The Dark Knight was taking his sweet time approag William. It seemed the guy was debating whether to fight or flee, but he ultimately decided to fight. It sure took him a while, though.

  Odd, sidering how precious his time should be. William thought. He should be franti a hurry to get something done before the early-game slips away from him.

  William’s entire pn was based on that idea. After all, under normal circumstances, challenging a Dark Knight alone was extremely dangerous. Even though William was superior to Memer in every possible way as a pyer, the power differeween their csses was difficult to erase through skill gap alone.

  Risks like this are usually better avoided in petitive games. William thought. Especially, when the punishment for mispying is going to be grave. Feeding their DK is the st thing we want.

  Yet, despite all that, William was here, fag the Dark Knight head-on. Why? Because it was a great opportunity to shut down that Dark Knight, ond for all.

  He should be at his lowest point right now, scared that the entire game will slip away from him. So, he'll rush this fight. And, while rushing, he'll make mistakes.

  It was a cssic sario for any 1v1 sport. When a pyer was on edge a like they had to hurry to achieve something, it ofteo their downfall. William made aire career out of squashing frantic oppos like that.

  Alright, here he es. William moved half a step backward.

  SLASH! A bck bde fshed in front of his nose! But, it only cut through empty air. William was just barely out e, so the attack resulted in a whiff.

  You're wide open. William thought as he g his axe. I could ter-attack easily, but I have to let you off the hook this time.

  Normally, this would be a great opportunity to strike back at the whiffing foe. However, William had to let this opportunity slide. And, he did the same exact thing against the oppo’s sed and third ssh. Every time, he just barely stepped out of the enemy’s ra he didn’t strike back.

  I don't have the reach. William stated matter-of-factly. His axe swing animation couldn't pete in rah the Dark Knight's bastard sword. Therefore, when William stepped out of the enemy's attack ra also meant he was keeping his foe outside his own attack range.

  But, this wasn’t a surprise. William was fully aware of the disadvantages Viking had in this matchup. And, he came here to fight despite all that because he was fident in his victory pn.

  , one more attack. William urged the reckless assaulter. You're almost there. Just a little more.

  SLASH! SLASH! Memer tried his best to slice through William, but it was to no avail. None of his attacks ected. William maintained a perfect dista all times, deceptively so. He was just close enough to make Memer think that he was within attack range, yet he was also far enough to be able to get out e with a siep back.

  Furthermore, every time William stepped away, he also shifted their position ever so slightly. In this fashion, slowly but surely, he was cirg around his foe.

  Was Memer going to catch up on what’s going on at some point? Surely not. In his frenzy, there was no way he'll have any spare time to think about anything other than attag. And surely, with every ssh he misses, his ay will grow tenfold.

  Shit! Luke gritted his teeth. Hey, dude! Why don't you e over here and git hit already!?

  He sshed again, again, and again. But, all his attacks cut through nothing.

  Every dang time, he was like 100% sure that he had Winner in range. But, at the very st moment, the guy always somehow slipped away just in time.

  Every attack, Luke’s bck bde came just a few millimeters away from that bastard's nose, but that's as far as it ever got. No matter how fast Luke attacked for how deep he stepped in - nothing ever reached that dang Winner.

  What did Vince call this guy, again? Something like “Zone troller”, right? This sure fits well here.

  Winner was the maestro of spag, it was something the team discussed when they reviewed the Leopards' scrims. But holy, it didn't really register back then. After all, the Leopards mopped the floor with their oppos iwo matches, so they looked overwhelmingly strong in all aspects.

  But now, that Luke was fronting Winner in the flesh, the guy’s spag felt like some real shit. Like, it was impossible to hit this guy! He was a “Zone troller” for sure.

  Tch, I don't have time for this! Luke stepped in deeper and swung his bde once more, but the result was the same as before. It was impossible to even graze this dude! At least, not without overextending as heck, which Luke definitely didn’t want to do against a Viking who had access to his ult.

  What's his agenda here, anyway? Luke wondered. He's dodging all my stuff, but he ain't hitting back at all. I mean, it’s probably because he 't reach me from this range. But if he’s never gonna step in to attack, then how is he even pnning to win at all? Or, is he just buying time?

