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 99
Chapter 99: Wind, Flower, Snow, Moon
The Skeleton King, reduced to particles of light, disappeared.
We remained on guard for a while.
The luminous particles from the defeated monsters haven’t shown any signs of reconstituting themselves, even after a prolonged watch.
Since it was a skeleton monster with the title “King,” we had been wary that it might revive. However, unexpectedly, the Skeleton King disappeared without starting a second round.
After confirming with everyone, who was also on alert, that it was truly over, they all relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief as the tension melted away from their shoulders.
“Fu… Fuaaah…”
Satanas, clinging to Alice’s waist, trembled and cried, clearly terrified.
She seemed to be about the age of an elementary school lower grader.
I had expected this outcome, which is why I originally wanted her to stay behind at the castle with Alice. However, one of the quest’s conditions was ?Include Satanas in the party?, so leaving her behind was out of the question.
Sora crouched down, patting her head and trying to comfort her, saying, “It’s all right now.”
Even so, she didn’t stop crying immediately, so Alice picked her up, holding her gently.
Once in Alice’s arms, Satanas seemed to calm down a bit and eventually fell asleep.
It seems Alice’s “big sister” skills are quite impressive, managing to soothe her in one go.
As I watched, a bit moved by the scene, Kuro, standing next to me, voiced her honest impression.
“They look like sisters, don’t they?”
“…Yeah.”
Alice smiled faintly, but there was a melancholy in her gaze.
It seemed like there was more to her response, but it felt insensitive to pry any further.
I glanced over at the other two soldiers. They too had lowered their faces, watching Alice.
…Looks like there’s a dark past here.
Afterward, I received a notification that the quest had been completed, along with a decent amount of experience points. A new item, a ?Fire Dragon Jewel?, was added to my inventory.
Curious, I asked Kuro if she had received the same drop. Apparently, she got an alchemy material called ?Skeleton King’s Bone?.
Intrigued, I asked her to show me her item list.
—– —– —– —– —– —– —– —– —–
?Skeleton King’s Bone? – A synthesis item.
When the bone, ground into powder, is used during synthesis, it increases the success rate and raises the quality by one level.
—– —– —– —– —– —– —– —– —–
Hmm, this seems like something an alchemist would desperately want. I bet an alchemist from a crafting guild would pay a high price for it.
Still, it’s interesting that we defeated the same monster and received different drops.
Kuro’s item had an intriguing effect, but I had no idea what to do with this ?Fire Dragon Jewel?.
Aside from trading it with a gem-loving NPC or selling it for a high price, I couldn’t think of any other use for it.
I checked its properties, but the description only said, ?A gemstone treasured by an ancient king.?
It wasn’t equipment, nor was it material for crafting.
However, considering that this valuable-looking item might be useful later, I figured it would be best not to sell it off lightly.
“Maybe I should ask the Dragon King about it later.”
Sora closed the window screen, organized her inventory, and placed the item carefully into a secure slot.
Then, turning to Kuro and the others, she said:
“Alright, I guess that’s the end of the quest. Let’s head back and report to the King.”
“Yes, that’s right. I’m just glad everyone is safe—”
Alice was about to offer words of encouragement as a princess when it happened.
A sudden, overwhelming pressure far greater than that of the Skeleton King surged from the entrance to the mining site.
This is bad—some kind of attack is coming.
Sora’s instincts, honed from years of experience in VR games, screamed danger. Almost simultaneously, the two soldiers closest to the entrance had horizontal slashes cut across their bodies.
“What!?”
Blood-like effects splattered, though it wasn’t real.
Before Sora’s eyes, the two soldiers, who had fought alongside them moments ago, had their HP reduced to zero without even a chance to scream.
Just like the monsters they had defeated earlier, the soldiers turned into particles of light, disappearing into the air of the mining site.
While everyone else was frozen in shock, only Sora drew her magic sword and dashed forward.
Reading the intent behind the enemy’s bloodlust, she anticipated the next target.
By moving first, she barely managed to intercept the deadly blade aimed at taking Alice’s life from behind.
The clash of metal rang out. Sparks flew from the violently colliding blades.
The enemy wielded a one-handed straight sword, the same type as Sora’s.
Though the enemy’s face was concealed by a hood, up close, Sora could tell it was a man.
The mysterious enemy bared her sharp fangs in a grin and said:
“To think you’d block my attack—you’re definitely on a different level, adventurer who defeated the ?Great Calamity of Envy?!”
“Who the hell are you!?”
The enemy had the upper hand in strength, gradually pushing Sora back.
In response, Sora, still locked in a blade struggle, cast ?Attack Power Boost Enchantment III? on herself, stacking the buff until her MP was nearly depleted.
With her attack power maximized, Sora began to overpower the enemy’s sword.
Realizing he was about to be outmatched, the hooded man kicked off the ground and retreated several meters back.
They faced each other once more.
From under the hood, Sora could see a hint of red hair.
And the man’s eyes—they were glowing gold.
In this world, golden eyes were a color reserved for beings of the highest rank.
Though the man’s form was obscured by her hood and long coat, the red hair suggested he might belong to the dragon race.
…Level 70, huh.
Using her ?Insight II? skill, Sora checked, but due to some skill interfering from the man’s coat, all she could determine was the enemy’s level.
“Hero who wounded Demon Lord Shaitan and defeated the ?Great Calamity of Envy?. If you hand over the girl the Dragon Princess is carrying, I’ll spare your life.”
“Huh? Like hell I’d hand her over.”
