Derick's appearance, so red that even Robin beside them noticed the abnormality. But before she could think much, she suddenly felt a weight on her shoulder. She turned her head to look and found Jingliu, disguised as Castorice, patting her shoulder.
Although the force wasn't great, Robin felt her entire body seize up, unable to move a muscle.
Jingliu gently pulled Robin towards the resting room.
Robin's body was numb; she could only act according to Jingliu's will.
After Jingliu dealt with Robin's situation, and with no one else around, Cipher and Polyxia pulled him towards the private chambers.
Upon entering the chambers, the two first had Derick lie down on the bed.
Cipher looked at Polyxia and said to her, "Sia, it's up to you now. Go prepare, and I'll observe Derick's condition here."
Polyxia nodded lightly. She then walked towards the adjacent room. She needed to remove her accessories and change her clothes to make herself look more like her sister.
Cipher remained, watching Derick.
Watching sweat bead on Derick's forehead, his brow furrowed tightly as if he were seeing something terrifying.
He effortlessly dodged Mydei's attack, then backhanded a sword through his tenth vertebra.
Derick felt the weight in his hand, thinking to himself that he had killed Mydei yet again.
This must be the ten-thousandth time, right?
Just killing Mydei, he had done it ten thousand times.
Looking at the fallen corpse, Derick surprisingly felt a sense of indifference.
After having this thought, Derick was startled.
No, indifference towards the death of friends, absolutely cannot happen.
It might make him feel better, but that would only turn him into a new executioner. If he didn't even care about the deaths of his dearest, most beloved partners and friends, then would he still be himself?
In this continuous cycle of reincarnation, Derick also realized that the Flame-Reaver wasn't just Phainon from the beginning. Instead, at the end of each cycle, the Flame-Reaver would have Phainon kill him, and then Phainon would inherit his memories, forming a new Flame-Reaver in the next cycle.
Derick had replaced Phainon in this cycle, absorbing everything about the Flame-Reaver. If Derick were to remain like Phainon, the Flame-Reaver, uncaring of life and death, treating the lives of his beloved friends as nothing, then wouldn't he become the new Flame-Reaver?
How then could he save Amphoreus?
"This emotion, I absolutely cannot abandon."
Derick shouted in his heart.
Subsequently, he no longer suppressed himself, carefully feeling the emotions within. The sadness and anger of personally killing his dearest friends welled up in his heart.
By carefully experiencing these emotions, by understanding the information contained within the memories, he could better grasp the Flame-Reaver's power and comprehend the truth about the entire Amphoreus.
After killing Mydei, Derick felt his vision shift towards the realm of memories. With a few flashes, Castorice appeared before him, holding a scythe, preparing to attack him.
Effortlessly dodging Castorice's attack, and after a clash of sword and scythe, the Flame-Reaver, from Derick's perspective, disarmed Castorice of her scythe, then his longsword sliced across her neck.
"The nine thousand eight hundred and twenty-first time."
Derick silently counted the number of times he had killed Castorice in his memories.
His heart suddenly ached.
This wasn't physical pain, but a spiritual agony. Witnessing himself repeatedly cut down his beloved, the profound emotions made his heart feel as if it were being sliced by knives, experiencing intense pain.
Cipher reached out, wiping the sweat from Derick's forehead. Tears involuntarily streamed from Derick's eyes.
At the bedside, Polyxia had already walked over, having changed into Castorice's clothes. Without her accessories, she looked indistinguishable from Castorice.
"No matter what pain you're facing, what problems you encounter, please let me bear them with you."
"Derick, he... he's crying?"
Seeing Derick's expression, Polyxia's heart grew anxious, and she quickly went to his side. Cipher, who had been holding Derick, saw Polyxia approach and handed Derick over to Polyxia's embrace.
Polyxia held Derick, her palm gently wiping away his tears.
"Derick, I will always be with you." Polyxia said, mimicking Castorice's tone.
Of course, these were also her own inner thoughts, just expressed under the guise of comforting him.
Seeing Polyxia take over with Derick, Cipher also felt a little relieved. She then stood up and said to Polyxia, "I'm leaving Derick to you. You watch over him here; I'll go check on things outside."
Polyxia nodded, then carefully laid Derick down, and lay down beside him, pulling him into her embrace. She quietly watched Derick's face, her forehead resting against his, feeling the dampness and the burning heat of his body.
