PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

Sasha actually managed to tear herself away from the alchemy notes she had been reading lately, so it could see that she really wanted to see the duel, or she just wanted to see Desmond. Claire and Revna weren’t a mystery; they watched the spectacle with wide-eyed admiration.

Remaining oblivious to everything that was going on around him, Desmond focused on Fei Long. Trying not to be distracted by how much his friend had changed and matured in the past five years. Desmond lowered his center of gravity and spread his hands into a stance more suitable for quick exchanges.

Fei Long saw Desmond’s posture and imitated his adapting it to her style. Their arms crossed in the air, barely touching as they stood still. Suddenly, as if both had received a signal, Desmond and Fei Long began exchanging blows.

A blow that went straight to the sternum was blocked and deflected by Desmond with his forearm, but Fei snapped her wrist around, grabbing onto Desmond and pulling him to break his stance. Reacting quickly, Desmond stepped forward instead of back, using Fei Long’s strength to propel himself up to deliver an elbow strike.

Fei Long knew she had to move to avoid that blow, ducking to get out of the way as she released Desmond. Desmond tried to follow up with a knee but was stopped before he could build up momentum as Fei’s palm slammed into his thigh.

A few minutes passed like this. While Desmond and Fei Long exchanged blows back and forth, over and over again. Desmond alternated between different fighting styles. Yet, never managed to get past Fei Long’s defenses and flow interruption.

Though fast and powerful, the boxing was too predictable to surprise Fei Long. The bajiquan was intense but unyielding, which pushed Fei Long’s defenses a little more, but he still couldn’t break through. As an expert in flow disruption, Fei Long was much better than Desmond at blocking and redirecting force, so Aikido got nowhere.

Even with Mei Fei Long limiting her strength, Desmond didn’t score a single solid hit, but he seemed to smile like a child having a lot of fun; Fei Long looked the same.

.....

Desmond even pulled some Taekwondo, and Brazilian Jujitsu moves that he usually played as last-minute tricks, but kicks and footwork weren’t Desmond’s forte, so he didn’t get very far.

Blocking one of Desmond’s kicks with her own, Mei Fei Long spoke for the first time since they started fighting. “Come on, I know you have more cards up your sleeve; get it all out. I can take it.”

Seeing Mei Fei Long’s confidence and knowing she was far more powerful than what she was displaying now, Desmond decided to relent. Desmond took out the gloves, <Gemini Bells>, and put them on, full of expectation. But that wasn’t all. Although he knew Fei Long would simply readjust her strength accordingly, Desmond wanted to go all out, so he activated Lilith’s blood.

There was some surprise when Desmond’s appearance changed. Yet, popular opinion was that Desmond looked too sexy with moon-white hair and blood-red eyes. Although Cecilia would never admit that she thought that.

Letting the mana flow through his body, creating rivers that flow into his hands, Desmond channeled the weight, force, and fury of the seas into his mana. The magatama on both gloves glowed brightly, quickly forming a thick aquatic layer of mana around Desmond’s hands.

From one moment to the next, Desmond went from being calm and prepared to act. Fei Long was surprised by Desmond’s tremendous increase in physical prowess. Something that reminded her of her own dragon strength when she activated her bloodline. Still, Mei Fei Long wasn’t going to be caught off guard just by something like that. She immediately recalibrated her own strength and met Desmond’s fists.

This time, Fei Long actually ran into some trouble keeping Desmond at bay. Desmond had adopted a new martial style she had not seen or experienced before. Fast, like boxing. Intense, like bajiquan. Changeable, like Aikido. And fluid, like something she hadn’t seen before. On top of that, Desmond’s aquatic mana seemed to resonate with this new fighting style, adapting to the changes with extraordinary speed.

Of course, Desmond’s aquatic mana added more than just extra power or weight to his blows, but that made little difference against Mei Fei Long. Truth be told, any martial art that relies on sound or shock waves was bound to be countered by Mei Fei Long, since that was her specialty. So, many of Desmond’s moves didn’t accomplish much.

Seeing that even so, Fei Long could face him calmly, Desmond decided to go for more. “Are you ready for something a little more intense?”

Mei Fei Long smiled instead of answering. At the same time, she used her Aura for the first time since she started the fight, slightly boosting her already absurd defenses and her massive physical strength.

