The dragon, carrying the infant, descended upon Styxia, bringing "Death" to this world.
Derick saw the Styxian soldiers walk before the dragon. The dragon "presented" the infant to Styxia. The Queen of Styxia ultimately accepted the infant from the dragon.
"That infant... why does she feel so familiar to me?"
Watching the dragon and the infant, Castorice found tears streaming down her face, though she knew not when they had started.
"Let's keep going. We'll see the outcome sooner or later," Derick said, reaching out to wipe away Castorice's tears.
"I know." Castorice looked at Derick's outstretched hand and couldn't help but lift her own, grasping his tightly. She let Derick's hand gently touch her cheek, savoring the warmth.
"Let's continue moving forward."
With Derick by her side, no matter what she faced next, she would have the courage to press on. Castorice held Derick's hand tightly, feeling an immense sense of security.
No matter what we encounter, we can keep moving forward.
Castorice and Derick moved onward.
As they walked, Derick thought to himself, Next, we should find that alchemist. Once we meet them, we can figure out a way to summon the dragon.
But just then, Castorice suddenly looked to one side and pulled Derick to a halt.
"Wait—wait, Derick," Castorice said.
"What is it?"
"Look over there!" Castorice stretched out her hand, pointing in a direction.
"What?" Derick followed her pointed finger and saw two red-haired children playing in an open area in front of Styxia's royal palace.
Seeing those two "children," Derick was instantly alarmed. Did something happen in Okhema? The Ti...
Subconsciously, Derick thought they were two of Tribbie, Trinnon, and Tianne, but upon closer inspection, he realized that although these two children bore a strong resemblance, there were subtle differences. Both revealed only one eye, not covered by hair like Tianne's, but by an eyepatch.
Derick looked at Castorice.
Castorice explained, "Those are Lady Tihe and Lady Tiping. A few years ago, they exhausted their power protecting a group of people migrating to Okhema."
"Let's go. Since we've seen them, let's go over and see. Hopefully, they still remember us."
Castorice and Derick walked over hand-in-hand.
As Derick and Castorice approached, Tihe and Tiping noticed them. Both wore puzzled expressions, but after a moment of thought, they recognized Castorice.
"Cassie, what are you doing here?" Tihe greeted Castorice happily.
"Don't worry, I'm quite a big shot around here. Now that you're here, I'll take care of you!" Tiping covered her eyepatch, a "wild" smile spreading across her face.
Derick sized them up. Tihe's eyepatch seemed to be protecting a possible eye injury. As for Tiping, she was a pure case of chunibyo.
"Lady Tihe, Lady Tiping, we came here to find the Coreflame of the Titan of Death," Castorice said to them.
"The Titan of Death's Coreflame?" Tihe and Tiping exchanged a glance. Tihe asked, "Tiping, do you know anything about Thanatos?"
"How could I, haha... how could I possibly... know..." Tiping laughed boisterously, but her tone soon deflated. For a soul like her, just maintaining a relatively complete thought process here was already a feat; how could she find an opportunity to seek news about the Titan of Death?
"It's alright, Lady Tiping. We've already gathered enough information here. I believe if we continue searching, we'll find a trace," Castorice quickly said to console Tiping.
"Mm." Tiping nodded dejectedly.
Derick crouched down and asked her, "Big Sis Tiping, how many more of your souls are here?"
"Big Sis? Hmm, that's right! I accept you as my little brother!" Hearing Derick call her that, Tiping was visibly stunned for a moment, but then quickly recovered, puffing out her chest proudly.
"That can't be right..." Tihe looked at Derick, wanting to know where the "Big Sis" came from.
"In Okhema, Big Sis Tianne treats me as her little brother, and then Big Sis Trinnon and Big Sis Tribbie also treat me as their little brother," Derick explained the origin of the address.
"I see." Tihe nodded in understanding. Then she reached out and patted Tiping. "You misunderstood."
"Oh, so that's how it is..." Tiping looked a little disappointed. At that moment, she noticed Derick and Castorice were holding hands, and her small eyes widened in utter shock.
"You can actually hold Cassie's hand!"
"Yes." Derick nodded, then he recounted his experiences after arriving in Okhema to Tihe and Tiping, carefully concealing matters concerning his avatars.
"I see." Tihe nodded in understanding.
Tiping, however, said to Derick with great satisfaction, "Not bad! If I were still in Okhema, I'd definitely make you my great general! We two would conquer Okhema together and become its kings! Ouch... Don't hit me!"
Tihe said to her, "Tiping, stop joking."
"I know, I was just thinking about it," Tiping muttered, covering her head aggrievedly.
Derick and Castorice both looked like they wanted to laugh out loud, but they barely managed to hold it in out of respect.
Derick remembered something and said to Tiping, "By the way, Big Sis Tiping, how many of your people are still here? How many can you see?"
If I master the power of Thanatos, I can do many things with these souls. If I find all nine hundred plus souls of the Ti family, will it bring comfort to Big Sis Tribbie, Tianne, and Trinnon?
Of course, if it were merely for comfort, Derick wouldn't think of such a method that disturbed the repose of the deceased. Derick was thinking of another possibility: if he were to obtain the Coreflame of the Titan of Passage in the future, could he eliminate the curse that Tribbie and the others endured? And with these nine hundred and ninety-seven souls, could Tribios reappear? Queen Tribios had split herself into a thousand parts for this Flamechase Journey, enduring a thousandfold of pain. Now Derick felt he had a chance; could he save her?
And Tiping gave Derick an answer that made him happy.
"Of course, there are 997! When I was playing around in this city-state, I saw everyone except Tribbie, Trinnon, and Tianne," Tiping replied to Derick.
However, her expression then became a little downcast.
