"B-Black Tide Spawn!"
Hearing this, Castorice and Stelle both wore grave expressions.
Meanwhile, Mem curled up in Lumina's arms, not daring to struggle or resist in any way.
Lying in this bad woman's arms was already the safest place in all of Styxia... no, in all of Amphoreus, right?
Feeling the warmth Lumina continuously gave her, Mem thought this in her heart.
If Lumina knew about this thought of Mem's right now, she would definitely give her a big thumbs up.
After that, she would tap her little head.
Because she guessed wrong.
Lumina's embrace was the safest place in the entire Cosmos!
No place was safer than here, not even the place where the Aeons resided!
Because the Aeons might not necessarily help you, but if you were a beautiful young girl, Lumina would truly help you...
"Yes, Black Tide Spawn, and there are quite a few of them," Lumina said softly while stroking Mem.
"However, while there are quite a few, many of them are lying on the ground, already dead."
"Judging by their appearance, they should have died not long ago."
"Is that so?" Hearing Lumina's words, Castorice fell into a moment of thought, then said: "If what Lady Cipher said is true, then those dead Black Tide Spawn must have been dealt with by Lord Mydei."
"Even in the Underworld, he is using his own strength to fight against the Black Tide."
Castorice sighed, her words filled with admiration for Mydei.
"Let's go forward, Lord Mydei might be just ahead."
"Of course... he might have already been resurrected and returned to Castrum Kremnos to continue resisting the Black Tide."
Castorice looked toward the highest point of the entire Ancient City of Dragon Remains and gestured softly.
"Let's go, let's clean up those Black Tide Spawn." Stelle stood with her hands on her hips, a confident smile beaming on her face. "The baseball bat in my hand is still a little eager!"
"Uh... I'll handle this kind of thing, Miss Stelle, it's better not to use too much strength." Hearing Stelle's words, Castorice hurriedly volunteered to deal with the monsters herself.
Stelle was a patient right now, so how could Castorice entrust the fighting to a patient like her?
Although Stelle seemed to have no problems right now, who knew if she would suddenly die while fighting...
"Don't worry, Castorice, the legend of the Galactic Baseballer can't possibly end here in Amphoreus." Castorice's words didn't make the smile on Stelle's face fade; instead, it became even more confident.
"I've taken Curios from geniuses, fought the test subjects of geniuses... a Lord Ravager... Sunday... I, the Galactic Baseballer, have had so many legendary experiences..."
"How could a minor matter like being on the verge of death stop me here?"
As she said this, the confidence on Stelle's face reached its peak. She held her head high, revealing a smooth, fair "swan neck," and Lumina watched her, her breathing slightly quickening.
"This is ridiculous..."
Just then, a soft murmur reached everyone's ears.
The words were spoken by Herta.
But at this moment, she had her head lowered, her hat covering most of her face, making it impossible to tell who she was speaking to.
It was possible she was commenting on Stelle's confident posture.
Or perhaps she had simply thought of something and couldn't help but mutter it.
Of course, it was also possible she was speechless and helpless at Lumina's reaction to a neck...
Which one it was, you couldn't tell from her expression alone.
Perhaps only she herself knew for sure...
No one said anything about it.
They set off, walking forward.
Just as she had said before, Castorice didn't give Stelle a chance to make a move, summoning her weapon and dealing with all the Black Tide Monsters along the way.
Most of the Black Tide had already been dealt with by Mydei, and the ones along the path were just a few leftover Black Tide Spawn, not many in number.
Even if Castorice hadn't become the Demigod of [Death], dealing with a few Black Tide Spawn was still very simple.
As they walked along, the group soon arrived once again at a path cut off by the Styx.
Castorice and Stelle once again turned their gaze to Mem in Lumina's arms.
Castorice spoke softly, gesturing, "Sister Lumina... um, Mem."
Hearing this, Lumina didn't stop petting Mem in her hands.
She didn't answer Castorice's question immediately, nor did she immediately let Mem out of her arms.
Instead, she first scanned the area, and after discovering that many places would require the power of [Time], Lumina simply waved her small hand, sending two streams of [Time] power into the bodies of Castorice and Stelle.
"?"
Feeling the suddenly surging power of [Time] within her body, strong enough to influence the past, Castorice was filled with shock.
Stelle, on the other hand, didn't react much to this.
After all, in her eyes, Sister Lumina was omnipotent.
Even though she herself was the current Demigod of [Time], she knew all the more how powerful the [Time] power Sister Lumina had infused into her body was...
"Mem..."
Seeing this scene, Mem, who was in Lumina's arms, was also deeply shocked, but she showed no expression on her face.
After all, she already knew that this wicked woman Lumina possessed the power of [Time].
She just didn't know how much [Time] power Lumina had.
Looking at it now, the [Time] power she possessed might be comparable to that of the Titan of [Time]...
If Mem didn't know that this wicked woman Lumina was countless times stronger than the Titan of [Time], she would have thought that Lumina was actually the mortal avatar of the Titan of [Time].
"Sister Castorice, Stelle, relying on Mem all the time is not a good solution."
"I have given some of the [Time] power from my body to you two."
"If you encounter this kind of problem again, you can use the [Time] power to solve it yourselves, without having to ask Mem."
Lumina spoke with a smile, her voice filled with curiosity.
Although this wasn't the main reason, the goal of having Mem intervene was to solve the problem, wasn't it?
Since it could be solved, what did the main purpose matter?
"Sister Lumina, how do you have... the power of [Time]?" Feeling the very stable [Time] power within her body, Castorice's small mouth hung open slightly, her face completely written with the word "shock."
The power of [Time] and the power of [Death] were actually in a state of peaceful coexistence within Castorice's body, neither interfering with the other... Such a thing was simply unheard of.
