PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

“I understand.”

Having already clashed with five invading knights and other enemies, Desmond drew too much attention to himself. Putting aside the trail of corpses he left in his wake, just the sight of a man running across rooftops was enough to draw attention.

For this reason, at some point, a joint unit of knights and soldiers was formed who set out to hunt Desmond, believing that he was part of the legendary royal knights, which made him a high priority target.

At some point, the enemies became too great in number to ignore, causing Desmond to be forced to stop and set Cecilia aside, asking the girl to protect herself for a few moments.

Filled with a desire and conviction to return to her tower to check on Nana’s safety, Cecilia’s pupils had long since turned into a pair of four-pointed stars, and the mana fluctuations that emanated from her were anything but insignificant.

As terrifying as the mana fluctuations given by Cecilia might be, she didn’t seem to have an affinity for combat and was only good at defensive abilities. So instead of showing her inability by trying to help Desmond and ending up becoming an obstacle, Cecilia covered herself with a golden dome made of protective light.

On the other hand, Desmond was the antithesis of Cecilia; his fighting style could not be more offensive, something that became very clear a few moments later. As soon as Cecilia erected her barrier, Desmond leaped forward, both arms covered in gauntlets of crystallized mana.

Although strong and numerous, Desmond’s enemies had little chance to withstand the hunter’s offensive; Desmond was too deadly and too fast, preventing them from responding adequately before seeing his companions collapse to the ground.

.....

With a sidestep, Desmond angled his body a couple of degrees, dodging a sword slash at the hands of one of the Knight-class warriors. Desmond wanted to strike back, but his senses immediately warned him of another incoming attack, forcing him to retreat again.

This was one of the most significant disadvantages when fighting with numbers against you; there were too many incoming attacks and too many enemies to take care of; something Desmond was already growing tired of.

“One after another, you vermin are too annoying.”

Putting aside the fact that Desmond had just killed some of his teammates, even ignoring the trail of corpses that followed all the way back to him, Desmond calling them vermin was too much of an insult for his opponents.

One had to know that once an individual’s strength reached a certain point, their status in society began to grow with their strength, so the pride of warriors was no small thing, especially once they arrived at the so-called Knight class.

But Desmond treated them like pesky bugs he couldn’t get rid of. Needless to say, these people were irritating, not that Desmond cared too much anyway.

At least it seemed that way on the surface; as soon as one of the knights broke out of his formation to attack Desmond in a fit of rage; Desmond revealed his fangs, showing how dangerous it was to be provoked by the opponent.

The speed produced by the combination of and was nothing short of terrifying, and the poor knight had nothing more than a fraction of a second to react.

The problem was that a fraction of a second wasn’t enough; the knight couldn’t help but watch as a fist covered in mana was magnified in his field of vision; just before his world went black and his consciousness faded.

The instant murder at Desmond’s hands left everyone speechless; it was simply too absurd. That was a knight-class warrior, for the love of God, not a watermelon; knights aren’t supposed to burst like that. That was the thought that passed through the minds of everyone present.

How long did a thought last? That was something difficult to quantify for many, and it was not something that could be standardized by any means, but if at this moment someone asked Desmond that question, he would reply: “Enough to kill someone.”

The gap created by the stun was not wasted by Desmond, who rushed immediately, wanting to finish off another of the knights. While impressed by Desmond’s speed, this knight was not caught wholly defenseless and tried to hold out and defend himself long enough for reinforcements to arrive...he didn’t get the chance.

The knight had barely managed to adjust his posture a bit to block Desmond’s attack with his sword when he felt that his whole body seemed to have been bound by something.

Instinctively, the knight turned down, looking for what was restricting him and quickly finding a set of water tentacles that emerged from the ground; that was the last mistake the knight made before Desmond ripped out his windpipe with his mana claws.

The poor knight would never have expected it to be his own instincts that would kill him, as the water tentacles carried no real restraining force that could block a knight’s movements and was only there as a distraction.

Even Desmond didn’t expect that little ruse to be so effective, yet he was already focusing on his next target. A long and grueling battle followed, and Desmond poured every ounce of his regained mana.

Dealing with so many knights and soldiers wasn’t something Desmond had been able to do, but his mana reserves didn’t seem to be depleted as fast as in the past, and even his attacks seemed to be a bit more robust. Because Desmond’s attention was on combat, it took him a while to realize his situation. Still, eventually, Desmond understood that his strength had reached the maximum level of the one-star class.

Obviously, this newfound strength was very well received by Desmond, who couldn’t wait to get to his destination and crush whoever got in his way, which he did.

“.”

Like an unstoppable drill, Desmond’s right arm, wrapped in a whirlwind, penetrated the chest of the last of the knights, crushing the entire rib cage of the man, leaving a hole so prominent in his chest that you could tell his torso was gone.

Desmond swung his arm around in a violent gesture, splitting the last knight’s corpse in two, leaving a trail of blood and entrails on the floor. Beads of sweat ran down Desmond’s forehead, and his breathing was quite heavy, his body didn’t look as firm and imposing as it had in the past, but anyone who dared to underestimate Desmond would end up paying the price, just like all the corpses around him showed.

Tired and wounded, with more than a few blood stains on him that didn’t belong to his enemies, Desmond stood his ground as he walked towards the church. Desmond didn’t even bother to confirm if Cecilia was following him, although he quickly heard the girl’s footsteps behind him.

As exhausted as Desmond was, the sparkle in his eyes hadn’t dimmed in the least, and the air of conviction around him remained as thick as quicksilver, a trait that seemed to define him.

Other invading knights and soldiers ran into the duo shortly after that last great battle, but after seeing the extent of the pair’s strength, none of these enemy units dared to make a move.

They couldn’t be blamed, Desmond was too strong for any of them to handle without a massive amount of reinforcements, and the addition of Cecilia didn’t help much either.

Although unable to display any offensive prowess, Cecilia’s defensive abilities rose rapidly, which gave Desmond a pleasant surprise midway through the match.

Surrounded by enemies, with attacks pouring down like rain, it was difficult if not impossible to block each and every one of these attacks, so Desmond usually dodged them, but even that wasn’t that easy, which is why he was injured several times.

When Desmond decided to sacrifice some of his defense to strengthen his offense, one of the strongest knights managed to sneak up behind Desmond and attack with a powerful ax swing that threatened to split Desmond in two.

Desmond wanted to curse under his breath at his own carelessness, but he was too busy trying to dodge to reduce the damage taken. At that moment, a golden four-pointed star materialized right at the point where the ax would hit Desmond’s body.

For the knight with the ax, it was like hitting a damn miniature mountain; forget the hardness that was nothing short of monstrous; the problem was the repulsion he got from the impact that almost ripped the ax out of his hand, fingers, and all.

This was just one of many times Desmond’s life was saved by these miniature star-shaped barriers. In part, this defensive support allowed Desmond to last long enough to complete his advance and subsequently slaughter his enemies.

Desmond was, of course, both appreciative and surprised at Cecilia’s combat support, but he decided to leave the subject for later; now, all he cared about was moving on and finding Kyuru.