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 60
Chapter 60: The Strongest Resolve
“Sora-sama!”
“Sora!”
Aria and Kuro rushed over to Sora, who had collapsed on the floor after being struck by an unexpected flying slash.
She couldn’t respond to them.
Even though her consciousness was intact, she couldn’t move even a single finger.
She was certain she was going to die.
However, her body didn’t disintegrate into particles of light.
Despite being struck by the Dark Knight’s attack, Sora had somehow avoided instant death.
She glanced at the HP bar in the upper right corner of her vision.
Miraculously, her HP was hanging by a thread at just ?1?. She couldn’t believe she had survived.
Since she was still alive, she knew she had to get up and continue fighting.
Though her resolve was strong, the massive damage she’d taken caused her to receive stun status. Instead of being at level 1 for 3 seconds, the stun level had risen to level 5, which is 4 levels higher.
The level 5 inability to act state imposes a 300-second, or 5-minute, cooldown before being released.
And to make matters worse, the enemy was still standing strong.
She was just five attacks away from breaking the enemy’s “Berserk” status, yet she found herself immobilized at such a critical moment. It was beyond frustrating.
However, a stun can be cured by the status recovery skills of a priest.
Understanding this, Aria immediately sprang into action.
“I’ll heal you!”
Aria attempted to use ?Clear All?.
A faint green light enveloped Sora’s body.
But instead of the usual removal of the stun, there was no change, and the skill was abruptly canceled.
What’s going on? he wondered, as the support system notified him that an unfamiliar status ailment called ?Neg-Heal? had been inflicted on her.
“No way, it nullifies all recovery skills?!”
So that’s it.
It seems the previous attack also included a debuff that prevented the recovery of HP or status ailments.
Now, under her HP bar, Sora noticed an icon of a potion bottle with a red cross over it.
Judging by the numbers displayed, she wouldn’t be able to receive any recovery skills for another 120 seconds.
But of course, the Berserk Knight wasn’t going to leisurely wait for Sora to recover.
She could see the Berserk Knight slowly approaching, greatsword in hand.
Confident in his victory, the enemy’s steps seemed almost leisurely.
‘How humiliating,’ Sora thought.
But in her current state, with her limbs paralyzed, there was nothing she could do to resist.
She wanted to tell the others to run, but with a Level 5 stun, she couldn’t even move her mouth.
Seeing this, Aria readied her bow, and Kuro grasped her beloved sword, ?Night Cherry?, clearly prepared to fight.
“…Dad, if you hurt Sora, then I… I will!”
Kuro shouted her resolve as she readied her sword. The tip of her blade trembled, reflecting the turmoil in her heart.
The Berserk Knight, recognizing Kuro as an enemy, tightened his grip on the greatsword and charged toward her.
“Ugh, aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!”
Kuro braced herself and blocked the incoming overhead strike with ?Sword Guard II?. The force of the blow sent her small frame skidding backward.
Their gazes met up close—Kuro’s and Hart’s. Tears welled in the girl’s eyes as she called out to her father, who now met her blade with all his might.
“Dad, please wake up!”
“…!”
Hart, who should have been completely overtaken by his berserk state, suddenly widened his eyes.
“Ku…ro…no…”
“Dad…”
“Run… away, n—Graaahh!!”
For a brief moment, it seemed as though he had regained his senses, but his eyes quickly filled with a sharp, murderous intent once more. With a beastly roar, the Berserk Knight attempted to slice through Kuro and her sword with his greatsword.
“Agh…!”
Overwhelmed by pure brute force, Kuro was pushed down to her knees.
“Kuro!”
Seeing this, Sora clenched her teeth in frustration. It was wrong—so wrong—that this lonely girl, who had finally reunited with her missing father, had to cross blades with him.
Rage boiled within her, directed at her own helplessness, lying prone on the ground.
But there were still at least 240 seconds left until the stun wore off.
Kuro, desperately fending off Hart’s relentless, unfocused slashes, was doing so for one reason alone: to buy time for Sora to recover.
Suddenly, a sharp crack echoed in the air.
Alarmed, Sora looked closer and saw a small crack forming on the pitch-black blade of Kuro’s beloved sword, ?Night Cherry?.
Unlike Sora’s ?Silver Sword?, ?Night Cherry? had low durability. The continuous onslaught of greatsword strikes had pushed the weapon to its breaking point.
If this continued, the worst-case scenario—Kuro being killed by her own father—was about to unfold.
That was something Sora had to prevent at all costs.
“I’ll cover you!”
Aria aimed her bow and fired, targeting the gaps in the Berserk Knight’s armor.
The Berserk Knight deflected the arrow with the back of his left hand, then gripped the greatsword with his remaining right hand and brought it down on Kuro.
She braced herself and blocked the strike with ?Sword Guard II?.
At that moment, the sword finally reached its limit.
The black sword, struck by the weight of the greatsword, snapped in half.
“Ah…”
The Berserk Knight continued his motion, aiming to cut down the girl. Kuro made no attempt to dodge the blade that was about to cleave her in two.
Suppressing her fear, she stood her ground with arms spread wide, determined to protect Sora and Aria, her precious friends, from her father, who was not in his right mind.
“Kuro-sama!”
Everyone present believed that the Berserk Knight’s sharp blade would slice through Kuro, turning her small body into light.
However, just before the greatsword could strike her, it completely halted.
“…Ku…no…”
“Dad!”
He barely managed to whisper his daughter’s name. The sight stunned Sora, her eyes widening in disbelief. Facing Kuro, Hart closed his eyes, desperately fighting to suppress the berserk state. Could this be the pride of a father, resisting the system’s absolute control?
Witnessing Hart’s love for his daughter made Sora reconsider.
It’s not enough just to bring his HP down to half and buy some time.
I want to save them.
I want to completely free him from the cursed armor’s power and give him his freedom. And at the very least, allow him to stay by Kuro’s side in this world.
That would be a true victory, wouldn’t it, Sora Kamijo?
But how do I dispel the curse? I don’t have the skills to break curses. Even if I could, who in this world could deal with armor of such high class right now?
As if responding to her dilemma, the support system presented a single possibility before him.
?Unique Skill: Lucifer?
The activation condition: “Sacrifice one of your life points.”
Since lives are the most valuable thing in this world, it must be an exceptionally powerful skill. But is it really okay to use a skill she’s never used before in this critical moment?
As she hesitated, Hart leaped away from Kuro.
The struggle between his desire not to harm his daughter and the curse controlling his body caused him intense anguish. Meanwhile, Aria stood ready, prepared to use her protective skill at any moment.
Can you pull this off, ?Lucifer??
She wondered, but the support system was not a sentient being. It merely presented her with a single possibility.
This is no time to hesitate.
As she watched the Berserk Knight, once again under the curse’s control and attacking, Kuro crying over her suffering father, and Aria supporting Kuro by deploying a ?Wind Spirit Barrier?, Sora made a firm decision.
Alright then.
I’ll give up one of my lives.
So grant me the light to save this tragic father and daughter.
??Give it to me, ?Lucifer?!
Responding to her will, the skill activated. Her “Life Point” count decreased from 119 to 118.
A dazzling silvery light, capable of dispelling all evil, enveloped the world.