The Bottom Lane had become a battlefield of attrition.
Neither side could afford to make another mistake.
Beneath Seishin Academy's outer tower, Ruko's Estan stood with barely a fraction of his health remaining. The green portion of his health bar had long since disappeared, replaced by a thin, trembling strip of red that seemed almost insignificant against the length of the bar.
Approximately ten percent.
That was all he had left.
A single successful attack could end his life.
Even a minor miscalculation could be enough.
Ruko knew it.
Inori knew it.
The audience knew it.
And that knowledge had transformed the atmosphere inside the venue.
The crowd that had been roaring moments earlier had become tense. Thousands of spectators watched the Bottom Lane with barely concealed anticipation, waiting to see whether Ruko would somehow escape or whether Inori would finally finish what she had started.
Across the lane, Yamashiki stood outside the tower's effective range.
Inori had no intention of making the mistake of approaching him recklessly.
She had already learned enough about Estan.
Ruko's hero was mobile.
His abilities allowed him to close distances unexpectedly, weave through attacks, and punish opponents who committed too deeply.
A close-range fight was exactly what Ruko wanted.
So Inori refused to give it to him.
Instead, she created distance.
Yamashiki's weapon shifted into Beta, the sniper.
The transformation altered the way she controlled the lane.
With Beta equipped, Yamashiki could attack from an extraordinary range, forcing Ruko to respect every movement she made. The weapon wasn't designed for prolonged close combat. It was designed to control space, punish predictable movement, and gradually wear an opponent down before they ever reached her.
And with Ruko's health already reduced to almost nothing, she didn't need much damage.
She only needed one opening.
Inori moved her cursor.
Yamashiki took a small step forward.
She stopped.
Her aim settled.
Then she fired.
A concentrated projectile tore through the air.
Ruko immediately moved Estan sideways.
The shot passed close enough that he could almost feel the danger.
It struck the ground behind him and disappeared in a burst of particles.
Ruko didn't relax.
Another shot was already coming.
He moved again.
The second projectile passed just behind Estan.
Ruko shifted toward the opposite side.
A third shot followed.
This time, Inori aimed slightly ahead of him.
Ruko recognized the adjustment and stopped his movement earlier than expected.
The projectile passed through the space where he would have been standing.
Ruko's expression tightened.
"...She's reading me."
He had expected Inori to pressure him.
What he hadn't expected was how precise the pressure would become.
She wasn't simply throwing attacks toward his general location.
She was studying his movement.
Whenever he moved left, she adjusted her aim to compensate.
Whenever he moved right, she predicted the amount of distance he would cover.
Whenever he attempted to step forward and clear the approaching wave of lane warriors, she immediately fired at the position he needed to occupy.
She wasn't trying to hit him randomly.
She was controlling where he was allowed to stand.
Ruko attempted to move forward.
A sniper round struck the ground directly in front of Estan.
He immediately stopped.
Another projectile passed behind him.
He moved backward.
The tower was getting closer.
Ruko glanced at the structure behind him.
There was nowhere else to go.
The tower was the only thing preventing Inori from finishing him.
But even beneath its protection, he wasn't completely safe.
Beta's range allowed Yamashiki to remain outside the tower's immediate danger zone while still threatening Estan.
Ruko's jaw tightened.
He had been forced into a defensive position.
And Inori wasn't rushing.
That was the most dangerous part.
She was patient.
She knew that Ruko's health was low.
She knew that one careless step could end the fight.
Rather than taking an unnecessary risk, she was slowly removing every option available to him.
One shot forced him left.
Another forced him right.
A third prevented him from moving forward.
The tower became his boundary.
Inori was gradually shrinking the battlefield around him.
Ruko understood what she was doing.
"...She's herding me."
The realization came with another thought.
She wasn't doing this simply to kill him.
She was waiting.
Ruko's eyes moved toward the minimap.
There.
A small movement appeared along the jungle path.
His expression changed.
"...She's waiting for someone."
The answer arrived almost immediately.
A figure emerged from behind the terrain.
Sukachi.
The opposing captain had finally entered the Bottom Lane.
He had waited until Ruko's health had reached its lowest possible point before revealing himself.
It was a textbook gank.
Inori had been attacking from the front, forcing Ruko's attention toward Yamashiki.
