Because all the people and most of the creatures of Amphoreus had been moved into a specially constructed sanctuary, Derick and Lygus didn't need to worry about collateral damage during their battle.
This 'sanctuary' was, on one hand, a shelter built within Amphoreus, combining the technology of various civilizations. On the other hand, Herta, Screwllum, and Silver Wolf had also secretly partitioned this 'sanctuary' from the rest of Amphoreus.
Lygus waved his hand, creating numerous constructs.
They weren't purely Black Tide constructs. The purpose of Black Tide constructs was to give birth to Irontomb, and Derick's current state had already allowed Irontomb to be born. It was just that Irontomb had been devoured and absorbed into Derick's body. Under these circumstances, simply using pure Black Tide constructs would have no effect on Derick at all.
So, he resorted to using his Fourteen-Line Algebraic Expressions to create new constructs on the fly. After all, Derick wasn't a genius like Herta; analyzing them would surely take him a considerable amount of time.
With this in mind, Lygus unleashed the constructs, sending them to attack Derick.
Derick indeed lacked the talent to analyze the composition of such constructs, but he had a much simpler, cruder method for dealing with them.
Eat them. He would just devour them directly.
As long as he devoured these constructs, the automatic absorption process would analyze them for him.
The constructs charged toward Derick, and the first few to reach him were devoured in an instant. After devouring them, given the current disparity in their power, it took Derick mere seconds to analyze the constructs completely.
"Your creations are quite well-designed."
Seeing Lygus's shocked expression, Derick spoke with a faint smile.
Then, he extended his arm, and with a single point of his polearm, all the other constructs around them turned to ash.
"You, you are..."
Seeing Derick's display, Lygus instantly understood certain things. The so-called dark creatures were all things Derick had created.
He had been concealed from, deceived by Derick, and hadn't noticed a thing until now.
"Developing in secret while I wasn't paying attention. Derick, you really are something else," Lygus said with a light chuckle.
As he spoke, he raised both hands, preparing to unleash his attack.
Before the dark cube could even appear in his hands, Derick's polearm had already flown through the air. The polearm was incredibly fast, piercing through Lygus's body in an instant.
As for the attack Lygus had intended to unleash, it was interrupted by Derick's strike and could no longer be released.
Although in terms of current strength, Derick clearly had the upper hand against Lygus, he wasn't arrogant enough to think he could withstand Lygus's full-power output. Seizing the opportunity while Lygus was preparing, he simply threw his polearm to interrupt his channeling.
Lygus never expected Derick to be so dishonorable. He raised his hand, still intending to do something, but Derick was already upon him, raising a fist and swinging at Lygus.
On one hand, retrieving the polearm might have given Lygus a chance to breathe; a direct punch was much more efficient. Wasting time to grab the polearm might have given Lygus an opening to counterattack. Now, by simply swinging his fists, he gave Lygus no time to react. Lygus might be skilled in other areas, but his close-quarters combat abilities had seen no improvement since the Zandar era. Under Derick's barrage of punches, Lygus could only take the beating passively.
On the other hand, punching him was truly cathartic for Derick. The hatred from over thirty million cycles of reincarnation, from the countless Golden Progeny who died tragic deaths, and from the Titans who perished in the previous genesis and the one before that—all of it had to be settled with Lygus.
A beating. A merciless beating.
Derick used his fists to beat Lygus until he was completely incapable of resisting.
After all, Derick's punches not only hit hard, but they also carried his unique energy.
Derick reached out to grab his polearm, intending to end Lygus's life for good.
After completely devouring Irontomb, Derick could now kill Lygus within Amphoreus. Just as Derick raised the polearm, a longsword appeared silently at its edge.
Then, an immense force erupted from the longsword, blasting Derick's entire body sideways.
Derick flew a considerable distance before coming to a stop.
Feeling this immense power, Derick stared intently at the spot where the longsword had appeared. Then, from behind the longsword, a white, hooded figure emerged.
"Zephyro..."
Sensing the tremendous power, Derick softly uttered his name.
Zephyro said nothing, merely raising the longsword in his hand and charging at Derick. Seeing Zephyro attack, Derick didn't dare to be complacent for a second, holding his polearm horizontally before him to meet the assault.
Although Zephyro was strong, Derick was already at the level of an Emanator and had newly integrated the power of Irontomb, raising his strength to a whole new level.
Their attacks collided, and the world around them instantly collapsed.
