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 189
Chapter 189: Knights of the underworld
“Knights of Helheim…!”
A piercing, intense hostility fills the air.
The sheer strength of these opponents is on an entirely different level than that of the followers of the Demon Dragon King encountered before, sending an electric shiver through their skin as it radiates through the wide, transparent tunnel-like space.
Sora and Arisa stand on high alert, bracing themselves for anything, their eyes sharpened as they face two armored knights. One wielding a massive, long-handled battle-axe, the other a razor-sharp, refined Eastern sword.
Behind them, sensing the roles they must play from the palpable pressure of the enemy, Kuro and Inori quickly move to strengthen Laura’s defense.
With her focus entirely on the enemies before her, Sora reviews the information about them in his mind.
Helheim of the underworld—the enemy faction that controls Kuro’s father, Hart, trapping him in unremovable armor and attacking Sora’s friends as they explore the ruins.
Their goal, as she learned from her friends who were attacked previously, is a ring imbued with the power of angels.
It’s natural that they would clash, given that Sora’s team is also collecting the rings through quests.
She never expected to meet them in a place like this, but if their target is the ring, there’s no option but to fight.
Indeed, the hostility emanating from the enemy makes it clear that negotiation is out of the question.
The tension is so thick it feels like the air might burst. A situation that’s one misstep away from erupting into violence.
As Sora, ready to fight at any moment, grips her gleaming ?Silver Magic Sword?, the knight with two horns and a battle-axe on his shoulder sneers at her.
“Ha, ha, ha… So the only one worth serious caution is the level 180 ?Thousand Spears?. The rest of them don’t even reach level 100. No threat to us at all.”
“Don’t underestimate them, Philly. According to the princess, that silver-haired fought Hart, the former leader of the Third Knight Order, and broke the queen’s curse. Disregard her appearance and she might catch you off guard.”
“Hah! That little girl managed to defeat that monster I couldn’t beat even once? Even as a joke, that’s not funny, Ritter.”
This knight named Philly, the two-horned one wielding the battle-axe, seems capable of somehow analyzing their abilities.
While Philly appears overly confident due to their level difference, the one-horned knight, named Ritter, who holds the longsword, seems far more composed and formidable in both words and demeanor.
As Sora realizes this, the support system ?Lucifer? confirms his thoughts.
?Yes, the Knights of Helheim display their power through the horns on their “helms”. Lower-ranked soldiers have five horns, while the more powerful ones have fewer.?
So, that means that the two-horned and one-horned knights before her, even at the same level 150, have different levels of strength.
Lucifel continues, giving Sora detailed information about the knights of the underworld.
“The two-horned ones are typically deputy commanders, while the one-horned ones are commanders. Additionally, Helheim’s rules dictate that a tournament is held every season where one-horned elite fighters compete to determine their ranks among the commanders. Given that Hart, whom you previously fought, was the head of the Third Knight Order, it’s likely he was holding back considerably in that battle.”
Sora agrees with this.
Considering he was fighting off brainwashing and still that powerful, if he’d gone all out, there’s a good chance Aria and the rest of us would’ve been wiped out in an instant.
Expressing his gratitude for Lucifel’s insights, Sora, with years of VR combat experience, discerns the difference in power between the two knights before her.
I see. Even though they’re both at level 150, the aura each of them gives off is distinctly different.
The two-horned knight with the battle-axe radiates a formidable pressure, but the one-horned knight’s is on another level entirely.
If anyone carelessly steps into his range, they’ll likely be sliced clean in half by the sword in his hand. That’s how easy it is to imagine such a fate due to the lack of any openings in his stance.
Amidst the tension, Laura, guarded behind Sora and the others, gathers her courage and addresses the two knights with a look of determination despite her apprehension.
“Why is the underworld collecting rings?”
It’s the one-horned knight who responds to her question.
“Songstress of the Sea Kingdom, knowing our reason for seeking the rings is of no consequence to you.”
“…That is for me to decide. The rings are treasures of my kingdom, and I won’t easily hand them over to those with unknown intentions!”
“Interesting. My princess described you as a timid girl who hides behind the queen, yet you speak boldly.”
“I am destined to succeed my mother as the Songstress. I cannot remain a mere girl forever!”
With a loud *thud*, the battle-axe strikes the ground.
Having listened in silence until now, Philly unleashes a powerful killing intent and, as if his patience has snapped, steps forward with determination.
“I never expected you to agree to our demands from the start. Enough talk! Let’s get started! A life-or-death battle, where warriors truly shine!”
The battle-axe releases a brilliant skill effect, signaling the start of the fight.
