Jaiden and Rio returo base. The pn was to gear up and head straight to Bot in order to help Raymond defend, but something was odd.

  “Hey look, they’re spreading themselves thin,” Jaiden pointed out. “They got lone pushers everywhere except in Bot.”

  In Bot Lane, Gunz and LegendaryMemer were pushing together. They rotated to the ne shortly after taking the Dragon and tinued w together there. This was the right way to do things.

  Oher hand, in Top, Chessmaster was defending alone. Likewise, in Mid, Beat ushing the ne all by herself.

  It was a dangerous formation for the mid-game. During such a critical stage of the game, when a single mispy could cost the entire game, Stratus reading itself very thin. These guys were a cocky bunch.

  “Is it just me, or they’re pressing their advantage a little too much?” Jaiden asked. “I know this is a 3v4 situation and all, but . They ’t just push like that and pretend there won’t be any sequences.”

  “You’re right, it’s a risky formation,” Raymond agreed. “And holy, it’s quite troublesome for us. Especially, the Sorcerer pushing Mid is a problem. She’ll take the Mid Turret soon.”

  “We ’t let her get away with this,” Jaiden insisted. “It’s robbery in broad daylight!”

  “Yes, it is. But, I say let her be,” Raymond said. “If oower is all we have to pay to pull through a 3v4 situation, then so be it. We’re g in manpower, so we have no choice but to cede something to the enemy. Let’s minimize risks and focus on defeil the rest of the team revives.”

  “I don’t like that,” Jaiden argued. “We gotta punish stuff like that. If we pass on opportunities like this, they’ll steal all our map trol. Especially, that cocky Sorcerer in Mid is pushing her luck.”

  “It’s a valid . But, intercepting the Sorcerer means taking a risk, and we’re in no position to take risks.”

  “, what risk?” Jaiden asked. “The enemy is scattered all over the pce. The Slinger and Knight are in Bot, so you’re keeping an eye on them. And, their Aqua is all the in Top, he isn’t gono Mid in time to try anything. I don’t see any danger.”

  “I agree,” Raymond said. “They probably won’t be able to you gank there. But, aren’t you fetting the main threat in this entire idea?”

  “Main threat?” Jaiden cocked his head. “I ’t say anything es to mind.”

  “The Sorcerer herself,” Rio provided the answer.

  “Exactly.” Raymond nodded. “You’ll have to front the Sorcerer, that’s the risk.”

  “Oh, that’s it?” Jaiden smiled fidently. “No problem. She’s not going to kill me if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “She did kill Nash,” Rio pointed out.

  “Yeah, but only because Nash done goofed,”

  “It was just a little act!” Nash jumped to defend himself. “ime, I’mma kill her no problem! And, that Memer Knight too, food measure!”

  “Yeah, anyway,” Jaiden tinued. “I won’t make that kind of mistake. She won’t have a ce to pull her resoie.”

  “But, if she does, you’ll die,” Raymond pointed out. “It’s risky.”

  “, you guys worry too much. It’s not like I’m pnning to seriously fight her or anything. I just wanna scare her away so she stops pushing Mid. Besides, she’s been pying pretty defehe entire game, right? I’m sure she’ll retreat the moment she sees me.”

  “Yeah, she’s been pying defensively for sure,” Nash agreed. “EXCEPT AGAINST ME! Gaaaaaah! How did I die there!?”

  “Regardless, I still think it’s a bad idea,” Raymond insisted.

  “Well, too bad.” Jaiden smiled mischievously. “Because I’m already on my way to the Mid tower!”

  While they were discussing things, Jaiden slowly but surely advaoward Mid Lane. He was sure he’d vince Raymond in no time, but the captain was stubborn.

  I guess Raymond is still Raymond after all. Jaiden smiled wryly.

  Even though Raymond was showing more initiative than usual this game, at his core he was still a pyer who favored defense and wao minimize risks at every turn. But, it’s fine. Nobody could pull a full 180 in their pystyle after a single day.

  It’s okay. I just gotta prove to him it works. Jaiden o himself. Rotating to Mid isn’t dangerous or anything. Here, I’ll show you.

  Aside from Beat, nobody else from the eeam was even close to Mid. Therefore, Jaiden will have plenty of time to retreat if any of them decides to rotate fank.

  And, if the Beat herself chooses to fight, then Jaiden will just stomp her ezpz. She was the weakest link in the enemy’s team, so she didn’t pose a threat.