Oh, so it was Sister Lumina who did it, then it's fine.
Castorice, who was initially filled with shock and confusion, instantly understood after realizing this was the result of Sister Lumina's actions.
Sister Lumina is so amazing that being able to perform such an operation doesn't seem like something worth being shocked about, after all.
Castorice thought this way, and the shock on her face gradually dissipated at this moment.
"Maybe I'm just lucky. I obtained the power of [Time] after arriving on Amphoreus," Lumina replied with a smile to Castorice's question.
Lumina wasn't lying; her words were also true.
Of course, that place was saturated with the aura of [Time]. In such a situation, anyone with a bit of strength could have seized a huge amount and obtained a vast amount of [Time] power.
Of course, the standard for having "a bit of strength" might be very high.
At the very least... Herta couldn't meet this standard.
"Mhm, Sister Lumina is so amazing." The gaze Castorice fixed on Lumina was suddenly filled with several traces of admiration.
Castorice, who already regarded Lumina as a "god" in her heart, wished she could carve out a new favorability category after hearing these words, and then place Sister Lumina into this specially customized, unique favorability list.
"Alright, let's keep going." Lumina didn't know Castorice's thoughts; if she did, she would probably just smile and let it pass.
"If Little Sister Castorice doesn't know how to use the power of [Time], she can simply learn from Stelle."
After giving a simple instruction, Lumina continued to rub Mem in her arms and said no more.
"Mem..."
And as Mem watched Castorice and Stelle use the power of [Time] to eliminate the Styx blocking the road before them, her heart was suddenly filled with the Darkness.
Mem was no fool; she fully understood the true purpose behind Lumina passing the power of [Time] to them.
Faced with this, Mem had no choice but to simply enjoy it.
Although the future was dark, it was a gentle and warm kind of darkness.
This kind of darkness was something Mem could accept.
From now on, she'd just be a little slacking-off doll...
Lying in Lumina's arms, Mem rolled onto her back, completely slacking off.
This was also pretty good—no worries, only warmth and happiness.
The so-called Ideal Paradise was probably nothing more than this.
"Hehe... as long as Mem likes it." Although Mem hadn't said a word, Lumina chuckled softly, perhaps sensing the emotions radiating from her.
"But... you can't just slack off."
But slacking off wasn't allowed. If Mem slacked off, if she stopped making progress, who would repay Lumina's Cyrene?
What if Mem's slacking ultimately led to Cyrene being lost?
Losing the big picture for a small gain wouldn't be good at all.
Therefore, Lumina thought it over on the left, then on the right.
She decided to rub Mem a bit longer before letting her out.
After all, Lumina didn't know how Cyrene was born, or how Mem became Cyrene.
As long as there were no major incidents, Lumina could rub Mem however she pleased.
But if something important happened, she would let Mem and the others handle it themselves.
She thought this to herself while rubbing Mem's little belly in her arms.
-
"Don't... don't come any closer!"
They had walked from the outskirts of the Ancient City of Dragon Remains into its interior, arriving at the Royal Palace's treasury.
Hearing a shout from here, they walked over and saw the Restless Soul of a treasury official.
Upon seeing the figures appear before him, the Restless Soul's face instantly betrayed an expression of terror and fear.
"Don't worry, we're just passing through, not some fierce and menacing villains."
"You can tell that from our appearance and behavior, can't you?"
Castorice used gentle words to calm the terror and fear in the Restless Soul's heart.
"Uh..." Hearing this, the Restless Soul observed the group, "That's true."
"However... although this place was once the Royal Family's treasury, it has long been looted empty."
"If you all came for that reason, you'd better leave quickly."
"You've misunderstood, we just heard your shout while passing by, so we came to take a look," Castorice explained softly.
"Huh?" Hearing this, the Restless Soul froze for a moment, then felt somewhat self-reproachful and disappointed, "I actually gave up... I really, really don't know how to comment on this."
He then composed himself and replied, "Don't worry, everyone. I just saw a... warrior just now."
"He didn't hurt me, but his heavy punch was just so startling, so I..."
Speaking to this point, a bashful expression instantly appeared on his face.
"A heavy punch?" Hearing this, Castorice's heart stirred.
A Restless Soul, a heavy punch, and it was just now.
The only possibility seems to be Lord Mydei...
"Hmm? Wait, you all..." Suddenly, the Restless Soul seemed to realize something and asked in surprise, "You're actually living beings?!"
"How can you walk here alive?"
"It's a long story, we've come for Thanatos," Castorice didn't explain much.
"Thanatos? What is that?" Hearing this, the Restless Soul thought for a while, then asked back in confusion.
He did not know what the Thanatos mentioned by Castorice was.
"Mem? Could he have lived in the era before Death descended?"
Mem, who had already emerged from Lumina's embrace, guessed upon hearing the Restless Soul's words.
"Death?" Hearing this, before anyone could say anything, the Restless Soul asked, "Are you here to crusade against the [Evil Dragon] Pollux?"
"Pollux? Could this be the avatar of [Death]?"
"According to the warriors led by the Centurion, that Evil Dragon has long been dead. The tragic curse that brought ruin to Styx was not caused by it, but... by a young girl in her arms. She is the true Death!"
"Ah... then, where is this girl now?"
"..." The Restless Soul shared everything he knew, though whether it was true or false remained uncertain.
"Thank you for your information. Consider this touch a token of my gratitude..." After speaking, Castorice raised her hand and gently tapped the Restless Soul.
The next second, he vanished from sight.
"At this point, things should be much clearer, right?"
The various clues gathered along the way had basically confirmed a few things.
"It seems the matter of Styxia is about to come to an end."
Lumina glanced at Herta beside her and smiled at Castorice.