The moment Maple Syrup emptied her glass, Rita saw the resolve in her eyes. During their duel, she had confirmed countless times that Maple Syrup truly meant to kill her—but some part of her had still hoped otherwise. Maybe Maple Syrup was forcing her to quit the game? Maybe there was another reason? But even now, outside the match, that killing intent hadn’t faded. The last shred of wishful thinking inside her was torn apart. Surrender was no longer an option. And then, at last, the long-delayed chime of a newly awakened skill sounded in her mind. [Nemesis] (SSS): "Fate drives us toward each other, again and again, until one of us decides to kill the other." When you encounter your destined Nemesis, both of your attack power increases greatly, and all attributes +10%. When a battle begins between you and your Nemesis, any skill effects—positive or negative—used by any other player that affect either of you will automatically link and apply to both. A Nemesis battle should always be fair. Fight to your heart’s content! Rita opened her status panel. All her attributes jumped by ten percent. Even though she wasn’t currently fighting Maple Syrup, not even in the same area, the effect was already active. And it wasn’t just her attributes—her physical damage, magical power, and critical damage had all doubled. Rita’s expression turned strange. She glanced at Maple Syrup—and at that same moment, Maple Syrup looked back with an equally conflicted gaze. Was this supposed to be a duel or a forced partnership? Rita turned away. Whatever. She’d already drunk the [Forest Sea]. They weren’t friends anymore. As she looked elsewhere, her eyes briefly met Mistblade’s. There was pure pride and joy there. But... was it real? Had Mistblade used [Endless Autumn: On the Chessboard] again? Rita pressed her lips together and quickly looked away. She wasn’t inviting Mistblade to the bathroom ever again. The audience was still celebrating, still replaying the match’s highlights, but Rita didn’t leave the pillar of light. She opened the Fun Match reward menu. —Select one player. You will permanently copy the skill that player used most frequently in this match. It wasn’t nearly as extravagant as past champions’ rewards. No 100 free stat points, no legendary equipment. But depending on the choice, this could be even better. She had used [Crime Simulation] during her time-stop to analyze every skill in play for this very moment. Her target was... Crab. At the end of the time stop, she had used [Moment of Reversal] to swap her own [Spring Pumpkin] with Crab’s [Gift of Nature]. Just for that moment of exchange, she hadn’t even used [Endless Autumn] to cleanse her curses or debuffs. Still, with the stacked buffs from [Waste Guide], she’d been able to push through. And since she had been marked as disadvantaged against Crab, the reversal had succeeded. Crab had been using one skill over and over—[The Wind Doesn’t Speak]. If her guess was right, that was what caused the faint ringing of wind chimes throughout the battle. [The Wind Doesn’t Speak] (SSS): "The wind says nothing, but when it passes, you always know it’s there." When you activate this skill, whenever wind passes through your location, it brings you the active buffs of the 500 nearest targets. Due to loss in transmission, each buff’s effect is reduced to 10% of its original power. Cooldown: 10 seconds. Duration: 5 minutes. Even at just ten percent efficiency, five hundred buffs was five hundred buffs. Stacked together, the volume alone was monstrous. And since it lasted only five minutes, Crab would have been using it constantly—making it almost certainly the most frequently used skill of the match. Of course, there was another possibility—that divine relic–linked skills couldn’t be copied at all. But even knowing that, Rita couldn’t resist gambling. Immediately, her ears filled with harsh noise—wind roaring, static crackling, fragments of distant voices she couldn’t make out. Five minutes passed with no response. Just as disappointment began to settle in, a notification appeared before her eyes. [Congratulations, player ■■ Rita, for obtaining SSS-grade skill: The Wind Doesn’t Speak.] "So the Divine Game itself is BS-Rita’s biggest protection, huh?" "No, it’s legitimate. The will of ’Howl’ itself granted permission." "You sure about that?" "Positive. Foolishness and I were there when we asked. Captain, Drummer, and Bitter Cup were all present. Captain protested, but that was the Divine Game’s official ruling." "Completely by the book, then. Copying a divine relic’s skill is allowed if the player selects it properly. The only real question is how she could use it without having [Whalefall in the Wind], since that relic is normally required for the skill to function." "I told you—the lingering will of ’Howl’ agreed to it." Thɪs chapter is updated by novel※fire.net "Captain must be thrilled. If [Whalefall in the Wind] hadn’t been downgraded to SSS rank when Crab got it, BS-Rita would’ve just picked up a god-tier ability today." "Did you two punch Captain when he started complaining?" "What? Why would we? I’d have filed a complaint if he didn’t!" Boiling Orange watched Deceitful Bloom leave with a stormy face and turned to Foolishness. "I didn’t imagine that, right? She ran faster than you?" Foolishness gave him a long, unimpressed look. "Who ran? I’m just going to watch the chaos." Boiling Orange: "..." Stonefang: "Not saying." Boiling Orange: "..." Half the audience had already left when Rita finally descended from the light pillar. She barely landed before Crab lunged at her. "Give me back my skill! Who wants your stupid pumpkin?!" Rita twisted aside just as NightFury dove from above, its attacks flaring across the arena. "You give me back [Whalefall in the Wind] first!" NightFury growled. Rita dodged again, sidestepping both of them. "Team match. You two have groups yet?" Crab and NightFury both hesitated. Technically, yes—but their "teams" were just loose alliances of ungrouped players. Cannon fodder squads, really. Rita pressed her advantage. "Come on. Let’s work together for now. You both know we’re better off cooperating in the team match. Your [Whalefall in the Wind] is with Crab, Crab’s [Gift of Nature] is with me. Makes sense to coordinate, right? Whether we get everything back or not, at least we can make use of what we have." She paused dramatically, then raised a hand, palm out, blocking their path as her tone sharpened. "And most importantly—" "Teaming up makes it way easier to stab each other in the back later and reclaim our stuff." That argument was flawless. Crab and NightFury froze for a second. Then, perfectly in sync, they both said, "Deal."