  Then again, there’s no way she gonna fight back. Jaiden was vinced. Pretty sure Rio and I taught her a lesson i two games. The only reason she fought back against Nash was that he got cocky and overextehat won’t happen to me.

  Unwavering in his beliefs, Jaiden pressed on toward Mid Lane, ign Raymond’s objes.

  “Look at this kid disrespeg the cap.” Zeph shook his head. “You better not get your ass killed, boy.”

  “I’ll be fine.” Jaiden sighed. It was tiresome to repeat the same lines over and over. Why couldn’t they just take his word for it?

  “Just make sure you retreat if she starts a fight,” Raymond warned again. “We ’t let them get any more kills, no matter what. Even if you think you’re strohan her, just pull out and don’t test her. Better safe than sorry.”

  “Got it, got it.” Jaiden sighed again. Yeah, I’ll pull out… after I give her some proper beating! Heh.

  Holy, the enemy’s bold scattered formation was a little irking. These guys were borderline cocky. It’s as if they really believed that entrusting Mid Lao Beat was a good idea.

  In what world, exactly? Jaiden disagreed. That girl is trash. I thought I’ve proven that enough times today, but I guess they need another reminder. Begohot!

  Jaideually arrived in Mid Lane, but he didn’t make it on time to save Mid Turret.

  Dang, this sucks but oh well. He shrugged. At least I won’t let her push any farther.

  Unbeknown to Jaiden, his arrival here has long been calcuted by the boy with the Mystic Eyes of Weakness Perception.

  “He’s really here, huh.” Kai smiled wryly. So, you uimate me this much, huh. I SO wanna kick your ass!

  But, achieving victory as a team was more important than Kai’s personal vea. So, she couldn’t keep putting herself first.

  “Lars, are you ready?” Kai asked.

  “Whenever you are!”

  “The’s go!” Kai pced her Checkpoint Ward he enemy. This one small item was the secret on of the entire pn. With its help, they’ll tear Renegade to shreds!

  “Hm? Did she just pething?” Jaiden wondered. A ward? I guess she wants to keep the ne warded after she leaves. Fair enough.

  But, surprisingly enough, Beat didn’t retreat even after pg the ward. She just stood there, as if pnning to take on him.

  You still haven’t learned your lesson? Jaiden scoffed. Okay then, looks like the third time is the charm. I’ll properly destroy you this time!

  But, as he was about to open an attack, the sound of teleportation resounded nearby.

  Someone appeared out of thin air. It was a guy, but not just any guy. It was the st person Jaiden wao face this game.

  You gotta be kidding me... Jaiden gulped.

  The beast stood before him. It was the unkilble mohat ravaged everybody in its path. It was Gunz!

  “G-Guys? I think I messed up big time, haha...” All blood draining from his fad shivers overtook him. His body temperature must’ve dropped at least by half.

  Checkpoint Ward + Teleport, the cssic gimmibo. Given the costs of the wards and the utility skill, this was undoubtedly a money sink. However, when utilized effitly, it became one of the most broken bos iire game!

  I’m an idiot. I should’ve thought of that. Jaiden wished he could go ba time and smack his dumber younger self from a minute ago.

  “I’ll be fine.” Who spouted that nonsense, again? What a that scrub was, haha...

  Most insulting, Jaiden turned out to be pletely off the mark with his criticism of Beat’s as. He assumed the girl failed to learn her lesson and was foolishly solo-pushing, but it was the other way around. She was solo-pushing because she learned her lesson.

  “Well pyed,” Jaiden admitted.

  Beat took advantage of the fact she was often targeted and pced herself as bait in pin sight. Before, she came across as a prideful pyer who thought she owhe world just because she was the “captain”. But, in this one py, she was fih redug herself to a mere bait for the sake of the team. It udable.

  Yep, you caught me. Jaiden hung his head. But, that doesn’t mean I gonna go down without a fight!

  “Let’s escape!” Rio cast Godspeed, buffing himself and Jaiden.

  “Whoa!?” Jaiden jumped. “When did you get here!?”

  “I was here all along,” Rio said. “I had a feeling I should follow you.”

  “Damn, I didn’t even notice...” Jaiden cracked a dry ugh. Rio was good at keeping a low profile, but Jaiden should've at least noticed the guy following him from behind.

  Dang, looks like I was so tunnel-visioned about ihat I didn’t even notice my surroundings. Yeah, I sure messed up big time. The enemy kly what they were doing with this bait.

