PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

Perhaps due to the gloomy environment the city had been subjected to in recent times, the square was quite empty. The few people present ran as far and as fast as they could as soon as they saw William fall from the sky.

It took William a few seconds to get out of the rubble, pulling his wounded body from where Desmond had almost buried him alive. Pouring a potion into his mouth, William wore a solemn expression as he eyed Desmond warily.

The third royal knight to arrive at the scene stayed on William’s other end so he could triangulate Desmond’s position. Keeping him at bay with the help of the grey-haired female knight.

Speaking of the female knight, her gray eyes were still fixed on Desmond, the sword in her hand now resting on the broken stone tiles beneath her feet. The woman’s facial features were somewhat wild and imposing, so even though her appearance was beautiful, not many men would dare to stare at her.

On closer look, the woman’s sturdy armor was a slightly darker gray, with an odd rough texture, almost as if the armor was made of stone rather than metal. Desmond guessed it was made from the skin of some kind of strange beast or some extraordinary mineral.

“Hey, William, it looks like you almost turned into an omelet. What happened to be the sky ruler?”

The third knight removed the helmet revealing her handsome face and short dark red hair. His blue eyes were relatively pristine, but the wild smile on the man’s face said he was not kind or calm.

“Shut up, Frederick. I wouldn’t have been in that position if we hadn’t been asked to capture the girl alive. Still, don’t be fooled by that man; he is much more dangerous than he seems.”

.....

Although he was annoyed by his partner’s teasing, William took his duty very seriously, so he was immediately warned about how dangerous Desmond was. Frederick did not take William’s warnings seriously and instead continued to ridicule the man; It seemed like the two don’t usually get along.

“Did you hear that commander? be very careful. You must be kidding, William; you being a weakling has nothing to do with us; Also, don’t you dare put our commander in the same bag as you.”

Because they had to wait for the plaza to clear civilians to avoid collateral damage and deaths, the three knights had time to initiate a brief conversation. Meanwhile, they keep a hawklike eye on Desmond and Cecilia in the center.

Desmond knew escape was no longer feasible. With three powerhouses of that caliber surrounding him, trying to flee was no different than handing his head over on a silver platter. The problem was that fighting wouldn’t have much of a different outcome. Desmond was well aware of that; therefore, his only option was survival until an opportunity to turn the tables presented itself.

No matter how dangerous his situation seemed, Desmond would never succumb to despair; he would despise himself if he let that happen. While it’s true that victory loves the prepared, sometimes, you have to fight tooth and claw to wrest victory from the clutches of fate.

Sometimes all that was needed for victory was perseverance. As contradictory as this belief seemed, Desmond would still fight. If preparations, luck, and strength were not enough, then Desmond would use his own blood and efforts to pave a path to victory.

Keeping that mindset, Desmond watched the three of his opponents as he proceeded to remove the armor from above him. With great patience and rather methodical dexterity, Desmond removed the various armor pieces from him before tossing them to the ground.

This behavior caught the attention of the female knight, who did something she had not done until now; speak. “Are you giving up?”

Both William and Frederick stopped their discussion when they heard her speak; they feared provoking this woman of extraordinary strength. On the other hand, Desmond wasn’t that surprised, he didn’t know the woman, but he could still tell she was the type to not talk much. However, given his circumstances, a question or two wouldn’t be so strange.

After removing his holy knight armor, Desmond began taking off his black armor piece by piece before putting it on. Desmond replied as he started wearing the pure steel quartz socketed gauntlets that significantly amplified his metallic abilities. “Giving up is not an option. I will get Cecilia out of this city that has abandoned and betrayed her; she will not be anyone’s martyr or puppet.”

The square had already emptied out, and both knights around the woman seemed eager to attack, but they did not dare to move without their leader’s order. Desmond had already noted how the woman had been called her commander, so he wasn’t surprised.

The woman remained expressionless; she didn’t seem bothered or satisfied by Desmond’s response; in fact, it didn’t seem like anything could alter her mood. “You can’t protect her.”

Desmond smiled bitterly. As acute as his senses were and aided by his experience reading other people, Desmond knew she wasn’t threatening him. She was just stating a fact, and she wasn’t wrong. Desmond couldn’t protect Cecilia in this situation; he would be good enough if he could defend himself.

Cecilia also understood this; she didn’t want to fall into the clutches of these people. Still, she also didn’t want Desmond to die of her protecting her. However, even before Cecilia could say or do anything, Desmond’s steady voice reached her.

“Cecilia, I know that things seem to be bad, that there seems to be no way out, but you have to listen to me. Never, no matter what happens, never fall into despair. If you can no longer believe in anything, if your faith has been lost, then invest that faith and trust in me. I will get you out of this place, no matter what.”

Cecilia didn’t answer. She just stood there staring dazedly at Desmond’s back, which at that moment seemed capable of supporting the weight of the sky on his shoulders. The tears had long since begun to flow, but this time they were not tears of pain or sadness but of deep longing.

Intention, concept, affinity, and energy; are the four pillars that hold the power of a mana user. A strong foundation was needed to make the most of the strength gained through mana.

Something very peculiar is that two of these concepts were related to an individual’s state and mental strength. Even the affinity with certain mana elements could be strengthened or weakened depending on an individual’s state of mind.

This was something that many mana users knew from knowledge inherited from their predecessors or discovered through practice. The three royal knights were aware of these concepts and had a stable foundation, which was why they were much stronger than the holy knights. The three of them couldn’t help but seriously observe the phenomenon around Desmond because they were aware of this point.

Echoing steadily, the mana trembled excitedly around Desmond, a phenomenon visible to the naked eye. Resonating with Desmond’s strong will, the mana glowed and vibrated excitedly, eager to transform Desmond’s intention into a physical phenomenon.

No matter how much Desmond tried to deny it or how evil his actions might seem daily. Deep down, like all humans, Desmond still possessed traits of uprightness. It wasn’t impartial justice or godly kindness that beat in his heart but the simple desire to protect.

Deep down, Desmond admired people like Cecilia, who could remain pure in a world of darkness. Despite how much Desmond called Cecilia naive, he still felt slight envy for her. Cecilia remained beautiful and bright, spreading her love and kindness regardless of the filth or cruelty in the world.

Time had helped Desmond stop fearing that damaged child in the mirror, and he wasn’t disgusted by his own darkness or felt the need to feel inferior to those who weren’t tainted by sin.

Towards those people who could shine brightly, never corrupted, Desmond wished to protect them. So that they would not go his way so that this world would not lose something so valuable and beautiful.

Perhaps Desmond just didn’t feel that Cecilia deserved this kind of fate. It could be arrogance or something else, but deep down, Desmond thought that if destiny and this world rejected Cecilia. Then he would go against fate itself and this world to take away this precious treasure they did not know how to appreciate.

This powerful conviction entered a state of resonance with the mana particles in the environment. Desmond could feel that in this state, he would be able to borrow the power of the elements more efficiently. Although it wasn’t necessarily a massive improvement in his strength, given the current circumstances, any help was welcome.