NOVEL NEXT Chapter 385: The Arena of All Races!
A few days later, Sanchez and Shadow.Q arrived at Rita's home, one after the other, but were stopped by the electric barrier at the door.
As Nivalis stepped out to open the door, she was holding a 96% strawberry ice cream Rita had made for her. Lately, she had been living the life of a pampered dragon, getting anything she wanted from Rita, and Rita used the highest-quality ingredients, thanks to her [Chaos Kitchen] and [Hundred-Year Legacy].
Nivalis looked at the two with their different colored wings—one like ink spreading in water and the other resembling seaweed. Even though both were made of light, Nivalis still thought Rita's wings were the most beautiful.
Sanchez's short hair had also turned into a dark green shade.
Sanchez spread out her wings and patted them, as if brushing off nonexistent dust. "Long time no see. Is Rita home?"
Nivalis raised an eyebrow. "You're being obvious."
Sanchez covered her mouth with her wings. "Oh, am I?!"
Shadow.Q looked at the interaction and recalled that when she showed off her wings, she didn't act so foolish.
Nivalis said, "She said she'll be here in a minute, she's feeding the cat in the backyard. She also mentioned that you two would arrive today."
As soon as Nivalis finished, Rita appeared. They exchanged brief greetings and immediately formed a party. After drinking their invisibility potions, they set off toward the coast.
Their destination was the 15-level dungeon Rita had found under the sea. Although Shadow.Q and Sanchez were only level 12, with the three of them together, they had no issue handling a level 15 dungeon.
The alien army had begun gathering forces to invade smaller nations. However, the United States had not won completely, as some aliens had infiltrated cities on land. Eclipse Vanguard and the authorities were busy with investigations.
The three of them dove into the water as soon as they arrived at the coast, heading toward their target coordinates.
Each of them wore a bubble shield from Nivalis to allow them to breathe underwater. It was only at this point that Rita asked, "Isn't working with us on the side considered taking a private job instead of collaborating with Eclipse Vanguard?"
Shadow.Q didn't hide anything. "If I stayed with Eclipse Vanguard, I wouldn't get a chance. They're currently investigating all of us who gained the wings of light."
Rita then asked Sanchez, "What about you? Do you have a solution?"
Normally, Rita might doubt Sanchez's ability to handle this, but when it came to wings, with how much Sanchez cared about them, Rita didn't believe Sanchez wouldn't have noticed any issues with her wings.
Sanchez clearly understood. "It's already been taken care of."
Rita and Shadow.Q both stared at her in surprise.
Nivalis, curious, asked, "How did you solve it?"
Sanchez explained, "My uncle has a skill that lets her be reborn. It doesn't change her race, but she starts from scratch and can re-choose her divine gifts. Her original divine gifts weren't great, but when we mentioned this to her, she agreed."
Rita remembered the divine gift called [Good Night, Young Lady], which contained the skill [Who Says I Can't Have Children]…
Shadow.Q, clearly well-informed, stuttered, "...She's... she's inside someone's belly now?!"
"She's not anymore," Sanchez said, surprised at their question. "How could we really let her be reborn? As soon as she left my wings to be born again, my uncle punched her."
Rita and Shadow.Q were left speechless. They had no idea whether to worry about offending the "松之一脉" (Song family) with this decision or whether Sanchez's family should be the ones to worry.
Before either of them could speak, Sanchez started complaining: "My family's been a mess lately. Between the owlbears and the minotaurs, they've been hunting us down. It's exhausting, we can't kill them fast enough."
Rita and Shadow.Q exchanged a glance. Despite the complaints, there was a grin on Sanchez's face, and it was clear she wasn't really bothered.
After a brief exchange, the trio, along with Nivalis, arrived at the dungeon's energy barrier. They each took out one of the required items, causing a soft purple light to surround the dungeon's protective shield.
Sanchez took out the Bear Cookies first, but nothing happened. Next, she produced a coffin containing a full owlbear corpse and cut off its massive wings, still no reaction.
They all exchanged looks and began thinking about what else the owlbear might possess. Moments later, all three of them glanced toward its mouth simultaneously.
Sanchez drew a dagger and pried open the owlbear's jaw. Inside, she found one of its teeth, which was white but looked like an acorn.
In the Forest Sea, when baby owlbears lost teeth, they would plant a special oak seed in the tooth socket. This seed, called "Tooth Fairy," would grow into a tooth-shaped tree and protect the owlbear. It was a symbol of good fortune for them.
Sanchez carefully approached the energy barrier with the seed in hand. As soon as she brought it near the light, it flew into the shield. The 12 items they had collected now surrounded the dungeon's barrier like a clock's hands.
Suddenly, the purple light turned bright red.
[Congratulations, Blue Star player Sanchez. You have gathered 12 glorious offerings. The Arena of All Races is now open!]
The trio and Nivalis exchanged looks. They all heard the system announcement and realized that the other side of the barrier wasn't what they had expected. Continue your saga on My Virtual Library Empire
Sanchez asked, "BS?"
Shadow.Q raised an eyebrow, "Blue Star's stage name?"
Rita pointed at the barrier. "Let's go."
Without hesitation, Rita was the first to enter the red portal, followed closely by Shadow.Q and Sanchez. The portal closed behind them.
They found themselves in a massive gladiatorial arena, nearly four soccer fields in size. The arena was divided into two halves, with a large red energy barrier separating the two sides. A giant countdown appeared on the screen: 100, 99, 98...
With each passing second, a booming drumbeat filled the air, pounding in their hearts, stirring up a primal sense of battle. The atmosphere was charged, as if their blood was boiling, urging them to fight.
All around the arena were seats filled with spectators, and there were at least hundreds of thousands of them.
The three of them stood back-to-back, without hesitation. Even Rita, who never trusted others, and Sanchez, who was used to fighting alone, knew that in their current team mode, they couldn't harm each other with their skills.
Nivalis flew overhead, keeping watch.
Rita immediately checked her equipment and skills to ensure everything was working properly. Once confirmed, she felt relieved.
Suddenly, the seats around them started to fill with figures, virtual avatars of different races. There were purple-skinned aliens, giant bears standing upright, shark-headed humanoid monsters, ghosts, griffins, elves, undead, and sea demons...
Rita's pupils contracted in shock. It was the Arena of All Races!