บท 245: Mid Trickshooter

『You have killed an enemy!』

"Haha, goteem!" Nash pumped a fist.

"Nice!" Jaiden nodded in approval. "Now, let's kill the Pyro too."

"Ya got it!" Nash did a 180 and ran at the Pyromancer. [Double kill incoming!]

"Whoa!" Luke jumped. The Lancer was running at him from the right, while the Gunslinger was approaching from the left. [Crap, I gotta scram!]

He turned around and dashed into the jungle. This was one heck of a scary situation. If he allows these guys get another kill here, it'll pretty much be GG. [I hafta get out! Watch me go! I'm fast as fuck, boi!]

Just as Luke thought that his Burning Spirit went out. The Movement Speed buff vanished. Weeeeeelp.

[Damn, that Lancer might catch up to me.] Luke gulped. [But, it should be fine, right? As long as nothing gets in the way, I should be able to slip away with this lead. Yeah, as long as nothing gets in the way...]

Unfortunately, something did. A roadblock appeared in the middle of the escape route. It was the enemy Cleric.

Normally, a Cleric would be wearing a white holy robe. However, this dude customized his Cleric to wear entirely black. He looked more like a Grim Reaper than a servant of God.

[Just my luck. Did this guy revive and immediately go over here to block escape routes?][These bruhs are hella organized, I'll give them that.]

Running straight ahead meant crashing into the Cleric. So, it might be a good idea to switch directions. This part of the jungle was convoluted enough to offer multiple equally good escape routes. Luke just had to turn around and...

"Um, guys?" Luke cracked a dry laugh. "I don't feel so good..."

Picking another route wasn't an option, not at this point. The Lancer was approaching from the right flank, while the Gunslinger handled the left flank. They masterfully blocked Luke's alternative escape routes. These damn guys locked him inside a triangle!

[So, this is what Vince meant by a "Triangle of Doom".] Luke tried to maintain a confident smile, but he could already feel the Grim Reaper breathing on his neck.

[No choice.] Luke thought. [I gotta break through one of these blockades.]

Cleric, Lancer, or Gunslinger. Luke had to break through one of them if he wanted to get out of here alive.

[Well, of course I'm picking the Cleric!] Luke continued straight ahead. This wasn't even a dilemma. The Lancer and Gunslinger were dangerous dudes, but the Cleric couldn't cause much trouble alone. After all, Cleric had buffs and heals, but no CC. So, Laplace won't be able to stop Luke!

"Coming through!" Luke dashed right past the Cleric. A few basic attacks hit him along the way, but it was no big deal. Luke broke through the blockage with ease! Or, so he thought.

The Cleric, clad in an ominous black robe, unleashed a dark spell befitting his edgy attire. A big skull appeared in the air, spreading ghastly miasma around the Cleric. It was Paralyzing Horror, a Utility Skill that applied a heavy slowdown to all enemies in range!

It was most commonly picked by tanky Supports because the miasma spread in a circle around the caster. To make the most out of Paralyzing Fear, the caster had to venture deep into the enemy's formation, so he could hit as many enemies as possible at once.

As such, it was a rather niche Utility Skill for a Cleric, maybe even meme level. Nevertheless, this dude went for it, and it worked!

[Man, that's the last thing I expected to happen!] Luke exclaimed internally. [So much for "it gonna be easy to get past the Cleric." I'm screwed!]

They got him. Luke's chances of escaping alive went from "good" to "nonexistent" in a blink of an eye.

"He's slowed," Rio reported.

"Good one!" Nash licked his lips. His fingers tingled. He could already sense the incoming double kill at the tips of his fingers. "C'mon, gimme the speed buff! I'mma finish that guy!"

"But, you already got one kill," Rio pointed out.

"Yeah, and now I gonna get a double kill! C'mon, bruh. Do it! JUST. DO IT!"

"Fine..." Rio activated Godspeed. It was an AoE buff that granted a Movement Speed boost to all allies around the Cleric.

For a moment, Rio considered casting Godspeed in a way that'd only apply the buff on Jaiden. That way, Jaiden will outrun Nash and score the kill for himself. It'd only be fair, seeing as Nash took the kill on Beat after Jaiden worked so hard to defeat her.

But, in the end, Rio decided against it. This kind of prank would be too risky in this situation. They absolutely had to kill that Pyromancer, without fail.

Therefore, Rio cast Godspeed once Nash and Jaiden both came into range. The buff applied to Rio as well, so now the three predators had a superior running speed. Meanwhile, their prey was heavily slowed down, like an injured person dragging his foot. It was over.

『An enemy has been killed!』

『DOUBLE KILL』

"Yeaaaaaah, boi!" Nash pumped a fist.

