『You have been killed!』
"T-This can't be…" Cornelia hung her head. "Why? How…?"
"This is why I told you to not make any hasty moves," Fiona said. "Extending into enemy territory with Shield Bash is always risky, especially against a Viking."
"B-But, I…" Cornelia tried to find something to say, but she simply couldn't. There was nothing convincing she could possibly say here. This entire situation was essentially her fault, she had to admit as much.
"B-But, where did that Ninja even come from!?" Cornelia ranted. "Fiona, even you didn't see him coming, did you?"
"No, I did not. His involvement caught me off guard as well," Fiona admitted. "The Ninja we saw in Bot must have been a clone that was sent to throw us off."
"Ugh! Such cheap peasant tricks…!" Cornelia gritted her teeth. Why do I deserve any of this!? All I wanted was to finally get something going in this slog of a game…
The game was progressing in a chill manner on the surface, but surely everybody in the Valkyries understood that the situation was terrible. The enemy had a Hyper-Carry in Seraph, so they were going to win for sure if things continued to drag out in this manner.
Thus far, Fiona failed to come up with a solution to this status quo. Therefore, as a fellow noble, Cornelia was obligated to do something about this.
And so, she tried! But, it proved harder than expected. Their opponents today were strong and shrewd, just like the Leopards.
B-But, they're just peasants in the end! Cornelia tried to convince herself. Surely, we can put them in their place as long as we keep trying...!
Alas, things only went from bad to worse after that. Corenlia's death fueled StormBlitz's momentum, which only escalated further and further as the game went on.
Before long, the Valkyries found themselves in an unwinnable position. Everything went downhill just as Fiona predicted.
I knew Cornelia was making a critical play without realizing it. Fiona sighed. In a stale game like this, the first to gain momentum had a huge advantage.
To make things worse, the timing at which StormBlitz gained momentum coincided with the beginning of mid-game. This brief transition phase often involved chaos as the game shifted from lanes to team fights. It was all too common for unfortunate accidents to happen there, usually in the favor of whoever had the lead at the time.
『An ally has been killed!』
"Ah, it appears I messed up…" Andria said. "My apologies."
"It was not entirely your fault, the enemy played well," Fiona said. "They caught you isolated in the middle of that rotation. Of course, you could have played it safer by taking the longer route, but that would have been suboptimal in its own right, so there was no perfect solution either way."
Of course, that did not mean Andria's death was unavoidable. She would have certainly survived if she had done a better job at fending off the surprise attack. However, at her current skill level, especially when compared to StormBlitz's, that was an acceptable outcome.
I will make sure to train her plenty for situations like these after the game is over. Fiona took a mental note. For now, I would rather have everybody focus on the game without losing their fighting spirit.
The previous scrimmage made Fiona wary of criticizing her teammates too harshly during the game. It was like a snowball once the team started losing. Everything crumbled down.
I must make sure we will not fall into the same vicious cycle again. Fiona asserted. If the team loses morale, then defeat will be assured.
As such, Fiona toned down her doses of criticism and made sure to remind the team that their opponent was StormBlitz, the second-strongest team in the region. With that in mind, small misplays like these could be tolerated.
Unfortunately, this positive mindset did not help to salvage the situation. Things continued to go from bad to worse for the Valkyries until the game inevitably reached its deadline: the late-game.
『DEFEAT』
And, this was only the beginning. A similar scenario repeated itself in the third game as well. It started off on a slow note, just like the second game. StormBlitz played safe during the early stages, not giving the Valkyries any opportunities to build momentum.
Then, out of the blue, an opportunity appeared! Or, at least, that was how it seemed.
"Hey, we can totally kill this bitch!" Karen realized. "C'mon, Lua! Let's do it before that freakin' Druid comes back!"
"Um, I'm not sure about this…" Lua adjusted her glasses. "It might be a trap."
"Naaaah, what kind of trap can it even be?" Karen asked. "She's hella injured. We've got this!"
"O-Okay!" Lua followed her partner's lead despite the hesitation.
