288. There Are Winners Because There Are Losers
288. There Are Winners Because There Are Losers
***
Ten minutes had passed without a decisive outcome, and Seola had taken a near-fatal wound, forcing the team to hold the line cautiously.
All of it was far from what Eunha had expected.
The BS team she faced after her return was showing a level of coordination on a completely different dimension from before, and even if this turned into a war of attrition, Eunha didn't think the situation looked particularly good.
'Serin is probably watching.'
With that thought lodged in a corner of her mind, an unfamiliar emotion—impatience—was even beginning to stir inside her.
She had reached out confidently today, and she had been watching the stream right up until she entered the arena, so it was certain that Serin was watching her match.
But,
even so, this was all she had managed to show.
"..."
Eunha's obsidian-black eyes sank even deeper, and she abruptly let her shield drop low.
'I have to do this.'
If the situation wasn't going to improve, she had no choice but to set the direction herself by taking the risk.
Whoosh! Clang-clang-clang-clang!
She twisted her body to narrowly evade the massive arrow Baekya had fired, then swiftly swung her sword to bat away the volley of crossbow bolts that followed.
"Eunha?"
Nearby, Seola had been blocking the ranged projectiles with her greatshield and was staring at Eunha in puzzlement when—
Eunha lowered her stance, gripping her sword and shield with force as if she were about to be launched.
"I'll make an opening."
The moment she spoke, as if giving notice, her body kicked off the ground and shot forward like light.
In her vision, she saw BS's players react instantly and begin deploying their skills.
—White Night.
A colossal arrow of light lit up the space in an instant with a roar.
—Explosion Arrow.
Jeongmak fired an arrow laden with destructive force, just as he had aimed at Seola before.
A chain of attacks in a single breath.
If she tried to block like Seola had, she couldn't handle both skills.
So instead of blocking,
she had to maintain this front by deflecting.
—Archangel's Radiance.
A sacred cluster of light appeared above Jeanne d'Arc's body as she deployed the skill, illuminating her.
The jet-black armor she wore was dyed bright with pure white light, and the jet-black sword in her grip drank in the same white radiance.
Ding.
[Your next 2 attacks gain 400% bonus damage.]
The moment that line settled into her vision, she swung her sword upward with a swift, scooping motion.
Clang!
She knocked Baekya's power-laden arrow off its trajectory with a wide swing, and as the light-imbued arrows came rushing in one after another, she instead stepped forward and spun her body in a wide arc.
After one full rotation, she brought the sword she had scooped upward down in a great circle, slamming it into the ground with tremendous force.
BOOOOM!
A massive explosion erupted from the point where her sword met the earth, loud enough to shake the ground itself, and the countless arrows rushing toward her all reacted to the debris scattering from the shattered ground.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Amid the aftermath of explosions detonating ahead of their intended targets, Eunha raised her shield to minimize the damage and somehow held her position.
"...What the."
"How?"
Baekya and Jeongmak voiced their shock at her completely unexpected display and moved to fire again, but Jeanne d'Arc continued to swing her sword in a manner close to divine, never allowing a single hit to land on her body.
As Eunha deflected the two archers' attacks and bought time, Seola and Downfall also threw themselves forward.
Downfall immediately hurled his spear at the wizard preparing a spell, while Seola reached the same front line as Eunha and expanded it in an instant.
......
—Jeanne d'Arc's bold breakthrough of the formation! Led by Jeanne d'Arc, TSJ's destructive advance continues!
—Red Cat's infiltration breaks Jeongmak's skill! Downfall's follow-up spear throw sharply targets the Lord!
—Jeanne d'Arc... truly a divine display that leaves nothing but admiration... an absurd divine display that single-handedly opened a path through a stagnant front line!
—Jeongmak is eliminated!! Jeanne d'Arc's sword has completely shattered the formation without a shred of mercy!
As the casters continued their commentary in excited voices without pause, Serin watched the match on screen and let out a hollow laugh.
'"Bold" doesn't even begin to cover it.'
Eunha's actions were incredibly bold, and even watching the match, I hadn't seen any certainty in what Eunha was doing.
Baekya and Jeongmak's coordination was razor-sharp, so even closing the distance didn't make blocking look easy.
But Eunha's split-second ingenuity was beyond what the word "impressive" could describe.
Deflecting the light arrows with force and turning them aside was already remarkable, but the decision to take the sword she had scooped upward and slam it into the ground like a follow-up combo skill drew genuine admiration.
The idea of detonating the arrows with the shockwave from striking the ground—even while watching, I couldn't help but think, wait, is that actually possible?
"Wow... Jeanne d'Arc! That's Jeanne d'Arc!"
Watching the man named Seo Eunwoo nearby gushing about Jeanne d'Arc in a passionate voice, I understood why she had that level of popularity and why the word "superstar" existed.
She made you admire her while watching, made your hands clench involuntarily—how could anyone not watch her?
'Because she draws admiration even when it isn't an intentional performance.'
