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 38
Chapter 38: Side Event
In a land far from the forest where Sora and the others are, intense battles between adventurers and monsters were taking place.
The fighters were from the clan ?Hunters of the Twilight?, a top-tier clan in Astral Online to which Shio belonged.
Their opponent was a gigantic serpent, about a meter long, covered in green scales, known as the ?Leviathan Army?.
A squad of six, consisting of three knights, a fighter, a wizard, and a monk, was deployed in the forest to protect a ?Wind Spirit? by standing against the monster.
“Contact imminent!”
“All units, begin combat!”
As soon as they made contact, several sword dances by the adventurers painted beautiful lines of light in the forest. The giant snake, receiving the first strike, only experienced a knockback with minimal damage.
This was because the ?Sonic Sword? attack skill, used by a level 15 adventurer without any enhancement skills, could not cut through the life of the enormous serpent, which reduced physical damage by half.
After depleting about one-sixth of its health, the adventurers were hit by the ?Poison Breath? attack, which took away one-third of their life.
“Damn, poison!?”
“Fall back!”
The knights, overwhelmed by the severe poison causing 2 damage per second, hurriedly retreated.
To buy time for the monk to heal them, the fighter moved in to support with ?Sonic Sword?.
Observing the entire situation, one of the combat leaders of ?Hunters of the Twilight?, a short-haired woman in her twenties named Mana, clicked her tongue after quickly assessing the enemy’s abilities.
“Tsk! From the damage, it seems the enemy probably has a skill that reduces physical damage.”
Hearing Mana’s words, Shio, a girl in light armor with black hair tied in a ponytail, nodded while holding a golden sword.
“In that case, the mages are likely to deal more damage. Knights should focus on defense with their shields, while the mages take on the role of main attackers, ensuring each one is taken down one by one.”
“Understood!”
Following Shio’s quick judgment, the entire squad immediately adjusted their strategy.
“…Ha, I never expected such a strong monster to appear. This is indeed a fun, exciting event battle!” Mana shouted with frustration.
Shio observed the overall situation and muttered softly.
“If there’s one priest player, it’s helpful because they can heal even if we get poisoned, but if we take too many hits, it might be a losing battle…”
“That’s true. Well, those guys should be fine.”
“The problem is that this isn’t a wipeout battle, it’s a defense battle.”
“Everyone is good at attacking but bad at defending… By the way, you seem restless. Are you heading out soon?”
“Yes, I’m just going to have some fun for a bit.”
“Got it. Leave the rest to me and make sure to help out any teams in trouble.”
“Understood.”
Leaving the command to Mana, Shio vanished from the spot using ?Sonic Turn.? With minimal movements and a refined technique, she swiftly ran across the ground and appeared in front of a struggling squad.
“Vice-Captain!?”
“I’ll take over these guys. In the meantime, focus on regrouping and protecting the spirits.”
“Understood!”
As the squad members turned away, Shio wrapped her golden sword ?Light Blade? with ?Sword Guard? and knocked down all five ?Poison Breath? attacks aimed at them.
Determined not to let the protection be disrupted, Shio stood firm in front of the giant serpent.
“Your playmates are me.”
Shio timed her actions precisely. As the ?Breath Attack? was aimed at her, she used ?Sonic Turn.? In an instant, she moved behind the enemy, and shortly afterward, damage was assessed to the giant serpents.
When had she struck?
The Leviathan Army was bewildered by the incredibly fast movements and slashes.
Meanwhile, seeing the damage dealt to each giant serpent, Shio’s face tightened.
“I see, even attacking the head only reduces about one-fifth of the health…”
The physical damage reduction made them quite a troublesome opponent.
Narrowing her eyes, Shio dodged the ?Poison Breath? and accelerated her movements once more. With a speed so fast it left afterimages, she combined ?Sonic Sword? with a two-hit ?Dual Nail?, darting around the five giant serpents at high speed to avoid being captured.
After a moment, the sound of a blade being sheathed echoed.
The Leviathan Army, reduced to particles of light by her storm-like dance, vanished.
…What a display of brute force.
The squad members, watching from the side, whistled at the vice-captain’s overwhelming skills and brute-force play.
“Hmmm, it seems that at level 17, it takes 5-6 attacks per serpent. Quite a troublesome enemy.”
Just as the movements stopped, the hidden serpent released ?Poison Mist? over a wide area.
Indeed, this one couldn’t be avoided.
Having been poisoned, Shio calmly avoided the breath released within the mist and withdrew from the front lines. She joined a forward squad and received a ?Clear-All? skill from a female team member, then surveyed the situation.