"This is the ten millionth time! I really don't want to stab a weapon into Castorice's body again. Not just Castorice, but Cipher, Firefly, and precious elder sisters, Brother Mydei, I don't want to do any of it!"
Looking at Castorice falling before him for the ten millionth time, Derick felt like he was going insane.
Just how many memories does the Flame-Reaver have?!
Ten million different scenarios, but the result was always the same: stabbing a sharp object into Castorice and the others.
Sometimes, for other sisters from the Golden Kin, the process of killing them was even more extensive.
And throughout this process, Derick had to maintain his emotions as much as possible, absolutely no slackening, no numbness.
Each time, he had to vent with the most intense emotions.
This feeling was like death by a thousand cuts, and each cut had to be made while fully conscious, striking the most nerve-rich areas. For the Golden Kin, over ten million times, Derick felt as if his entire being had been sliced over a hundred million times in this manner.
Polyxia said softly.
The crucial point was that these memories were still constantly flashing.
It was truly more than an ordinary person could bear.
But Derick thought that these were, after all, just memories; his Castorice, Cipher, and Firefly were still waiting for him perfectly fine outside. Even if it was painful, Derick had to persevere.
Nevertheless, it was truly so painful.
After over ten million instances of slaughter, Derick finally felt that this absorption was over, and he had gained a significant portion of the Flame-Reaver's power.
It was just that the spiritual trauma was too immense.
Even when detached from the memory state, Derick felt his heart was on the verge of collapsing. When facing the killings, he could maintain restraint. But now that those scenes of slaughter were gone and his heart settled down, his mental defenses completely collapsed.
Derick couldn't even control this feeling.
The scenes of having killed his dearest friends and lovers over a hundred million times virtually consumed Derick's entire mind.
Until—
A purple-haired girl tightly hugged him, washing away all the bloody images.
"I'm here, I'm here with you. No matter what difficulties, I will bear them with you."
Castorice, it's Castorice. She's here, and she wasn't killed by me.
Derick tightly embraced "Castorice", not bothering to think why Castorice would appear here, wasn't she still on the Luofu Xianzhou?
With his mind severely traumatized, Derick was no longer capable of thinking about these things.
He only knew Castorice was here.
She hadn't been killed by him, but truly appeared in his arms.
"This is great, Castorice, it's really great that you're here."
Derick said, his voice filled with excitement.
Any slight differences were completely imperceptible to Derick, whose mind was currently suffering extreme trauma.
This appearance, this aura, it was Castorice, no mistake.
Tightly embracing Polyxia, Derick deeply inhaled her scent.
Polyxia felt Derick's strength, almost hugging her so tightly she couldn't breathe, but this feeling, she found, was utterly blissful.
Finally, to be held in Derick's arms, and so tightly.
She didn't forget to comfort Derick, gently stroking his head. Polyxia softly said, "I'm not here? Where? Derick, I will always be by your side."
"Mhm..."
Derick replied with a soft, muffled sound, like a child acting coy.
Hearing Derick's coy voice, Polyxia's lips curved into a smile, and her strokes on Derick became even softer and gentler.
But in the next second, something Polyxia hadn't expected happened.
Derick wasn't content with just cuddling and seeking comfort in her arms. After a moment of coyness, Derick wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and his lips pressed against her mouth.
And with considerable force.
Feeling Derick's breath, Polyxia's entire mind went blank.
No, what was happening?!
Derick, her brother-in-law, was kissing her.
This had not been part of her previous plan; she had only intended to act like her sister to comfort him.
But...
Although this situation was somewhat beyond Polyxia's expectations, she was very pleased with it. Deep down, she also had a desire for intimate contact with Derick.
Now, being able to kiss Derick, she was surprised but had no desire to resist at all.
Under Derick's practiced technique, Polyxia awkwardly and passively responded.
Polyxia seemed to have forgotten to consider one thing.
Her sister Castorice had already done everything with him. A simple kiss wouldn't satisfy Derick's yearning for Castorice.
Derick needed to take further action.
______
✅ Until 40 advanced chapters of ALL stories!
✅ Exclusive content and updates!
Help us hit our community goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone
🚀 55 MEMBERS = +5 extra chapters of ALL STORIES!
Claim your 25% OFF spot and unlock everything now:
👻 [email protected]/Walnutchan