PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

An instrument’s beautiful yet solemn sound reverberated throughout the capital city. The music, something long lost in this twisted and insane world, caught the attention of more than one soul, but not many managed to identify its source.

Being the closest to the source, Araksia was the first to realize where the melody came from. One could imagine Spider Woman’s surprise when she found Desmond standing on a balcony playing an instrument she had never seen before. The beautiful white violin in Desmond’s hands was a work of art in its own right. Still, there was a great sense of incongruity between the angelic-looking violin and the almost devilish music he produced.

On her side, Desmond was too focused on her handiwork to notice the Spider-woman’s intrusion. However, it was likely that he would still have ignored her even if he had.

As he played the violin, Desmond seemed to be in some trance or frenzy. The music that was being born in Desmond’s hands at that moment could almost be considered the product of madness, and in a way, it was.

As he played the instrument in his hands, Desmond could only think of everything he had seen since he came to this cursed world. Every experience in the last few days played like a movie in his mind, the atrocities he had seen tormenting him like demons eager to devour what little he had left of humanity.

Desmond saw more than just the cruelty of others; he also saw his own cruelty. The actions he had taken in recent days against the heirs of the five clans took center stage in this gallery of memories.

The first key that Desmond obtained from the five clans was the easiest to obtain and came from the Heart clan. Getting into the mansion of the Heart clan heiress was as easy as a walk in the park. Desmond didn’t even have to resort to any strange means; the hard part was getting out alive.

After essentially being kidnapped and drained of almost any trace of life, Desmond left that mansion, barely clinging to his wretched soul. The frenzy of lust and depravity he had subjected himself to at the hands of the Heart Clan heiress is still fresh in his mind to this day, but not in a good way.

.....

The good news was that the Heart clan heiress was, as one would expect, a person who had little interest in anything beyond her hobbies. It will probably take days for that woman to realize that her necklace with her clan key was missing.

The Heart Clan Key was easy, but the same couldn’t be said for the Darkblood Clan Key; that one took much more time and effort.

Through lies and murder, as well as other horrific means, Desmond eventually reached a position where he could challenge the current heir to the Darkblood clan for his position. Someone in a less insane world might have doubted Desmond’s barely tenable record, but that wasn’t the case at all.

Although Desmond expected all kinds of trouble when he came forward to challenge the heir to the Darkblood clan, the opposite happened to him. No one seemed to really give a shit who Desmond was; all they needed to know was if he was someone of his lineage and the former heir could be dismembered in a way that would entertain them.

The carefree and psychotic attitude of the Darkblood clan played in Desmond’s favor this time, but the duel was not so easy. Armed with many abilities bestowed by his bloodline, the heir to the Darkblood clan put up a good fight. At the same time, Desmond had to ensure victory by keeping his bloodline’s true powers hidden while having nearly all of his mana sealed away to prevent corrosion from that place.

While Desmond might have the blood of the Darkblood running through his veins, due to Nicolai’s mutation, Desmond did not have any of the more common powers of the clan. To make matters worse, no one could know where Desmond’s lineage came from, so Desmond couldn’t show off too much of his power, let alone his special ability.

Although it was frustrating for Desmond that he couldn’t use the ability he had been keeping well-fed with Araksian blood, he was still a pragmatist, so he didn’t pay particular attention to the matter. However, that didn’t do much for the very difficulty of the challenge.

Desmond went through some serious trouble to win against an heir to the five clans, a mid-level two-star class expert. Strangely, it was not due to the difference in power, as the unholy essence that plagued the air had deteriorated even the combat prowess of the denizens of this world.

Almost comically, what frustrated Desmond was actually the absurd vitality of the heir to the Darkblood clan. Due to his opponent’s unlimited regeneration, Desmond had to go to extra lengths to ensure he never got up again, which was difficult by relying solely on brute force without using mana.

Despite Desmond’s frustration, the Darkblood clan heir continued to put up a fight until Desmond managed to gut and dismember him before decapitating him. After separating the heir into five parts, he stopped moving and fighting, leaving Desmond covered in blood and debris, quite exhausted.

Desmond hadn’t even been in the mood to marvel at the heir’s regeneration abilities, his mind already going through the headache of calculating how horrible the Lupan heir’s regeneration would be.

Once named heir to a family of psychopaths who celebrated ecstatically when the former heir was completely eviscerated and dismembered, Desmond rightfully obtained the key to the clan.

By the time Desmond did that, time had already started to run out. With the day for the hunt with the heir to the Lupan clan drawing closer, Desmond had to resort to increasingly harsh and unappetizing measures.

Unfortunately for Desmond, the heir to the Tremor clan was not easy prey. Araksia’s half-brother Spider-Man was an introverted and paranoid man who rarely spent time outside his home. There weren’t many ways to get close to him without being detected by his guards.

Furthermore, as Desmond had already experienced with Araksia, the members of the Tremor clan were born ambushers, which made them not only dangerous but also highly sensitive to ganks and sneak attacks. However, Desmond arrived at an unorthodox and highly unsatisfactory plan thanks to Araksia herself.

Just remembering what he’d had to do to secure today’s opportunity made Desmond hate himself and nauseated again. No matter how twisted this world was, Desmond didn’t want to use that as an excuse to operate without control or a moral compass. However, he still resorted to committing an atrocity to assassinate Araksia’s half-brother.

The weight on Desmond’s conscience of this last sin and all those that came before it was the source of his music. A melody filled with the madness, the sin, and the darkness of this world, he found himself. There was no charm or anything like it in that music; it was just a requiem of someone on the verge of complete madness, trying with all his might to hold on to what was left of himself.

Unable to see past the music, Araksia was entranced as she listened to Desmond play. Spider-Woman’s previously manipulated mind had an ever-growing obsession with Desmond, and this music moment heightened that obsession.

Feeling the spider woman appear behind him, Desmond stopped the music. Having no interest in entertaining that woman with the beautiful appearance and the profane heart.

Every time he looked at her, Desmond felt a deep hatred and revulsion. The mere notion of spending his time in that woman’s bed repulsed him, something that had never been a problem in the past.

In no hurry, Desmond put his violin away under Araksia’s lovesick gaze. “Desmond, that was so beautiful, so macabre, and so exciting. Maybe you should do that when you meet my brother this afternoon; I’m sure it will encourage him to approve of our marriage. Although he is young, my half-brother is the heir to the clan; his word carries a lot of weight.”

Desmond didn’t answer; he kept quiet as he closed his violin case before walking toward Araksia. The spider woman found it strange, but in falling in love with him, she overlooked any clear anomalies until she felt a piercing pain pierce through her chest.

In addition to the listless look in Desmond’s eyes, Araksia saw an arm go through her chest, leaving a bloody mess and giving her a feeling of pain and emptiness. “Why?” It was the only thing that came out of Araksia’s lips before she spat out a mouthful of blood.

With what seemed to Araksia like fondness and remorse, Desmond removed his hand from her chest and cupped her face with both hands. Araksia’s fantasies were barely mitigating the betrayal she felt when with a brutal twist, Desmond snapped her neck.

Even then, Araksia was still alive, though not for long. In her last moments, the only thing on the mind of the spider woman was the motive that it could have had what she believed was the love of her life to kill her. Of course, to have listened to her last thoughts, Desmond would have scoffed wickedly at the very notion of this woman knowing what love is.