You have killed an enemy!

  “Haha, goteem!” Nash pumped a fist.

  “Nice!” Jaiden nodded in approval. “Now, let’s kill the Pyro too.”

  "Ya got it!" Nash did a 180 and ran at the Pyromancer. Double kill ining!

  "Whoa!" Luke jumped. The Lancer was running at him from the right, while the Gunslinger roag from the left. Crap, I gotta scram!

  He turned around and dashed into the juhis was one heck of a scary situation. If he allows these guys get another kill here, it’ll pretty much be GG. I hafta get out! Watch me go! I'm fast as fuck, boi!

  Just as Luke thought that his Burning Spirit went out. The Movement Speed buff vanished. Weeeeeelp.

  Damn, that Lancer might catch up to me. Luke gulped. But, it should be fine, right? As long as nothis in the way, I should be able to slip away with this lead. Yeah, as long as nothis in the way...

  Unfortunately, something did. A roadblock appeared in the middle of the escape route. It was the enemy Cleric.

  Normally, a Cleric would be wearing a white holy robe. However, this dude ized his Cleric to wear entirely bck. He looked more like a Grim Reaper than a servant of God.

  Just my luck. Did this guy revive and immediately go over here to block escape routes? These bruhs are hel anized, I’ll give them that.

  Running straight ahead meant crashing into the Cleric. So, it might be a good idea to switch dires. This part of the jungle was voluted enough to offer multiple equally good escape routes. Luke just had to turn around and...

  "Um, guys?" Luke cracked a dry ugh. "I don't feel so good..."

  Pig another route wasn’t an option, not at this point. The Lancer roag from the right fnk, while the Gunslinger hahe left fnk. They masterfully blocked Luke’s alternative escape routes. These damn guys locked him iriangle!

  So, this is what Vince meant by a “Triangle of Doom”. Luke tried to maintain a fident smile, but he could already feel the Grim Reaper breathing on his neck.

  No choice. Luke thought. I gotta break through one of these blockades.

  Cleric, Lancer, unslinger. Luke had to break through one of them if he wao get out of here alive.

  Well, of course I'm pig the Cleric! Luke tiraight ahead. This wasn't even a dilemma. The Lancer and Gunslinger were dangerous dudes, but the Cleric couldn’t cause much trouble alone. After all, Cleric had buffs and heals, but no CC. So, Lapce won't be able to stop Luke!

  "ing through!" Luke dashed right past the Cleric. A few basic attacks hit him along the way, but it was no big deal. Luke broke through the blockage with ease! Or, so he thought.

  The Cleric, an ominous bck robe, unleashed a dark spell befitting his edgy attire. A big skull appeared in the air, spreading ghastly miasma around the Cleric. It aralyzing Horror, a Utility Skill that applied a heavy slowdown to all enemies in range!

  It was most only picked by tanky Supports because the miasma spread in a circle around the caster. To make the most out of Paralyzing Fear, the caster had to venture deep into the enemy's formation, so he could hit as many enemies as possible at once.

  As such, it was a rather ility Skill for a Cleric, maybe even meme level. heless, this dude went for it, and it worked!

  Man, that’s the st thing I expected to happen! Luke excimed internally. So much for “it gonna be easy to get past the Cleribsp; I’m screwed!

  They got him. Luke’s ces of esg alive went from “good” to “ent” in a blink of an eye.

  "He's slowed," Rio reported.

  "Good one!" Nash licked his lips. His fiingled. He could already sehe ining double kill at the tips of his fingers. ", gimme the speed buff! I'mma finish that guy!"

  "But, you already got one kill," Rio pointed out.

  "Yeah, and now I gon a double kill! , bruh. Do it! JUST. DO IT!"

  "Fine..." Rio activated Godspeed. It was an AoE buff that granted a Movement Speed boost to all allies around the Cleric.

  For a moment, Rio sidered casting Godspeed in a way that'd only apply the buff on Jaiden. That way, Jaiden will outrun Nash and score the kill for himself. It’d only be fair, seeing as Nash took the kill o after Jaiden worked so hard to defeat her.

  But, in the end, Rio decided against it. This kind of prank would be too risky in this situation. They absolutely had to kill that Pyromancer, without fail.

  Therefore, Rio cast Godspeed onash and Jaiden both came inte. The buff applied to Rio as well, so now the three predators had a superior running speed. Meanwhile, their prey was heavily slowed down, like an injured persing his foot. It was over.

  An enemy has been killed!

  DOUBLE KILL

  "Yeaaaaaah, boi!" Nash pumped a fist.

  "Good wuys!" Jaiden praised. ", we go to Mid. Let's take Gunz out!"

