"You run like you're about to trip over your own feet."

Hearing that familiar voice, Rita stopped the dagger she almost swung back and focused on running while snapping, "Oh, you're not dead yet?"

Tiger EarQuex said, "I froze myself. Only for twenty seconds."

Rita immediately sped up. In her mind, as long as she stayed inside Lightchaser's barrier, she was dead. Other players didn't know how to get out of this sealed zone, but she did.

With GodDraw77 chasing behind them, Tiger EarQuex didn't bother with threats like "next time I see you, I'll kill you." She ran right alongside Rita, and the two reached a tacit agreement while fleeing.

BS- and Tiger Ear had no conflicting interests. Tiger Ear didn't need this particular kill, and she definitely wouldn't choose someone as hard to kill as BS-Rita. They could temporarily team up, no promises needed.

In other words, if Ash Cinders blocked their path, it would come down to who ran faster.

So the two of them fled together at full speed.

As Rita ran, she studied her Player Relic. The clue said its awakening method was hidden in her past?

Y128 handled most of the movement and directional control. Rita only needed to move her legs and keep watch with her peripheral vision. She removed the ring, unfolded the painting it reverted to, and began examining it carefully.

It was quiet beside her. She turned her head and saw Tiger EarQuex examining a small black notebook.

Rita didn't bother speaking to her. Instead, she spoke privately to Nivalis and B80 inside the pet space about the game task.

She had a faint suspicion—the first Divine Game she ever played, the one called Little Painter.

Nivalis and B80 agreed.

Nivalis worried, "Don't tell me you have to kill them all. A lot of them are missing now."

Rita said, "It shouldn't be that hard."

B80234615 很多前面没改 said, "Little Painter's rule was based on completion percentage. It never required finishing the entire set."

Rita said, "Right. And Little Painter had way more than an hour of game time. So your calculations mean as long as I kill one, I might be able to awaken my Player Relic?"

B80234615 很多前面没改 replied, "Yes."

Nivalis said, "I can't come out. Otherwise you could just kill me and revive me."

Rita sighed. "Yeah, wouldn't that be nice."

Nivalis snapped, "Are you human? I was being polite! You took it seriously?!"

Rita said, "Mm-hmm."

She unfolded the painting again.

Eliminating three The Mechanoids, BS- players, and those she couldn't possibly kill like Apache, Kayden, Maple, Cang, Lidian…

That left only Maple Syrup, Mistblade, Fat Goose, Fury Rider, Winter Sea Frenzied Shark, TingoJE, MarmangCrab, Lightchaser, Ash Cinders, Wail… and herself.

Looking through the list, every single one of them was a powerhouse.

The painting vanished abruptly, reverting back into a ring that snapped onto her hand. Rita's left arm whipped backward.

Boom!

She blocked a blade of blazing blue energy but was forced down to one knee under the impact.

In her peripheral vision, a figure appeared beside Tiger EarQuex—Ash Cinders.

Rita didn't hesitate for a second. She bolted. Suddenly her legs didn't feel weak anymore. Y128's control nearly failed to keep up.

Y128 asked, "You know her?"

Rita said, "Remember the little fairy I summoned? That fairy is my teacher. And so is this one… Don't ask me how many teachers I have! Anyway just don't ask and keep running!"

Y128 said, "Your tone and the way you answered do not sound like you're talking about a teacher."

Rita was stunned. "???"

Not bothering to argue, she began moving her left hand through the air in a precise pattern—part martial stance, part magical sigil.

Y128 asked, "What is that?"

Rita said, "A rune my teacher taught me."

It was the Hide-and-Seek rune. Ash Cinders would recognize it instantly, and there was a small variation in it, something they had discussed together while sailing the River of Time. Not only would Ash Cinders know what it was, she would know who used it.

Y128 asked, "And then she just won't kill you? This is a war."

Its data allowed it to infer the nature of this game. BS-Rita was no fool—she must have noticed how merciless these hunters were. That desperate resolve, that kill-everything frenzy, only appeared on the final battlefield.

Win or die.

The Divine Game might only be a significant event influencing the war for other players, but for these hunters, this game decided the fate of Isolated Isle.

"I know," Rita said. "I'm not naive, and I'm not asking her to choose between me and her world. But she'll stop, because there are many players she needs to kill. I'm not the last one. She'll let me go.

"I'm not actually afraid of dying anyway. You can revive in this game. I just prefer to die later."

And she suspected Ash Cinders already recognized her. The first time they met in Kaladom, Rita escaped using a dance Ash Cinders taught her—one used by druids to celebrate reunion.

Legs weak? Running unevenly? Y128 and Tiger EarQuex clearly didn't understand!

Sure enough, the battlefield broadcast soon announced Ash Cinders killing Tiger EarQuex, but even long after that, no footsteps approached Rita from behind.

Y128 said, "I'm realizing you have a lot of connections." Not only The Mechanoids, but teachers on the battlefield, too.

Rita snapped, "Stop implying things."

Y128 said, "Also, didn't you say you don't beg anyone?"

Rita said, "That was not begging. That's private business between me and my teacher. How could that ever count as begging? Talking to you is infuriating!"

Y128 fell silent.

…

Lightchaser shifted course, landing beside the corpse of a The Mechanoid.

Judging from the traces and sword marks, Ash Cinders killed this one.

What stopped Lightchaser was not the body, but the line of text Ash Cinders carved beside it.

"She's here too, ↑."

Just one simple sentence and an arrow.

The arrow pointed exactly in the direction Lightchaser had intended to travel. Within her skill's perception, she "saw" that The Mechanoid sprinting away at full speed.

She couldn't see players from other worlds, but after just a few encounters, she had already deduced something: each The Mechanoid carried not just a tiny robot, but also an invisible second consciousness controlling the larger body.

Lightchaser lowered her gaze, erased the writing with her boot, and changed direction.

Would her student die permanently in this game?

If yes… if yes…

Lightchaser shut her eyes tightly.

She hoped her student would die at someone else's hands.

She hoped they would never meet.

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