390: Despite the victory, it was still a defeat; let's review the battle!

In the center of the arena, a massive, bottomless chasm appeared, its edges still bearing the scorched and melted traces of Holy Light.

At the end of the chasm, Valkyrie Brunhilde held her greatsword, panting slightly, her golden long hair somewhat disheveled.

Yet, it still could not hide her proud posture.

Her three teammates had also broken free from their entanglements and regrouped by her side, looking forward warily.

Opposite them, dust and smoke filled the air.

"Is it over?"

"The Cangming Alliance... was wiped out?"

"What a pity. They fought so well, but in the end, they still couldn't overcome the absolute power of an S-Rank Talent."

Sighs rippled through the audience.

However, just as the host Chen Mingwei was about to announce the match results...

...a violent fit of coughing suddenly erupted from within the thick dust.

"Cough... cough cough! Ptooey! This thing's kick is way too strong..."

A burly figure stood up unsteadily from the dust; it was Wang Haochen in his bear-man form.

He looked quite wretched at the moment, with most of his fur scorched, but it seemed he hadn't sustained any fatal injuries.

Immediately following him, Xie Yufeng also stood up from the ground, bracing himself against his knees. His face was pale, but his eyes remained sharp.

Chen Yutong was protected behind him; aside from being a bit startled, she was almost completely unharmed.

Three people... were still alive!

The entire arena went into an uproar!

How was this possible?!

They took an S-Rank ultimate move head-on and only ended up looking a bit disheveled?

Everyone's gaze instinctively searched for the fourth person.

The man who had used his body to forcibly block the Holy Light Judgment.

The dust completely dissipated.

At the starting point of that massive chasm, Wu Rongkang was still in a shield-holding stance, half-kneeling on the ground.

The tower shield in his hand was covered in spiderweb-like cracks, looking as though it would shatter at any moment.

As for the man himself, his armor was crumbling bit by bit, a trace of blood hung from the corner of his mouth, and his aura was extremely weak. He had clearly lost the ability to fight.

However, he did not fall!

With his tenacious will, he had endured that fatal blow for his teammates!

"Old Wu!" Wang Haochen roared, his eyes turning red.

"He... he actually blocked it..." A berserker from the German Team looked at Wu Rongkang's figure, his voice filled with disbelief.

Brunhilde's brow also furrowed tightly.

She knew the power of her own strike better than anyone.

Even Daniel, who was also S-Rank, wouldn't dare take it head-on.

How did this obscure D-Grade Lord manage it?

In that split second of her daze...

...Xie Yufeng moved.

He didn't go to support Wu Rongkang, nor did he check his injuries.

Because he knew that on the battlefield, any moment of hesitation was a desecration of his teammate's sacrifice!

He poured all his grief, indignation, and killing intent into the longsword in his hand!

"Now!"

His figure turned into an afterimage, bypassing the front and lunging straight at Brunhilde, who was still shocked by the previous strike!

"Captain!"

The German berserkers snapped out of it and immediately tried to fall back to defend.

"Roar! Your opponent is me!"

Wang Haochen bellowed, his massive body crashing directly into them, pinning down the three berserkers.

Chen Yutong also reacted, sending dozens of Mechanical Bees swarming toward Brunhilde to provide suppressive fire!

Having released her ultimate move, Brunhilde was currently at her weakest.

Facing the Cangming Alliance's thunderous counterattack—one that gambled everything—she felt powerless for the first time!

She swung her greatsword, trying to parry Xie Yufeng's attack, but she was thrown into a frantic state by the harassment of the Mechanical Bees' lasers.

Puchi!

A spray of blood splattered!

Xie Yufeng's sword finally pierced through her armor and sank into her shoulder!

"Ah!"

Brunhilde let out a cry of pain, her body staggering.

[German Team Captain Brunhilde has been heavily injured!]

[Dragon Country Official Representative Team member Wu Rongkang has lost the ability to fight!]

The System's notification sounds rang out one after another.