  But, with Rio here, the situation was still salvageable. With the Movement Speed buff from Godspeed, Jaiden and Rio could quickly evacuate the premises- BAM! CRITICAL HIT!

  “Already!?” Jaiden jumped. Gunz had just arrived on the ne, but he wasted no time in spinning the hammer of his revolver and initiating a deadly barrage.

  “, run!” Jaiden dashed forth.

  “I’m already running.” Rio was actually way ahead. He had been following Jaiden from a distahe eime, so he was way closer to allied territory.

  Ever the cautious type, heh. Jaiden smiled. That’s good. Even if I don’t make it, at least Rio will.

  BAM. Another headshot. Another critical hit.

  Each hit erased 20% of Jaiden’s HP. Gunslinger was a monster like that during the te-game. Jaiden was already down to 60% within two hits. And, the shots were still ing!

  This is dangerous as heck, but I might be able to get away! Jaiden’s heart raced.

  The jurance was right in front of him. Once he steps into the jungle and maneuvers around the er, Gunz will no longer be able te him. He only had to go a little bit farther! Just a little more and Jaiden will break free!

  “I’ll pull him back!” Kai warned as she summoned a Magia Orb behind Renegade and immediately celed into Dimensional Colpse. The bck orb colpsed inwards, pulling Renegade toward the ter of the dimensional distortion.

  “Oh!” Lars didn’t have the time to respond with proper words, but he heard Kai loud and clear. It was a critical piece of information. A pull CC meant that Lars couldn’t carelessly fire his shot. He had to at for the gravitational pull of the orb and all that.

  Could he accurately nd a headshot even uhese circumstances, with the enemy being pulled backward? And, to do so despite the heavy recoil of Fan the Hammer?

  Okay, so dude was running over there and the orb is over here, so….! Lars adjusted his aim in the middle of destrug the situation. I just gotta shoot somewhere around here! No, wait. Lower!

  Lars lowered his aim a little i split-sed. He gave up on the headshot in exge for increasing his ces of hitting the target. This sario was way too specifid plex, even for a fanatieical skill.

  I better practice this setup ter. Lars o himself.

  Even though nding a headshot in this situation would have been one of the coolest stunts ever, it was far more important to just nd a hit, any hit, on the fleeing enemy. Dude was getting dangerously close to the jungle, so he had to be shot do.

  Dude might get away at this rate. Lars thought. Gotta make every shot t, yo!

  “Gah!?” Jaiden groaned as a dark force pulled him back.

  His poor Pirate was w his legs to the bone, dashing forward nonstop to escape this predit. But, now came some simple CC that erased over half of his progress in a single sed. Awesome.

  Dang it! Gotta be the Sorcerer’s pull. Jaiden reasoned. Well, at least it should throw off Gunz’s aim a little. This isn’t over yet-

  BAM. Anunshot. It should’ve whiffed by all means and ats, but it effortlessly hit home.

  “What the…?” Jaiden eechless. That bullet literally came at him the moment the pull ended. Meaning, Gunz fired it a little before that, and he did so with scary accuracy.

  Dealing with the recoil of Fan the Hammer was already a huge pain in itself, Jaidehat all too well as a Gunslinger pyer himself. But, on top of that, Gunz also had to at for the pull CC of Sorcerer’s Dimensional Colpse. That was way too hard. Only pros had a ce to pull something like this off.

  A, Gunz did it as if it was only natural and Jaiden’s HP dropped by 10%. It wasn’t a headshot, but it was still a hit. Even uhese insanely difficult circumstances, Gunz he shot!

  “What a guy, haha...” Jaiden couldn’t help but ugh. His rivals outcssed him in every ossible.

  Gunz was a beast with superhuman skill who could easily wreck Jaiden, whereas Chessmaster was a genius strategist who probably led Jaiden into this trap in the first pce. The two ex-StormBlitz pyers exhibited skill that far surpassed Jaiden’s wildest imagination.

  I’m not at their level, not even close. Jaiden had to e to terms with that fact. Even a year ter, Jaiden still hasn’t closed the gap between him and the two StormBlitz didates who got into that prestigious team. These two definitely deserved to pass the entrance exam more than Jaiden, no question about it. Such was the bitter truth of the matter.

  But, that doesn’t mean I just gonna go down without a fight! The pull of Dimensional Colpse came to an end, but Jaiden didn’t resume running. There was no point. After being pulled all the way back here, his ces of esg alive by simply running were slim to none. He had no choice but to be ballsy and obstruct his oppos.

