"If that's how it works, then I do remember it now."
"In my past life, someone did obtain this skill... I just never knew its name."
"So, it's called this."
After learning Curse of Blooming, Riven slipped back into stealth.
Meanwhile, Sylvia—though envious—didn't forget her main task.
Her Dawnfeather Oracle sight remained locked on Elias and his harem of fangirls.
With his newly acquired skill, Riven sprinted toward Elias' location along the riverbank.
His speed was insane!
At this rate, he could cover 100 meters in just three seconds.
The distance between him and Elias was closing fast—
Closer…
And closer…
At the Riverbank…
Elias was engaged in battle with a Level 7 Bronze-Tier Boss—the Corrosive Claw Fiend.
He had already weakened it to its last sliver of health.
Just as he was about to deliver the final blow—
A voice suddenly whispered in his ear, "Just a heads-up—you're about to die."
"WHAT THE—?!"
Elias nearly jumped out of his skin.
His instincts kicked in, and without even looking back, he bolted forward.
But—
A Toxic Dagger whistled through the air, striking the back of his head.
-2,115 (Critical Hit)!
Riven's Toxic Dagger was only at Silver-Tier, so its raw damage wasn't as overwhelming as his Shadow Slash.
But against Elias?
It was more than enough.
This fragile little mage barely had 1,000 HP in total.
And to make matters worse—
Toxic Dagger inflicted continuous poison damage.
Even if Elias had five times his current health, he still wouldn't survive!
"You've gotta be kidding me!"
Elias' vision blurred as he spiraled into an emotional breakdown.
He had been paranoid about whether Shadow would actually come for him.
Surely, they had no grudge against each other, right?
But now—
He got killed AGAIN!
This confirmed one thing for him:
Shadow must have some serious mental issues!
Why was this guy so obsessed with hunting him down?!
"Is it because I have too many girls?"
"Is he jealous of me?"
Elias was on the verge of tears.
At this point, he was certain—
Shadow came to Firefly Town specifically to target me!
"But why?! I didn't even offend him!"
Deep down, Elias knew how charming he was.
After all, thanks to his two and a half years as a trainee idol, he had amassed an army of fangirls.
"Wait… Is it because the girl he's simping for is one of my fans?"
"How the hell is that my fault?!"
Elias' mind raced, and for the first time, he truly felt helpless.
Back in the real world, he wouldn't have to worry about things like this—
The Great Empire of Ross had laws to protect people!
But in Eclipse of Eternity…
The law meant nothing.
He clenched his fists.
"So that's it, huh? Shadow's just a pathetic loser who can't get a girl, so he blames me?"
Elias let out a cold laugh.
In his eyes, Shadow was no longer some terrifying figure—
Just an insecure failure.
But regardless of what he thought…
His tradable lifespan was cut in half yet again!
Originally, he had 2,000 days of lifespan.
After dying twice, he had only 500 days left.
But earlier, his fangirls had gifted him another 300 days, bringing him back to 800.
And now…
Elias suddenly noticed something alarming.
His tradable lifespan was still decreasing!
Originally, it should've dropped from 860 days to 430.
But instead—
"Why do I have less than 400 now? And why is it still going down?!"
Elias was stunned.
Right before his eyes, his lifespan ticked down—
390 days… 380… 370…
It just kept dropping!
"What the hell is happening?!"
"Is this some hidden death penalty?!"
Meanwhile, his fangirls had respawned and rushed back to his side.
Panicked, they surrounded him and chattered frantically:
"Elias, something's wrong!"
"That Shadow guy used some weird skill!"
"There's a blood-red flower growing on your corpse, and it's… absorbing something from you!"
Hearing this, Elias' blood ran cold.
"There's a flower… growing on my corpse?!"
"And it's draining my lifespan?!"
His mind shattered.
In that moment, he realized—
Shadow was even more ruthless than he imagined!
At the Scene of the Massacre…
By the riverbank, Riven stood alone.
Elias…
His thirty-plus fangirls…
All of them had been slaughtered.
With so many kills at once, Riven's Murderer debuff status stacked up to four layers!
At four layers, 96.875% of his lifespan would drop if he died.
For any normal player, this would be a nightmare.
But for Riven?
It didn't matter at all.
Thanks to his Ghostfire Bell, he never lost lifespan upon death—completely nullifying the Murderer debuff!
Bodies littered the ground.
And on each corpse—
A blood-red flower bloomed.
Riven examined them carefully.
"So the flowers' HP scales with the target's level?"
"Elias' flower has 3,600 HP, and he was Level 6."
"The fangirls' flowers—Level 4 has 1,600 HP, Level 5 has 2,500 HP… Looks like it's HP is scaling for each level."
For now, destroying these flowers was difficult for most players.
But later—
Once everyone's damage output increased, it would be much easier to clear them out.
Which meant…
Curse of Blooming, while powerful, wasn't completely overpowered.
Then again—
Riven smirked.
"As long as I wipe out everyone nearby…"
"No one can destroy them anyway."
All thirty-plus blood-red flowers pulsed ominously as they drained the victims' tradable lifespan.
Even Riven felt a chill.
"They had over 1,000 days of lifespan combined… these guys really farmed a lot of monsters."
Watching from above, Sylvia shivered.
She had switched to her Dawnfeather Oracle, observing everything from the sky.
Her breath hitched.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa…"
"This is Shadow's real strength?"
"He just soloed Elias' entire party—and they couldn't even fight back!"
"And what's with those creepy red flowers?!"
A small tremor ran through her body beneath her white robe.
This guy…
Was insanely powerful.
Elias had seriously messed with the wrong person.
Meanwhile, Elias…
"F*ck this, I'm logging out!"
Elias had planned to grind his way to Level 10 and surpass Shadow.
But—
Shadow had killed him three times in a row!
Even though Eclipse of Eternity didn't have level penalties for death, Elias had lost all of his tradable lifespan.
The moment he revived—
The Curse of Blooming kept siphoning his lifespan.
In just one minute, his tradable lifespan was gone.
Even his non-tradable lifespan was dangerously low!
"If I die again… I'll have no lifespan left!"
Elias finally realized—
He was screwed.