Sukachi would approach from behind.
Ruko would have nowhere to retreat.
With only ten percent of his health remaining, Sukachi didn't need a complicated combination.
One clean ability would be enough.
The audience noticed him.
A wave of reaction spread through the venue.
Some spectators gasped.
Others instinctively shouted warnings, despite knowing that neither player could possibly hear them through the noise.
"Behind him!"
"Ruko!"
"Sukachi's coming!"
Ruko didn't need the audience to tell him.
He had already seen him.
Sukachi stepped into the lane.
His character accelerated.
Inori continued firing.
Ruko was caught between two threats.
One ahead.
One behind.
Sukachi moved closer.
His confidence was obvious.
From his perspective, the situation was almost perfect.
Ruko's health was nearly gone.
The tower was restricting his movement.
Inori had already forced him into a defensive position.
All Sukachi needed to do was finish him.
Then he entered the tower's range.
Inori's eyes narrowed.
She immediately recognized the danger.
But she also recognized something else.
"...Sukachi, you idiot."
Her voice was quiet.
She knew what he was about to do.
She also knew what Ruko was capable of.
Sukachi didn't stop.
His character rushed beneath the tower.
Then his first skill activated.
A burst of movement carried him forward as his weapon swung in a wide horizontal arc.
The attack was aimed directly at Estan.
The timing was excellent.
The angle was clean.
The distance was correct.
Under ordinary circumstances, there would have been almost no reason for Ruko to escape.
The slash came toward him.
And then—
Ruko moved.
There was no hesitation.
No visible calculation.
He simply reacted.
Estan shifted backward while simultaneously stepping to the side.
The blade passed directly in front of him.
It missed by the smallest possible margin.
The audience erupted.
"HE DODGED!"
"NO WAY!"
"HE GOT OUT!"
Sukachi's eyes widened.
"...What?"
Ruko's own eyes sharpened.
For a fraction of a second, he didn't understand how he had avoided it either.
Then something familiar surfaced inside him.
A sensation he hadn't felt in years.
The countless hours of competitive play.
The thousands of abilities he had seen.
The endless matches in which he had learned to recognize an opponent's intention from the smallest movement.
There had been countless moments when he had reacted before consciously understanding why.
That instinct had never truly disappeared.
It had simply become buried beneath everything that happened after Nerva.
Now, with his life hanging by a thread, it had resurfaced.
Ruko's fingers tightened around the controls.
"...Got you."
His attention immediately shifted toward Sukachi.
The opposing captain had made one critical mistake.
He had entered the tower's range.
And now his attack had missed.
Sukachi attempted to move away.
He was already too late.
Estan raised his hand.
A burst of energy erupted from the Mage-Fighter and struck Sukachi directly.
The attack staggered him.
Then another effect activated.
Stunned.
Sukachi's character froze beneath the tower.
His eyes widened.
"...What?"
The tower had already locked onto him.
A concentrated blast of energy slammed into Sukachi.
His health dropped sharply.
The tower fired again.
Another burst struck him.
Sukachi finally regained control and attempted to retreat.
But the stun had already cost him several precious seconds.
Ruko wasn't going to waste them.
Estan attacked.
Another ability connected.
The tower fired once more.
Sukachi's health continued to disappear.
He desperately attempted to move out of range.
Ruko followed just long enough to ensure the finishing attack connected.
The final tower shot landed.
Sukachi's health reached zero.
The elimination notification appeared across the screen.
Sukachi has been slain.
For one brief moment, the entire venue fell silent.
Then the crowd exploded.
"HE DODGED IT!"
"THAT WAS INSANE!"
"RUKO!"
"WHAT A COUNTER!"
"HE WAS DEAD!"
The roar shook the venue.
Ruko had been one attack away from death.
Sukachi had attempted to finish him beneath the tower.
Instead, the gank had become a death sentence for the attacker.
Ruko had survived.
Barely.
But his health bar was still glowing red.
The danger hadn't disappeared.
And Inori hadn't moved.
She had watched the entire exchange.
Her expression remained calm.
There was no panic.
No frustration.
Instead, the corner of her mouth lifted into a small smile.
"...Of course."
She knew.
She knew Ruko would find a way.