"Good work, guys!" Jaiden praised. "Next, we go to Mid. Let's take Gunz out!"

"Ya got it!" Nash nodded. "Triple kill, here I come!"

"Okay," Rio nodded in approval. It was a good plan. The entire trio was gathered in one place and they've already made it halfway to Mid during the chase, so it was only natural to keep going.

They've pulled this tactic countless times in Ranked, so they knew what they were doing. If they kill the Mid Laner, this game will be a wrap. Especially, if they destroy the Mid Turret, it'll be a blow the enemy won't be able to recover from.

"Ray," Jaiden called out to the captain. "We're coming to lend a hand."

"Hmm, got it." Raymond nodded in approval. He didn't like troubling his teammates, but he really needed some help right about now. His lane opponent has been pushing him around the entire game. This had to stop.

[Gunz, the former StormBlitz player.] Raymond knotted his brows. [Just what is the full extent of his power, really?]

Raymond was facing this difficult opponent for the fourth time today. Based on their previous encounters, it felt like they were roughly on the same level. Their fights always went back-and-forth, with neither side gaining any notable advantage.

However, that only held true for the previous three games. This fourth game was a different story altogether. Gunz went with Trickshooter, an unconventional pick for Mid.

[I thought it'd be easy to outclear a marksman as a mage, but...] Raymond was gravely mistaken. It was true that a mage could usually outclear a marksman, but Trickshooter was one of the few exceptions to this rule.

With Giant Warhammer in the Trickshooter's early build, his Trickshot rivaled a mage's spell. And, in the hands of a skilled player like Gunz, this already-powerful skill became even deadlier.

Instead of shooting the entire minion wave in a straight line, Gunz fired diagonally at the swordsmen. The bullet pierced through the entire front line, then hit the jungle wall on the side of the lane.

For most skills, that'd be the end of the story. But, not for Trickshot. From there, the bullet bounced off and blasted through the bowmen in the back.

It killed them all. Yes, this one bullet did it. It wiped out the entire rear in an instant. Before Raymond even had the chance to blink, his entire squad was reduced to three injured swordsmen and three dead bowmen.

[Compared to that speed, I'm practically dragging my feet over here.] Raymond thought.

Against the Trickshooter's amazing wave clearing speed, Raymond was playing Warlock, a class that wasn't exactly among the fastest wave-clearing mages. On top of that, he started off with Necronomicon, an item that granted minimal magic power.

Warlock was a mana-hungry class, so it was often convenient to start out with Necronomicon, which provided MaxMP and MP5. However, in this game, that decision backfired. What Raymond needed right now was power, not sustain.

With all these circumstances playing in Gunz's favor, it was no surprise he seized lane control with ease. There was nothing Raymond could do to prevent it from happening.

[The only thing I can do here is make sure I don't die.] Raymond reasoned. For now, he had to back away and play defense from under his tower.

Eventually, his clearing speed should be able to catch up with the Trickshooter's. Until then, he'll play full defense. It was a sad story when a mage was afraid of contesting the lane against a marksman, but better safe than sorry.

Gunz understood Raymond's intentions, so he pushed the lane hard. At one point, the guy was drunk on his advantage, that he boldly invaded under tower. He probably thought Raymond won't dare to contest that offense. Well, he was wrong.

Raymond immediately proceeded to punish this overextension. He cast Eldritch Blast combined with Power Invocation. The high damage should've scared Gunz away.

However, Guz dodged the spell with ease, as if he saw it coming from a mile ago. He pulled a Trickslide and traveled to the other side of the Turret area, then continued the push from there as if nothing happened.

Raymond was powerless against this push. He has already spent Eldritch Field while clearing minions, and now he also wasted his Eldritch Blast. With both skills on cooldown, he didn't have any damage tools left in his arsenal. There was nothing that could apply pressure on Gunz.

Of course, Raymond could always resort to basic attacks. However, that'd enrage Gunz's minions and turn them against Raymond. Soaking the minions' attacks will protect the tower from all that damage, but there was no telling how low Raymond's HP will drop in the process.

Worst case, Raymond will drop to critical HP and Gunz will go in for the kill. That'd be even worse than just letting Gunz take the tower. Because, after killing Raymond, Gunz might destroy the Turret soon after. So, he'll get both a kill and a tower. Indeed, a dreadful worst-case scenario.

[It's too dangerous.] Raymond reasoned. [I can't attack Gunz. I have to clear his minions first.]

And so, Raymond patiently shot down the minions invading his territory, one by one.

Meanwhile, Gunz relentlessly barraged the tower with his high-damage basics. After just one aggressive push, Raymond's tower was already below 90% HP. This situation was almost as oppressive as laning against a Dark Knight.

On subsequent waves, Gunz continued to pressure hard. He was throwing a wild party, showing off his fast clearing speed and applying unblockable pressure.

