PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

633 Chapter 633 Desmond’s Manual for Hunting a Werewolf

How long had it been since he had been so hurt? Mathías could not remember it, perhaps because he had never been in that state. Mathías could feel his flesh regenerating at high speed, but the pain was difficult to mitigate. Supported by one hand on the ground, Mathías vomited blood without stopping while he watched the pieces of his own entrails spill out.

In addition to the pain, there was a wave of primal anger and fear deep within Mathias, the werewolf losing much of his arrogance as he came face to face with the possibility of death. Being on edge, Mathías immediately heard the faint sound of footsteps approaching his position. The sole of Desmond’s shoe crunching against the arid ground sounded like an entire orchestra in Mathias’s keen ears.

Looking up, Mathias found the source of his pain, the man he had invited to this last-minute hunt, Desmond Darkblood. As clumsy as Mathias was, even he could tell that Desmond had something to do with his current state. Enduring the blood that still filled his throat, Mathias questioned Desmond. “What the hell does this mean?”

However, Desmond had no interest in answering the werewolf’s question. At a glance, Desmond realized that Mathias’s wounds were already 50% healed, a frightening figure considering his injuries’ extent and the time it took to heal. Not having suicidal desires, Desmond didn’t plan on allowing Mathias to recover, so instead of answering the werewolf’s question, Desmond pulled out a couple of alchemical grenades.

Without thinking for more than a second, Desmond removed the safety of both grenades. He threw them towards the still kneeling Mathías. Although he had largely recovered from the arrow shot by Desmond, Mathias did not have the strength to get out of the way. Instincts told Mathías that these strange vessels were dangerous, but it was too late to do anything.

Two massive explosions swallowed Mathias whole. The blast’s deafening roar was followed by fire, and the smell of burning flesh, then wails of agony. Desmond still hadn’t seen the explosion’s aftermath when he grabbed another couple of grenades from his hunter’s book.

“Let’s see how long your regeneration keeps you alive.” Desmond commented before throwing both grenades at Mathías.

The process was repeated at least a dozen times, bombarding Mathias into oblivion, or so it should have been. Still, the werewolf was tenacious to a fault. Desmond had already expected something similar, but even he was surprised to see that the werewolf was still alive after so many explosions.

At that point, Mathías had already lost all traces of ferocity and energy. With most of his fur now burned away and his body riddled with deep wounds and chunks of missing flesh, Mathias painted a very sorry picture. Desmond, however, did not let his guard down; he refused to believe that the werewolf would be such easy prey.

.....

With his reserves of explosives dwindling and with plans to use them in the future, Desmond pulled out a last couple of grenades, this time of the napalm type. “I wonder what roast wolf tastes like?” Desmond asked with a sinister smile before throwing both bombs at Mathias.

A second later, a fiery inferno had devoured the now-screaming werewolf in agony. Desmond watched for half a minute until the fire died down to get closer.

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Significantly hurt and immersed in a world of pain, Mathías had been waiting for this moment. From the beginning, Desmond had hurt him too much. He kept him hovering between life and death, preventing him from recovering and fighting back. Still, Mathias had stayed alert, waiting for Desmond to let his guard down and get close enough, and it seemed that his waiting had borne fruit.

Once again, Mathias heard the sound of Desmond’s shoes crunching on the floor, but the sound didn’t get as close as Mathias expected. The next moment, Mathías heard a strange metallic sound and had a bad feeling.

At that very moment, while Mathias stayed on the ground waiting for his opportunity, Desmond had pulled out a pair of disproportionately sized silver pistols. Without doubt or mercy, Desmond aimed both guns at the dying Mathias and pulled the trigger.

The deafening roar of the weapon paralyzed the fire-blinded Mathias, and only the pain gave the werewolf a clue as to what was happening. Without touching his heart, Desmond kept pulling the trigger repeatedly until he emptied both clips on Mathias.