The situation on the field was instantly reversed!

"We won! We're going to win!" In the audience, the Lords who had bet on the Cangming Alliance began to roar frantically!

However, in the VIP seats, Mo Yan shook his head, showing little joy on his face.

"An ugly win," he said faintly.

Zhang Chen was somewhat puzzled beside him: "Holy Lord, this... this is already a miraculous turnaround."

"Miracle?" Mo Yan chuckled softly.

"There are no miracles in this world to believe in; those are only because they were under-prepared."

"If Xie Yufeng had targeted Brunhilde's charging from the start instead of passively waiting for her to move, Wu Rongkang wouldn't have had to be taken out."

To him, victory was a given.

What he valued was the process.

On the field, the battle had entered its final stages.

Having lost their strongest combatant, Captain Brunhilde, the remaining three berserkers retreated steadily under the pincer attack of Wang Haochen and Xie Yufeng, and were soon defeated one by one.

[Match over! The winner is—Dragon Country, Cangming City Representative Team!]

The moment the System announced the result, the entire arena erupted!

...The match ended, and in the Cangming Alliance's lounge, the atmosphere was somewhat heavy.

Wang Haochen and Chen Yutong were gathered around Wu Rongkang, watching the medical staff treat his injuries.

Wu Rongkang had already woken up, though his face was still pale.

But seeing his teammates' concerned gazes, he still gave a simple and honest smile: "I'm fine... just a bit exhausted..."

Xie Yufeng stood to the side, silent for a long time before finally speaking slowly.

"Although we won this match, in my view, we lost."

His voice wasn't loud, but it silenced everyone.

"Why?" Wang Haochen asked, somewhat unconvinced. "We took down a team led by an S-Rank Genius. Does that not count as a win?"

"We won the result, but lost the process." Xie Yufeng's gaze swept across everyone's faces.

"From the very beginning, we were being led by the nose by the opponent."

"We knew clearly that their core was Brunhilde, yet we didn't find a way to restrict her in the first instance."

"Instead, we were dragged into a frontal engagement by those three decoys."

"This is what led to Old Wu having to endure her ultimate move at the cost of heavy injuries."

"This was my mistake. As captain, I failed to make the most correct judgment." Xie Yufeng's tone was full of self-reproach.

"It's not your fault, Captain," Chen Yutong said softly. "That Valkyrie hid her aura too well; we had no idea she was charging up..."

"Not knowing is a failure of our intelligence work and a manifestation of our lack of preparation!"

Xie Yufeng interrupted her: "On the battlefield, any 'not knowing' could lead to a total defeat!"

"Today, we only faced one Brunhilde, and by relying on Old Wu's sacrifice, we won by a fluke."

"But what about next time? How many more 'Old Wus' do we have to sacrifice?"

His words made Wang Haochen and Chen Yutong lower their heads.

It was true; they had won, but the win was too narrow, too much of a fluke.

"This match exposed many of our problems," Xie Yufeng continued.

"Haochen, you're too impulsive and easily get hot-headed."

"Yutong, your battlefield adaptability needs to be strengthened; you can't just rely on my commands."

"And I committed the errors of underestimating the enemy and making poor judgments."

"This victory is not worth celebrating."

"After we return, everyone is to write a ten-thousand-word self-reflection report. Detail every single mistake we made today!"

"Yes!"

Wang Haochen and Chen Yutong responded in unison, their faces showing no dissatisfaction, only gravity.

Wu Rongkang, lying on the treatment bed, also struggled to sit up.

Xie Yufeng walked over and pressed him down.

"You don't have to write one." He looked at Wu Rongkang, his eyes showing heartfelt admiration for the first time.

"Old Wu, today, you are the hero for all of us. You used your actions to teach us all a lesson."

"Rest well. The Alliance's resources will be prioritized for you."

"I promise, next time, we will never let you fall into such a dangerous situation again."

Having said that, he turned around and looked out at the noisy arena outside the lounge.

Their road was still very long.