That was exactly what made this match so interesting.
She had been pushing him because she wanted to see how he would respond.
She had been forcing him into increasingly dangerous situations because she wanted to know whether the Ruko she remembered was still somewhere inside the player sitting across from her.
And now she had received her answer.
Ruko had survived.
But his health was still critically low.
Inori raised Yamashiki's weapon.
Ruko turned toward her.
Their characters faced one another across the lane.
For a brief moment, neither moved.
The crowd gradually quieted.
Everyone understood what was about to happen.
Ruko had survived Sukachi's ambush.
But he was still standing directly in front of Inori.
And Inori was still at full fighting capacity.
Then—
She fired.
The projectile crossed the lane.
Ruko barely had time to react.
The attack struck Estan.
His remaining health disappeared.
The screen flashed.
Ruko has been slain.
The crowd's roar changed immediately.
Inori hadn't been distracted by Sukachi's failed gank.
She hadn't allowed Ruko's incredible dodge to break her concentration.
She had waited.
The moment the counterattack ended and Ruko's position became vulnerable again, she took the opening.
Ruko had survived the ambush.
But he had never escaped her pressure.
Inori had simply waited for the next opportunity.
She immediately advanced toward the tower.
With Ruko dead, the Bottom Lane was temporarily undefended.
If she could destroy a significant portion of the tower's health before Seishin Academy rotated another player down, Ishika High would gain a valuable advantage.
Yamashiki moved forward alongside the remaining lane warriors.
Inori changed weapons.
She prepared to clear the wave before continuing the push.
Then she stopped.
Something had moved inside the nearby bush.
Inori's eyes narrowed.
She didn't fire immediately.
Instead, she watched.
A figure slowly emerged from the vegetation.
Risa.
Her jungle route had finally brought her toward the Bottom Lane.
She had completed her jungle camps and was already rotating toward the lane.
She hadn't come because Ruko had died.
Her movement had begun before that.
The timing simply happened to be perfect.
Risa stepped onto the lane.
Her character moved with the same methodical precision she had displayed throughout the match.
There was no sudden aggression.
No reckless charge.
She simply began clearing the remaining lane warriors.
Inori's eyes remained on her.
"...Risa."
She had heard the name before.
She knew Risa was the unusual player on Seishin Academy's roster.
A beginner in the jungle role who had somehow managed to compensate for her lack of conventional experience through an almost absurd ability to adapt.
But Inori hadn't expected her to become the next obstacle.
Yamashiki raised her weapon.
Inori fired.
The projectile flew toward Risa.
Risa moved.
The attack missed.
Inori fired again.
Risa shifted in the opposite direction.
A third attack followed.
This time, Inori deliberately changed the timing.
Risa moved before the projectile was fully committed.
Another miss.
Inori's expression changed.
"...Again?"
She narrowed her eyes.
Risa wasn't moving randomly.
At least, not entirely.
Inori changed her aim.
Instead of firing toward Risa's current position, she aimed toward the location Risa would most likely move toward next.
Risa stopped.
For a moment, she didn't move at all.
Then she stepped in another direction.
The projectile missed.
Inori's eyes widened slightly.
That was unusual.
She had spent much of the match predicting Ruko.
She understood his habits.
She knew how experienced players tended to respond under pressure.
She knew the instinctive movements of players who had spent years competing at a high level.
Risa was different.
Her movements didn't follow the same established patterns.
At first, Inori thought it was simply because Risa was inexperienced.
Then she noticed something.
Risa was watching her.
Not merely watching the attacks.
Watching her.
Every time Inori changed her timing, Risa adjusted.
Whenever Inori altered her angle, Risa changed her positioning.
Whenever Inori attempted to create a predictable movement pattern, Risa disrupted it.
Inori's eyes slowly widened.
"...She's adapting."
Risa advanced.
Inori fired.
Risa dodged.
Risa responded with an attack of her own.
Inori moved out of its path.
Another exchange began.
This time, Inori changed her movement deliberately.
She wanted to test Risa.
She moved in one direction, stopped, then suddenly shifted back.
Risa didn't immediately attack.
She waited.
Then she moved.
Inori fired.
The attack missed.
Risa counterattacked.
Inori avoided it.
