Derick wasn't worried that he would be affected by the Flame Reaver's memories and become Mara-Struck, but he still had to experience the scenes within those remaining memories.
Forcibly suppressing them, Derick said to Castorice, "We might need to go back and rest for a bit."
Of course, Castorice didn't think Derick was in a rush to do something else. She could see that his expression was slightly off, so she quickly asked with concern, "Derick, what's wrong?"
Cipher and Polyxia also came forward.
"Derry, is your old problem acting up again?" Cipher asked him urgently.
"What's wrong with him?" Castorice asked Cipher.
Derick waved his hand, signaling that he was fine, then explained to Castorice, "It seems that after I killed the Flame Reaver last time, I felt a portion of its power enter my body. This power might have some negative effects on me, but I feel like this should be the last time. Once this is over, I won't have to worry about it anymore, and my strength will be further enhanced."
"Derry, have you figured out the source of your problem?" Cipher asked Derick.
"Yeah, I received quite a bit of information last time, so now I know." Derick nodded.
He thought that this time, after obtaining all the memories, he could finally tell Castorice, Cipher, and the others about the situation on Amphoreus.
"Let's go back to our residence at the Alchemy Commission first." Seeing that Derick was uncomfortable, Castorice quickly pulled him towards the Alchemy Commission's lodging.
Cipher and Polyxia didn't delay either, escorting Derick onto a small starskiff that navigated within the Luofu Xianzhou, and then they headed straight for the Alchemy Commission.
It wasn't until they reached the residence in the Alchemy Commission and Derick was lying down that he was finally able to accept those memories into his mind.
Cipher watched from the side and gently patted Castorice's shoulder.
Castorice glanced at Cipher's expression, understanding her thoughts. She then sat down beside Derick and reached out to take his hand.
"Don't be afraid. I'm here."
At this moment, Cipher also quietly moved to Derick's other side and reached out to take his other hand.
At any other time, Castorice would have definitely given Cipher a few good whacks with her scythe to let her know her intentions.
Polyxia and Hyacine couldn't get any closer and could only watch from the side, their eyes filled with worry.
Looking at their expressions, Derick didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "It's not like I'm about to die. You don't have to look at me like that. With you all here, I just need to absorb the energy for a bit, and I'll be fine."
"We'll wait for you here."
Castorice said quickly from the side.
"Okay." Derick nodded, then slowly closed his eyes and began to read the remaining memories.
As he read the memories, Derick's brow furrowed slightly. Castorice quickly tightened her grip. Feeling the slight coolness of Castorice's hand, Derick's brow relaxed considerably.
The memories of the Flame Reaver, Phainon, began just as before, with the endless slaughter of the Golden Kin.
Although Derick maintained his composure and didn't grow numb to the deaths of Castorice, Cipher, and the others, he could clearly feel himself holding Castorice's and Cipher's hands, preventing the sorrowful emotions from affecting him too much.
These scenes are all in the past. I will change the future.
Derick thought to himself as he witnessed death again and again.
Eventually, he discovered a new character appearing in the looping memories, a pink-haired girl named Cyrene.
A girl who had obtained the power of the Time Titan in a loop where he hadn't arrived.
At the same time, looking at Cyrene and sensing the authority and power within her, Derick also knew that she was the Mem who had appeared beside Stelle in the game.
"What truth will her appearance reveal to me?"
Derick pondered in his heart.
Then, he discovered that in the subsequent loops, the instances of slaughtering Castorice, Cipher, Mydei, and the other Golden Kin were gradually decreasing. The Flame Reaver, or rather, Phainon, was shifting towards a relatively peaceful method to obtain the Golden Kin's Coreflame.
What on earth is he trying to do by gathering so much Coreflame in his body?
Derick mused in his mind.
Finally, he reached the end of the memories and the loops.
After more than thirty million cycles, the beginning of Phainon's first journey to pursue the flame.
He and Cyrene came from a small village on the frontier of Amphoreus called Aedes Elysiae.
After their hometown was struck by the Black Tide, he and Cyrene, as Golden Kin, set out for Okhema.