[I have to find a way to counter him.] Raymond steeled himself. Even in the face of this one-sided battle, he refused to give up. And so, he attempted various ploys.

First, he aggressively used Power Invocation to boost the damage of Eldritch Field, his AoE spell.

[It's a big mana sink, but I have no choice.] Raymond was at a loss. He was well-aware this routine will drain him of MP before long, but he didn't have any better ideas at the time.

The damage buff from Power Invocation wasn't enough to beat Gunz's clearing speed, but it left the enemy minions more injured. Thanks to that, Gunz couldn't push for as long as before. His minions died much faster from the Turret's shots and Raymond's basic attacks.

[But, I'm just delaying the inevitable with that.] Raymond frowned.

After long and hard thinking, he went for an unconventional move and purchased an Lv.1 Unholy Grail upon returning to base. He could've used that gold to upgrade his Necronomicon to Lv.2 instead, but he decided against it.

[I need power right now.] Raymond reasoned. Necronomicon barely gained any additional power upon leveling up, whereas Unholy Grail was a cheap option with decent power. It was more of a mid-game item, but it was necessary right now.

With the Unholy Grail in hand, Raymond contested the lane much better. He got rid of the enemy bowmen before they entered the Turret's area, and even the enemy swordsmen were at death's door by the time they got in. Thanks to that, Gunz barely got to push the tower anymore.

[It's good news, but I shouldn't be too happy about it.] Raymond sighed. He understood all too well there was nothing to celebrate about this. Even though he ultimately countered Gunz's pushes, his tower already fell to 75% HP. He still trailed far behind his opponent in terms of lane control

On top of that, Raymond was still stuck on the defensive. So, just because he stopped his opponent from delivering heavy damage on the tower, it didn't mean Raymond was winning

In fact, the opposite was more accurate. Raymond was still at a disadvantage here. His tower was slowly, but surely, losing HP. On top of that, he was missing on a lot of farm because he was forced to kill minions under tower. There was nothing to be happy about.

[I can't handle this myself.] Raymond concluded. As such, he requested Nash to gank the lane a few times.

Unfortunately, that never led anywhere. Gunz always slipped away, nearly unharmed. As a result, Raymond was stuck defending the entire time. He could feel Gunz slowly choking him to death.

[I suppose I have to go for extreme solutions.] Raymond was running out of ideas, so he decided to scrape the bottom of the barrel.

The Warlock's most fearsome tool was his ult, Eldritch Nightmare. By turning the entire area pitch black, it'd leave Gunz with no means to fight back. Raymond could use that brief opportunity to gain some momentum. It'll be a short-lived advantage, but at least it'll make a dent in the negative momentum that sucked him in and didn't let go.

Unfortunately, even this desperate idea wasn't easy to try. Raymond couldn't simply unleash Eldritch Nightmare as he pleased. The enemy had a Lumimancer, whose ult instantly negated the most important feature of Eldritch Nightmare, the vision-robbing.

Solar Wrath would reveal Raymond to all enemies, including Gunz. That'd render Eldritch Nightmare borderline useless.

[I have to wait for him to use the Lumimancer's ult on something else first.] Raymond concluded.

Eventually, the time has come. The Lumimancer unleashed Solar Wrath for some other purpose. Apparently, he used it to scout Nash's position in the jungle.

This was a golden opportunity. With the Lumimancer's ult down, Raymond could finally unleash Eldritch Nightmare to his heart's content. When the next minion wave arrived, he did exactly that.

"All shall be consumed by darkness!" The Warlock raised both arms and dark miasma erupted from him like a whirlpool. The darkness spread across the entire lane, sparing nothing on its way.

Gunz found himself isolated in the darkness. Nevertheless, it didn't look like he was particularly flustered by this development.

"Whoa!" Lars exclaimed as darkness stretched all around him. Everything was going smoothly until now but, finally, that Nirvana dude launched an attack. Awesome! That's how it gotta be! [C'mon, let's do it! I'm ready!]

Lars installed a Stealth Ward he was carrying around for this very moment. [Too bad for ya, dude. I've fought a bunch of Warlocks the past few months. I know all about dealing with this ult! Ez!]

To be exact, it was Yuel who taught him this trick. Eldritch Nightmare worked in mysterious ways. It was somehow susceptible to Stealth Wards, as if the darkness was just an illusion that granted stealth to everything in sight.

[Welp, the specifics don't really matter.] Lars thought. The bottom line was that his Stealth Ward worked like a charm. It exposed the enemy lurking in the darkness. [Time to strike, yoooooo!]

"It's time for a trick show!" the Trickshooter announced the opening of his grand performance. An eye for an eye, an ult for an ult!

