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 49
Chapter 49: General Assault Part 4
Bright red blood spurted out, a sight that could be seen clearly.
Although Sora understood that it was just a game effect and not real, it still gave her the impression that Giorl’s life force was draining away.
Giorl, who had lost his right arm, didn’t scream but instead fell to his knees. His HP decreased by 30% due to the loss of his arm and continued to drop due to the bleeding status effect.
“I-I’ll heal you right away!”
Aria, snapping back to reality, hurriedly used a healing skill, but the severed right arm didn’t regrow like a lizard’s tail.
But more importantly, the immediate threat of the Leviathan General had not yet been averted.
The serpent in human form stood in front of Aria, making a deliberate and loud noise as if to assert its presence. Seeing it up close, she froze in place with her hands raised.
“Eek…!”
The Leviathan General slowly raised its sword overhead, clearly aiming to end Aria’s life. The blade was enveloped in a green light.
That’s ?Dual Nail?.
Like Aria, the soldiers around them were frozen in fear, unable to move.
At this rate, Aria will die.
After the empty HP recovery potion in Sora’s hand vanished into light, she turned to Kuro, who was recovering from fatigue nearby, to plan their escape from this dire situation.
“Kuro, I’m going to unequip all my armor and weapons. You know what that means, right?”
“In other words, I just need to carry the lighter you and run, right?”
“Exactly. And one more thing, based on the distance and how your fatigue level is rising, I think you’ll hit 50% fatigue on the way. So when that happens, throw me towards Aria and the others.”
“Got it! So I should throw you right at the limit?”
“Yeah, I’m counting on you, Kuro.”
There’s no time left.
Kuro’s entire body began to glow red.
That’s the martial artist’s skill ?Battle Spirit Boost?.
Meanwhile, Sora quickly navigated the status screen and unequipped everything except her clothes.
There was no option to unequip everything at once, so she had to do it manually, one by one. This was frustratingly slow, and she couldn’t help but think that it could use some improvement.
Once ready, the black-haired girl used her enhanced stats to effortlessly scoop up the now lightly equipped Sora and sprinted away at full speed.
“Urgh…!”
An immense speed hits her, causing her face distorted.
Ahead, a giant sword was about to be swung down. Meanwhile, in the party status list in the upper right corner, Kuro’s fatigue level was rising.
It was clearly increasing faster, likely due to the effects of the poison.
Sora gauged the timing and shouted to Kuro.
“Now! Throw me with all your strength!”
Just as they reached the halfway point, and right before Kuro’s fatigue hit its limit, she abruptly stopped and spun rapidly in place.
This combo would knock out an average person, but for me, who had done 360-degree extreme maneuvers in a VR game with a mobile robot a year ago, it was nothing.
What concerned me more was where she learned such perfect hammer-throwing technique.
With flawless form, Kuro used both hands to launch me with all her might.
At the same time, the Leviathan General, who had been gathering strength to decisively kill Aria, swung down its giant sword.
Will I make it in time…!?
Sharp and low.
Just before touching the ground, I kicked off the earth for a moment and, using ?Sonic Sword?, sped forward in a low-altitude, high-speed flight.
During that brief flight, I quickly accessed the equipment screen and equipped only the ?Silver Sword?. Then, I activated ?Sword Guard II?.
Enveloped in a flash of wind, I appeared from the side at the perfect moment, just as the giant sword was about to slice through Aria and Giorl.
“Hah!”
Twisting my body, I converted all my movement energy into an attack.
Using a swinging uppercut motion from below, I struck the descending giant sword.
Thanks to the momentum from the throw and the speed boost from ?Sonic Sword?, my sword’s power received a bonus.
With a sharp, metallic clash, sparks flew intensely.
Using the momentum, I managed to repel the first strike of ?Dual Nail? and forcefully stood my ground.
Barely making it in time, I felt a deep sense of relief.
I’ll have to praise Kuro later for this.
“S-Sora-sama…”
Tears filled Aria’s eyes, clearly terrified.
