Pollux (Polyxia) naturally wouldn't answer Castorice (Butterfly).
It looked at Castorice, complex emotions swirling in its dragon eyes. Derick waited by Castorice's side. After a moment, Castorice knew she wouldn't get an answer from Pollux.
She then turned to Derick and said, "Derick, you can absorb the energy from Pollux's body now."
"Alright. You and Cipher, please step back a fair distance."
"Mm."
Castorice moved back, and Cipher had already hidden far behind much earlier. Only her eyes, filled with curiosity, peeked out, wanting to see how Derick would absorb the Titan of Death's energy.
"After Derry absorbs it, will he have any strength left? Maybe he could absorb my Titan of Trickery's energy too while he's at it," Cipher muttered to herself as she watched. Although it feels unlikely, what if?
The two watched Derick as he approached Pollux.
Seeing Derick, Pollux was in no mood to be trifled with. Its eyes blazed with intense anger. If Derick hadn't pinned it down with the Spear of Retribution, Pollux probably would have immediately risen to fight him to the death.
"This might hurt a bit. Just bear with it."
Towards his "little sister-in-law" (as Pollux was Castorice's mother/origin), Derick was still somewhat polite, giving it a heads-up before absorbing its energy.
Then, under Pollux's furious gaze, Derick stepped onto its body and reached the wound on its back. Because the wound was open, energy flowed out with its blood. Derick reached out and began to accept the Titan of Death's energy.
Derick's avatar had already absorbed that piece of the Titan of Death's energy, so his main body could now absorb it directly.
The power of Death slowly entered Derick's body. The circulatory network for a third Titan's energy began to form within him, starting to plunder the Titan of Death's power.
Feeling the energy in its body being absorbed, Pollux struggled violently, even though it was pinned to the ground. Derick had secured it too firmly; Pollux's struggles didn't affect Derick's absorption of its energy at all.
The blood from Pollux's wound split further, staining Derick's body. Legend spoke of heroic warriors bathing in dragon's blood; Derick's current state could be considered a dragon blood bath.
His body in contact with dragon blood, while internally expanding the network for a third Titan's energy, Derick felt waves of tearing sensations wracking his body. His entire being was being torn apart, repaired, and then reconstructed.
"Ugh..."
Even Derick, who had experienced various kinds of pain, couldn't help but cry out when faced with this tearing sensation.
"Derick!"
Seeing Derick like this, Castorice's heart ached, and she wanted to rush forward.
Cipher quickly stopped her.
"Butterfly, don't move! Although Derry is in great pain right now, his body is becoming stronger. Don't go and interfere with him. He can successfully absorb the Titan of Death's energy."
"I... I know."
Though Castorice was frantic with worry, Cipher's call calmed her down. She saw that although Derick was gritting his teeth against the pain, his body was indeed continuously absorbing Pollux's energy. He was fulfilling his own mission.
Derick had considerable experience in enduring pain. The initial tearing sensation had indeed made him cry out, but he gradually adapted. He began to silently feel the changes in his body. The tearing, restructuring, and stabilizing of all his cells... The Titan of Death's energy brought these changes, and Pollux's blood accelerated the process.
Rip—
The sound of fabric tearing reached him. Derick felt his clothes being ripped apart. Even amidst the pain, Derick couldn't help but want to laugh out loud.
His body had grown larger again! He was finally no longer shorter than Castorice. Thinking of this, even the pain in Derick's body seemed to vanish.
"Hahaha..."
Derick couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Hearing Derick laugh like this from the side, Cipher said with a puzzled look, "Has Derry gone silly from the pain? Why is he reacting like this? Wait, no, this fellow's height..."
"I understand why Derick is laughing," Castorice said, a smile playing on her lips.
Cipher nodded in agreement. For Derick, what he cared about most was his height. Now, having obtained the Titan of Death's energy, Derick seemed to have grown taller once more.
Derick felt the pain in his body further recede, and the energy of the Titan of Death was now established within him. Sensing this, Derick knew clearly that he now possessed the power of the Titan of Death.
"Now, I can enter the Underworld very smoothly."
He thought to himself. Of course, there was something even more important than entering the Underworld.
Derick looked at Cipher and said to her, "Cipher, lend me some water, I need to rinse my body. Also, you have a mirror, right? Lend me that too."
"If you want to borrow them, you can. But that will cost money."
Just as Cipher had said before, taking her body was one thing, but taking her money was another. Now that she had a chance to extort money from Derick, she certainly wouldn't pass it up.
"How much is needed? I'll pay," Castorice offered from the side.
Cipher waved her hand.
"I don't want your money; I want Derry's money. Derry, give me all the money you have on you, and I'll give you the mirror and clean water."
