Rita flew even faster. Although her items were soul-bound, who could guarantee they wouldn't get snatched away here?
She considered turning back to test the gap between herself and the hammer-wielding warrior, but more and more alien races appeared in her path. Without exception, they all charged at her, attempting to take her down the moment they saw her.
The desert stretched endlessly, and now seven alien players were chasing her. Compared to the massive number of players in the game, this was already a small number. After all, plenty of other alien players hadn't even logged in yet.
As Rita fled for her life, a few symbols appeared in the sky. Against the white sky, black light converged into runes. Rita didn't recognize them, yet somehow, their meaning was clear to her. It was the final countdown for the start of the game.
In just a few moments, she'd already burned through over ten ultimate abilities just to escape!
Her combat strength wasn't much compared to these alien players, but her agility was extraordinarily high. Plus, her ultimate abilities greatly enhanced her skills, giving her the confidence to keep going.
Her trump cards included:
The A-rank skill [Angry Bird], which could launch her far away while creating a massive shockwave at the destination. Against strong enemies, it was an effective escape tool. Against weaker foes, it was a courageous melee attack. The A-rank skill [Temporary Reset], allowing her to freely reallocate her four main attributes within three minutes. The A-rank skill [Drunken Dreams], which caused nearby targets to fall into a stupor. [Dandelion Blow], temporarily downgraded to S-rank due to her use of the [Upgrade Cup].
All of these were treasure-like skills she had acquired from the High Tower. She even resorted to using her S-rank skill, [Hide and Seek]!
[Hide and Seek] (S-rank): Upon activation, a dense mist spreads rapidly from the caster, covering a circular area with a radius of 10 kilometers. All creatures within the mist lose their sense of direction and all five senses, leaving only the caster unaffected. The skill has a casting time of 1 second, costs 1,000 mana, lasts 5 minutes, and has a cooldown of 1 hour.
The ultimate version of [Hide and Seek] had a longer duration and larger range. Even the incomprehensibly strong alien players couldn't locate her for the moment.
Time ticked away. Rita didn't dare leave the skill's range. Killing these aliens could likely yield substantial rewards; otherwise, they wouldn't be charging at her with such greed.
By now, the stronger aliens had likely moved on, but the weaker ones were probably still lurking, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
She considered using [Wrathful Moon] to rewind time to a few minutes—or even further—earlier. But she hesitated, unsure if stepping into the main battlefield before the game officially began would result in penalties. Worse, rewinding too far might land her in the path of stronger enemies who had entered earlier.
After much deliberation, she realized she had no choice but to use her ace in the hole!
As the duration of [Hide and Seek] ended, the mist cleared. All the aliens standing nearby immediately locked their eyes on Rita, whose glowing wings made her stand out. Their faces displayed a mix of frustration and confusion.
Taking a deep breath, Rita shouted in Moonfox Tongue: "Mistblade Empress!"
While fleeing at top speed, she continued shouting, "Mistblade! Mistblade Empress! …I'm Little Apache!"
The latter part of her introduction was in Maple Tongue since she wasn't fluent in Moonfox Tongue. She added the name "Mistblade" in English, hoping the alien might understand a bit of Maple Tongue after coexisting with the twelve races for so long.
Mistblade, drawn to the mist-covered area and the music-like notes above Rita's head, stopped.
"…Why do I feel like I've just been roped into babysitting?" Mistblade muttered, feeling embarrassed and reluctant to step in.
So, Apache's apprentice is actually an alien from the BS world? And what's with those orange-red wings? She's climbed the High Tower? Wasn't Maple Syrup looking for her earlier? Wait a minute… Could the Moon Sand that vanished in [Fate Out of Sync] have been taken by her?
After all, when Apache revealed the Moon Sand, Rita didn't seem surprised. Clearly, it wasn't her first time seeing it.
Could it be that the Moon Sand in Apache's possession was actually gifted by Rita?
By the Moon Goddess! Mistblade Empress's gaze at Rita instantly changed.
Rita waved excitedly, catching sight of Mistblade's nine black tails. She'd actually found her!
The moment Rita waved, Mistblade moved!
At Mistblade's level, she didn't need wings to fly. With thousands of matches under her belt in the [World Battleground], her accumulated experience was leagues ahead of Rita's.
In fact, Mistblade was quite surprised that Rita could already use so many skills upon entering.
Mistblade Empress landed beside Rita, who immediately moved to shield her. The aliens that had been attacking Rita froze. Their eyes filled with fear as they turned and fled without hesitation.
Once the area quieted down, Mistblade finally spared Rita a glance. "Translator?"
Having narrowly escaped death, Rita was in high spirits. She was grateful to Mistblade Empress, but there was a problem—she didn't understand Moonfox Tongue! Outside, she'd gotten used to relying on translators. When she had agreed to meet Mistblade, she hadn't considered this issue. She'd already realized it when she shouted Mistblade Empress's name earlier.
Not wanting to cause any misunderstandings, Rita hurriedly tried several languages to convey one message: "I don't understand Moonfox Tongue."
Mistblade's expression froze for a moment. "You've learned 666 languages, and you don't know Moonfox Tongue?"
The good news: she'd found a translator.
The bad news: the translator could only convert what she didn't understand into another language she didn't understand.
The two exchanged a few lines that made no sense to either of them. From their expressions, it was clear neither understood a word.
Mistblade flicked her tail in frustration. This alliance was turning out to be useless.
They couldn't just start chatting in the battlefield's public channel, could they?
Rita refused to let this deal fall apart. She needed more information from Mistblade! So, she followed Mistblade while switching languages to chat.
Including the 666 languages she learned from Maple Burn, plus her self-taught Maple Tongue and Dragon Tongue, and her native English, Rita now knew 669 languages. Surely Mistblade, one of the Nine Moon Empresses, wasn't limited to Moonfox Tongue!
Yet Mistblade remained silent the entire way…
Rita talked until her mouth went dry.
At first, Mistblade's expression was icy. By the time Rita had spoken 300 languages, her expression became neutral. After Rita finished all 669 languages, Mistblade averted her eyes, refusing to look at her.