บท 596: The Real Target

The plan of luring CleanupHitter deep into allied territory was going smoothly. As expected, the man took the obvious bait and pushed forward along with the surviving bowmen.

From this position, it is very easy for me to flank him. Fiona thought. Though, of course, the enemy is surely aware of that as well.

She was not so naive as to think she was deceiving anybody with this obvious bait. Anybody with a grain of game knowledge could immediately recognize this situation for what it truly was. And, it was exactly what Fiona wanted them to think.

Now then, how will you respond to this position? Fiona asked her chess opponent. Surely, considering how much you care about bolstering your team's defense, you will move a piece closer to the lane. Namely, your Jungler.

Soon enough, a ward verified Fiona's prediction. It showed Average traveling from the Wolf Camp to Top Lane.

Surely, he was not rotating over here to join the push itself. His presence on the lane would contribute very little to the overall impact of the push.

Instead, Average was coming here to serve as a bodyguard on standby. His job was to counter Fiona's gank in case things got difficult for Hitter. In short, this was a defensive maneuver.

And, this defensive move of yours will create an opening that you likely do not expect.

Right now, Average was all alone in a neutral part of the jungle, far away from his allies. This was a great opening for Fiona to strike.

"Cornelia, I plan to attack their Jungler," Fiona informed. "Please keep their Viking occupied for a while."

"Oh, is that a green light to finally unleash my noble combat skills!?"

"Yes, but please do be careful," Fiona warned. "Do not, and I repeat, do NOT chase your opponent. Fight him only for as long as he is in your territory."

"Hmph. Very well." Cornelia wasn't too excited about that condition but she was happy enough to finally let loose and display her noble might. She allowed that peasant to do as he pleased until now, but it will all end now!

After Cornliea finished clearing out the last few minions, she permitted her Berserker to enter its powerful berserk mode! And so, a big clash erupted! It was a duel between an aristocrat and a lowly barbarian. Cornelia was fully intent on showing that dog his place!

In the meantime, Fiona crept up to Average. The man was caught off guard by all these developments.

"Wait, she's already attacking you???" Dan cocked his head. "Wasn't she waiting for a gank or something?"

"Welp, looks like she wasn't, lol." Roi shrugged. "I can take her on, right?"

"Hmm." Howard frowned. Frankly, this development threw him for a loop.

Until now, it was clear as day that GoldenLady was baiting Roi into overextending. No doubt, the plan was to gank him inside enemy territory.

Did they just give up it? Howard wondered. Or, was it never their intention in the first place?

He couldn't wrap his head around this. Something was off.

"Hey, boss!" Roi called out. "So, what do you say? I can fight, right?"

"... fine, you can fight her a bit. Try to see if you can reduce her HP enough to make this worthwhile. But first, make sure you drag her toward the middle of the lane, at the very least."

"Got it, fam!" Roi grinned. He was visibly excited to finally have this duel, as he was forced to always hold himself back until now.

Based on the previous scrim, GoldenLady was actually supposed to be a rather aggressive girl. But, it felt like she was holding back this game. Maybe the shot-caller ordered her to do so.

I know the feeling. Roi nodded. I was also told to keep a low profile, so we both couldn't do anything fun until now. But, this is finally a chance to let loose!

Lady finally decided to come at Roi of her own volition, so it was time to counter that aristocrat ass!

Pft, I lol every time I see that skin. Roi burst into laughter again. After all, how could he not? That proper dress was beyond hilarious for a Berserker. It was supposed to be a sick barbarian class but Lady dressed it up like a doll.

As a fellow barbarian, I'mma show you that barbarians are WAY cooler than some snotty rich people! And so, the battle of coolness commenced!

"So, like, should I get there sooner?" Dan asked as he watched the conflict unfold. Lady went berserk and Roi got ready to fend her off. It was going to be one heck of a fight!

But, Dan was still in the jungle, a little far from the scene. It turned out that farming jungle camps took longer than usual when he was lagging in level. Who would've guessed.

Because of this, he couldn't join the battle right away. But, if he headed straight to Top now, he should be able to get there before the climax.

"Yeah, skip the wraiths and go straight to the lane," Howard said. "I suspect they're planning a gank. But, if not, then that overextending Berserker will be an easy target for you, so it's best that you get in a ganking position as soon as possible"

Based on previous scrims, Lady had a bad habit of picking fights and getting carried away. She felt like a rogue player who didn't always stick to the shot-caller's plan.

Is that what's happening right now, too? Howard wondered. Or, is this just bait? Hmm. I feel like I'm missing something here…

Soon enough, he got his answer in the worst way possible. "AWOOOO!" the Werewolf's Chilling Howl resounded, right in Dan's vicinity!

