PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

The sword was the weapon his father was obsessed with, though he never explained his motives. Like any child, Desmond wanted his father to be proud of him, so he trained in swordsmanship, relentlessly seeking praise from his father.

They say that the student is destined sooner or later to surpass the teacher; Desmond’s father never thought that his son would reach him in just a couple of years. Although Desmond had stopped using the sword for years, the training and memories he had with his father had not faded.

Being the kind of monster Desmond was, it only took him a couple of weeks of training to reach his apex in swordsmanship and even surpass it. Desmond had a solid foundation when it came to martial arts. His affinity with mana was downright absurd, so it wasn’t surprising that he was able to combine the two.

Frederick would spit blood in anger if he knew that his most potent attack had been obliterated by an ability that took Desmond a couple of weeks to develop.

All those details became irrelevant at the moment of truth. That flash of artificial Sunset born from Desmond’s sword sliced ??through the fire basilisk like paper-maché.

Frederick didn’t even get a chance to do anything about it. Desmond’s attack was a combination of extreme speed with a powerful edge. Facing an attack that carried such an absurd amount of mana compressed to that point, Frederick’s attack was no different from a paper tiger.

Even a mid-stage powerhouse of the two-star class couldn’t evade Desmond’s attack. Perhaps only a speed expert like William would stand a chance if he saw the attack coming from a safe distance. However, Frederick was not William. Worse yet, because his own basilisk was too massive, Frederick did not see Desmond’s energy blade until it was too close to him.

Desmond was almost sure that not even Frederick’s sturdy armor could save his life. The second form of the Astryd sword style was the strongest move in Desmond’s arsenal, so he was confident that he could end the royal family knight’s life.

.....

Frederick could already feel the change in temperature and the intense fluctuations of mana emanating from the energy blade. All his pride and savagery were nothing when death came knocking at his door.

Then, a gray shadow stood in front of him. That unmistakable gray hair, that back that seemed so imposing and majestic. With that feeling of invincibility that this woman always carried with her, her mere presence filled Frederick with relief.

Both feet planted firmly on the stone floor, arms raised above her head, holding her sword aloft. Her two-handed longsword, the edges of which seemed to be made of the purest and most pristine silver, towered high, gathering a dense and heavy grayish mana.

While the guards of the sword were broad and robust, perfect for performing some emergency defensive moves. On the blade’s pommel, at the end of its handle wrapped in black leather, there was a small metallic sphere of intricate design.

Like a rubber band, the metallic sphere seemed to be made of many overlapping metallic rings. Each ring is filled with dense and intricate runic carvings. At this moment, the runes glowed brightly as each circle on the sphere spun at full power.

Desmond didn’t know the name of said sword and its origins. Still, he was utterly sure that it was by far the highest magical artifact he had ever seen.

Like an insatiable black hole, the sword greedily devoured the greyish mana, creating only a thin layer of energy around it. Even from a distance, Desmond could feel an odd sense of weight gathering around that sword.

Desmond’s countenance becomes extremely difficult to behold. Camila only took a tiny fraction of a second to make her move and unleash a devastating move to counter Desmond’s .

“”

Showing that stoicism and calm that seemed to characterize her character, Camila dropped her sword to meet Desmond’s mana blade. The woman’s expression remained the same even as she came face to face with the most potent attack Desmond was capable of using.

The silver edge of her sword met the golden edge of Desmond’s , creating a spark-filled clash that was accompanied by the sound of metal hitting metal.

To Desmond’s utter horror, though Camila’s sword trembled for a few moments, that was it; just a second later, the had been split in two.

With slightly reduced speed, the detached remnants of Desmond’s attack flew into the distance, splitting several buildings in their path until they were out of sight. The level of destruction left in its wake showed how strong this move was, but Camila was much stronger.

Desmond wanted to curse every god he knew. Encountering a monster like Camila was entirely out of his prediction. Desmond wasn’t the idiot who would stay and fight to the death over something as stupid as pride. So as soon as he determined that he couldn’t beat Camila, his strategy changed.

