PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

534 Chapter 534 Titania’s Gift

Truth be told, given the huge beast’s mana fluctuations, Desmond didn’t expect to bring it down in one blow. Even if it was at full strength, what caught him off guard was that his attack seemed too ineffective against the beast. Desmond’s attack slid past the beast like a raindrop hitting a glass surface.

Through his keen mana sense, Desmond could tell that his current problem was not a matter of strength. Instead, it seemed to be due to some peculiar characteristic of the skin of the creature he was facing.

Since one attack didn’t have much of an effect, making a second attack didn’t seem to make much sense. However, Desmond still went for it. Using a small layer of compressed air as a platform, Desmond steadied his stance and unleashed a second blow accompanied by a second roar.

“”

This time, Desmond focused his senses to the limit to get a better read on what was happening when his blue shockwave attack hit the creature’s skin. As Desmond had expected, the problem was the beast’s skin. It had a strange insulating property that easily repelled aquatic mana.

Desmond’s leg muscles flexed and exploded with explosive power. Desmond used platforms of compressed aerial mana to gain temporary maneuverability in the air, allowing him to dodge the giant dolphin’s brutal tail swipe.

After changing position and dodging a couple of water shots on the way, Desmond positioned himself a dozen meters on the beast’s back. Intrigued by the creature’s strange ability that seemed to make it immune to aquatic mana, Desmond decided to increase the power output and switch to another technique. Desmond wanted to test if there was some kind of threshold to the amount of mana the beast could innately resist.

Unlike a brutal life-and-death battle, where his fate and the fate of others hung on the line, Desmond’s current situation allowed him to enjoy the battle experience. This is why he didn’t resort to the most optimal combat methods from the beginning and instead experimented on the beast.

Adopting a kata stance, Desmond used his body and martial understanding as the trigger for his next move, gathering eight sapphire blue mana spheres. With just a second of delay, which showed Desmond’s increasing mastery of this ability, the eight spheres turned into eight serpent heads, and with an unnerving hiss, they pounced on the flying dolphin.

.....

“.”

Incarnating the legendary eight-headed serpent, Desmond’s mana creations hissed with fury and hungry lust, moving toward the dolphin in an attempt to tear it apart and sate the natural gluttony that was part of the concept of its existence.

Unlike Desmond’s previous attack, required much more precise mana control. Not to mention the level of mana condensation; in terms of offensive power, both attacks were on different scales. To begin with, there was a difference between creating a colossal shockwave and concentrating mana into a stable structure. It didn’t take a genius to know which attack had better penetration ability.

This time, the enormous flying dolphin with four fins emitted a song full of pain because the nine snake heads managed to penetrate through its waterproof leather. Thus, spilling the blood of the beast in large quantities. Unfortunately, upon a closer look, the damage dealt wasn’t too significant; it was evident that the beast’s defense against aquatic mana was quite robust.

Desmond kept this valuable combat experience to his heart. Reminding himself that he should be on the lookout for all sorts of strange abilities and characteristics that his enemies might have. Fortunately, water mana wasn’t the only card Desmond had to play. This was where multi-element users’ most significant advantage lay; he had more than one option.

“It’s a good time to use that skill.”

Accessing the memory and understanding that was granted to him along with the metallic elemental seed that now resided in his heart, Desmond mobilized the golden mana within his body, creating a small stream of golden sand at his feet. What looked like golden sand at first glance were actually hundreds if not thousands of golden crystals made of extremely compressed metallic mana.

Truth be told, such a degree of control was beyond what Desmond was capable of. Still, his metallic elemental seed seemed to be specially tempered to perform this ability, a hidden buff Titania likely left behind. Whatever the case, the golden sand at Desmond’s feet began to take shape as he relinquished aerial stability to himself and plummeted toward the back of his prey.

Desmond’s body began to spin at high speed, gathering momentum until his leg extended to unleash a guillotine kick on the beast. Such an act seemed foolish and reckless; after all, Desmond was not an Aura user, and his physical power was not enough to kill or injure the beast. Desmond seemed to ignore this obvious illogicality and kept smiling until the name he gave to the ability he was about to use; came from his lips.

“”

Desmond’s crystallized metallic mana took shape as it had received a divine command. In an instant, an exquisite medieval-looking golden sword formed under his leg that was about to strike the beast’s back. By the time Desmond finished yelling “Excalibur,” a matchless golden glow had flashed from the blade of the sword. A second later, a fountain of blood drowned out both the golden light and Desmond.

Forming a tremendous contrast to his previous attacks, the golden sword seemed to face no difficulty in penetrating the beast’s defenses, madly slicing through its flesh and spilling its blood with ease.

But Desmond wasn’t done; using another plate of compressed air, Desmond planted a foot before spinning on his own axis and unleashing a second kick at the beast. Without any surprise, a second “Excalibur” fell from Desmond’s lips. A second golden sword formed, moving in unison with his kick.

A massive cross-shaped wound spread across one side of the beast, and it began to go mad from the pain and impending sense of mortality that took over its body. Going into a frenzy, the beast simply burned through its mana reserves, launching all manner of insane attacks as his body shook violently.

Desmond barely managed to dodge the dolphin’s huge fin before it turned him into a jam. No matter how things looked, there was no doubt that the flying dolphin was still a mighty beast, with an enormous wingspan weighing who knows how many tons; Desmond dared not be reckless.

In a window of opportunity, as the beast tried to catch its breath, Desmond shot forward, lifting and bending his right leg until his knee touched his own chest. When the distance was just right, Desmond’s legs shot out like a spring that could no longer withstand the pressure.

“”

The name of another legendary weapon slipped from Desmond’s lips. Following the pattern above, his crystalline golden mana took the form of said weapon before accompanying his mighty kick. Even when “Excalibur” and “Gungnir” only created basic models of the legendary weapons, a longsword, and a spear, without any godly features or designs, there was just no room to doubt their offensive power.

Quickly retreating, Desmond could see a river of blood shoot out of the six-foot-long hole he had just dug into the beast’s flesh. Not to mention the skin, even the bones couldn’t withstand the penetration ability of Desmond’s .

As powerful as the beast was, there was little it could do now, as its injuries were too severe. Blood loss had already reached intolerable levels. However, Desmond didn’t seem to be finished; Since he had come this far, he wanted to at least try the third weapon in his collection.

Since this was going to be his ultimate move, Desmond didn’t hesitate to use . Amplifying his physical prowess to the limit, Desmond used aerial mana platforms to move in the sky. Once again, him positioning himself on top of the creature, this time close to its neck; Desmond lifted his right leg until it almost touched his face.

The thrill of battle still filled Desmond’s eyes, but he seemed to want to give the beast a quick death now that it was in its current state. And quite suitable for what he wanted to do, Desmond unfurled the latest weapon in his golden arsenal.

“Titania’s Collection – Death Scythe>.”

Desmond’s leg came down with a devastating blow. From his heel, a vast, sinister-looking curved blade extended outward for up to three meters, followed by the weapon’s handle that formed along Desmond’s leg. Although beautiful and crystal clear, the golden scythe exuded a sinister and deadly aura, which would not allow anyone to be distracted by its appearance.

The golden scythe fell like a meteorite, decapitating the huge flying beast in a single motion. Then blood spurted out like magma from a thousand-year-old volcano.

From start to finish, Desmond was in complete control of the battle, and in a way, it seemed like it was an easy win, but that wasn’t the case. Only Desmond knew how strong the beast really was and that his victory was not due to an overwhelming difference between the two sides’ strength but rather a difference in skill and dexterity. Ultimately, Desmond had quite enjoyed the battle.