Damn, what do I do? Zeph grimaced at the situation looming in front of him. He had plenty of experience pying against cheap Dark Knights in Ranked, but Chessmaster was on a whole different level. There was no catg this guy stumbling. Then, how the fuck do I win this!?

  Usually, he’d bait out Dark Bsts with Draic Charge. Some oppos aimed at him during the startup animation, so he learo space them out properly. Sometimes he even baited them and dodge-rolled their bsts, the for Draic Rush.

  Other oppos tried to hit him while he was rec from Draic Rush, but they were always too slow. Zeph always dodge-rolled their asses. Ez.

  Most Dark Knight oppos realized that all their attempts were futile. So, the best move for them was not pying. They usually stopped testing his Draic Rush a him run loose. This game pn was supposed to be bulletproof.

  But, Chessmaster proved there ing hole in it. With precise timing, it ossible to nd Dark Bst on Zeph before he regaihe ability to roll. He always assumed that was impossible sinone of his oppos ever exploited it sistently. But, turned out it ossible to perfectly time this ter.

  Everything Zeph believed in came crashing down. It rendered his echup knowledge null and void. There was still a ce that the sed hit was a fluke as well, but Zeph didn’t dare to test it. He has already lost 30% HP. Another 15% would hurt way too much.

  So, what were his alternatives? How could he charge in and strike the enemy minions without getting hit by Dark Bst? There had to be some way to deal with this shit.

  In the first pce, why do I have to make the first move? Zeph realized a simple fact. Man, I got way tered by that DK pick.

  That Dark Knight pick was insulting enough to tilt. Chessmaster must’ve thought he could mop the floor with Zeph. It was so tempting to lunge on that bastard and tear his to shreds! But, Zeph had to be smarter than that. Recklessness wasn’t going to help him win.

  Yeah, no reason for me to move first. Zeph cluded. I'll just wait for him to shoot, then I'll charge through it. Ez life.

  This was the more careful tactic he employed against good Dark Knight pyers. The tilt made him fet all about it. Also, it’s been a while since he st fought a det Dark Knight. The css has mostly died out at higher ranks.

  Dark Bst was a retively reactable attad Zeph had plenty of experience pying against that broken shit. So, he should be able to pull off this pn no problem.

  Okay, let’s do this shit. Zeph collected himself. The minion wave arrived, but he didn't charge at them. Instead, he carefully eyed the Dark Knight, to not miss even a siwitch. He was waiting for the moment bck magic starts f around the Dark Knight. It’ll be the cue. He won't miss it.

  Is he waiting for me to make the first move? Yuel wondered. He's adapting fast. This is definitely a matchup he’s more experienced with. That's 's more iing this way.

  The enemy's pn robably something along these lines: wait for Yuel to start casting Dark Bst, then charge into it with Draic Rush. That’ll allonMaster to bypass the damage while slowing dow and preventing it from reag the bowmen.

  Dark Bst’s casting animation was retively slow, so meically skilled pyers could react to it. DragonMaster seemed to be detly skilled, so there was a ce he could pull it off.

  Okay, I py with that. Yuel activated a skill. Dark energy gathered around him.

  There it is! Zeph grinned. Patience prevailed! Bck miasma began to form around the Dark Knight. It was impossible to cel Dark Bst o started, so there was n baow. This was the cue!

  Zeph booted Draic Rush and charged forth. He was going to crash into that Dark Bst head first! At least, that was the pn...

  Got you. Yuel smirked. He indeed activated a skill, but it wasn’t Dark Bst. It was Nightmare, a feint! The startup animations for both skills started with dark magiing around the Dark Knight, so it wasn’t easy to tell them apart at a gnce. Especially, not when the oppo was eagerly waiting for Dark Bst and wasn’t even sidering Nightmare.

  Even though Dark Bst was “reactable” for skilled pyers, the “rea” was still rooted in guessing. The oppo had to actively expect the Dark Bst and ily observe Yuel’s movements with that expectation in mind. It was necessary to spot the earliest hint of Dark Bst’s startup, or else it’d be too te.

  That’s why it was so easy to fake DragonMaster with Nightmare. Under normal circumstances, nobody would say the two skills had simir animations. However, at the time, DragonMaster was eagerly waiting for a Dark Bst. It was the only skill he was expeg. He was 100% trated on it. So, even the smallest simirity to Dark Bst’s animation was enough to make him act.

  Yuel fired a deyed Dark Bst at the baited Draic Rush. same as before. The bck ssh sliced through DragonMaster right as he finished charing in. hit.

  “What is even...” Zeph shuddered. Why in the world would a Dark Knight activate Nightmare in that situation? There was absolutely no reason to. “Did I just get baited? You gotta be shitting me...”