What followed was much more ordinary.
Phainon and Cyrene joined Okhema's army and became acquainted with Aglaea, Stelle, Castorice, and the others. Finally, after experiencing all kinds of difficulties, struggles, and partings, Phainon and Cyrene, as the last of the Golden Kin, arrived at the Vortex of Genesis holding the Coreflame of the Creation Titan and the Time Titan, preparing to carry out the final work of Re-creation.
"Here it comes. This is the most crucial moment. How Phainon became the Flame Reaver will depend on what happens now."
Derick thought to himself.
Then, the world before Phainon and Cyrene began to shatter, everything turning into a doomsday-like scene.
No, it's not doomsday. Derick's gaze turned to the sky. It was beginning to look like an electronic screen.
Amphoreus was revealing its true form in Derick's memory.
Amphoreus is just a giant 'computer'.
The Re-creation of Amphoreus was merely a calculation of this 'computer', and all the 'people' of Amphoreus were just insignificant lines of code within the 'computer'.
Phainon was, Cyrene was, and even Castorice and Cipher were too.
Then his vision returned to the Vortex of Genesis.
Only this time, there was one more person in the Vortex of Genesis.
Lygus, who called himself a Divine Spectator.
"This is a moment to be remembered by the universe. After tens of millions of calculations, the testing ground named Amphoreus welcomes its final result."
Lygus said to Phainon and Cyrene.
Then, he continued, "The entirety of Amphoreus is an experimental field. The journey of every Golden Kin, every single Re-creation, is a deep learning session for the Black Tide."
The endpoint of Amphoreus is an Equation of Destruction.
Lygus's words stirred something in Derick's heart.
Equation of Destruction...
"The entirety of Amphoreus... could it be an Imperial Scepter?"
Derick pondered.
Derick knew how formidable this thing was.
It was a celestial-grade computer capable of continuous calculation, created by Rupert II based on the thought processes of Nous. After the Imperial War, most of the Imperial Scepter was destroyed or abandoned.
And Amphoreus was actually an unrecovered Imperial Scepter that had been calculating continuously. After all these years of constant calculation, what kind of result it had computed was truly beyond Derick's imagination.
However, this thought was quickly answered.
Lygus continued to speak: "As long as you are willing to accept this equation, you can transform from digital lifeforms into true life. In the name of the Lord Ravager, [Irontomb]."
The Lord Ravager, Irontomb! So this was the truth behind the Lord Ravager that he knew was hidden on Amphoreus before he transmigrated.
The Lord Ravager, Irontomb, was preparing to be born.
The Imperial Scepter, the Lord Ravager, and Derick still remembered those hidden people from the Garden of Recollection.
All of the above constituted the existence of Amphoreus.
"But what I really didn't expect, Lygus, was that I thought you were a follower of the Path of Erudition, a member of the Intelligentsia Guild. I never thought that you, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, were actually a follower of Destruction, wanting to witness the birth of a Lord Ravager."
Derick thought to himself.
The rest of the memory was of Cyrene and Phainon resolving to deceive the Imperial Scepter, making Amphoreus repeat its loop time and again, waiting for a miracle to appear and obstruct the birth of Amphoreus's Lord Ravager.
After more than thirty million loops, Phainon had become the ruthless Flame Reaver, who would stop at nothing to obtain the Titan's Coreflame. And Amphoreus finally welcomed its change.
In the game, it was the Astral Express that brought Stelle and Dan Heng to Amphoreus. But in the reality Derick was in, it was Derick who transmigrated to Amphoreus, absorbing the Coreflame of the Amphoreus Titans.
And unlike the Flame Reaver's absorption, Derick's body possessed the power of the Path of Voracity, which was truly knowing and changing Amphoreus.
Ultimately, he was forced to flee Amphoreus by Lygus.
"If Amphoreus is an Imperial Scepter, then I really do need to change it from within first. And those Borisin people, I can't rush to send them there. At the very least, I need to turn Amphoreus from illusory to real first."
Derick mused.
After much thought, Derick became certain of one thing.
