PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

246 Chapter 246 Traces of Blood in the Dark

People often say that women are intelligent creatures and although this was usually said in a derogatory way, Desmond had to accept that such a phrase was quite true because his current circumstances were based on the actions of two intelligent women.

The first would, of course, be Miao Xiauyue who not for a second bought Desmond’s act but was still smart enough to recognize his usefulness, because of this Desmond now had to help Xiauyue to prove his worth and gain her trust unless he wanted to antagonize the sect master’s daughter.

The other woman who had contributed to all of this was Elaisa, not only since it was she who recommended Desmond to take this mission in the first place but she also chose and gave Desmond access to the skills to complete it.

The use of and had given Desmond quite prominent stealth abilities allowing him not only to move silently but also to reduce all kinds of traces his presence leaves behind him; such as heat signatures or even its aroma.

Sensory concentration ability allowed Desmond to amplify his senses giving him a better understanding of his immediate surroundings allowing him to better use his stealth abilities.

And it was through these abilities that Desmond was now on the top floor of the brothel called the lily garden about to begin an indiscriminate but silent slaughter.

A few seconds ago Xiauyue asked Desmond what would be their entry point to the building, Desmond quickly analyzed the basic structure of the building and drew his conclusions about the type of organization that operated it after which he quickly decided to start with the upper floor.

Desmond’s reasoning in this regard was well justified, according to his observations and deductions there was a high probability that there were at least another handful of common guards inside the building both on the ground floor and on the ground floor but that was not the trouble.

The problem is that Desmond was almost certain that this building would have at least one underground floor of which both its structure and extension are unknown, with that in consideration entering from the first floor would surely be the easiest option but in case of failing to maintain things quietly then he and Xiauyue would be besieged on three fronts.

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There was also another advantage to entering from the upper floor because unlike the lower floor, the upper floor had guards posted outside on the terraces so the guards inside would be less likely to be on guard against an enemy than came from a place that was supposedly guarded.

And with Desmond having previously murdered the four guards posted outside, it was only logical to choose the upper floor as the entry point, all these considerations were analyzed in Desmond’s mind in a matter of seconds but it took Xiauyue a little more time to understand such reasoning.

The reason was quite simple, a difference in background, whereas Xiauyue was superior to Desmond in medical and martial prowess to the point where Desmond would be made a fool of himself if he tried to compete against her; When it came to combat tactics Desmond led the way because of his military background.

But none of that was important at this time, because it could be said that both parties were entering unknown territory for both of them because although both had the necessary skills; neither of them had any real experience in assassination missions of this kind.

And because of it, Desmond chose a careful and slow approach instead of his initial direct and destructive style, sure, eventually, someone would notice the lack of response from the guards who had been killed but Desmond would rather that was the case compared to committing a rookie mistake and reveal their presence even before the above happened.

Therefore as soon as Desmond got to the outside of the building he subtly used mana to create a sound barrier around him and Xiauyue, this canceled out all the sounds generated in a small fixed area; not quite suitable for a stealth mission but quite useful when trying to make a silent entrance.

Xiauyue felt the wave of this strange energy travel through her body but she did not feel any abnormality, after giving Desmond a strange look she tried to ask him about it but was surprised that she could not hear her voice.

Even so, Desmond noticed Xiauyue’s reaction and made a couple of gestures to try to calm her down, seeing that Xiauyue calmed down quickly Desmond gave an internal sigh and proceeded with the next step of the plan.

Just by flexing his legs for a slight instant Desmond took a great leap clinging with one hand to the edge of the balcony on the second floor and using nothing but the strength of his arm to get himself up quickly; The entire movement was done with an almost feline grace that showed Desmond’s great mastery over his own body.

Xiauyue on the other hand was a woman who specialized in martial arts with philosophy or concept focused on subtlety, grace, and softness; so it wasn’t surprised when she jumped to the second floor with the ease and grace of a butterfly flapping her wings.

