PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

It was late afternoon in the prosperous border city of Kalmerá, normally at this time of day people would return from the fields making their way home to spend time with their families and the night businesses would begin their preparations; but today was different.

Near the entrance of the city there was a public square where they used to give notices to the general population, now in the center of the square there was a small wooden platform, the people in the square knew immediately what was happening when they saw the object on the platform.

Although it wasn′t a common event, it was still something that people had seen in the past, after all, public executions by guillotine were used when very notorious criminals were sentenced.

The only thing that the townspeople found strange was that instead of the menacing and dirty criminal they were used to, taking the execution stage was an absolutely beautiful woman, with her soft and smooth skin with a very light tan that gave her a healthy color, slightly taller than the average woman with a pair of gorgeous legs with plump thighs, her slim waist made the girl’s abundant breasts stand out even more; the girl’s face was a work of art with 4 parts tenderness, three parts pure beauty and three parts erotic charm.

But those who still remembered a certain event from the past were more focused on something else, Sasha’s vermilion hair and eyes, although they were something that further increased her beauty giving it an exotic touch; Many people linked it to the legend of the witch and when they saw Sasha’s exposed crimson horns that confirmed the suspicions of the villagers.

The trial had not yet started and the charges against Sasha had yet to be declared but the crowd was already clamoring furiously for the death of the young beauty; it is as if all the beauty of Sasha has disappeared and before they are a fierce demon from hell.

Sasha on the other hand looked at the people around her with an empty gaze, she who had risked her life a few hours ago to stop the horrors of the forest that threatened these people were now in front of the guillotine and it was those same people who demanded her head.

The trial soon began and in less than a couple of minutes she was found guilty of countless crimes, from the murder of children that day to such ridiculous things as seducing men into lust and depravity; the list was so long that it seemed that Sasha had spent her life in the city lashing the innocent with innumerable evils instead of living in seclusion in the forest.

.....

But what could Sasha do? Although the paralyzing poison was gone, they had put special anti-mana manacles on her and though these could hardly contain someone as strong as her; it would take her longer than she had to break herself free.

The executioner dragged her without any courtesy to the guillotine and put her on her knees with her head ready for being beheaded, the bastard even took the opportunity to grope Sasha while he did it; only then did Sasha who hadn’t reacted until now seemed to be greatly annoyed.

In Sasha’s mind, even if she was going to die at least she didn’t want to be insulted, because, Although she still needed time to prepare, she had already decided to eventually give her pure body to Desmond; but it seemed that this day would not come.

Sasha knew that even if Desmond went back to the cabin now and noticed what happened he still wouldn’t be there in time and even if he did there was little he could do to prevent this execution; however incompetent the knights of this city were at least they were still quite strong and had the numbers on the side of it.

In a sense, although Sasha held deep in her heart that Desmond would come to save her like the heroes in fantasy books, part of her hoped that Desmond would not come to risk his life and end up watching her die.

Now awaiting the order to be executed, Sasha wanted to see the sunset one more time before she died, she believed that she at least could see something beautiful before saying goodbye to everything; but as she directed her gaze to the sky she ended up noticing something unusual. . . the guards at the top of the wall were missing.

As strange as it seemed that Sasha noticed that kind of detail, it was not really unusual at all, despite how little Sasha had visited the city of Kalmerá, it was widely known that on the city wall there were always guards watching. . . always.

Suddenly in the corner of her peripheral vision, she saw a guard in the crowd collapse for no apparent reason, the judge in charge of the entire execution was still giving his long speech on justice, the light of the church and the faith of the people while that the city guards were dropping like flies.

It was obvious that whoever was killing the guards was as strong or stronger than them and was taking advantage of the crowd to get closer to execute them in a single move of immense lethality.

How couldn′t Sasha know who was responsible for this?, not only was he the only person with that kind of fighting methods and style (Sasha related it to the way Desmond destroyed Araszh) but he was the only person in the world that would do something as stupid as antagonizing an entire city for her; if it wasn’t Desmond then what Sasha was seeing was just a hallucination.

Unfortunately by the time the tenth guard in the crowd succumbed, someone discovered one of the corpses thus drawing the attention of the crowd, Desmond knew immediately that he had run out of time so pushing his capabilities to the maximum he rushed to the platform before anyone had a chance to react.

As soon as Desmond stepped onto the platform he immediately ripped off both arms of the executioner who had groped Sasha earlier and an imperceptible: “You shouldn’t have touched my woman.” It came from Desmond’s lips at that moment.

As soon as Desmond made the move he was immediately surrounded by city guards and armed knights, soon the judge who was now hiding behind a human wall began to speak aloud: ′′ Do you know what you are doing you a bloody heretic? This witch is an abomination that must not remain in this world, why would you save her? Or could it be that the slut used her dirty body to seduce you? ′′

His righteous tone wasn’t what infuriated Desmond, it was when he spoke such profane and unfair words about Sasha that Desmond couldn’t take it anymore.

With a burst of speed that caught everyone off guard, Desmond appeared in front of the men protecting the judge and tried to rip them apart with his ruthless steel gauntlets; but he only managed to assassinate one of the guards when he was forcefully repelled by two knights of great power.

The blow from the knights hit Desmond’s chest and nearly made him lose his breath as he walked back the way he came, it took Desmond a couple of steps to regain his posture, and only then did he realize that he was probably in problems.

The two knights who had repelled Desmond wore better-decorated armor that demonstrated higher rank and their strength, although far from Araszh’s level, they were still a threat to Desmond; especially when they were men armed with complete sets of armor and magic weapons, highly trained in combat and outnumbered him.

That’s right, Desmond had already seen at least four other knights wearing the same type of armor, normally a person like Desmond would have retired no matter what in such a precarious situation; with his speed he was confident that he would be able to lose them. . . but Desmond’s eyes were filled with unwavering determination as he stared at Sasha’s tear-stained face.

Since Desmond can remember, he only had cared for Claire and his parents, then it was only for Claire, Desmond would do anything to keep her safe and would never risk his life with Claire, but at this very moment he sees Sasha’s watery eyes full of longing. . . Desmond would never forgive himself if he didn’t save her, even if it meant putting his life on the line.

′′ Desmond, go away, they are too many of them and you know it, go away. . . you need to go back to Claire. ′′ Sasha by her side, instead of asking for help she begs Desmond to leave.

But Desmond didn’t answer her, he just looked at her with a soft, warm smile for a moment.

′′ everything will be fine ′′ he said, at the same time he took four vials of potions from his backpack and poured them directly into his throat.

Sasha didn’t understand why Desmond would do such a thing until she felt the intense mana fluctuations leave Desmond’s body, she immediately recognized Desmond’s situation; it was that strange ability that Desmond used twice against Araszh.

What Desmond had drunk were two stamina and two healing potions, and the reason he drank such potions was that he hoped they would help him repair some of the damage he was about to do to himself.

′′ Full-Drive + Overload. . . I hope it lasts long enough. ′′ And with that low murmur, Desmond prepared himself for a Pyrrhic battle in the public square of the city of Kalmerá.