Derick was actually still a little afraid of Acheron.
The power of an Emanator alone was manageable, but the problem was that Acheron walked the Path of Nihility.
The Path of Nihility could inflict the greatest harm upon Derick—it could even be fatal. Derick had his clones scattered across the universe, making the chances of him being physically killed very low. But the Path of Nihility could completely destroy Derick's consciousness.
To lose one's consciousness was meaningless, even if the body could recover.
Acheron grabbed Derick's arm and could feel the fear and worry in his emotions. She, however, felt little about this situation.
It wasn't the first time this had happened; many people feared her. Besides, her first meeting with the young man named Derick before her hadn't exactly been pleasant.
He had been flying along just fine when she suddenly piloted her ship and crashed right into his starskiff. Acheron could actually understand why Derick had attacked her.
"Where do you want to go next? I'll take you," Acheron said to Derick.
"Alright..." Derick was about to nod and let Acheron take him to the Luofu Xianzhou. But just as he was about to, a question occurred to him, and he asked Acheron:
"Miss Acheron, do you know the way?"
"No. I don't know where this is, nor do I know where to go next," Acheron replied to Derick after some careful thought.
"Then why did you offer to take me?"
Acheron fell silent for a moment, seemingly realizing her earlier words had been a bit absurd. After thinking, Acheron said to Derick, "Then you point the way, and I'll take you there."
Derick looked around. After being knocked off course by Acheron, he had no idea where they had ended up. Without a star chart, he didn't know which way to go either.
Although he wasn't as directionally challenged as Acheron, his sense of direction wasn't particularly good either.
"I don't know either."
Derick said honestly to Acheron.
The two looked at each other; a good sense of direction was nowhere to be found between them.
Acheron, after all, got lost often, so she was quite experienced in being lost. She thought for a moment and said to Derick, "Let's just fly in one direction for now. If we see any signs of people or civilization, we'll land and find a star chart and a ship. You... you can read one, right?"
"Yeah, with a star chart, I can figure out the way."
Derick said to Acheron.
"Good."
Acheron then took Derick's hand, and the two began to travel through the cosmos.
Derick could traverse the sea of stars with ease, to say nothing of Acheron, an Emanator of Nihility. Even crossing an entire galaxy didn't take Derick and Acheron very long.
However, in the vastness of the universe, planets with civilizations were few and far between. After crossing several galaxies in a row, Derick and Acheron had found nothing.
Just as Derick was about to tell Acheron he wanted to rest for a bit, Acheron looked ahead and said to him, "I think I see signs of civilization up ahead."
"Really?" Hearing Acheron say this, Derick's spirits lifted.
"Yes."
The two quickly flew in the direction Acheron had indicated.
When they arrived, what appeared was not the civilized planet Derick had expected.
It was just a single building.
It resembled a palace but was filled with a dense, fire-aspected energy.
"This palace... it looks very familiar," Derick muttered to himself upon seeing the palace-like structure.
"You know this place?" Acheron asked Derick.
"Of course."
At first, Derick hadn't been able to place it, but one look at Acheron and he immediately remembered where this was.
"The Annihilation Gang's Mansion of Eternal Fire."
"Ifrit, the Fire Demon?" Acheron nodded, then drew the long blade from her waist. Of course, Acheron did not unsheathe the edge; the sword remained in its scabbard.
Duke Inferno was strong, but not strong enough to make Acheron truly draw her blade.
Derick drew his own long blade and took a fighting stance. Duke Inferno's power was still something he had to take seriously.
The two arrived at the Mansion of Eternal Fire.
Not long after their feet touched down, a tall figure with the head of a ram and a human body, wreathed in flames, appeared.
It was Duke Inferno.
"I never expected my Mansion of Eternal Fire to receive two distinguished guests today," Duke Inferno said politely.
"The rising star of the Xianzhou Alliance, the one who personally slew the Lord Ravager Phantylia and annihilated the Borisin, Mr. Derick."
"And this is..." He looked at Acheron, his eyes filled with inquiry.
"Acheron, a Galaxy Ranger," Acheron stated her name.
Duke Inferno couldn't help but glance at Acheron.
Since when did such a powerful individual appear among the Galaxy Rangers?
"I see. No wonder you two travel together," Duke Inferno said with a nod.
Flames then appeared in his hands as he asked Derick, "Have you two come here bearing the will of the Hunt to kill me?"
No, we're actually just lost.
Derick only said this in his mind; he would never admit it out loud.
Acheron was about to speak, but Derick stepped forward first, standing opposite Duke Inferno.
"That's right. The time has come to answer for the evil deeds of your Annihilation Gang. We came here to eliminate you," Derick said to Duke Inferno.
Acheron was indifferent to this. Hearing Derick's words, she stepped back to silently watch the battle between him and Duke Inferno. If Derick found himself outmatched, she would then step in to help.
It was also a good opportunity to watch Derick fight and get a measure of his strength.
She had heard about Derick's exploits, and Acheron was still somewhat curious about him.
"Good."
Hearing Derick's declaration, Duke Inferno responded with joy.
In his eyes, his death was already a certainty. Against Derick alone, he still had the confidence to fight. But seeing another woman whose presence was clearly no weaker than Derick's, Duke Inferno knew he had no chance of victory.
He had even sent everyone else away, preparing to face Derick and Acheron alone.
Duke Inferno did not yet know Acheron's true power; otherwise, he would probably be even more... excited.
Yes, excited.
He had long ago planned a destructive end for himself.
Followers of the Path of Destruction revel in it, even if it is their own destruction.
In a way, Duke Inferno was even more pure than a Lord Ravager.
In this life-or-death battle with Derick, although he felt it was impossible for him to survive, he couldn't even manage to take Derick down with him.
But, if he could defeat Derick—defeat the man who killed a Lord Ravager—wouldn't that be one last great contribution to Destruction?
With this thought, Duke Inferno launched his attack on Derick.
All the surrounding structures simultaneously burst into flame, merging into a towering inferno that lunged at Derick.
____
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