PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

Cecilia could only watch helplessly on one side of the plaza as all these events unfolded. While it was true that she was able to use her light shields to support Desmond, she doubted they would be enough to block that fire attack.

Also, based on what had happened earlier, Cecilia feared that her act of blocking that attack would only end up hindering Desmond’s field of vision. This would create an opportunity for Camila and William to attack Desmond.

Kyuru was in a similar position to Cecilia. She didn’t have the fighting prowess to help or intervene in any way; if she did, she might get Desmond into more trouble.

As if the fairy sensed the uneasiness in Cecilia’s heart, words of support came from her fragrant peach lips. “You do not have to worry. Just believe in him.”

Kyuru’s words activated a kind of trigger inside Cecilia. She placed both hands on her chest and closed her eyes as she made a silent prayer. Faith was a curious thing, fickle in most cases, and a source of mental strength for many. What faith meant to mortals was entirely different to celestials, something Cecilia had yet to understand.

Devouring the mana around him, Desmond had all his concentration poured into his next move. However, Desmond still managed to detect that peculiar feeling invading his being again. A cold, comforting, calm, gentle feeling flowed from his heart to the rest of his body.

As keen as Desmond’s senses were, he knew that this particular feeling was not coming from within but from an outside source. The sentiment was subtle, to say the least, but Desmond didn’t have the time to pay attention to it at the moment.

If Desmond could see into his body, he would notice the faint golden glow covering his heart. The light dimmed and strengthened with each heartbeat, pumping unknown energy into his body.

.....

Although Desmond could not feel or see the golden glow within him, he could still feel its effects. His control and ability to gather mana increased one notch above his apex state.

Considering how injured and exhausted Desmond was at the moment, his ability to keep up with his best performance was enough, not to mention showing an increase in his strength.

Deciding that such changes could be left for future examination, Desmond poured colossal amounts of metallic mana and burning mana into the scabbard of his sword. Over time, orange sparks began to escape from the sheath due to its inability to contain all the mana being compressed within.

Both mana types’ compression reached the degree where small orange lightning began to cover the outside of the sheath. Although visually, this move seemed less imposing than Desmond’s first sword form, the pressure it released was not negligible at all.

Due to multiple factors boosting his strength at the time, Desmond finished channeling his mana around the same time Frederick did, even though the latter had started with an advantage.

When Frederick lowered his sword to unleash his ability, just the heat from the terrifying burning basilisk had already made the stone slabs on the ground red hot. Cold sweat trickled down Frederick’s handsome face, his reddish hair plastered to his face with sweat. From the look in his eyes, it was evident that even someone as powerful as he was having trouble making a move like that.

With a yell at the top of his lungs, Frederick released his ability. “.”

There was no piercing roar or anything like that. Instead, it was more of a hiss caused by the terrifying flame burning the air. The Fiery Basilisk was towering and gigantic, reaching just over a meter in height with almost fifteen meters in length. The maddened fiery beast flew into a flaming frenzy in an attempt to bite Desmond into scattered ash.

Desmond remained in the same position as he watched as the gigantic fire serpent threatened to devour him. It wasn’t until the snake’s jaws were mere feet from himself that Desmond moved on it as his gaze sharpened.

Sensing a hint of danger to her comrade, Camila didn’t hesitate to leave her position to run full speed in Frederick’s direction. Camila’s decision soon proved to be the correct one. Quick as lightning and powerful as thunder, Desmond’s sword swing was filled with overflowing killing intent.

Heaving a deep breath leaving another cloud of condensed vapor. Desmond relaxed every muscle as if the world around him had disappeared, as had all his worries. In the next instant, the blue of his eyes took on an icy, merciless gleam as every muscle in his body erupted with explosive power.

From calm to storm, from relaxation to tension, Desmond’s entire body and mana erupted in a single moment, condensing into a single point; simultaneously, the sword came out of his sheath.

“”

The sum of dexterity beyond human limits added to a superior speed caused Desmond’s sword to practically blur. Without even causing a single sound, Desmond’s sword turned into a blur, leaving only an incredibly thin orange slash mark in the air.

It was like a thread that divides everything on the horizon in front of Desmond, like that last flash of orange light caused by the sun before it sets, splitting the world in two. It was a peculiar sight that hid a deadly beauty.

Only someone as obscenely powerful as Camila or someone used to high-speed moves like William saw what really happened.

William felt a chill go up to his entire spine; he didn’t know that mana could condense to that point.

The second form of the Astryd sword style had very high physical requirements. Moreover, the degree of concentration and control was completely different than the first form.

While Desmond’s flow convergence was like a chaotic crusher composed of six rivers, its rampant nature was very different from his second form. The first form of Desmond’s sword was a pretty powerful counter-attack ability in its own right. Still, its true power lies in its peculiar characteristics. The second form of the Astryd sword, on the other hand, was purely and simply an offensive skill.

That orange line that simulated the last flash of sunset carried a terrifying amount of mana. The degree of compression of metallic mana and fire mana in this one was so high that instead of mana, the slash seemed to be made of boiling gold.

This energy line was as thin as a finger and only a little over a meter long; it seemed tiny compared to Frederick’s gigantic and towering basilisk.

The terrifying thing, however, was the amount of mana in this thread. This was minuscule compared to the basilisk; yet contained an amount of mana that would not necessarily be less than that of Frederick’s attack.

This was the comparison between being hit by a gigantic ten-kilogram bag of cotton or being hit by a ten-kilogram steel sphere. Speed aside, it was obvious which was more dangerous.

Speaking of speed, this thread of mana wasn’t even remotely slow; in fact, it was almost as fast as Desmond’s draw move.

A second ago, Frederick shouted with confidence and wild momentum the name of his skill, unleashing Fiery Basilisk, causing a minor explosion that destroyed the ground around him.

The flaming basilisk streaked across space, leaving a trail of burning flames and red-hot tiles in its wake. The wind whistled due to the temperature change. Anyone could tell how dangerous it would be to be hit by a skill like that.

This was the killing move of a knight from the royal family. It was by far one of the most potent attacks anyone could see in their lives. It was no exaggeration to say that that basilisk was enough to shake the towering city walls.

However, all the confidence in Frederick’s face disappeared, quickly turning into a look of horror. As the person who unleashed the fire basilisk, Frederick exerted constant control even now that his ability had left his sword. In this way, Frederick kept his mana construct stable and could manipulate its progress and direction more or less.

For the above reasons, Frederick’s countenance became difficult to observe as his pale face clearly showed the fear of death that the knight was feeling at the moment. Frederick had wholly lost his connection to his ability from one moment to another.

As if someone else had cut the strings of his puppet without warning. Frederick only felt something extremely sharp cut his basilisk in two effortlessly before moving on towards him.