Hunter Academy: Revenge of the Weakest

Chapter 577 127.6 - Answer

"It is all your fault."

Maya whispered again, her breath ragged as she leaned over Astron. Her hands pressed firmly against his chest, her body trembling with the emotions she could no longer contain. Her eyes, wild with desire, bore into his, her face flushed as she fought to make sense of everything she was feeling. "You… you always do this."

Astron's gaze remained locked on hers, still holding that flicker of surprise, but there was something else there, too—something she couldn't place. But it didn't matter. Not now.

"You don't even know, do you?" she continued, her voice low and strained. "How you always make my heart race. Every little thing you do—every gesture, every word—" Her fingers curled into his shirt as she leaned closer, her body nearly trembling with the force of her emotions. "Even when you don't mean to, you make me feel this way… You make my heart flutter."

Maya's breath hitched again, her body trembling as she pressed even closer to Astron. Her fingers gripped his shirt tighter, her eyes dark with the whirlwind of emotions swirling inside her.

"And I know," she whispered, her voice barely audible, yet it carried the weight of her thoughts. "I'm probably not the only one you do this to, am I?"

Astron's expression shifted slightly, but he still remained silent, his gaze unwavering, yet his silence spoke volumes.

"Like that Emberheart girl..." Maya continued, her tone filled with a mixture of frustration and vulnerability. "I'm not stupid, Junior. I may not always show it, but I see things. I notice the way people react to you." She paused, her fingers digging into his chest slightly, her heart racing faster with every word she spoke. "Especially her."

The name felt heavy on her tongue, like a bitter truth she had been avoiding.

Maya's instincts were rarely wrong. She wasn't oblivious to the subtle tensions between people, and she could feel the way Irina Emberheart looked at Astron. That wasn't just casual interest—it was something deeper, something more complicated.

"I saw the way she looked at you," Maya said, her voice trembling now as if her emotions were threatening to spill over. "The way she reacted. I know there's something between you two. Maybe it's from before we met, or maybe… it's something growing now. But I'm not blind."

She closed her eyes for a brief moment, trying to steady herself, but the vulnerability and the intensity of the moment made it impossible. "You probably don't even realize it yourself, do you? How you pull people in without even trying. How you make people feel this way..."

Her words trailed off, her heart aching. Despite the heat of her desire, the overwhelming need, there was a part of her that felt unsure. She didn't want to be just another person caught in his orbit, lost to the same gravitational pull that seemed to surround him.

Maya's heart pounded in her chest, each beat reverberating through her entire body as her gaze locked onto his. Her fingers trembled slightly, but her resolve didn't waver. She wasn't like the others. She couldn't be.

'I'm different,' she thought, her eyes searching his face for any sign that he understood. 'I'm the one you belong to. You're mine.'

The thought settled deep in her mind, cementing itself with each passing second. No matter what happened, no matter who came into his life—he could only belong to her. There was no turning back now, not for her. She had already crossed a line that no one else could follow, and there was no escape for either of them. Not now.

As she looked at him, her breath caught in her throat, her eyes trailing slowly over him. From his intense, unreadable gaze, down to his chiseled jaw, and finally to his lips—those smooth, slightly parted lips.

A new desire stirred in her chest, a need far more intense than anything she had felt before. It wasn't just the desire to kiss him again or to feel his warmth against her skin. No, this was something deeper. Primal.

She wanted to mark him. To leave a trace on him that no one else could. Something that would show the world—and him—that he belonged to her. That no one could take him away.

'Mine… only mine.'

The words echoed in her mind, and before she could stop herself, she leaned down, her breath grazing his lips. Her heart raced as the temptation grew stronger, her fingers curling into his shirt as if to anchor herself to him. She could feel the overwhelming need surging inside her, demanding that she claim him in a way that would leave no doubt.

Her lips hovered just above his, but instead of kissing him, she shifted her head slightly, her gaze locked on his neck. A part of her knew it was irrational, that this feeling was consuming her too quickly, but she didn't care. She couldn't stop herself.

Maya's lips brushed against the skin of his neck, her fangs itching to bite, but this time… this time it wasn't for blood. This time, it was to leave a mark, a symbol of possession. She pressed her lips softly against his skin, leaving the faintest trace of warmth. The desire to bite, to leave something more permanent, surged again, but she held back, her control just barely hanging on.

"You're mine," she whispered, her voice breathy, trembling with the intensity of her emotions. "No one can take you away from me… no one."

Maya's breath quickened as her lips hovered over his neck, her body trembling with the intensity of her emotions. She needed more—needed confirmation of everything she was feeling, everything she had already decided. Her instincts screamed at her, urging her to claim him, to make him hers in every way.

Without fully realizing it, her fangs pressed into his skin, gently at first, but then deeper as her mana surged, uncontrolled. A strange sensation rippled through her as her red-colored mana flared, pouring into her fangs and sinking into his skin. She didn't understand it, didn't question it—she only followed the instinct that demanded her to continue.

Her lips sealed over the bite, and she sucked in a small portion of his blood, the taste once again rich and intoxicating. But this time, something was different. The moment the blood touched her tongue, a wave of unfamiliar energy coursed through her, jolting her senses. It was as if her mana had reacted to his, intertwining in a way that felt both exhilarating and terrifying.