Athena was currently alone in the lane, with only 40% HP to boot. This was a great chance to strike down that sly fox and finally get some lane advantage!
"C'mon, go go go!" Karen slid forward with Trickslide and fired a shot! She swapped Impaler for Trickshooter for this game to make a change, and it was now going to pay off!
While Karen was sliding, Lua blinked in and cast Ice Wall. It just so happened that Cryomancer was a great Support for both Impaler and Trickshooter, so Lua's pick remained the same this time as well.
WHISH! The Ice Wall successfully cut off Athena's escape path. She now had to circle around that big wall to get back to her tower. Basically, she was as good as trapped!
The classic follow-up for this play was for Lua to freeze the target with Ice Coffin, but the enemy saw it coming.
"My, how aggressive~" Ellen rolled aside, dodging the icy breath of Ice Coffin. You still get an A for effort, sweeties.
With this one roll, Ellen dodged both the Trickshooter's sliding shot and the Cryomancer's CC. Seriously, just how good was she at this game? She even scared herself sometimes~
But, that didn't faze the aggressive kittens. This opening attack was just the appetizer as far as they were concerned. It seemed like they were planning to go all in with this attack, probably aiming for a kill. Such cute naivety~
Their next attack came out immediately. "It's time for a trick show!" The Trickshooter announced out loud. The phrase made Ellen shudder for a moment.
This sure brings back a lot of bad memories… Ellen smiled wryly. But, this is not Larsy I'm fighting right now, so it's fine. Lavy is like a greenhorn compared to him, so this is going to be fun~
With Trickshow activated, Lavender was now able to spam Trickshots and Trickslides to her heart's content. Clearly, she was about to unleash a relentless nonstop assault!
But, was the girl actually going to hit anything with her shots? It'll be interesting to watch~
"Let's go!" Karen shouted. "I'll kill your ass!"
She slid forth again and fired a Trickshot at the nearby jungle wall. And, without even confirming whether that bouncing shot was going to hit anybody, Karen immediately fired another Trickshot toward the Ice Wall. There was no cooldown for the skill at the moment, so she gonna spam it! After all, that's what Trickshow was all about.
For the third Trickshot, Karen aimed at the jungle entrance. This shot probably wasn't going to bounce in any meaningful way from this angle, but maybe it'll at least scare Athena a little and discourage her from fleeing into the jungle.
In fact, none of Karen's shots were guaranteed to hit. She didn't have the time to carefully aim them. It was a "random bullshit go!" moment, that's essentially what Trickshow boiled down to.
If they hit, awesome! If not, at least I get to control space. That was Karen's Trickshow. As far as she was concerned, the main idea behind this ult was to aggressively seize control over the battle. Landing all these Trickshots was a secondary priority compared to that.
I'mma start hitting actual shots once I get closer. Karen slid forth yet again, drawing ever closer to her target. Soon enough, she'll be able to unleash Trickshot right in Athena's face!
But, that turtly girl was pretty good. She carefully retreated toward the jungle while dodging all the bouncing shots coming her way.
Dang, nothing connected? Not a single one of them? Karen grumped. She was sure at least one of her warning shots would hit the mark, but Athena skipped past all the bullets like they were a child's play.
Damn, I hate her guts, but I gotta admit that her moves are smooth. Karen thought. It's like she was born ready for situations like this.
Most opponents got at least a little fazed by the sheer amount of Trickshots Karen unleashed. However, Athena didn't care at all. It's as if this was a daily routine for her. And, in a way, it was.
My, such amateur shots~ Ellen shook her head. Is this the best you can do? How sad. This is nothing compared to the horrors Larsy put me through.
Spamming a bunch of poorly aimed Trickshots during Trickshow was pretty much the industry standard. That's how most Trickshooter players usually went about it, especially online. They prioritized quantity over quality, which was somewhat justified considering the entire point behind the ult was to eliminate CD.