[Is he ulting?] Raymond was taken aback. [In this situation? It doesn't make any sense.]

Perhaps it was like a panic button. Trickshow granted access to unlimited Trickslides with zero cooldown, so maybe Gunz was planning to get out of the area with their help.

But, that guess couldn't be further from the truth. The opponent wasn't planning to flee. The thought didn't even cross his mind.

No, Gunz went on the offensive! It was a relentless, unstoppable offense!

"This is...!" Raymond could barely follow these movements. The Trickshooter transformed into a raging hurricane. He slid back and forth across the entire area, firing Trickshots left and right.

[But, he shouldn't be able to see a thing!] Raymond shuddered. Something was off. The Eldritch Nightmare has just begun. It enveloped the entire area in pitch darkness for the enemies.

And yet, Gunz confidently fired a Trickshot at a wall. The bullet bounced off and pierced through Raymond's torso. It wasn't a shot made by a blind man.

[He can see.] Raymond concluded. Most likely, Gunz placed a Stealth Ward as a counter. A nasty, but effective, counter to Warlock. Raymond was too naive.

[I have to dodge!] Raymond's brain screamed, but his body moved sluggishly as if it just woke up from a coma.

Normally, dodging incoming shots was as natural as breathing for anybody who played Classmancres on a regular basis. But, this was different.

[I can't tell where the shot will be coming from.] Raymond gulped. None of Gunz's shots were aimed directly at Raymond.

One bullet bounced off the left wall. Another bullet bounced off the right wall. Which of the two will hit? Which will come first? This situation was like chaos incarnate. The moment Raymond was started thinking about the various possibilities, it was already too late.

[Agh!] Raymond grimaced as a bullet pierced his shoulder. [Then, should I retreat a little?]

Raymond took a step back, but then another bullet hit his flank. It felt like every move he made only dug his own grave deeper. He was imprisoned inside a hell of bullets.

[This can't be happening.] Raymond couldn't believe it. [This was supposed to be my turn to attack.]

The entire point behind unleashing Eldritch Nightmare was to get a definitive edge over Gunz. Yet, Gunz's Trickshow single-handedly overruled the situation.

[Can I fight him now? No way.] Raymond gulped.

Gunz became the overlord of this land. There was no way to topple that monster. Raymond had no choice but to flee. Therefore, he canceled Eldritch Nightmare and rolled away.

However, his pursuer was hot on his trail.

"Ya ain't getting way, yo!" Lars chased his prey by spamming Trickslides while firing Trickshots.

[He can aim like this even while chasing!?] Raymond couldn't believe this was real life. Everything here went far beyond common sense.

A bullet bounced off the wall and dug into Raymond's left flank. It happened in the middle of Raymond running for his life. And, in the middle of Gunz sliding in pursuit. Amidst all that chaotic action, Gunz landed his bouncing shots without fail.

[I made a terrible mistake.] Raymond realized it now. [Gunz and I... we're not at the same level at all!]

The past three games indeed painted Gunz as a strong player, but not much stronger than Raymond. For the most part, they were evenly matched. It sometimes felt like Gunz was pushing Raymond back a little, but just a little. In the end, they were on the same level for most purposes, or so it seemed.

But, that was the wrong conclusion to draw. In this fourth game, for the first time, Gunz was showing the real extent of his power.

Jaiden mentioned before how odd it as for Gunz to not use Trickshooter. But, Raymond didn't think much of it at the time. Gunz was already strong, so it was hard to believe he'd do much better with a Trickshooter.

But, now, Jaiden's confusion made perfect sense. It was this Gunz, the one wielding Trickshooter, that captivated Jaiden last year. This was the true strength of the ex-StormBlitz player.

Against this overwhelming strength, Raymond could do nothing but flee in terror. And, even as he ran away, he still received heavy damage. His HP fell all the way to 30% by the time he arrived at his tower.

It was a devastating result. Raymond was the one who initiated this fight with his ult, yet Gunz turned the tables on him. As a result, Raymond was too injured to keep defending. He had to recall and surrender the lane to Gunz. It was frustrating beyond measure.

This one exchange taught Raymond his place. He was at the bottom of the food chain here, whereas Gunz was the almighty predator who preyed on everybody in sight. It was the case of a hapless rabbit challenging a fearsome lion. There was no chance of winning, not in a million years.

[I have to avoid further fights with him.] Raymond concluded. Or, rather, he was [forced] to conclude that. As much as he wished to be wrong, the reality he witnessed shattered all his confidence.

That's why it was great news that Jaiden and his friends were planning to rotate to Mid. Raymond couldn't handle the wild beast alone, but the four of them together will make quick work of Gunz. No matter how mechanically skilled the guy was, winning a 1v4 was beyond his ability. At least, it should be...