NOVEL NEXT Chapter 901: 901: You Are Being Watched…
Only after crossing blades did Rita finally realize the gulf between herself and a veteran player.
It wasn't about stats. Not even about combat technique.
She had learned countless courses inside the Divine Game, and before descending she had even burned her long-hoarded Deceitful Bloom token. That had earned her twenty full star-years of combat curriculum from White Bear.
No, the real difference lay elsewhere.
It was the sheer number of skills.
In the Divine Game, that problem had never surfaced. The system itself deliberately suppressed the gap between old and new, restricting how many skills, items, and gear players could bring. It was why she had been able to leapfrog opponents—by leaning on her trump-card abilities.
But outside the Divine Game, that edge vanished.
Shanrane's arsenal had been wide, but manageable. Bone Shade's was terrifying. Rita suspected his skill list had already broken five digits.
Her Nebula Bubbles popped the instant they appeared, canceled without effort. Dark Side of the Moon failed to teleport him away. Absurd Story's reflect wore off every five minutes, leaving her open for ten. Again and again, her tricks unraveled.
And all of it bolstered by Bone Shade's god-tier equipment.
Five minutes in, she knew the truth—she couldn't kill him. His survivability was overwhelming.
But the opposite was true as well. He couldn't kill her either.
Her gacha machine kept spitting out pitiful balloons that still healed her over time. Bedtime Tale made even his full-force ult incapable of one-shotting her. Absurd Story couldn't be locked down forever; its reflect windows always came back. That Cat Again stunned him often enough to disrupt rhythm. Send Me the Link turned his own attacks against him. Midnight Exile let her detonate with terrifying burst. Shadow of the Moon gave her the shadow world to slip into whenever his scythe fell. Dragon Thief boosted her tolerance for mistakes.
Mystic Force remained sealed. Wither Monarch had once worked around it in another game, and she wasn't about to assume Bone Shade hadn't prepared a counter.
If her health ever dipped below thirty percent, she triggered School Rule No. 801 and reversed their life totals with Moment of Reversal. If worse came to worst, she had Unchanged Fate to lock her blood at one.
Her toolkit was not shallow.
So while the fight was brutal, while every breath burned, Bone Shade could not put her down. More than once, she even forced cold sweat from his undead brow.
Twenty minutes passed. Forty. An hour.
And Bone Shade's inner monologue began to shift.
At the start: Ten minutes from now, I'll be the undead monarch holding two divine relics. Wither Monarch will be massaging my feet.
Thirty minutes in: As long as I finish this before Flowering Edge arrives, the relics are mine.
Sixty minutes: Perhaps… perhaps I'll let her have Wrathful Moon. Cat's Ideal is mine.
Seventy minutes: …why do her techniques look so much like mine? She can't be learning them mid-battle… can she?
Ninety minutes: Today it's not BS-Rita that dies. It's me, Bone Shade, who will perish!!
…
Meanwhile, in Lania Kaia.
The Moon Emperor, Flowering Edge, stood before the summoning circle, brows knit. "Has Bone Shade answered any of you?"
Peach Crown said lightly, "No. He's not like Shanrane though. He's Bone Shade."
Silence spread across the gathered leaders.
Even Peach Crown heard how weak it sounded. He coughed. "Maybe he wants to hoard Cat's Ideal. That's why he's ignoring you."
Flowering Edge shook her head. She didn't believe it.
Two hours ticked away. The anchor opened again. By their plan, the next strongest—Flowering Edge herself—would descend.
Through the crimson veil she stepped, nine pink fox tails swaying behind her, wide enough to shade the battlefield.
She knew the anchors had been locked into three regions. Which meant she and BS-Rita had likely missed each other.
The Blue Star soldiers whispered in awe. Urging the massive mech to send word to Rita. As if her presence alone could strip away this terror.
Flowering Edge raised a hand, preparing to crush the mechanical nuisance herself, when a surge of ocean-scented air swept across the sky. A dark blue helm-wheel materialized. A figure followed.
BS-Rita.
Drenched in icefire, her face cold as stone. She came for the kill.
The moment she arrived, Flowering Edge's log exploded.
[You are being watched…]
[You are being watched…]
[You are being watched…]
[You are being watched…]
[You are being watched…]
Flowering Edge froze. Already on the main stage?
But then her attention snapped back. As she fended off Rita's strikes, she demanded, "Where's Bone Shade?!"
Rita said casually, "Scattered his ashes."
Flowering Edge blurted, "Which god's daughter are you?!"
How long had she even been in the Divine Game? And already she'd slain Bone Shade?
Rita had been fighting flat-out for two straight hours. Her mind was fraying, words spilling without filter. She shrugged mid-combo, muttering, "Can't say. Told me to keep it low-key. Don't tell the other players."
Flowering Edge's eyes widened. "Of course. That explains it. All those eyes watching us…"
Rita: …you're really going to run with that?
Their weapons clashed again—and then, two giant bones rose behind them. They split apart, forming a pale gate. Bone Shade stepped through, his cloak shredded, his once-immaculate hair hacked short. Claw marks scored his face.
No trace of his usual poise. Now, only madness.
Flowering Edge stared, transfixed.
And then Rita's voice cut the air.
"Still think you can kill me? Pathetic little Bone Shade."
"Blocking you is as easy as breathing."
"You said I could stand as your equal? With you? Laughable. You're not even Wither Monarch's equal."
"Don't you know? It's all over the Divine Game. The Undead without Bone Shade is like the Divine Game without Foolishness."
Flowering Edge: ...…
Too vile. She was insulting everyone at once. Even dragged a god's name through the mud for no reason.
Yes, it had to be a skill. But the venom of her words only twisted the knife deeper.
…
In the Divine Game chat:
Boiling Orange: "The Undead without Bone Shade is like the Divine Game without Foolishness."
Ashveil: "The Undead without Bone Shade is like the Divine Game without Foolishness."
Ironclaw: "Wait, so is Bone Shade important or not? This question is too hard. I can't figure it out."
Foolishness: "…do you want to die?"
Puppetlord: "Why isn't Deceitful Bloom saying anything?"
Ashveil: "Maybe she's scared…"
Boiling Orange: "Let's just ask her…"
Stonefang: "That god who told Rita to keep low profile…"
Foolishness: "Was it you?"
Deceitful Bloom: "..."