But, Larsy was different from these amateurs. He did unleash a barrage of Trickshots, but his shots were perfectly aimed. Some of them even bounced twice or thrice and still hit the target. It was pure hell.
To deal with that nightmare, Ellen practiced lots of recommended countermeasures. Admittedly, she still hadn't yet figured out how to fully neutralize Lars' overwhelming Trickshow, but at least she reached the point where every other player's Trickshow was like child's play for her
So, naturally, Lavender's mediocre Trickhow was a nonissue. Ellen safely slipped into the jungle without being hit by a single bullet. It was all about maintaining composure against berserkers like these.
Unfortunately, Ellen wasn't a superhuman, so she couldn't dodge everything that flew her way. The enemy Cryomancer was also shooting her at the same time and some of the icicles struck home.
To make things worse, these pesky little hits applied Frostbite, slowing Ellen down. She was quite the damsel in distress right now~
Fortunately, Seraph had this one little trick called Self-Nullification. Ellen activated it to remove all the slowdown from herself. Now, she was back to running at full speed again! Yay!
However, using Self-Nullification came at a tiny little cost. Ellen could not use any skills for the next few seconds, which fortunately wasn't a big issue in this particular case.
My leap is on cooldown and I can't use my ult yet, so I'm not losing anything here. Ellen reasoned. But, I guess I'm also not gaining much, either. Not sure I'll be able to put the buff to good use before it expires, but we'll see.
In exchange for sealing all other skills, Self-Nullification granted Seraph a major boost in Attack Power and Attack Speed. However, since Ellen was on the run here, she couldn't properly utilize any of that at the moment. The only immediate benefit was the cleansing of the slowness debuff that allowed Ellen to run at full speed.
But, the two pursuers were nonetheless hot on her trail. These little beasties must've been quite bloodthirsty. At 35% HP, Ellen must've looked like a very appetizing meal right now~
And, considering how hard we clapped them in the previous game, I'm sure they're dying to get some kills. Ellen smiled cutely. It's so fun to make them feel like they have a chance here, only to tear them to shreds all over again~
The enemy must have thought they had complete control over the situation, but their arrogance would be their downfall, as Ellen had already planned her counterattack a couple of steps in advance.
"Remember, Danny," Ellen said. "We have to take out their Shooter first."
"Duh," Dan responded. "Don't worry. Even though I'm coming from this direction, I plan to ignore their Cryo and go straight after the Shooter."
"Good boy~"
Like in the previous game, Dan was playing a class with stealth. However, instead of Ninja, it was Drow this time. Somehow, he was turning into the Dan-of-all-Stealths today.
He had already cloaked his appearance a few seconds ago, so he was in the middle of approaching the scene undetected. Even if there were any wards along his path, none of them could spot him unless they were Stealth Wards, which was unlikely this early into the game.
Meanwhile, Ellen did her part by dragging the unsuspecting prey closer and closer to their doom. Lavender and Nike chased her faithfully like good girls. They had no idea what was waiting for them just ahead~
"Hi there," Dan greeted his partner in crime as he passed by. For a moment there, it looked as if he was going to target the Cryomancer. But, of course, Danny knew better than that. He dashed right past Nike and waited for Lavender to catch up.
"Surprise!" Dan pulled out a black dagger and stabbed Lavender's flank! It was a clean hit and a hefty one at that!
Cursed Dagger was practically Drow's ultimate. This bad boy dealt heavy damage, as well as poisoned and crippled the target. It was unquestionably Drow's most fearsome weapon and Dan just landed it like a champ!
As soon as he started the attack, Ellen switched her gears. She dropped the pretense of helpless prey and became a confident predator. The girl was quite the actor.
"My, my, look how the tables have turned~" Ellen shot arrows of light at the injured Lavender. Of course, each of her arrows struck home.
A moment ago, she was a damsel in distress. Now, she instilled dread in her foes. How lovely~
As if to contrast Ellen's pure white arrows, Dan fired jet-black bolts from his crossbow. Combined, a barrage of black and white arrows drilled holes in Lavender from both sides!
