The ning phase tinued with a dark cloud of uainty h over Nia. Every time, she mao sneak in one shot on the Dark Knight before he unleashed Dark Bst and wiped out her entire army. Then, she had no choice but to retreat and tinue firing from uower.

  The Dark Knight fearlessly invaded with his minions and ravaged the Turret with his bck bde. With every wave, Nia's Turret lost a bigger and bigger k of HP.

  In most cases, these would be punishable overextensions. Yuel thought. If Nia were pying a css with heavier ore burst, she could’ve given that Dark Knight a hard time. As, Vampire didn't have such tools until Lv.5 so Nia had to py patiently.

  Surprisingly, she didn't pin about this routine. In fact, it seemed she liked pying like this. Perhaps, turtling was her preferred pystyle, seeing as she also used it against Vi and Lars back when she dueled them.

  Eventually, Nia hit Lv.5. As, by now, the Dark Knight was already at Lv.6 and halfway to Lv.7. On top of that, Nia's Turret was down to 40%. This was a terrible position.

  Still, as bad as it was, Nia successfully reached this position without any big losses. She was Lv.5 and had full HP. What little HP she lost to stray shots from minions was healed up via Bloodthirst, Vampire's passive life-stealing. So, she erfectly healthy but the same couldn’t be said for the Dark Knight.

  With great power came a great prid the Dark Knight has been slowly but surely paying it. With each Dark Bst he fired, 5% of his HP was sacrificed. Iime, he'll wear himself out. He was already down to 70% at this point.

  Fortunately, the guy didn't start off with a life steal item. His only ways to recovery were either killing Nia or using potions, which he didn’t seem to have on him. So, as long as Nia stays safe in the back, the Dark Knight will exhaust himself in a couple of waves. That's when Nia will get her ce to strike him down.

  Unfortunately, her Turret was in danger. If things keep going on like this, her Turret will crumble in a couple of waves. Not only she'll lose the ne, but it’ll also rob her of any good opportuo kill the Dark Knight before mid-game. Something had to be done before it es to this.

  "You have to spook him a little," Yuel said. "We 't let him keep pushing the Turret without w about anything. ime he invades, Night Horde him."

  "Hm, I don't wanna," Nia twisted her lips. "That'll remind him I'm here."

  "Yes, that's the idea. We have to remind him that you're here to defend the ne or else he'll keep doing as he pleases."

  "I'm ok with that. As long as he doesn't notice me, it's good. That'll let me surprise him real good." Nia snickered.

  So, she's waiting for him to lower his guard pletely and then strike. Yuel o himself. That must have beerue nature of what Vi referred to as "Vanishing Phantom". By pying passive like this for long enough, Nia made her ne oppo lower their guard and then delivered a fatal blow.

  But, how trustworthy was this teique, really? If it to Yuel, he wouldn’t bet the entire ne on something like that. Instead, he rather poke the Dark Knight out of the tower’s area.

  However, Nia was the one pying and she was the most familiar with her own pystyle, so it was her call. Besides, Yuel was curious to see whether it’ll work this time as well. Still, there was one issue.

  “It’s good and all if you want to stay low,” Yuel said. “But, if you keep letting him do as he pleases, he’ll take the tower out. Waiting for the right moment to deliver your strike is pointless if yoing to lose the ne before that opportunity ever arrives.

  “I nning to attack this wave.” Nia tilted her head. “I think I get him.”

  “You do?” Yuel raised an eyebrow. “Remember, you’re not an assassin. You don’t have burst.”

  “Yeah, but I got CC. I did something like this before. I think it’ll work.”

  “Is that so,” Yuel wondered. He didn’t see the py she had in mind. The Dark Knight has already wiped out Nia’s wave and she was in the middle of retreating. What could she possibly pull this time that she couldn’t do before?

  Yuel wao ask but he stayed quiet. He didn’t want to distraia during this important moment. Soon, the answer will reveal itself on its own.

  As usual, the Dark Knight followed his minions into the Turret’s range. Nia didn’t have enough damage output to kill all the enemy minions on their way to the Turret, so she had no choice but to allow this sario to py out every time. The repeated successes must have fueled the Dark Knight with fidence; he didn’t even think twice about invading the Turret.

  He’s not paying any attention to me. Nia was vinced. Based on how the Dark Knight didn’t bother to throw a single gn her dire this eime, it was safe to assume she has pletely erased her existence from his mind. This was the opportunity to strike!

  I see it. That should be a kill. Nia repyed the sario time and again in her head. First aggro. Then stun. Then slow down. That should be at least three Turret shots. He's dead.

  Thump. Thump. Nia's heart quied. It should be goht? She wasn't missing anything in her estimation? Yeah, it should be good.

  Here goes nothing. She took a deep breath and waited for the Dark Knight to start a new swing. Now! She rolled forward!

  The Dark Knight was already in the middle of swinging his bde so he couldn't stop. He successfully brought down his sword but an ued obstacle appeared in front of him. Nia rolled right between him and the Turret!