As for why Desmond and Xiauyue had to be so careful even when a sound barrier had been established, well, that was something that Desmond had discovered by accident.

As part of its mechanics, the wind barrier essentially inflicted a state of forced stillness on the airborne particles in a given area preventing sound waves from propagating, but this effect only applied to air that Desmond had direct access to, so Desmond couldn’t apply that effect in a room adjacent to him or through objects.

So even if Desmond applied a silent state in one room, if Desmond hit a wall the sound would only be muted on his side of the wall while the sound of the hit would still spread into the next room.

Of course, Xiauyue had no way of knowing this, she had only followed Desmond’s lead.

Upon reaching the second floor Desmond released his control over the wind barrier, from then on he would completely rely on his stealth and assassination skills to advance.

Moving silently into a low posture to reduce the visibility of his own body, Desmond advanced across the terrace trying to find an entry point to the interior of the building.

On the way, he passed more than one corpse of the guards that he previously murdered, one of them had his skull nailed to a wooden pillar that now supported both the wooden roof of the terrace and a hanging corpse.

Similarly, another corpse had an arrow stuck in its throat making its way up the spine and beyond, fixing the corpse to a wall.

Now looking closely at Desmond’s work, Xiauyue could only keep her astonishment silent, even a proud woman like her had to admit that Desmond’s archery skill was astonishing.

Desmond on the other hand did not pay any attention to the corpses, he was currently having a vague idea of ??what was going on inside the building by amplifying his sense of hearing as he approached the entrance to the terrace that he had just found.

Moving in complete silence Desmond was glad that he had been so cautious when advancing because just as he was about to reach the entrance to the terrace, his ears caught the subtle sound of someone advancing towards the door.

Doing a quick mental calculation Desmond guessed that he had about five seconds before the person was at the entrance of the terrace, the problem was that after the entrance all there was a straight corridor so it was impossible to try to catch that person by surprise.

Desmond took a second to analyze the position, angle, and dimension of the doorway before coming up with a workable plan.

Turning around he quickly approached Xiauyue whispering in her ear the current situation and his plan, Xiauyue felt a slight tingle in her ear and Desmond’s manly scent was impossible to ignore at this distance but she still managed to stay focused and moved quickly to execute her part of the plan.

Only a couple of seconds passed and the shadow of an individual became visible in the frame of the entrance to the terrace, Desmond who waited hidden in a shadow near the edge of the entrance held his breath as his heart rate rose to pump blood to his whole body leaving him ready to move.

“Fo, how does everything look out there?” The shadow at the entrance asked relatively loudly.

For obvious reasons the person named Fo could not answer him but that did not mean that his question remained unanswered as this individual saw one of the guards standing behind a pillar beckoning him.

A normal person, especially a guard, would have found the scene strange, but for some question of fate, the person at the entrance only muttered in a low voice to himself: “That bastard must have finished his wine, always forcing me to give him mine.”

It was a shame that those were his last words, as soon as this individual stepped out of the frame of the terrace entrance, Desmond lunged from the shadows towards the blind spot of this individual that originated due to the direction in which He was walking towards the person on the pillar.

Of course, this arrangement was not a coincidence, Desmond had played with space to have this window of opportunity and it was Xiauyue’s job to hide behind the corpse using her slender female physique so as not to be seen and move the corpse herself to make it appear that it was trying to communicate with the person at the entrance.

The rest were left to chance, but such a thing couldn’t be helped, Desmond just didn’t have the time or the experience to come up with a better plan, luckily it worked.

Before this individual took his second step inside the terrace he felt a sharp pain around his throat, he wanted to speak but only a strange gurgling came out of his mouth and when he tried to use his hands to check what was happening they were filled with this warm and slimy sensation with which this individual was quite familiar.

“Why am I bleeding?” It was his last thought before his consciousness faded into oblivion.

But his question would never have an answer, his life of sin and crime had been reduced to nothing more than a bloody trail hidden in the shadows of a building full of the most decadent side of humanity.