When the two-horned knight charges forward, Sora braces herself, but the ground erupts beneath her feet as the enemy launches himself like a cannonball.
—That’s ?Sonic Axe?, a charging skill in the battle-axe category.
A fully leveled skill, seemingly enhanced further by its wielder, with an astounding cooldown of only two seconds, allowing rapid use to close the distance almost instantly.
It’s a speed that rivals, if not surpasses, the ?Sonic Turn? technique Sora once used.
“Fall with this blow, silver-haired adventurer!”
The battle-axe comes crashing down.
I decide to parry with a sword guard, timing my defense carefully—
“?!”
As the axe swings down, the color of the enemy’s skill effect shifts from gold to green. This is a cancel into ?Dual Axe?, a spinning double-strike.
I’m surprised by the unexpected skill cancel but manage to barely deflect the first strike, only for the second, even faster and more powerful from its rotation, to come straight at me.
There’s no way to parry this. I can already see a vision of my sword being cleaved along with me from the sheer mass behind his attack.
Dodging is my only option, but it should’ve been done on the first strike. At this point, I likely won’t make it in time against the faster, stronger second strike.
Realizing that neither defense nor evasion is feasible, I try to activate ?Sonic Step? as a last resort—
“Not so fast!”
A ?Snipe Arrow? flies from behind, aimed precisely at the enemy’s eye socket through a gap in his armor.
Philly clicks his tongue and tilts his head just enough to avoid the arrow. Seeing the slight imbalance in his stance as an opportunity, I cancel my evasive maneuver.
Gripping my sword tightly, I twist my body and swing upward from below with all my might, countering his battle-axe with a ?Rage Slant? strike.
“Kuro, shift!”
“Got it!”
As Sora is in a cooldown period, Kuro, who had just been called, rushes past Sora using her charge skill, ?Sonic Sword?.
With a lavender-colored sword in hand, she launches a powerful thrust attack, ?Strike Sword?, using her momentum.
Seeing this potent attack coming at him with a blue effect, Philly kicks off the ground, leaping high into the air.
Despite his heavy armor, he avoids Kuro’s thrust with an elegant backflip, like an acrobat, and then swings a horizontal slash using the momentum.
Caught off guard, Kuro attempts to parry the battle-axe with a ?Sword Guard?.
“Kuro, don’t block it—dodge!”
“Ugh!?”
I warn her hastily, but it’s too late.
The axe’s trajectory suddenly shifts, slamming vertically into Kuro’s sword as she tries to deflect it.
Unable to withstand the massive weight head-on, she’s knocked back several meters.
The force of that strike alone cracks her sword, even though it had been reinforced with a defensive skill. One more hit, and ?Sword of Dawn? will definitely break.
“…S-So strong…”
Even though I had boosted Kuro’s defense in advance, her HP has dropped by 20% through her reinforced defenses. Kneeling down, Kuro stares in shock at the enemy.
As soon as my cooldown ends, I rejoin the front line and change all my balanced buff skills to attack boosts.
This opponent adjusts the trajectory of his attacks based on our movements. His great battle-axe, with its long reach, combines centrifugal force and raw power to unleash incredible speed and strength.
Though not on the level of the enigmatic grey angel Iblis, he’s undeniably a formidable foe.
Considering the gap in base strength, attempting to match him defensively would likely end in defeat.
Seeing me shrouded in crimson light particles, Philly, the knight with the battle-axe, smiles with satisfaction.
“I didn’t expect any of you to hold up through that last exchange. I’ll need to reassess my opinion of you.”
“I’d hoped to take you down while you were off guard…”
I glance at Arisa, but she’s focused solely on the knight wielding the longsword in front of her, locked in a tense stare-off.
“???!”
A shiver runs through me.
The aura these two emit is intense. The slightest lapse in focus could mean death, and I wait for my opponent’s next move with my weapon in hand, honed by countless life-or-death encounters.
In less than a second of distraction, Philly slams the handle of his battle-axe into the ground.
Startled, I look back, and Philly shakes his head.
“Don’t try to interfere in a battle between monsters. One wrong move, and you’ll be respawned instantly.”
“So considerate of you to warn me right as I was about to attack…”
“Without you, this would turn into a mere formality. I’d rather enjoy a real fight with the strong than worry about some ring.”
“I get it. I feel the same.”
Recognizing my lapse in focus, I apologize to Philly with a deep breath.
Focusing all my attention on the enemy in front of me, I raise my ?Silver Magic Sword? to guard.
“Silver swordsman, I am Philly, Vice Captain of Helheim’s Seventh Knight Corps!”
“And I am Sora, an Enchanter!”
With his pitch-black battle-axe and my shining silver sword, the two of us step forward simultaneously.