"I am willing to die for her, to fall defending Blue Star!" Nivalis shut her eyes as the axe blade closed in. Once she hatched again, so long as Rita passed by Dragon Isle, her reborn self would follow her once more. Just like back then, when Rita had only just become a player and her eyes lit up the first moment they saw each other—love at first sight. Then an icy, furious voice rang above her, exploding across the battlefield that had fallen silent under despair. "You knew she was my dragon, and you dared to swing?!" The war axe struck against a transparent bubble, spreading layers of violet-gray nebula across its surface. Behind it, a pair of interlocked hands caught the blow with strength both gentle and unyielding. As the sun fell, wings of flame nearly four meters wide stretched across the sky, igniting Blue Star’s twilight. Google seaʀᴄh novｅlfire.net An antique lantern and a platinum ship’s wheel orbited her. A platinum robe belted at her waist, from which dangled a childish pouch stuffed with duck eggs and balloons. On the other side hung a white revolver with a crimson misted barrel, a butterfly of golden light perched on it. The robe flared in the wind, revealing black combat trousers and boots beneath. When she appeared, every player forgot to breathe. They only stared, wide-eyed, at the miracle before them. Shanrane’s expression turned grave. He gazed at the player before him, weaker than himself yet now his greatest threat, and pronounced her name. Blocking Shanrane’s full-force strike, Rita lowered her eyes to Nivalis. A soft smile touched them as she teased lightly. "So scared, yet you’d still die for me?" Nivalis almost cried. But before tears could fall, Rita’s boot slammed down, sending her flying clear of the battlefield. With Sin of Arrogance ablaze, Rita met the abyssal lord head-on. Her current power had reached tier 11, but compared to Shanrane’s years of accumulation she was still behind. Sin of Arrogance raised her stats close to his, not double his, but enough. As her attributes soared and her health and mana surged, every one of her stats reached 80 percent of Shanrane’s. Spring Scenery & Flowers. With every step she took through the air, blossoms of white bloomed beneath her. Today’s flowers were all white, a funeral offering for Shanrane. A moment ago, Shanrane’s force had seemed unstoppable. Now every strike fell against Rita, and she held him in the sky. Warzone One, silent for a breath, erupted in cheers and tears. Rita was not only back—she was turning the tide. Then came the system announcement. \[Blue Star Announcement: Through the efforts of BS-Rita, her race potential has greatly increased. All divine gifts at or below grade A among humans of Blue Star have advanced by one grade. Holders of grade A divine gifts now have a chance for mutation. Every Blue Star player has received 30 free attribute points.] B8017913 froze, then turned to Avery. It turned to Sanchez. It raised its lightsaber high and shouted again. Like a broken machine, it repeated the words again and again. But it didn’t matter—everyone who heard the announcement already knew. Sanchez, trembling with adrenaline, stabbed the alien before her a dozen times and shouted hoarsely. "Gods, is this real? Can I even handle this much joy?!" Her shameless words drew a flicker of helplessness from Avery’s eyes. Months of endless war, comrades dying even as she spoke, while Rita had not been playing but fighting elsewhere. The announcement had not resolved like past ones. Clearly, her return was different. Others heard Sanchez too. Players frowned at her reckless joy, but no one rebuked her. It was Sanchez. Annoying, selfish, capricious, answering weaker players only if she felt like it. Even pets disliked her. Avery’s panda bristled whenever it saw her. But she was what she was. She only wanted the strongest friends. She only wanted to fight the strongest foes. This was the warzone with the heaviest alien incursions. When high-level monsters appeared, any sane fighter might falter. But not Sanchez. She never retreated. When B8017913 was stretched thin, she was the first to leap forward. B8017913 admitted it, and Avery’s usual elegance cracked with a smile as she added a dry truth. "A ranged DPS who doesn’t retreat from monsters probably has brain damage." Still, even Avery conceded Sanchez was born for war. Sanchez had died three times, and yet every time, the rare resurrection stones went to her without debate. She was worth it. This battlefield needed her. If only she didn’t spend five minutes every day—even here, on the front—video-calling her mother to brag about kills, meals, gear upgrades, and new skills. Maybe then they would call her the Water Shadow she longed to be instead of the Mama’s Boy Warlord. Since the start of the war, Shadow\.Q’s brow had never eased. Now, at last, it did. She patted Black Jade’s bones and smiled to her comrade. "Looks like it’s report-writing time again." "Haha. Then I’ll happily write for another hundred years." This Blue Star announcement was clearly tied to the opening of GodDraw77. The moment Rita returned to Blue Star, she discovered that skills and divine gifts she’d obtained inside the card swap game did not sync back. But every reward from Arisentna’s Divine Game remained active. Even the Blue-striped Bluru trait was preserved. Which meant all her past Divine Game winnings remained. Most rewards applied instantly, with one exception—the three SSS skills she’d earned in the team competition. Inside Arisentna, she had selected ones she already owned. Now, leaving the card swap, she could choose again. The pool contained only skills she had gained in Arisentna. The three most important, irreplaceable skills. As for her final prize, the personal championship reward, she already knew what she wanted—one glance at the battlefield’s corpses had decided it. But now, all that had to wait. Rita was locked against Shanrane, and even with her near-equal stats and polished technique, one problem remained.