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 9
Chapter 9: The First Duel
“Shin, Rou!?”
The feelings of worry from earlier were completely blown away as Sora rushed over in a panic.
They seemed unable to move due to their damage, only able to face her and murmur “Sora…”
From what she could see, both of them had their life points exactly half depleted.
This was a safe zone where monsters didn’t spawn.
So, it must have been a player who attacked them.
However, generally, the system prohibits attacking other adventurers, making damage null and void.
The fact that their life points were reduced meant they must have engaged in a “Duel,” the only system-approved player-to-player combat, and someone had challenged them to a fight.
But who?
As she wondered, the culprit appeared before her.
“Finally showing yourself, ?Silver Sword Princess?.”
At the voice, Sora glanced sideways.
The figure was a boy in his late teens.
He had crimson red hair and eyes that burned like fiery flames.
In his right hand was a crimson sword matching his hair color. He wore a black and red two-tone outfit, and his lightweight, battle-focused armor was clearly not beginner gear.
Activating her ?Insight? skill, Sora saw the boy was level 13 and his class was a Knight with skill level 6.
His name was Glen.
Standing up to face him, Sora asked one thing.
“Did you attack my friends?”
“I didn’t intend to pick on beginners, but when I was challenged to a ‘Duel,’ I couldn’t refuse as one of the advanced players.”
“Shin and Rou challenged you to a Duel?”
Why, Sora wondered, and as he looked over, Shin and Rou answered with bitter faces.
“They said if they won, we should stay away from you… that’s what they said…”
“They thought they could win in a two-on-one situation…”
“You two were strong. But even with just technical skill, the top players of Astral Online aren’t that easy to beat.”
Glen sheathed his crimson sword as he spoke.
Indeed, from certain actions, one could gauge an opponent’s skill, and this man seemed quite strong.
Sora and Glen locked eyes directly.
If it was a mutually agreed fight, there was no place for Sora to argue.
It was Sora who had initiated the challenge, and Glen had simply accepted.
It wasn’t a matter of who was at fault.
It was just that Shin and Rou had lost in the fight—that was all.
But, as Sora took a step forward, she directed a blade-like sharp hostility toward Glen.
??Shin and Rou took on the challenge for my sake, so it’s fine if I seek revenge on my own!
Overwhelmed by Sora’s intense aura, Glen took a step back in shock.
It was none other than Glen who was astounded.
“What a presence… This is even more intimidating than the ‘Black Princess’…”
“What are you afraid of, Vice-Leader? It’s just a young girl!”
The one who stepped in front of Glen was a man in his twenties with a rugged face and stubble.
His player name was Gald.
He wore thick, sturdy armor and carried a large sword that was almost as tall as he was.
His level, as revealed by Sora’s ?Insight? skill, was 10, and his class was a Knight with a skill level of 5.
He was undoubtedly one of the top players, but he didn’t exude the same strong pressure as Glen.
However, Gald faced Sora and drew his large sword, pointing it at her.
“That video was probably just a fabrication cooked up by the article writer and these guys!”
“…Gald, everyone is watching. Watch your mouth.”
“No, Vice-Leader, I won’t be silent. I’m going to expose the lies of these pretenders right now!”
Saying this, Gald made a move as if preparing to do something, and a duel request was sent to Sora.
The man cast a contemptuous glance at Sora and then provocatively said,
“You’re probably no better than those kids, right?”
“Gald, that’s enough.”
Glen reproached his overly talkative subordinate.
But the heated Gald wouldn’t stop.
Instead, he looked down at Shin and Rou lying in front of the fountain and stomped on Sora’s nerves with disdain.
“It’s the truth, isn’t it? Those two lost without even scratching the Vice-Leader. And it was decided in three minutes—don’t you have any sense in VR games?”
“…!”
A vein throbbed on Sora’s temple.
She didn’t care at all about being insulted, but she wasn’t mature enough to stay silent while her friends were insulted so severely.
This Gald player had a personality to match his appearance.
Sora directed her gaze to the duel request screen and a dark smile spread across her face.
Fine, if that’s how it’s going to be, I’ll take you up on it.
Without hesitation, Sora tapped “YES” on the prompt that appeared before her.
Immediately, a special field covered Sora and Gald, which prevented any interference from anyone other than the duel participants. During this state, duelists are unable to interact with anything else, and the field will remain until the duel’s outcome is decided.