The world constructed by Amphoreus simply couldn't withstand the clash between two powerful Emanators.
Seeing this, Derick used the momentum of his polearm to try and pull Zephyro out of Amphoreus.
Faced with Derick's tactic of avoiding collateral damage, Zephyro showed him due respect. Following the momentum, he left Amphoreus together with Derick.
As for the defenseless Lygus, Derick casually tossed him out of Amphoreus as well. Otherwise, Derick was genuinely worried that Lygus might try to pull another trick.
Once Derick and Zephyro were outside Amphoreus, they both attacked each other simultaneously.
The polearm tore through space, its tip aiming straight for Zephyro's throat. Zephyro dodged to the side, simultaneously attempting to stab Derick in the chest. Derick also contracted his abdomen to avoid the sword's tip. The two moved past each other, each landing on a desolate planet.
But these two planets couldn't withstand the force of Derick's and Zephyro's attacks at all, exploding upon impact and turning into cosmic dust.
Amidst the dust of these two shattered planets, Derick and Zephyro's figures reappeared, attacking each other once more.
The polearm and longsword clashed, creating a terrifying sound that echoed through the cosmos.
Derick then locked his polearm with the longsword, attempting to completely overpower Zephyro's blade. This was exactly what Zephyro was thinking as well; he too wanted to overpower Derick.
The two struggled for a while, only to find that neither could gain an advantage over the other.
Zephyro hadn't expected Derick to be someone whose strength and energy could match his own. Thrilled by the challenge, he retracted his longsword and began a new round of swift attacks.
Facing Zephyro's rapid assault, Derick had no choice but to split his polearm in two, transforming it into a longsword and a short spear to counter Zephyro's attacks.
Just like when he sparred with Teacher Feixiao, at this level, techniques were meaningless. It was all about who was faster and who was stronger.
Derick and Zephyro engaged in a high-speed battle, their weapons clashing faster than the speed of light, with both sides applying immense force to every blow. If any non-Emanator were to appear near their battlefield now, they would be swept up and torn to pieces.
In an instant, their battle affected the entire galaxy, destroying several planets in succession.
The others who were still fighting the Lord Ravagers soon sensed it.
Lord Ravager Zephyro had arrived, and Derick was fighting him.
...
"Hah!"
With a great shout, Feixiao threw the Lord Ravager Luxbane into the distance.
"This thing is pretty heavy," Feixiao thought to herself, wiping away her sweat.
Taking advantage of the few seconds of respite, Feixiao scanned for Derick's battle. Seeing the fight between Derick and Zephyro, she grew anxious.
Zephyro's combat experience was far beyond what a guy like Lygus could compare to. Derick could hold his own at the beginning of the fight, but as it dragged on, he was struggling to adapt and was now at a disadvantage.
"What should I do? How can I help Derick?"
Feixiao grew worried.
It wasn't that she didn't have an idea, but to execute it, she needed someone to help her deal with Luxbane. And right now, all the Emanators were in battle; no one could help her.
Just as Feixiao was thinking this, an old voice spoke: "I'll support you here."
Feixiao was stunned for a moment, then looked at the appearing Huaiyan and couldn't help but smile.
She really hadn't expected old General Huaiyan to show up at this moment.
But on second thought, it was understandable.
The old general was still worried about his granddaughter's safety.
Feixiao smiled and said to Huaiyan, "I'll have to trouble you with things here, Old Man Huaiyan. I'll come back to help you after Derick is victorious."
"Alright, alright, I know."
Huaiyan nodded impatiently.
Then, Feixiao flew towards Derick.
After Feixiao left, an aura of flames erupted from Huaiyan's body.
"Come on, you bastard. Let's see if I can't use your bones as forging materials for our Zhuming Xianzhou."
As Huaiyan spoke, he launched his attack on Luxbane.
...
Arriving at Derick's location and seeing the intense battlefield, Feixiao shouted, "Here, my student, your teacher has brought you the clarion call for a counterattack!"
Hearing Feixiao's words, both Derick and Zephyro were momentarily stunned.
At that moment, Feixiao muttered to herself, "Reignbow Arbiter above, I am willing to cede the position of General of the Yaoqing Xianzhou to Derick."
"Come, let Derick ascend even further!"
Feixiao then felt a portion of the power within her body drain away and flow towards Derick.
Derick, already possessing the power of a top-tier Emanator, could now, with the buff from the Xianzhou General's position, ascend to even greater heights.
____
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