In response, the man laughed with delight and kicked off the ground again.
The enemy closed in with near-teleportation speed, positioning his sword horizontally to unleash ?Dual Nail?, a swift double slash.
For an ordinary human, it would have been impossible to react.
But Sora, with her superhuman reflexes, managed to parry the first strike with her sword and block the second high-speed slash.
The enemy was fast, but not threatening enough to be dangerous considering the level difference.
Sora retaliated with a diagonal slash, and the enemy swiftly backstepped to avoid it.
“You’re truly a hero. To withstand my combo and even counterattack afterward!”
Laughing joyfully, the man raised her sword high, initiating ?Quad Slash? with a golden skill effect.
“Kuro, he’s coming!”
“Got it!”
The man charged at Kuro with lightning speed, delivering a diagonal slash.
Just in time, Kuro defended herself, but was still knocked back, losing her footing.
Changing his target, the man aimed for Alice, who was unable to move properly while holding Satanas, and unleashed an upward diagonal slash.
Sora rushed in to intercept.
However, the momentum didn’t stop.
The man backstepped to create distance, then lunged forward again with a left diagonal slash followed by a reverse diagonal slash.
Sora activated ?Sword Guard? and focused, blocking all the strikes.
“What’s wrong, strongest? Are you just going to defend?”
“…!”
He kept trying to target Alice and Satanas while taunting. Kuro, realizing the risk of jumping in and endangering both herself and Sora, stood protectively in front of Alice and Satanas with a frustrated expression.
After exchanging dozens of blows, the enemy retreated slightly, wearing a smug smile as she raised her sword again.
“I see, your skill is uncharacteristic for your level. So you’re the hero who repelled the first calamity…”
—This is it!
Sensing a moment of hesitation from the enemy due to the level gap, Sora moved forward.
Using the dash skill ?Sonic Sword?, she closed the distance and transitioned into the deadly thrust skill ?Strike Sword?.
Like a jet, Sora surged forward and pierced the man’s lightly armored torso with a battle cry.
“Gah…!? N-no way…”
“I’ll remind you that ‘underestimating your opponent is your greatest enemy’.”
Sora activated ?Dual Nail?, unleashing a horizontal double slash with a green effect. She forcefully cut through, leaving two lines on the enemy’s body.
When the enemy’s health reached zero, he exploded in a crimson flash, disintegrating into particles of light.
“Ha, somehow made it through…”
Sora murmured, furrowing her brow.
Just when she thought it was over, her ?Perception II? skill revealed multiple reactions similar to the enemy she had just defeated.
Could it be that reinforcements are coming?
With a fierce gaze, she glared at the only exit.
Standing there were three individuals, all resembling the earlier man and armed.
“Look at that guy, making a big fuss and getting taken down.”
“He said the opponents are two low-level adventurers. So, he was so eager to complete the mission on his own.”
“Heh heh heh, he’s the weakest among us. We let him go because he won at rock-paper-scissors, but what a pathetic sight.”
This is bad, really bad!
Three of that level showing up? This isn’t a simple elimination, it’s a rescue mission for Satanas.
If all three target me, I’m confident I can manage it.
But it’s clear that two are trying to hold me back while one is moving toward Satanas—this is the worst possible scenario.
If I take down the two but Kuro and the others can’t stop the third, we could fail by losing Satanas.
Should I sacrifice myself to become ?Lucifer the Light Bringer??
As that thought crossed her mind, the enemies began to move.
Just as Sora prepared herself, she blocked two strikes, and the one heading toward Kuro suddenly stopped, groaning.
“What…?”
Everyone froze and turned to look.
Next to the enemy, who was collapsing and turning into light particles, stood a small figure clad in a coat.
She appeared to be around 160 cm tall.
Dressed in a black coat similar to Sora’s, her face was hidden beneath a hood, but the short skirt suggested she was a young girl.
The girl slowly sheathed her sword and declared, “Sword Skill ?Setsugetsufuuka?.”
A dazzling cherry blossom-colored skill effect illuminated the area as she crouched down, facing us with her left shoulder, drawing her sword from its sheath.
The two enemies, belatedly realizing her intent, tried to escape, but it was already too late.
A flash so swift it was nearly invisible split the two enemies in half from a distance.
There was no time for screams.
The two formidable enemies, level 70, fell in an instant, turning into light particles.
The sword category long-range attack skill ?Setsugetsufuuka? literally slashed targets from afar.
As Sora absorbed this new information from her ?Insight? skill, she gasped at the technique’s power.
However, more than anything, she was surprised.
She recognized the voice that had called out the earlier skill.
No, she could never forget it.
Because—
“Honestly, I was told not to interfere, but I just couldn’t sit back and watch you in trouble, Sora-sensei…”
The girl muttered with a hint of self-mockery and turned to walk away.
“Wait, please!”
As she hurried to chase after her, she activated a skill called ?Intimidation? that Sora had never seen before.
With just that, her feet felt as if they had turned to stone.
Without looking back, she continued walking toward the exit, suddenly stopping.
“Be careful of the ?Demon Dragon King? Belial’s followers and ?Gray?.”
“?Gray?…?”
“Well then, I look forward to the next time we meet. Bye-bye, Sora-sensei.”
With those final words, the girl vanished into the darkness.
Silence fell over the mining site.
Kuro and Alice turned their gazes toward Sora.
Once freed from the ?Intimidation?, the silver-haired girl knelt on the ground.
“……Ilya.”
As she stared at the exit where she had disappeared, she whispered the name of the disciple she had once known.