannonball to fly through the air, then took down a boss-class monster solo.

 

Sora was speechless, unable to process the series of unbelievable events he had just witnessed.

 

Before losing their foothold, the battle axe-wielding figure shouted a cheerful “Hya!” like a character from a manga and leapt high into the air, landing gracefully on the deck of Sora’s ship.

 

Sora had already detected the figure’s general appearance with her ?Perception? skill, but now the true identity of the person who had performed such superhuman feats was finally revealed.

 

She was a beautiful woman in her twenties, with long blue hair and sapphire-like eyes, and wings that matched her hair color extending from both sides of her head. She looked like an older version of Laura.

 

Her attire, a fluttery outfit, was far from suitable for battle.

 

The mismatched combination of her delicate outfit and the massive battle axe in her right hand made it clear to everyone that she was no ordinary person.

 

The woman slowly approached, made a graceful bow to Sora, and introduced herself.

 

“Nice to meet you, adventurer. I am Sara Enoshigaios, queen of this sea kingdom and Laura’s mother.”

 

“N-Nice to meet you, I’m Sora, an adventurer. These are my companions, Kuro and Inori.”

 

Still in shock from the sudden turn of events, Sora hurriedly introduced herself and her companions.

 

As Kuro and Inori quickly bowed their heads in response, Sara smiled warmly. She then approached Laura and gently patted her on the head with her left hand.

 

“Please, everyone, help guide my still inexperienced daughter on her journey.”

 

“Yes, leave that to us,” Sora answered on behalf of the three.

 

Sara nodded happily and then turned to Laura, saying:

 

“I’ll make sure to have a serious talk with that overprotective fool. Go ahead with peace of mind, Laura.”

 

“…Yes, Mother. How is your health…?”

 

“Don’t worry about me. Even like this, I’m still the strongest songstress in history. I’ll be waiting for you to return.”

 

Sora wanted to question where the “songstress” part came in, but considering the sheer force of her battle axe attack earlier, she decided to hold her tongue.

 

After promising her daughter, Sara walked to the railing and called out in a loud voice so that everyone could hear.

 

“Everyone accompanying my daughter on this journey, please take good care of her!”

 

The captain and crew members snapped to attention, saluted her sharply, and responded in unison, “Yes, ma’am!”

 

At that moment, a smaller ship pulled alongside theirs.

 

Liam appeared and shouted, “Your Majesty, we’re about to pass through the inlet! Please hurry!”

 

Sara nodded, then leapt onto the deck of the smaller ship, where Liam and several others were waiting.

 

“!!”

 

Suddenly, she stumbled, nearly collapsing, but Liam quickly caught her.

 

Sora furrowed her brow as she watched.

 

It wasn’t that she had failed the landing. That… was something else.

 

Laura, standing beside her, wore a serious expression and clutched the sleeve of her coat tightly.

 

Queen Sara smiled at Sora and Laura before telling Liam to let go of her. She then began to sing, pouring all her wishes for her daughter’s safe journey into the song.

 

As soon as she began, all the monsters in the ocean, from the smallest to the largest, that had been influenced by the ?Increasing King Crab? became inactive.

 

I was speechless as I saw all the responses from my ?Perception? skill settle down.

 

…So this is the power of a songstress.

 

With her strong and beautiful song protecting us, the ship successfully set sail into the vast ocean.