The changes on the battlefield were unexpected by both Okhema and the Golden Scions. The elders of the Council of Elders had been almost completely eliminated by Derick's First Clone.

Faced with this situation, the Council of Elders army's morale instantly collapsed. Before Cipher's side could even launch a counterattack, the army descended into chaos and fled back to Okhema.

None of them considered that Derick's First Clone had come from the direction of Okhema. If the clone had truly intended any harm, these chaotic troops would have already been slaughtered by Derick's First Clone.

Derick wasn't one for slaughter. He focused on the officers, deciding it was enough to take them out. The remaining troops could be left for Sister Cipher and the others to handle.

Derick controlled his First Clone and dealt with all the officers. The officers tried to resist, but their strength was likely inferior even to the new Ceynes.

Facing Derick's First Clone, they had no chance. With a few swings of his scythe, Derick cut down more than half of the Council of Elders's officers.

Now, only the army of Blade's Edge City remained before him.

Although it had helped them win the war, given the First Clone's previous actions, Cipher watched it with a wary gaze. She feared that after finishing off the Council of Elders's army, it would turn its attack on the forces of Blade's Edge City.

"Everyone, form up a defensive line! The opponent is too strong; we must proceed with caution," Cipher said to the commander of the army, the old general of Blade's Edge City, Craterus.

Craterus nodded seriously, also expressing his wariness toward the sudden appearance of Derick's First Clone.

Seeing their reaction, Derick had no intention of intimidating them further. His figure flickered and shot off in another direction of Blade's Edge City.

Sister Cipher's side was safe now, but the situation with Aglaea, Mydei, and Phainon was still uncertain.

Watching it leave, Cipher, Xian'an, and Xianshou breathed a small sigh of relief. But then they saw the direction it was heading and grew worried again.

It seemed to be heading towards where Aya and the others were.

"This is bad. You two stay here. I'll go warn Aya and the others," Cipher said to Xian'an and Xianshou.

Among them, Cipher was in the best condition, and the direction where Aya and the others were wasn't far. She teleported over with ease.

When she arrived, Aglaea was in the middle of directing the battle. Seeing Cipher appear, she thought something had happened on her front and hurriedly asked, "Teacher, what's wrong? Can't you hold the line?"

Cipher shook her head. "Aya, the battle on our side is over. The elders of the Council of Elders have been completely wiped out."

Hearing this, Aglaea was surprised.

In her projections, the battlefield shouldn't have turned out this way. A victory on Teacher Cipher's side would have been simply holding on until she and the others could defeat the monsters from the Black Tide and go reinforce them.

But what was Teacher Cipher saying now? The enemy was already defeated?

Teacher Cipher's forces couldn't have done that.

Besides, if they had really defeated the enemy so smoothly without any incidents, Teacher Cipher wouldn't have used the Baijiemen to teleport and report the news.

After thinking for two seconds, Aglaea asked Cipher, "Did a Black Tide erupt near Okhema and attack Okhema's army from behind? Are you now facing the Black Tide's assault as well, Teacher?"

"No, that's not it. It was that pitch-black creature." Cipher shook her head. "After attacking the Council of Elders elders, it headed in your direction. I was worried you might be in danger, so I came to warn you."

"Huh!?"

Hearing it was that mysterious pitch-black monster, Aglaea's brow furrowed.

She looked towards Mydei and Phainon, who were fighting at the forefront of the battle, and was just about to warn them. Derick's First Clone had already arrived on the battlefield, swinging its scythe and attacking the monsters within the Black Tide.

The scythe flashed again and again, and one by one, the monsters were eliminated.

Mydei and Phainon also noticed Derick's First Clone. With the sudden appearance of what could be considered an enemy monster, both became more guarded.

But when they saw the pitch-black monster was only targeting the monsters from the Black Tide, they lowered their guard slightly.

"Never mind this thing for now. Dealing with the Black Tide monsters is the priority."

