PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

414 Chapter 414 The Pride Of The Astryd Family

“Victory loves the prepared.”

As these words reverberated throughout the room, the sounds of breaking glass accompanied it. Soon, like an unstoppable flood, the aquatic mana filled the room. Reaching such a high density generated a faint blue mist, which could be seen with the naked eye.

Like a bottomless pit, Desmond’s sword devoured all the mana around it, endlessly strengthening the rivers in it. Since he could not squeeze more mana from his body, Desmond had prepared a way to borrow it from the environment around him.

“Mana crystals, did you have this kind of card up your sleeve?”

Archibald wasn’t stupid; he immediately realized what was happening. The only thing he didn’t understand was why Desmond seemed prepared for his arrival. Even more, he can use such a valuable resource as mana crystals.

One had to know that mana crystals were scarce and precious. These were natural gatherings of mana that could be used by a user to increase their mana reserves or deepen their understanding of a particular element.

It was too absurd to see someone destroy a large number of mana crystals just to saturate the mana of a particular element in a room. Of course, as stupid as this might sound, it proved to be the right move in this specific situation.

From one moment to another, the six rivers on Desmond’s sword had expanded to the point where they would not lose in size against the gigantic lightsabers of the holy knights. Even more, the mana fluctuations emitted by that sword were on a completely different level compared to the past.

It all happened too fast, and the holy knights were too busy clinging to control of their abilities that they weren’t able to intervene.

.....

Desmond began to feel that the limit of what he was capable of controlling was being reached, so he decided that it was time to end this confrontation. Not without first saying a few words of arrogance; after thirty days in the world of Serefia, Desmond was really fed up and needed to take it out on someone.

“Come to me, sons of Laezir, point your swords at me, show me the best you have. You are the representatives of the power and prestige of your holy church, show me your pride, and I will show you the pride of the Astryd family.”

Although pride rarely influenced the way Desmond thought and acted, the fury he felt towards the church for everything that happened made him want to clash with them and crush all of their arrogance. Desmond might not be a proud man, but he always held his family in high regard, and now he wanted to show the world what his father had once called the pride of the Astryds.

Provoked by Desmond’s screams, they advanced with unnerving force swinging their gigantic blades of light at Desmond to turn him into minced meat and regain their trust.

“” X3

Worthy of being one of the flagship techniques of the church, the name was arrogant, to say the least. Still, they indeed carried with them overwhelming destructive power. Unfortunately for them, sheer destructive power simply wouldn’t be enough.

Desmond’s gaze turned blade-sharp as the three gigantic blades of light energy fell down, and the coldness in his eyes reached frightening levels. Amidst the thick steam rising from his breath, Desmond spoke a few words with an almost oppressive stillness and tranquility.

“”

The moment the four swords collided, an immense shockwave originated with the three individuals at its epicenter, destroying everything in the room. As wooden furniture turns to scattered splinters and the floor crumbles from the sheer power contained in the shock wave, Cecilia remains intact, protected by a wall of wind of unknown origin.

Still, Cecilia couldn’t take her attention away from the confrontation; Desmond was the only light left for her. If he lost, she truly would be lost. Because of that, her heart turned cold when she saw that Desmond was falling behind.

Three holy knights, all in the two-star class, armed to the teeth with high-level equipment, were too much for Desmond to take head-on. In the face of absolute force, all plans and preparations were meaningless; Fortunately, the gap between Desmond and the three knights was not absolute.

At first, when the swords collided, Desmond was knocked back several steps by the shock wave. Strangely enough, the three holy knights were dragged with him. Though they found the suction force that kept them clashing swords with Desmond disconcerting, the three sacred knights decided to press on, keeping their momentum.

With each step Desmond took back, the momentum of the holy knights seemed to increase by a fold, overwhelming Desmond completely. Almost forcing the man to his knees as the weight of his enemies’ swords became too much to bear.

The three holy knights could almost smell victory; the man who had seemed domineering and overbearing before now found himself with his back against the wall. Desmond would be cornered just a few more steps; Cecilia would be within his reach.

Just a few more steps... Why was it so difficult to go just one more step? That thought soon came to the mind of the three knights.

