Lulumi and Mojie had also seen that person’s combo and were practically drooling. But there was no way to cooperate on it. Not only would splitting the haul be a problem, Mojie would never trust Lulumi. [Low-Risk Investment] only worked once per day. If they managed to pull it off and Lulumi ran with the numbers, he would have no recourse.
He recognized those three familiar gold streaks the moment they flared. He knew exactly what Rita had used. His own [Low-Risk Investment] was already on cooldown today, and even if it weren’t, with her escape speed he probably could not have targeted her in time.
After slotting her haul into the Sudoku board inside the shadow realm, Rita popped back out to keep farming digits.
Fewer than five hundred players remained on the field. The instant she appeared, every player on her floor rushed her. Those on other floors who had already picked up numbers changed levels to join the hunt. There was no greater aggro magnet than Rita now.
The poor souls being hammered by Mistblade, Maple Syrup, and NightFury even gritted through the pain just to lure those three amnesiac juggernauts toward Rita, kiting them as if they were bosses into the path of the bigger boss.
One by one, every player paused their number race to form a temporary alliance for a single objective: kill Rita.
Earlier, players on her floor would grudgingly unite to focus her down. Now the entire library converged.
Even the three who had forgotten Rita’s existence, Mistblade, Maple Syrup, and NightFury, were being fed intel nonstop by nearby players. That person has the most digits now. If she gets any more, the game ends. The endless refrain of Who is that person and That person kept playing, but it was enough to steer them in Rita’s direction.
The Fun Match scene replayed itself.
Or rather, this was the classic Lightchaser Year Five-and-beyond experience that Wail always talked about, now repeating on her disciple: every Divine Game turns into a siege.
Were the students not curious about a GodDraw77 run? Of course they were. But while a GodDraw77 run was legendary for the one who opened it, for their peers it was an indictment of an entire generation. If it opened while they were still enrolled, it would proclaim to Arisentna how worthless this era’s students were.
The audience prayed to see GodDraw77. The students would not grant that wish. They would rather carry a lifetime of curiosity and wonder than let it open during their school years.
Even Quex and Pine Bloom, still fighting over [Whale Falls in the Wind], broke off their brawl to join the chase while swinging at each other mid-sprint.
Rita kept ripping digits from nearby players with her theft skills while sprinting. So dramatic, all this for me?
Remembering the crazy debuffs from the Fun Match, Rita did not hesitate. She activated [Unchanged Fate]. Google seaʀᴄh 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭⚫𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦⚫𝘯𝘦𝘵
Force-lock your current state. Ignore all damage and all self-consumption.
It was a cleaner answer than the snowman. But she was running out of time.
Had Maple Syrup used [Temporary Betrayal] yet? If not, it could drop on her at any moment.
Leaping again, Rita twisted midair and triggered her last [Buy One, Get Three]. A spring blossom flew out, split into three, and struck Mistblade, Maple Syrup, and NightFury.
Consume a non-skill spring flower to force the target into three minutes of winter sleep.
The moment she landed, Rita stopped wasting time on resistance and focused on ripping numbers. She hunted only the marks she needed, using [I Just Want to Improve So Badly] and [Gift of Nature] on players with glowing digits above their heads.
It did not matter that the ring closed around her. It did not matter that those players backpedaled. She could always slip into the shadow realm and pass through attacks to reach any location she wanted.
The championship was within reach. She could see the door to GodDraw77.
Then the sound of rapid chopping filled everyone’s ears. With it came a warm kitchen aroma that hit Rita with a pang of homesickness for Grandma Eleanor. Every positive buff vanished, including [Unchanged Fate].
Worse, every non-item skill with a cooldown was shoved into cooldown and frozen there.
All eyes swung to the caster, Autumn Deer.
A dainty porcelain rice bowl sat balanced between his antlers, its contents shifting every so often. What in the world was that?
After a few days, in the same map, Crab asked the same question. What is that divine relic called?
He simply assumed it was one too.
Autumn Deer did not bother denying it. Since he had used it, there was no point in hiding. Otherwise he would just look timid. Graciously, he gave the answer. [Delicious Funeral].
He truly had not wanted to use it. Life was long. He did not want to plant a landmine in his future over a single Divine Game. He had held out until now. But watching the entire library chase Moonlight Marsh Rita and still fail to stop her? Impossible to stomach.
At the same time, his skill snapped Maple Syrup, Mistblade, and NightFury awake. He did not care who won, as long as GodDraw77 did not open again.
Rita did not linger. She bolted out of the gallery, used the wall for a kick step, and vaulted to the next floor. All she wanted now was to find the few players who had hidden themselves away and rip the last digits she needed. She was only three numbers short of finishing her Sudoku.
The moment she moved, the entire library moved with her.
All the debuffs that had failed to land under [Unchanged Fate] snapped back onto her.
That was Crab’s voice.
Thinking of how [Whale Falls in the Wind] kept changing hands wherever Frenzied Shark appeared, Rita saw the prompts roll in.
Totem of Hatred active. For the next two hours, you cannot use any healing or defensive skills.
Disarm applied. For the next ten minutes, you cannot use any weapon-type equipment.
Your sense of direction begins to distort.
The icon for [Legendary Prologue] kept flashing in her vision, which meant its passive was being triggered again and again. Someone was spamming psyche-control effects on her.
The chase raged across the library. Everyone had the same target: Moonlight Marsh Rita.
Under Totem of Hatred, her health bar ticked down and down.
[The Wind Doesn’t Speak], [Mystic Force], [School Rule No. 801], and the rest were all frozen. She had no breathing room left for health-consuming theft skills.
Blood mist wrapped the lantern at her waist and smothered the moonlight. Without actively activating [Wrathful Moon], the lantern could not pierce the fog to light the world, so she could not enter or exit the shadow realm. The only skill that did not need mana, [Nebula Bubble], was blocked by Totem of Hatred.
And even if she did enter the shadow world, it was useless. The sea of tree shadows had returned.
The only sliver of air she had left was to sacrifice a few attribute points through [Gift of Nature] to strip a bit of haste or stats off other players.
It was a full-spectrum siege.
Every spectator could see it. She had reached the end of the line.