The atmosphere inside the Demon Tavern turned extrely strange.
Rita and Nivalis both broke out in cold sweat, but as long as no one exposed them, they had no intention of stepping forward.
"Should I turn into so kind of cat too?" Nivalis whispered.
"No need," Rita replied. "Anyone who knows you would recognize my ship. It's fine. Just keep going. They're all on our side. They probably won't expose us."
The mont she finished speaking, a new system notification echoed across the tavern.
System Notification
An anomaly outside the Order has been detected in Chaotic Starsea. Calibration initiated.
Tid Mission: Balance from Order Clock
Ga Description: For the next hour, Demon Tavern and the Divine Tavern will rge into a temporary ga field. Starsea entities will synchronize with the anomaly outside the Order and take on its form. Five Quiet Mountain gods will descend into the field and undergo the sa transformation.
If the Quiet Mountain gods capture the anomaly within the ti limit, all Quiet Mountain players still in Graveyard of Bones will reduce one fatal weakness.
If they fail, all Starsea players still in Graveyard of Bones will reduce one fatal weakness.
Order Clock cannot force entities who have left divine authority into the ga. A vote will now begin.
Only entities currently inside the taverns are eligible.
If over 50 percent of Starsea gods accept, the ga begins. Players who accept will join.
If over 50 percent reject, the anomaly will be forcibly removed from Graveyard of Bones.
Countdown: 10
The sa announcent rang out in the neighboring Divine Tavern.
Both taverns instantly beca lively.
Demon Tavern clearly had more context. The Divine Tavern crowd quickly learned through shared channels.
A player had snuck into the tavern and triggered Order Clock.
The situation sat between a violation and not a violation. Because the tavern entities had collectively chosen to cover for her, Order Clock imposed this balancing event.
"Of course we accept!"
"This sounds fun. It's been a while since we played with Quiet Mountain."
"I shouldn't have shouted earlier," Autumn Deer muttered with regret.
"Whoever snuck in already got the thod from you. Why feel bad? You're too honest."
"Hurry, tell the other side so they're ready. It's been ages since we played."
Despite mixed feelings, most chose to accept.
Only those whose kin were still locked in intense battles abstained. They cared more about the war.
Deceitful Bloom crossed her arms and fell into thought. Then she removed the ring from her index finger. It transford into a pair of red gradient sunglasses, which she put on.
Foolishness glanced over. "What are you doing?"
"Saving face," Deceitful Bloom replied.
These eager participants clearly had no idea what form the anomaly would take.
She selected Accept.
The countdown was only halfway when more than half had already agreed.
The ship kept moving. Rita and Nivalis, now responsible for dragging all these gods into the ss, instinctively leaned closer together.
Rita whispered, "Why are they so excited?"
"Maybe they don't know they'll turn into hairless cats," Nivalis said.
Rita frowned imdiately. "Are you discriminating against hairless cats? Says the dragon with no fur."
"…I just can't picture a hairless cat covered in Flower of Deceit," Nivalis muttered.
Rita forced a laugh. "That wouldn't happen. Look at , I turned into one and…"
Her voice stopped.
Her golden eyes slowly lowered to the Vine wrapped around her ankle.
Not far away, Deceitful Bloom stiffened.
Foolishness, however, broke into the widest smile she had ever shown.
Rita glanced back just in ti to see it.
She had never seen that many teeth.
The countdown ended.
One wall of the tavern dissolved into nothingness. The space doubled in size as the two taverns rged.
With their mixed decorations and styles, the entire place now radiated chaotic freedom.
Then ca a series of heavy popping sounds.
Bang. Bang.
One after another, the beings inside transford into hairless cats.
Rita turned fully around, staring straight at Deceitful Bloom and Foolishness.
Where they had been sitting now sat two hairless cats wearing sunglasses.
Surprisingly smooth. Almost cute.
The one on the left had silver hair, a wine-red shirt, and a Vine looped around her ears. Several gem-like flowers had blood along it.
The one on the right had white and pink dium-length hair, still wearing a black sweater and a short coat.
Rita searched her mind for every sad mory she had.
Cold mother. Shaless father. Rotten brother.
Nothing worked.
Nivalis gasped. "Don't laugh! If you laugh, I won't dare look at you!"
"…I'm not," Rita said.
She held it in.
But laughter erupted across the tavern.
Boiling Orange had already rolled off the table laughing.
Ashveil was slightly better. It started crying at the sight of Deceitful Bloom, shouting through sobs, "No, this is not a Vineborne!"
The two sunglass-wearing hairless cats turned their heads in sync.
They stared directly at BS Rita on the tiny ship.
Even through the lenses, Rita could feel the embarrassnt and murderous intent.
She tightened the flag around herself, feeling wronged.
She did not even have clothes.
Under that deadly gaze, her skin crawled.
She nudged Nivalis. "Go. Keep moving."
Right then, five beams of light descended into the center of the tavern.
The Quiet Mountain gods had arrived.
QM Deceitful Bloom. Quiet Mountain Lynx Duke. Quiet Mountain Howl.
And two others Rita did not recognize, though their traits gave them away. One was Wind Scythe. The other, a sea squirrel.
This was a rare chance to storm Starsea's turf. Each of them had fought hard for one of the five slots.
They had even dressed up for the occasion.
But when the light faded and they saw the tavern full of bizarrely dressed hairless cats, they all fell silent.
Fast thinkers suffered first.
Because before they could even ask if it was too late to back out, their forms began to change.
Tall figures shrank smaller and smaller.
Five hairless cats with distinct racial traits stood in the center.
Nivalis stared at the scene and murmured, "…This is exactly what the King has always dread of."
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