Chapter 1327 1327: 1327: Divine Game: Graveyard of Bones 49

Ever since she lost to QM Maple Syrup in Quiet Mountain, Maple Syrup had never truly let it go.

The fight just now had ended in defeat, but in her eyes, it was far from a hopeless battle. There had been pressure, danger, even moments where she was clearly suppressed, but not the kind of overwhelming despair that made victory impossible.

Since Quiet Mountain's Start the Game, the Divine Game rewards had been extremely generous when it came to raw attributes. After Divine Instruction, Maple Syrup had poured a large amount of honor points into her stats, pushing them all the way to the cap and officially stepping into the phase of breaking away from divine blessings.

Once attributes reached their limit, battles stopped being about numbers.

It became like a max-level endgame. What mattered now was how you fought, how you optimized your resources, and how strong your equipment and abilities were.

At this stage, victory depended on mastery over magical items, the depth of one's divine talent abilities, and the sharpness of combat awareness and technique.

In all of those aspects, Maple Syrup believed she wasn't that much worse than QM Maple Syrup.

Following the owl feather she had left behind before dying, she tracked the trail back. From a distance, she spotted three Starsea marks flickering wildly in the sky. At the same time, a faint but unmistakable sound of waves drifted over.

She and Autumn Deer exchanged a glance.

Both of them felt a bad premonition.

Without hesitation, Maple Syrup activated a high-tier acceleration skill and rushed forward at full speed.

The moment she arrived at the battlefield, the scene in front of her froze her for half a second.

BS Rita stood at the center.

White flower swords intertwined with golden lightning blades, spinning and slashing in perfect rhythm. Behind her floated a pale gold ship helm, continuously generating the crashing sound of waves that echoed across the battlefield.

A faint golden mist filled the air. Within it, white flower-birds burst into existence, sweeping across the field like a storm.

In the blink of an eye, QM Maple Syrup was completely engulfed.

At the same time, the attack spread outward, catching Quiet Mountain Frost Deer as well. It wasn't meant to kill her, but it was more than enough to keep her occupied and unable to interfere.

Even though the QM Maple Syrup in front of her only had a budding soul flame, the fact that she had ignited a demon talent meant she had already begun stepping beyond divine blessings.

Against an opponent of the same tier, holding back was not an option.

If Rita didn't go all out, she wouldn't even be able to break through defenses.

At the same time, No Sleep Tonight was activated and locked onto QM Maple Syrup.

A Lynx Duke level skill. Even against someone who had begun to break away from divine blessings, it would still take effect.

Of course, the effect would be weakened by layers of defensive and reduction abilities.

But Rita didn't need it to last long.

Even a few seconds were enough.

All she needed was to stop Maple Syrup from recovering her HP during that critical window.

Starsea Maple Syrup: !!!

She didn't usually think in terms of "kill stealing," but right now, that was exactly how it felt.

Like grinding a boss down to critical HP with great effort, only for someone else to swoop in and take the final hit.

She didn't dare rush into the battlefield either.

The area was filled with lightning, mist, and violently swirling flower-birds. There was no such thing as team damage immunity here.

Even Starsea Cicada and the two Mistblades had already retreated to a safe distance.

Within the roaring storm, thin nets of lightning flickered between petals.

Caged Bird combined with After the Funeral. A layered divine combat technique.

Starsea Maple Syrup fell silent for a moment, then suddenly turned to Autumn Deer and asked,

"…Did I offend her or something?"

Autumn Deer paused, thinking back on everything she had heard. The rumors, the gossip, the events in Card Swap where Maple Syrup and Mistblade teamed up against BS Rita…

And also the time Rita had literally carried Maple Syrup around Starsea, baking cookies with her.

"…I don't really understand your relationship."

Starsea Maple Syrup: ???

As the thunderous sounds faded, the mist dispersed and the flower-birds returned to nothingness.

Only QM Maple Syrup remained on the ground.

Her body was already beginning to turn translucent.

Only then did Maple Syrup and Autumn Deer notice something strange.

Her outfit was different.

Earlier, she had been wearing a black robe patterned with red maple leaves.

Now, it was white with red maple patterns.

Rita's soul flame flickered once more.

In an instant, QM Maple Syrup's appearance shifted again.

The white robe reverted back to black with red maple.

But her body continued to fade.

Until she completely disappeared.

Starsea Cicada looked at Rita, her expression complicated. Shock, relief, and a hint of caution all mixed together.

"She's dead. Sent back to the Graveyard of Bones spawn point."

Starsea Maple Syrup had already experienced Rita's divine talent ability before. She herself had been sent back once.

Seeing the change in clothing and hearing Cicada's explanation, she immediately pieced everything together.

And what it meant.

A player pulled from another timeline and killed here…

When switched back, the original would inherit the state of that alternate self.

The battlefield fell into a heavy silence.

QM Maple Syrup had already revived.

QM Mistblade and Frost Deer, having read Maple Syrup's message in the Quiet Mountain chat, had already guessed the terrifying implication.

Rita stood quietly in place.

System notifications flooded her mind.

You are being watched… You are being watched… You are being watched…

Congratulations. Starsea Rita has killed QM Maple Syrup. Contribution 100 percent. Complete two more kills, or accumulate 200 percent contribution in battles against Quiet Mountain players, to remove one fatal weakness.

But Rita paid no attention to any of it.

Her entire focus was on her divine talent.

So this… was Sovereign.

This was the true horror of "Load."

She could pull players from other timelines into the present…

And when everything returned to normal, the one sent back would overwrite themselves with the state they had reached here.

Countless thoughts surged through her mind.

The strongest among them was a single question.

Should she still keep the Wildfire timeline?

Did she really need to preserve such a powerful timeline just to commemorate that version of herself?

Or should she look for weaker timelines instead?

Unfortunately, most of the useless timelines had already been pruned away.

But then—

A realization struck her.

Other timelines might not have QM Rita.

If Quiet Mountain's criteria for copying players required not just potential, but also some kind of sharp psychological flaw…

Then in her current timeline, QM Rita must have been copied shortly after her rebirth, during her rise.

But in the Wildfire timeline?

She had died in BS. That version wouldn't qualify for copying. At the earliest, it would only happen after Apache revived her.

Which meant…

Quiet Mountain Wildfire in that timeline would appear later than QM Rita.

The fire in Rita's eyes burned brighter and brighter.

Right now, she already had the confidence to fight a level 100 boss head-on.

But if she used Load…

And pulled in a version of that boss from its early stage…

Then wouldn't that mean—

She could speedrun Starsea?