Boiling blood still coursed through his veins, carrying that fiery energy around Desmond’s entire body. Wanting to play it safe, Desmond didn’t think twice and activated . Pain immediately invaded his whole being. Having his muscle fibers force-fed with fiery mana was not something an average person would do.

Desmond’s mind was already operating at total capacity, analyzing any possible route forward. His leg muscles bulged visibly, and Desmond launched himself at William with a burst of speed.

William had already fallen victim to the . Being a high-level wind user, William was incredibly sensitive to changes in the wind around him. William had already located his final destination as soon as the wind tunnel generated by finished forming.

With a confident smile on his lips, William swung his sword to his right, bringing with it a blast of turbulent wind. Just the shockwave from his attack shattered the ground under his feet. One could imagine the consequences of being hit by that attack.

The good news was that Desmond didn’t have to imagine shit. As a person who never takes his enemies for fools, Desmond had predicted that it wouldn’t be that easy to walk right under William’s nose; for that very reason, Desmond did the opposite.

Only now that he saw his sword strike empty air, William felt a second wind tunnel pass right behind him. If William didn’t understand that he had fallen for a feint, he would be too stupid.

The second wind tunnel was generated just a few thousandths of a second after the first, lying in the opposite direction. As soon as his senses alerted William of the first wind tunnel, he associated it with Desmond’s instant movement ability and attacked without hesitation.

That reaction was precisely what Desmond was expecting. By the time William realized his mistake, Desmond had already passed behind him. William was sweating profusely when he realized how Desmond had toyed with him.

Even in his current situation, Desmond still had that kind of reactivity and analysis; William found it terrifying. Once the fear passed, a second thought came to William’s mind: Why didn’t he attack me?

“Shit.”

The idea hit him like lightning. Before, Desmond was in the center of the square, cornered on three sides by William, Frederick, and Camila. Due to Frederick nearly dying, Camila had to come to his rescue at full speed to clash swords against Desmond’s attack.

The triangle had been broken, and now only William stood between Desmond and Cecilia. This was the best chance to escape with Frederick and Camila at the other end of the triangle. All Desmond had to do was go over William, which he had just done.

William did not dare to think that he would be able to capture Desmond and hold him off just by relying on his speed. He knew his weaknesses better than anyone, and he knew that it would be difficult for him to follow as long as Desmond kept moving through alleys. Once Desmond got far away from Camila and Frederick, it wouldn’t matter if William could keep up; he alone was no match for Desmond, and he knew it.

Even as all those thoughts ran rampant through William’s mind, the wind knight showed his mettle. William reacted immediately, activating his thrusters and chasing after Desmond at full speed.

At least that was the intention, but as soon as William tried to fly, something had an iron grip on his left ankle. Because William did not expect this and had already activated his armor’s propulsion, his trajectory was immediately twisted, and he crashed heavily to the ground.

Feeling the mental strain, Desmond gritted his teeth and was glad he’d left that water chain behind to hold William. William was one of his biggest headaches because of his speed. Even Camila wasn’t that big of a problem for Desmond from a particular perspective.

In the same way that the knights of the royal family sought to capture Cecilia, Desmond’s goal was to escape from this accursed place. He never thought of staying to fight until his last breath. Although incredibly powerful, Camila wasn’t fast to the point of overwhelming Desmond; it was William who kept Desmond at bay by forcing him to face his teammates.

Desmond was now only a couple of meters from Cecilia, who was still in her prayer position. Desmond didn’t let his guard down just because he was close to his target.

A chilling coolness caressed Desmond’s cheek, the unmistakable breath of death making Desmond’s senses scream at the top of his lungs. With no time to react, Desmond could only put his sword on guard in the direction he felt was the source of the danger.

A blinding dense beam of light hit Desmond, who was lucky to have reacted quickly. The metallic mana bolstered his defenses as the runes and circuits in his armor filled with a golden glow. Desmond found himself in a desperate position when he heard a scream filled with raging hate.

“DESMOND!”