Lightchaser took a deep breath. Her lips pressed together, loosened, pressed again, as if she were swallowing down an entire list of insults.
While she stood there visibly "typing...", Ash Cinders and the others had already pieced together what was going on from BS Rita’s explanation.
But after explaining, Rita added solemnly, "They’re definitely not the sa person. Lightchaser is Lightchaser. Lynx Duke is Lynx Duke.
"If Lightchaser were Lynx Duke, then wouldn’t Lynx Duke be my equipnt? That’s obviously impossible.
"Lynx Duke might have been strong, but Lightchaser is the SS Future.
"Right, Lightchaser?"
Lightchaser slowly lowered the blade she had been pressing against her student’s chest. She looked barely satisfied.
Maple Syrup shoved BS Rita several tis with her wing. "Quick, blow more Doormat Balloons! Hurry!"
Rita, who was checking whether Lightchaser’s blade had poked holes in her clothes: "..."
She silently gathered herself and really did activate the skill again, blowing a few balloons. One for Lightchaser, one for herself. One for Ash Cinders, one for herself.
When she stopped after that, holding two balloon strings and refusing to continue, chaos broke out.
Vines, tails, wings, crab claws, whale tails all smacked toward her. Rain poured down from above. A hand holding a bag of gemstones stretched to her ear.
Rita swatted away the ss, grabbed the gemstone bag, tossed it to Nivalis, and said, "Everyone gets one, stop hitting !"
Their platform was lively, but the others were no quieter.
In their own worlds, each of them stood at the top. Here, though, they seed to revert to sothing simpler. They joked, bickered, wasted ti on aningless teasing.
By the ti everyone on the platform had a Doormat Balloon, The Bell Tolls rang out.
Nivalis, B80, and even the hamster that had been gnawing roasted sweet potato on Mistblade’s shoulder vanished simultaneously.
Everyone looked toward the hourglass. The sand had run out.
The hourglass transford into a massive scroll.
First Round: Hunter or Prey?
After the ga begins, a random rune will appear above each player’s head. Within 30 minutes, you must kill 3 players with the sa rune as yourself to advance. Any player who fails to complete this before ti runs out will be eliminated.
At the sa ti, an input window popped up before every player.
Choose your weapon.
Rita typed in the longsword she was currently most proficient with. A refined blade materialized midair and fell neatly into her hand.
Its attributes were average, but that was enough. In this ga, no matter how strong the attack, it would only deduct 1 HP per hit. This was purely a test of combat technique.
With a weapon in hand, her lightning and Flower Crown Murder were no longer restricted and could be used freely in other attack forms.
When all players had chosen their weapons, another bell rang.
Runes of different shapes appeared above everyone’s heads. At the sa ti, the clock hands within the dial began to move.
Almost every platform reacted the sa way.
First, glance at the opponent you feared most, the one you believed you could not defeat. Then scan the field, counting how many players bore each rune.
If there were few rune types and many players per rune, that was manageable. But if there were many rune types and only a few players per type, one had to choose targets carefully to avoid a deadlock.
Fortunately, the situation was not too bad. The first round was likely ant to quickly eliminate weaker players rather than deliberately complicate things. There were only a few rune types. No one would slip through simply by sharing a rune with a famous top tier powerhouse.
Rita had already dashed toward another platform.
She stomped midair, golden lightning exploding around her. Vine, lightning, and longsword all aid at a seventeenth tier player.
Even though everyone’s attributes were equalized, and even though this was an elimination match, she still had standards for choosing opponents.
As the clock hands ticked and clicked, battles erupted across every fragnted ring.
...
Demon Tavern.
Deceitful Bloom asked, "You still haven’t put the Foolishness Ga into her hands?"
Foolishness remained silent.
Hearthsmoke and Mischief exchanged surprised looks.
"I thought when you wanted to do sothing," Hearthsmoke said, "it always happened."
"I gave her three chances," Foolishness replied flatly.
Deceitful Bloom nearly laughed. "We had three joint training sessions. During the second one, she offered rewards each day. Whoever finished second would receive a toy. But BS Rita went all out every ti just to take first. If she had slowed down even slightly, she could’ve reclaid the Foolishness Ga. But she didn’t.
"And in the final joint session before teaching ended, I deliberately handed the first place reward to her. After winning, do you know what she asked for? Dustfire’s Old Dining Table."
Foolishness showed little reaction to the mockery. "If she doesn’t want it, fine."
Deceitful Bloom smiled. BS Rita had a rare talent for irritating people. Getting her to deliberately curry favor with a god might be harder than throwing Starsea Quiet Mountain into disorder.
She lifted her glass casually. "What about the revised Foolishness Ga, the one modified with Flower of Deceit? Show it."
But after she said that, even after taking a sip and setting her glass down, Foolishness did not respond.
Her fingertip hovered lightly over the rim of the cup.
Deceitful Bloom’s brow arched slightly. She exchanged a look with Hearthsmoke. The other gods at the table also turned toward Foolishness.
"...I assigned it to Uncharted Star Sea," Foolishness said evenly.
Boiling Orange hesitated. "You could’ve just stuffed it into her hands this morning before the match. Wouldn’t make much difference."
Ashveil shook her head seriously. "How could that be proper? There’s a procedure. Foolishness is very cautious about that."
Foolishness set her glass down with a controlled thud.
Boiling Orange and Ashveil instantly shut up and focused very hard on their drinks.
"I didn’t want to give her the gun for her sake," Foolishness said to Deceitful Bloom. "This toy was born from coincidence and accident. I want to see what happens when soone gathers all six bullets."
The two locked eyes for a few seconds.
Deceitful Bloom replied solemnly, "Makes sense. Understandable. If it were , I’d do the sa. For example, it’s not that I don’t want to crush her. It’s just that her racial trait is useless to . When have you ever seen shout out skill nas in battle? Such a stupid trait. I’ve disliked it for ages."
Silence fell.
Boiling Orange whispered to Ashveil, "Are they helping each other down the stairs by handing each other excuses?"
Ashveil: "Haha."
The tavern door slamd open.
Then slamd shut.
Ashveil and Boiling Orange found themselves standing outside against the tavern wall.
"...Why did you even provoke them?"
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