The flames rushed straight for Derick, igniting the area around him in an instant. The fire was so intense that beads of sweat formed on Derick's forehead, only to be instantly baked dry.
Duke Inferno was the founder of the Annihilation Gang, and his strength was not to be underestimated. This attack demonstrated his combat prowess, placing him in the first tier below the Emanators. However, Derick could now be considered the strongest below the rank of Emanator.
Derick raised his long halberd and charged toward Duke Inferno. As he rushed forward, he enveloped himself in the authority of the Ocean Titan. Although Duke Inferno's flames were powerful, they could not penetrate the defense Derick had deployed.
In truth, it wouldn't have mattered much if Derick had simply ignored the flames and let them burn. But the thought of cosplaying as Agni... Derick decided against it.
The long halberd shimmered with light, piercing through the fiery curtain Duke Inferno had arranged, smashing through the collapsing architecture of the Mansion of Eternal Fire that the Duke manipulated, and arriving right before him.
Duke Inferno stepped back, teleporting into the dense flames behind him.
He was an elemental lifeform to begin with; his previous form was merely for convenience in presentation and communication.
After he transformed into his elemental state and entered the flames, a massive flame giant appeared. Over a thousand meters tall, its temperature was far higher than before.
Derick's height of 1.7 meters was as insignificant as an ant before a human when compared to this thousand-meter giant. However, this "ant" was now more powerful than the "human."
The flame giant's fist smashed downward, and Derick's long halberd thrust toward it.
Derick's figure was already tiny, and the spear in his hand was even more minuscule compared to the flame giant. Yet, it was this infinitesimally small spear tip that, upon touching the giant's fist, halted its movement.
After a stalemate of several seconds, the entire colossal body completely collapsed, shattered, and fell as scattered sparks.
The falling sparks rained down on both Derick and Acheron, but with their strength, they could completely ignore them.
Derick charged forward.
Although the massive flame giant looked terrifying, it was merely fire elements manipulated by Duke Inferno. His true body was hidden within the flames.
Derick rushed in with his halberd, searching for Duke Inferno's true form.
As Derick plunged into the blaze, he found that the flames unleashed by Duke Inferno were no ordinary fire. Even he was temporarily blinded by the conflagration, unable to see his surroundings.
Just then, Duke Inferno suddenly appeared behind Derick, clapping his hands together to shoot a concentrated blast of fire at him. Although Derick couldn't see Duke Inferno, his combat instincts—honed by devouring the Strife Titan and the Flame Reaver—allowed him to react instantly. He sidestepped, dodging the attack, and simultaneously thrust his halberd toward Duke Inferno's chest, aiming to run him through.
But Duke Inferno was no ordinary foe. Sensing his attack had missed, he reacted swiftly, transforming back into his elemental state to retreat, preparing to ambush Derick again.
Just as he was about to retreat, Derick's halberd swung, flashing with several golden lights that blocked all of Duke Inferno's escape routes. Seeing this, Duke Inferno knew he had no choice but to fight Derick head-on.
Duke Inferno revealed his true form and created a sharp sword of fire elements in his hand. The tip of the sword spun, and the flame sword lunged at Derick. Derick raised his halberd and engaged Duke Inferno in battle.
In terms of raw power, Duke Inferno was still inferior to Derick. In a direct confrontation like this, Derick held a firm advantage.
Acheron watched Derick's performance and nodded slightly.
He had done exceptionally well. Victory was practically assured, and she didn't need to help him fight.
It was just that Acheron felt a slight sense of regret.
She had sensed there might be something about Derick that would pique her interest, but while his current performance was excellent, it didn't capture her curiosity.
"Oh well. Once I find the star chart and send him back, I'll leave," Acheron thought to herself.
As Acheron was thinking this, the battle between Derick and Duke Inferno reached its conclusion. Derick's long halberd accurately pierced Duke Inferno's body. At the same time, he infused energy into the Duke, completely destroying the elemental convergence within him.
Duke Inferno was defeated.
Pinned to the ground by the halberd, Derick looked down at him and said, "Duke Inferno, your path of destruction ends now."
"I am indeed about to die," Duke Inferno gasped, looking up at Derick. "However, my work of destruction is not yet over. I have one final act of destruction to perform."
Duke Inferno's entire body transformed into a fiery elemental lifeform and swiftly entered Derick's body.
"The truth is, while my strength is less than yours, I shouldn't have been defeated so quickly. The reason I chose to be killed by you like this was to use my own flames to destroy you," Duke Inferno's voice echoed in Derick's ear.
"I know you have regenerative abilities, but my flames will regenerate along with you, always following you, burning your spirit, making you feel constant pain. As long as this pain accompanies you, sooner or later, you will be destroyed."
"And you will never become an Emanator-level existence."
As he finished speaking, raging flames erupted all over Derick's body.
"Hiss." Derick couldn't help but draw a sharp breath.
The pain of being completely ignited was truly unpleasant; an ordinary person would never be able to endure it.
"Duke Inferno, you're really trying to turn me into Agni," Derick thought to himself.
Acheron watched from the side, preparing to help Derick overcome this trial. Using the power of Nihility, she could annihilate these flames. As long as she controlled the use of Nihility's power, she could do it without harming Derick's body.
Just as Acheron was about to act, Derick's body instantly changed. The power of Duke Inferno was directly devoured. Although Derick felt it was a bit risky to expose his power mimicking the Path of Voracity, compared to receiving help from Acheron, this little issue with his Path was not a big deal.
Derick didn't want to experience the sensation of Nihility entering his body.
"Duke Inferno, die for me!" Derick snarled, cranking the devouring power within his body to its maximum to consume Duke Inferno's flames.