---

Derick controlled his First Clone, slaughtering its way through the Black Tide.

Although Derick knew the true nature of Amphoreus from the Flame Reaver's memories, knowledge was one thing. Phainon and Mydei were his dear friends, and he absolutely couldn't stand by and watch something happen to them.

Before being labeled as digital lifeforms created by the Imperial Scepter, they were, first and foremost, his friends.

Derick cleared out all the monsters from the Black Tide.

After he was done, he glanced at Phainon and Mydei, then immediately controlled the First Clone to depart into the distance.

Watching its figure disappear, Mydei and Phainon remained on guard. Only when it had vanished completely did the two finally let out a sigh of relief.

Returning to Aglaea's side and seeing Cipher was also there, they quickly greeted them: "Lady Aglaea, Teacher Cipher, the enemies have been taken care of, but that pitch-black monster..."

"Let's not worry about that for now." Aglaea shook her head gently. "We'll just be more careful of it next time. That is not our primary concern at the moment."

"What is our primary concern?" Phainon asked Aglaea.

"It's about Okhema. The Council of Elders has been completely annihilated. We need to get to Okhema quickly to maintain order," Aglaea told Phainon and Mydei.

Hearing her say this, Mydei glanced at Cipher with a puzzled expression.

He knew that the commander of Blade's Edge City facing off against Okhema was Cipher. Could it be that Lady Cipher was actually some hidden, god-tier military strategist? To annihilate the enemy with so few troops...

Seeing Mydei's expression, Cipher waved her hand at him. "Little Dei, don't let your imagination run wild. The reason for the victory on my side was the same as yours—that pitch-black creature went over and killed all the Council of Elders members. It's strange, though. Its main targets were the elders; the casualties among the regular soldiers weren't that high."

"This..."

They all found it somewhat perplexing.

Mydei also added a reminder, "Also, that creature's strength has increased a lot. I noticed during the fight just now. With its current power, even Phainon and I together would probably not be its match. Add its immortality on top of that, and even if all of us attacked together, there's a high chance we'd be defeated."

"Then what should we do?" Cipher asked worriedly.

"Wait. We can only wait," Aglaea's tone was firm. "In the current situation, whether it's another Genesis or anything else, it's no longer possible. From now on, we can only wait for Derick and the others to return."

The others nodded in agreement.

---

After resolving the situation Aglaea's group was facing, Derick withdrew his consciousness. At that moment, Hyacine was still sleeping soundly in his arms. Derick adjusted his position, planning to rest for a while himself.

After resting for a bit, a knock came from the door.

Hmm?!

What's going on!?

Hearing the knock, Derick was a bit confused.

I didn't order any breakfast service. Why is someone knocking so early in the morning?

The knocking also woke Hyacine, who shyly covered her face upon hearing someone outside.

"Who's there?" Derick called out.

A woman's voice quickly replied from outside: "It's me, your teacher, Feixiao."

Hearing it was their teacher's voice, Derick and Hyacine quickly got dressed. Derick led Hyacine by the hand to the door and opened it.

It was his teacher. Not some disguise by Cipher or Sparkle.

Seeing Derick holding Hyacine's hand, Feixiao let out a wolf whistle.

"Yo, Derick, did I interrupt something? But you, my boy, you better be careful. Little Hyacine is delicate..."

Listening to his teacher's improper teasing, Derick said to her, "Teacher, let's talk about something serious. You must be here on official business, right?"

"Of course." Feixiao nodded. "Weren't we waiting for Herta and Screwllum? They arrived last night. Everyone's here now; we're just waiting for you two so we can depart."

"Lady Herta and Mr. Screwllum are here!" Both Derick and Hyacine showed excited expressions.

Especially Hyacine. She had been worried about the situation on Amphoreus, and now that they could finally set off, she was naturally eager to go to Amphoreus.

"That's right, everyone's gathered. Once you join us, we can leave."

