Rita wasn’t just talking trash for the fun of it. What she was really doing was making use of a skill she’d learned while studying gacha-machine crafting with Drummer—[Hit the Beat] (SSS). [Hit the Beat] (SSS): The words you speak will inflict an overwhelming mental stimulus on your target, amplifying all of their emotions. Costs 1000 mana per minute while active. An SSS-ranked skill, just for talking. Maybe it was because the things she had said at the time had left such a deep scar on her divine instructor that the system itself had recognized it as worthy. If it could rattle a god, then naturally it worked on Bone Shade too. But no amount of verbal provocation could change the reality that she was standing alone against two leaders—Bone Shade the Undead Lord and Flowering Edge the Moon Emperor. She burned away 10% of her mana to link her damage to Flowering Edge, forcing the fox emperor to shoulder part of the incoming punishment from Bone Shade. The three clashed high above, blades shrieking, spells tearing the night. On the ground, BS players looked up at the sky. When the second leader descended, hope had wavered. Could they still fight? Could they still hold on? And for how long? Rita didn’t know either. She didn’t know where this path ended, or what waited beyond. She only knew she couldn’t stop. Her every movement screamed her answer to the battlefield: "Dead fight" wasn’t just a slogan. With [School Rule No. 801] cycling endlessly, she chained [Phoenix Seat] and [Unchanged Fate], burning through them again and again. The cooldowns were transferred away using the owl trick, ensuring no downtime. Even then, she didn’t have the luxury of a single mistake. Flowering Edge had already once erased her [Unchanged Fate], and only her quick reaction—using a cloned version from her shopping cart to cancel the fox’s buff—saved her. Her body strained, her mind sharpened to a razor’s edge, she forced herself to the limit, clinging to survival against both leaders. Above them, the BS moon hung cold and silver, letting her slip in and out of the shadow world, darting in for ambush strikes. Every clash left scars that healed almost as fast as they appeared. Blood rained down, weapons shrieked, bones cracked. They fought like beings that had forgotten fatigue. Rita was fighting for Blue Star. What about Bone Shade and Flowering Edge? Was it just for divine relics? For cruelty? Or to make Blue Star taste the despair their own worlds had suffered? She didn’t ask. She didn’t want to know. Not now. Two hours. Another brutal two-hour stretch. She hadn’t managed to kill either one. And now the third leader was coming. She gambled on [This Cat Right Here] to land a hard crowd control, then opened [Mystic Force] at last. As she feared, Bone Shade was prepared. He pulled out some bizarre artifact, aimed it at her, and the Mystic Force collapsed instantly. But in that very instant, she swapped their health bars with [Moment of Reversal]. Only for Bone Shade to explode into layers of shields—seven stacked barriers igniting at once—then blink behind Flowering Edge. The fox emperor stared at him. "..." Embarrassing. Rita laughed coldly. But her heart sank. Mystic Force was no longer a path. And then, a fleeting thought pierced her: Why wasn’t her future self here? She shoved the thought down. Irrelevant. She had another plan. When the scarlet light of the third portal burned open, Rita teleported there first. She knew Bone Shade and Flowering Edge would follow; their pride wouldn’t let them go farm weaker prey while she stood above them daring them to come. She even tossed a taunt over her shoulder: "Keep up. If you don’t show, I’ll just assume you’re hiding." Bone Shade and Flowering Edge: "..." Now she understood why Mistblade, Maple Syrup, and Pine Bloom had chosen to face her in the Divine Game rather than stay here to fight Blue Star. They’d known exactly how infuriating she was. From the scarlet gate stepped Peach Crown. Rita’s lips curved. She raised a hand. [Shabby Road]. From [Phoenix Seat], [Unchanged Fate], to [Sin of Arrogance] and now this—her greatest skills had come in moments of confrontation with gods, or in battles where she was stripped to her most raw self. [Shabby Road]: "I don’t know where the wind blows. I don’t know if I walk the right path. I only know that the defeated have no right to speak." Summons a fallen foe to fight for you, wholly committed, for 2 hours. Afterward, they gain 30 minutes to seek revenge. Each use inflicts a curse upon you as the price of desecrating the dead. Cooldown 3 hours. You may have no more than 3 summoned at once. Desperate poison as medicine. A magic circle flared at her side. And a rabbit appeared. Get full chapters from novel[f]ire.net Deceitful Bloom: ...So I’m her hired muscle now? The curse struck instantly: [For 3 Starsea days, no resurrection skill can affect you.] She exhaled. Acceptable. Nothing mattered more than survival. The key was to keep the rabbit cooperative. Rita spoke earnestly: "Back then, we both had our reasons. Let’s set it aside. Fight at my side." And maybe, just maybe, two hours later they could skip the revenge. Deceitful Bloom’s voice was dry: "...Funny. I don’t remember you having any ’difficulties’ when you were strangling me half to death." No, it hadn’t been difficult at all. Thinking back on it almost made her laugh—until she snapped her head toward the sky, eyes sharp again. Bone Shade and Flowering Edge were closing. She raised her dagger, pointed straight at the undead lord. "Fine. I’ll give you the best. Lania Kaia Bone Shade. He’s yours." The rabbit’s face twisted with helplessness, but she moved, stepping into Bone Shade’s path. Her stats instantly synced to his. At least this was better than the Food Street debacle. Outside the Divine Game, her power was unsealed. Of course, she wasn’t going to really kill players for Rita. Deceitful Bloom was neutral, always would be. But neither would she go easy. She still wanted her half hour of vengeance when this ended. She’d never admit it was her own twisted enjoyment. She’d just say Rita had that strange pull—the more she liked her, the more she wanted to torment her. So she blocked him. And that was enough. Rita turned back to face Flowering Edge and Peach Crown. Two enemies again. But easier enemies. On the ground, Sanchez had been staring at the sky for a long time. Her eyes locked on the rabbit whose movements were so fluid, so vicious, so... polished. While dodging a strike, she edged closer to B8017913 and whispered, "Who’s that rabbit? Rita’s third pet?" B8017913 froze, sparks almost flying from its circuits. "...Don’t. Just don’t. If you dare to say it, I don’t dare to hear it."