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 92

Chapter 92: Encounter with a Dragon Subspecies

 

When multiple enemies attack, there are three priorities you need to focus on:
1. Ensuring the safety of the NPCs living in the town.
2. Defending critical points.
3. Swiftly annihilating all enemies.

 

Even though there are no defeat conditions this time, I’ve never had any good memories when it comes to these siege battles.

 

In other VR games, if even one villager dies, you instantly fail, yet those same villagers sometimes run straight toward the enemy with their hands up.

 

Or, during a defense mission, the base’s defenses are as fragile as paper.

 

Or it turns into an enemy extermination battle disguised as a defense mission.

 

All I can recall are terrible memories.

 

It’s a well-known fact, even from TV shows, that bad experiences stick in your memory far more than good ones.

 

So, it’s just something I have to deal with.

 

Still, thinking too much about it is bound to make me depressed, no doubt about that.

 

Shaking off those thoughts, Sora forcefully shifted her attention back to the scene before her.

 

The uncoordinated assault by the Lesser Dragons was, in fact, quite fragile.

 

A normal player would wait until after engaging the enemy to start their attack, but with the advantage of the ?Perception II? skill, which lets them always track enemy positions, Sora and her team launched surprise attacks, taking down two at a time.

 

The typical pattern involved Sora taking care of one dragon on her own, while Kuro and Alice coordinated to defeat the other.

 

After repeatedly executing their strategy, Sora and her team managed to defeat all 18 remaining Lesser Dragons.

 

Just as they thought it was over, a massive dragon, larger than the normal Lesser Dragons, known as an ?Alter Lesser Dragon?, descended from the sky, signaling the start of the final battle.

 

Its attack patterns were similar to the regular Lesser Dragons, so there wasn’t much of a challenge.

 

Alice, with her Knight class, acted as the main tank, while Sora supported her as both an attacker and by nullifying the enemy’s skill attacks. The two focused on defense while Kuro chipped away at the dragon’s health.

 

Without much difficulty, they reduced its HP to 30%, at which point the ?Alter Lesser Dragon? used its flame-covered charge attack, ?Flame Heart?.

 

If someone as skilled as Rou were here, it might be possible to block it, but neither Sora nor Alice had the strength to stop such a massive attack.

 

There was only one option left.

 

“Everyone, dodge!”

 

Sora gave the command, then timed his emergency side-step dodge using ?Sonic Step?.

 

The massive, flame-covered dragon rushed past her, heading straight for Kuro and Alice behind him.

 

After confirming that both of them also dodged safely, Sora watched as the dragon crashed into a building and momentarily stunned itself.

 

Seeing this as an opportunity, Sora grabbed her sword and dashed forward.

 

She used five of the 15 available enhancement slots to apply ?Speed Boost Enhancement III?. With a powerful kick off the ground, she entered a supersonic state.

 

At that speed, a normal player would lose control and fall immediately, but Sora’s experience in VR games allowed her to stay in control as she rapidly closed the distance to the stunned dragon.

 

“This is the finishing blow!”

 

With her sword gleaming in silver, she unleashed a powerful slash, ?Ice Rage Slant?, from the lower right to the upper left, cutting a diagonal line across the massive dragon’s body.

 

The remaining HP of the ?Alter Lesser Dragon? dropped to zero.

 

With a final cry of agony, the evil dragon disintegrated into particles of light. As Sora landed on the ground, she entered a forced post-battle cooldown.

 

Having defeated all the enemies, the emergency quest ?Crisis in Euclia? was marked as completed, and they earned experience points.

 

At that moment, Sora’s level increased from 50 to 51.

 

After a while, the cooldown period ended, and as Sora stood up, she turned to face the two who were still on guard.

 

“The Lesser Dragons that attacked the town, including the subspecies, are all taken care of.”

 

“Good work, everyone!”

 

“I’m amazed. In such a short time, with only three people, you managed to defeat 21 of them, including the subspecies.”

 

“This is pretty much how it always goes when I’m with Sora.”

