“Whoa!” Nash jumped. A shield rammed right into him! “Oh, you approag me?”

  The Knight guy has been running away until now, but he suddenly ged his mind. Now, he seemed hellbent on fighting.

  The guy opened an ued attack with Shield Bash, which successfully caught Nash off-guard and stunned him. Then, LegendaryMemer followed up with Bde Swing while Nash was still in stun. Just like that, Nash dropped from 80% HP to 65%.

  You really wanna do this? Ya got no idea what yetting into, fam! Nash thurst his nce as soon as he recovered from stun. But, it whiffed.

  Safe! Luke sidestepped the thurst and tered with a ssh. Ez hit! It brought the Lancer down to 58% HP. That was some fine damage!

  For an underleveled Knight, such high damage should’ve been impossible against a bruiser. However, nding that Bde Swing temporarily boosted Luke’s Attack Power. Therefore, even underleveled, he could temporarily test the Lancer in terms of raw damage output.

  In fact, if Luke brings the Lancer’s HP low enough, the situation might bee even! Luke still had a ce to turables on his oppo!

  “Ya little shithead...!” Nash backpedaled away from the enemy and thrust his nce again.

  Even after he created more distaween them, his ill reached the target. This mid-range was Lancer’s domain. So, Nash could move bad forth and still reach his oppo with ease!

  However, his thrust whiffed again. Then, the Knight moved in and punished him with a ssh. Down to 50% HP.

  Why!? How!? Nash ranted internally. It doesn’t make any sense! I was whooping this guy just a moment ago!

  While Nash was fused about this ued development, his oppo uood exactly what was happening.

  “Yo, he’s really no big deal when he’s not chasing,” Luke reported to the team. Finally, he could breathe in relief.

  His HP was closer to zero than before, but he no longer sensed death looming over him. All of a sudden, this situation transformed into a level pying ground.

  And to think I was scared of ya. Luke snickered. I mean, you’re really scary when you’re chasing, gotta hand that to you. But, when it’s just us fighting like this, you ain’t nothing! I’mma meme yo arse to death!

  StormMonster was a vicious wolf before, but now he was looking more like a harmless puppy. Luke had this one in the bag! He might eve a kill here!

  Ahrust flew at him. Ez dodge!

  From up close, dodging Lancer’s attacks was a no-braihe startup animation of the thrust animation was slow enough for Luke to react to it. He simply had to sidestep as soon as he saw the Lancer’s hands move.

  “Dang it! Don’t ya uimate my powers!” Nash celed the recovery animation of his whiffed attack by using a timely Dodge Roll. He rolled away from the ining ter-attack, then he recovered and struck back!

  “Crap!” Luke couldn’t dodge this ohe thrust flew at him like a bullet.

  The thrusts had a slo, but the rest of the animation was hel fast. By the time Luke realized he should be sidestepping - it was already too te.

  “But, it ain’t over!” Luke charged straight at his foe even as the nce impaled him. It was but a flesh wound! He could still survive about three more hits like this! Let’s goooooo!

  This scrub is taking me lightly. Nash grinned dangerously. Ya sure threw me for a loop there with that sudden attack, but I fight too, ya know! I’m not only about chasing people. Killing them in a fight is also a hobby of mine! I’m Diamond in Duel, just for the record.

  I’m not much of a duelist myself. Luke thought. Like, I think I’m still in Gold? But, it’s not because I su duels. I just don’t feel like grinding that b mode. The MOBA mode is where it’s at, so I’mma gdly fight anybody there. So , let’s see whatcha got, bro! This is an official pro-level duel now! Let’s goooooooo!

  Luke closed in.

  Against Lahe secret tech was to always stay in close quarters. All was good as long as the Lancer couldn’t get into mid-range. Really, this was one heck of a porized matchup.

  If Luke gets in and stays in, it’ll almost certainly be a one-sided massacre. Oher hand, if the Lancer slips away toward mid-rahis fight will bee nearly impossible for the Knight. Therefore, Luke had to keep charging at his foe nonstop.

  "Damn, this dude...!" Nash backpedaled as hard as humanly possible, but the Knight kept stig to him like glue. "Damhis!"

  "Too slow!" Luke sidestepped and punished with a ssh.

  This bruh knows the matchup! Nash found himself grinning. That’s some awesome fighting right there!

  It was getting a little b retly, what with all his prey falling down so easily. But, LegendaryMemer and Gunz were det fighters who made Nash sweat a little. That’s how a petitive match gotta be!

  Gotta say, tho. What's with this guy's picks? Nash wondered. First Pyro, now Knight. Who the heck pys those in the jungle? Is this guy legit a memer? I feel like he's making fun of us. ’t say I care for that attitude.

  Sure, it was cool to pi unventional css every now and then. Nash liked his fair share of memeing too, especially in Casual mode.

