Joint fourth place.

Kyou’s party and Embris’s party stared at each other, like there was no way this could be real.

The mood in the chat was about the same.

And as if they were demanding an explanation, more and more eyes turned to Mihael.

Like he’d expected this, Mihael fired off a comment right away.

“The scores were identical down to three decimal places...... so unfortunately, this is the only way it could be decided.”

“Ah......”

“That’s......”

A few people spoke like they were sighing out loud, and Seong nodded as if to say, I see, while looking at them.

As expected, Kyou’s party and Embris’s party were glaring at each other with openly dissatisfied expressions.

They looked like they wanted to settle it, no matter what.

Seong didn’t particularly care, so he was watching like, Is that really so important?

But as if Helena—who’d returned to the Underworld—was watching this situation, she spoke to Seong.

-Status order is important, Seong.

At Helena’s words, Seong tilted his head, like, What do you mean?

As far as Seong knew, Helena also wasn’t the type to strictly separate ranks among her subordinates.

Status order was important?

As Seong was thinking that—

Helena continued.

-I made my mistake right there, too. I didn’t set a strict hierarchy because I wanted everyone to get along, but maybe if I had, they would’ve united as one and the relationship would’ve stayed strong up to now...... That’s why I’m saying it matters.

Because it was something she hadn’t done, Helena felt its importance all the more painfully.

Only then did Seong seem to understand, and he nodded.

Luna had taken first among the backup teams, so they would follow Luna, but both Kyou and Embris were the type with strong pride.

If things continued like this, it meant cracks could form eventually.

Seong acknowledged that, too.

So in that awkward situation where everyone looked stuck, wondering what to do, Seong stepped in and said,

“Then how about we do this?”

At Seong’s sudden intervention, everyone turned to look.

Same with the chat.

-Oh???

-You got something???

-Aren’t we ending the stream???

-Extra broadcast?!

-Don’t get your hopes up!!! You’ll just be disappointed again!!!

-Please!!!

Someone was telling people not to get their hopes up—

But this wasn’t a situation where anyone couldn’t get their hopes up.

Right around when everyone was getting excited—

Seong said it himself.

“How about we delay ending the stream and do a special event?”

At Seong’s words, everyone’s eyes lit up.

Luna made a slightly worried expression, but she didn’t step in to say anything.

If she pushed back against Seong—the one you could call the leader—it could break the balance, so she stayed quiet, while everyone else watched with clear interest.

Especially Kyou’s party and Embris’s party—their eyes were intense.

At this point, there was only one kind of “special event” it could be.

And sure enough.

“I think it’d be good for the two teams to fight. There’s a match system that can resolve disputes between parties.”

At Dohyeon’s words, both parties’ eyes lit up.

They’d never seriously fought each other even though they were on the same backup team—

But with the permission of Seong, the “owner” of this backup team, the story changed.

A chance to clearly see whose party was stronger.

An opportunity like this didn’t come easily.

They needed to seize it and set the pecking order.

And naturally, the chat exploded, too.

-Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-This is it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Khhhhh!!!!!

-I’ve been waiting for this!!!!!

-Yeah, ending it in a draw would feel so weird!!!!!!

-Let’s go all the way and see who wins!!!!

-If it goes all the way, Kyou wins!!!!

-Don’t underestimate Embris!!! We win!!!!

-Kyou wins!!!

-Embris wins!!!

The chat kept rolling with people cheering for their side, and seeing that scorching flood of support, Mihael made a quick decision and shouted,

“Alright! Then the special event match! Kyou’s party versus Embris’s party! Embris’s party versus! Kyou’s party! The match is about to begin!!!”

As Mihael shouted, Embris’s party and Kyou’s party each grouped up, getting ready, while Seong and Luna’s team headed toward Mihael.

After Seong and Luna’s team reached the broadcast team where Mihael was, Seong said,

“First, I’ll give you one minute to talk it over.”

Since they needed time to coordinate strategy and teamwork, he said he’d give them that time.

Neither party refused, and both accepted.

And as he watched them discussing—

Mihael asked Seong,

“Ahh, Demon King-nim, which team do you think has the advantage?”

It was basically a decisive question.

Depending on how he answered, it could come off as biased.