  Maybe the entire operation was all about wasting Luke's time in this critical moment of the game. Winner probably knew how crucial it was for Luke to score at least one kill at this point, so maybe he was fih just wasting Luke’s precious time without actually winning the fight.

  Well, if you’re just going to waste time, then I’mma go all in! Luke charged at the breathing time waster in front of him!

  "Luke, wait. He's leading you toward-"

  Somebody mumbled something in the background, but Luke didn't have the luxury to spread himself too thin right now. He had to be 500% focused on this dang Viking and find a way to hit the guy! Nothing will get started here until Luke nds at least o.

  "Vi, I think you should-"

  "I'm on the case! I shall-"

  There arently an exge of some sort in the background. Luke didn’t catch all the details, but he could guess what it was about.

  Yeah, reinforts would be nice right about now. Luke thought as he swung his bde once again. I don't like to admit it, but I don’t think I wreck this guy on my owoo dang slippery!

  Unfortunately, it’ll take Vi a while to get over here. So, until then, Luke couldn’t just sit here and do nothing. He had to get some damage in! As, all his attacks failed to ect. This put all his meical skills into question.

  I thought I retty good, but this guy is making me doubt everything I thought I knew. Like, why was this happening? Was it a differen meical skill? Css mastery? Experience? Knowledge? It was so dang hard to tell.

  I feel like a dang rat going up against a tiger here. Luke shuddered, if only for a moment. As the aggressor, he umping tons of adrenaline, which pushed him forward despite all the hesitations.

  Dude ain't invincible, that's the ohing I know for sure. So, as long as I keep attag...!

  Dark fmes engulfed Luke. He stepped in further than usual and SLASH! He cut right through the dodgy bastard! A, Luke’s satisfa was mild at best.

  Damn, son. Luke shook his head. I stepped in so much deeper than usual, but I just barely grazed his ill, a hit is a hit, I guess.

  For the first time, his attack ected. By stepping in harder than usual, Luke was finally able to catch that smooth criminal.

  In the first pce, Luke should’ve had the speed advantage here all along. After all, moving forward was a little faster than moving backward in this game. Therefore, Winner’s smooth brain teique was actually hel fake. There was no way he could always step ba time against Luke’s advas.

  I just wasn’t pushing hard enough because I didn’t want to get ter. But, this ain’t no time to be a pussy and worry about stuff like that. I’m the DK here, so I’m stronger!

  But as expected, this overextension came with a cost. Right as Luke cut through the sneaky bastard, an axe drht into his face! It was an immediate ter with robotic precision and speed.

  Dang, I thought the guy would be at least surprised for a moment that I actually hit him. It’s as if nothio him.

  Was Luke just dang to his oppo’s tuhis entire fight? Sometimes it sure felt that way.

  But, no more! Luke asserted. Now that I activated my buff, I gonna keep pressuring you nonstop!

  For Luke, getting terattacked hurt pretty bad because his build was very offense-oriented. But, in Nightmare form, all his stats were boosted by a ft amount, including his defense. So, he had some luxury of overextending without being too cautious about the damage.

  On top of that, the dark mist c his body also reflected ining damage. Basically, while wearing this cloak of darkness, Luke's DK was more terrifying than ever!

  But of course, with great power came great responsibility. Nightmare mode slowly drained Luke’s HP while it was in effect. So, he really didn’t want to activate it this early into the fight. As, it turned out that he had no choice.

  I was hoping I could settle this fight without relying on this suicidal strat, but no dice. Luke braced himself for the side effects and pressed on. SLASH! Try to dodge this!

  Once again, his bck bde cut through meat. It was a hit! Unfrotatunely, this came along with an instantaneous terattack from Winner. But, eveing hit was fine-ish right now.

  Git that damage reflected, boiiiii! Luke snickered as a wave of darkness shot off his body and hit the oppo as well. Every time Winner was gonna hit him, a portion of that damage would shht back at the Viking. So yeah, eveing terattacked is part of the pn! Kinda.

  Believing that he had finally gaihe upper hand in this fight, Luke pressed on with this reckless offe this rate, he was gonna win this exge for sure!

  But, that's only what he thought about this situation. Oher hand, his oppo had a very different take ouation.

  DarkestCymore