"Okay, I understand."
Faced with Castorice's somewhat angry warning, Derick obediently relented.
Seeing his 'apologetic' attitude, Castorice didn't know what to say. However, she was also aware that the next time they encountered such a dangerous situation, Derick would still use the same method of self-destruction to achieve victory.
His immortal body was more versatile than Mydei's.
At this moment, Mydei slowly woke up.
The strength in his body needed to recover. Although Mydei was alive, he didn't get up. He turned his head to look at Derick: "Next time you encounter this kind of situation, remember to tell me beforehand."
"Okay, I know."
Derick smiled and agreed.
Hearing their conversation, Castorice squatted down, blocking others' view of Derick.
While others couldn't see, she couldn't resist reaching out and pinching Derick's cheek, looking at him with resentful eyes.
He had just promised me he wouldn't do such dangerous things, and then immediately discussed with Mydei how to better self-destruct.
Castorice pinched Derick several more times before letting him go.
At first, it was because she was angry, but after a few pinches, Castorice felt that his skin was quite nice to touch, so she couldn't help but knead it a few more times.
Derick finally finished reassembling himself at this moment.
And the moment his body was fully restored, he looked at Phainon, who was not far away, and yanked off his cloak, wrapping it around himself.
Mydei had experience with death; his clothes were specially made and weren't damaged even in the explosion. Derick's clothes didn't have this effect. Just now, they were stained with blood, so no one noticed. Now that he was reassembled, it would be very conspicuous.
Derick felt he would lose a lot of face if he showed himself like this in front of Castorice, Trianne, and Hyacine.
Grabbing the cloak, Derick wrapped himself up.
Phainon, whose cloak was suddenly snatched, didn't react at first. However, when he saw Derick using his cloak to wrap around his waist, he understood.
"Looks like you'll need custom-made clothes next time, Derick. You can grab my cloak this time, but if I'm not around next time, you'll be naked," Phainon couldn't help but say with a laugh.
Derick silently gave Phainon the middle finger.
"Little Derick, are you okay?" Trianne hurried over at this moment and asked Derick.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." Derick tightened the cloak around him and said.
"I'll head back to the Grove of Epiphany first." He quickly strode off, clutching the cloak, and ran towards the Grove of Epiphany.
"Little Derick, this..." Trianne first said in confusion, then she also reacted and couldn't help but shake her head.
"Kids are just shy."
Although they knew that in terms of age, Trianne was indeed telling the truth, seeing her childlike appearance making such an expression, it was hard for them not to feel a sense of affection.
Phainon and Hyacine couldn't help but laugh. Castorice also chuckled a couple of times, but remembering the scene just now, she felt her cheeks burning. The others were too far away to see, but she was so close. Even though Derick was covered in blood, she had seen everything clearly.
Derick returned to the Grove of Epiphany.
There were still many clothes left behind by scholars. Derick was glad that this was a gathering place for scholars, and there were many short scholars, so he could find clothes to change into. If he had run to the military camp, finding clothes would have been troublesome.
After Derick changed his clothes, Cerces slowly walked in.
"You, why did you behave like that just now."
"Isn't this the advice Lord Cerces gave me? To get rid of that Fire-Stealer." Derick said speaking boldly.
Cerces had mentioned this name earlier, so Derick used it directly.
"I absolutely did not give you such advice!"
Cerces felt like she was going to ignore him too.
"You are a smart person. You must know that I wanted you to give up this place and bring my Flame-Core back to Okhema."
"Yes, of course I know." Hearing Cerces say this, Derick nodded, "But if that's the case, I'm not reconciled, nor am I at ease."
"Not reconciled to failure, not letting all our efforts here only result in an escape. Not at ease, I worry that this will only encourage the Fire-Stealer's arrogance. Today, facing him, we can only flee. Does that mean he can act recklessly in the future, plundering and invading at will?"
"Okhema, and even the entire Omphalos Star Palace, wouldn't they all fall under this threat?"