I glanced at the chat, and sure enough, it was blazing hot over Eunha's super play.
[Wow]
[Wow insane lmaooo]
[Literally nothing to say but wow]
[She just blows up the whole game by herself in her return match lmaooooooo]
[She deflects every arrow like some kind of cheat code, is she even human?]
[Jeanne d'Arc! Jeanne d'Arc! Jeanne d'Arc! Jeanne d'Arc! Jeanne d'Arc!]
[This is what a goddess looks like]
[Where did all the people doubting Jeanne d'Arc go?]
[She just detonates the game all by herself lmaooooooo]
The chat was exploding so violently that it would freeze for a moment, then dozens of messages would appear, over and over, and I could only let out a hollow laugh.
It was an explosive reaction, unbelievable for a chat with a delay set on it.
'Is the stream going to crash?'
With that small worry, I looked back at the screen, and the match seemed to be slowly nearing its end.
The formation that had struggled to close the distance was shattered in an instant by Eunha, and though BS's players tried to counterattack somehow, they crumbled one after another, turning into light.
[TSJ Victory!!]
Immediately after, the message announcing TSJ's victory appeared, and the screen cut straight to a close-up of Eunha.
The armor and weapons that had blazed with white light had returned to jet-black as if it had all been a lie, and as Eunha stood alone on screen with a calm expression beneath hair that seemed to hold the beauty of the night itself, she even radiated an air of mystery.
While the two people who appeared to be her teammates approached and burst into bright laughter, she merely wore a serene smile despite having led the team to victory herself.
"Honestly, the more I look at Jeanne d'Arc, the prettier she seems."
"Right? I've been in the entertainment industry for a while now, and I've rarely seen anyone as beautiful as Jeanne d'Arc. And her Another World skill is even more outstanding... no, how could anyone not become a fan after seeing her like this?"
I brought it up lightly, partly to keep the stream going. At the man's heated response, I couldn't help but laugh.
—You can truly call this the return of the king! Riding on Jeanne d'Arc's dazzling performance, TSJ takes the first set!
—Jeanne d'Arc's instantaneous breakthrough of the formation... truly astonishing even on a rewatch. BS will have a lot to think about as they prepare for the second match, won't they?
—BS's new strategy of fielding the Lord player was certainly fresh and impressive, but in the end, she's still Jeanne d'Arc. The value of the name Jeanne d'Arc—even though today is her return match, Jeanne d'Arc has once again properly proven her worth.
The casters, too, seemed to have their energy raised as they endlessly praised Eunha, and I felt anew the scale of her presence.
Everyone in my field of vision right now.
The casters, the viewers, the celebrities—without exception, they were all watching Eunha with admiration and roaring with excitement.
'So this is what a real superstar feels like.'
And the fact that I was close with someone like Eunha struck me as funny all over again.
As the matches unfolded after that, the more she performed, the better Serin felt for no particular reason.
***
The playoff matches that followed were so one-sided that the first match seemed meaningless by comparison.
Even though BS showed a kind of tenacity in every match and unveiled strategic moves, TSJ was simply too solid.
And at the center of that TSJ was always Jeanne d'Arc.
She was there.
With each match, she radiated presence as if showing off her true skill, and she delivered such destructive performances that the word "overwhelming" fit her perfectly—so much so that BS's players, as the matches went on, found themselves unable to perform at their own level under her pressure.
And so the playoffs ended in a 3:0 complete victory for TSJ.
Because of that result, the two teams' joy and sorrow diverged sharply.
......
Trudge, trudge.
When the third match ended, BS's players logged out and walked with uniformly heavy steps toward the team waiting room.
And at the front of them was Baekya.
"...I'm sorry."
Yuna lowered her head and spoke in a small voice.
At the sound of her voice, which seemed weighed down by crushing guilt, the two players walking with her hurriedly shook their heads.
"No, I just played terribly. I should have done better. If I'd dealt a little more damage to Jeanne d'Arc, it wouldn't have ended like this."
"Even if it's a return match, Jeanne d'Arc is still Jeanne d'Arc. Yuna, why are you sorry? It's because I screwed up in the earlier match."
The two players kept telling Yuna it was okay as they walked to the waiting room, but Yuna's head wouldn't lift.
"I just need a little... I'll come back later, so go on ahead."
When Yuna said that in a small voice and separated from them, the two players nodded with regretful expressions and gave her space.
Clunk.
Yuna stepped into the emergency stairwell and slumped down, covering her face with both hands.
She covered her face with both hands as if to hide it entirely, but she couldn't hide the emotions she was feeling between them.
Regret. Sorrow. Guilt. Self-blame. Amid all those emotions, she leaned her body against the cold door.
"..."
Only heavily suppressed sounds leaked out intermittently. Yuna didn't say a single word.
She covered her face with both hands as if to hide it entirely, but she couldn't hide the emotions she was feeling between them.
Tears streamed endlessly down her cheeks, her eyes reddened.