I see Aron is heading to Bot as well. Yuel frowned. One of his wards revealed Aron in Bot. The lion was most certainly heading to gank Bot and he was much closer to the hahis was bad. Lars had to retreat right away! ... or, maybe it wasn't necessary?

  Wait, he’s not going in? Yuel wondered. Instead of tinuing toward Bot, Aron stopped in pd moved around in small circles. It’s as if he was waiting. But, for whom? Obviously, for her than Yuel.

  He saw through me. Yuel deduced. So, he rather stall me arever hahe fight? That's quite the faith he’s showing in Trever all of a sudden. Still, if that's Aron’s verdict about this situation, then it's probably correct.

  As much as Yuel wao cim that Lars was uable in duels, he k wasn't that simple. Trever held the higher win-ratio whehese two fought 1v1, except for when Lars used Trickshooter. So, even though Lars's Elf improved a lot over the past few weeks, the odds probably still favored Trever.

  Do I cel the ehing and tell Lars to retreat? Yuel bit his lip. I came so close, but... He stopped around the er. Once he passes through, he'll have no choice but to run into Aron. A fight will break out immediately.

  Will Yuel be able to handle Aron by himself? Hard to say. Without his ult, Viking didn't have any particur advantages over a Lionfolk in a 1v1. In fact, Lionfolk was better suited for 1v1s due to the strong debuffs of Mighty Roar. If Aron nds Mighty Roar, even without the Superiority bonus. Yuel most likely won't be able to win from that position. It’ll effectively be a checkmate.

  With all of that sidered, charging through the front was extremely risky. At the same time, he didn't have time to go around and reach Bot through another entra was a "go hard o home" situation.

  So, what was the right line of py? Should he try to break through? Or, should he cel this entire operation? Darn, such a difficult dilemma had to strike him during such a critical time...!

  He's te. Aron thought. Did he choose to gh the ne, after all? No, that shouldn't be possible, there’s not enough time for that. He has to e through here. Then, where is he?

  Aron carefully examihe mini-map. There was no sign of Yuel whatsoever. Aron suffitly warded his side of the jungle, so there was no ce of Yuel cirg around to gank from there either. Besides, that'd take way too much time and it was even riskier than approag through the ne.

  Wards, huh. Aron looked around him. On his side of the map, he warded the area that was mirr his current location. So, most likely, Yuel did the same here. Perhaps he was taking his time because he knew Aron was lying in wait here. If so, this was a mispy from Aron’s side.

  I should've taken wards in into at when deg on a position. Aron made a mental note. Better review that after the match.

  Either way, if Yuel really wasn't approag Bot due to Aron’s presehen it ted as a success in its ht. After all, Aron only came here to stall Yuel. He had no i in turning this into a big fight.

  He might even be right around this er. Aroertaihe idea. He had the urge to verify this theory, but he didn't against it. There was er a fight of his own accord. Better let Yuel rack his brains over this difficult situation.

  You sure you got enough time to think about it? Aron smiled dangerously. If you don't start running soon, Trever will make quick work of Lars.

  Ihe battle between Trever and Lars was advang at high speed. Lars already fell all the way to 35% HP. Meanwhile, Trever stayed true to his decration and didn't get hit even once ever sihis close-quarters duel started. He was still hanging around 70% HP.

  "Dang it!" Lars excimed. "What did this dude eat for breakfast today!? He's mopping the floor with me! I ain't hitting nothing!"

  Lars fired again. His aim ot-on. Well, of course it was. After all, that's 200% accuracy for you. Lars's shots never miss!

  But, sometimes they got dodged. Trever moved aside just in time to evade the ser beam. Then, he dished out a ter right away!

  Crap, so fast! But, I ha! Lars just barely sidestepped the ining ter shot. This thing caught him off guard twice already, but the third time’s a charm. He finally adjusted to Tever’s lightning speed ters, so now he gonna dodge them and strike back!

  "Wow!" Trever excimed as a ser beam almost grazed him. He sidestepped it by a hair’s breadth. Dangerous stuff, kid. 't believe you really dodged that ter. But, that doesn’t matter. if you dodge my ter, then I dodge your ter-ter. How's that? Pretty rad, right? Hahaha! Damn, this is fun!