"Alright." Derick did have some money on him, though not much. It was all income from the few times he had accompanied Castorice to the mortician's place; he wouldn't feel bad giving it away.
"Mm." Cipher happily tossed a large waterskin and a mirror to Derick. As she threw them, Cipher sighed and said, "Just based on your attitude, Derry, even if you obtain the Titan of Trickery's Coreflame in the future, you won't fall for my Oracle's Beguiling Words. A dead man has no money, but if Derick doesn't have a penny, how can he be done for?"
"Indeed."
Derick, while taking Cipher's words seriously, picked up the clean water and rinsed his body. After using the water, Derick's body was more or less exposed. At this moment, he was glad he had guessed his body would change, so the shorts under his clothes were very stretchy; even with his increased size, he still had a pair of shorts to cover himself.
"I need to find a solution for this next time."
Derick thought to himself. He picked up the mirror, about to look, when Cipher's exclamation came.
"No way, Derry, it's a real shame your body isn't going into the modeling business!"
"Thank you for the compliment, but I hope you won't compliment me next time."
Derick silently retorted. Then he glanced at Castorice beside Cipher, saw her face slightly flushed, her gaze fixed on him, a smile playing on her lips.
Derick quickly picked up the mirror and looked at himself.
The body of an eighteen-year-old youth, already considered an adult. The childishness of his youth had faded, but the aura of adolescence hadn't diminished in the slightest. His features were as delicate and handsome as before, his skin fair, and compared to before, he had an added sense of vibrant energy. An eighteen-year-old's body was at its peak vitality. Cipher and Castorice, who had experienced much time, felt a sense of life's vigor just by looking at Derick.
Looking down, although Derick had pectoral and abdominal muscles, their contours weren't overly defined; there was no incongruity of a delicate face atop a massively built physique. Derick's body presented a coordinated aesthetic, one could say his figure was constructed with optimal proportions.
As for height, Derick estimated his current height to be around 1.75 meters.
"Compared to other characters' heights, I'm now about the same height as the Trailblazer, Aventurine, and Bai Qi. It's also roughly my height back on Earth," Derick thought.
"It's just that I won't be able to grow to Old Yang's (Welt's) height."
Derick felt a slight sense of regret. After his height had grown to this point, Derick had this feeling: his body was tending towards perfection. If it grew any larger, the coordination of his body would be disrupted, so further strengthening wouldn't change his height. Even if he were to accommodate new Titan energies, the circulatory networks would compress to increase space rather than his body expanding to accommodate more Titan energy.
"Alright, be content for now."
Derick thought with satisfaction.
At this moment, he felt a sensation under his feet and remembered he had been stepping on his "little sister-in-law" all this time. Now that the energy absorption was complete, he really needed to let her go. Derick immediately got off Pollux. But looking at its dying appearance, Derick still took out some of his own blood and let it flow into Pollux's body.
He walked over to Castorice's side. Seeing that his current height surpassed Castorice's, her head just reaching his nose, his heart swelled with an indescribable joy. He wasn't a chauvinist, but always being shorter than his lover felt somewhat lacking.
Seeing Derick's happy expression, Castorice was speechless. Then she extended her arms, allowing Derick to hug her. Leaning quietly against his shoulder, Castorice asked Derick softly, "Well? Are you happy with how you feel now?"
"Mm."
Derick nodded affirmatively. Finally, he was the taller one.
Cipher watched from the side, looking quite envious.
Castorice then let go of Derick. Cipher asked him, "Derry, do you now possess the power of the Titan of Death in your body?"
"Of course."
Derick nodded, extending his palm, from which emanated the same purple energy as Pollux. It contained a dense death energy that made Cipher instinctively retreat. Castorice, however, felt an unconscious desire to draw closer to this power. Derick retracted the energy and said to Castorice, "I now possess the energy of the Titan of Death in my body."
"Let's go. Let's cross the River Styx to the Underworld and find the Titan of Death's Coreflame," Derick said to Castorice.
"And also, about your true origins."
The joy of his height increase had been celebrated; what remained was to do what he needed to do next.
Castorice nodded emphatically.
"Let's set off."
Receiving an affirmative answer, Derick turned to Cipher and said, "Cipher, you rest here and wait for us. We're heading to the Underworld."
Cipher said lazily, "Got it. Remember to be extremely careful. If something happens in the Underworld on the other side of the River Styx, I won't be able to go over and bring you out."
As she spoke, she took out a tent, sleeping bag, food, and firewood.
"You guys hurry up and go!"
Cipher crawled into her sleeping bag, lit the firewood, and began to warm herself and roast food.
Watching her actions, Derick and Castorice were stunned for a moment.
