PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

638 Chapter 638 A Sin That Time Never Forgave.

The silence lasted for a dozen seconds, and soon Desmond realized that no one else would be coming. “I should have guessed why an old bag of bones like you would even think of sharing anything with the other ancestors of the five clans.”

Curiously, Emerard designed to respond to that comment, although his response was not what Desmond was expecting. “There is no one else left; they are all dead.”

Desmond lifted his guard instantly, but nothing happened, no revelation of an evil plan or sneak attack, all that took place was another awkward silence in the middle of a catacomb. Unable to contain his curiosity, Desmond asked the question he had on his mind. “What happened to them?”

With a weary sigh that sounded like a bunch of bones being whittled against each other, Emerard removed the hood that covered his face and answered. “What else could have happened to them? This cursed land took them away.”

From what Desmond knew of the Licht clan, its members looked like zombies with skeletons on top of their flesh, a rather macabre and creepy appearance. The only difference between someone from the Licht clan and a sci-fi zombie was the absence of rot and decay, or that should be the case.

Emerard need not say anything else; his decadent and near-death appearance said it all. Desmond knew the old monster, though ancient, shouldn’t look like this. The quirkiness of his original appearance aside, Emerard should be in the middle parts of his long lifespan. Yet, now he looked like something that had been sitting in a tomb for years.

The way Emerard said it was enough for Desmond to realize that it had been that strange unholy scent in the air that had left him in his current state; it was just that Desmond didn’t know such a thing was possible. Despite spending thousands of years in this polluted world, the people Desmond had known had not suffered from any kind of physical deterioration, only mental.

Later, Desmond realized that he hadn’t really met anyone who didn’t belong to the younger generation of each race. In fact, he hadn’t seen a single older person since he came to this world. Due to the absurdity of most species’ life expectancy in this world, Desmond had overlooked that fact since the people here would still look young even after five hundred years.

Another piece of information passed through Desmond’s mind simultaneously, the gradual deterioration of this world and the lack of powers at the level of Lilth.

.....

From Nicolai’s memories, Desmond had a general idea of what the world had been like before that fateful night. For some strange reason, he had thought that this world had deteriorated into what it is today. However, Desmond missed one thing, he had no proof that the deterioration of this world had stopped.

Seeing Emerard, Desmond understood this world was getting closer to his inevitable death, so much so that he could no longer sustain the life of someone like Emerard and his peers.

“I see; I can’t say I’m sorry for all of you. This is something you brought upon yourself the day you betrayed Lilith.” Desmond finally answered, not feeling even the slightest bit sorry for the failing state of Emerard or this world.

The green flames in Emerard’s eyes flickered, but the old man didn’t speak immediately. After a couple of seconds, the old man finally spoke. “You do not understand. That woman was a tyrant, a woman thirsty for power and blood. She would have destroyed our world had she not been stopped by our glorious ancestors.”

Even though he had no relationship with Lilith, Desmond couldn’t help but be enraged by the number of lies that came from the Licht clan elder’s lips. The only real victim in all this was Lilith, the woman who still lay imprisoned behind that mocking stone wall.

“Well, well, it seems that you understand all this much better than I do; I suppose that the next thing you will do is ask me to help you open her tomb so that you can get rid of this ancient evil.” Desmond commented sarcastically.

Contrary to what Desmond expected, Emerard didn’t detect the sarcasm in his voice; perhaps that was how damaged the old man’s mind was, but something in the almost fanatical way he spoke told Desmond that it was something else. “That’s right, that woman, that sinner, it wasn’t enough for her to try to destroy us all those years ago; even now, her curse continues to plague this land. Look at us, reduced to violent and insane animals, rapidly rotting away, unable to reach our full potential, all for that woman.”

Desmond watched the raving old man in silence. It took a second, but Desmond understood; the old man was insane. Not just unstable or psychotic but truly delusional and insane.

Although Desmond wasn’t an expert in psychology or anything close, something about the way Emerard spoke told the whole story; the old man had lost his mind.