“…This is bad. The enemy’s poison is more troublesome than I imagined.”
“Vice-Captain, if we get hit by that mist, we’ll be too busy healing the spirits to assist the team members!”
“The consumption of magic potions is becoming critical. At this rate, our stock won’t last!”
“…As expected of the recommended level 30. We’re in quite a pinch even though the main enemy hasn’t appeared yet.”
It seemed that the giant serpents were spawning whenever the spirits moved a certain distance, around several dozen meters. Shio recalled the detailed description of the sub-event she had checked upon logging in and grimaced.
—– —– —– —– —– —– —– —– —– —–
?Large-Scale Raid Battle & Sub-Event?
Great Envy’s Minions
?Event Duration?: July 23 – July 31
?Event Hours?: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
?Overview?
As the Great Barrier weakens, the Leviathan of the Seven Deadly Sins of Envy is revived from its seal in the Forest of Spirts. In response to its revival, the ?Leviathan Army?, hatched from eggs, attacks the evacuating spirits as vanguard for the weakened mother.
?Victory Conditions?
– Evacuate all spirits before the time limit expires.
?Defeat Conditions?
– If the wind spirits are not evacuated by the end of the time limit.
– Complete annihilation of the wind spirits.
?Notes? The Leviathan will be strengthened based on the number of spirits that die.
?Victory Rewards?: Wind Spirit Stone
– Can activate a protective wind that nullifies “Poison” three times by consuming 100 MP.
– Usable twice.
– Becomes unusable after both uses.
?Recommended Level? 30
—– —– —– —– —– —– —– —– —– —–
This is indeed a troublesome sub-event.
Moreover, it’s particularly unpleasant that efforts here will affect future battles against the “Leviathan”.
“Vice-Captain, other clans are also struggling quite a bit.”
The leader of the recovery team, the ?Priest? Rie, informs Shio while casting heals on allies.
Indeed, messages from other clans sharing information indicated they were having trouble dealing with the physical damage reduction and poison attacks.
“…It seems like everyone is in a similar situation.”
The number of spirits to be evacuated is determined by the number of participating clans.
This time, three clans are participating for the 30 spirits, so each clan is responsible for escorting 10 spirits.
“Only a magic-focused clan would be able to gain an advantage in this situation.”
“Nobody expected that a monster with physical damage reduction would appear in such an early event battle.”
“But we don’t have time to lament. Once this sub-mission is over, the real challenge begins.”
The Leviathan appears only once a day. It starts at level 50. The level increases due to damage to the spirits and can rise up to a maximum of 130. Therefore, in order to fight the raid boss on equal terms, we must ensure the successful escort of the spirits.
Just as that thought crossed Shio’s mind…
The five giant snakes breached the defensive line and headed straight for the spirits.
“Vice-Captain!”
“I understand!”
This is bad. If things continue like this, some will get killed.
To minimize the damage, Shio was about to move forward with ?Sonic Turn? when…
Two gusts of wind appeared beside the giant snakes.
—What is that!?
As the giant snake released its breath attack, one of the leading winds stopped in front of the spirits, forming a large shield.
“Protect the spirits from the wicked breath, ?Reinforce?!”
The shield, enhanced and enlarged by the knight’s skill, blocked all the poison from the giant snakes. Calmly observing the five snakes still charging forward, the armored boy activated another skill while maintaining his shield.
“Not a single one will pass through from here, ?Provocation? activated!”
The movements of the monsters, which had scattered and were attacking the spirits, were redirected entirely towards the boy due to the skill.
“Aaaaaaaaah!”
The boy braced himself with the shield against the tackle from the consolidated giant snakes. However, with five level 20 monsters, the impact was overwhelming. The boy was pushed back but held his ground, keeping his body low and gritting his teeth to endure.
He slid several meters backward but managed to stop the snakes’ advance.
“Shin, now!”
“Good job stopping them, Rou!”
Another boy, who had just drunk a magic potion, generated the tenth wind spear around him and raised his right hand forward.
“Take this, my self-taught magic! Wind Lance Barrage!”
The magically crafted spears, skillfully controlled, struck two at a time into the heads of the giant snakes. The Leviathan Army, which took double damage due to the weak point judgment, vanished into particles of light.
“Alright, we made it just in time. Let’s take a break to recover from fatigue.”
“Yes, let’s rest for a bit.”
The appearance of the two adventurers who instantaneously defeated the giant snakes, which even top clans struggled with, drew everyone’s attention. Shio recognized the two well.
Shin, the earnest boy.
Rou, the always cheerful boy.
The two people who had only met a few hours ago waved lightly at Shio when they noticed her.