"But, apart from a few, most of them have somewhat lost consciousness."
"Everything will be alright," Derick comforted her.
"Of course!" Hearing Derick say this, Tiping's face lit up again with a happy expression. "I am the most outstanding of all; even the River Styx cannot affect me!"
Worried that Derick's continued words might stir up more sad emotions, she immediately reached out to Derick and said, "Come on, follow me! Let's go find the others. I will definitely help you find news about the Titan of Death!"
"Okay."
So, Derick and Castorice decided to follow Tihe and Tiping to search for the other Ti family members.
After searching for a long time among the ruins of Styxia, Derick, Castorice, and the others did indeed find several Ti family members who had retained their consciousness.
Upon hearing Derick's situation, they were both surprised and happy to acknowledge him as their little brother. But when asked about the Titan of Death, none of them knew anything.
Until finally, there was one person who actually knew a little something.
"I saw the Queen of Styxia some time ago. Perhaps she knows something."
"Good, we'll take Cassie and Little Derick over there now," Tiping said to this Ti family member.
Having not seen Derick's smallest form, Tiping simply started by calling him "Little Derick," not "Tiny Derick."
Derick felt that if he absorbed the Titan of Death's energy this time, his body would definitely undergo development. After developing again, he couldn't be called "Tiny Derick" anymore, but "Little Derick." Of course, Big Sis Tianne wouldn't care about these things; no matter how much he developed, she would still call him "Tiny Derick."
...
Outside Styxia city, the battle raged. Cipher panted heavily as she looked at Avatar No. 1.
"You guys with undying properties are the most annoying! Can't kill you, and your stamina is terrifying," Cipher grumbled at Avatar No. 1.
From a hit-rate perspective, Avatar No. 1 hadn't landed a single blow on Cipher, while Cipher had hit Avatar No. 1 several times in succession. Unfortunately, it had no effect at all.
Seeing this, Derick immediately had Avatar No. 1 temporarily cease its activity. Cipher hadn't been hit at all just now, not just because of her speed, but because Derick was intentionally holding back. Now, seeing that Cipher was running out of energy, he also stopped to let Cipher rest. He also took the opportunity to recover his mental energy.
Seeing that the enemy before her had no intention of fighting, Cipher... also sat down on the ground.
She was truly out of energy.
Cipher drew a line on the ground in front of her. Regardless of whether Avatar No. 1 could understand, she said:
"As long as you don't cross this line, I won't attack you."
After speaking, she sat on the ground and began to rest.
...
Led by Tiping and the others, Derick and Castorice found the soul of the Queen of Styxia.
"The rest is up to you. Good luck," Tiping said to Derick.
"Mm, goodbye, Big Sis Tiping. I'll come and see you all then."
"Don't, please don't!" Tiping waved her hands repeatedly. "I really don't want you to come see us. Also, tell Tribbie, Tianne, and Trinnon, never come looking for us. Just live safely in Okhema, that's good enough."
"Mm."
Derick nodded.
I won't bring them to find you, but I will bring you to find them.
As long as there's a chance, I won't let the tragedy of the Chrysos Heirs repeat itself.
Perhaps to the literary youth, tragedy has a more romantic color, but Derick was a common person, an otaku who only wanted to see happy endings. Now that this kind of thing had befallen him, he didn't want a single tragedy to occur.
Tiping and the others left. Derick and Castorice came before the Queen of Styxia. The Queen's soul, due to the passage of too much time, already had a bewildered look in her eyes.
"Your Majesty, what do you know about the Titan of Death?" Castorice asked the Queen of Styxia.
"The Titan of Death..."
A look of confusion appeared in the Queen of Styxia's eyes. In her current state, she did not understand this term.
Seeing this, a hint of disappointment flickered across Castorice's face. Even the Queen of Styxia has no clues?
Derick asked another question.
"Then, Your Majesty, do you still remember the infant brought by the dragon?"
"The girl brought by the great dragon Pollux..." the Queen of Styxia murmured to herself, "I... sent her... to Aidonia... Amyntas... She... she gave that... girl... the name Hui... Castorice."
"Me!"
Castorice's mind went blank for a moment. Although she had somewhat anticipated it, when the truth was laid bare before her, Castorice still didn't quite know how to react.
The girl brought from the Underworld by a dragon. Accompanied by death since birth.
Castorice didn't know how to react. Not until Derick held her in his arms.
"I'm here. I'll always be by your side," Derick said to Castorice. "Let's go witness the truth of all this."
"Mm." Castorice gripped Derick's hand even tighter.
"Queen of Styxia, I wish to find the dragon. Do you know of any way?" Castorice asked the Queen.
"I do not know." The Queen of Styxia shook her head.
"Don't know, don't know..."
She muttered quietly.
"Let's go. Let's find other clues," Derick said, taking Castorice's hand and leading her away from here.
Castorice allowed Derick to lead her away from the Queen of Styxia. Walking along the path, Castorice said to Derick, "Derick, I'm thinking about something."
"What is it?"
Castorice replied, "Since we can see the Queen of Styxia, can I also see my adoptive mother, Elder Amyntas of Aidonia?"
"You will, of course, you will," Derick said to Castorice with great certainty.
"My memories begin in Aidonia. I want to ask her clearly about what happened before that. And then..." Castorice's voice paused slightly, then she continued, "Tell her that I'm living very well now, and I've found my own happiness."
The two of them circled around Styxia's royal palace and other areas a few more times. Although the River Styx was below, Derick had immense confidence in his avatar's abilities, guiding Castorice through jumps and glides as if they were on flat ground.
In Styxia's treasury, Derick saw many butterflies flying about.
"These are Nether Butterflies. The presence of these butterflies proves that there are many souls here," Castorice explained to Derick.
_____
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