  Therefore, he stood his ground and booted his ult. “RELEASE THE-”

  BAM! An immediate headshot. The Pirate didn’t even have the opportunity to finish his sentence as Jaiden fell down to 25% HP. heless, he was very much alive!

  “- KRAKEN!” This was Jaiden’s only ticket out. If this Kraken properly does its job and sms Gunz down, Jaiden should be able to get away alive.

  Unfortunately, that was nothing more than wishful thinking. Right when the sea monster erupted from the ground, Gunz used bat Roll to roll aside directly from his Fan the Hammer stance. He dodged the Kraken in the nick of time.

  Dang! Well, at least it should slow down his shooting... right? Jaiden cracked a weak ugh. No, it’s Gunz we’re talking about. This mad d headshot people right after rolling, I’ve seen him do that.

  It was a cool stunt that few could reliably pool off, but Gunz definitely could. So, there was no question about it. A headshot was 100% ing right after the roll, and it’ll e with the added be of a Cripple effect.

  You’re really something else. Jaiden tipped his hat in front of Gunz. But, you recover from a roll and headshot somebody who is also rolling!?

  Jaiden rolled toward the jurance befunz recovered. This Dodge Roll was the lifeline he was saving for the most critical moment of the chase, which happeo be right now. I’m toast if I let him cripple me! ’t let that happen.

  “Crap!” Lars already mentally prepared himself for nding a headshot on the fleeing oppo, but dude suddenly rolled! Yo, this persistehat’s how it gotta be!

  Renegade was an awesome oppo. Even in the face of such a helpless situation, dude kept struggling to the bitter end with every trick he could pull. The guy deserved nothing but respect.

  But I’m sorry, we gotta win this one! Lars adjusted his aim at the st sed. He had to make every shot t.

  Could he nd a headshot on a rolling oppo? Normally, yes. It was hard but doable.

  However, Lars was in the middle of rec from a roll himself. So, could he really adjust his aim at the st moment to nd a headshot on a rolling oppo?

  It ossible but too unreliable. He was far more likely to miss the target altogether if he tried too hard to go for the head.

  Therefore, Lars had to promise. Rather than taking a risk, he settled on simply hitting Renegade’s rolling body, headshot or otherwise.

  BAM. Hit.

  “Seriously!? Haha, this guy is a riot!” Jaiden couldn’t help but ugh in the face of this dreadful skill. Gunz was nailing the kind of shots that Jaiden didn’t even believe were possible for a middle-schooler. That guy ying on a whole different level.

  heless, despite being chased by a literal monster, Jaiden made it! The jungle wall was right in front of him! And, he still had 15% HP left, too!

  By the time Gunz fires his shot, Jaiden will already make it around the er. Then, nobody will be able to stop him anymore!

  THUD. A knog sound. It almost sounded like a ball being kicked.

  What the…? Jaiden couldn’t see what was going on behind him. But, realistically, there was only one skill that could produce such a sound in this situation.

  “Dang! I gotta juke that-” It was too te. A bck orb crashed into him from behind.

  You have been killed!

  Right, it was a 2-on-1, I fot. Jaiden hung his head.

  He only sidered Gunz as a real threat in this euation, so he pletely fot about the existence of the third party. Beat was also there, and she had one of the nastiest led spell setups in the game.

  You got me. Well pyed. Jaiden accepted his fate. He didn’t have any criticism to shoot at Beat this time. That Magia Orb + Repelling Force setup was on point.

  The timing was nasty, too. The magical orb hit him right as he finished rolling, without giving him a ce to juke anything.

  I guess, in the end, I was the one who uimated my oppo. Jaiden smiled wryly. Beat is... alright. She’s not amazing and I definitely don’t see her as captain material, but she knows a thing or two. Yeah, she’s fine.

  With that realization in his final moments, Jaiden perished.

  ime, I’ll do things properly. Jaiden thought. I’ll gather the Invincible Triangle and make sure we steamroll all these guys. It was dumb of me to go here alone, no matter how safe it seemed.

  ime, no more uimating. This year’s Stratus was filled to the brim with tough oppos who all deserved respect. Some were strohan others, but they were all det. Therefore, Jaiden had to take them seriously and challehem with the best on at his disposal, the Invincible Triangle.

  But, will he eve another ce to do that in this game? His death turhe situation into a 2v4. And, with the marksman and mage already grouped up in Mid, a powerful push was ining...

  DarkestCymore