"Oh, so she IS coming over here!" Dan exclaimed. "But, wasn't that howl kinda loud? It's almost like she's right over- GAH!"

SLASH! SLASH! Sharp claws razored him as soon as he turned around! The Werewolf was right in his face!

"W-W-W-Wait wait wait!" Dan exclaimed. I'm not ready for this, man! Like, he knew he might have to face Rosemary here at some point, but not like this!

"Crap! Sorry Roi, I'm running away!" Dan activated Haste and made a break for it!

The good news was that he had a Time Portal set up at the bottom of Top Jungle. He was planning to teleport over there in a jiffy after finishing his business in Top, so he set it up in advance.

That nifty portal stayed around for a while and it was possible to teleport to it by passing through another Time Portal. This was Chornomancer's most impressive skill and kinda the whole reason to pick the class in the first place, because the rest of the kit was so-so.

With this, Dan had a surefire way to get away from that crazy Werewolf. He just had to create some distance between himself and Rosemary, then cast Time Portal, and voila! Teleportation, boiz!

Unfortunately, casting Time Portal took like 2 seconds. It didn't sound like much, but it was an eternity in situations like this where every microsecond counted.

Apparently, the devs wanted to make sure that the skill would not become an easy "panic button". Like, they wanted it to be used more "methodically" or whatever.

Thanks, CashSoft. Dan grumped. I'm totally loving this design decision right now. Really cool.

It was a pain in the ass, that's all it was. Because of the skill's obnoxious casting time, Dan couldn't just throw it out in the middle of his escape.

She'll totally bite me the moment I start casting it. Dan thought. Gotta get as far as possible first, which isn't that easy, dang it.

CLAW! CLAW! The razor-sharp attacks kept coming without rest! The enemy was literally breathing down his neck.

Just like Haste boosted Dan's Movement Speed, so did Chilling Howl boosted Rosemary's. Sure, Haste's buff was a little better in that aspect, but the difference was negligible.

She also got faster boots, so I can't create any distance at all! Dan ran as fast as humanly possible but the werewolf stuck to him like glue.

Dang, that premature Haste was totally a misplay. Dan cursed. I should've buffed it first before casting.

He had more than three Accel stacks to spare, so he could've buffed Haste's effect like crazy. Alas, it was too late for that now.

So, I guess I hafta burn my ult here, huh? I mean, I don't see any other way out…

His HP was plummeting at the speed of light. Just a moment ago he was at over 80%, but now it was a whopping 20%! He was almost as good as dead! That Werewolf hit like a truck!

Fortunately, Chronomancer had one more skill at his disposal. The devs were nice enough to allow this one to be an "easy panic button", maybe because it was an ult.

Okay, I receive one more hit aaaaand… NOW! Dan activated Rewind right as his HP dropped to a critical level. The skill made him vanish from his current location and travel back in time, back to when he was still a healthy young lad.

To be on the safe side, he spent one stack of Accel on this Rewind, to travel even further back in time. He wanted to get as far as humanly possible from this dang wolf.

Okay, safe! Dan breathed in relief as he found himself back in the place where all this trouble started. His HP was back to being over 80% HP, and he created plenty of distance from Rosemary with this one trick. Awesome!

Now, to teleport the heck outta here! Dan started casting Time Portal before the enemy got back to haunt him. Alright, let's go, let's go, let's go!

The Chronomancer rotating his hand to open a rift in time and space. His magic penetrated the very fabric of reality, opening a time gate for Dan to travel through.

This procedure took about 2 seconds in total, which should feel like nothing during chill times. But, in a tense situation like this, Dan couldn't help but internally scream "Are you done yet???" every few milliseconds.

Fortunately, the Chronomancer was nearly done casting. Soon, Dan will be able to get away from this dangerous situation- BLINK!

"Eh…?" Dan coked his head. Why do I feel like I've just heard something that sounded like a Blink- WHOA! Sharp fangs dug into his shoulder!

"N-No way!" Dan exclaimed. "How did she...!?"

The Werewolf was right behind him, driving her sharp teeth into his flesh! How did she get here so fast!?

I-I teleported the hell away from you! Dan asserted. How can you be here already!?

When Dan used Rewind, the spell quickly moved him back to the starting point of this whole mess. That created a fair distance between him and the predator, which should've given him more than enough time to cast Time Portal.

And yet, Rosemary caught up to him in the blink of an eye! It turned out she was cloaking a Blink, and she must've also spent her Dodge Roll on top of that.

Still, even with all these tools, she couldn't have possibly gotten here so quickly unless she predicted Dan's movements in advance. Or, if she had Lars' insane reaction time speed. Either way, shit was crazy!

"Is this some pro-level execution!? What the actual heck!?" Dan exclaimed. Complaining was all he could do right now because his Chronomancer was locked in place by that savage werewolf woman.

