After Lars healed up at the base and purchased Fury Knuckles Lv.2, he returo the ne. , it was Yuel's turn to recall.

  “The Viking revived but it’ll take him a few seds to get to ne,” Yuel informed before leaving. “So, this will be a pure 1v1 situation. If you got an opportunity, go for the kill.”

  “Gotcha, dude,” Lars nodded and a familiar grin formed on his face. The beast was exposing its fangs with murderous i. He was totally going to push for a kill, wasn't he? Thankfully, this was a great situation for that kind of aggressive stunt, so Yuel had no objes.

  “Okay!” Lars excimed. “Let's ro’ roll!”

  After the enemy Pyromancer finished clearing the minions, the ne became a 1v1 arena for Lars and Kai. This gonna be good!

  ! e at me, dude! Lars used a taunt animation from the middle of the ne.

  This punk wanna go at it, huh, Kai accepted the challenge and advanced along the ne. She had to spend Fme Wave on the minion wave, so her offeions were restricted right now. heless, that won't stop her from crushing that guy.

  “I think you better wait,” Vi advised. “I'll be ba ne in a jiffy.”

  “Huh? You're saying I 't win this 1v1?”

  “Um, well,” Vi rolled his eyes as he searched for an appropriate answer. “ we just call it an unnecessary risk?”

  “There's no risk if I'm going to beat him.”

  “Yeah, that's true, but...”

  “So, you ARE saying I 't win this fight. Why? Because he's a guy?”

  “No no no, that got nothing to do with it. This guy is just pretty damn strong. He's the Insa of the Apocalypse!”

  “Sounds like a small fry.”

  “By what absurd standard!?” Vi ughed in shock. Welp, there was no ging Kai's mind once she had her mi on fighting somebody, especially when the oppo was a guy. All Vi could do was hurry to the ne and hopefully prevent the iable disaster.

  Hmph, Kai scoffed. Taking me lightly like that. I'll show him I beat any guy at this game!

  Kai darted straight at her enemy. She gonna ruhat guy real quick- bam! Huh!? A shot pierced her shoulder!

  “Eh?” Kai took a step back. She needed a moment to uand what the hell just happened.

  Was she already within Gunslinger's attack range? She must have barely touched the tip of that range, yet a bullet came flying at her right away. That was some impressive zoning...

  Kai inally po start juking once she gets closer, but this oppo had no iion of letting her get any closer. This guy was a good shooter, Kai had to hand it to him. How did Vi call it again? “Gangnam Style Sniper” or something? Not too shabby.

  As a mid-range Pyromancer, how should Kai approach here? She had to get in before she start dishing out attacks. But, this guy gonna shoot her a few times before she eves a ce to get close. This was bad.

  Am I seriously thinking so hard about it? Kai frowned. She never felt sutimidation from a single oppo. Something about that instantaneous shot sent a chill down her spi was a zero tempo shot. There was no even time to react. To get around such shots, she'd have to dodge them before even realizing she had to dodge.

  In none of her oches, her against Diamond pyers nainst Challenger pyers, did Kai ever enter such precision. This will be a tough fight, she could already tell.

  “What's wrong?” Lars asked. “If you ain't ing, then I gonna e at ya!” He rolled forward with bat Roll. All-out attack, yo!

  Right as he recovered, he booted Fan the Hammer. The Gunslinger spun the hammer of his revolver and took aim. A barrage was ining!

  Bam! Headshot! The first shot nded without any trouble. The enemy Pyromancer was totally fazed and didn't even move! Lars gonna take her down ez! He could even go for three headshots in a row! He was feeling it right now!

  The shot came ht away! The Pyromaook half a step to the side in a poor attempt to dodge. It wasn’t nearly enough. Bam! Another headshot! Lars had this! One more headshot and Kai gonunned!

  It's so fast...! Kai bit her lip in frustratioing to these shots by sound was impossible. But, she got tles of their beat. The third one was going to fire at the exact same timing, so she had to dodge... Now! She rolled aside!

  Whish. The bullet cut through empty air.

  “Wha!?” Lars excimed. What sick dodge, yo! He erfectly locked on Kai, but she just barely slipped away at the st moment. She literally escaped death there.

  But wait, it ain’t over yet! He had two more shots left. This was no time to be impressed!

  Geh, a headshot seems rough, Lars gave up on that and aimed for Kai's body while she was rec. It was a shot she couldn't dodge, so it easily dug into her back. It wasn’t a headshot so there was not critical damage, but it was still a det shot.

  With that momentum, Lars gonna nd the final shot too! This time, it’ll be a headshot! His aim ot on, so this one gonna hit!

  ... or not. Kai sidestepped the shot i moment.

  Phew, barely made it. Kai sighed in relief. Even though she got the timing down by now, it was incredibly difficult to dodge such fast shots. But, she somehow made it.

  Geh, seriously? But okay, she's low. Lars chased his prey. Kai was at 20% HP while Lars was pletely healthy at 100%. So, he gotta go in ahat kill!