  "Ya got it!" Nash nodded. "Triple kill, here I e!"

  "Okay," Rio nodded in approval. It was a good pn. The erio was gathered in one pd they’ve already made it halfway to Mid during the chase, so it was only natural to keep going.

  They've pulled this tactic tless times in Ranked, so they knew what they were doing. If they kill the Mid Lahis game will be a . Especially, if they destroy the Mid Turret, it'll be a blow the enemy won't be able to recover from.

  "Ray," Jaiden called out to the captain. “We're ing to lend a hand.”

  "Hmm, got it." Raymond nodded in approval. He didn’t like troubling his teammates, but he really needed some help right about now. His ne oppo has been pushing him around the entire game. This had to stop.

  Gunz, the former StormBlitz pyer. Raymond knotted his brows. Just what is the full extent of his power, really?

  Raymond was fag this difficult oppo for the fourth time today. Based on their previous enters, it felt like they were roughly on the same level. Their fights always went bad-forth, with her side gaining any notable advantage.

  However, that only held true for the previous three games. This fame was a different story altogether. Gu with Trickshooter, an unventional piid.

  I thought it’d be easy to outclear a marksman as a mage, but... Raymond was gravely mistaken. It was true that a mage could usually outclear a marksman, but Trickshooter was one of the few exceptions to this rule.

  With Giant Warhammer irickshooter’s early build, his Trickshot rivaled a mage's spell. And, in the hands of a skilled pyer like Gunz, this already-powerful skill became even deadlier.

  Instead of shooting the entire minion wave in a straight line, Gunz fired diagonally at the swordsmen. The bullet pierced through the entire front lihen hit the jungle wall on the side of the ne.

  For most skills, that'd be the end of the story. But, not for Trickshot. From there, the bullet bounced off and bsted through the bowmen in the back.

  It killed them all. Yes, this one bullet did it. It wiped out the entire rear in an instant. Before Raymond even had the ce to blink, his entire squad was reduced to three injured swordsmen and three dead bowmen.

  pared to that speed, I’m practically dragging my feet over here. Raymond thought.

  Against the Trickshooter’s amazing wave clearing speed, Raymond ying Warlock, a css that wasly among the fastest wave-clearing mages. On top of that, he started off with Nei, ahat granted minimal magic power.

  Warlock was a mana-hungry css, so it was often veo start out with Nei, which provided MaxMP and MP5. However, in this game, that decision backfired. What Raymond needed right noower, not sustain.

  With all these circumstances pying in Gunz’s favor, it was no surprise he seized ne trol with ease. There was nothing Raymond could do to prevent it from happening.

  The only thing I do here is make sure I don’t die. Raymond reasoned. For now, he had to back ay defense from under his tower.

  Eventually, his clearing speed should be able to catch up with the Trickshooter’s. Until then, he’ll py full defe was a sad story when a mage was afraid of testing the ne against a marksman, but better safe than sorry.

  Gunz uood Raymond's iions, so he pushed the ne hard. At one point, the guy was drunk on his advahat he boldly invaded uower. He probably thought Raymond won’t dare to test that offense. Well, he was wrong.

  Raymond immediately proceeded to punish this overextension. He cast Eldritch Bst bined with Power Invocation. The high damage should’ve scared Gunz away.

  However, Guz dodged the spell with ease, as if he saw it ing from a mile ago. He pulled a Trickslide and traveled to the other side of the Turret area, then tihe push from there as if nothing happened.

  Raymond owerless against this push. He has already spent Eldritch Field while clearing minions, and now he also wasted his Eldritch Bst. With both skills on cooldown, he didn't have any damage tools left in his arsenal. There was nothing that could apply pressure on Gunz.

  Of course, Raymond could always resort to basic attacks. However, that'd enrage Gunz's minions and turn them against Raymond. Soaking the minions’ attacks will protect the tower from all that damage, but there was no telling how low Raymond’s HP will drop in the process.

  Worst case, Raymond will drop to critical HP and Gunz will go in for the kill. That’d be even worse than just letting Gunz take the tower. Because, after killing Raymond, Gunz might destroy the Turret soon after. So, he’ll get both a kill and a tower. Indeed, a dreadful worst-case sario.

  It’s too dangerous. Raymond reasoned. I ’t attack Gunz. I have to clear his minions first.

  And so, Raymond patiently shot down the minions invading his territory, one by one.

  Meanwhile, Gulessly barraged the tower with his high-damage basics. After just one aggressive push, Raymond’s tower was already below 90% HP. This situation was almost as oppressive as ning against a Dark Knight.

  On subsequent waves, Gunz tio pressure hard. He was throwing a wild party, showing off his fast clearing speed and applying unblockable pressure.

