“OH SHIIIIIIIIIII-” Nash shouted. A loud cry, filled with despair and disbelief, almost as if he was about to lose the fight. That seemed weird.

  Wasn’t he winning until now? Rio wondered on his way to the se. He couldn’t quite see what was going ohere just yet, but based on HP values it seemed like Nash was dominating the fight this eime. So, what’s with that desperate cry?

  I feel like I better hurry. Rio rolled forward. He had to get over there as quickly as possible, he felt it in his gut. It was important to not waste even a sed.

  I should’ve set out earlier. Rio criticized himself. He hesitated at first, and Jaiden also said it was unnecessary to help Nash in this fight, so Rio almost stayed behind. But, he had a bad feeling and it ultimately pelled him to act.

  Jaiden has been uimati from the beginning, and Nash also thought she wasn’t a big deal. It was a bad sign. Knowing Nash, he might let his guard down a himself killed by the very prey he was chasing. He never expected the prey to strike back, that was the biggest weakness in his teique as a chasing expert. And, turned out Rio’s worries were justified...

  BAAAAAM! A loud explosioed in front of Rio’s eyes. How many Magia Orbs were involved in the process? How many of them overpped on Nash? Rio couldn’t tell just by looking at the explosions, but he figured it soon enough.

  All of them. Rio gulped. It’s a full resonance.

  How did he figure? It was elementary. Nash’s entire HP bar vanished in an instant, that was all the evideneeded. Only a triple resonance would be strong enough to deliver that kind of damage in a blink of an eye.

  Did that idiot just walk into a huge trap? Rio sighed. Seriously. He’s such a good pyer, but sometimes he makes the dumbest mistakes. Sigh.

  Fortunately, Rio made it just in time. Even though the explosions reduash to ashes, his soul still lingered in this world for a couple of seds. And, Rio was already within rao cast Arise.

  “I’ll revive you.” Rio sent a ball of light toward Nash’s remains.

  “Oh! You’re here!?” Nash jumped. “Brooooo! You’re the best! I love ya! No homo, of course. But man, talk about timing!”

  “I knew you might do something stupid, that’s the only reason why I followed.”

  “Haha, harsh.” Nash cracked a ugh. “Yeaaaah, I kinda messed up. But, no big deal! Revive me and I’ll finish what I started! This chick is a little strohan I expected, but she’s basically already dead. One more hit and it’s over. Let’s goooooo!”

  The holy magic ed around Nash’s ashes and repaired his body to its inal form. Soon, he’ll return to the realm of the living! The monster was ing back, baby! It isode 2: The Morikes Back!

  Good thing I made it in time. Rio sighed in relief. They almost ceded a kill here ahe enemy mage escape. Even though they took Top Turret during this attack, these two losses would have ralized that advantage.

  But, there was no point thinking about that now. The disaster was averted. Nobody could stop this revival ritual now.

  Somebody from the eeam robably on his way here and would arrive at any moment, but it’d be too te. Onash revives, he’ll finish the Sorcerer in a si.

  Beat already started running away, but it was futile. Nash will catch up to her in no time. He didn’t build all that Movement Speed just for show. It ractical advahat turned him into an untested predator. He will catch her and he will kill her, there was no doubt-

  SPLASH. The sound of water. Where did it e from!?

  “Ah!” Rio’s eyes widened. It was the Aquamahe guy popped from the jungle right after Rio cast Arise! And, that spshing sound just now as her than Aquamancer’s Spsh spell, directed at the reviving Nash.

  Rio’s holy magic was busy at work, stitg Nash together from the ashes. But, the process came to an abrupt halt. The Aquamancer’s Spsh washed off the holy aura. Nash’s half-regeed body crumbled into ashes once more.

  “Wha?! How does that even work!?” Nash cried. “Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”

  “No way...” Rio was frozen. How was that possible? No, of course it’s POSSIBLE, I know about this iion. But...

  Spsh was an oddity among oddities, as it nullified various “positive effects” on touch. That vague description covered buffs, shields, and yes, even the revival effect of Arise.

  Arise needed about two seds to finish reviving a target. In that brief window of time, Spsh was more than capable of ing the effect.

  It was a era, but Rio was aware of it. So, the iion itself wasn’t the surprising part. What actually shocked him was the fact this py just happened.

  The time frame for tering with Spsh was about two seds. In other words, it ractically impossible to pull this off uhe Aquamncer was already in position, waiting to make this specific terpy.

  I knew somebody was ing to rescue Beat, but this isn’t how I imagi going down...

  No matter who was rotating to Top, their primary goal should’ve been to rescue their injured mage and drive Nash away. That was just on sense.

  But, that on sense apparently didn’t apply to Chessmaster. Instead of hurrying to Beat’s side, Chessmaster went straight for that Spsh terpy.

  Without hesitation. Without wasting any time. Almost as if it was the most natural thing to do.

  Did he somehow notice me before I got here? Rio trembled. How? I bet eve didn’t see me ing. I even made sure to stick close to the wall and everything.

  Rio did everything in his power to approach the se as stealthily as possible. He had plenty of experieh that from the time he was targeted by bullies, so slipping by unnoticed was one of his best skills.

  As long as Rio was careful enough, most oppos didn’t notice him approag before it was too te. He would reach his hand toward their backs from the darkness and give them a jumpscare. He even pyed pranks like that on Nash in real life.

  And, this time as well, Rio was very careful about his rotation. He did his best to slip in unnoticed, to eliminate any ce of being interrupted by ued circumstances. And, same as always, he reached his hand toward Nash from the darkness.

  But, somebody saw that hand and grabbed it in mid-air. That elusive hand of support failed to reach its target.

