This was also the first time Stelle had seen a Titan like this…
If Nikador gave Stelle a feeling of surging intensity, then this dead dragon brought nothing but unease.
The dead dragon's twisted, grotesque body, look closely, and it was enough to make one's sanity falter.
Not to mention that mournful wails would occasionally echo from within it.
"What is that?"
Just as Stelle was carefully observing the dead dragon's appearance, she suddenly froze in shock.
Within the surging waters of the river of souls, enormous shapes were slowly emerging.
They were thick, elongated cylinders. They looked like branches, yet also like the tentacles of some unknown creature.
The moment they emerged from the river of souls, they hung limply in the water, twisting into tangled masses.
Stelle's face hardened. A deep sense of discomfort surged in her heart.
"Be careful. They may be moving by instinct, but there is fury welling up within them -"
As soon as Castorice's words fell, the soft, tangled "tentacles" suddenly twisted, shooting out of the water and lashing violently toward them.
Castorice swung her scythe, stirring up a cloud of violet mist. Stelle, meanwhile, pulled Mem behind her, drew out her flame lance, and planted it in front of her like a shield.
The tentacles lashed forward with a sharp rush of wind. To others, this speed might have seemed unbelievably fast.
But the two standing before it were no ordinary people. To Stelle, this attack felt more like a test, a form of intimidation.
However… Before the shocked eyes of Stelle and Castorice, the tentacles passed straight through the scythe and the flame lance as if they were illusions, striking their bodies directly!
Stelle's face went pale. She could already see the branch-like purple forks on the tentacle, carrying a ghastly hue.
She desperately tried to pull back, but it was already too late.
The tentacle struck her abdomen. There was no sensation!
Just like passing through the scythe and lance, it also passed through her body!
The pain she expected never came. Instead, a wave of weakness surged up from within.
It was as if the very root of her life force was being siphoned away! The two tentacles retracted.
The patterns on Pollux's body began to glow with a deep pink light.
"This… This isn't right!"
Stelle's legs went weak. Leaning on her flame lance, she looked up in shock. "I'm already dead, can it still drain my life force?!"
"No, it's vitality!" Castorice, having taken a hit as well, was visibly weakened, her pale face now completely bloodless.
"That attack targets the soul, so we can't defend against it."
"This… this is troublesome." Castorice's expression darkened.
She knew this would be a tough battle. After all, no one had ever faced the Death Titan head-on.
But even she hadn't anticipated a situation this difficult.
Those tentacles just now, were like projections, passing through their weapons and bodies without obstruction.
All combat experience from the living was useless here. In Pollux's eyes, they were probably just two defenseless souls.
"If it's troublesome, then stop overthinking it!"
"Go on the offensive!"
After taking a few breaths, Stelle regained her vigor.
Her flame lance shifted into a forward grip. With brows furrowed, she nodded to Castorice. "I'll take the front and attack head-on. Castorice, watch carefully during the fight, see if Pollux has any openings!"
"Got it!" Castorice nodded.
Having partnered with Stelle for a long time and even fought Titans before, she knew it was impossible to persuade Stelle to be cautious now. She could only focus and try to find an opportunity during the battle.
The next moment, a gray figure charged straight toward Pollux.
And the two tentacles that had just withdrawn beside Pollux reacted instinctively, stabbing out once more!
A streak of fire suddenly cut through the underworld mist, tearing it in two before exploding outward!
Boom!!!
A violent wave of flames swept across the surroundings, dyeing everything in blazing red.
Castorice could clearly see the movement in the air.
Stelle, still in a charging posture, twisted her body in the air, barely dodging one tentacle that once again passed through her flame lance, only to be struck by another tentacle coming from behind.
Weakness surged again.
Unable to maintain her position midair, Stelle crashed to the ground in a miserable tumble, rolling several times as even her flame lance slipped from her grasp.
The two tentacles refused to relent, coiling in the air like venomous snakes before stabbing down fiercely!
"Mem!" Face toward the ground, Stelle instinctively scrambled up and shouted, her hands suddenly holding a feather pen.
"Mem Mem mem!!!"
Seeing Stelle in danger, Mem let out a sharp cry, darting to her side and spreading its fluffy claws.
The power of Oronyx descended instantly. An invisible ripple spread outward from Stelle and Mem.
Where it passed, the river of souls, the gray mist, and the ruined surroundings all rapidly reverted to how they were thousands of years ago.
The two tentacles, upon entering this invisible field, quickly became transparent.
Taking advantage of this moment, Stelle swiftly got to her feet.
But before she could act further, in the distance, Pollux, buried within its egg-like form, let out a hollow wail.
With that cry, boundless phantom waters of the river of souls surged in from all directions.
The tentacles that had nearly turned transparent solidified once more, piercing through the invisible field without resistance.
Stelle grabbed Mem and retreated rapidly. The two tentacles followed closely behind, narrowly missing before unwillingly withdrawing back to Pollux's side.
"O-Oronyx's barrier… failed…" Stelle, having narrowly escaped, stared in shock.
Mem's eyes widened as well, filled with disbelief.
This was the power of time itself. Since its appearance, it had been unstoppable.
And yet, it couldn't counter death? The two were so shocked that they failed to realize one thing.
This place was the closest to death.
Though this structure still seemed to be within Styxia, in truth, it had long ceased to exist.
Not to mention, death itself had always been there.
Like gravity, it existed everywhere.
"Death is ever-present. Death endures forever."
In the distance, Castorice's eyes widened slightly as she murmured.
When Pollux summoned the phantom river of souls, she had already felt it.
