CHAPTER 816: 816: DIVINE GAME: CARD SWAP 65

Even if Lightchaser was pushing her to win a Divine Game championship in her third year, that had never been the real goal.

From the start, Lightchaser’s training plan had always been for a lifetime, not just a single tournament.

From the moment a student first touched magic until graduation, this was her golden growth period.

If, during this crucial stage, she didn’t learn to think on her own—if she didn’t get used to grinding skills through relentless practice, but instead just waited for scrolls to be handed to her—her talent would be wasted.

She’d never grasp the essence of a skill. She’d just keep relying on lucky bursts of inspiration, letting the flames of her soul crash against probability, hoping to stumble into understanding.

And when faced with a tricky skill or an enemy she couldn’t handle, the only thing she’d think was—What skill did the bear just use?

But the truth was, the bear hadn’t used any skill at all.

It had simply overlapped five special runes in its palm, forming what looked like a beginner’s mark, "∝."

And yet, the moment that rune touched her, it had briefly blocked her senses, tricking her into thinking she couldn’t control her body.

If she hadn’t spent so long breaking down every move while learning melee techniques, if she hadn’t drawn and studied rune after rune in her attempts to master skill activation, she’d never have seen through it.

But now, after all those cycles of day and night in Moonlight Marsh, all that relentless grinding had finally paid off.

Unlike classroom instruction, unlike that time she’d lucked into [Send Me the Link] after gathering mountains of intel, this time she’d learned something entirely on her own—analyzing in battle, breaking it down, and recreating it.

She could now do exactly what the bear had done: use a single rune to briefly confuse an opponent.

It was a deceptively simple technique, but because it wasn’t technically a skill, it avoided all the downsides—no cooldown, instant cast, immune to skill-sealing effects.

And she’d even innovated on it, shaping it into a brand-new skill.

[A Night to Remember] (SSS): "In this perfect Wrong Season, I gift you a night to remember!" Condense a cloud of liquor vapor and strike the target in a special way, sending the hit body part into a state of deep drunkenness. Each use consumes a set amount of liquor mist, with the amount determining the severity and duration of the drunken state. Cooldown: 15 seconds.

Even the level 100 bear took two full seconds to recover from it.

Short, yes—but in a fight, half a second could decide everything.

The instant the bear’s arm sagged, Rita was already using the beginner-level [Flash Step] she’d been drilling during time-stop these past few days, putting distance between them.

She spread her arms wide and laughed midair. "I have the best teacher in the world!"

Somehow, that seemed to hit the bear right in the lungs.

One moment it was still on the ground, the next it was in her face, its paw clenched into a fist and growing huge in her vision.

Boom!

Rita went flying right back to the Death Eater.

Clutching her face, she propped herself up and muttered bitterly, "That bear’s got a bad temper, doesn’t it?"

Her HP might have been locked, but the pain was real.

The Death Eater let out a low, amused laugh. "Yes. What did you say to it?"

But before the words had even finished, Rita was already summoning the Deep Blue Helm to make her escape—her question had just been a distraction.

Not long after she left the Old District, a white bear head poked through the hole in the wall. "Where’d she go? Why didn’t she come back?"

"She ran. She asked me if you had a bad temper, and then wondered what you’d said to her to make you snap."

"...Heh. Not worth explaining."

...

In an ice cream shop, Rita was pointing at the pumpkin flavor, asking the clerk if they sold whole pumpkins.

Her pumpkin hat had been smashed in that last fight.

Still, it had been a huge haul—not only had she picked up a new combat technique and an SSS-rank skill, but she also now had two [Telekinetic Control] skills in her cart.

Barring surprises, she didn’t plan to come back here. This wasn’t the Old District—it was probably full of actual demons.

For 50 credits, she bought the smallest pumpkin in the shop and tucked it into her coat pocket.

Pulling up her wristwatch notifications, she scrolled back through the feed, quickly marking the districts with the most frequent killings.

With [Absolute Freedom] still on a 300-second cooldown, she didn’t plan to waste it waiting here—and even off cooldown, she wouldn’t burn it in a non-critical moment. Instead, she flew straight toward the nearest battlefield.

She’d already lost enough time. By now, the other contestants must have gathered plenty of hints—it was time to start harvesting.

When she arrived, three City Guard members were chasing down dozens of students.

The guards all wore matching black uniforms—long coats, tall boots, and black face masks that hid their features.

Whether forced by circumstances or prearranged, the dozen or so students—though from different academies—were working together against the guards, coordinating attacks and even healing one another.

She could sense plenty of other contestants lurking in the shadows nearby, just like her.

[Mystic Force] was still active.

Rita landed behind the group of students, starting to close in from the rear.

She raised her wristwatch and shouted to the guards, "Friendly!"

Then, with a snap of her wingtip, she sent a liquor mist straight into a student’s forehead.

The student toppled backward, and Rita stepped in, catching the falling dagger in her right hand.

Spinning around the drunken target, she slipped past an incoming attack from the side.

Her waist and core twisted like the mainspring of a clock, channeling all her strength into the blade.

A single [Throat Slash] nearly severed the head entirely.

The City Guard didn’t attack her—maybe because there were still students between them, or maybe because they saw the watch on her wrist.

Either way, Rita kept her distance from them.

[Hint: To this city, they are a heretic]

[Hint: They killed City Guard #3]

The clash of weapons filled the street with sharp, metallic ringing.

Slipping through the chaos, Rita kept her kills to the students. When fewer than twenty were left, she didn’t linger—she bailed immediately.

[Hint: They stole over a hundred desserts from a pastry shop]

[Hint: Anyone who’s seen them never forgets them]

[Hint: They’re different from the other citizens of Demon City]

Seven kills. Five hints. Far better odds than killing normal citizens.

With her new intel, she took off down a side street, planning to bait and ambush more hidden contestants.

She kept to back alleys, flying low, making herself an easy target.

But after two full blocks, no one bit.

What, nobody wanted to gank her for those hints?

She started muttering under her breath like a mantra: "Moonlight Marsh is the best academy in Kasilanar, no debate."

"Puppy Ranch, Deep Sea Mine, Golden Hills, Twilight Library... long story short, all forty-five magic schools are just Moonlight Marsh’s stepping stools."

"Moonlight Marsh has been waiting thirty years for the rest of you, and this is the best you’ve got? This? Not even a single GodDraw77, never mind a Lightchaser Moment!"

"Kasilanar’s finished."

"...But it’s fine. I’m here now."