Surprisingly, even then, Mathías was still alive. Gunshot, blast, burn, and other wounds had greatly weakened the werewolf but had failed to kill him. It was almost frustrating how resilient Mathias was. Nevertheless, Desmond knew how to be patient, so much so that before getting any closer to the werewolf, Desmond reloaded both weapons.

As frustrating as it was, Desmond knew that werewolves’ regeneration and vitality were like that of a superpowered cockroach. However, Desmond was running out of auxiliary resources, so he would have to take action, something he wanted to avoid.

Not quite understanding his strange affliction, plus having all of his mana disabled, not to mention the corroding of his magical equipment, Desmond didn’t want to rely too much on direct combat unless necessary.

Unfortunately, apart from his sword, < Heaven’s End>, which he wanted to use as little as possible, especially if it involved unleashing too much power from the sword, Desmond didn’t have many means to deal with an undying cockroach-like Mathias.

Unconsciously, Desmond reached out to Mathías to ensure his death, but that was a serious mistake. Even in his current state on the brink of death, Mathias was the heir to the Lupan clan, an apex predator and not to be taken lightly just because Desmond had dominated him from his ambush.

With a burst of power and speed Desmond didn’t see coming, Mathias leaped and charged at him, jaws gaping. Immediately, Desmond felt Mathias’s teeth penetrate his flesh and almost rip his shoulder off as he was thrown to the ground.

Seizing the opportunity, Mathías tried to rip Desmond’s shoulder with all his arm and part of his neck. Feeling how Mathías was trying to bite off a third of his flesh, Desmond raised the silver pistols he was still holding and emptied both magazines into Mathías’s chest.

Bullets filled with corroding metallic mana tore through the werewolf’s upper torso, striking intestines, lungs, and other organs, tearing apart everything they encountered. Involuntarily, Mathias let go of Desmond in pain and regretted it as soon as he did so.

Seizing the opportunity, Desmond used one of his silver pistols to hit Mathias off of him. The werewolf was already too badly wounded, especially after that last barrage of bullets he took point-blank to the chest. He didn’t have much strength left to hold on to Desmond, getting knocked down in one blow.

Desmond wanted to reload both pistols and empty a couple of clips into the werewolf again. Yet, he changed his mind as the original platinum shine of the weapons began to fade. Given the werewolf’s current state, it simply wasn’t worth risking the pair of pistols to the corrosion of this place.

Similar logic prevented Desmond from drawing his sword, but Mathias still had to be killed. Looking at the badly injured werewolf on the ground writhing in pain, Desmond couldn’t help but think of how Mathias had wanted to bite his entire shoulder off.

“I guess I could use a drink.” Desmond commented as he pounced on Mathias’s burned and badly injured back. With a pair of sharp fangs leading, Desmond bit into Mathias’s neck. Then, Desmond began to drain the blood and remaining vitality from the werewolf.

As terrifying as Mathias’s vitality was, it was nothing more than food for Desmond in the werewolf’s current state. Instead of regenerating over time, Mathias seemed closer and closer to death’s door.

With what little strength he had left, Mathias tried to fight, get Desmond off of him, and find a way to survive, but to no avail. Desmond had not received more than a single wound during the battle, if it could be called that. Unlike Mathias, who seemed to have escaped a bombardment, Desmond was in his prime, and Mathias didn’t stand a chance.

In less than a minute, Mathias was already at the end of his dying breath. At the same time, Desmond had even regenerated from his shoulder wound. Amid some screams and sobs of agony, the last thing Mathías said was: “I don’t understand it; why?”

Desmond didn’t even find it funny. Desmond didn’t understand how people like Elvar, Mathías, and Araksia still wondered about his intentions in killing them. The number of lives that each of them had taken numbered in the thousands; among these, there was no lack of people who asked for mercy and clemency, but they never had it. Now that death had come for them, people like Mathias still acted like they didn’t deserve it.

“Just one more key; I can’t wait to leave this sick place once and for all.” Desmond commented to himself when he decided not to think about Mathías’ last words anymore.