As the strange sensation settled, Astron's body tensed beneath her. He shook slightly, his chest rising as he took in a deep breath, his hand coming up to rest on the back of her head. The gesture was gentle, almost comforting, yet it sent shivers down her spine.

Before she could make sense of what had just happened, Astron's voice broke through the haze, his words calm but filled with something deeper. "Senior… do you know why I came to this academy?"

Maya froze, her fangs still lightly embedded in his skin. The question was unexpected, like a cold splash of water in the midst of the heat that had consumed her. She blinked, her mind struggling to process the sudden shift in the atmosphere. Slowly, she withdrew her fangs, her lips parting from his neck as she stared at him in confusion.

His purple eyes gazed at her, calm but intense, as if he was about to reveal something important—something that had been hidden beneath the surface all along. The rush of desire she had felt moments ago was still there, lingering just beneath the surface, but now, it was mingled with curiosity.

'He…..' Maya's thoughts swirled, her breath still shallow as the remnants of her earlier desire clung to her. But Astron's question pulled her back to reality, grounding her in a way she hadn't expected. She knew, deep down, that he wasn't like the other students at the academy. Even before their bond had grown this close, she had sensed something different about him—something inherent, something that set him apart from the rest.

She had always known there was more to him than what he let others see. His magic, his mana—it wasn't like anyone else's. The way it moved, the way it felt in the air around him, it was… otherworldly. Even if his raw power wasn't the greatest, his potential, his control—it was undeniable. There was something within him that made him more than just a student, just as she wasn't a normal one either.

And though she had always been curious—endlessly curious—she had never pressed him for answers. She trusted him. Trusted that one day, when he was ready, he would reveal everything to her. That's why she had been patient, holding back her questions, even though the mystery surrounding him had gnawed at her for as long as she could remember. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"….."

She stayed silent as she knew that this was his moment to speak. She did not want to interrupt him since she knew it was not easy to reveal things like this.

Astron remained still beneath Maya's trembling form, his eyes steady and unreadable as he carefully considered his words. The weight of what he was about to reveal hung heavy in the air, thick with tension and anticipation.

Maya's breath, still shallow and ragged from her earlier outburst, slowly began to steady as she sensed the shift in his demeanor. Her fangs had barely retracted from his neck, the faint sting of her bite lingering, but now the atmosphere between them had changed. It was no longer charged with the intensity of desire, but something deeper. Something much darker.

After a few beats of silence, Astron finally spoke, his voice calm, yet filled with a cold resolve that sent a chill through Maya's spine. "Senior… the reason I came to the academy wasn't just to learn or to improve my skills. It wasn't for some noble purpose, or to protect anyone."

He paused, his purple eyes boring into hers, unreadable and distant, as if he was letting her into a part of his world that had been locked away until now. "I came to this academy for revenge."

Maya's breath caught in her throat. Her earlier heat of emotions cooled instantly as those words sank in, the revelation hitting her like a bucket of ice water. Revenge? Her mind reeled, trying to grasp the full meaning of his confession. It wasn't what she expected—not by a long shot.

"For as long as I can remember," Astron continued, his gaze distant, "there's been something driving me. A goal, a purpose that I couldn't let go of, no matter how much I tried to live normally. It's like a flame that's been burning inside of me, a fire that never goes out. Even here, at the academy, that fire burns, reminding me every day of why I can't stop. Why I won't stop."

His hand, still resting on the back of her head, gently pushed her away, creating a small space between them, enough for Maya to sit back slightly. He needed her to hear this clearly, to understand the truth that had been haunting him all this time.

"When I was young, I lost someone," Astron said, his voice lowering, his eyes flickering with a brief flash of emotion.

Maya's eyes widened slightly. The emotions that were contained in those eyes were so profound that she could not even speak.

"She was taken from me," Astron continued, his voice growing colder, his words cutting like shards of ice. "By demons. Creatures that should never have existed in this world. They came in the night without warning, slaughtering everything in their path. I was powerless to stop it. Powerless to protect her." His fists clenched at his sides, the faint tremor in his hands betraying the otherwise calm exterior he maintained.

"I swore that night," Astron said, his eyes hardening with determination. "I swore that I would find the ones responsible. I would track them down, no matter how long it took. And when I did, I would make them pay for what they did. That's why I came to this academy. To grow stronger. To learn. To gather information about the ones who took her from me."

Astron's words hung in the air, heavy and filled with the weight of his past. Maya could feel her heartbeat slow, the intensity of the moment shifting into something more profound, more somber. His confession explained so much—why he always seemed distant, why there was always a shadow in his eyes that she couldn't quite place. He wasn't just a student, wasn't just here to learn. He was here to take back what had been stolen from him, to exact revenge for a loss that had shaped him.

His purple eyes locked onto hers, and for the first time, she saw something raw, something that went beyond the calm and control he always exuded. It was vulnerability—a side of him she had never seen before. And that vulnerability was a test. A challenge.

"I live for this, Senior," he said, his voice low but steady, a quiet storm brewing beneath his words. "Every decision I've made has been for one purpose. I can't stop until I achieve my revenge, until I make those demons pay for what they've done."

He paused, his gaze piercing through her, as if searching for something deep within her soul. "Knowing all of this... can you still stay by my side?"