  Yo, this dude is wilding! Lars couldn't believe his eyes. He finally tered the ter, but Trever dodged it! No, wait. Trever didn't just dodge it. He fired back as well! It was a ter to the ter-ter! Fuuuuuuuuuu!

  Lars saw it as it was happening, but he couldn't rea time. Bam! A hit on his torso. That's another k of HP gone. Dang it, Lars was too damn slow! He might eveh the hit! He was cutting it way too close.

  "Dude, where are ya at?” Lars called out “I'm not doing so hot over here."

  "Ah, I..." Yuel bit his lip. There wasn't enough time for him to estimate the risk-reward factors of this py. All he knew was that, if Lars dies here, the game will be ht there. Was that a risk he could afford to take?

  No, definitely not. Risks like these were the whole reason Yuel and Lars lost the seleat the first pce. They had to py safer, they had to bee smarter. Otherwise, they'll be forever chasing Howard and Ellen's shadows.

  "Pull out," Yuel said. "Aron is blog my route so I 't gank. Sorry."

  "Well damn," Lars forced smile but it twitched nervously. If Yuel ain't ing, it meant Lars was legit stuck here in this losing 1v1 situation all by himself. Alrighty, then. I just gotta get out. Ez.

  Lars has been saving his ult for a ce to pin Trever down and finish the dude off, but it couldn't be helped. It had to be used right here and now.

  Lars activated Nature's Embraormally, it summoned bra the target location to root the target. However, since Lars had this sick sci-fi skin, the branches were repced by robotic arms. The robot apocalypse was ing, yo!

  "No way!" Trever excimed. Metallic arms erupted from the ground and held him in pce. "Gag! Screw this stupid uable bullshit...!"

  Nature's Embrace had a rather ckluster effeerely rooting the target. However, its selling point was its disgustingly short casting duration. This stupid shit was uable even for Trever. Goddammit, Elf was su infuriating css! Trever finally had his groove going, but the Elf said NOPE. Damn it!

  "He ult'd?" Aron asked.

  "He sure did! And, he's running for his life like a little bitch. e bad fight, dammit!"

  "So, they celed their pns," Aron cluded.

  "Pns? ns? Just gimme the kill, dammit! Don't make me angry, boy. Just be a good kid and die like you should!"

  As, Lars quickly got out of Trever's firing range and it was impossible to chase due to that stupid rooting effect. Just awesome. Fun and iive.

  I'mma Kraken yo ass, boy! This was Trever's st resort. His basic attacks could no longer reach, but his Kraken had the neccessary range. , big squidy! Get this shit done!

  "RELEASE THE-"

  "Oh! It's ing!" Lars excimed. The Big Squid Dude was about to pop outta the ground and smack Lars down! Or, was it? There was no telling, because Trever could simply cel the ult i moment like st time. So, Lars had to guess where it was a feint or not...!

  Lars turned around while he was running, to be ready to boot Elven Leap at any moment. If this Kraken was going to be the real deal, Lars would have to jump right away! Now, everything was dowher Trever will cel or not.

  Oh, actually... Lars realized there was a huge distaween him and Trever. From this range, even the Big Squid Dude would just barely reach. So, if Lars leaps away now, Trever won't be able to reach him with the Kraken anymore, even if he cels this one and casts it again.

  Yeah, o py the guessing game on this one. Lars went for Elven Leap right away.

  Most of the time, he could react to Kraken and dodge with Elven Leap i moment. However, this euation made him a little agitated, especially the way he kept losing to Trever left and right. Not to mention, he was in the middle of fleeing for his life, which made timely dodges even harder. His usual sharpness definitely has been dulled, so it was safer to jam that Elven Leap right here and now.

  Already leaping? Trever raised an eyebrow. That was fast. The kid didn't even wait to see whether the Kraken was actually ing.

  Due to how telegraphed that dodge was, Trever had enough time to cel the Kraken oion. And now, he’ll unleash the Kraken at Lars's nding spot and wreck that brat!

  ... or not. Lars was way outta range. Even Kraken couldn't reach him anymore. And, Trever couldn't chase because the stupid robotic arms were holding pinning in pce.

