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 168
Chapter 168: The Crimson Spear Wielder
The backlash from using her powerful move forces Sora into a brief period of immobilization.
The cooldown for the skill ?Burst Charge? is 600 seconds, meaning she won’t be able to use it again for the next 10 minutes.
After enduring the 60-second skill freeze, Sora lets out a small sigh.
She retrieves a plain-flavored potion, like mineral water, from her storage, drinks it down to fully restore her HP, and focuses her gaze on the motionless enemy.
Looking closely, the enemy’s HP gauge has only lost one bar, with two bars still remaining.
If this were a boss fight, it would mean the early stages are over, and the battle is only now heading toward the mid-to-late phases.
Yet the enemy remains on the ground, showing no sign of movement.
Is this a trap, or is it really over?
Since the enemy hasn’t turned into light particles, it’s likely not over yet. Either way, Sora knows she has to make sure.
Staying on guard, she quickly switches her gauntlets and equips the ?Silver Magic Sword?, a one-handed longsword, in her right hand.
Cautiously prepared for anything, she approaches the grey-colored girl.
When she’s about five meters away, the girl lets out a raspy, choking sound, “Gah…cough, cough,” as she slowly raises her head.
Her face doesn’t show any anger or resentment from taking her punch.
If anything, the expression on her face is one of joy.
Since she still has two full HP bars, it makes sense for her to be unfazed.
Perhaps she should have struck while she was down instead of being so cautious, Sora thinks, regretting her hesitation.
The girl, writhing in her slender frame as she holds herself with her arms, has a dark, lustful gleam in her two differently colored eyes.
It’s a look she’s never received before, or maybe, it’s similar to the look that the yandere demon girls in certain games. As she gazes at her, sending a shiver down her spine.
With a hot sigh and a gaze that instinctively fills her with revulsion, she confesses to her.
“Oh, I love you. I love you so much. To think you could fight me, Iblis, all by yourself and make it this far. As expected, you’re strong…Lucifer.”
What she casts at her isn’t battle intent, but rather an unsettling, burning gaze of love.
Stopping in her tracks and raising her sword to defend herself, Sora calls out her name.
“Iblis…so that’s your name.”
When she says her name, the girl smiles with pure delight.
She dispelled the sword in her hand, delicately lifting her skirt like a princess, and offered a graceful bow.
“Allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Iblis, and I am the one who brings forth the darkness born from the world.”
“Bringer of darkness…?”
“Yes, a counterpart to the Bringer of Light. That’s what me is.”
“Counterpart? You and I?”
Casually informed of this relationship between herself and the angel in front of her, Sora furrowed her brow.
She was about to conclude that they had a rival-like connection when Iblis dropped a bombshell.
“As counterparts, Iblis and you are fated to be bound together by the red thread of destiny.”
“What are you suddenly talking about?”
“Is it hard for someone of the heavens to understand? To put it simply, we’re destined to be partners.”
“Partner ?”
“Yes, partner.”
Now that she thought about it, she recalled that she’d said something about being her partner or companion when they first met, which made no sense at the time.
Sure, the game’s description mentioned the possibility of marriage and other relationships, but she’s technically a boss monster. Defeating her should be the priority, not anything else.
Could she have accidentally triggered some sort of “Iblis route” flag without realizing it?
If so, it might have been when she acquired the unique skill ?Lucifer?, but even then, there should be an order to these things.
She was reminded of that yandere dating sim game, where the heroine suddenly handed her a marriage certificate from the start, leaving her baffled. In that game, refusing led to immediate abduction and a “captivity ending,” resulting in a quick game over. Hopefully, she wasn’t going to pull something similar.
Unlike battle scenarios, these situations made her nervous in an entirely different way, far more than before.
Sora couldn’t hide her confusion, wondering how she’d somehow wandered into a yandere game.
For now, she responded with the safest answer she could think of.
“Maybe…before becoming partners or anything, we should get to know each other a bit more?”
“If that’s the case, let’s converse through our swords.”
