PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

As for Desmond, he just smiled kindly in the direction of little Nana and said: “It’s my job, plus you have a very brave daughter; Isn’t that right Nana? ”

Little Nana just nodded submissively as she clung to her mother’s embrace as if she were the most sacred thing in the world which caused Desmond’s smile to grow warmer.

Watching the exchange, Desmond’s squad was a bit taken aback, but at the same time admired, as many of them had not witnessed the good side of Desmond in the past.

It should also be mentioned that all of them felt immense respect for his lieutenant at this time, not only due to his masterful display of strength and skill but also because of his conviction in keeping the little girl safe; even now they could see blood dripping from Desmond’s wounds as he smiled at the mother-daughter pair.

But only Kyuru knew that beyond the wounds caused by the panthers it was the nerve damage that Desmond had suffered due to the use of overload that was now causing him an agony that could not be described by words.

If it isn′t for the calming energy that Kyuru was pouring into Desmond’s mind right now it was likely that he would have collapsed on the ground due to pain, this wasn′t the kind of suffering that anyone could tolerate even Desmond.

But with Kyuru’s help, Desmond managed to stay on his feet as he ordered his subordinates to search the perimeter and then direct the civilians into the city, and as soon as most of his squad stopped paying attention Desmond immediately went to the little case attached to his belt to stir a healing potion and pour it down your throat.

Such an action was only perceived by the only people present who were too concerned about him to completely withdraw their attention from him even while carrying out his orders which were Claire and Silvia.

.....

Of course, although Claire knew what Desmond was consuming, Silvia on the other hand thought that Desmond was consuming some kind of medication to suppress the pain of his injuries which made Claire’s concern and respect go up a couple of points.

Minutes passed and the effects of the potion were enough to stop the bleeding while also greatly repairing the nerve damage causing the pain Desmond felt to greatly diminish.

Desmond had to admit that Sasha’s potions were effective enough to be considered an extra life tied around the waist.

By the time the potion’s effects achieved most of their effects, the civilians in the agricultural area had already retreated within the defensive walls of the city and Desmond’s squad was returned with weapons at the ready awaiting further orders.

Of course, given the condition of his lieutenant all of them believed that their orders would be to withdraw so they were all surprised when Desmond gave the order to trace the origin of the panthers.

And although many of them wanted to object because of Desmond’s physical condition, they all had to keep quiet when the ruthless blue gleam in Desmond’s eyes told him that he would not take no for an answer.

Perhaps learning from his mistakes in the past, this time Desmond took the trouble to explain the reasoning behind his order.

“We need to find where these panthers came from and if there are more, as well as check the area for other beasts, it is best to do it now before the relatives of these beasts notice their absence.”

Of course, even with his explanation, some had their doubts when they saw Desmond’s bloody clothes, but when they saw him move through the treetops like a damn ninja while tracking back the panthers, they all had to admit that even Desmond was still injured he was stronger than the entire squad put together if they didn’t use their firearms.

Even so, it did not go unnoticed by Claire and Silvia that, despite the display of force, Desmond had still exchanged his metal gauntlets for a modified Mk 556 Haenel assault rifle, and from the amount of anti-armor rounds that Desmond had taken it was obvious that he had no plans to engage in close combat again.

Being aware of Desmond’s tendency towards hand-to-hand combat, Claire and Silvia came to the unspoken understanding that Desmond was more hurt than he admitted so both girls tried to stay close to him to support him if necessary.

It was a shame that their chance to show off with Desmond never came and it wasn’t that they didn’t run into some mutant beast on their way through the forest, the problem was that Desmond’s shooting prowess was just as ridiculous as his near combat prowess.

Even when Desmond didn′t have the necessary support due to his acrobatic journey through the treetops, the amount of muscular strength and control he could exert gave him terrifying precision; taking down any mutant beasts he saw with just a couple of well-coordinated shots to target his vital points.

So while Desmond was shooting from above, Claire, Morales, and Silvia could only support from below. The most unfortunate were the other members of the squad who could only collect the empty cartridges that fell from the sky.

Two hours passed since the squad had entered the forest and the frequency with which they encountered mutant beasts had been higher than they had expected, for some reason mutant beasts that used to inhabit deeper in the forest almost on the edge of the mountainous region had drifted to the outer edge of the forest.

Desmond, who came down from the top of the trees because he ran out of ammunition, had to think twice about whether to continue advancing or going back to investigate another day, because with the current ammunition and his health, continuing to enter the forest was a risk.

“How I would have liked to have Melissa in my squad,” Desmond said quietly with regret.

Only now did Desmond regret pulling the strings for Claire’s friend Melissa to be assigned to the standby medical department, originally an esper with such a useful healing ability would have been immediately assigned to the best military squad available, but Claire had asked him to avoid such a thing as her friend Melissa was not truly fit for that kind of life.

Now injured and without a medic esper in his team Desmond was paying the consequences for his actions, so Desmond decided to transfer Melissa to his squad at the first opportunity that presented itself; he thought she would be fine as long as he assigned the rest of the useless in his squad to protect the girl.

With such thoughts in mind, the squad continued to advance for a few minutes until they found the ancient den of the panthers.

Originally getting to this place was supposed to be Desmond’s squad’s main objective and they should be happy to be able to advance on this mission but no one showed the slightest sign of joy when they saw the bloodbath in front of them.