  Zeph used such a sophisticated tactic, but Chessmaster tered it in an instant. It was absurd. Impossible. Was that bastard some kind of mind reader? How was any of this even possible...

  “Ah, right. Gotta retreat,” Zeph shook his head. No matter how unbelievable this situation was, he had to keep it together. He unleashed Draic Fme on the enemy bowmen, then rolled the heck outta there.

  Phew, just in time. Zeph sighed in relief. The Dark Knight almost clobbered him. It was a close ohis was no time to space out.

  Man, what the heck. I just ’t beat this guy 1-on-1. Nothing works. A shiver ran through his spine. Everythiried backfired on his ass. Chessmaster gotta be some sort of genius. There was ing this mad d.

  Is this the level of the petitive se here? Zeph shuddered. Maybe he had it backwards all along. Maybe Chessmaster wasn’t that special. Maybe it was Zeph himself who royally sucked.

  Nah, no way. , I’m Diamond II. I’m a good pyer. Zeph tried to reassure himself. His rank was actually among the best oeam, sed only to the captain’s almighty Challenger V. There’s no way Zeph was a scrub. It’s Chessmaster who was that good.

  Well, no wonder he’s strong. That’s how good ya gotta be if you y on StormBlitz. Supposedly, StormBlitz’s entrance exam was some real bullshit. Even Jaiden didn’t make it in.

  And, I know for sure that Jaiden is one heck of a pyer, so... Zeph had no choice but to accept this reality. In a 1v1 situation, he had no ce against Chessmaster. That’s probably what Chessmaster thought as well, hence his disrespectful Dark Knight pick. As frustrating as it was to admit, Chessmaster had the right to pick Dark Knight against Zeph. The skill gap between them was too much.

  I give up. Zeph sighed. Yep, ’t do this shit. He was out of ideas and there was no point ing up with anything new, since Chessmaster will see through it in an instant. Chessmaster probably knew all the anti-Dark Knight termeasures anyway, as well as how to shut them down. It oio try anything sophisticated.

  I’ll just go back to the basics. There’s only one surefire way to ter DK. Zeph couldn’t win this fight by himself, so why fight alone?

  “Hey, Dyn, my guy,” Zeph called out. “This DK over here is giving me some trouble. When you gank?”

  “Gimme like a minute,” Dyn said. “Gotta get to Lv.5 first, then I’ll be ready t some damage.”

  “Sounds good,” Zeph nodded. “I’ll lure him in the wave, so be ready.”

  “Gotcha.”

  Okay, this should work. Zeph thought. He couldn’t beat that Dark Knight by himself, but it didn’t mean he had to surrehe ne. If 1v1 was impossible, he just had to turn it into a 2v1. Ez solution.

  No matter how godlike Chessmaster was, he won’t beat both of them at ohey’ll end that bastard’s whole career! Zeph just had to be patient for now. With the wave, his terattack will begin!

  Here it is. Zeph grihe time has e. The wave roag and Dyn was on his way to Top. Good, good.

  Ohe wave arrived, Zeph took a passive stance. He didn’t advao the frontline like before. Instead, he was chilling in the back. He had enough of these nasty Dark Bsts that ate 15% HP per hit. Shit was broken beyond repair. Ain’t gon him hit me again. No ce.

  He ged his approach again. Yuel nodded in satisfa. He picked Dark Knight with the iion of thhly crushing the opposition, but it won’t be any fun if DragonMaster doesn’t put on a fight. There was only value in winning when both sides adapted and struggled to the bitter end. Ahan that won’t t as true petitive experience.

  He’s probably invitio get ganked. Yuel deduced. A ward revealed the enemy Vampire heading toward Top, so a gank might be on its way. DragonMaster robably baiting Yuel into overextending and exposing his back to the Vampire. Getting hit by Vampire’s ult meah in this situation.

  Their Vampire is Lv.5, but the Dragonborn is still Lv.4. Yuel assessed the situation. He was holding the upper hand in ne, which made it harder for his oppoo farm effitly. DragonMaster was still a few minions away from Lv.5. In other words, he couldn’t transform into a drago.

  Okay, I’ll py along with this. Yuel nodded. “Nia, are you good to start ganking?”

  “Yeah, no problem,” Nia answered. “I’m about to hit Lv.5 and I think I’ve erased my presence pretty well.”

  “Perfect,” Yuel said. “Then, e over here. I need you to do me a little favor...”

  After he id out the details of his pn, Yuel advanced along the ogether with his minions. In other words, he ying right into the enemy’s trap. There was no doubt that the Vampire will appear behind him any moment now. There was little Yuel could do about that. But, it’ll be fine.

  “Heh. Hah. Haha!” Zeph ughed at his foolish foe. Seriously? That’s all it took to bait him? And here I thought the guy was some sort of genius. Turns out he’s just a basic scrub. We gonna rek him REAL good!