But Seong spoke without much thought.

“Hmm. If we’re only looking at teamwork, you could say Embris-nim’s party is stronger. But if we’re looking at individual skill, Kyou’s party is definitely ahead. So I guess that’s why their contribution scores matched down to three decimal places.”

“Ahh, so it’s not something you can judge easily!!!”

“Yes, that’s right.”

As Seong said, like he was looking forward to it—

Mihael nodded.

-The outcome is still unknown!

-Even the Demon King can’t call this one, a fierce battle!!!

-Wow, I’m excited.

-Seriously, who’s gonna win?

-The important thing is it wouldn’t be weird either way.

The chat couldn’t hide how hyped it was, and Mihael—who was commentating—was the same.

Maybe because of that—

Mihael immediately swung the mic and held it out to Luna, who was standing at Seong’s side like she was assisting him.

Then—

“How do you see it, Luna-nim!?”

“Y-Yes, yes!?”

Luna flinched when the mic suddenly came to her.

She was pretty flustered at first, but then she answered smoothly, like she was used to it.

“Like Seong-nim said, both sides have their own strengths, and if you only focus on those strengths, it’s hard to say who’s better. I think it’ll depend on how each party leader plays it.”

When Mihael didn’t pull the mic away, like he was asking what she meant—

Luna continued.

“Kyou-nim is far better when it comes to combat sense and reading the flow of battle. That kind of instinct and sense is genius-level. But he’s clearly lacking when it comes to tactics, and giving orders during an engagement. On the other hand, Embris-nim is excellent at tactics and calling orders, but his combat sense is definitely weaker than Kyou-nim’s.”

At Luna’s explanation—which made Seong’s point more concrete—Mihael nodded.

It really did seem like it would depend on what any one person did.

Then Luna added her final point.

“If Kyou-nim polishes his tactics a bit more, I think Kyou-nim’s party will win, and if Embris-nim’s sense shines more, I think Embris-nim’s party will win.”

“Ahh, so your opinion is that the party that covers even a little bit of its weakness will win.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

At Luna’s words, Mihael nodded like he understood, and Seong nodded as well, like he agreed.

And while the three of them were talking like that—

One minute passed, and both parties finished their discussion.

Seeing that, the viewers naturally started heating up again.

Because it meant the match was finally about to start.

Seong was watching like it’d be pretty fun, too.

‘This is gonna be more fun than I thought?’

As he watched with that thought—

Mihael said to Seong,

“Then, Demon King-nim, could you declare the start for us!?”

“Huh? Sure.”

As Seong said that and gestured, a curtain of darkness cut across between the two parties.

It happened in an instant—

But neither party panicked. Instead, they glared at the darkness, imagining the other party on the far side.

After that brief standoff—

Seong shouted,

“Start.”

With Seong’s words, the curtain of darkness vanished, like it had never been there at all.

And in the moment the two parties could see each other again—

Kyou’s lightning, fast enough to be called the fastest, flashed and fired.

The lightning flew in at a terrifying speed that was hard to even perceive, but as if they’d anticipated it already, a curtain of blood unfurled like a curtain of darkness and wrapped around Embris’s entire party.

But it was a blood curtain that looked thin.

And sure enough.

KRAAACKLE———!!!

The lightning ripped Embris’s blood curtain apart like paper, and Kim Che-geon and Meirin charged in with sword and light spear in hand—but both of their eyes went wide.

Every single member of Embris’s party, who should have been hiding behind the curtain, was gone.

Thinking it might be teleportation, they swept their surroundings fast, but they couldn’t feel any presence at all.

A beat late, Kurosawa Ren—the assassin type—moved quickly to break stealth, but it was already too late.

Because Embris’s party burst up out of the pooled blood on the floor—which had been hard to see in the darkness of the arena—and that place was none other than right behind Kurosawa Ren.

In the instant he judged that even if Kurosawa Ren ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) got taken out, they had to commit to the attack anyway—

A baptism of blood came pouring down.

And in that moment.

FWOOSHHHH———!!!

KRAAACKLE———!!!

Lightning that took second place to no one in speed flashed—

Then poured down toward the baptism of blood, and the baptism of blood and the baptism of lightning collided in midair, scattering a thick blood mist across the area.