This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 1241 Divine Game: Divine Instruction 55

"Waiting is a privilege reserved for the strong."

The knife Rita had thrown earlier was tossed back by Lightchaser.

It struck her squarely like her own returning boomerang.

"Is your divine talent word really that hard to figure out?" Lightchaser asked.

Before her student could answer, she quickly added, with rare impatience, "Give a proper answer. Don’t say something disgusting."

Apparently Rita’s earlier line about being "a mysterious and complicated woman" had thoroughly grossed her out.

"...!"

Rita swung her sword faster and faster. Golden lightning surged along every arc of the blade.

"That’s the truth!" she snapped. "My life is so spectacular you people can’t even imagine it. Of course it’s hard to summarize!"

Lightchaser sighed.

"I told you not to say disgusting things."

Rita turned off Absurd Story.

Lightchaser entered five times speed again.

Their health bars began dropping in sync, both falling to just over three hundred.

Now it was only a matter of who unleashed their trump card first.

Lightchaser was waiting for Rita’s divine talent word.

But Rita was waiting for Lightchaser to attack her with hers.

As long as it landed successfully, Wildfire Reignite could enter its second phase.

But what came first was something else.

Lightchaser’s speed suddenly dropped back to normal.

The clock hand floating beside the elf stopped again.

Rita showed no mercy. She immediately increased her attack speed.

She had no intention of testing the limits of that strange clock ability.

All she wanted was to defeat Lightchaser before time manipulation returned.

At last, a glow appeared between Lightchaser’s brows.

A shining crown.

Part of it was still only an outline, but half the crown now shone with soft moonlight.

Under her student’s focused gaze, Lightchaser raised her hand and spread her fingers toward Rita.

"Student," she said, "since you still called me teacher today, I’ll help you once."

Her voice took on a tone like a chant.

"I want to see my student awaken the strongest divine talent word she can."

Divine talent word Lightchaser.

All impossibilities become possible.

The duration of the altered reality varied depending on how difficult the change was.

But if it succeeded, even a single second would be enough for her student to awaken her divine talent.

Rita stared.

...What kind of embarrassingly dramatic skill line was that?

So now Lightchaser was playing the overpowered CEO role?

She awkwardly glanced around, toes curling inside her boots.

But the players on the stands all looked solemn and serious.

Even Lightchaser herself wore a dignified expression while activating the skill.

Then Rita realized something was wrong.

Every player had frozen.

Not just their movements. Even their expressions were locked in place.

The drifting fragments of the Blue Star Sea above the arena had also stopped moving.

Only the clock hands beneath their feet inside the arena continued ticking. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Rita looked down.

Then she stepped backward.

The deep blue clock arena instantly turned wine red.

The world flipped.

Before she could react, Rita was falling headfirst into the Star Sea, plunging into darkness.

Just like when she first entered Divine Game.

She fell through endless darkness until light returned.

Voices echoed from the distance. Loud, lively, chaotic.

Rita suddenly found herself standing on a high platform in a palace among the clouds.

Nearby, golden sunlight flowed through the air like liquid metal.

Dawn.

How had she gone from the Star Sea arena to Dawn?

Was this an illusion?

Footsteps approached outside the hall.

Lightning condensed into a sword in Rita’s hand.

But the scent of flowers in the air had already told her who it was.

"This is the Divine Game course you wanted," a voice said. "I also brought the palace design plans. I left rooms for your undead mentor and your senior as you requested. And..."

The voice stopped abruptly.

Dawn Smoke Tune stood beside a screen formed from extending vines.

She stared at the figure slowly turning in the golden sunlight.

Calmly, she spoke her conclusion.

"You are not Lania Kaia Wildfire."

"Lania Kaia Wildfire... Lania Kaia Wildfire."

Rita repeated the name softly.

Her gaze remained fixed on Smoke Tune’s face.

Smoke Tune showed no sign of panic.

But that did not mean much. She was always like this.

Even when the bell tolled, she had looked the same.

"You are not Lania Kaia Wildfire."

What an interesting first reaction.

Instead of asking who she was, Smoke Tune immediately decided who she was not.

Just like in Quiet Mountain.

Back then, people said she was not QM Rita.

So the other person must look a lot like her.

And apparently she had joined Dawn.

Rita remembered something the Star Sea had said after the last bell.

Pruning extra timelines created by time abilities. Only the most brilliant Star Sea timeline would remain.

Was this another timeline?

Her thoughts raced.

Guess after guess surfaced in her mind.

But the first question she asked was something else entirely.

"Did Dawn absorb Lania Kaia?"

A new cold fragrance entered the palace.

Dawn Cicada’s icy voice followed.

"Where is Dawn Wildfire?"

Rita shook her head.

She had no idea.

Maybe that version of Wildfire had been pulled into Rita’s timeline and was currently getting beaten up by Lightchaser.

She walked down the steps toward the two Vineborne.

"Can we talk about Wildfire?" she asked.

"About my other self."

It sounded like a question.

But her posture and the force of her presence made it clear this was an order.

What surprised her was the reaction.

Despite her commanding tone, Dawn Cicada only looked at her with curiosity and mild surprise.

No anger. No immediate attack.

That was not Cicada’s usual personality.

Why?

Lania Kaia Wildfire must be strong.

Strong people respected other strong people.

That respect now extended to Rita as well.

Just like how she herself would not act recklessly if she suddenly encountered this timeline’s Deceitful Bloom or Foolishness.

But that was all.

Cicada was not afraid of her.

She frowned slightly.

"When will she return?"

"Wildfire is important?" Rita asked.

"Yes. She holds the Invasion Sequence. We are about to discuss invading Nuclear Flash."

"Dawn Mistblade is waiting for her."

Invade Nuclear Flash?

Was that to prepare for the bell?

Possibly.

If Lania Kaia had already been destroyed, then Wither, its ruler, would surely have died as well.

Rita frowned.

Why were things so different here?

And Dawn Mistblade...

She asked carefully, "What year is it in the Star Sea?"

"Year 6799," Smoke Tune replied.

The same year as Rita’s timeline.

But that still did not reveal how much time had passed for Lania Kaia Wildfire.

Before the Star Sea synchronized time across worlds, every world had its own timeline.

During invasions Lania Kaia would sync with BS time.

Afterward it would return to its own timeline.

Several years could pass in Lania Kaia while only one passed in the Star Sea.

This question was too important.

Even though Rita instinctively believed events involving the Star Sea and Quiet Mountain would not change drastically, the presence of Dawn Mistblade and Lania Kaia Wildfire made her cautious.

She asked one more thing.

"How many bells have rung so far?"

"Has the pendulum strike happened in your world yet?"

"Bells?" Smoke Tune frowned.

"What bells?"