PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

492 Chapter 492 Retreat

Power was a curious thing, an abstract concept that obsessed many. From a certain point of view, power was nothing more than an illusion. At least that was Graham’s case, who was considered someone powerful and had been reduced to a bloody mist.

Standing mere feet from the bloodstain that once bore Graham’s name, Desmond was accompanied by a highly vivid mana construct. A gigantic water snake whose scales looked incredibly realistic and whose expression was eternally hungry.

Just from the mana fluctuations that made the air around it reverberate, anyone could tell the terrifying destructive power that the colossal-sized snake had. It took Desmond over three months of effort, but he had finally replicated the ability used by Armony, although it was still significantly weaker than the original.

For a moment, it seemed as if Desmond was lost in thought over Graham’s death, but his following words made it clear that the life Desmond had just taken meant nothing to him, nothing besides a couple of future annoyances.

“Great, now; how the hell I’m gonna explain that asshole Graham’s disappearance?”

In the heat of the moment, Desmond got carried away, and without having any plan, he murdered Graham. This went against his modus operandi; unfortunately, Desmond tended to be a bit more reckless when it came to fighting.

The good news was that Desmond had a good head over his shoulders, the outcome might not be perfect, but Desmond found a way to avoid a lot of the suspicion that would come after Graham’s disappearance.

The idea was very simple, given that both Graham and Silvia showed a reaction of complete disbelief when they saw him manipulate the element of water, a misunderstanding that plagues humanity. Due to their ignorance of the nature of mana, Desmond planned to use that ignorance to his advantage.

Since false common sense dictated that it must be impossible for Desmond to be an Elementalist, why not make it clear that it was an Elementalist who killed Graham? Given the raging war, it would be reasonable for all suspicion to point to the military forces of country C.

.....

Desmond raised his right fist to the sky, the endless streams of aquatic mana flowing through his veins boiling over and the giant water serpent shooting upward with a primal roar.

It took every last drop of aquatic mana Desmond had available, but it was a grand sight to see an ocean-blue serpent soar into the sky until it vanished after reaching nearly a hundred meters. As the elemental seed in his heart pulsed faintly, replenishing lost mana, Desmond reckoned his little display of power should have been seen by who knew how many on both sides by now, so it was time to go.

While Desmond had drained all of his aquatic mana, the elemental seeds of wind and metal within him still brimmed with energy, this was perhaps, by far, the most significant advantage Desmond had gained from Titania’s gift. Indeed, for Desmond, having three elemental seeds meant having almost three times the mana reserves he once had at the expense of losing some flexibility in its use.

To Desmond, the details were irrelevant; all that mattered was getting back to his squad’s side. Following Claire’s tracking signal, Desmond abandoned his usual method of running over trees and instead resorted to using again.

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Desmond covered his body with a strong gust of ever-changing and intense wind, and with a stomp, his body shot forward, being driven frantically by the gales around him. Vaguely, the form of a wolf made of wind could be seen flickering around Desmond; it seemed that his understanding and mastery of this new ability were still somewhat lacking.

Despite the lack of mastery, Desmond still managed to move at excessive speeds at the cost of losing maneuverability. Since he could rip or destroy anything that got in his way, Desmond made a beeline for Claire as fast as possible.

Seeing in his visor that Claire was only a hundred meters away, Desmond stopped using wind mana and casually approached. Since his men were still in the area, it wasn’t a good idea to show things that shouldn’t be shown.

However, Desmond was unprepared for what he saw and heard next. The sight he still could understand, Desmond had seen Claire’s power in the past, so it wasn’t hard for him to identify what was going on. It was the sound of twenty necks snapping in unison that stunned Desmond.

Taking someone’s life wasn’t a problem for Desmond. In most circumstances, it was a measure that had to be taken, and Desmond’s conscience could carry the load, but seeing Claire take so many lives in one fell swoop was more than Desmond could handle.

In the few confrontations that Desmond’s squad had had with other human beings, Claire remained on the defensive. Even if she had taken someone’s life, this was in a very roundabout way; what had just happened was completely different.

However, Desmond recognized the wild smile he saw on Claire’s face. How could he not when he had worn that expression countless times in the past?

But Desmond knew that he and Claire were different; the look of horror Claire had at the result of her own actions was enough to drive home this point. Desmond’s heart broke at Claire’s blank, pale expression; however, Desmond still did not take a step forward.

It was just as Desmond had told Silvia that day in the park. The world had changed; violence and cruelty were the order of the day, and only power had any meaning. Sooner or later, Claire would have faced her current situation.

Watching as Silvia immediately began comforting and tending to Claire, Desmond felt more comfortable. As overprotective and possessive as he was, Desmond still understood that he couldn’t put himself in a position where he was all that Claire could depend on.

Claire’s situation was one thing. The death of her men was another; Desmond was boiling with rage inside. If not for Desmond having discarded his affinity for fire and stopped using his mana to control it, Desmond was likely playing out a very similar scenario to Graham’s; that was how intense his anger was.

Desmond wasn’t an exceptionally sentimental person; many things couldn’t elicit an emotional reaction from him, but these were his men. He had trained them and spent a significant amount of time with each of them; his death was not something Desmond could ignore.

Poor Thomas died so brutally that his funeral would have to be closed-casket, or his family would be unable to attend. Lana had even worse luck; her body was literally cut to pieces after taking so many shots, and there wasn’t much of a corpse to go back with. The same applied to Rick, the only aura user on the team, who was blown up into little pieces.

Perhaps it was going too far to say that Desmond considered these people his friends, but the hatred and bloodlust that their deaths caused him was real. Interrupting Desmond’s thoughts, a familiar voice crept out of the shadows.

“I’m sorry, Master, the young miss insisted on protecting Silvia, and things got out of hand. It’s all my fault; my skills to deal with large groups of enemies are lacking.”

Desmond was an intelligent man; a quick scan of the battlefield was enough for him to get a general idea of ??what had happened. With the field of frozen destruction a few meters away, Silvia’s weakened countenance, combined with what Revna had said, it wasn’t hard for Desmond to draw his own conclusions.

“We’ll talk about this later; I’m going to want a full report.”

“Yes, Master.”

With Revna falling silent, Desmond decided it was time to make an appearance; otherwise, things could get dangerous. After all, on his scanner, there were still hostile life signatures closing in on his position.

“I see; it seems like I’m late.”

There was a certain weariness in Desmond’s tone, all the survivors could tell, but between the relief and the resentment, that feeling was lost. Some were relieved to see Desmond again, either for sentimental reasons or because they trusted his strength to survive. Some held a grudge against him for abandoning them.

Whatever the case, Desmond started passing out orders, regardless of the looks he was receiving. To make sure no one got funny ideas or wanted to disobey, Desmond finished off with the reveal of more enemy reinforcements on the way.

Fear was a powerful catalyst, causing everyone to start preparing. The only drawback was Claire and Silvia’s current situation; who were exhausted to the extreme due to the abuse of their powers. His other two teammates already carried Morales because his legs were too injured.

Without many other choices, Desmond took Silvia in his left arm and Claire in his right; with Desmond’s superhuman strength, it wasn’t too challenging to carry both women like a man would bear a child. Without wasting another second, Desmond and the rest of his team unofficially withdrew from the battlefield.