PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

The gasp didn’t even bother her assailant and instead seemed to excite him even more as his hands shake with ecstasy and anticipation with the torture tools getting closer and closer to the exquisitely fragile body of his victim.

It was then that that last fathom of hope within Xiao Li began to die from the realization that no one would come to save her, that she didn′t matter to anyone, and that no one would even bother to remember a mere servant...but as dead for inside as she began to feel a last strand of consciousness in her still managed to notice an almost imperceptible golden flash just at the edge of her peripheral vision.

It was just a brief flash so discreet that poor Xiao Li even wondered if it wasn’t just an illusion but a part of her saw something else, saw a small beacon of hope in the dark, saw one last flash of the golden light of the sun shining on her cheeks, pushing away any monster that dwells in the dark with its warm touch; As absurd as that thought was, deep in her heart that’s what she felt and for a moment... It was only a brief moment when she was no longer afraid of the monster in front of her.

As focused on her as his assailant was right now, this strange change deep within her eyes didn′t go unnoticed but he failed to figure out what it was before feeling a sudden chill down his spine as all his survival instincts screamed danger.

But even then, he was one step too late when a bolt of golden light struck him with lightning speed giving him just enough time to use his left arm covered with a protective layer of Ki to try to take the blow.

The next moment a powerful rumble reverberated in this inconspicuous section of the forest as Desmond’s arrow fired collided with the protective covering of Ki from his target, meeting unexpectedly intense resistance before successfully penetrating the left arm of his prey.

Repelled by the force of impact, the hooded criminal had to take nearly a dozen steps backward before regaining his balance as the wound on his left arm left behind a long trail of blood from the original point of impact.

But the ambush was still far from over, for while Xiao Li still stared in disbelief at the stage unfolding before her, the second flash of Ki lit up the surroundings as a huge burst of silver Ki waves drowned out the light whisper made by the attacker: ” ”

.....

But the masked man proved to be far more powerful than his attackers expected as an intense orange Ki exploded over him before he stomped powerfully causing a huge column of stone and magma that blocked the silver ripples of destruction.

And his offense wasn’t the only impressive thing for after a magma-like Ki armor covered his body it didn’t matter how many wind mana-reinforced arrows Desmond fired; none of these managed to make the slightest dent in his defense.

Noticing that if they followed the current course of action they would fall at a disadvantage, neither Desmond nor Mei hesitated to unleash their best moves in an attempt to subdue their opponent before the situation got out of hand.

“Feel the weight of the world on your shoulders ”

“Lifeless, breathless; ”

As soon as each of them finished reciting the mantras of their respective abilities, they used every shred of power at their disposal to deliver what they hoped would be the decisive blow.

Immediately dozens of chains of water emerged from all possible places and angles, enveloping and subduing the hooded man who tried to free himself with all his might; But restraining those with enormous physical strength was the specialty of this ability so he saw the little result from his efforts.

Seeing her opponent held back, Mei emerged with mind-blowing speed from the shadows still covering her appearance, with silver scales hidden under her cloak; Mei lashed out with the same skill that she had used against Xiauyue’s cousin.

With silver waves silently detonating with each hit, no sound came out of the spherical area under the influence of Mei Fei Long as she unleashed her most powerful martial skill trying to assassinate her opponent.

But based only on the sensation that her fists conveyed to her with each blow, Mei already knew that although her opponent was being heavily restrained by Desmond, her own attacks were still going through a lot of difficulties to bypass his protective armor.

Just from this fact, Mei Fei Long could already estimate her opponent’s real strength and it wasn’t very encouraging. Knowing that things would end up getting dangerous if she didn’t take advantage of the current opportunity, Mei didn’t hesitate for even an instant before forcing her newly understood dragon force state further and pouring all that was left of her Ki and tyrannical physical strength into the final blows of her skill hoping this would be enough.

It was then that the ability ended with the spherical area covered in silent flashes of silver Ki fading, a low sound of contained explosion reverberating from the body of the masked man as some puffs of blood emerged from his mouth causing the chains that contained him to collapse as he stumbled slightly.

But exactly what Desmond and Mei feared happened, the hooded man still standing let out an angry cry accompanied by an immense blast of fiery Ki that almost sent Mei Fei Long flying; showing that although the hooded man was wounded, he still had a lot of fighting power left.

And it was at that moment that Xiauyue who had stood aside until now made her move. Using her quiet and calm presence to go unnoticed during the chaos, Xiauyue magically appeared right in front of the hooded man as what looked like a mirror of water collapsed revealing her feminine figure covered by a black robe and mask.

Taking advantage of that small window of opportunity granted by the element of surprise, Xiauyue exploded with all of her power by using a martial skill that she had only just managed to understand a week ago with Desmond’s help; The so-called was a skill very similar to the used by Desmond to amplify his inherent abilities.

With the use of this familiar martial art, Xiauyue could amplify her offensive power by a large margin but for only a short period so without hesitation, she unleashed a barrage of palm strikes that were accompanied by the sound of an aquatic bell.

With the whisper caused by , Xiauyue coated her hands with a paralyzing soft Ki as she aimed at the inherent weak points of the human body seeking to undermine her opponent’s strength in this way but she seemed to underestimate the ridiculous defensive ability of the hooded man who was affected by Xiauyue’s ability to a lesser extent than expected.

Seeing this and contradicting what one would think, Xiauyue didn′t seem even a little bit worried because although the hooded man seemed to be taking her offensive very calmly; he had failed to detect the small translucent butterflies made of Ki that appeared around him with each blow from her.

Tired of being the punching bag of his attackers, the hooded man accumulated his inner Ki as he continued to use his powerful defense to resist Xiauyue’s almost relentless attacks before he use a powerful roar and a seismic wave emerged accompanied by a powerful heatwave with the hooded man as the epicenter repelling Xiauyue and injuring her body in the process.

Feeling the damage her internal organs received after receiving a single blow from the masked man, even Xiauyue could not help but have a serious expression on her face but noticing the eyes blinded by anger under the mask of her enemy; A calm smile reappeared on Xiauyue’s face before she comments with a slight hint of mockery: “You are truly like a beast.”

Confused by the sudden comment of the only person who had addressed him so far, the confusion of the masked man prevented him from dodging the next movement of Xiauyue who only looked at him calmly as a few words left her lips again: ” ”

Immediately the almost imperceptible butterflies that had gathered around the masked man exploded releasing what looked like low-frequency acoustic waves made of soft blue Ki.

But as harmless as this move seems, one could only imagine how dangerous it was when seeing the hooded man spit out several mouthfuls of blood as he clutched his chest with pain and fury filling his eyes.

Looking around at his three attackers tired from having used their ultimate moves, the masked man let out a deafening roar filled with murderous fury before using a stomp to unleash what looked like a small tsunami of stone and magma causing Mei and Xiauyue to quickly leap out of the way as Desmond rushed to get the poor gagged girl out of the affected area.

As soon as the trio managed to rejoin, each of them mounted some kind of defensive measure as they waited for their opponent’s imminent counterattack only to witness an empty battlefield.

With traces of blood splattered on the ground, rocks, and debris scattered around, in addition to the chaos caused by the battle, there was nothing more to observe as the masked man had already left without leaving any trace to follow.