Sora drew the ?Normal Sword? at her waist, and Gald looked at her with a mocking expression, noting that she was still using beginner’s equipment.
Sora met his gaze with a calm demeanor and said only one thing.
“I’ll praise you if you can last ten seconds.”
“Ha, big talk—”
Gald didn’t get to finish his sentence.
Sora took a sideways stance with her sword and activated the charge skill, ?Sonic Sword II?.
With her enhanced skill, she closed the distance of over five meters at a blurring speed, then canceled at the perfect moment. She immediately used the finishing move, ?Strike Sword II?, channeling all the momentum from her charge into her right-hand sword.
The blade of the ?Normal Sword? glowed a bright, fierce blue.
Aiming for Gald’s body, who hadn’t yet reacted, Sora pierced through his plate armor with all her strength, driving the sword in up to the hilt.
The tremendous impact bent Gald’s body into a U-shape, and he was pushed more than ten meters back along with Sora.
In a complete duel, Gald’s life points would have been entirely depleted, but due to the system’s specifications, it stopped at half.
The screen in front of Sora displayed the word ?WIN?.
Gald, who had been struck with an impact that shook the surrounding atmosphere, lost consciousness and fell to the ground, unmoving.
While the safety mechanisms should have prevented any pain, the shock itself wasn’t mitigated.
It would likely be a while before he regained consciousness.
As Sora turned around, she noticed that the area had fallen completely silent, with everyone stunned by the incredible speed and attack.
Ignoring Gald, Sora walked away and stopped in front of Glen.
Glen remained wide-eyed, clearly unable to recover from the shock of seeing Gald taken out in a single blow.
“So, next is you?”
In response to Sora’s request, the support system opened the duel menu. Sora tapped Glen’s name from a list of several players.
A choice between a ?Half-Duel? and a ?Full-Duel? appeared. Sora, following the same pattern as with Gald, selected a Half-Duel for Glen.
The challenge from Sora was sent to Glen through the system.
The crimson-haired boy, now faced with a girl who might be even stronger than the vice-captain ?Black Princess?, hesitated, trembling with anticipation as he was about to press ?YES?.
—But before he could, a hand reached out from the side and grasped his.
“Huh?”
Sora’s dumbfounded gaze fell upon a beautiful woman with striking crimson, semi-long hair. She was wearing a cherry blossom-patterned haori over a jinbei.
She appeared to be around the same age as Glen.
Her dignified demeanor and commanding presence, regardless of gender, suggested a hidden strength.
The woman looked at Glen and said:
“What are you doing, picking on a beginner without proper equipment, Glen?”
“Equipment… Ah, I see.”
“If you understand, then step aside. Surely you don’t want to boast about winning against this kid over something so trivial, do you?”
“…I’m sorry, it seems I was a bit too caught up in her enthusiasm.”
The crimson-haired boy looked embarrassed and then fixed his gaze on Sora.
“?Silver Sword Princess?, I’m afraid we’ll have to save this duel for another time.”
“W-Wait— Ouch!?”
Glen selected ?NO? in response to Sora’s request, gave orders to his subordinates to withdraw, and then turned on his heel.
As Sora tried to say something, the crimson-haired woman stepped in front of her, blocking her way.
She then gave her a sharp and painful flick on the forehead, causing Sora to crouch down on the spot.
Looking down at her with tear-filled eyes, she said:
“You’re certainly strong. But if you had continued fighting, you would have definitely lost.”
“That’s…”
“Pay attention to your own partner. Gald may be a jerk, but his armor is genuine. Because you broke through it head-on, that weapon of yours is already at its limit.”
“!?”
The realization hit Sora.
The durability of her ?Normal Sword? was down to less than ten percent.
If she had continued fighting with it in that state, the sword would definitely have broken due to the strain on its durability.
Sora was shocked by her lack of awareness of her weapon’s condition.
…Did she almost break the weapon that fought alongside her against the Demon Lord?
She knew weapons could break and had been cautious about their durability. But in her heated state, having pierced Glen’s armor with ?Strike Sword II?, she didn’t expect that the remaining durability would be depleted so drastically.
The crimson-haired woman, giving a smile, extended a hand to help the seated Sora.
“My name is Kirie, a humble blacksmith. Come to my shop with those kids over there right now.”
Saying that, she gave a charming wink.