With a soft flutter, white and black wings sprouted from Iblis’s back.
The girl’s body gained lift, floating several dozen centimeters above the deck of the ship.
Above her head appeared a circular halo, like those seen on angels in many games.
Just as Sora thought the second round was about to begin—
“—Wha–”
In an instant, Iblis closed the distance between them. She grabbed Sora’s neck with her right hand and threw her with force.
Not good, I won’t land on my feet in time–!?
Sora slammed back-first into the ship’s mast, losing about 30% of her HP and momentarily unable to breathe.
Iblis then plucked several feathers from her wings, transforming them into razor-sharp blades.
Realizing what was coming, Sora tried to activate ?Sonic Step? to evade.
But a flurry of flashes tore through the air faster than she could react.
She managed to deflect some, but four feathers still struck, embedding halfway into her arms and legs.
“Gah…!”
Her HP dropped, leaving her with only 40% remaining.
With damage effects spraying from her body, Sora fell to one knee.
Her body was stunned, unable to move.
This wasn’t just strength—it was overwhelming.
This was the ?Bringer of Darkness?.
Compared to the first fight, which now seemed like child’s play, Iblis’s sheer speed and relentless force left Sora unable to find any chance of victory.
“Just a little effort, and it’s already over. It seems the current Lucifer still has her limits.”
Without finishing her off, Iblis turned her back and began walking slowly toward the door leading inside the ship.
“Well, I’ve spent quite some time here already. I’ll now proceed to eliminate the Sea Princess onboard and spread darkness to the heavenly world.”
“W–wait…”
“Trying to move while stunned? Such a noble hero’s spirit. I look forward to the day you reach the realm of gods through your mastery.”
With that, she didn’t look back.
She strode toward the door to go after Laura, hand reaching for the doorknob—
“—!?”
Iblis suddenly dodged back, as if repelled by something, evading a crimson flash that shot down from the sky.
“This… could it be!”
Seeing the crimson spear embedded in the ground, blocking her path, Iblis’s voice betrayed a hint of panic.
Moments after the spear arrived, a woman with jet-black hair descended from the night sky, pulling the spear from the ground and running forward.
“My, my, taking a graceful solo voyage, and I never expected to run into little Iblis in a place like this,” she teased.
“The ?Thousand Spears?, why are you here?”
Iblis’s voice rose in surprise.
She spread her wings again, deploying multiple feathers around her, and unleashed a barrage at the woman.
But the dark-haired woman, clad in robes of red and white, laughed as she easily deflected the barrage with her spear.
“I could ask you the same thing, but as the ?Bringer of Darkness?, I’m sure you’re up to no good!”
Incredibly, the woman blocked and dodged every one of Iblis’s attacks, advancing steadily.
Her bold yet precise movements reminded Sora of her mentor, Shino.
“We’re both a bit confused here, so let me start by landing a punch!”
Such a reckless approach.
The woman broke through the feather barrage and thrust her spear forward, aiming to pierce Iblis’s torso.
Barely evading the sharp spear with a quick step, Iblis leaped high into the sky, halting mid-air with an annoyed expression.
“…It’s about time for Lucifer to recover. Even against the two of you, I wouldn’t lose, but I’m running out of time. I’ll withdraw for now.”
“Oh, that’s a shame.”
“Until we meet again, Lucifer. Let’s hope our next encounter ends in a wedding.”
Before Sora could even interject, Iblis turned her back and soared into the night sky, disappearing from sight.
With silence returning, Sora found herself alone with the woman.
Using her ?Insight? skill, she identified her as a beta player.
The woman, who appeared to be in her late teens, gave her a gentle smile and introduced herself.
“Nice to meet you, adventurer Sora, the ?Bringer of Light? in Astral Online. I heard about you from Hart in a message.”
“And you are…?”
“My name is Arisa, and I’m Kuro-chan’s mother, your girlfriend’s mom.”
W-What!?
The cry from the depths of Sora’s heart echoed through the night, creating a shockwave that even revived the unconscious crew members around them.