"Voracity! Derick, you're not following the Hunt!" Duke Inferno shouted in shock and anger.
"One only needs to act according to the Reignbow Arbiter's ideals; why must one walk His Path?" Derick replied to Duke Inferno.
"Heh!"
Duke Inferno sneered, and then his entire being was completely devoured by Derick.
Even at the very end, he held onto his own convictions.
After devouring Duke Inferno, Derick felt a sense of relief. Not bad. Despite a few twists, his strength had ultimately increased.
Only Acheron was watching nearby. Based on her personality, she shouldn't be interested in his Voracity-like ability, right?
Just as Derick was thinking this, he saw Acheron appear right in front of him.
Almost face-to-face.
"You have the power of Voracity?" Acheron said, then immediately grabbed Derick's hand.
She looked at him, a slight glimmer of life now in her eyes.
Acheron finally understood why Derick's existence had intrigued her. His body actually possessed the Path of Voracity, and from the way he had just devoured Duke Inferno, the purity and intensity of his imitation of Voracity far exceeded the ordinary.
It could even be said to be the strongest degree of Voracity's devouring power beneath the Aeon of Voracity itself.
Since Derick could devour Duke Inferno's power, could he perhaps try to absorb some of the Nihility that existed within her own body?
She walked the Path of Nihility, which gradually tended towards self-annihilation. Acheron wanted to try anything that could halt this trend.
"I..." Derick had only spoken half a word when he felt Acheron channel a portion of Nihility's power into his body.
"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing! We have no quarrel! I don't want to be affected by that Nihility power." Derick yelled internally.
"Derick, can you try to use your Voracity-like power to devour this energy? Don't worry, I'm controlling the power I'm releasing. Even if you can't devour it, it won't harm your body," Acheron said, looking at Derick with a slightly pleading tone.
"Alright." Derick knew Acheron's personality and condition. For her to speak with such a pleading tone was the absolute limit of what she could do.
However, to be cautious, he still said to her, "You have to control it carefully."
Acheron nodded. "If it cannot be devoured by you, this Nihility energy will be reabsorbed by me. And if you can devour it, then it is no longer the energy of Nihility."
Derick activated the power of Voracity and attempted to devour the Nihility energy.
Bit by bit, Derick devoured the energy into his body.
Derick let out a long breath.
After devouring this Nihility energy, he felt it was different from devouring other energies. Instead of granting him the power of Nihility, it transformed into pure energy.
Acheron noticed this and nodded slightly.
The power of Nihility was, in a sense, a state of "nothingness." If it could be devoured, influenced, or interfered with, then it could no longer be considered Nihility, thus transforming into tangible energy.
"Your power... is very special," Acheron said to Derick.
The Voracity within his body was of a truly high order. Perhaps unless the Aeon of Nihility itself came to separate its power, Derick could devour it bit by bit.
Of course, not too much at once.
Acheron was well aware that if she released too much Nihility energy and Derick couldn't devour it all at once, the remaining power could destroy him.
This was also where the Aeon of Voracity fell short of the Aeon of Nihility. Voracity couldn't swallow Nihility in one gulp, and failing to do so meant it would inevitably be affected by Nihility in turn.
But that was in the realm of Aeons. She could somewhat control the Nihility energy in her body, and the order of Derick's Voracity-devouring was strong enough.
Perhaps he could really help her.
No, not just her.
Acheron knew how profound the energy in her body was. Even if Derick wanted to help, his devouring speed before becoming an Emanator couldn't keep up with her own growth rate.
But there were many other Self-Annihilators whose conditions were not yet so advanced. In the future, Derick might be able to help them completely.
At this thought, Acheron's eyes filled with hope as she looked at Derick.
Seeing this look in Acheron's eyes, Derick couldn't help but take a step back.
Whoa, lady, what are you planning to do?!
Derick quickly changed the subject. "By the way, aren't you a Galaxy Ranger? Why do you have Nihility energy in your body?"
"Didn't you just say it? One only needs to act according to the Hunt Aeon's ideals." Acheron retorted with his own words.
Then she paused for a moment and still told him the truth.
"Of course, I am not a Galaxy Ranger. I am only using this title because I want to deliver the relic of a true Galaxy Ranger to his companions. As for myself, I am just someone affected by the power of Nihility."
"Mhm."
Derick nodded in understanding.
Acheron looked at Derick and said, "Right, we should hurry up and find the star chart. After we find it, I'll take you back to your home."
"Right, I almost forgot about that."
Derick hurried off to find the star chart.
As he was looking for it, Acheron added, "If it's convenient for you, I hope I can stay at your place for a while. If needed, I can be your bodyguard."
Hearing Acheron say this, Derick almost stumbled.
Holy cow. Letting one of the very few people in the universe who can threaten me stay by my side?
That's way too dangerous!
However, after some thought, Derick nodded and agreed.
"Alright, I have plenty of houses over there. There's definitely a place for you to stay, Miss Acheron."
Acheron's power was undeniable; she was a genuinely strong bodyguard. With one slash of her blade, she could probably turn Amphoreus from '∞' into '00.'
Derick thought about how Amphoreus was the cradle for a Lord Ravager, meaning Nanook's gaze would likely be fixed upon it.
If he didn't want the Lord Ravager Irontomb to be born, would other Lord Ravagers interfere?
With Acheron around, she could block the attack of at least one Lord Ravager.
Bringing her along was a huge gain.
With these thoughts, Derick searched around the Mansion of Eternal Fire. After a full circle, he found the star chart in a corner.
Duke Inferno wouldn't have known that he and Acheron were lost, so there was no reason for him to have destroyed the chart. Derick found it, quickly returned to Acheron's side, and prepared to leave.
_____
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