  Chessmaster caught the arm and s in two. He saw it ing and tered Rio in an instant.

  It should’ve been impossible. What were the odds of something like that happening? Probably below 1%.

  Yet, it was an undeniable fact. Chessmaster just did it and flipped the euation on its head.

  I’ve been telling Jay and Nash that they don’t uand anything. Rio shuddered. It’s not Gunz they should be scared of. It’s Chessmaster.

  Jaiden and Nash always raved about Gunz because the beast’s meical finesse awed them. And ihe guy was a fearsome fighter who crushed anybody in his path. He was worthy of being revered.

  heless, as far as Rio was ed, it was the other half of the “ex-StormBlitz duo” that was truly scary. Gunz was just a meical beast. It was clear in which areas he excelled, and it was very much possible to use tactics to take him down.

  pared to that, how much did they really know about Chessmaster? He was “Gunz’s ne partner” and “the shot-caller”, but what was the real extent and reach of his tactical skills? How should they outpy him? It was all unclear.

  That’s why, out of the two powerhouses, it was actually Chessmaster who scared Rio the most. That guy was a petent tacti who couldn’t be defeated through direct means. He was an intelligent hawk, carefully eyeing his prey and studying their weaknesses. He was always out of reach, yet his words and as influehe world beh him.

  There was no telling how many weaknesses Chessmaster discovered and loys he was ing up with. How much could he predict? What did he know? Everything was unknown.

  All of this pced tremendous pressure on the enemy. No matter how good a py was, Chessmaster might know a way to turn it into a mispy. That’s how fearsome his tactics were.

  For example, Rio didn’t have a single doubt in his mind about his pns to resurreash. There shouldn’t have been anybody who could interfere with the process, so he went ahead with it at the first opportunity that preseself.

  A, somehow, Chessmaster turhis simple py into a mispy. Somehow, the master tacti saw through Rio’s elusive movements, figured Rio’s iions, and tered the entire py in the nick of time.

  Chessmaster thhly outpyed Rio on that o was a crushi.

  “Sorry,” Rio apologized to Nash as he fled the se. There was nothing more he could achieve here alone.

  Beat was gravely injured, but it was impossible for Rio to deliver the finishing blow uhese circumstances. It was a 1v2 situation and his damage output oor, so he’d most certainly die trying to get this kill.

  “Not your fault, man,” Nash said. “That guy just straight up showed outta nowhere. I wonder if he was waiting for it.”

  “He had to,” Rio said. “He couldn’t have made it in time otherwise.”

  “So, like, he guessed you might try to revive me and waited to ter this specific sario?”

  “Pretty much.”

  ”Wild py.” Nash nodded with some newfound respect. He wasn’t too impressed with Chessmaster until now, but this was one heck of a crazy terpy. “Thinking of it, he also rescued that damn Knight I was chasing earlier. Bruh sure makes strong pys every now and then.”

  “That’s the tricky part with Chessmaster.” Jaiden smiled wryly. “You ever tell what he’s going to pull . It’s also really hard to gauge what he’s capable of. Even when he’s not at the se, there’s a good ce he’s the one calling the shots for the team.”

  “Sick!” Nash grinned. “Sounds like we better focus him the ce we get. We gotta elimihis dangerous guy!”

  “Stupid,” Rio objected. “Even if he’s dead, he still give orders.”

  “Oh, true that.” Nash crossed his arms. “Then, what we do about this guy?”

  “That’s the problem, isn’t it?” Jaiden smiled wryly. “The shot-caller is the only role we ’t really ‘kill’. He’s always there, making our lives difficult. There’s pretty muothing we do. Gotta keep pying well and not show him any openings.”

  “Okay, I like that pn!” Nash pumped a fist. “ime, I gonna chase and kill these guys for sure! Memer a, just you watch!”

  “That’s the spirit, my guy. Though, I still ’t believe you died fighti.” Jaiden shook his head. “The heck were you doing there?”

  “Weeeeelp...” Nash scratched his head. “She caught me off-guard. One moment, I was sure she gonna be an ez kill, but then she somehow turhe tables on me.”

  “It’s because you weren’t paying attention,” Jaiden criticized. “You should’ve noticed her orbs.”

  “Yeaaaaah, I kinda saw them. But man, she was almost dead! I thought I’ll just kill her before she gets to pull anything, so I wasn’t worried. But, she somehow stalled me just long enough to make it. Her dodges are some real shit, gotta admit.”

  “Nah, you just done goofed,” Jaiden insisted. “The ime I fight her, I’ll show you how it’s done. She’s trash, man.”

  “I know you waning on her because she’s a girl, but she ain’t that bad,” Nash said something ued. “I know she’s been pying like hot garbage this game, but not in that fight. You better not uimate her whes serious.”

  “Huh, if you say so.” Jaiden didn’t believe any of that. Nash’s defeat was the result of his own negligence. Jaiden won’t it su amateurish mistake, not against Beat. He won’t give that girl any ces. He’ll crush her thhly, leaving no room for doubt regarding the differen their skill.

  But, that’s only provided su opportunity will present itself again in this game. Nash’s death was a terrible setback for the team. It might even cost them the game in the long run.

  I hope this isn’t the beginning of a turnabout... Rio frowned.

  In terms of map trol, Taurus held an undeniable advahey were ahead in Mid and Top, while their enemy only advanced far in Bot.

  But, Nash’s death tore apart the “Invincible Triahe stro pushing force of the team. In addition, it turhe overall situation from an advantageous 5v4 to a fair 4v4. Worst of all, it made Taurus lose the momentum they were building up in Top.

  Meanwhile, Gunz ushing hard through Bot and the defense efforts over there weren’t looking too reassuring...

  DarkestCymore