Feixiao nodded.

Derick and Hyacine excitedly prepared to follow Feixiao.

Given that Hyacine had spent the night with Derick and was likely tired, Derick simply carried her on his back as they headed over.

Halfway there, Derick and Hyacine realized something. Everyone else had probably figured out their situation.

Although Derick certainly wouldn't hide it from Castorice and the others, being found out like this was still embarrassing. At the thought, both Derick and Hyacine looked shy.

They arrived at the designated departure point.

Castorice and the other Golden Lords, Yunli, Acheron, Huohuo, Lingsha, Sparkle, the Astral Express Crew, and the Stellaron Hunters were all waiting for them.

There were two other people whom Derick had never met in this world, but he recognized their names from the game: Herta and Screwllum.

Seeing everyone's eyes on them, Hyacine shyly hid behind Derick.

Seeing her reaction, everyone had mixed expressions.

Castorice quickly cleared her throat twice, breaking the atmosphere.

"Now that Derick is here, let's all depart."

"Yes, we shouldn't waste any more time," Herta agreed with a nod.

Screwllum then stepped forward to Derick, extending a hand to shake his.

"Hello, Mr. Derick. I am Screwllum."

Seeing Screwllum, Derick quickly shook his hand.

Screwllum would be useful in this Amphoreus operation. Moreover, among the Genius Society, his temperament was the best, so Derick was naturally willing to be on good terms with him.

After the introductions and greetings, the group prepared to set off.

"The Astral Express is ready. Everyone, prepare for departure. Mr. Derick, regarding the coordinates for Amphoreus, we'll need you to provide them," Himeko said to the group.

With the Astral Express, the group wouldn't need to spend a long time searching for Amphoreus in a starship. Once Derick provided the coordinates, the Astral Express could warp there.

Derick nodded. "I'll give the approximate location to Pom-Pom, the conductor, and then we can go."

The group then boarded the train, led by Himeko.

Feixiao was the last to board. Before she went, she pulled Himeko aside and said, "I'm leaving matters on the Yaoqing to you for the time being."

"Alright, I understand," Himeko said with a resigned smile.

"And also the paperwork for the succession of the general's position, I'll trouble you to handle that as well."

"Okay."

What could one do with a leader like that? She could only nod and agree.

Only then did Feixiao board the train, satisfied.

---

After boarding the train, the group discovered two other people besides Pom-Pom.

One was Misha, who was cleaning.

Before finding his memories, he thought of himself as a bellboy for The Reverie Hotel. Now on the Astral Express, he habitually took on cleaning duties.

"Misha, how are you feeling?" Derick asked him.

"Great! I feel great right now!"

Misha said, striking a pose to show how good his condition was.

Hearing Misha say he was fine, Derick was relieved.

Then, he turned his gaze to the other person on the train.

Black Swan.

"Miss Black Swan, what are you doing here?" Derick asked.

"I'm here to help you deal with the Amphoreus situation, of course," Black Swan replied with a light, confident chuckle.

Seeing her confidence, Derick couldn't help but feel a shiver.

He had a feeling that her presence would lead to many complicated twists and turns.

However, the others didn't share Derick's premonition. Seeing a Memokeeper from the Garden of Recollection wanting to join, they decided to bring Black Swan along, operating on the principle that more hands meant more help.

"We can take you, but whatever you plan to do, you have to tell us first, at least."

Derick came to a realization at that moment. Black Swan wasn't some kind of disaster magnet; she was just someone whose actions always led to unexpected outcomes.

Therefore, the best way to handle this wasn't to leave her behind, but to bring her along and give her no opportunity to act.

Hearing Derick's condition, Black Swan thought for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"Alright, I accept."

Seeing Black Swan agree, Derick had no further objections. He told Pom-Pom the coordinates for Amphoreus and then waited for the Astral Express to warp.

Finally, after a warp jump, the group arrived at Amphoreus.

______

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