  "God freakin'....!" Trever cursed. "He fu' jumped outta here!"

  "Of course he did," Aron has already foreseen this development. The moment Lars used his ult to root Trever, it became clear Yuel gave the green light to exhaust every tool in his kit in order to guarantee a safe escape.

  Believing that Trever was the only immediate threat, Lars didn't hesitate to burn his st escape tool. Unfortunately for the guy, Aron was already in position. Before Lars even nded, Aron already leaped toward his nding spot!

  "RAR!" A lion roar thundered.

  "Crap! No way!" Lars excimed. A big lion dude was flying towards him! And, there was no way to dodge! Fuuuuuuuuu!

  Aroo the ne!? Yuel gasped. Since he and Lars agreed to cel the operation, Yuel was already rotating towards Top to salvage what little remained from the tower. So, he was no longer keeping wat Aron. What a mistake!

  He tricked me well. Yuel bit his lip. There was a reaso down his guard about Aron. Before leaving Bot Jungle, he saw Aron leaving the area as well. It seemed like Aron gave up on the idea of ganking the ne, he even made sure to retreat toward his side of the jungle.

  But, turned Aron didn't give up at all. On the trary, Yuel’s retreated gave Aron the green light to go ahead and gank hard!

  I messed up. Yuel facepalmed. He uimated Aron. That killing mae will never let its prey escape so easily. Aron will always find a way to track down his prey and strike them down.

  Dang it, yo! I gotta roll as soon as I nd! That was Lars's only hope. He had to Dodge Roll as soon as he nds.

  But, it was futile. Aron's leap was fwlessly timed and positioned, as if calcuted by a superputer. Lars wasn't given even a nanosed to attempt a Dodge Roll. The lion crashed on him like a meteor.

  You have been killed!

  "Damn, no way!" Lars smacked his forehead. "I was just about to get away, too."

  "Sorry, my bad," Yuel apologized. "I should've kept tabs on Aron."

  "Nah, I blew it harder to be ho," Lars shook his head. "How the heck did I let Trever mop the floor with me like that? Shame! Shame, I'm tellin' ya! It ain't supposed to be like that."

  "You should know better than anybody that your win rate against him isly stelr."

  "Yeah, guess he kinda win more often. Still, it ain't supposed to be one-sided like that. He royally kicked mah butt there. He must’ve ehe zone or some shit. Daaaamn...."

  "I see," Yuel didn't catch the finer details of the fight, so he had to take Lars's word on this ohis fight taught Yuel ohing: Lars was a far cry from his maximum strength when using an Elf for 1v1. The same probably applied to any other css that wasn’t Trickshooter unslinger.

  In Rahis wasn't a visible issue because there weren't many who could stand up to Lars in a fight, even in Challenger rank. However, against a petitive duelist, this level of fighting wasn't always going to cut it. So, Lars will have to polish his dueling skills with all the Carry csses he pyed frequently.

  Better add that to the training menu. Yuel made a mental note. In an ideal world, Lars would py Trickshooter unslinger in every match at the regionals. However, for the better or the worse, the banning phase existed.

  It was a strong on in Yuel's hands, but it was also an Achilles heel for Lars. It stopped the beast from using the csses he performed the best with. As a result, it was necessary for Lars to level up his skill with as many Carry csses as possible until the tour.

  Of course, asking Lars to reach the same godlike level he had with Trickshooter and Gunslinger would be too much But, even 70% of that skill would be huge. Yuel had to make sure he ies this into their training menu in the uping weeks.

  Also, I'll have to refleany of my decisions in this match. Yuel made another mental note. Frankly, his shot calls were a disaster in this game. On paper, his judgments seemed solid and he mostly went for safe and effective pys, just like he wanted. Yet, nothing clicked for some reason. It was one bad move after another.

  An allied Turret has beeroyed!

  The Top Turret crumbled. Then, Bot Turret followed shortly. The game was a .

  The team defended until the bitter end, but it was hopeless. Even though they should have had an advantage in team fights, it didn’t mean much while they were stu the defensive. Between Sorcerer's Resonance Ignition and Pirate's Kraken, the enemy was overloaded with ways to turn the defenders’ lives into hell.

  DEFEAT

  DarkestCymore