  I have to find a way to ter him. Raymond steeled himself. Even in the face of this one-sided battle, he refused to give up. And so, he attempted various ploys.

  First, he aggressively used Power Invocation to boost the damage of Eldritch Field, his AoE spell.

  It’s a big mana sink, but I have no choice. Raymond was at a loss. He was well-aware this routine will drain him of MP before long, but he didn’t have aer ideas at the time.

  The damage buff from Power Invocation wasn’t enough to beat Gunz’s clearing speed, but it left the enemy minions more ihanks to that, Gunz couldn’t push for as long as before. His minions died much faster from the Turret’s shots and Raymond’s basic attacks.

  But, I’m just deying the iable with that. Raymond frowned.

  After long and hard thinking, he went for an unventional move and purchased an Lv.1 Unholy Grail upourning to base. He could’ve used that gold to upgrade his Nei to Lv.2 instead, but he decided against it.

  I need pht now. Raymond reasoned. Nei barely gained any additional power upon leveling up, whereas Unholy Grail was a cheap option with det power. It was more of a mid-game item, but it was necessary right now.

  With the Unholy Grail in hand, Raymond tested the ne much better. He got rid of the enemy bowmen before they ehe Turret’s area, and even the enemy swordsmen were at death’s door by the time they got in. Thanks to that, Gunz barely got to push the tower anymore.

  It’s good news, but I shouldn’t be too happy about it. Raymond sighed. He uood all too well there was nothing to celebrate about this. Even though he ultimately tered Gunz’s pushes, his tower already fell to 75% HP. He still trailed far behind his oppo in terms of ne trol

  On top of that, Raymond was still stu the defensive. So, just because he stopped his oppo from delivering heavy damage oower, it didn’t mean Raymond was winning

  In fact, the opposite was more accurate. Raymond was still at a disadvantage here. His tower was slowly, but surely, losing HP. On top of that, he was missing on a lot of farm because he was forced to kill minions uower. There was nothing to be happy about.

  I ’t hahis myself. Raymond cluded. As such, he requested Nash to gank the ne a few times.

  Unfortunately, that never led anywhere. Gunz always slipped away, nearly unharmed. As a result, Raymond was stuck defending the eime. He could feel Gunz slowly choking him to death.

  I suppose I have to go for extreme solutions. Raymond was running out of ideas, so he decided to scrape the bottom of the barrel.

  The Warlock’s most fearsome tool was his ult, Eldritightmare. By turning the entire area pitch bck, it'd leave Gunz with no means to fight back. Raymond could use that brief opportunity to gain some momentum. It'll be a short-lived advantage, but at least it'll make a dent in the ive momentum that sucked him in and didn’t let go.

  Unfortunately, even this desperate idea wasn’t easy to try. Raymond couldn't simply unleash Eldritightmare as he pleased. The enemy had a Lumimancer, whose ult instantly ed the most importaure of Eldritightmare, the vision-robbing.

  Sor Wrath would reveal Raymond to all enemies, including Gunz. That’d render Eldritightmare borderline useless.

  I have to wait for him to use the Lumimancer’s ult on something else first. Raymond cluded.

  Eventually, the time has e. The Lumimancer unleashed Sor Wrath for some other purpose. Apparently, he used it to scout Nash's position in the jungle.

  This was a golden opportunity. With the Lumimancer's ult down, Raymond could finally unleash Eldritightmare to his heart's tent. When the minion wave arrived, he did exactly that.

  “All shall be ed by darkness!" The Warlock raised both arms and dark miasma erupted from him like a whirlpool. The darkness spread across the entire ne, sparing nothing on its way.

  Gunz found himself isoted in the darkness. heless, it didn’t look like he articurly flustered by this development.

  "Whoa!" Lars excimed as darkness stretched all around him. Everything was going smoothly until now but, finally, that Nirvana dude unched an attack. Awesome! That's how it gotta be! , let's do it! I'm ready!

  Lars installed a Stealth Ward he was carrying around for this very moment. Too bad for ya, dude. I've fought a bunch of Warlocks the past few months. I know all about dealing with this ult! Ez!

  To be exact, it was Yuel who taught him this trick. Eldritightmare worked in mysterious ways. It was somehow susceptible to Stealth Wards, as if the darkness was just an illusion that graealth to everything in sight.

  Welp, the specifics don’t really matter. Lars thought. The bottom line was that his Stealth Ward worked like a charm. It exposed the enemy lurking in the darkness. Time to strike, yoooooo!

  “It’s time for a trick show!” the Trickshooter annouhe opening of his grand performance. An eye for an eye, an ult for an ult!