  "Wha-!?" Yuel jumped. What kind of suicidal py was this!? But, wait. From here she ...!

  The bck bde cut through Nia and erased 15% of her HP. It packed a punch but Vampire had det HP so it was nothing. The only thing that mattered was that the Dark Knight’s attack ected. Even though uionally, the Dark Knight undeniably struia. He id a finger on her uhe watchful eye of the Turret!

  WHAM. The Turret fired a giant bolt in respohis one wasn’t aimed at the minions. BAM! It crashed into the Dark Knight aed 15% of his HP! The guy was irouble now.

  And, this wasn’t the end. The Turret will tis lethal vea on the Dark Knight. That bully had no choice but to flee with a tail between his legs.

  But, Nia didn't give him the ce. As soon as she recovered from the roll, she activated her ult, Night Hunt. She transformed into a giant bat and crashed into the Dark Knight from point-bnk! This CC ability, which was normally intended for traversing some distance, was used as a point-bnk insta-stun!

  Brilliant! Yuel found himself gasping. She caught him. The Turret is onto him and he 't move. He'll have to eat at least two more shots.

  After bumping into the Dark Knight, Nia reverted bato her Vampire form and hugged the Dark Knight tight. She sucked his blood and locked him in pce. Meanwhile, the Turret fired without mercy.

  BAM. Another 20% HP gone! Each shot was strohan the previous when a Turret was focused on a pyer. The Dark Knight was already down to 30% HP. bined with the ongoing damage from Night Hunt, the urret shot will seal the deal.

  The enemy minions didn't appreciate this development in the slightest and opened fire on Nia. They did everything in their power to pressure her into leaving their master alone. However, it did nothing. Nia started this fight with full HP, so even heavy fire from aire minion wave wasn't going to be too lethal.

  BAM. The third and st turret shot ected.

  You have killed an enemy!

  The Turret dealt the final blow but everything about this py was Nia's achievement. It was amazing. How did she even e up with such a py? Such a bizarre idea didn't even cross Yuel's mind in this situation. It was art in the making!

  Seems like I didn't o use Horde in the end. Oh well. Nia shrugged and switched her focus to the angry mob that was sshing and firing at her. Thanks to these little guys, she dropped all the way from 85% HP to 60%. That wasn't very nice of them, was it? Time to exterminate.

  "Wait," Yuel said. "Lure them outside the tower. You'll get more farm from killing them there."

  "Oh, ok," Nia ran outside the tower area and dragged all the minions with her. Then, she wiped them out one by one.

  Finally, the ne was clear. Nia stood there alone. She was victorious! She sized the ne all by herself against a Dark Knight! She did it! Now, she could go ahead and take the eurret-

  "Their Jungler is rotating over here," Yuel warned. "You may want to recall for now."

  "Ah, um, sure," Nia twisted her lips. There goes my epic ce to push. This mode is such a pain. Even if I beat my oppo, it doesn't guarantee anything. Such rewarding. Gufu.

  Nia followed Yuel's advid recalled to base. By the time the enemy Lancer arrived in Top, there was nobody to greet him.

  "Do I just upgrade Warhammer?" Nia asked.

  "Yeah, that's good enough," Yuel nodded. "That aside, may I ask how in the world you came up with that py?"

  "y?"

  "The one where you rolled into the Dark Knight's swing. That was something else."

  "Ah, I had to aggro him so figured I could just roll in there."

  "Just like that?"

  "Yeah. Figured he wasn't paying attention so I could sneak in."

  She sure makes it sound simple. But, that was far from a simple py. Yuel still couldn't his head around what just happehere. It was indeed simple but, at the same time, it had a hint of brilliao it.

  It reminded of the crazy stunts Lars occasionally pulled in the heat of the moment. However, none of Nia's as there were partially mind-blowing or even particurly risky. She had a big life lead, so things like being hit by the Dark Knight and aggroing the entire minion wave weren’t a true danger. It was a creative py but also a safe and calcuted one.

  Was it a fluke? Yuel wondered. No, she was too fident about it for it to be a fluke. So, it had to be a tech she learned from somewhere, right? After all, she said she did something like this before.

  "I'm sure Tipmancer didn't teach you that kind of py," Yuel said. "Where did you pick it up?"

  "Hm, dunno," Nia shrugged. "I just remember tying something like that before and it worked. So, I did it again. Ah, but st time I was a Drow, though."

  "With Drow?" Yuel raised an eyebrow at first but then it clicked. She probably blew up the Drow's phantht in the enemy's fa order to stun them. Another smart tower jailing py.

  Did Nia really ihat py all by herself? If so, there was more to Nia thahe eye. In fact, Vi would immediately jump on the opportunity to make up a silly name for that "ability”. He'd probably call her something silly like "The Tower Jailor!"

  With every passing py, Nia was shaping up to be a more and more iing pyer. Even though the club initially prioritized her over other didates for her gender, she has been exhibiting a lot of potential. Her skill was raw and unpolished at the moment, but if Yuel helps her learn the game and solidify her foundation, she might transform into a scary pyer.

  DarkestCymore