As Mei Fei Long made preparations, Desmond took a martial stance and created a yin-yang pattern in the air with the blue trace of mana in his hands. As soon as he finished adjusting his posture and breathing, Desmond shaped his mana using the crystallized intentions in his mental sea. “<Leviathan’s Wrath – Resonance>.”

Layers of shock waves flowed through Desmond’s mana and fists, only to be countered by perfectly opposite waves. “I see you’ve been thinking of me.” Fei Long commented when he saw where Desmond had gotten the inspiration for that move.

Following his opening move, Desmond intensified the mana output. Changing the intent, preparing for a larger scale and powerful mana manifestation. “<Leviathan’s Wrath – Jormungand>”

Amplified by the power of the magatama, this was by far the most powerful summon Desmond had ever made. The massive snake was not only incredibly realistic but also ferocious and wild. With the weight and momentum of a multi-ton truck, the giant snake pounced on Fei Long.

Fei Long was pushed almost a dozen meters before her feet stopped tearing at the ground, but the smile on her face hadn’t faded. With both hands holding onto the snake’s jaws that tried to bite her, Mei Fei Long poured in a little more strength and Aura until she managed to tear the snake in two with nothing more than her hands.

As the ability, <Jormungand >, collapsed and the mana dispersed, Mei Fei Long managed to see Desmond on the other side, finishing his next move. “<Leviathan’s Wrath – Yamata No Orochi>”

Charging her fists with a dense silver Aura, Mei Fei Long laughed proudly. “Looks like someone’s gotten pretty fond of snakes since we last saw each other. Do you think it’s a good idea to use snakes against a dragon?”

Mei Fei Long completely crushed the eight water snakes to make her point. However, buying time was always Desmond’s goal. “If snakes won’t do, how about a wolf?”

Desmond charged like a furious gale, carrying a storm in the shape of a wolf. “<Wolfhound – Fenrir>.” Although it was much less powerful than the last time he used it with the help of the werewolf blood gem, the strength, and speed of this move could not be underestimated.

Although the series’ abilities, Leviathan’s Wrath, were extremely powerful, they had a fatal weakness, their speed, and Desmond knew that a slow movement would never touch Mei Fei Long. Therefore, his plan was to buy time and keep Fei Long entertained. Then, he accumulated enough mana to use his last move.

Unfortunately, it was Mei Fei Long we were talking about, and even Desmond couldn’t outrun her with his current strength or speed. “It looks like what you wore the last time we met. Are you doing it out of nostalgia?” Mei Fei Long said before making her move.

Like dozens of ancient bronze bells ringing out simultaneously, sonic waves exploded from Fei Long’s fists as she completely shredded Desmond’s last move only to see a golden sword swinging at terrifying speed towards her throat. Like a poisonous snake, the golden sword cunningly sought its way toward Fei Long; this was none other than the <Excalibur > of the series, <Titania’s Collection>.

For a second, those who managed to see clearly believed Desmond would win with that last hidden move, but Xiauyue shook her head. Even putting aside the huge difference in strength, Fei Long would not easily fall for trickery after having experienced two wars from start to finish.

As quick as the sound that was the basis of her martial arts, with two fingers covered in silver Aura that formed dragon claws, Mei Fei Long parried the blade’s edge, catching it and stopping Desmond in the process. With a light squeeze, the crystallized metallic mana sword collapsed. Then, Desmond let out a weary sigh before releasing his fighting stance.

Just over half an hour into the match ended, Desmond was unable to land a single direct hit on Mei Fei Long. She also crushed every one of his best abilities; Desmond would be lying if he said he wasn’t somewhat disappointed.

Mei Fei Long stopped for a moment; it could be seen that she was thinking about something, and a few seconds later, she expressed herself. “Desmond, are you okay?”

Puzzled, Desmond replied. “What do you mean?”

After hesitating for a second, Fei Long explained. “You are stronger than the last time I saw you, and I see you have many more tricks up your sleeve, but there was something wrong with your energy flow. It felt a bit stiff and stagnant, almost as…”

Desmond smiled and finished the sentence. “Like I’m not in the right state of mind to control my mana. My aquatic mana was inflexible, wind unstable, and metal too rigid.”

Seeing Fei Long’s surprised look, Desmond smiled wryly; this was why he wanted to take a vacation.