 

“…I see. Now I understand what Aria meant when she said there would be many surprises.”

 

Alice said this with a wry smile.

 

Her gaze seemed to carry both respect and fear.

 

Not wanting to bother with a response, Sora ignored Alice’s look and voiced the strange feeling she had during the battle.

 

“…Still, something felt off.”

 

“Off?”

 

“Yeah, it was like the Lesser Dragons weren’t searching for prey, but rather searching for something specific.”

 

“Monsters… searching for something?”

 

“As proof, all the ?Lesser Dragons? we just defeated were wandering around, not paying any attention to the buildings or stalls, but instead looking around the streets as if they had dropped something.”

 

“You’re right, that does seem strange.”

 

“It might be connected to the appearance of the ?Alter Lesser Dragon? as well.”

 

With that, Sora started walking. But the direction she headed wasn’t toward the carriage.

 

Sora muttered to himself, ‘…Well, let’s see if this turns out to be good or bad.’

 

Not wanting to risk letting anyone escape, she didn’t explain her actions to the others and walked silently, concealing her presence.

 

As Sora directed her gaze towards an empty stall, she continued walking slowly.

 

Seeing this, Kuro and Alice tilted their heads in confusion but carefully followed behind, becoming more cautious as well.

 

After a short distance, Sora stopped.

 

The distance to the stall was about five meters.

 

From this range, she could respond to anything that might happen. After glancing at the two behind her, she turned her attention back to the stall.

 

“Hey, you hiding there—how about you show yourself?”

 

“…!?”

 

The person hiding likely didn’t expect to be discovered. A child-like silhouette within the range of Sora’s ?Perception II? skill reacted with a startled movement.

 

However, there was no sign of them coming out.

 

Seeing no choice, Sora advanced toward the stall, still on guard.

 

The figure hiding behind the stall showed no intent to move.

 

Judging by what she could see with her skill, they didn’t seem to be holding any weapons.

 

Which made Sora think, “If they were armed, that would be a bigger problem.”

 

She opened the menu and unequipped her weapon to avoid looking threatening.

 

Sora cautiously approached the side of the stall, careful not to frighten the person hiding. When she peeked around, she saw a small girl, no older than a young elementary school student, trembling in fear.

 

Her hair was crimson, her eyes a striking gold, her skin was tanned, and she was wearing a bright red dress.

 

The most distinctive features were the two horns growing from her head, characteristic of the dragonfolk, and the reptilian tail extending from her lower back.

 

What was a dragonfolk child doing here alone? One might assume she had been left behind during the chaos, but my ?Insight II? skill informed me that she wasn’t ordinary.

 

I couldn’t “see” any information about her at all.

 

The only thing I could gather from her appearance was that she was indeed a young dragonfolk girl.

 

The girl, who had been huddled in the corner of the stall, seemed surprised that she hadn’t been attacked. With tears welling up in her eyes, she looked at me.

 

“…Ah.”

 

Suddenly, as if realizing something, her eyes widened, and she stared intently at Sora.

 

“Lucifer… sama?”

 

The name she uttered was the same one that NPCs in this game often called me—the name of the archangel.

 

That single word snapped me back to reality. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, which had tensed for a moment.

 

The fact that she called me Lucifer suggested she might be an event character.

 

I had a lot of questions, but seeing such a young girl alone made me wonder, so I asked a simple question first to confirm.

 

“Did you get left behind? Are your father or mother not with you?”

 

In response, the girl shook her head. Then, looking puzzled, she gave an unexpected reply.

 

“What’s a father and a mother?”

 

“Wait a minute, you…”

“You’re lost, aren’t you?”

“This doesn’t seem like an ordinary situation.”

 

Shocked by her response, Sora and the others were left bewildered.

 

The girl cautiously emerged from behind the stall, brushing off the dust on her dress, and said,

 

“When Satanas woke up, there was a stranger with me. But since we got separated, I’ve been alone.”

 

Hearing these words from someone who hadn’t even reached her teens left me speechless.