"Lord Cerces, running away won't solve the problem. Only fighting and defeating the enemy is the most appropriate solution."
Cerces looked at him silently.
She initially thought Derick was acting on a child's impulse, but it turned out he had already thought about the consequences before acting.
"Since this is your thought, then I have nothing to criticize." Cerces looked at Derick, "However, for the continuation of my form, I need to absorb the Titan of Reason's energy from your body. I will find a way to compensate you in the future."
"Mm, okay, Lord Cerces, please take it."
Derick understood very well.
Since it wasn't a dead end now, returning the Titan of Reason's energy to Cerces so she could maintain her form was also very normal.
Derick stretched out his hand to let Cerces absorb the energy from his body.
Cerces also stretched out her hand to touch Derick's palm.
A suction force was generated in his palm, and Derick felt the energy belonging to the Titan of Reason on his body converging towards his hand.
And then it was gone.
When Cerces tried to suck the Titan of Reason's energy into Derick's palm, she couldn't draw it out.
"How can this be!?" Cerces's face turned somewhat pale.
Why isn't it coming out!?
She had clearly given it to Derick, but now she couldn't get it back.
The energy of the Titan of Reason gathered more and more, and Derick felt his palm was a little swollen. The throbbing pain made him unable to bear it, and he asked Cerces: "Lord Cerces, can you hurry up?"
"I know, I will do it as soon as possible."
Cerces increased the suction force, but apart from making Derick's hand more swollen and painful, there was no other reaction. After trying a few more times, Cerces still didn't succeed.
Cerces's face was pale, and finally, she helplessly put Derick's hand down.
Shaking her head, Cerces said helplessly: "It seems this is fate. After my energy entered your body, it cannot be extracted and has formed a self-circulating system."
Derick didn't expect things to turn out this way.
"Am I like a Pixiu? Only in, no out."
He thought this, and then quickly asked Cerces: "Then Lord Cerces, what should we do?"
"There are two ways. The first is for me to also give you the Flame-Core, and you take it back to Okhema to continue the Flamechase Journey. The second is for you to release some energy into my body, allowing me to temporarily maintain my form for a few days. After that, you will need to infuse me with energy every few days. You, how will you choose."
Taking it herself and Derick giving it were two different concepts. If she took it, the subsequent energy would belong to her and could be used with the Flame-Core for self-circulating recovery. If Derick gave it, the energy still belonged to Derick; she was just borrowing it. Once used up, it would be gone, and she would need a refill.
"Let's choose the second option for now." Derick immediately chose the second option.
He looked at Cerces, who had her eyes closed and a haggard expression, and stretched out his hand to infuse some of the Titan of Reason's energy.
After feeling the energy enter her body, Cerces's condition improved slightly.
"Lord Cerces, I'm going to meet up with the others."
"Mm."
Derick hadn't gone out yet when Castorice and the others returned.
Mydei had recovered and was being supported by Phainon. Castorice glanced at Derick, her face slightly flushed, evidently remembering the scene from before. Trianne had her hands on her hips, looking at Derick with the eyes one would use for a child.
"Little Derick, you're very slow at changing clothes."
"It's like this..."
Derick was about to explain, but he saw Castorice and the others' expressions change slightly.
"Derick, be careful, there's someone behind you."
At this time, the scholars of the Grove of Epiphany had all disappeared. Anyone appearing now was definitely strange. Especially since Cerces had her eyes tightly closed, seemingly still shedding tears of blood, her expression calm, looking like a mysterious figure.
Derick glanced behind him, saw it was Cerces, and immediately introduced her to the others: "Um, Sister Trianne, Castorice, Brother Phainon, Brother Mydei, this is Lord Cerces, the Titan of Reason."
"It is I."
Previously, when the energy still belonged to her, Cerces could choose who saw her. Now that the energy belonged to Derick, Cerces could only reveal her form to be seen by everyone.
"Huh?!"
Trianne tilted her head, looking adorably clueless.