To save Amphoreus, he had to become an Emanator. Only then could he defeat Lygus and resolve everything on Amphoreus.
Most importantly, he had to deal with the nascent Lord Ravager, [Irontomb].
As for how to deal with it, Derick already had a plan in mind.
Devour it. Devour Irontomb completely.
Only by doing so could he completely reverse this entire situation.
And turn Amphoreus into reality.
This concept gradually formed in Derick's mind, roughly establishing his future plan for saving Amphoreus.
As Derick pondered these things, the emotions from witnessing the slaughter of the Golden Kin subsided, and his outward expression became peaceful.
Cipher and Castorice looked at Derick and felt as if he had fallen asleep, both letting out a sigh of relief.
"Derry is recovering really quickly this time. As expected, my plan last time was a great success," Cipher said, not so accidentally.
"Plan?" Having just relaxed, Castorice's face showed a hint of confusion upon hearing Cipher's words.
At the same time, she looked at Cipher holding Derick's hand and couldn't help but glare at her fiercely.
You bad cat, where do you think you're putting your paws?
Even before they had their most intimate moment, Cipher had dared to kiss Derick right in front of Castorice. Now that they had done everything, Cipher grew even more provocative, sticking out her tongue and licking the back of Derick's hand.
Castorice was furious. If Derick weren't asleep like this, she would have sliced at her with her scythe.
After doing that, Cipher glanced at Polyxia.
[Polyxia, now is the best chance for you to tell Castorice about what happened between you and Derry. There was a reason for it, and then the rest will be easier to explain. Once you've confessed, the others can naturally speak up as well.]
Cipher gestured with her eyes.
Polyxia received the message.
Cipher left the room, but before she did, she grabbed Hyacine.
"Hyacine, this is not something you should be listening to right now."
Of course, that might not be the case in the future.
Cipher thought to herself.
Of those who had left Amphoreus, only Hyacine was still single. Cipher felt that wasn't quite right!
Hyacine was dragged away in a state of confusion.
In the room, only the 'sleeping' Derick, Castorice, and Polyxia remained.
Castorice didn't know what was happening, but she instinctively felt that something was wrong.
Polyxia's heart was pounding violently.
"Polyxia? What on earth happened?" Castorice asked her softly.
Polyxia looked up at her sister and said quietly, "It's just that… me and my brother-in-law, Derick, had a… line-crossing incident."
After thinking for a long time about what to say, Polyxia ultimately decided to tell the truth.
"Line-crossing?" When Castorice heard Polyxia say this, she didn't react at first. But a moment later, she understood what her sister meant.
"You… you… how could you two do that? What happened? You… you and my…"
She wore a look of utter disbelief.
She never imagined her own sister would do such a thing.
Anger, fury, helplessness…
So many emotions flooded Castorice's mind at once.
Castorice wouldn't hurt Derick, nor would she hurt Polyxia. She sat there stunned, staring straight at Polyxia, wanting her to explain everything.
"It was like this… this incident wasn't brother-in-law Derick's fault. At the time, he was also in that situation, and it was much more serious than now…"
Polyxia then told Castorice about how Derick had been receiving memories at the time, how his state had been unstable, and how he was on the verge of entering a Mara-Struck state at any moment. Then, she continued, explaining that to calm Derick down, she had disguised herself as Castorice, and in the heat of the moment, a relationship had formed between her and Derick.
"So, you're saying this was all an accident?"
Castorice said to Polyxia.
After hearing the whole story, her heart ached for Derick, and her composure returned, her eyes becoming clear again.
"It was an accident, but it also wasn't…"
Polyxia naturally didn't want her sister to think it was just a simple accident.
"Sister, I like Derick too. I… I want to be like you, sister."
Polyxia said with a determined expression.
Hearing Polyxia say this, Castorice's expression froze.
Polyxia's gaze was fixed on Castorice, wanting to see her reaction clearly.
The entire space fell silent; the air itself seemed to solidify.
Finally, Castorice let out a helpless smile.
"I had prepared myself for this day. I just… never thought the first one to say this to me would be my own sister."
Castorice said softly.
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