"Next time, your hood should be blue instead of black. And it would be best if you added a pocket on your stomach," Derick quipped. Do all cats have the ability to conjure various items out of thin air?
"What are you talking about? I don't understand."
"It's nothing. Forget it if you don't understand." Derick couldn't explain it to her. He took Castorice's hand, preparing to head towards the Underworld. Glancing at Pollux, whose body was currently reacting violently to the energy, Derick also reached out and took hold of it.
The Titan of Death's energy emanated from Derick, forming a protective shield of the same energy around Castorice and Pollux, one person and one dragon.
With that done, the two humans and one dragon disappeared into the River Styx.
"So mysterious." Seeing Derick not explaining his earlier quip, Cipher grumbled a bit. Then she let out a long sigh and muttered softly, "Derry, Butterfly, you two must come back safely."
She could do nothing now but wait for Derick and the others to return safely.
...
When Castorice awoke, she found herself lying in a sea of flowers. Her mind only held the memory of Derick leading her into the River Styx. She didn't know what happened afterward.
Derick?!
Her heart leaped in alarm, and she fumbled beside her. Soon, her hand touched a long, sturdy palm. Turning her head, she found Derick lying beside her, his eyes also closed, sleeping peacefully.
This reassured Castorice. As long as he's okay.
But, why is there a faint red mark on his cheek?
It had to be said, although Derick's body was almost that of an adult, his face still leaned towards delicate and soft. The feeling of pinching it was just as good as ever. Castorice had wanted to pinch it earlier, but now someone had apparently beaten her to it.
As Castorice was pondering, a voice came.
"Rest assured, he just consumed a bit too much energy bringing us across the River Styx. Then, after entering the Underworld, I used a little trick to let him sleep for a while."
Hearing this voice, Castorice quickly sat up. Seeing the speaker, she was overcome with shock and confusion. At the same time, Castorice felt an urge to cry.
The young woman opposite her sat in a wheelchair. Apart from a claw-like ornament covering her right eye, her other features were identical to Castorice's.
"Who are you? Why do you look so much like me?" Castorice asked the young woman.
"Indeed, older sister, you don't have any memories of before," the young woman said with a helpless smile, wheeling herself in front of Castorice.
"Older sister?" Castorice repeated the name.
"Yes, my older sister," the young woman said to Castorice. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Polyxia. The great dragon Pollux outside was me. Also, you can call me Thanatos."
Receiving so much information, Castorice was stunned for a moment.
"Older sister, I know you're a bit confused. Don't worry. Walk with me here for a while, and I'll slowly explain everything to you," Polyxia said to Castorice.
Castorice glanced at Derick, who was lying on the ground.
Polyxia also noticed Castorice's gaze and said with a light laugh, "Don't worry, older sister, he'll be fine. Just let him sleep peacefully here for a while."
"How could I possibly harm my brother-in-law?"
For some reason, Castorice felt that Polyxia was gritting her teeth when she spoke of Derick. But if what she said was true, that the great dragon Pollux outside was also her, then this teeth-gritting seemed somewhat understandable. After all, Derick's method of awakening the dragon had been simple and crude, and his final absorption of its energy had also been violent. Castorice felt that this Polyxia probably didn't have a very good impression of him.
Forget it, forget it. Let's find out the truth first, Castorice thought, then stood up and walked towards Polyxia.
Polyxia wheeled herself forward, and Castorice silently followed beside her, waiting for her to speak.
When the two of them were gone, Derick quietly opened his eyes a slit.
"Luckily, I pretended to be asleep. Otherwise, I would have really disturbed their reunion."
He thought to himself. Although Derick's stamina was greatly depleted, and Polyxia had used a trick to make him sleep after entering the Underworld, Derick had quickly regained consciousness. Just as he was about to get up, he noticed Polyxia approaching him.
What is she going to do? Derick wondered, just as he felt Polyxia reach out and pinch his cheek.
What's with you Amphoreus people? Why do you all like to pinch people's cheeks for no reason?!
After two hard pinches, Derick could clearly feel Polyxia's venting frustration. Seeing this, he felt even more embarrassed to open his eyes. If he were to open his eyes at this moment, Derick felt Polyxia would definitely not explain anything more to Castorice but would instead just explode.
"It's better to watch the two of them interact for now."
Derick was filled with satisfaction. He realized that what he had done was successful. After absorbing the Titan of Death's energy, he had already infused Pollux with his own blood. With the infusion of blood, Polyxia's body seemed to have undergone some changes. It wasn't as lifeless as in the game.
"This is a good change. Maybe I have a chance to prevent a tragedy from happening," Derick thought, looking at the surrounding flowers.
_____
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