Derick immediately explained the situation here to everyone. When they heard Derick say that the Titan of Reason's energy couldn't come out after entering his body, Trianne and the others' expressions became even more dazed.
"Little Derick, never mind Anaxa, I want to dissect you right now."
Hyacine's face also showed a strange expression.
"I remember Derry-boo's body is normal, what exactly is going on?"
"Let's do more checks when we get back." After Trianne finished speaking, she bowed respectfully to Cerces, "Since things are already like this, let's return to Okhema with us first, and deal with the rest take it easy."
"Mm."
Cerces nodded in agreement.
Several people continued to rest for a while at the Grove of Epiphany.
Castorice held Derick's hand, feeling much more at ease doing so.
Cerces watched Derick ignore Thanatos's power, her mouth twitching slightly.
"I suspect you can also obtain the energy of the Titan of Death," Cerces said to Derick.
"This is too dangerous. If you have three energies at the same time, how much of a burden would that be on your body," Castorice immediately replied. At the same time, she tightly held Derick's hand, not wanting him to have any more ideas.
Castorice had been worried before that she would have to fulfill her duties and thus be separated from Derick. And now, if the Titan of Reason said such words, Castorice worried that Derick would really do such a dangerous thing.
She didn't want to see Derick put himself in danger for her sake.
"Yes, what you said is not wrong." Cerces admitted this point, "Derick, your body strength is still insufficient. Too much body energy might leak out. And if different Titan energies converge, it might cause a violent explosion. Even if his body has immortality, the final result will only be continuous explosions."
Thinking of that situation, everyone couldn't help but shiver.
A continuously exploding human bomb, that scene was really a bit terrifying.
Hearing this, Castorice looked at Derick.
Derick, you know the consequences now, don't try such dangerous behavior again.
Derick looked at Castorice's slightly reproachful gaze and quickly nodded obediently.
"Don't worry, I won't do that."
However, in his heart, he didn't think so.
With the avatar's devouring ability, he could continue to strengthen his physical fitness. If so, his body could also grow to the extent of being able to carry more Titan power.
As long as he gets stronger, there will eventually be a way.
He didn't want to only be able to see Castorice in the underworld.
"Alright, the matter here is over, let's go back first," Trianne said, clapping her hands. At the same time, she looked at Cerces.
Cerces said helplessly: "To maintain my body, I must go back with you. Next, in Okhema, I might need you to prepare a residence for me."
"Mm-hmm, I'll have Aya do it."
Trianne nodded repeatedly.
Everyone left the Grove of Epiphany and walked towards Okhema.
On the way, Trianne asked Derick: "By the way, Little Derick, what about that cloaked person, oh, the Fire-Stealer? I feel like he's not dead yet, right?"
"Yes, his vitality and defense are also extremely strong. My explosion just now only severely injured him, but he didn't die." Derick nodded.
The Fire-Stealer, how could he be so easily dealt with?
"However, it's impossible for him to show his face in front of us recently. On the one hand, he needs to recuperate, and on the other hand, he absolutely wouldn't dare to come out before he figures out how to deal with me."
Derick's tone was very smug.
Even the Fire-Stealer would have a headache and find no solution when facing someone who says nothing upon meeting and just rushes over to self-destruct.
Getting nothing out of each operation and ending up severely injured, and since the Fire-Stealer has no tendency to self-heal, he naturally wouldn't do this.
No need to worry about the Fire-Stealer, the upcoming Flamechase Journey will be much safer.
"This is also good news."
Trianne nodded.
Without the threat of the Fire-Stealer, they could also temporarily catch their breath.
Continue walking forward.
Phainon looked at Derick walking with Castorice, showing a puzzled expression.
After carefully examining him, Phainon pointed at Derick and said: "Wait, Derick, don't move."
"Huh? What's wrong?"
Hearing Phainon's words, Derick stood still obediently.
"Derick, have you grown taller?"
After a careful look, Phainon said to Derick.
Previously, Derick only reached Castorice's mouth, but now his height surpassed her nose, meaning he had grown a few centimeters.
_______
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