A new minion wave arrived, and as usual, Appreended into eerritory in order to delete the bowmen first. Then, he proceeded to bash the swordsmen with his huge sledgehammer.

  It's as if the word "fear" did in this guy's diary. Even with Nia hanging around Top Jungle, Apprentece didn't think twice about clearing the ne so aggressively.

  Well, it makes seo aent. Ben thought. He's pying Orc, so he has to be aggressive in the early-game. I never uood how people py so boldly, but it's a valid approach.

  Ben's Druid was uo test the aggressive Orc whatsoever. Not to mention, Apprentece was so good at this job that he cleared the minions before Nia even had the opportunity to gank.

  As such, as risky as all of this seemed, this risky farming teique was actually retively safe for Apprentece. But, that should be the end of the line for him.

  If he extends any further, he'll bee a gank target. Ben thought. Last time, he retreated here, so I'm sure he'll do it again- wha!?

  WHISH! The Orc rolled across the ground all of a sudden!

  W-Why!? Ben froze in pce. He failed to process the se in front of him. Apprentece was rolling ahead of his minion army, right toward Ben! How e!?

  BAM! A hammer crashed into Ben right as Apprentece fihe roll!

  In his fusion, Ben couldn't respond to the sudden development at all. It's only after the hammer struck him that he finally woke up from the mental stun.

  I-I have to retreat! Ben rolled away from the se, toward his side of the ne. O-Okay, safe. Or, am I?

  k. k. k. Heavy metal footsteps resounded behind him. Apprentece was giving chase!?

  Is he pnning to chase me all the way to the tower!? Ben gulped. There's no way, right? Nia is nearby, so he 't overextended like this… right?

  heless, the footsteps grew louder and louder. The Orc was definitely getting closer and closer.

  D-Do I use my shield!? I to tank the minions, but I'm already down to half-health...

  In just a couple more hits, Ben will drop to a critical HP level. At that point, he'd have no choice but to recall to base, leaving the irely exposed to this vicious pusher.

  I 't get hit again. Ben gulped. But, from this distance, he'll have no problem reag me with the sce.

  In fact, it was a bit surprising that Apprentece hadn’t opehis eack with Sce, as that’s the move he pulled st round.

  Maybe he's serving MP? Ben wondered. He surely won’t push the tower this time around, so maybe that’s why he’s not hurrying to use it. Still, he might use it if I don't shield myself...!

  And so, Ben cast Gaia's Prote on himself. It was a bit premature, but he had to protect himself from any further damage. Dropping any lower than 50% was bad news.

  A, despite Ben fortifying himself, the metal sounds behind him didn't die down. k. k. k. The Orc drew ever closer.

  He doesn’t sce me, but he's still chasing? Ben gulped. What did I do to deserve this ay...

  He felt like a hapless rabbit with a vicious wolf breathing down his neck. The oppo had the ability to stun him in pd ravage him thhly, yet the guy arently serving his MP and giving a simple chase instead. It’s almost as if Apprentece ying with his food, which made the situatiohat much more terrifying.

  Fortunately, Yuel picked up ouation without Ben even saying anything.

  “Nia, gank Top,” Yuel ordered.

  “Hmm. Ok.” Nia advaoward the ne as ordered, but she had a difficult expression. “Is this a good idea? It feels kinda weird.”

  “What does, exactly?”

  “Well, I’m not sure I uand what’s going on here.”

  “What do you mean?” Yuel raised an eyebrow. “The Orc is overextending to chase Ben, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he pns to push the tower as well.”

  “Yeah, but why?” Nia tilted her head. “He should know I’m here, right?”

  “Maybe he didn’t notiaybe he fot about you. That seems to happen to some pyers who py against you.”

  “Hmm, but…” Nia twisted her lips. Somethi off about all of this. “I don’t think I erased my prese. And, I’m pretty sure they warded at least one of the areas I passed through.”

  “The wards could’ve expired,” Yuel suggested. “We’re already getting to the point in the game where wards have to be repced, so it wouldn’t be strange.”

  “Yeah, I guess…” Nia wasn’t vinced in the slightest. None of this aligned with how she perceived her own status in this game.

  As far as Nia could tell, the Leopards were as vigint as i game. It felt like they pced fewer wards this time around, but they heless monitored all the important spots. Therefore, it was inceivable that they weren’t aware of the fact she was currently in Top Jungle.

  But if that was the case, then why rentece overextending like this? Wasn’t he supposed to be some super mega ultra pro-level pyer?

  “It’s also possible that he’s aware of everything and is taking a gamble of some sort,” Yuel suggested. “He’s probably uimating you and Ben, so he expects to get away with this. Holy, that sounds like the most likely sario to me.”

  “Cocky.”

  “Yeah, you say that again.” Yuel smiled wryly. “That’s why we ’t let him get away with this.”

  “Right.” Nia nodded in agreement.

  Yes, we definitely ’t let him get away with a push like this. Yuel repeated. Even if it’s a trap of some sort, we have to attack him.

  The possibility of a trap wasirely out of the question, so Yuel had to sider it as well. With that said, he didn’t deem it necessary to share this spiracy theory with Nia.

  She already seems unsure about the ehing, so o add fuel to the fire. Yuel reasoned. In the end, even if Apprentece is plotting something in a situation like this, we have no choice but to bust through his ploy.

  Stratus had every advantage in this situation, no two ways about it. Yuel analyzed the board state from top to bottom, but he couldn’t think of a single decisive py the Leopards could go for to turables on Nia.

  The most likely sario would be a ter-gank. Yuel reasoned. But, Winner is on his way to the Griffin Camp, almost as if he knows it’s up frabs right now.

  That was curious in its ht. If it’s true, then how did Winner reach the clusion that going after the Griffins now was a strong py? Did he expeia to keep hanging around Top? If so, it meant he and the rest of the Leopards were fully aware of her current position.

  Or, maybe he just fot to factor in her presence. Yuel shrugged. It sounds silly, but it’s a very real possibility when it es to Nia.

  Regardless, the fact remaihat, with Winner out of the picture. nobody was around to assist Appreh a ter-gank. Therefore, even if Appretnece lotting something, he was still going to put himself in a 1v2 situation by going through with that push.

  To me, this reeks of an uimation. Yuel thought. I have the feelihinks he'll get away scot-free from this. So, let's prove him wrong.

  And so, following the instrus, Nia navigated through the Jungle and reached Top. The step was to summon her phantasm and cloak herself in invisibility. Then, she'll be able to strike down that cocky Korean pyer for sure!

  ... or, will she?

  DarkestCymore