  Damn, this is bad. Kai turned around and booted Burning Spirit. She had to cede she had no ce right now. It’s not like Kai was weaker than that guy or anything, it’s just that the enemy caught her at a disadvantageous position. Therefore, this called for a tactical retreat.

  “You ain't gon away, yo!” Lars chased and nded a shot on her back. Ez hit.

  I remember the timing for these. Kai repeated in her head to firm: wait, wait, dodge. There was nothing she could do about the first shot, but from now she had the timing down for all the uping shots. Therefore, she’ll dodge everything a away alive!

  Okay! Lars fired again... but he missed! “What the-!? I swear, this Pyro’s sidesteps are outta this world!”

  “She got your pattern down,” Yuel expined. “You should dey your shots to mix up the timing.”

  “Yeah, I was getting that feeling too,” Lars waited a brief moment before firing the third bullet.

  Right there! The Pyromancer moved! If Lars fired quickly like usual, he probably would have missed.

  So, that’s yame. Lars grinned. No idea how ya doing it, but it’s siot gonna work on my 200% Accuracy, tho.

  Bam! Headshot!

  “Wha-!?” Kai excimed. Again? Did I mistime it? Or, did he dey on purpose? Either way, this is bad news.

  Kai was down to 8% HP. One more headshot will seal the deal. Alternatively, two normal shots would do. So, she absolutely had dodge all ining shots no matter what.

  One more headshot and it's over! Lars licked his lips. He just had to catch up to her with a roll and then he gonna be ready to deliver the finishing blow!

  “The Viking might get there soon,” Yuel warned. “Be ready to escape after you get the kill.”

  The Viking? Lars's brain stopped for a moment. He g the er of the jungle and saw the figure of the Viking.

  If Lars dives any further into eerritory, he might get the kill, But, then he'll have to 1v1 that Viking. It gonna be a nasty fight. He might die.

  Even worse, what if he fails to get the kill after rolling? Then, this entire py gonna be a waste and he gonna find himself dead. It'll be exactly like these traps he was repeatedly running int the seleatch. Every time, he chased Ellen thinking he gonhat sweet kill but instead he wound up dead with zero kills.

  Should he chase this kill anyway? This Pyromancer has already dodged a bunch of his shots, so there’s no guarantee he'll nd the shot after the roll. It’d be easy on PC, but on tablet it was iffy.

  So, this py might be suicide. Geh, what was the right course of a!? Damn, if only his ult was online right now, then it'd be a guaranteed hit...

  While he was rag his brai, his fingers came to a halt on their own. He didn't dare to chase any further.

  This was a risky py. It’s the kind of py that cost games. If only Lars didn't take so many risks during the seleatch, he and Yuel would have been on StormBlitz's first-string right now.

  So, no. He won’t chase. Lars turned aroureated.

  “Yiving it up?” Yuel asked.

  “Y-Yeah,” Lars produced a dry ugh. “That Pyro is slick, so she might dodge my few shots. I shouldn't overextend like that with the Viking around the er, right? Gotta py smart and stuff.”

  “Well, that's certainly the safer approach, but...” Yuel wasn't sure what to say.

  The prey was right within Lars's grasps. One or two more shots and Lars would have gotten this kill. It’s true that Kai has successfully dodged many of Lars's shots so far, but she probably wouldn't have been able to estimate the timing for Lars's shot after a roll. Therefore, chasing all the way should’ve been a safe bet.

  However, Yuel was basing all of that on empirical evidence. He didn’t know for sure how Kai mao dodge all these shots, so maybe he was wrong about Lars’s ces. Still, the risk-reward ratio heavily leaned in Lars's favor. Even in case Lars failed to get the kill, he wouldn't have had much trouble retreating because Vi’s ult was on cooldown. So, at best, Lars would have gotten a kill there and, at worst, he would have retreated without receiving much damage.

  heless, Lars decided to retreat right away. The ever-hungry beast gave up on his meal just like that. What’s ? Are elephants gonna rain from the sky?

  Then again, maybe that’s the mentality they should adopt from on: less risk, more reward. If a py might lead to disaster, they should avoid it uhey were 99% sure they were going to nail it. If they py safe like this, the enemy won't be able to exploit their aggressiveness anymore. So, in the end, perhaps Lars made the right call after all.

  “Whaaaaaaat?” Vi’s jaw dropped as he arrived on the ne. “Gunz didn't go for the kill? But, the Insa of the Apocalypse...”

  This match was so weird. The Golden Duo was definitely as strong as he remembered them, but they were missing that spark they showed during the scrimmage with the Leopards.

  In this match, Chessmaster and Gunz pyed very reservedly. It didn’t mean they were pying bad because, despite everything, they were still holding the upper hand. heless, it felt wrong somehow.

  “The Golden Duo falls into a slump!?” Vi came up with a clickbait title for an article that would have definitely hit over a thousand clicks if Chessmaster and Gunz were celebrities. Though, even if they were, Vi could never bring himself to post such a thing...