  “He’s ing at me,” Zeph reported.

  “Gotcha!” Dyn circled around the unsuspeg Dark Knight and activated Night Hunt. He transformed into a giant bat and darted toward his prey!

  “Got his ass!” Dyn rammed into the Dark Knight and dug his fangs into the victim’s neck. The intee paralyzed the Dark Knight. The guy became a tasty snack for the big bat.

  “You rock!” Zeph rushed to the se. The tables have turned. Chessmaster was ag as the aggressor until a few moments ago, but now it was Zeph’s turn! “Game over, fam!”

  Zeph couldn’t win this fight alone. But, together with Dyn, it was a walk in the park. Dyn was holding Chessmaster in pce, while Zeph was unleashing a flurry of sshes on that cocky bastard!

  “The Dragonborn is here,” Yuel reported matter-of-factly. Even though the situation looked like a total disaster, he was in trol of the situation. His oppos were as predictable as he expected, so everything was going acc to pn.

  “ing,” ered the ne ih. Her target was her than the overextending Dragonborn. The guy dared to set foot on the frontlih just 60% HP, before even reag Lv.5. He ractically begging to be killed.

  But, the guy himself probably didn’t realize any of that. He titag Yuel without a single care in the world.

  “Haha! You’re dead, fucker- wha!?” Zeph swallowed his words. Something sshed him from behind. It was impossible, but it happened.

  This should’ve been a 1v2 situation. There should’ve been only three pyers here. heless, an ued fourth pyer appeared. An intruder that came outta left field. A stealthy assassin who crept right behind Zeph’s back!

  “S-Stop! Noooooooo!” Zeph’s cries fell on deaf ears. The assassin had no mercy to spare. The Ninja ed her arms around him and prepared to unto the air.

  W-Wait! I break out of it! Zeph’s instincts as a Dragonborn main kicked in. Transf into a dragon sed all Ccluding the grab of Izuna Drop. Yes! That was his ticket out! He just had to use his ult... oh.

  I’m not Lv.5 yet. Heh. Haha. Fuck. Zeph smacked his forehead. He messed up bad. Like, real bad. The tilt got him. He was too eager to unleash vengean the Chessmaster. If he was his usual self, he would have remembered that his top priority should’ve been hitting Lv.5. Also, he would’ve sidered the possibility of an enemy gank and pyed around it.

  Damn. I’m screwed. Zeph sighed i while the ninja was taking him on a tour through the sky They traveled high, then crashed into the ground like a meteor. Over 35% HP vanished in an instant.

  His Draic Scales mitigated some damage, but it was a negligible amount. Against a single mighty strike, dedug a ft amount didn’t ge anything. If only Draonic Scales provided pertage-based damage redu... Damn it all.

  “Holy fuck, a ter gank!?” Dyn’s loud voice brought Zeph back to earth. “Damn, you better scram, bro.”

  “R-Right!” Zeph shook his head. This was no time to sit here and pin. If he had the time to rant, he also had the time to run the heck outta here!

  That Izuna Drop was a lot of damage, but it wasn’t over for him yet. He still had a little over 20% HP. He could still make it out of here alive! He recovered from the stagger that followed the crash and broke into a dash.

  SLASH! A dagger cut through his chest as soon as he set out. That damn Ninja attacked him right as he recovered! She was a ruthless assassin.

  Thankfully, Draic Scales reduced the ining damage from her strikes, and this time it was actually helpful. The damn Ninja won’t be taking Zeph down so easily. He’ll survive through this shit a outta here!

  "Death to the feeble!" A metallic voice resouhroughout the area. It froze Zeph’s blood.

  “No way...” Zeph could only mumble. He kly what was about to happen. What’s my HP, again? Oh yes, it’s below 20%. Haha. It’s over.

  “Goddamit!” Zeph crashed into the table with his forehead. He didn’t want to watch that shit.

  heless, the system voice made sure to deliver the depressing news right into his ear.

  EXECUTED

  FIRST BLOOD!

  "Dyl, you better get outta there..." Zeph mumbled under his breath.

  "Well duh, I'm already out," Dyn said. "That was one awkward gank."

  "Yeah..." Zeph's words trailed off. His mind short-circuited. He couldn't form coherent thoughts. Or rather, he didn’t feel like thinking about anything.

  His entire ning experiehis game was one disaster after ahe skill gap between him and Chessmaster was too much. He felt like an ant challenging a dragon. Chessmaster thhly and utterly destroyed him, in both body and mind.

  Is everybody in StormBlitz at that level? Zeph wondered. Man, good thing we aren’t scrimmaging with them this year, haha... He produced a hollow ugh as he slumped on his chair. Hopefully, the other nes were doier. If not, this game gonna be a ...

  DarkestCymore