Nia escaped alive out of Apprentece's clutches, but it wasn’t over yet. WHISH! The metal whip shed once again! But, this time, it was aimed at somebody else: Ben.

  "Eh!?" Ben froze in pce. His mind short-circuited in front of the enemy’s smooth shift of focus.

  Just a moment ago, that predator was wholly ied in chasing Nia. A, in the middle of the pursuit, Apprentece discarded everything in an instant in order to sh out at Ben. The lightning-fast transition made Ben’s jaw drop in awe.

  "Ben, you have to retreat!" Yuel implored, to the point of raising his voice.

  Thinking of it, there had been some noise in the background throughout the entire py. Ben failed tister it before, but now, he finally realized what it was.

  Wait, was Yuel tellio retreat this eime!? Ben gasped. He was absolutely right! I should’ve listened! But, instead, I got myself into this sticky situation….

  Ultimately, Ben didn't achieve much by rushing to front Apprentece. He couldn’t make a single dent in that predator’s fident pys.

  But, at least he was drawing Apprentece's attention away right now. So, if Ben's presence here made the ive up on chasing Nia even a millised earlier, then maybe it was worth it.

  At least, that's what Ben thought until he turned around to retreat. That's when he finally realized his grave mistake.

  "Ah! Oh no. Please no..." There was no way back. Ahead of him ainions, ready to rend him asunder.

  D-Did I aggro them? Ben gulped. Oh, of course, I did. I ran past them before they ehe tower area. Ugh, I'm so stupid!

  While Ben's head was filled with nothing but saving Nia, he carelessly drew the aggro of the entire enemy wave! Now, he found himself in a pincer between the minions and the Orc!

  To make things worse, he had already used Gaia’s Prote earlier, so the minions were going to hit him straight in the face. On top of that, his Dodge Roll was on cooldown as well, so he effectively found himself in the worst situation possible! The enemy was going to execute him right here!

  But, that wasn’t even the worst part. He’s going to do an insane push with all these minions! Ben gulped. Is there really nothing I do? Nothing at all!?

  Ben ran, ran, and rareating to the tower was the only thing he could do in this hopeless situation, but he wouldn't reach it.

  WHISH! The metal whip struck again. WHISH! The arrows impaled his back. Ben's HP fell below 20% in the blink of an eye. And if all that wasn't enough, the enemy swordsmen were closing on him too, to kill him harder as if that was even necessary.

  That's it, I'm dead. I'm sorry, everybody... Ben couldn't apologize enough for his terrible dispy here. Even though Yuel warned him time and again, Ben tinued ag like a stupid throughout the entire py. And now, he was going to pay for it…

  The least I do is to keep running until the very end…! Ben lost all hope about surviving, but he heless tinued running toward the tower. He had itted so many embarrassing mistakes here, so the least he could do was struggle until the bitter end.

  With his fighting spirit in shambles and his mind in a total mess, Ben pressed onward while expeg death to cim him at any moment. Then, something odd happened. As if to reward his efforts, the eopped attag him all of a sudden. The Orc didn’t sh at him again and the bowmen halted their barrage.

  Hm? They’re not finishing me off? Ben blinked in fusion. Did I get out of their range somehow? But, I’m not particurly fast, so how could I… OH!

  It finally hit him. Maybe there was a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel, after all.

  For dire circumstances like these, Druid had a very handy passive: Terra’s Wrath. It didn’t e into py too often, but it was incredibly useful in one-sided battles like this.

  After the Druid was hit three times in a row by basic attacks by the same oppo, Mother Nature came forth to punish the offender. Branches appeared from the ground and rooted the attacker for a while. That’s ut a stop to the bowmen’s barrage.

  Ben didn’t have the luxury to turn around and verify the situation, but he was certain that all the bowmen were currently rooted in pce, uo chase him. Thanks to that, Beually got out of their range, and that’s why the arrow shower stopped.

  Likewise, Apprentece was in a simir position. He had shed at Ben twice thus far, so if he were to attack again, then Terra’s Wrath would punish him too.

  So, he stopped attag to wait for the cooldown. Ben deduced. That gives me a little breather, but I’m sure he’ll resume shortly.

  Terra’s Wrath seemed like an exceptional passive at first gnce, but there were ways to py around it. After delivering the first two hits, the attacker could simply pause the offense for 2.5 seds. In that brief period of time, Mother Nature would fet the offender’s sins, so the criminal be free to atta full throttle once again.

  And, that’s exactly prentece was doing right now. He surely could’ve hit Ben again with the sce, but instead, he decided to wait.

