PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

594 Chapter 594 Weakness

As she lay on her knees, depending on her telekinesis to keep her from falling, Claire was struck by a sudden realization: She was weak. Somehow, though Claire already knew it, it wasn’t until she was faced with defeat that she truly accepted this cruel truth. Looking at the arrogant man who defeated her, Revna, and Cecilia, Claire couldn’t help but remember how it all started.

(Six hours earlier.)

Although she was far from forming a habit, Claire was already getting used to certain aspects of her stay in the Martial Sovereign World. Reviewing the day’s reports was one such habit. The task was tedious to the point of giving one suicidal thought, but Claire bore the hassle.

Whenever Claire found the paperwork tedious or boring, she thought of Desmond, who did these and many other tasks for them. Although Claire hated to admit it, of the group, she was the most dependent on Desmond’s attention and help, making her feel somewhat inferior.

Even Revna, who was utterly obsessed with Desmond, was a person with her own set of skills, capable of holding her own in a dangerous world like this. Sasha had always been an independent girl used to fending for herself in a forest full of dangers. Though naive, Cecilia had a natural charisma that helped her easily blend in anywhere without feeling alienated.

“What about me?” Claire muttered unconsciously. Years of living under Desmond’s protection and affection made Claire a happy but useless woman, and she knew it. In the past, she told herself that she had to become stronger and trained a lot with her powers, but she only realized how naive her approach was.

Desmond had undergone countless challenges, refining his body and mind through pain and danger; he was strong in a true sense. Claire was different; she was just a hothouse flower, grown under Desmond’s constant care and nurturing and the resources he provided her.

“Something has to change.” Claire murmured again. This wasn’t the first time Claire had thought such a thing. Her brief stint in this world had taught her how complicated, and laborious Desmond’s job could be and the difficulties he faced. Claire hoped to grow from this experience and become useful to the man she loved.

Though lost in her thought, Claire didn’t stop paying attention to the papers in her hands, and as she did so, something caught her eye. She remembered hearing it from Cecilia, but she decided to postpone her decision at that moment.

.....

Looking at the invitation adjacent to the document, Claire thought about the subject for a second time. To tell the truth, Claire wasn’t very interested in attending the supposed gala that some noble families were hosting in the city. Still, she had too many merits to dismiss the topic altogether.

Virtually everyone in the city considered nobility was related to the roaming cloud sect, so any alliance or connection the group could make would be of use.

Mei Fei Long and Miao Xiauyue were Desmond’s friends and, by extension, possible group allies. Still, the girls had unanimously agreed not to go to them immediately. As far as the girls knew, Desmond’s friends had an absurd personal strength and the entire sect behind them. A possible alliance with them was literally all one could hope for, but the girls thought differently.

This trip was to help Mei Fei Long and Miao Xiauyue and to become strong and experienced enough to help Desmond. Immediately going to make an alliance that would solve all their problems went against their second goal.

Also, from a certain point of view, depending on Desmond’s friends to get by in this world was the same as continuing to depend on the man they loved even if he wasn’t around. That was something the girls, especially Claire, wanted to avoid.

Claire knew she was making things more difficult than they were, but she couldn’t help it. Her pride wouldn’t allow her to hide pathetically under the shadow of the man she loved. Poor Claire didn’t know that Desmond wouldn’t necessarily think positively of her efforts. After all, Desmond was the kind of person who thought that all means were valid as long as he achieved his goals.

Desmond was always a staunch follower of the end justifies the means creed. So, if he were in the girls’ shoes, Desmond would have almost immediately gone to Mei Fei Long and Miao Xiauyue. Desmond would brazenly use the force and influence of both girls to achieve what was proposed.

Of course, Desmond wouldn’t have despised the efforts of Claire and the girls; he simply wouldn’t have thought of them as the optimal choice and would have differed in his course of action. Nonetheless, Desmond would probably have been very proud of his girls. He would have been very happy to know how hard they worked while thinking of their family, especially now that he found himself in a sinister place where not one shred of good existed.