The exchange lasted only a few seconds, but Inori's expression gradually became more serious.
She had encountered talented players before.
She had faced people with incredible reaction speed.
She had fought opponents who could adapt to her patterns.
But Risa wasn't merely learning the matchup.
She was learning Inori.
That distinction mattered.
Inori changed her timing again.
Risa adjusted.
Inori changed her angle.
Risa adjusted again.
Then Risa launched an attack toward the position Inori would have chosen if she had continued following the pattern she had established moments earlier.
Inori barely escaped.
Her smile disappeared.
"...She's adapting to my adaptation."
The realization sent a strange thrill through her.
For the first time since the beginning of the match, Inori found herself being studied in the same way she had been studying everyone else.
Risa wasn't overwhelming her with raw power.
She wasn't relying on some impossible combination.
She wasn't attempting to force the fight through superior mechanics.
She was observing.
Learning.
Adjusting.
And then using what she had learned against her.
Risa continued advancing.
The pressure gradually shifted.
A few moments earlier, Inori had controlled the Bottom Lane completely.
Ruko had been forced beneath his tower.
Hikari and Kana had been eliminated.
Sukachi had fallen while attempting to finish Ruko.
And Ruko himself had eventually been eliminated.
Everything had been going according to Ishika High's momentum.
But now Risa had arrived.
She cleared the remaining lane warriors one by one, removing the wave that Inori needed to safely approach the tower.
The pressure disappeared.
Without the minion advantage, Inori couldn't push forward carelessly.
She took another step.
Risa immediately punished the movement.
Inori dodged.
Another attack came.
She avoided it.
But Risa was already adjusting.
The next attack arrived from a slightly different angle.
Inori stepped backward.
Then another.
She was slowly giving ground.
Not because Risa had suddenly become overwhelmingly powerful.
Not because Inori had forgotten how to play.
She was being pushed backward through positioning.
Through adaptation.
Through the gradual removal of every safe place she could stand.
Inori finally retreated toward the safety of her own tower.
Yamashiki stopped beneath its protection.
Across the lane, Risa remained outside.
Calm.
Composed.
Her character continued clearing the lane as though nothing unusual had happened.
Inori stared at her.
For the first time since the match began, she looked genuinely surprised.
"...She's fast."
She paused.
Then corrected herself.
"No."
Her eyes narrowed.
"She's learning fast."
That was what made Risa dangerous.
Her mechanical ability wasn't necessarily the most frightening part.
It was the speed at which she processed information.
Every exchange gave her something new.
Every mistake became information.
Every successful attack from Inori taught her how Inori preferred to position herself.
Every dodge revealed another tendency.
And unlike most players, Risa didn't seem particularly concerned with preserving a fixed playstyle.
She could abandon one approach the moment it stopped working.
She could construct another.
Then another.
It was the same quality that had allowed her to survive in the jungle despite being inexperienced.
Instead of relying on a predetermined route, she adapted the route according to the circumstances.
Now she was doing the same thing against Inori.
The realization made Inori's smile return.
A different kind of excitement had begun to take shape.
"...This match keeps getting more interesting."
She tightened her grip on the controls.
Ruko had been the opponent who awakened the excitement she had been missing.
He had forced her to remember what it felt like to fight someone who understood her.
But now she had discovered something else.
Another player.
Another variable.
Another person capable of challenging her.
Risa adjusted her glasses on the stage.
Her eyes remained fixed on Yamashiki.
She wasn't celebrating.
She wasn't impressed by the exchange.
She wasn't even looking toward Ruko's respawn timer.
Her attention was entirely focused on the opponent standing in front of her.
Inside her mind, the calculations were already continuing.
Inori had become a new problem.
A difficult one.
A rapidly changing one.
And Risa had already begun searching for the solution.
The Bottom Lane had gone through another dramatic shift.
Ruko had fallen.
Sukachi had fallen before him.
Hikari and Kana had already been eliminated.
Inori had seemingly taken control of everything.
Yet now, standing across from the Marksman Queen was a quiet girl who refused to fight according to any pattern Inori already understood.
The pressure had changed hands.
And for the first time since the beginning of the match, Inori found herself wondering just how much stronger this strange new opponent could become.
The Marksman had awakened.
Now, something else was beginning to awaken with her.