It was as if Desmond was anchored to the bloody ground; no, even so, they could have forced him back, leaving a trail of broken ground behind him. But now, no matter how hard they pressed forward, Desmond didn’t back down; that was just the beginning of his nightmares.

From almost kneeling, Desmond rose. Ass if he didn’t even feel the weight on his shoulders. As if the swords of the three holy knights weren’t pressing him to the ground.

“Now is my turn.”

Archibald and his companions were forced back several steps with a single push, leaving everyone gasping. Only now that the suction force released them and they could separate from Desmond did they notice something that made them break out in a cold sweat.

It was Desmond’s sword or rather the six rivers on the blade; these hadn’t weakened in the slightest, something unheard of considering that Desmond had been using them to defend against his attacks.

Then, Archibald, the most experienced of the three, remembered a strange feeling when he was clashing with Desmond’s sword. It was like being swept away by the current, like a wooden boat rocking helplessly against the storm, sinking into the depths.

It was a rather disturbing feeling, but Archibald had brushed it off as Desmond seemed to be succumbing to the pressure. In his mind, Archibald guessed that it was just a weird effect of Desmond’s ability that could have become dangerous under other circumstances.

Archibald made a colossal mistake when he let that detail slip through the cracks. Now seeing a Desmond at his apex and seeing how their own blades of light had significantly deteriorated. It had become clear that something was going wrong.

Although he was humiliating, Archibald couldn’t contain his curiosity and ended up asking. “What the hell did you do?”

As thick as the mana in his sword, the sneer in Desmond’s smile was overwhelming; but he still answered. Perhaps because of leisure or because he was confident that he was now in control of the situation.

“Didn’t you hear me say it before? Victory does not favor the righteous or the fortunate; she only loves the preparations. If things end this way, it is because I am more prepared than you. Sure, it also helps that I’m better than you guys in every aspect possible.”

Given how good Desmond was at provoking others and insulting them, one had to wonder if it was really just one of his many ruses or if he was just a bit of a jerk. Whatever the case, his taunts were more than adequate and the first to fall for them was the red-haired young knight.

Both swords collided in the air, creating another powerful shock wave. Only this time, the one who was repelled was the red-haired knight, who nearly went flying across the room.

“You hit like a girl.”

“Motherfucker.”

Sending the effeminate-looking red-haired knight flying, Desmond hurled a sneer at him as he clashed swords with the other young knight. The result was more or less the same; the poor knight could not hold his ground and be repealed entirely, causing him to crash headlong into a stone wall that turned to rubble.

“Come to think of it, it wasn’t right for me to say that you hit like a girl; I know women who fight like dragons. I suppose comparing you to a sick little puppy would be more appropriate.”

Having dealt with the other young knight, Desmond hurled another insult at the redheaded boy before turning his attention to Archibald. The only knight who didn’t fall for his taunts and who had been watching from the sidelines.

Archibald saw his companions on the brink of defeat. A look of helplessness and understanding soon washed over his aged face. He was a veteran holy knight at the end of the day; it would be too humiliating if he didn’t even know how he was defeated.

Archibald only noticed when he watched from the side as Desmond clashed swords against his companions. Upon impact, the rivers in Desmond’s sword briefly converge at the point of impact, generating a terrifying repulsive force. It was the equivalent of gathering all the power generated by his ability into a single point.

Such a thing was challenging, it was simply too much mana, and Archibald could see that the rivers in the sword seemed difficult to control. Perhaps that was why the convergence lasted only an instant. From start to finish, Desmond never planned on colliding head-on with them. His sword skill was a strange defensive technique meant for a counterattack. Desmond had used it to resist their attacks, slowly eroding his momentum until the decisive moment arrived.

Usually, even with an ability like that, Desmond shouldn’t have been able to resist; his mana reserves should have been depleted. However, Desmond wasn’t using his mana reserves. And instead, he uses the mana released into the atmosphere by the mana crystals to sustain his ability consumption.

It was just as Desmond had said; things turned out that way because he was better prepared. It was humiliating, but that was the truth.

Even so, Archibald was a holy knight and still had pride. He would not go down without a fight; Desmond saw it in his eyes, and the smile on his face grew bloody.