PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

Eventually, the condition under which Desmond’s squad was moving caused them to be caught up bit by bit by their pursuers. Relying on the digital map in his visor, Desmond not only knew exactly when they would be hit by his enemies, but he was also well aware of where they came from.

From the beginning, it was a bit odd that such a large number of enemy forces reached this part of the forest without being stopped or detected. A group would have been possible, but it should not be possible with the current amount of enemy forces in pursuit.

Judging from their direction, the area, and the number of people, the only possible explanation was that the people in the neighboring sector had purposely breached their guard fence to let intruders through.

There was only one possible explanation for such a thing to happen: these people did it under the orders of high command. Although Desmond’s mind did not operate at the same level as Sara’s, he still had an excellent memory and clearly remembered the people assigned to the neighboring sector; all were under the direct command of the commander.

Reaching such a realization caused a strong wave of anger within Desmond; he never thought that the commander was so irrational. After all, Rundert was only vaguely suspicious of him. For the commander to make a move like this just on a slight suspicion without any kind of proof was insane, especially considering that he had sent Graham.

On the other hand, Graham was now dead, and all the major’s suspicions were as accurate as they could be; but Desmond was not in the mood to see things most objectively.

Glancing slightly ahead, Desmond had a combination of relief and disappointment; it turned out that his men, desperate to escape, stopped paying attention to their surroundings and moved slightly away from him. Since he still had the pursuers to deal with, Desmond let them be, hoping they would move further away so he could act more freely.

Although Silvia was dead tired, her mind was still quite clear; she could see how her men abandoned them, which greatly disappointed her. If it weren’t for Morales having already fallen unconscious from the blood loss, Silvia would hold a grudge against him for this incident.

.....

As if he could read the ice beauty’s mind, Desmond commented. “Don’t worry about them. It’d be better if they get ahead, so I can deal with the hunting dogs that refuse to lose our scent.”

Long accustomed to Desmond’s strange analogies about animals, Silvia understood that her pursuers still hadn’t given up, but seeing the confidence or the cruelty in Desmond’s smile, she decided not to worry too much.

It’s not like Silvia was irresponsible or carefree; the truth is that Desmond was simply too strong by human standards. Only other monsters like the commander could be a threat.

Claire, on her own, just enjoyed Desmond’s hug; no matter how much time they spent together or how intimate their relationship became, these things still filled the maiden’s heart with warmth and love.

It was nearly a full minute before Desmond began to slow him down, eventually coming to a complete stop, before laying Claire and Silvia down at the base of a gigantic tree. Stretching his body, letting out more than a creak, Desmond stood in front of the girls, looking in one particular direction.

Desmond’s eyes were already a deep, pure blue, so it was hard to tell, but an intense glow was hidden within them; the aquatic mana practically burst into flames inside his body.

Thousands of sapphire blue mana threads crisscrossed and linked together, quickly weaving two blue gloves around Desmond’s arms.

Claire had a somewhat stunned expression. Being the one with the most understanding of Desmond’s power, Claire found it too much of a stretch for Desmond to use such an ability to fight against mere soldiers.

Claire didn’t know that Desmond wanted nothing more than to tear apart whoever came. It didn’t matter if they were soldiers from an enemy country; the only reason Desmond had for such cruelty was that these soldiers were pointing their guns at his dear Claire.

While it is true that anger was not an emotion commonly related to the water element that used to be softer and more docile, there was no doubt that Desmond was more than ready to unleash the fury of the seas against his enemies.

As time passed, more mana was channeled into the physical incarnation of , making it easier for Desmond to use the gloves as catalysts and conduits. In a way, the gloves on Desmond’s hands went from being a direct combat weapon to being the equivalent of what a wand would be to a wizard.

Kyuru had explained to Desmond one of the reasons why the three paths were related to the body, mind, and heart of sentient beings. In addition to the more specific details about how one could progress on said paths, their classification was due to how different aspects of sentient beings affect their execution and training.

Knowledge was strongly related to arcana, feelings to mana, while aura was related to instincts; in other words, body, mind, and heart.

In the current scenario, Desmond’s heart was filled with the need to destroy those who dared to point their weapons at the woman he loved, and that need for destruction revealed one of the most brutal aspects of aquatic mana.

With barely contained anger, Desmond began to command the mana as soon as his bestial senses picked up more people in the vicinity. Above Desmond’s head, eight spheres of water took shape, arcing through the air.

As the sound of footsteps on mud and the movement of leaves grew closer, the spheres of water continued to grow in size and density. The two squads of soldiers that arrived at the scene only had the chance to take a very brief look at the beautiful faces of Claire and Silvia before they died a horrible death.

As soon as his senses accurately picked up the presence of his enemies, Desmond let out the name of his ability with a low, throaty growl. “.”

True to his obsession with myth and legend, Desmond’s new ability was based on one. With a long-lasting low hiss as a precursor, from the eight water spheres, eight somewhat draconic-looking water snakes emerged, and following the will of his master, they immediately launched in search of a target.

As if they had a mind and will of their own, each of the snakes acted independently, launching themselves at the onslaught of their prey, brutally destroying them. The soldiers from country C didn’t stand a chance; they weren’t even espers. Desmond was the god of death to those who hadn’t even set foot on any of the three paths.

Each snake, quick as lightning but forceful as thunder, hissed and snaked its way to its victims in the blink of an eye before tearing them apart with its jaws and bodies made of whirlwinds of water.

The blood fell like rain, and the cries of pain, fear, and agony could not be silenced even by the constant hissing of the eight snakes. Some tried to shoot or defend themselves against the snakes, but those were the ones who had the cruelest deaths; Desmond was in no mood for mercy or subtlety today.

Speaking of the devil, still standing in the same spot, mere feet from Claire and Silvia, Desmond was using every fiber of his being to maintain control of this ability.

Claire was right in thinking Desmond was overreacting in using such an ability against a group of soldiers. This was probably one of the strongest cards in his deck; the problem is that Desmond wasn’t being reasonable at all.

The mana-made gloves around Desmond’s arms glowed with tremendous intensity, using inordinate amounts of mana to sustain such a complex creation. However, no matter how hard Desmond tried, the number of leviathans inside the gloves decreased, indicating that he was reaching his limit.

Desmond realized over time that using abilities like this required a tremendous amount of focus and will, as well as an extremely powerful and steadfast concept or image.

However, with the use, especially with the abuse of said skills, the will and the concept used gradually weakened, generating scenarios where, regardless of whether the necessary mana was still available, the user’s mind could not invoke a skill.

Although Kyuru knew a lot about mana and nature, she didn’t know much about combat, so she lacked the related knowledge. Desmond concluded that this attrition must be why elementalists preferred to have an extensive arsenal of skills.

“Desmond, I thought there was no one left.”

A warm touch on his shoulder and a soft whisper in his ear snapped Desmond out of his thoughts. Although Desmond’s first reaction was to turn to look at the source of these gestures, his eyes still lingered on the carnage in front of him. Even by Desmond’s standards, the red-painted forest covered in torn humans was unsettling.

Unknown if they were words for himself, Claire, or the people he had just killed, Desmond said something in a low, sinister voice. “This is the price for trying to touch my most precious possession. Touching a single hair of her is already too great a sin.”