  Is he ulting? Raymond was taken aback. In this situation? It doesn’t make any sense.

  Perhaps it was like a panic button. Trickshow granted access to unlimited Trickslides with zero cooldown, so maybe Gunz nning to get out of the area with their help.

  But, that guess couldn't be further from the truth. The oppo wasn’t pnning to flee. The thought didn't even cross his mind.

  No, Gu on the offe was a relentless, unstoppable offense!

  "This is...!" Raymond could barely follow these movements. The Trickshooter transformed inting hurrie. He slid bad forth across the entire area, firing Trickshots left and right.

  But, he shouldn't be able to see a thing! Raymond shuddered. Something was off. The Eldritightmare has just begun. It enveloped the entire area in pitch darkness for the enemies.

  A, Gunz fidently fired a Trickshot at a wall. The bullet bounced off and pierced through Raymond’s torso. It wasn’t a shot made by a blind man.

  He see. Raymond cluded. Most likely, Gunz pced a Stealth Ward as a ter. A nasty, but effective, ter to Warlock. Raymond was too naive.

  I have to dodge! Raymond’s brain screamed, but his body moved sluggishly as if it just woke up from a a.

  Normally, dodging ining shots was as natural as breathing for anybody who pyed Cssmancres on a regur basis. But, this was different.

  I ’t tell where the shot will be ing from. Raymond gulped. None of Gunz’s shots were aimed directly at Raymond.

  One bullet bounced off the left wall. Another bullet bounced off the right wall. Which of the two will hit? Which will e first? This situation was like chaos inate. The moment Raymond was started thinking about the various possibilities, it was already too te.

  Agh! Raymond grimaced as a bullet pierced his shoulder. Then, should I retreat a little?

  Raymond took a step back, but then another bullet hit his fnk. It felt like every move he made only dug his own grave deeper. He was imprisoned inside a hell of bullets.

  This ’t be happening. Raymond couldn’t believe it. This was supposed to be my turn to attack.

  The entire point behind unleashing Eldritightmare was to get a definitive edge unz. Yet, Gunz’s Trickshow single-handedly overruled the situation.

  I fight him now? No way. Raymond gulped.

  Gunz became the overlord of this nd. There was no way to topple that monster. Raymond had no choice but to flee. Therefore, he celed Eldritightmare and rolled away.

  However, his pursuer was hot on his trail.

  "Ya ain't getting way, yo!" Lars chased his prey by spamming Trickslides while firing Trickshots.

  He aim like this even while chasing!? Raymond couldn't believe this was real life. Everything here went far beyond on sense.

  A bullet bounced off the wall and dug into Raymond’s left fnk. It happened in the middle of Raymond running for his life. And, in the middle of Gunz sliding in pursuit. Amidst all that chaotic a, Gunz nded his boung shots without fail.

  I made a terrible mistake. Raymond realized it now. Gunz and I... we’re not at the same level at all!

  The past three games indeed painted Gunz as a strong pyer, but not much strohan Raymond. For the most part, they were evenly matched. It sometimes felt like Gunz ushing Raymond back a little, but just a little. In the end, they were on the same level for most purposes, or so it seemed.

  But, that was the wrong clusion to draw. In this fame, for the first time, Gunz was showing the real extent of his power.

  Jaideioned before how odd it as funz to not use Trickshooter. But, Raymond didn’t think much of it at the time. Gunz was already strong, so it was hard to believe he’d do much better with a Trickshooter.

  But, now, Jaiden’s fusion made perfect se was this Gunz, the one wielding Trickshooter, that captivated Jaiden st year. This was the true strength of the ex-StormBlitz pyer.

  Against this overwhelming strength, Raymond could do nothing but flee in terror. And, even as he ran away, he still received heavy damage. His HP fell all the way to 30% by the time he arrived at his tower.

  It was a devastati. Raymond was the one who initiated this fight with his ult, yet Gunz turhe tables on him. As a result, Raymond was too io keep defending. He had to recall and surrehe o Gunz. It was frustrating beyond measure.

  This one exge taught Raymond his pce. He was at the bottom of the food here, whereas Gunz was the almighty predator who preyed on everybody in sight. It was the case of a hapless rabbit challenging a fearsome lion. There was no ce of winning, not in a million years.

  I have to avoid further fights with him. Raymond cluded. Or, rather, he was forced to clude that. As much as he wished to be wrong, the reality he witnessed shattered all his fidence.

  That's why it was great hat Jaiden and his friends were pnning to rotate to Mid. Raymond couldn't hahe wild beast alone, but the four of them together will make quick work of Gunz. No matter how meically skilled the guy was, winning a 1v4 was beyond his ability. At least, it should be...

  DarkestCymore