It was a bit anticlimactic, to tell the truth, Desmond was expecting some kind of final battle against an old fox full of power and intrigue, but that wasn’t the case at all. Even now, Emerard kept rambling on about how this was all the fault of Lilith, the witch who cursed the entire world when her ambition was taken from her.

It was sad to a degree, thousands of years ago, the ancestors of the five clans conspired against Lilith in an attempt to steal her blood and use it to achieve some kind of strange dream of limitless power and immortality; now their decaying, putrid world had turned their younger descendants into barely rational animals.

The only thing Desmond still didn’t understand was the relationship between that betrayal and the unholy essence that plagued this place. Although he hadn’t found any clues so far that the two things were related, it was just too much of a coincidence that they took place almost simultaneously.

There was also the topic at hand, Lilith’s betrayal, specifically, the motives behind it. At the end of the day, the whole thing seemed too well planned to be something that happened overnight. At the same time, it also seemed to have come out of nowhere, as if someone or something had promoted the idea frighteningly.

Last but not least was the absence of any results from said betrayal. Apart from a world in decline, nothing had changed after that betrayal. No ancestor of the five clans had ever achieved their dreams of absolute power or immortality; in fact, none had appeared in the history books again after that day.

Everything about that day, that betrayal, that sin that started it all, it all seemed strange, as if a random day had started and everything about it had ended on the day of that betrayal, almost like an isolated event that somehow was not connected to the history of this world despite involving the most powerful people of the time.

However, not everyone had forgotten; at least Emerard believed in an altered and convenient version of those events, not to mention the still imprisoned Lilith, who would surely remember everything that had happened.

At that point in his deduction, Desmond stopped. Instead of continuing to meditate and deliberate on what could have happened, Desmond believed he had a quicker solution to get the answers he was looking for; ask Lilith.

With that idea in mind, Desmond turned to Emerard, who still seemed lost in his delusions. “You’re right; I think it’s time to rid this land of that wicked witch. I have the five keys, and I can open most of the mechanisms, but I will need your help.”

“At last, the dream of our ancestors, I will be able to rid my people of that sinner. You are right; it is time to destroy that witch. You are the chosen one; I can feel it. The blood of Saint Nicolai runs through your veins.”

Desmond felt the need to curse a hundred times when he heard that jerk Nicolai was considered some kind of saint, but he decided to forget about the whole damn thing. There was little point in arguing with someone who had lost his mind.

However, Desmond was still thinking about the old man’s words. Although much of what Emerard said was bullshit, there was some truth to it, at least the part where this land was still cursed with sin.

The betrayal of Lilith was the greatest sin in this world, one where everyone turned their backs on their queen and guardian, where greed and ambition destroyed the beautiful kingdom that this beautiful woman had built. That was a sin that time had neither forgiven nor erased, one that Desmond was here to make amends for.

There was a certain irony in being helped to free Lilith by someone from the Licht clan, especially when this person believed that he was about to accomplish his mission to destroy the Darkblood progenitor.

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Still, Desmond didn’t think too much about it. This world was so rotten and doomed that Desmond would not blink, even if he had to cooperate with lucifer himself; he only wanted to fulfill his mission, free Lilith, and return to his family. The rest was completely insignificant.

With that in mind, Desmond walked over to the mural. He blew the dust off the orb in the center of Lilith’s hands, revealing five sockets where the keys in his possession fit perfectly. As he put each of the keys in their respective places, Desmond couldn’t help but get excited; once this was over, he could finally go home.

“No, wait, you don’t want to help me; no, you are a monster sent by that witch. You want to trick me into helping you free her.” Seemingly out of nowhere, Emerard started delusional again, and this time it wasn’t helping Desmond’s plans at all.

Cursing Murphy’s Law again, Desmond leaped to the side, dodging the torrent of spectral flames sent his way. Seeing the crazed and ferocious Emerard charge at him, Desmond smiled wearily and commented. “Of course, it couldn’t be the easy way. Come here, old bag of bones; I’ll help you find your grave.”