PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

453 Chapter 453 A Somewhat Special Family

(Headquarters of the Hunters Association)

“So, would you mind explaining to me what happened? Desmond, do you hear me?

“I’m sorry, Elaisa, I was thinking of something.” Desmond replied, looking a bit distracted at the moment.

Elaisa, his friend and partner in the association, was not used to seeing Desmond so distracted. She thought it was due to her questioning about Cecilia’s presence. Desmond was someone who liked to keep his personal life private, so Elaisa decided not to bring it up; for now.

“Forget it. Cecilia already made a contract with you and was registered as your partner, so you’re not in trouble. As always, I will analyze the logs, and we will talk about it later.”

Desmond nodded without objection, although inside, he was thinking about how strange the association’s protocols were. For an organization that advocates for the balance and independence of hunters, it was very involved in the hunter’s affairs. Somehow, he almost felt as if the association would purposefully limit the potential of the hunters by making them dependent on their services.

That thought prompted Desmond to look closer at Elaisa before ruling out that she was consciously involved. As Desmond knew, Elaisa was an orphan raised by the association, just like all the other hunter assistants. With the ridiculous resources and means at their disposal, indoctrinating a young mind shouldn’t be too difficult.

The argument ended quickly, then Desmond and Cecilia left Elaisa’s office. Hearing the door close, Desmond shook his head; maybe he was overthinking things. While it was true that the words of both Titania and Katya pointed to some problems with the association, nothing good would come of jumping to conclusions.

Halfway to the teleportation ports, Cecilia asked a question she couldn’t get out of her head. “Are you sure it’ll be okay?”

.....

It took Desmond a second to snap out of his thoughts and understand the question, but in doing so, all he gave Cecilia was a reassuring smile. “You’re thinking about it too much. You’ll be fine; I am sure that both Sasha and Claire will be delighted to receive you.”

Cecilia looked relieved, but she couldn’t help but ask. “How about you?”

Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, Desmond answered honestly. “Do you want the truth? Sasha and Claire probably won’t be too happy with me for bringing another woman home, especially given how beautiful you are. I have a well-deserved bad reputation, so they will probably jump to conclusions when they see you.”

Cecilia felt an unknown hint of happiness at hearing Desmond say she was beautiful. However, it was a tenuous and fleeting feeling. Cecilia immediately focused on the strange part of what Desmond said.

“What do you mean by bad reputation?”

Desmond could be a bit of an idiot sometimes, but even he knew there were situations when it was better to play the fool. “Some unimportant things, don’t worry about it.”

With that as a footnote, Desmond and Cecilia continued on their way to the teleport port. At the same time, Kyuru slept in a pocket of Desmond’s coat.

As the trio prepared to return to earth, something strange happened in Elaisa’s office without anyone knowing it. Elaisa had left her office shortly after uploading the data from the hunter’s book to her personal terminal. Which was why she didn’t see a couple of notifications appear on her screen before they cleared themselves without a trace.

As those notifications were deleted entirely from Elaisa’s terminal, another message was developed in an office elsewhere in the association. In the lonely room, only a pair of red eyes with violet pupils glowed ominously in the dark.

“Look what we have here. How did a puny little hunter manage to get past our security? Oh, Avalis, now that’s interesting. What kind of connection does this man have with that crazy queen? A coincidence, perhaps, or is it something else?

At about the same time as this was happening, a six-winged figure stopped in midair on an unknown planet ravaged by war. Watching the endless carnage, the wanton slaughter of innocents, the archangel spread her wings, unleashing a rain of divine fire on the demonic beasts invading the world.

The archangel was Katya, who had recovered from her injuries and was now back on the battlefield. Feeling her power return to her former glory little by little, Katya finally felt relevant again. Each innocent life she saved was one more grain of sand in the endless beach of karma she had accumulated.

Suddenly the rain of fire stopped. Katya seemed distracted by something, and a smile came to her lips while her eyes sparkled with mystery. This was the precise moment that the person in the room finished reading the report on Desmond.