  That gives me a ce. I still make it out alive! Hopefully! Ben regained some of his fidence. I absolutely 't give him a kill here. An Or snowball really hard from early kills, so it’ll be all my fault if we lose because of this!

  And so, Ben ran, and ran, and ran. He had been running in a straight lihe eime to maintain maximum distance from his oppos. This resulted in him stig close to the jungle wall the entire run, which brought upon aable dilemma.

  Do I slip into the jungle? Or, back to the tower? This was a redundant question under most circumstances, but not this time. Ben was much closer to the juhan to his tht now, therefore it made some seo slip into the jungle instead.

  Naturally, the tower area was much safer. But, will Ben be able to reach it in time? With just 20% HP?

  I doubt I make it. Ben gulped. But, if I go into the jungle, won't he keep chasing me down? I'm probably dead no matter what...

  "Ben, go to the tower," Yuel said. "That's your only real option here. I'm sure he'll chase you down all the way in the jungle."

  "R-Right! Thanks!" The cloud over Ben's mind dispersed thanks to the clear instrus. The tower it is, then. He made a sharp 45-degree turn and ran toward the tower!

  Unfortunately, deg on a course of a wasn’t enough here. The 2.5-sed cooldown of Terra's Wrath was about to expire, and then Appretence would finish him off. The end was nigh!

  However, there was still one more hope remaining in the Druid's kit: the ult. With all of Ben’s enemies behind him right now, the Ents could form a wall between him and his pursuers!

  But, should I really spend it here? Ben wondered. What if I die afterward anyway? It'll be a huge waste...

  It'd be very reassuring if Yuel instructed him to use the Ents now. Then, Ben wouldn’t be wrestling with doubts like this.

  Unfortunately, it was impossible for Yuel to lead Ben by hand at every step of the way, especially not in the heat of such a chaotic py. There were things that only Ben, as the one on the se, was able to decide for himself on the spot.

  So, Ben had to make the call himself here. However, there wasn’t much time. With every passing moment, death drew nearer!

  WHISH! The sce rattled once again, sshing Ben from behind! His HP dropped to almost nothing, but he was still alive!

  Ben's indecision cost him dearly there. He could’ve summohe Ents a little earlier and possibly avoided this damage, but he failed to do so.

  But, it wasn't too te yet! With a silver of HP remaining, Ben was still desperately running toward the tower area! At this point, the Ents might not even be able to save him anymore, but…!

  Dying is the worst-case sario here. Ben thought. So, I have to try anything I to survive! Even if it might end up being a waste of an ult, so be it!

  Such was his own personal clusiarding this deadly situation. He had no time to discuss any of this with Yuel, so he had to make this difficult decision all by himself.

  I-I'm the Top pyer here! Ben reassured himself. I should have enough experience pying this role to make the right call…!

  And so, he activated Awakes. Three giant trees sprouted from the ground and towered over the ne.

  WHISH! The sce rang again! However, this time, instead of hitting Ben directly, the attack went through a first. This made the whip slow down, so it failed to extend all the way to Ben.

  What's more, the Ents' rge size served as a blockage for Apprented the minions. Anybody who wao tinue chasing Ben will have to go around these giant trees, which will waste a lot of precious time. In that time, Ben should be able to make it to the tower!

  I-I survive this! Ben stepped on the edge of the tower area. Despite his ent HP, he was back to safety!

  But, it wasn't necessarily over yet. There was the possibility Apprentece would dive uhe tower in order to deliver that killing blow. And, knowing the guy, that was almost guarao be the py he’d go for!

  There's nothing I do to avoid it fully. Ben thought. But, a dive like that will cost him a lot, so I hope that's enough to disce him...

  If Apprentece wao score this kill no matter what, then he'll probably be able to do so. He'd just have to get past the Ents, ehe tower area, and deliver the killing blow. It was that simple.

  However, a daring py like that came with multiple risks. For starters, the tower will retaliate against this cocky aggressor.

  Also, I’ll be able to roll soon. So, maybe I escape deep enough into the tower area so that Appretence will get hit twice by the tower on the way out. Ben thought. I-I’ll totally do it! So, don't you dare invade, please.

  In addition to the tower's retaliation, there were also the Ents to sider. They had the same aggro logic as minions, so they’ll be on Appretence’s business if he harms Ben.

  Yes, it’ll be brutal retaliatioried to telepathically iate with his oppo. So really, you should give up if you know what’s best for you.

  He eled such thoughts over and over, hoping the oppo would uand how dangerous it was to keep going. Hopefully, all of that will vince Appreo give up…

  DarkestCymore