PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

Although Camila was indifferent on the surface, she still wanted to know how Desmond was planning to leave the square. Being surrounded by four knights of the royal family and fifty of his best men, Desmond was in a bind. That look brimming with confidence in Desmond’s eyes convinced Camila that he could get out of this place.

A second later, she and Desmond shared a look of surprise as the little faerie stepped forward. The fairy grew in size, reaching the height of a little girl. Camila didn’t think that would make any difference.

Due to the distance and the faerie’s quiet voice, Camila couldn’t hear what Desmond and the faerie were talking about. What Camila did hear was the order to start an indiscriminate bombardment.

A slight, barely suppressed smirk appeared on the face of the person who was currently in charge of the operation. Camila immediately knew the intentions of that hypocritical piece of trash.

Halting her footsteps, Camila was ready to turn around and lunge at the asshole who gave the order. She had gone to a lot of trouble keeping Desmond and Cecilia alive, even while pretending to want to capture them. She would explode with rage if everything were ruined at the hands of an arrogant and treacherous asshole.

Camila knew Cecilia didn’t remember her and didn’t blame her. Since the day her bloodline awakened, her physical appearance had changed drastically. Her hair and eyes turned gray, and in a matter of five years, her young body developed to look like a woman in her mid-twenties. It was natural for Cecilia not to associate her image with that of that orphan girl who was starving when she met her.

So much had happened in the last five years; Her body wasn’t the only thing that changed. Her talent and affinity for mana, even if her intellect had evolved to a new level. She went from being an orphaned girl to being adopted by a noble family that could not have children. She became the commander of the most powerful military force in the kingdom.

The road had been long, but Camila felt it had been worth it. She was freer than anyone. Her power allowed her to enjoy life without any obstacles. She would never go hungry or cold; no one could tie her down. Even the crown prince had to swallow his pride when she rejected him.

.....

She was no longer that girl on the verge of death that Cecilia found. But that doesn’t mean anything if she couldn’t help the only person who took care of her when she was nobody. Cecilia fed, cared for, dressed, and kept her warm when no one else did when she was worthless.

Long before, when she was the holy priestess of the church. When Cecilia was just a low-level nun with no power or backing, Cecilia spent what little money she earned to take care of children like her. For Camila, Cecilia was always an angel, one she did not forget even when she reached the top. Even Cecilia didn’t know that she had been being watched over from the shadows by Camila. The latter kept the royal family’s evil intentions away from her.

Watching as her angel was about to be destroyed, Camila was losing control, and her bloodline started to go into activation. Camila felt her blood turn heavier and denser than quicksilver. Her hands, her feet, and part of her face turned to stone, giving Camila the strange appearance that half of her was made of solid rock. Perhaps, just because the stone was perfectly polished, without deforming her original shape one bit, Camila hadn’t lost a bit of her beauty.

However, Camila’s changes went unnoticed by everyone. No matter how strange Camila’s new appearance was, nothing drew more attention now than the huge iridescent mana dome in the center of the plaza.

All the attacks thrown turned into a bad prank that couldn’t even shake the dome. Even Camila, in her released form, an existence standing firmly in the three-star class, found mana fluctuations dangerous.

It wasn’t a matter of the energy in the dome, which was still impressive. Still, in Camila’s opinion, the purity of the mana was troubling her. Then Camila remembered the fairy that accompanied Desmond. She had read about fairies in the royal library books, so she quickly made the connection.

Camila also knew that fairies aren’t powerful. Of course, that didn’t matter anymore. Since once that dome fell, Desmond would most likely have escaped by now. Once Camila understood that she let out a long sigh of relief. She didn’t care that she probably wouldn’t be able to see Cecilia again; Camila even preferred it that way.

Camila was about to suppress her form when a tremendous wave of mana swept across the plaza. Her countenance turned severe. That mana fluctuation was almost twice as strong as it had been. The dome of elemental energies condensed rapidly, followed by another mana fluctuation.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s almost three times as strong.”

This didn’t make any sense. At least Camila didn’t think it did. Those mana fluctuations... They were already approaching the limit of the two-star class. Besides Camila, there were only two other strong existences in the entire capital. Still, none of them should be able to appear here.

Forget those two existences; the problem here was the source of the mana fluctuations. Camila no longer felt like they came from the fairy but still came from within her barrier. Inside were Desmond, Cecilia, and the faerie, but none of them adjusted for these mana fluctuations.

No matter how much Camila thought about it, none of this made any sense. Then, something happened that was even more outside the logic known to Camila. When the iridescent energy dome could not compress further, it began to be devoured by something in the center of the energy storm. Soon, when all the mana disappeared, a completely unknown entity appeared in the middle of the plaza.

Ash-blonde hair reached her shoulders, a strangely neutral face that seemed carved by the gods themselves, one eye blue as the ocean and one purple as wine. Four crystallized mana prisms floated quietly behind, like strange geometric butterfly wings.

Dressed in a complex white robe with black backgrounds and gold details, this new entity overflowed with a sense of elegance and majesty. It was beautiful, perfect, and pure, but anyone who saw it would have the same strange feeling... It felt like being in the presence of the vastness of nature itself.

This perception varied depending on who laid their eyes on this new entity. Those who were kindred to fire felt like looking at lava in a volcano. Those related to the water contemplated the immensity of the ocean. Infinite meadows, an unattainable sun, an electrical storm; everyone was looking at something different. Camila was no exception; she felt like she was facing an insurmountable mountain.

As the person with the most power and talent, Camila was probably the only one who realized what this phenomenon was all about. Affinity, this new existence was a monster with an absolute affinity for mana. Her mere presence ripped away some of their control over the elements from everyone.

Camila had never heard anything so absurd in her entire life; this kind of power was almost divine. This entity was a force of nature, and if there is one truth that remains absolute until now, it is that no human is greater than nature.

It was only through her iron temper that Camila managed to regain her composure and observe some additional details. As everyone in the plaza collapsed at the elemental pressure from this entity. Camila saw what this entity was carrying in its arms.

A closer look reveals that this entity was quite large physically, enough to carry Cecilia in one arm as if she were a baby. Cecilia had regained consciousness, but she was exhausted and barely awake.

Camila then noticed two other things. The first was the uncanny resemblances this entity shared with Desmond and the fairy. The second was that this entity was actually much weaker than it seemed.

If someone knew that Camila thought such a thing, that person would likely spit blood to death. Was this new entity weak? The answer was a resounding no. This new entity was strong to the point where she alone was enough to overwhelm everyone in the plaza except Camila.

The only reason Camila had the absurd notion that this entity was weak was that the entity had left quite an impression at the time of its appearance. If a person witnessed a divine being and felt that his power was close to that of a god. And then this person will find out that this being is very far from that level; anyone would have the sudden feeling that this being was weak. Weak compared to a god, of course. But compared to mere mortals?

“Who are you?” Camila couldn’t help but ask.

The entity kept silent, its gaze scanning the surroundings, showing a curious and innocent sparkle in her different-colored eyes. “That’s a great question.”

The entity kept silent once more, closing its eyes as if it thought to itself. Camila found it strange, but she chose to wait for an answer.

“I don’t have a name... I don’t have anyone who can give me one either... I know who they were and who they are... but I believe I am different from them. I believe that I am something new. They are part of me, and I am part of them, but we are not the same, are we? I’m not sure, but I think I’m a feeling now. You can call me Harmony.”