PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

409 Chapter 409 This Is My Offer

The expression on the bishop’s face froze, still, like an old fox already knew all the tricks like the back of his hand. The bishop immediately reacted with a smile, believing that Desmond had become greedy and was about to make some additional demands. It didn’t really matter; Desmond had the strength to back up certain demands in the same way other holy knights got a lot more than it met the eye.

“I wonder what kind of offer that would be?”

The question was asked with a smile, beads, and numbers running through the bishop’s mind, pondering how much he would be willing to satiate Desmond’s greed; As long as Desmond was affordably priced, this task could be considered done.

For his part, Desmond smiled. However, from his lips came not a verbal response but a trail of condensed vapor that left a long path in the air. Although strange, this did not immediately arouse the suspicion, except for Erigard, who had previously seen this phenomenon.

Despite this, it was already too late; Caught off guard and believing they already had Desmond in the bag, Erigard was unprepared for what was to come.

Each heartbeat carried a torrent of fiery mana, fueling every fiber of his being, propelling him to incredible feats of speed and strength. A unique kind of energy soon forcibly removes the restrictions within Desmond, pushing his physical prowess beyond his limits, all with a price.

only further increased his speed and added an element of stealth and unpredictability. Desmond had played every card he had in his hand and seized the opportunity given.

For Erigard, it wasn’t even a matter of being able to foresee Desmond’s movement; it was more as if his instincts screamed danger at him. His right hand reflexively reached for his sword tied to the side of his waist, but a silver flash caught him first.

The nerve signal of pain in response to having the tendons in his right wrist severed was just finishing processing in Erigard’s mind when his eyes caught a second silver flash.

.....

Instead of a sideways slashing motion, this silver flash came in the form of a thrust, aiming incredibly precisely at the part where the arm and shoulder meet, piercing every sinew and muscle in its path, effectively crippling Erigard’s right arm.

Speed ??was one thing. It could be increased through various means, be it special techniques or artifacts, but the precision displayed by Desmond was what was truly terrifying about his attack.

Despite moving at high speeds, Desmond still had enough dexterity to aim two strikes of terrifying precision at gaps in Erigard’s armor, aiming to cripple the man in an instant.

Everyone in the room was dumbfounded at the sudden events, not to mention the bishops, who thought the negotiations were going good; the other holy knight in the room hadn’t even seen Desmond unsheathe his sword.

It was a disgrace, a humiliation, but above all, it was terrifying; the holy knights were the most potent weapons of the church. Its shield and sword, for someone to be able to dominate the situation with such ease, even with the presence of two holy knights, was not something to be taken lightly.

The other holy knight did not take this matter lightly, immediately swinging his sword at Desmond in an attempt to separate the latter from Erigard and regain control of the situation.

Though Desmond might have some trouble going head-to-head against a couple of holy knights, they were too naive since he wasn’t powerful enough to overwhelm his enemies; he controlled the situation in another way. If it was a competition of skill only, these people were looking to be humiliated; from the moment Desmond entered their immediate space, these people lost control of the situation.

Raising his sword alongside the holy knight, the moment the two blades collided, Desmond showed who had the upper hand by cleverly striking just the edge of the holy knight’s sword. The shock deflected the holy knight’s sword just enough to miss Desmond by inches; however, Desmond had used the ricochet force to redirect his own sword slash.

What started as a downward vertical slash turned into a horizontal incision that ripped across the holy knight’s cheek. From the smile on Desmond’s face, it was obvious this had been intentional, nothing more than a warning for him not to intervene. Another way of saying: stay out of this.

To top it off, Desmond hadn’t even expected the holy knight’s reaction, assuming he would back away. Desmond immediately turned his attention to Erigard, who soon received two more flashes of silver, severing his Achilles’ tendons and forcing him to his knees.

This was long to describe; however, it didn’t take more than a couple of seconds. That was all the time Desmond needed to cripple one holy knight and repel another, seizing control of the room and taking hostage everyone inside it.

Erigard, wounded in both body and spirit, gave Desmond a look of hatred before lashing out with threats, trying to use his status to pressure Desmond, something that had worked many times in the past; the holy knight was too naive.

“You just don’t get it, do you? You are nothing more than a tool, a pawn in the game beyond your league. Do you really think you are that important? Do you have any idea how easy it would be for the church to produce another holy knight if they wanted to? There is an entire army of knights waiting to take your place, and all the church has to do is spend some of its resources to produce whoever takes your place. Other holy knights might be difficult to replace, even irreplaceable, but you, the weakest and most incompetent of holy knights, are expendable.”

Each word was as sharp as a blade and was always accompanied by a new sword cut. Like snowflakes, the silver flashes continued to fall on Erigard, torturing his body and psyche.

It was a brutal and bloody spectacle; the mere execution required precision and command over the sword that few could only dream of possessing. Like a can opener, Desmond’s sword, bit by bit, tore away the metal plates of armor that protected Erigard, taking aim at his joints and joints, at the same time giving the man death by a thousand cuts.

In the first instance, Erigard was never a strong-willed man, so his screams of agony were the background music of this show from start to finish; in the same way, Desmond’s merciless look was always accompanied by a smile that was not a smile.

How could that expression be called a smile? Could a demon’s face as he longed to rip the flesh from your bones be called a smile? Nobody would think so.

Even statues would tremble at such a display of torture, not to mention the bishops. They were used to a life of luxury where they were always in control of the situation.

The other holy knight in the room didn’t even get a chance to intervene, which he tried at first, but after feeling Desmond’s intent and aggression rain down on him, the knight gave up. It was a matter of experience; instinctively, the holy knight knew that if he tried anything funny, he would suffer the same fate as Erigard.

This was Desmond fully exploiting the biggest weakness of mana users; low melee combat prowess and the need for long cast times. In close quarters, with no wiggle room, an average mana user was helpless against Desmond, who was a close combat monster. After all, not everyone could be like him, who had a varied arsenal of skills suitable for close combat.

“Bastard, you will pay for this.”

Amidst his screams of pain, Erigard still found a shred of energy to curse Desmond and continue making threats. Desmond just looked back at him without any emotion or change of expression, and with another flash of silver, Erigard lost his right eye.

“AAAARRGHH! Bastard.”

If a second before Erigard’s shout, the temperature in the room was low; after his insult, the temperature reached below zero. For the first time since he began the torture, the expression on Desmond’s face changed; It was no longer the cold indifference of the past but a barely contained fury waiting to explode.

Seeing that things were going south, both bishops were forced to bite the bullet and step forward, trying to defuse the situation. Before, everyone had thought that Desmond just wanted to teach Erigard a lesson for the death of Nana, with whom he probably had some kind of relationship due to all the anger shown. Although humiliating, the bishops were willing to let it slide; as Desmond had said, Erigard was to some degree replaceable, and the prowess displayed by Desmond was enough to make him a more valuable individual than Erigard.

But it would be a different story if Desmond murdered Erigard in cold blood in front of them. Regardless of whether or not Erigard could be replaced, they couldn’t just watch while that happened; that would affect the morale and prestige of the church.

“Mr. Desmond, think things through.”

But Desmond decisively interrupted them. “This is my offer: his miserable life in exchange for doing what you ask.”

Desmond didn’t even wait for an answer. Soon, a whirlwind of silver covered Erigard completely, the hiss generated by the steel cutting through the wind at high speed soon drowning out Erigard’s last screams of agony. At the same time, Desmond’s expression darkened, and blood splattered across his face, giving everyone in the room a taste of what a demon looked like in real life.