Naturally, the poor little girlie must have found herself rather confused by this sudden development~
"W-What the fuck!?" Karen cursed. "Who invited you, bastard!?"
That freaking damn Drow was not welcome here! Where did he even come from!? Goddammit!
Karen and Lua were supposed to make quick work of Athena and then return to the lane. But instead, this shit happened.
And, that bitch started shooting me right away! Karen gritted her teeth as white arrows pierced her side. It's like they had this planned all along! Was this bitch leading us by the nose the entire time!?
Karen and Lua thought they were chasing an injured prey, but it turned out to be a fox that was plotting a counterattack all along! Goddammit!
First, I've gotta roll to a better position... except, I fucking can't! Karen mashed the Shift button but it did nothing! Why!?!?
Oh, right! That damn dagger has a cripple, right? Freaking hell! Karen didn't want to admit it but she was in a very vulnerable situation right now. She didn't have any skills at her disposal, and she couldn't even use her Dodge Roll either.
So, what the hell was she supposed to do in this position? Could she somehow escape from this sandwich or arrows?!
Nah, there's no escape, is there? Karen cracked a dry laugh. Looks like this is a kill-or-die situation. Well, works for me!
Instead of wasting time thinking about retreating, Karen pointed her gun at Athena. BAM! "Lua, focus Athena! Let's just kill this bitch like we originally planned!"
"B-But, what about the Drow?"
"Ignore that bastard, pretend like he doesn't exist. Once we kill Athena, we can double-team the Drow afterward."
"I-Is that really fine?" Lua felt her glasses slipping off her nose from the stress the situation was causing. There was just too much anxiety to handle here! Was there nobody to guide them in this moment of darkness!?
Fortunately, there was somebody to show them the light. It was none other than the captain, the renowned Landberht Princess.
"Karen, you should continue attacking."
"Heck yeah!" Karen nodded. "I knew you'll understand, sis!"
"However, Lua, you better retreat."
"Eh…?" Lua blinked.
"Say WHAAAAAAT!?" Karen's jaw dropped. "But sis, we gotta double team Athena!"
"You will not kill her in time even if you combine forces," Fiona explained. "The Drow has not spent his ultimate yet, so he can stun you any moment. Unless you pull off a miracle, this is most certainly a lost battle."
"Well," Karen said. "It's gonna be that much harder to pull off that 'miracle' if Lua leaves me behind!"
"However, if she stays, both of you will likely die. Is that what you want?"
"Naaaaah, we've just gotta kill Athena first and then we'll win the whole fight. Easy! C'mon, let's do this, Lua!"
"No," Fiona asserted. "Retreat, Lua."
"I-I…" Lua found herself sandwiched between two overwhelming forces. Whose advice should she follow in this case!? There was no time to choose!
As usual, Fiona's advice sounded most logical. It was probably the correct course of action, but it sounded so very cruel!
I mean, how can I abandon Karen like that!? She's my savior! I have to help her out!
If not for Karen, Lua would have remained all alone in the dark corner of the classroom, bullied by her peers and noticed by nobody. It was only thanks to Karen's intervention that Lua got out of that dire reality and found real friends.
Therefore, Lua absolutely couldn't abandon her savior! No matter how logical or correct Fiona's advice was, in the heat of the moment, Lua had no choice but to trust her heart!
"I-I'm sorry, but I'll stay!" Lua announced so as she shot an icicle at Athena. "T-There's still a chance we can kill her first, right? So, we should try it!"
"Atta girl!" Karen grinned. "Yeah, forget all that lame shit about retreating. We're going all in!"
"Y-Yes!"
"Is that so…" Fiona said nothing more. She delivered her advice in time to salvage the situation, yet the endangered soldiers on the field refused to heed it. It was unfortunate.
On paper, it was true that Karen and Lua had a chance to dispatch Athena by joining forces. However, clearly Athena was the one who orchestrated that entire situation. So, was she really going to give the enemy a chance to turn the tables on her…?