Rita pocketed the **Coin of Fate** and immediately used *Phantom Shift* to transport herself into the living room of the White estate. The moment she landed, her *Phantom Cloak* failed.
Without hesitation or surprise, she bolted up the stairs, throwing bombs and smashing poison-filled vials against the walls as she ran. The butler's shouts echoed in her ears, though she wasn't sure which zone was labeled "B." Regardless, she stuck to her plan.
After reaching the second floor, she split into two—her shadow going in one direction, causing chaos, while she headed directly for the rooftop pool.
Rita didn't bother using *Phantom Shift* or *I'm In a Hurry* after her cloak dropped. She relied purely on her agility, darting to the rooftop in the blink of an eye. By the time she reached it, Sanchez had already been alerted and was climbing out of the pool.
The butler's decision to prioritize protecting Ariana made sense—Sanchez was in her element here, the water being her ultimate sanctuary. No matter who the intruder was, Sanchez couldn't be killed easily.
Rita quickly drew a green-quality hunting rifle, aiming directly at Sanchez.
Sanchez hadn't made a name for herself just because of her S-rank abilities; her combat instincts were razor-sharp. Though her plans were often impulsive and her temper easily triggered, when it came to battle, she was the epitome of calm, calculated precision.
From the moment she heard the butler's warning to when she saw this guy in a motorcycle helmet—dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and a gold chain—burst onto the rooftop, only a few breaths had passed.
The intruder's strength and speed were undeniable, and the moment she saw him draw his weapon, Sanchez activated her ability, **Wherever There's Water, There's Me**, vanishing into the pool.
But that was exactly what Rita had been aiming for—forcing Sanchez into the water!
Quickly, she moved to the edge of the pool and began pulling out sack after sack from her inventory, hurling them into the water. Each one was filled with lime.
By the time the White family's third team stormed the rooftop, Rita had dumped over fifty sacks into the pool, turning it into a massive cauldron of scalding hot soup.
When Sanchez resurfaced, her skin was blistered and red. "Are you even human?!" she screamed, enraged.
Rita, unfazed, pulled out an engineer-crafted gun and aimed directly at Sanchez, saying nothing.
Facing Sanchez required 100% focus.
Sanchez's battle instincts kicked in. Feeling the lethal intent behind that aim, she didn't waste time looking for cover. Instead, she bolted toward the edge of the rooftop, throwing herself over the side without hesitation.
The three seconds needed to aim were disrupted, but Rita wasn't discouraged. She knew from their previous life that Sanchez was a tough opponent. They had fought dozens of times, and she had witnessed Sanchez defeat players with all sorts of abilities. She had never lost.
If Sanchez's intellect were rated at 10, she only used 1 point for daily life. The remaining 9 were entirely dedicated to her combat prowess.
Rita chased after her, vaulting over the rooftop in pursuit.
The third team, having just rushed through the toxic gas and explosions to reach the rooftop: **?**
Even though her aim was interrupted, Rita kept her composure. She had always known Sanchez was tough to beat, and she had learned that first-hand in her previous life. Sanchez had a reputation for ruthless efficiency in battle. In fact, she was considered a prodigy, famous for single-handedly defeating three players from the top 100 rankings.
Rita kept her eyes trained on Sanchez as they both leaped from the rooftop. As they descended, Rita already had her next shot lined up, this time aiming at Sanchez's left thumb.
**1… 2… 3… BANG!**
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The first shot rang out!
Even though Sanchez tried to dodge, the bullet from Rita's **I'm Getting Serious (Passive)** pierced her left thumb, shattering most of the bone and flesh. Half of her thumb dropped to the ground.
Sanchez screamed, but the cry was quickly stifled. She refused to give her opponent the satisfaction of hearing her pain.
At the same time, hidden sprinklers activated across the estate, releasing torrents of water. The central fountain erupted like a geyser, and within seconds, the entire White family's estate was engulfed in a man-made rainstorm.
This rain system had been installed specifically for Sanchez, making the White estate her ultimate battlefield.
However, Sanchez hadn't realized yet that something was wrong with that first shot. She cursed her slowness, assuming the intruder had predicted her movements.
Grinding her teeth against the pain, Sanchez kept running. She could hear Ariana's voice, commanding everyone to protect her. She could see the old butler flying above, and she heard Josephine's shouts of anger, mixed with pleas for someone behind him to calm down.
Rita, meanwhile, stepped on the piece of Sanchez's thumb, her black boots crushing it into the dirt as she charged forward. Discover hidden stories at empire
In that instant, Sanchez vanished again.
Without even thinking, Rita immediately used *Phantom Shift*, reappearing at her seven o'clock position from where she had stood just moments ago.
Upon landing, she pulled out an electromagnetic grenade and hurled it toward her previous location.
Almost simultaneously, a figure materialized from the falling raindrops, a dagger in hand, slashing forward—only to meet the detonation of the grenade.
The attack and defense were so perfectly synchronized it felt like they had rehearsed it in advance.
The grenade exploded, creating a 1-meter radius electromagnetic field that stunned Sanchez, knocking her to the ground.
This was it. Rita had already drawn her gun. They were now just 3 meters apart, and she didn't even need to aim for 3 seconds this time—this shot was guaranteed to hit.
**BANG!**
The second shot!
This time, Sanchez lost her left index finger.
In their past life, Sanchez had beaten Rita bloody on multiple occasions, under the pretense of training her.
At the time, Rita had accepted it. Better to suffer now than die in a dungeon or be slaughtered by the monster hordes that emerged after the dungeon's release. Sanchez's battle instincts were unmatched, and Rita had reasoned that she was learning from one of the best.
However, as Sanchez realized that Rita wasn't broken by her treatment but instead grew stronger, learning from each battle and even fighting back, her already merciless behavior became even more vicious.
Sanchez knew better than anyone what made a warrior truly dangerous. It wasn't flashy abilities; it was someone like Rita, who could never be broken mentally. Given time and opportunity, she could soar to the top.
The worst incident came when Sanchez crushed both of Rita's wrists under her boots, force-feeding her a healing potion afterward.
The potion healed the damage, but because the bones hadn't been realigned, they healed improperly, leaving her wrists deformed.
Rita had to undergo surgery to have her wrists rebroken and reset.
When Rick found out, he abandoned his dungeon run to rush to the hospital. Upon seeing Rita's condition, he apologized before deliberately breaking both his own wrists—and a leg—using his skills. He downed a healing potion, allowing his limbs to heal improperly.
Then, with misshapen arms, he gave Rita a hug before joining her in the operating room.