PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

This wasn’t the first time soldiers had witnessed the death of one of their comrades, but what Desmond had just done was a step ahead of anything they had seen.

One had to know that, due to the existence of mana, the way in which combat was engaged and, therefore, how it ended the lives of others was less bloody and direct than what was shown by Desmond.

After all, it wasn’t that common for a soldier or knight to be wholly obliterated with no chance of resistance, so even at the time of their eventual deaths, these individuals had their bodies mostly intact. Sure, some desecrated the bodies, as Desmond had done using a human skull as a throwing weapon, but such cases were rare.

One had to know that, at least in Serefia, reputation and so-called honor were important things both for soldiers and knights and nobles and people in power.

In the case of soldiers and knights, this was because no one wanted to have a vicious and bloodthirsty beast under his service, as this would not give a good image of the man’s master, so it had become a cultural theme for warriors to engage in combat honorably.

Of course, there was enormous hypocrisy in all this, for there is nothing really honorable about war; from slaughter to the rape of innocent people, all manner of atrocities occurred both on and off the battlefield.

Whatever the case, Desmond benefited the most from the psychological shock received by both soldiers and knights. At the very least, it caused enough delay in the reaction of everyone present that Desmond could finish his fourth kill.

Desmond watched as the third soldier’s eyes went blank, and with an aggressive move, Desmond retrieved his right hand, which had slipped between the joints in the soldier’s leather armor, before piercing the soldier’s chest.

.....

Chunks of bone and flesh fell from the ribcage, with a long line of blood on the floor due to Desmond’s move to remove the remains of his right hand.

This visceral scene brought the rest of the soldiers and knights out of their daze, who rained down all kinds of ranged attacks on Desmond in their fury. Desmond, for his part, just smiled at this offense; he could have worried about being in a different place; but right now, he had everything he needed at his fingertips.

Desmond extended his left hand to his side, clinging to the surface of the water barrier he had maintained all this time, and as if it were a curtain, Desmond pulled back a part of the barrier and wrapped himself in a protective dome.

Desmond’s defensive dome was like a spinning vortex that devoured or deflected all incoming attacks. Due to the massive amount of mana poured into the wall of water, Desmond needed only a portion of it bolstered by his enormous control to create a defensive measure capable of dealing with the pathetic incoming ranged attacks.

This was one of the fatal weaknesses of the elementalists in the world of Serefia, who, oddly enough, were incompetent at ranged elemental attacks, something a mana user should excel at.

You couldn’t blame them; it was more of a cultural issue than anything else, although over-reliance on the gear also played a part in all of this. It’s not like the mana users in this world were weak either; at least, the earth knight was extremely dangerous. It was a shame he was too slow to be a real threat to Desmond.

Desmond, however, was not satisfied with the current situation, his mana reserves were beginning to run out, and his body was not in the best condition either. Still, Desmond knew that the battle was far from over and that he needed to change the status quo.

Desmond also had the right person for the job in mind, and while it would take some effort, he was still confident in his ability to tease the girl successfully.

The dome of water around Desmond began to spin faster as it condensed, incoming attacks had less and less effect, and at some point, when the water sphere tightened enough, Desmond came out of it, now holding a spinning globe of water.

Desmond tightened his grip on the sphere as if he were trying to mold clay between his hands, causing it to begin to flatten into a disk shape. The soldiers’ expressions turned pale as they saw the sinister smile on Desmond’s face, who spun around like a whirlwind before launching at them the water chakram he had taken so long to create.

The condensation level and the speed at which the chakram was spinning caused an intense hissing noise, quickly followed by the effects of the collision. Desmond’s aim was a bit off, and the flight path wasn’t as straight as he expected, so the blade of water didn’t split the soldier Desmond had initially aimed at in two.

Of course, the soldier duo who lost their legs to the water chakram weren’t happy about Desmond’s lack of aim. The water blade erupted upon impact, giving way to a hail of ultra-condensed water bullets that kept the other soldiers and knights on the defensive behind the pair of men who lost their legs.

The cries of pain and agony from the amputees did little to change Desmond’s calm demeanor, and he let out a weary sigh before turning and stepping through the barrier of water behind him.

Due to the degree of condensation and Desmond’s deliberate manipulation, the water barrier was incredibly opaque, significantly distorting any optical perception, so the orphanage children showed no greater fear than they did when it all began.

Cecilia, on the other hand, was a different case, her expression was pale to the extreme, and she seemed to be holding back nausea. Desmond was already expecting something like this, so he wasn’t too surprised.

“Wake up, Cecilia.”

The expression on Cecilia’s face turned horrified, looking at Desmond as if he were the cruelest and most dangerous of hell’s demons, her body trembling and her eyes turning teary in a matter of seconds.

Desmond couldn’t be more exasperated at how useless the girl was, but because he needed her help, Desmond remained patient and tried to find a way to snap Cecilia out of her daze.

“Cecilia, I need you to listen to me. I’m running out of mana; I won’t be able to hold the barrier for long. Please help me... Cecilia, you have to protect these children.”

“I? protect them?”

Cecilia’s fear receded, her pale face reddened, and two golden four-pointed stars formed deep within her pupils. Cecilia’s mana fluctuations spiraled out of control, causing even Desmond to feel pressured.

The fearful and helpless faces of the children were reflected in Cecilia’s eyes, fueling the flames of her conviction within her, the golden glow in her eyes becoming intense to the extreme, and with a strange, composed voice, She answered.

“I understand. I will protect them”

Gigantic plates made of solid light stood as impenetrable barriers in front of Cecilia and the children; As sensitive as Desmond was to mana, he even felt threatened by the ridiculous amount of mana within that barrier.

However, a smile soon grew on Desmond; he didn’t need to maintain his with a barrier like that. In fact, Desmond doubted that anything less than a full-power blow from his would be able to do anything to the said barrier.

“Well done, Cecilia. With this, you will surely keep the children safe.”

“I will protect them, no matter what. What will you do?”

Cecilia’s attitude turned a little strange, as if she was in some kind of trance, but Desmond preferred it this way, at least for now, since this Cecilia seemed more trustworthy.

“What am I going to do? I will protect you and these children.”

“Do you plan to kill them?”

“Yes, I will kill them all. Then no one will be left standing to do evil, and you, like these children, will be safe.”

Desmond no longer waited for an answer; having said his part, he jumped over Cecilia’s barrier and smiled when he saw the wall grow upwards, thinking that Cecilia turned wary as she watched him pass through the fence.

Still in the air, Desmond could already feel the tremendous mana fluctuations coming from his enemies, who took advantage of the small interlude in the battle to gather their forces in preparation to unleash their most potent attacks on Desmond.

But they were bound to be disappointed now without worrying about the children and Cecilia; Desmond was like a beast whose shackles had come loose. What was once a barrier of water condensed and rose in an upward whirlwind, catching Desmond, who gazed below like a wolf.