I immediately apologized to her.
“I’m sorry I was late. How’s Giorl?”
“I’ve tied off the wound and stopped the bleeding, but he lost consciousness from the shock. His life isn’t in danger.”
“Got it. Let’s finish this quickly and return to base.”
Outwardly calm, but inwardly, I was furious.
To spurn the ideals of manhood and then turn around and try to kill a helpless girl is an act so vile it deserves death a thousand times over.
Even if the system dictated that this is what the Leviatahan General would do when its HP got low, I will never,
FORGIVE.
Filled with anger, my intent to kill surged.
“Are you ready, you damn snake bastard?”
Sora’s sharp gaze pierced the enemy.
In response, the Leviathan General readied its sword, preparing to eliminate the obstacle in front of it.
The tension in the air was palpable.
With Giorl’s situation in mind, Sora knew this was the moment to end the battle decisively.
“Gluaah!”
The giant serpent let out a growl and, just as before, raised its massive sword overhead.
Perhaps because Sora had been blocking with ?Sword Guard II? so frequently, the Leviathan General activated ?Guard Break? among its many skills.
With the intent to cleave Sora in half along with her sword, the Leviathan General swung down with full force.
Sora calmly fixed her gaze on the approaching sword, aiming at a specific point as she readied her sword.
In any VR game, the same principle applies: using a weapon attack skill with full body coordination rather than just activating the skill alone enhances both power and speed.
This principle holds true in Astral Online as well, where added technique amplifies a skill’s power.
So, what does this mean?
Holding the ?Silver Sword? horizontally, Sora crouched low, twisting her body to its very limit.
The image in her mind was that of a spring.
Storing up power to the limit until it’s ready to unleash it all in one burst.
She chose ?Strike Sword II?, the most powerful thrust skill available at that moment.
As the thrust skill, enveloped in a glowing blue wind, collided head-on with the descending sword, the two forces were evenly matched for a brief moment.
Anyone watching would assume that the silver-haired girl would be overpowered.
But that’s when Sora’s plan came into play.
The Leviathan General’s sword had taken repeated hits from the knight’s shields and ?Sword Guard II?, accumulating damage.
By deliberately deflecting it to the ground multiple times, its durability had been significantly reduced.
When Sora had blocked the ?Dual Nail? earlier, the Leviathan General’s sword reached its durability limit.
Now, it was just a matter of finishing the job.
By striking a specific point with the full power of ?Strike Sword II?, the Leviathan General’s weapon would shatter.
The first sound was a sharp crack.
With its durability reduced to zero, the Leviathan General’s sword broke at the point of impact, spreading cracks across its length before shattering entirely.
Everyone but Sora was stunned by the unexpected turn of events.
But this wasn’t over yet.
The enemy’s HP was still at 30%.
A multi-hit technique might give the Leviathan General a chance to escape.
So, Sora chose a new single-target attack skill with more power than ?Strike Sword?, which she had acquired at one-handed sword mastery level 35.
“This is the end!”
Sora dodged the Leviathan General’s desperate right straight punch and leaped high into the air.
In the darkness, the silver wind-blade cut through the night, leaving a vivid trail.
Its name—?Rage Slant?.
The silver blade, meant to vanquish all evil, sliced through the serpent’s body in one swift motion.
The Leviathan General’s HP, which had still been at 30%, dropped to zero with that decisive blow.
The serpent let out a death cry as its massive form began to disintegrate, fading into tiny particles of light that were swallowed by the darkness.
As a consequence of delivering such a powerful strike, Sora was paralyzed for 20 seconds, collapsing to her knees, unable to move.
Thanks to her “title” effect, Sora gained a staggering amount of experience, raising her level from 27 to 30, and Kuro’s level from 20 to 23.
“Sora!”
“Sora-sama!”
Unable to move, Sora was suddenly embraced by Kuro, who seemed overwhelmed with emotion.
Smiling at her, Sora was then swarmed by Aria and the others, who had rushed over along with the now-conscious Giorl.