“Don’t give up!” Somebody fired healing magic at Jaiden.

  “Eh?” Jaiden blinked. Whose voice was that? Rio? It was rare for that quiet guy to raise his voice like that.

  “I’ll cover for you!” Rio passed by Jaiden and fronted Gunz. “Just keep running!”

  “What? Oh…” Jaiden was fazed for a moment. His Pirate was soaked from head to toe as he ran through the heavy raied by Chessmaster. Everything about him looked worn out aed.

  Jaiden resigned himself to his fate. He’ll die by Gunz’s hand, that was the most likely oute of this one-sided fight. It was foolish of him to challehat monster without a ph was a fitting punishment for being this cocky, or so he thought at first.

  “Thanks, Rio!” Jaiden snapped out of it. “Sorry for putting you on the spot like this. I messed up real bad, haha.”

  “No problem.” Rio smiled softly. “Just focus oing away.”

  “You bet I will!” Jaiden’s survival instincts kicked in once more. Die? Just like that? What was I thinking!? I got Rio to cover for me, I totally make it out alive. We’re not giving them any free kills here! He went full speed ahead.

  “Ya ain’t getting away, yo!” Lars rolled after his prey. He gonna nail this kill and gee one heomentum for the team!

  I won’t let you pass. Rio stood in the beast’s way. He knew he had no ce of beating this monster, yet he fearlessly stood there, blog Gunz’s path.

  Sorry dude, but I got no time to py ya. Lars turo the side, pnning to circle around the Cleric. However, the dude was stubborn.

  I won’t let you. Rio moved to the side to block Gunz’s path once again.

  Heh, that’s how ya gonna py it? Okay, then I’mma push right through ya! Lars bsted through the front door. Outta the way, dude! He fired bullets to scare away the scarecrow in front of him. But...

  No, I won’t move. Rio stood his ground. Even in front of the bullets, he refused to budge. He didn’t possess the necessary rea speed to dodge such accurate shots anyway, so he just stood there and frohe shots head-on.

  BAM. HEADSHOT. BAM. HEADSHOT.

  “Yo, this dude be stubborn...!” Lars blew off the Cleric’s brains twi a row, yet the mad d tinued blog the path like an immovable object.

  In the end, Lars rammed into the dude and slowed down a little.

  “Geh, lemme through already!” Lars fired from point-bnk as he pushed past the Cleric.

  BAM. HEADSHOT. BAM. HEADSHOT.

  The Cleric lost over 45% HP from all of these attacks, almost half his health bar. A, dude refused to flee. He kept trying to block Lars’s path, like a defender marking a striker. No matter how much damage he suffered, this mad d refused to budge.

  I’ll save Jaiden. I’m his support. Rio kept matg the enemy’s movements. As long as he stands in the way, Gunz won’t be able to catch up to Jaiden so easily.

  Gunz broke through at one point, but Rio immediately rolled after him and stood in his path once more. When it came to blog oppos, Rio had a fair share of experie was a skill he practiced specifically for situations like this.

  In Cssmancers, it was impossible to fully stop somebody via body-blog. heless, by repeatedly getting in front of Gunz, the Clerid Gunslinger kept colliding with each other. Opposing iia cshed and slowed down the Gunslinger’s momentum. It barely made a differehe first time, but it bore fruit via repetition.

  I’ll block him, even if it’s the st thing I do. Rio tinued getting in Gunz’s way. Just like how Jaiden rescued Rio from the bullies, Rio will now rescue Jaiden from this bully!

  “Rio, that’s enough,” Jaiden said. “I’m already safe. You gotta start retreating yourself.”

  “Oh, that’s good.” Rio nodded. While he wasn’t looking, Jaiden has already reached safety. I think I went a little overboard with the body-blog…

  Rio probably could’ve started retreating a while ago. But, this overextension was a small price to pay for the importa he achieved. Jaiden made it out alive, that’s all that mattered.

  “Dang, I ’t believe that dude slipped away!” Lars smacked his forehead.

  “Let’s kill the Cleristead,” Yuel suggested.

  “Oh, ya betcha! I’mma rek this dude.” Lars stopped chasing and poihe revolver at the Cleri front of him. “I’m getting a kill here, one way or another. Believe it, yo!”

  BAM. HEADSHOT.

  I really overstayed my due. Rio gulped. He turned around and ran for his life. But, will he be able to get away?

  BAM. HEADSHOT. Only 30% HP left, with two pursuers hot on his trail. It was over for him. Well, at least I saved Jaiden...

  “RELEASE THE-” A voied across the area.

  “Oh crap-!” Lars reacted immediately. The Big Squid Dude was ing! This was . The real deal was about to attack!

  “But, that ain’t gonna stop me!” Lars did roll to evade the ult, but he rolled forward! He had no pns of stopping this pursuit. Even the Big Squid Dude won’t scare him away!