Whatever the case, after thinking about it repeatedly, Claire ended up bringing the girls to the gala. Claire knew there was a high probability that some mishap would occur, as many members of the roaming cloud sect would turn up. They tended to be quite arrogant and unruly when in town.

However, she thought that everything would be fine no matter what since she and the girls were quite strong.

After deciding to attend the gala, it was Alice’s job to forcefully remove Sasha from her lab so that she would enlist. Meanwhile, Revna and Cecilia compare notes about the notorious people attending the gala.

One couldn’t help but notice how upset Revna looked at having to attend a social event like this. Claire still remembered the headache she had from convincing her. The problem with trying to reason with someone like Revna was that her behavior was not based on logic. At least, deep down, it wasn’t like that. The only thing that guided Revna was her obsession and devotion to Desmond.

By Revna’s logic, she would only wear beautiful clothes and display her charms to show her beloved Master. Other people shouldn’t even begin to dream of seeing a glimpse of what she had in store for Desmond. It took Claire a long time to convince Revna to wear something appropriate to the gala so she wouldn’t spend all her time in someone’s shadow.

In Cecilia’s case, things were easier. Although she still refused to wear anything that would highlight her charms or show too much skin, she was quite used to social events and looked good in whatever she wore. Of course, Claire didn’t comment on how Cecilia still dressed like a nun. Since Cecilia liked to dress like that, Claire had nothing against it.

When everyone was ready, the group of four headed to the gala. Almost predictably, the appearance of four such exotic and unknown beauties attracted the attention of more than one man at the social gathering. Yet, no one jumped to make a scandal... Until there was.

Claire and the rest of the girls were speechless as they heard what could only be described as the speech of a third-rate villain. The arrogant young man, dressed in dazzling golden robes, seemed to want to strip them naked with his gaze as he unreasonably demanded that all four of them serve him in bed tonight.

Leaving aside how ridiculous his demands were, the four women found it humiliating for someone to talk to them like that. None of the four expected that the arrogant asshole would have some real strength to back up his words.

When Claire flatly refused the man’s advances, he went straight to using force, catching Claire off guard. Not believing that someone would be so irrational as to attack during a social event openly, Claire was unprepared for a fight. Her makeshift telekinetic barrier was shattered to smithereens by the man’s aura-coated fist.

Seeing that the man was about to hit Claire, Cecilia reacted by summoning a four-pointed star-shaped light barrier that managed to stop the remaining force of the punch.

The man reacted fluently to feeling that his fist had been stopped. He kicked the barrier to propel himself back to attack Cecilia, who summoned the barrier.

Revna intervened, using shadows to speed her movement. With her hand turned into a shadow claw, she collided head-on with the man’s fist. Revna had to clench her teeth to bear the pain of the impact, the shadows not being enough to protect her from the thick offensive Aura of the man who attacked her.

Although Revna failed to attack the man, she kept him from advancing on Cecilia. Seeing the situation stand still for a brief moment, Claire wanted to step in to defuse the situation; things were getting out of control. She didn’t want to fight the unreasonable young man in front of so many people, as that would reveal information about them.

Claire was thinking about de-escalating the situation when the man in question whistled at the crowd. Claire was speechless as she watched someone pass a long spear to the man, who was clearly preparing to take the battle to the next level.

“Are you crazy?” It was all Claire managed to squeeze between her lips.

The man full of himself replied. “You’ll know when you’re rolling with pleasure in my bed.”

Without saying a single further word, the man released a burst of Aura and charged wildly at Claire. Furious, Claire had already decided to teach the arrogant jerk a lesson. Nonetheless, her strength fell short of carrying out her intentions. Claire’s defensive skill, , didn’t hold out for more than a second against the man’s spear.

The remaining force of the attack knocked Claire back to her knees. Claire finally understood where the arrogance of the asshole was coming from as she spat out whole mouthfuls of blood due to her internal injuries.

Seeing that his little trick had succeeded, the man smiled arrogantly as he revealed the true level of his Aura. Quickly the Aura reached the two-star mid-level class. “Now you understand the difference between us. All of you, you better behave obediently. Nothing that I, Miao Zi Fong desire, can escape me.”