PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

676 Chapter 676 Love, Devotion, And Nostalgia.

“For our second place, we have an alchemist that no one knew before today, but that no one will forget tomorrow. Beautiful, exotic, and hot as fire, making use of a never-before-seen refining technique, everyone gives a big round of applause for Sasha Kor Ignis.”

With the announcement made by the host, Qiqi, Claire, and Cecilia were disappointed, they had believed that Sasha would definitely be the first place, but they were wrong. Though ignorant about the details and so on, Revna thought the second place was pretty good so she wasn’t as disappointed as the other two girls.

Desmond, for his part, believed that this was to be expected given the circumstances, not to mention that the achievement itself was already incredibly impressive. One had to remember that Sasha had just won second place in an alchemy tournament based on a system she had practiced for just a few weeks. While it’s true that Sasha had vast experience in alchemy in general and her system shared many similarities with this world’s, that still didn’t deny that it took her only weeks to compete with people who had decades delving into alchemy.

Feeling both happy and proud, Desmond watched with interest as Sasha came forward to receive her prizes, quickly getting a bad feeling when he saw Sasha not answer Qiqi’s question and instead approach the judges to retrieve her newly refined pill.

Remembering Sasha’s words, Desmond knew that trouble was coming, and so did Claire, Cecilia, and Revna. With almost no surprise, Sasha continued without answering Qiqi’s question, instead she just stared in Desmond’s direction with eyes filled with passion and longing.

Quite helpless, Desmond knew what she wanted to do, and what her gaze was asking of him, he knew and was well aware of how troublesome it was. In the end, Desmond accepted that he was incapable of saying no to Sasha and got up from his seat in the box. As a light blizzard began to envelop his figure, Desmond couldn’t help but mutter. “With what I like to be discreet.”

Instead of paying attention to the way Desmond rushed onto the stage, Claire, Cecilia, and Revna focused on what they heard him mutter. Even Claire, who adored Desmond, had to roll her eyes at the antics of the love of her life.

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While it was true that Desmond could be very discreet and stealthy when he set his mind to it, that was only for the good of circumstances when he pursued a particular goal, it had nothing to do with his tastes or nature. The reality of the matter was that Desmond was anything but discreet, as suggested by his overly attractive appearance, his proud and domineering personality, as well as his love of firearms and bombs.

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Claire knew of many of Desmond’s exploits, so it was impossible for her to associate her mate with the word discretion. The same was true of Cecilia who watched as Desmond brought down the tallest tower in her hometown to its foundations with who knows how many bombs and used said tower to bury his enemies, which, while effective, was anything but discreet.

Revna was perhaps the only one with a slightly different opinion. Due to the way, she met Desmond and their interactions in Garden, Revna believed that Desmond was already trying hard to be discreet. At the very least, Desmond hid very well in his hometown back on earth.

Whatever the case, the girls weren’t too lost in their thoughts, as Desmond had already arrived on stage right in front of Sasha and things weren’t looking good.

One had to remember that this was not just any event, but an alchemy tournament organized by the power that controlled this city, the Eternal War Maiden sect, there was no way the tournament wouldn’t have high security and Desmond was now being pointed by half a dozen swords and spears in the hands of this security.

Looking somewhat helplessly at the cause of all this, Desmond sighed. “I would have expected to get in trouble for Claire’s antics or Cecilia’s naiveté, but I didn’t expect it to be your passion of all things that would have me here in the middle of this group of ladies with such serious looks.”

A part of Sasha felt bad for putting Desmond through this, but she still wanted to be selfish and capricious for once. “I also didn’t expect you to be so impatient to receive my love that you rushed here so abruptly.”

Seeing Sasha’s smirk, Desmond gave up. It was true that he had been the one to provoke the guards with his entrance, but that was clearly what Sasha wanted him to do, the happiness burning in the girl’s eyes gave her away. However, Desmond wasn’t interested in arguing with her. Turning around slowly, Desmond gave Host Qiqi an apologetic look and pleaded. “Miss Qiqi, as you can see, this damsel here is mine, I have only come to congratulate and pamper her, I hope you can indulge an impatient lover.”

While there was a playful insincerity in the way Desmond expressed himself, Qiqi wasn’t blind enough not to notice the kind of relationship Sasha and Desmond had, which led her to understand the situation. Signaling the guards to remove their weapons from Desmond’s throat and ribs, Qiqi responded. “You must have missed her very much and wanted so much to have her by your side to have made such a reckless move like that.”

Ignoring the naked criticism, Desmond responded proudly. “Well my Sasha just won second place in an alchemy tournament organized by your prestigious Eternal War Maiden sect, it’s hard not to want to kiss and hug her.”

Though Desmond was handsome, with a well-built body that gave off the feeling of power barely contained due to his tight martial robes, even with his devilishly charming smile, Qiqi couldn’t help but roll her eyes at his effrontery, finding the man more annoying than charming.

However, Qiqi had to admit that while she didn’t find Desmond attractive, it couldn’t be said that she didn’t envy Sasha slightly, after all, even with half a dozen guards targeting his life, Desmond’s priority still seemed to be her.

As for Sasha, the poor alchemist had already reached the limit of what her natural shyness allowed her to endure. Although she had tried to appear cool and charming to Desmond, Sasha had never been the type to take embarrassment or intimacy in public well.

Feeling thousands of gazes fall on her, Sasha started to feel dizzy but tried as hard as she could to do what she had in mind. “From the moment we met, you have been nothing but the light in the darkness to me, what I cling to when the loneliness becomes unbearable, my salvation in more ways than one. So far, we’ve been through a lot together and shared a lot of beautiful memories, but I’ve never felt like I’ve repaid you for everything you’ve done for me. I know that a reward is not what you were looking for and that given our relationship, we are beyond such things, but I still want to give you this, the fruit of my efforts, my love and devotion for you, also a fragment of nostalgia.”

As words filled with gratitude and love fell from Sasha’s raspberry-flavored lips, she held out her hands and showed Desmond the Fire and Ice Phoenix Pill she had made. Desmond knew how much Sasha loved alchemy and was passionate about it, but he was also well aware that an original creation like this was very different from learning something from an alchemy book. As Sasha had said, this pill must have been the result of a lot of hard work, Desmond was very clear about how difficult the process of creating something completely new in the field of alchemy was.

As for why Sasha had called it a fruit of her love and devotion, there were plenty of explanations at this point, but it took Desmond a second to understand what Sasha meant when she called it a fragment of nostalgia. Eventually, Desmond remembered that strengthening potion of fire and ice that Sasha had given him long ago, the first token of appreciation she had given him back then.

Even someone with a heart of stone would have been moved by hearing Sasha and seeing the pill in her hands, much less Desmond. “When you say something like that, you make me feel like the luckiest person in the world… You also make a whole stadium full of people look at me with hate and envy.”

Saying that last part with some grace, Desmond didn’t mince words grabbing Sasha by her waist and stealing her lips, mercilessly plundering that raspberry-flavored nectar he could only get from her.

Desmond didn’t care where they were, what thousands of people were watching, or the alchemy tournament he was interrupting; at that moment all he wanted was to convey his love to Sasha by pouring as much love and passion as he could into her through his lips.