PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

Much had changed since the awakening, society collapsed and the beasts ran rampant for a little over a year until powerful espers arose to repel the brutal mutated beasts thus reclaiming some of the bastions of human civilization.

But the casualties were not few, the world population suffered a heavy blow after the incident, ironically human lives did not become more valuable from that day, after the birth of espers only those with powerful abilities became important.

From the ashes of civilization emerged a new society that prioritizes strength above all else, naturally, most of the surviving governments did not take long to notice the change and focused all their efforts on strengthening their military strength with the help of powerful espers.

Perhaps the only problem that most governments worldwide faced was arrogance, endowed with unique powers vital to the survival of the human race, the Espers became arrogant and difficult to please, which is why the various countries around the world devised all sorts of ways to tie the espers to their forces and keep the espers happy.

From astronomical payments, privileges of all kinds, resources, and access to all kinds of technological advances both domestic and military, the most powerful espers in each country lived like kings.

Of course, this would be untenable for any power if they gave the same benefits to all Espers, so it took a certain amount of strength and achievement for the country to have access to these benefits, that was the case even if said Espers were not part of the army.

As if that was not enough, there were many government reforms aimed at reinforcing the Espers’ sense of privilege, many might not know it but the law that allowed polygamy was designed to satisfy all those Espers who had a great desire for the female sex; After all, apart from the espers, no one was rich and carefree enough to form a harem.

It was precisely because of this kind of tempting benefits that all kinds of Espers offered their services to the government and the army when the opportunity arose, such was the case of Ulrick, an Esper with the ability to track people from objects that used to belong to them.

.....

Due to how useless his ability was in combat, Ulrick refused to enlist in the army but still received commissions from the army to track down criminals from time to time, due to the incredible rarity of ability like his and how in-demand it was, it was quite expensive to hire Ulrick′s services.

It was precisely the high cost of his services that made it a bit strange that someone like him was hired to investigate something in a small border town like Green Seed Town; not that Ulrick minded as long as he gets paid.

Showing how arrogant he had become due to his ability Ulrick showed no respect for the military escort who came to pick him up to take him to his destination, he didn’t need to show them respect as they were the ones who needed him.

He was annoying, to say the least, but the soldiers escorting him were professionals and were not swayed by Ulrick’s rude attitude and faithfully stuck to their roles as escorts.

Soon the small group set off in two ATVs with Ulrick in the rear vehicle while the other vehicle filled with armed soldiers served as the vanguard.

Seeing the serious attitude of the soldiers and the extra security measures they took, Ulrick couldn’t help but ridicule them for being excessively paranoid, arguing that no one in their right mind would be stupid enough to attack a military convoy, much less in a desolate town like the one they are heading to.

The driver, a decorated veteran soldier, was fed up with the reckless behavior and tried to shut Ulrick up, but as he briefly turned around to face Ulrick in the backseat, the driver saw a flash of gold in the distance in his peripheral vision.

Everything happened too fast, none of the two vehicles managed to react, much less see the projectile that was approaching at an amazing speed.

They would never believe that that flash of gold was a carbon fiber arrow with a three-bladed titanium fixed blade arrowhead, no matter if the materials of the arrow could be considered premium, an arrow aimed at an armored vehicle was ridiculous; perhaps the biggest problem was not the arrow itself but all the mana condensed in the arrowhead.

A sturdy set of menacing-looking golden shafts made of condensed mana were fixed on the arrowhead, and its destructive power was about to be tested once more.

When the golden flash hit the car at the forefront, it was like a giant blow completely crushing the front of the armored car, the sheer force of the impact bringing the front of the vehicle to a dead stop causing the rest of it to rise from the momentum sending the entire vehicle spinning while the few intact parts were destroyed by the crash against the asphalt until the momentum was exhausted stopping the piece of junk that was left.

A small hope that someone in the vehicle was still alive was just taking shape when internal damage to the vehicle caused some kind of short circuit that ignited the fuel tank, bursting what was left of the vanguard into flames.

Everything went too fast, just a couple of seconds ago both squads were driving while telling some joke via radio between them and the next second half of them were dead.

Unfortunately, that second of a daze as they watched the remains of their companions go up in flames was what sealed the fate of the people in the second armored vehicle.

Gunshots began to ring out in the distance with bullets constantly hitting the car’s armor, the soldiers inside attempted to return fire using the vehicle’s thick armor to their advantage but soon regretted their decision.

“They are using an anti-matter rifle with anti-armor bullets” The driver shouted when he saw how the co-pilot had his skull blown to pieces by a projectile that went through the armor.

They would have tried to maneuver the vehicle to reduce the chances of being hit but some of the first shots fired by the sniper targeted the vehicle’s wheels destroying them making it impossible to drive the vehicle.

“Get out of the car, we’re no different than a sitting duck.” Armed with his experience, the veteran driver yelled at those left alive in his squad only to be hit by a bullet that ripped out his throat.

Watching their friend and colleague drown in his own blood as the light in their eyes dimmed, what little sanity the remaining two soldiers had left was completely shattered as they both got out of the car firing furiously in the direction of the sniper fire.

It was useless, sniping skills aside, the two soldiers standing in the middle of the street while shooting like idiots were no different from sitting ducks... no, maybe they were no different from a fish on a chopping board.

Surprisingly none of the soldiers died and for a second they believed that by some stroke of luck one of their bullets had hit the sniper killing him on the spot, in their state of confusion and euphoria none of them noticed a shadow in the sky that was approaching at high speed.

That is why none of them reacted when two rapacious claws smashed their skulls making their brains rain down on the asphalt in a brutal way.

The owner of these claws continued to attack the remaining armored vehicle leaving all kinds of deep marks on it showing the enormous hardness and sharpness of her claws.

Seconds passed and only the sound of metal being torn apart continued to fill the place until a male voice broke that melody of destruction: “That’s enough Athena, you did a good job”

The sounds of metal being ripped apart stopped and an adorable voice answered: “Kurururu Athena good at hunting things.”

The owner of the voice did not seem to respond to the female voice and instead the sound of boots hitting the asphalt echoed for a moment until a man with black hair and blue eyes peeked inside the vehicle to find Ulrick lying on the ground trembling with fear.

“To think that someone is still alive” The man commented with a flat and disinterested tone.

But Ulrick didn’t care, as soon as Ulrick saw the man’s military uniform he felt as if God had taken pity on his soul giving him a second chance; clearly fear had affected Ulrick’s judgment.

Ulrick cried and begged to be helped but only got silent, he tried to explain who he was and how important it was for him to get to Green Seed Town to get the soldier’s help but only got silence and a cold look.

Only then did Ulrick begin to notice the strangeness of his situation, soon he saw a pretty girl with cream-colored wings whose legs ended in a pair of predatory claws; then he understood but it was already too late.

“I don’t know if you’re lucky or unlucky, you really survived until all the collateral damage was done” commented the man with hair as black as night, his blue eyes as cold as ice.

Ulrick tried to reply but couldn’t, unable to even see how he died, Ulrick fell into a pool of his blood and as his mind trailed off the last words he heard were merciless: “I guess it’s time to clean up”