A flash of golden light from Bard's ultimate descended, perfectly stunning three champions along with the turret, as Kai'Sa dashed alone under the tower to finish off the enemy ADC and mid laner.
The remaining three had no strength left to resist. At the 14-minute mark, they demolished the bottom lane and won the game, the Nexus shattering into pieces.
The screen flashed with the promotion announcement: Diamond rank achieved.
"10 o'clock, time to end the stream."
"Lastly, Happy New Year, everyone. Wishing you all that your hopes come true in the coming year, and that you get confessed to by the one you secretly admire."
Barbatos waved at the camera on her laptop, getting ready to sign off.
Today was February 12th—Chinese New Year.
She had decided to set aside her full day of training plans for now, choosing instead to spend this special holiday with the folks in her livestream.
Though many of her viewers would be celebrating with family, watching the Spring Festival Gala on TV, there were still plenty tuning into her stream at this hour, as if the holiday wasn't all that different from any ordinary day.
Ever since that offline meetup and stream with Piao and the others, she had started inviting her girlfriend to co-stream.
They created two new accounts and, in a single day, swept through their placement matches with straight victories, each game an MVP performance, skipping divisions all the way to Diamond.
After ending the stream, Barbatos watched the chat still scrolling with messages and silently offered an apology in her heart.
It was only around 10 PM—back in her regular streaming days, the night would just be getting started. But she had settled into a steady routine now, going to bed early each night to maintain peak condition for the next day's training.
These days, she could fall asleep right on schedule and wake up punctually even without an alarm—a change brought on by a month and a half of rigorous practice, a shift in her body clock.
Her mental state had improved vastly too, fully leaving behind the shadow of her Winter Dream Cup loss as she pushed forward toward the Oka Sho.
Before, she had focused her training on the Summoner's Rift, building a good rapport with her fans through streams, and everyone had grown accustomed to her broadcasting hours.
Now, she could only go live during certain special times, and she couldn't help feeling a little guilty about it.
Yet, all she could do was silently apologize to her supporters in her heart.
After all, if she didn't push herself harder now, she might stumble in the Oka Sho and taste defeat once more!
El Condor Pasa and the others were training hard too!
That El Condor Pasa had also taken leave to prepare for the Oka Sho was no secret to Barbatos and Seiun Sky, nor was it something that needed hiding.
Walking down the street now, you could already see promotional posters for the Oka Sho heating up—phrases like "Wind God vs. Phantom Bird" and "Clash of the Generation's Talents" were everywhere.
You could say the hype for the Oka Sho completely overshadowed every other G1 race.
Even the Satsuki Sho, the Osaka Cup, and the Takamatsunomiya Kinen seemed to pale in comparison. The only event still holding decent buzz was tomorrow's dirt G1—the Kawasaki Kinen.
It was a relatively new G1 series, one of several dirt G1 races added in recent years to Japan's predominantly turf-focused racing scene.
El Condor Pasa had chosen to enter the Kawasaki Kinen before the Oka Sho—marking her first official dirt track race.
Thinking this, Barbatos glanced over at Seiun Sky, who had been streaming alongside her.
Seiun Sky was taking off her headphones. Though it was only her second time playing League of Legends, perhaps due to her intellect, she showed a remarkable knack for reading opponent movements.
When playing support, she could predict the jungler's position in low elo; when playing hook champions, she easily anticipated enemy dodges.
If not for the occasional misplay, Barbatos might have suspected Seiun Sky had some kind of precognition system.
"El going for the Kawasaki Kinen... she didn't take my words to heart, did she?"
Barbatos said it half-jokingly. "Taking her words to heart" referred to her own earlier comment about winning a few more G1 races before her recovery—just a statement of confidence, a bit of pre-race trash talk.
Seiun Sky tilted her head. "Hmm, if El would really worry about that, she wouldn't be El."
"After all, she's the one aiming to become the world's best."
In their eyes, El Condor Pasa had always carried that air of unshakeable confidence, as if no one could ever break it. If El had been in that Winter Dream Cup, she would've declared victory without a doubt.
That was the El Condor Pasa they knew.
And El possessed the talent, skill, and dedication to match that confidence.
As for why she chose to enter the Kawasaki Kinen, it was probably to stay in race shape, to avoid too long a gap between competitions and ensure she was at her peak for the Oka Sho.
Even though the Kawasaki Kinen was a dirt G1, adapting to dirt wasn't much of a challenge for El.
Dirt and turf made little difference to her—something evident in her relay marathon performances.
The feeling of daily training runs was completely different from standing on an actual racetrack.
On the track, the convictions and auras of the Uma Musume intertwined in the air, almost as if you could hear them clashing and resonating.
That was something only seen among truly powerful Uma Musume, in the heat of competition.
Barbatos had first experienced that sensation during the Dream Cup. Even if El herself wasn't fully aware, her trainer had surely considered it—hence entering her in the Kawasaki Kinen.
So, by the time the Oka Sho arrived, to the outside world, Barbatos would be just returning from recovery with a four-month racing hiatus.
El, meanwhile, would have a G1 under her belt, riding the peak of her form.
From any angle, that would give El a tremendous advantage. Even if Barbatos still had plenty of supporters, a rational assessment would likely tip public opinion toward an El victory.
Of course, outside opinions didn't matter much to Barbatos. What she needed now was to calm her mind and focus on training hard.
"Huh?"
Barbatos, lost in thought, was drawn by Seiun Sky's soft exclamation and turned to look.
On the screen in front of Seiun Sky was a trending topic that wasn't exactly hot—the kind that would normally gain traction but was now overshadowed by the hype around her and El's upcoming Oka Sho.
Mejiro Bright Secures 2 Consecutive Graded Wins, Prepares for the Spring Tenno Sho!
"An opponent for your Tenno Sho," Seiun Sky remarked, reading the screen.
Mejiro Bright had debuted over a year before them.
She had missed the classic races last year, but her current form in graded events was strong, making her a top contender for the Spring Tenno Sho.
After all, the Mejiro family, as one of the elite lineages among Uma Musume, was renowned for dominating the Spring Tenno Sho.
If Mejiro Bright was entering the Spring Tenno Sho, she would be an unavoidable opponent for Barbatos, especially since Barbatos had no experience in long-distance races.
"Mejiro Bright? She'll be a formidable rival," they both mused, acknowledging the opponent they would face in the Spring Tenno Sho, but chose not to delve deeper into her details.
It wasn't a lack of respect, but because their focus now was on preparing for the Yayoi Sho and the Oka Sho—not the Spring Tenno Sho!
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.