The river of souls was both a manifested river, like the one encircling Styxia, and also a conceptual one.
Since the end of the Era Chrysea, the river of death had flowed endlessly through the entire history of this world.
To rely on Oronyx's power to fight death, one would have to rewind Styxia's time and space back to the Era Chrysea before death was even born!
But how could that be possible! Unless Oronyx himself descended!
"Castorice"
"Have you found Pollux's weakness?!"
Just as Castorice was deep in thought… In the distance, Stelle was being battered back and forth by two tentacles, jumping and scrambling in chaos, on the verge of danger.
Mem was also hopping around beside her, completely helpless.
This was just too unfair. Those tentacles remained in a semi-illusory state the entire time, untouchable, ungraspable.
But if Stelle was struck even once, a portion of her soul would be forcibly torn away.
The audience watched in shock and dread.
After so many battles against Titans before, including Nikador… Stelle had never been reduced to such a helpless state.
…
: So this is the Death Titan?
: Damn, Stelle's getting treated like trash on the roadside!
: Holy crap… at least Nikador fought head-on, every blow hitting solid, this dead dragon is just so underhanded.
: Soul-based attacks are way too broken! There's no way to counter them!
: Didn't Stelle already die once? Why can't she hit those tentacles either?
: Physical attacks can't hit or block them?!
: It's over! Is this really the end?!
: This is the Death Titan arc, don't tell me it's actually doomed?!
: Castorice, Mem, think of something!!
…
The comments flooded wildly across the screen.
On screen, Castorice's voice rang out.
"Please… hold on a little longer! I'm almost there… I have an idea…"
Castorice spoke loudly, recalling everything.
Her eyes, however, remained calm as they carefully observed Pollux, and everything behind her.
The River of souls. The waning moon. Those things that flickered between illusion and reality… made her suddenly realize something.
They were the living. And Pollux was the dead.
Although the alchemy formation had revived Pollux, she was still the embodiment of death, a Titan standing at the very peak of Amphoreus!
How could such a being be dealt with using ordinary concepts?
So… The key must lie in the concept of life and death.
"Stelle, fall back!" Castorice moved.
As she called Stelle back, she leapt behind her in a few swift steps, scythe in hand.
Stelle rolled clumsily across the ground, retreating behind Castorice.
She had already been struck several times, her face pale.
Just as Stelle struggled to lift her head, ready to call Castorice to retreat and rethink their strategy, She saw Castorice make an unexpected move.
Facing the ever-guarding tentacles around Pollux… Castorice took a deep breath.
Then, through her unique connection to the river of souls and death itself, she sent out her own soul entirely!
"Castorice!" Stelle was horrified.
"Stelle, Pollux is the embodiment of death itself. We are the living, so we cannot harm it."
"But… if we step into a near-death state, true death, the near-death of the soul, "
"In that narrow gap between life and death, we will stand on the same plane as Pollux."
"And the opportunity… exists only in that instant."
Castorice's aura visibly weakened.
In contrast, Pollux' body glowed brighter with deep pink cracks, her presence growing fuller and stronger.
"But… wouldn't that really kill us?" Stelle asked, utterly unable to comprehend.
But as soon as she said it, she shook her head.
She had already died once. So what if this plan was dangerous?
When had she ever feared risk?
"I'm in." Stelle placed her hand on Castorice's shoulder, letting her draw from her freely.
"Stelle..."
"Don't worry…"
"Death… will defend us."
Castorice turned back, speaking with gratitude and resolve.
In the distance, a terrifying aura was gathering.
Castorice's soul was also, in a conceptual sense, something that completed Pollux.
The authority that had been sent out, began to return toward completeness as Castorice willingly gave it back.
But Pollux remained a dead dragon, a dead dragon about to possess all authority!
And the instinct of a dead dragon… was to grant death.
In the next moment, everyone seemed to see, as if in a hallucination, a colossal dragon that blotted out the sky.
It spread its wings like a blazing sun and let out a horrifying screech.
The sound waves were so immense that they formed boundless shockwaves, carrying the power of death as they swept forward.
Everything in the world, melted within that scream. Including Stelle and Castorice.
Their eyes gradually dulled, their bodies began to turn transparent, dissolving into the waves, about to return to their origin.
And at that moment, a ripple quietly spread beneath their feet.
Countless purple butterflies danced within the tide of death, circling around them, restoring their soul forms to solidity.
Born as twins, two sides of one whole. As Pollux approached completeness, so too did Castorice.
Those endless butterflies were the manifestation of Castorice's will.
Stelle regained her senses. She felt her light, drifting body, and her vision wavering between reality and illusion, even allowing her to see a phantom gate, the true Gate of the Underworld!
"We've reached the gap between life and death."
Castorice exhaled softly, grasping Stelle's hand as they stepped toward Pollux together.
All their realizations along the way, came together at this very moment.
Without death, how could there be rebirth?
Just like now, only by dying first could they reach this plane and truly defeat Pollux!
"O, Death... Sleep in peace."
The two stopped. Stelle nodded firmly, summoning her flaming spear. Castorice raised her scythe.
One on the left, one on the right, two streaks of purple and gray meteors shot toward Pollux.
The dead dragon instinctively sensed danger. Its wails and cries grew even more frenzied.
The river of souls churned violently around it, surging toward them.
But now, able to physically touch and unleash their full strength, forget waves.
Even if Nikador himself were summoned here, they were confident they could defeat him!
In the next instant, the river of souls was split apart by an overwhelming force.
Red flames and purple flames exploded across the sky.
Amid the dying wail, Pollux collapsed heavily to the ground…