This was a very unexpected turn of events, even for Howard who was watching everything from the sidelines. The way Dan responded to Rosemary's assault was decent enough, yet the girl still found a way to turn the tables on him. Nonetheless…

"You should have no problem surviving through this," Howard reassured. "Just cast your portal as soon as you're free. Don't even bother doing anything fancy like rolling."

"Yeah, gotcha." Dan breathed in relief upon hearing that analysis. For a moment there, he was sure he was a goner, but it sounded like this situation wasn't as critical as he feared.

Okay, so just to cast the portal. Just cast the portal. Dan waited for the first sign of the enemy unhanding him. His finger was already ready on the trigger.

That Beastial Devourer was nasty. It held Dan in place for like 2 seconds, quickly draining his HP all the way from 80% to 50%. Like, seriously. He had just recovered so much HP and now he was back to dangerous levels again. Sigh.

Nonetheless, he'll survive this, that's what Howard promised. So, everything should be fine.

Y-Yeah, I'm calm. I'm the paragon of calmness even! Dan felt his palms getting sweaty. At the back of his head, he understood that his chances of survival should be pretty high, but he couldn't help but feel anxious about the whole thing.

This Rosemary chick was a beast! And no, that wasn't a pun about her playing Werewolf. The girl legit was a professional killing machine. It felt like she always made all the right moves to thoroughly and utterly murder her prey.

And, that "prey" is always me for some reason, haha... This was already the third time Dan was about to die, and the game hadn't even reached the mid-game yet! It was absurd! It's like the girl had a personal beef with him. What the heck.

But, she won't get me this time! Dan asserted. I'm totally getting outta here alive!

As soon as the wolf released him, Dan started casting Time Portal. Admittedly, casting such a slow-ass spell right in front of the enemy was a little awkward. Essentially, Dan resigned to becoming a punching bag for 2 seconds here, and Rosemary didn't miss the opportunity to tear him apart!

SLASH! SLASH! Sharp claws cut through him from all sides. His HP had already dropped down to 20%, which was hella sus. Rosemary needed just a couple more hits to finish him off.

The only good news was that none of these attacks interrupted Dan's casting. So, no matter how much damage he was to receive, so long as he was alive, he'd finish creating this dang portal!

Alright, time's up! I'm out of here- BAM! A shockwave erupted from behind!

"Say what!?" Dan was stunned, both inside and outside the game!

Rosemary unleashed Shockwave on him, which briefly stunned all enemies in a small radius. It was another utility skill she kept cloaked, no doubt for a surprise attack like this.

Cloaking Blink was already a surprise, but cloaking Shockwave was like a hundred times more shocking, no pun intended. It used to be an OP utility skill that got nerfed to the ground over the years, so nowadays it was pretty rare to see it in action.

Still, in some situations, it was incredibly powerful, like when used to interrupt a slow-ass skill like Time Portal. If Rosemary bought the skill intending to use it in this very specific way, then she was like professional level and stuff.

"Dang, I think she got me, haha..." Dan shortly recovered from the stun, which by itself was negligible in the large scheme of things. The duration of the stun got nerfed to death, to the point it was practically impossible to take advantage of it.

Nonetheless, Shockwave achieved its goal. It interrupted Time Portal, forcing Dan to start casting it all over again.

Fortunately, Time Portal was one of these skills that didn't go on cooldown if interrupted in the middle. It was a saving grace, considering how many things out there could interrupt it during these 2 seconds. But...

The thing is, I don't have 2 more seconds to spare, not with this HP! Dan rolled away in a feeble attempt to create distance from Rosemary. Maybe, just maybe, this cold-hearted assassin would slip up in this critical moment and allow Dan to get away!

Alas, it was nothing but wishful thinking. Rosemary pursued him immediately. Her Dodge Roll was on cooldown but that didn't even matter. She was quick enough to close the distance all the same.

CLAW! CLAW!

『You have been killed!』

"You gotta be kidding me..." Dan performed an advanced form of facepalming by dropping his entire face onto the damn table. "I'm done. I'm so done. This dang wolf, man."

"Yeah, I understand you..." Even Howard didn't know what to say here. "Well played", I suppose? That's all that comes to mind.

From start to end, Rosemary's tactics and execution were top-notch in this play. She baited Howard into rotating Dan to that isolated position, then she used every trick in the book to methodically dispatch him. It was pretty amazing, honestly.

I knew she was competent, but this is a whole other level of competency. Howard thought. Sure, many of these plays were only possible because she was already fed, but still...

It was impressive how efficiently Rosemary utilized her momentum. The moment she got ahead, there was simply no stopping this woman. She felt almost as oppressive as the Leopards' Korean ace.

Now that she had four kills under her belt, was it even possible to do anything to stop her from snowballing at this point...?