  Enough, enough. Focus on the game. Vi shook his head. The problems of the Golden Duo weren’t his right now. None of that ged the fact they were strong adversaries and Vi had to do his best to beat them, even though he k was futile.

  “That damn Gunslinger...” Kai muttered. Her eyes glinted like a polished dagger.

  There it is, the Pheromone Buster. Vi smiled wryly. He khat even though Kai slipped away alive, that 1v1 must have been embarrassing for her because Gunz basically ran all over her. This girl won't let that stand.

  Therefore, that triggered the Pheromone Buster! It ecial ability akin to a berserker switch. Sometimes it worked in Kai’s favor by giving her great strength, but other times it blew up in her face.

  Whie will it be this time? Welp, with Chessmaster’s Mystical Eyes of Weakness Perception in py... This sure goneresting! More scoop for Vio write about!

  After Kai healed up at the base auro ne, Pheromone Buster was in full effed it was immediately apparent. Instead of maintaining a safe distance from her enemies as a Pyromancer should, she advao the frontline way too often to intimidate and poke. Kai was out for blood.

  “Yo,” Lars grumped as he retreated from the Pyromancer's range again per Yuel's order. “This dude is pushing it. I just go at her?”

  “Hmm,” Yuel tried to process what was happening. Ever sihat 1v1, the Pyromancer's game pn shifted drastically. She was no longer pying the safe spag game Yuel praised before. Instead, Kai was advang to the frontline as if trying to pick a fight.

  What was the strategy behind it? This had to be some sort of adjustment from the enemy's side, right? After all, Yuel and Lars have been dominating the ne from early into the game, so the enemy must have switched to a mgressive game pn.

  It wasn’t a bad idea to be mgressive, but was that the ey of the enemy’s pn? Because, if so...

  They're not initiating a real fight. This was very fusing.

  The Viking closely followed the Pyromancer like a bodyguard but he didn't initiate any attacks. Any scary offense from that duo would have to start with the Viking initiating, but there were no signs of any of that ing. It felt like Kai was trying to push offense while Vi was trying to maintain defehere was a mismatch of is.

  Was it some sort of trap? Were the erying to lure Yuel and Lars into something? Yuel couldn't tell. The Pyromancer's careless advances left multiple holes in her defense, but Yuel wasn't sure whether they should go ahead and strike those.

  Was it even necessary to do anything about it? Even though the Pyromancer was intimidating them, it wasn't like these advances helped the enemy win ne trol. Yuel instructed Lars to poke Kai whenever she advao clear minions, so she couldn't stay on the frontline for long without eating damage. So, if Kai keeps going like this, she’ll eventually burn herself out.

  But, that was the bare minimum. Yuel saw multiple lines of pys he could go for to exploit fws in the enemy's formation even further and assuredly get a kill on Kai. However, he didn't bring them up. There was no reason to take unnecessary risks when they could just slowly and surely grind their eo dust.

  “Let's keep poking her,” Yuel said. “I see some ways to go in for a kill, but they might be luring us into some sort of trap. I don't see a reason to take the risk.”

  “Yeah, sounds smart,” Lars agreed, as uncharacteristic as it was. If even Lars wasn't gung-ho about going for a kill here, then Yuel definitely had no reason to go overboard. They should just take this game slowly aheir oppos into submission step by step.

  “Tch, they always run,” Kai clicked her tongue. What a bunch of wusses.

  That's so odd, Viilted his head. Kai had many openings in her defense while uhe effect of Pheromone Buster, so Chessmaster should've made a move by now. Even though Vi has been doing his best to cover up for Kai, he was far from boasting godlike defense like Aegis. Therefore, Mystic Eyes of Weakness Perception should've discovered something by now.

  “'t you initiate already?” Kai asked.

  “I ,” Vi said. “But, remember what happe time? How do you suppose I get in their face without having the tables turned on me?”

  “Git gud.”

  “Of course, the one and only ao every video gaming problem,” Vi chuckled and shook his head. “I'm searg for openings. But, their formation is so tight they must be the reinations of legendary Roman soldiers. If you got any bright ideas, I’m all ears.”

  “... not really,” Kai had to admit the enemy ying solid. Her aggression didn't shake their formation at all and didn't create any openings for an initiation. The two guys just kept pying the patience game and spaced Kai out. No balls, huh.

  In the end, the entire 2v2 match transformed into a battle of attire. Kai pushed and pushed and pushed as hard as she could, but the enemy spaced her out and poked her to oblivioually, she had to give up aurn to base. Naturally, the enemy used that opportunity to push hard.

  After this pattered itself enough, Yuel and Lars eventually sealed the deal.

  VICTORY

  The usual message popped with fireworks and fetti to celebrate the occasion. But, it felt hollow somehow.

  “We wht?” Lars asked.

  “I believe so,” Yuel nodded. “Look, the message says we wht?”

  “Yeah, seems abht...”

  Yes, they definitely won. They pyed the patience game and overpowered their oppos through ter pig and coordination. They could've gone for stronger pys but they still won, so that didn't matter, right? Right...

  With this awkward feeling, the “friendly” match reached its clusion.