This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 289: Power Surpasses All Things

Nivalis looked like she was about to cry. Rita reassured her:

"I won’t die. Trust me! But if anything does go wrong, immediately return to our home. Use your skill to repair the under-bed teleportation array and go straight back to Dragon Island. Don’t come to Blue Star again."

Nivalis clutched Wrathful Moon tightly, not nodding or shaking her head. Her voice trembled with unease:

"Didn’t you say you have a resurrection skill?"

Rita smiled and patted her gently.

With her escape routes secured, Rita turned to the direction of the instance’s exit but made no move toward it. There was no point. Even if the Eclipse Vanguard team was waiting outside, she wouldn’t stop now.

For a fleeting moment, she understood Miyaas—how fate might have declared his loss, but he refused to accept it.

After giving Nivalis her instructions, Rita spent half a minute crafting an 8x8x8-meter Lightning Cage to enclose both herself and the giant whale.

She marked Nivalis as a fixed point, consumed a dish that boosted all attributes by 15%, and swallowed the last fruit she had brought from Dragon Island to maintain clarity for five minutes.

For the first time, she activated the skill King’s Aura from her Ring of Flames—a buff that raised the attributes of all allies within its range by 20%.

With a hand gesture signaling Nivalis, the ice inside the whale melted instantly. The unbound seawater surged outward, and the long-tailed sea demon skeleton slowly "stood" upright. Crimson blood vessels began creeping up its tail.

[Miyaas 113 Lv | HP: 2% | MP: 0.02%]

Of that 2% HP, most had been restored by her earlier healing efforts. The only silver lining was his dangerously low mana reserves.

Rita surged forward. She had noticed the effects of the runes etched into her wrists and ankles—her movements were far more agile.

One by one, she crushed the [Vampire] skill crystals in her hands.

Scarlet beams of energy struck the sea demon skeleton. Miyaas’ empty eye sockets turned to her as the seawater gathered into a massive blade and slashed toward her side in a blink.

Rita stood her ground, locking eyes with Miyaas while continuing to activate [Vampire].

—"Clang!"

A simple, unremarkable strike shattered the golden shield of her Royalty Passive from the Ring of Flames.

Finally, Miyaas’ HP dropped to 1%.

But it wasn’t enough. His health was creeping upward again—1.08%—and the flames in his skull’s eye sockets burned brighter. He was reviving.

Miyaas’ skeleton did not retreat. His fingers splayed wide as he lunged forward.

Rita gritted her teeth and charged to meet him head-on, a low, animalistic growl rising involuntarily from her throat.

Miyaas was fearless because he had already lost his Divine Gift.

And Rita?

What was Rita thinking at that moment? She was relishing her fury. Even though her greed had been sated with the acquisition of Miyaas’ Divine Gift, she could not reclaim her caution or rationality.

At the start of her second chance at life, she thought her deepest desire was revenge.

Later, she fixated on escape skills and survival tactics, convincing herself that staying alive was the ultimate goal.

As she grew stronger, she told herself that gaining power was just a means to live and that revenge was a hobby. She thought this was a way of keeping herself from being consumed by hatred and becoming too obsessive.

But every time she stole a massive amount of stats, she made excuses for herself:

To face Nivalis, she spent a night increasing her stats. Explore stories at novelbuddy

When Shadow.Q recruited her for the clock theft in the tower, she immediately pushed her four major attributes past 100.

What a joke. Every time she indulged her thirst for power, she needed a justification to give herself permission. Even when targeting Rick and others, she claimed revenge was her motive.

Over time, her blanket distrust of everyone around her became a defense mechanism. She avoided confronting the implications of the Thief God skills she wielded.

She clung to moral rationalizations to avoid guilt, to feel righteous.

But looking back now, some of her convictions seemed like farces.

From childhood, she had been taught that only villains would stop at nothing for power. Stealing strength seemed disgraceful, unworthy.

People shouldn’t prioritize power over emotions, justice, principles, or morality. So many things were supposed to come first.

But when she thought back to that one question from Soul Catcher—"What is more important, power or your species?"—she was haunted not by the question itself, but by her immediate reaction.

A cold, mocking laugh echoed in her heart, unbidden.

The answer was too simple.

Power. What else could compare?

If Zoey were strong enough, would she have allowed Rick to pit The White Family and The Taylor Family against her?

If Sanchez were strong enough, would she have needed to endure the humiliation of courting the Starfire Heir? If she stood high enough, even as a sea demon, she could declare The White Family innocent, and no one would dare to doubt her. Everyone would scramble to justify her actions.

And herself—what about her?

Did she truly care about cooperating with the Eclipse Vanguard? Did their trust mean anything to her? Was her deliberate display of obedience and cleverness something she offered willingly?

No. Not in the slightest.

Since her rebirth, she had doubted everyone, assuming they would betray her someday.

But she wasn’t strong enough to act alone, so she had to tread carefully—maintaining good relations with the Eclipse Vanguard while securing her own interests.

Her former fugitive allies… all powerful, all exceptional… all miserable.

The world worked that way.

Without power, emotions were betrayed, justice was unattainable, principles fell on deaf ears, and compromises were inevitable.

Everything you had was seen as a resource to be taken, regardless of your consent.

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There was nothing to hide, nothing to sugarcoat, nothing to be ashamed of.

She had finally accepted it: Power surpassed all things. Only strength could ensure that she would never have to compromise again.

Rick… Miyaas…

Why was it that no matter how she changed, there were always scumbags trying to steal her Divine Gift?

If Rick had ignited her desire for power, Miyaas had fully awakened her ambition for it.

Rita’s eyes burned with fiery determination.

She declared loudly:

"All resurrection skills for sea demons and humans are now banned!"

This was her newly acquired skill after upgrading her Divine Gift.

[One-Person Party]: When unteamed, you can establish a "party rule." All creatures meeting the rule’s conditions will be subject to its effects. The total targets, their strength relative to the caster, and the balance between the rule’s conditions and effects will determine the duration. Minimum duration: 5 seconds; maximum: 10 minutes. Each use consumes 20% mana. Cooldown: 2 hours. (If the caster meets the rule’s conditions, the rule will last for 10 minutes.)