“The gears are in motion now. Desmond, I hope you don’t disappoint me.”

As soon as Katya finished speaking to herself, a terrifying presence descended from the sky. Seeing the gigantic scar in space above her with a grotesque, enormous beast emerging from it, Katya smiled.

In an instant, Katya flew full speed towards the beast in the space fissure. Armed with a crystal spear whose beauty was only outshone by Katya herself, the archangel unleashed her powers. Soon Katya covered the entire sky above that unknown planet in golden flames.

Simultaneously, back on Avalis, Titania was sitting on her throne, watching an illusory replay of Katya’s encounter with Desmond. Finishing, Titania changed the image with a wave of her hand. Watching Katya now fight alone against a demonic legion, Titania had to admit that the archangel had a lot of potentials and a commendable sense of duty.

“That’s why no one ever suspects you. I can’t blame anyone, you have never been the bad guys in history, and you never will be; Even I owe your kind a lot. However, it still never ceases to amaze me how good they are at manipulating others and making them dance to their beat. My only question now is: Will that boy be able to survive whatever that woman has planned?”

Titania would be lying if she said that she wasn’t a little worried about her daughter’s safety, but she decided to wait. Titania wanted to see what fate had in store for Kyuru and Desmond. Furthermore, as far as Titania knew, the Celestials were the only incorruptible thing in the universe. Short of Desmond turning into a demon and joining the ranks of chaos, Katya had no reason to harm him.

“Forget it. The thing I gave Desmond should help him a lot, plus Kyuru is with him. The boy seems somewhat reckless, but unless he is going to seek his death on purpose, he should be fine.”

And so, the consistently irresponsible and capricious queen of the fairies dismissed the matter. It must be said that Titania didn’t really have the energy or intention to care about anything that didn’t involve her beloved fairy kingdom.

Blissfully ignorant of the things that had been put into operation and the people interested in him, Desmond was getting a taste of how bitter a woman’s jealousy could be.

Strictly speaking, Desmond was being victimized by the jealousy of three women. Claire seemed calm and cheerful on the surface, but occasional flashes of telekinetic energy betrayed her actual state of mind. Sasha, on the other hand, was a reasonably honest person by nature; she straight pouted and looked at Desmond with metaphorical flames in her eyes.

While Desmond could be thankful that Sasha didn’t literally go up in flames, he still wasn’t enjoying the chilling feeling that came from his own shadow.

Amidst the strange environment, Cecilia was the only one left out of the whole thing. Just as Desmond predicted, Cecilia was very welcome in his home. It was to be expected; after all, if Cecilia had any kind of spirit animal, it would be the super adorable and fluffy sheep.

In fact, Cecilia was being hugged warily by both Sasha and Claire. They treated Priestess as if she were some kind of victim that Desmond had kidnapped.

Cecilia, who didn’t expect this kind of welcome, discovered very late that Desmond’s family was a bit eccentric. Especially that girl who hid in Desmond’s shadow whom Cecilia could clearly sense. However, that loneliness, that pain, and loss deep in Cecilia’s heart seemed to recede before the warmth she received.

Cecilia could not see the future as Katya did. However, she could still make a prophecy for herself: Then, the Priestess found a home where the warmth and love she had always longed for awaited her. There, the Priestess would find a family, and that family would be her only faith.

At least, looking around her, at these people who welcomed her with open arms into their home, Cecilia felt that she was not wrong. If Katya had heard the thoughts of the Priestess, then the archangel would have added one last part to that prophecy. In love with the sinner, the Priestess would give everything she is to her beloved, and a new light would be born for the world from their passion.

Of course, Katya would not tell Cecilia about such a future. After all, the archangel did not like to talk about events so far away in time. There were too many variables, and nothing was set in stone. Katya had learned that sometimes it was better to live their own life without knowing what the future had in store for them.