  “Whoa!” Lars excimed amidst the roll. “He’s here?!”

  A gigantic sea monster peed through the ground right under Lars! A tentacle knocked him up, then smmed him into the ground!

  “Yoooo, no way!” Lars held his head in frustration. The Big Squid Dude totally caught him there.

  “That was good pt,” Yuel ented.

  Pirate pyers usually summoned Kraken in the ter of the enemy formation, to hit as many enemies as possible at once. However, this Kraken’s pt was different. It served only as a defensive py, inteo disce any further pursuit.

  Therefore, instead of summoning the Kraken close to Yuel and Lars, Renegade opted to pce the Kraken ahead of them. That stopped them iracks. Well pyed.

  “Nuuu! They got away!” Lars pouted. That Kraken single-handedly put ao his offense. “Dang, we almost had them!”

  “It’s okay, you lowered their HP enough,” Yuel said. “It’ll secure us ne trol for a while.”

  Even with Cleric’s passive healing, it was impossible for both eo properly recover in time for the minion wave. Therefore, at least one of them will have to recall, leaving the ne in a 2v1 situation.

  With numbers advantage, Yuel and Lars will be free to push hard. So, even though they didn’t score any kills here, the entire exge still ted as a victory for Yuel and Lars.

  “That was close.” Rio sighed in relief as he reached the Turret. If not for that timely Kraken, he would’ve been dead. “Thanks for the save.”

  “I should be the ohanking you.” Jaiden smiled wryly. “Holy, I kinda gave up back there. It was dumb, I know, but I lost the will to fight back. I just felt overwhelmed.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “Really?” Jaiden cocked his head. “You’re not going to pin?”

  “Ah, um...” Rio shifted his eyes away. He’d normally voice his pints right away, but he didn’t want to hurt Jaiden’s feelings more than they already were.

  That entire fight was one big blow-up. It was frustrating to admit, but Gunz pletely stomped Jaiden as soon as that fight began. Rio’s hero suffered an embarrassi.

  But, even more than that, Rio was mad. Not because Jaiden lost, but because of Jaiden’s attitude during the fight.

  The moment Jaiden realized he lost, he lowered his head and succumbed to despair. That was a no-no. Jaiden should never ever wear an expression like that. A bright, fident smile suited him best. Darkness shouldn’t be able to overshadow somebody who shone like the sun.

  “You wao pin? Then I will.” Rio puffed his cheeks. “I’m disappointed.”

  “Oh, you are?” Jaiden cracked a ugh. Somehow, Rio’s attempt at pouting looked cute, probably because it was so uncharacteristic for this stoic guy.

  “I’m not joking.”

  “I know, I know.” Jaiden nodded.

  “It’s fihat you lost to Gunz, he’s a strong pyer. But, that’s no reason to give up in the middle of the fight.”

  “True.”

  “It’s like...” Rio grumped. “It’s like you fot I’m here to support you.”

  “Yeah, sorry.” Jaiden pced a hand on Rio’s shoulder. “I was just too shocked. I thought I could do it, you know? I really believed I had a ce against Gunz. It’s been a year since I watched him py, so I thought I became strong enough. But, this guy is a monster. I just ’t...”

  “Hey, that’s what you have us for!” Nash tuned in. “We gonna help ya take that monster down, bro. We gonna kick their asses so hard, they’ll fly all the way back to StormBlitz, haha!”

  “Yes.” Rio nodded. “There’s o fight either of them alone. Let’s beat them together with our... Invincible Triangle.”

  “Oh! He said the thing!” Nash made noise.

  “S-So what if I did?” Rio turned away, but he smiled softly.

  “You’re right, guys.” Jaiden nodded. “It’s my bad. We haven’t been training together all this time to challenge people to duels. We’re the Invincible Triangle! Apart, we might be nothing special. But, together, we’re unstoppable!”

  “Hell yeah!” Nash pumped a fist. “Tho, I’m hel strong on my own too.”

  “Great job ruining the mood.” Rio rolled his eyes.

  “Haha.” Jaiden ughed. His vigor returhe embarrassi no longer bothered him.

  Okay, that was a lie. Of course it bothered him. He couldn’t believe there was still such a huge gap between him and Gunz. It’s like they were peting on pletely different levels.

  But, that was reassuring in its own way. At least, it proved that StormBlitz’s sele process wasirely horseshit. Some of the pyers, who got into the club in Jaiden’s stead, were literal monsters. Gunz and Chessmasters deserved to get in, no question about it. That made Jaiden feel just a little bit better.

  Regardless, that was all in the past. None of it held any bearing on the current situation. The Jaiden of today was a pletely different person from one year ago. The amount of experience he had under his belt was on a pletely different level.

  With his trusted bros by his side, they will crush the monstrous duo and cim victory in today’s scrimmage!

  DarkestCymore