  But, this was the petitive stage. It was her the time nor the pce for such shenanigans. Did that bruh really think he could get away these trashy picks?

  I ain't losing to some dang memer! Nash thrust his nce more. From this ra should be hard enough for Memer to react! Or, so Nash thought.

  Heh, ez! Luke saw it ing from a mile away. It was too easy! He sidestepped to the side, then sshed his oppo. WHISH! Down to 35% HP!

  It was an impressive performance. From the moment Luke started retaliating, it felt as if the momentum shifted in his favor.

  I didn’t expect that. Yuel was impressed. He's almost winning.

  If Yuel asked for Vi’s opinion on this development, the would surely cim this was the result of Luke tapping into his “Meme Force” or whatever. It might everue, except not in the way Vi cimed it worked. The meme pick robably just clouding the enemy’s judgment.

  The bizarre Knight pick threw the enemy off. And, on top of that, this pick came right after a Pyromancer Jungler pick. Both picks were unventional and puzzling, probably creating the impression that Luke was looking down on Taurus.

  As a fellow Juhat probably triggered StormMohat's why the guy was rushing the fight and blindly throwing out attacks.

  Perhaps that was the true nature of the "Meme Force", or at least its most widespread application. It wasn't just about Luke’s morale being higher while memeing. His meme picks also made his oppos underperform, either due to matchup unfamiliarity or due to pushing their buttons. It was an unventional tactic, but a strangely effective one.

  If things tinue like this, Luke might actually win this fight on his own. Yuel thought. But, I should still hurry over there, just in case.

  There was no telling how this fight will pan out. Both pyers approached critical health, so it was anybody's game. If StormMonster just calms down and takes a few seds to resider his approach, he might still win this.

  "Hey, Nash!" Jaiden called out. "Calm down, man. You're whiffi and right."

  "Well yeah, because this damn memer won't stop sidestepping my shit!" Nash ranted and fired his Lance again. But, no dice. It was missed the mark like before.

  "I sidestep too, dang it!" Nash dodged the enemy’s punish by a hair's breadth. “Ha, how you like that, huh!?” I ain’t gon some memer walk over me like that! I’mma end your whole career!

  "You o take it slow, man," Jaiden advised. "o rush it. Just focus on your spag first."

  "Oh yeah, spag. I'd totally space this dude out," Nash pined. "If only he didn’t stie like super glue!"

  "He's only terattag," Rio pointed out. "If you don't attack, you 't get tered. Basic stuff."

  "Eh? Wait a minute..." Nash hit the brakes and took a moment to think ba the fight thus far.

  Rio was right. This entire fight was essentially Nash throwing out attacks, whiffing, aing cpped. Why was he repeating that same routihis eime? It clearly didn’t work.

  Dang, looks like I was stuck thinking I’m still chasing this guy. Nash shook his head.

  This entire fight started off in the middle of a chase against an injured prey, so Nash felt like he had the initiative all along. But, he was wrong. The moment Memer turned around and started fighting, Nash has lost his adva turned into a fair fight at that point. The only thing Nash had going for him was his HP advantage, nothing else.

  As such, there was o rush. The two were fighting on equal ground here. Memer was no longer some prey to hunt, but a fair Duel oppo. Therefore, Nash had to switch his fighting style accly. It was no longer a chase, but a duel.

  Okay, okay. Calm down. Nash took a deep breath.

  It was a Lancer vs. Knight duel, nothing more and nothing else. Fet that this whole thing started from a gank. Fet that the oppo alicked silly Jungler csses. None of that mattered. This was just a regur, run-of-the-mill, Lancer vs. Knight duel.

  First, I need distance. trary to his words, Nash dashed forward.

  Heh, this dude never learns! Luke reacted to the movement and sidestepped the ining thrust. He has already buffered his basic attack, for he had to be that quick if he wao properly punish Lancer’s whiffs. Here es another ez hit!

  However, the expected ehrust never came. Instead, the Laepped backward and made Luke whiff his “terattack” ssh. "What the...?"

  "Ha! Get dunked, scrub!" Nash faked out that flowchart Knight!

  Even though Lancer's attacks were kind of "retractable" from cle, it was still a guess by the end of the day. The enemy had to specifically wait for the attae in order to properly dodge and punish it. So, Memer was waiting for some movement, any movement, that seemed hostile. That's why a simple dash forward baited that robot into attag.

  While the fool was whiffing his fake "terattack", Nash backed away and created some space betweehehrust his spear!

  "Crap!" Luke couldn't properly react to this ohe Lance flew at him like a bullet!

  STAB. He was down to 10% HP. He’ll survive only two more hits, maybe less if a critical happens. That's how thin was the ice Luke was walking on.

  It's over, fam! Nash grinned. I got the high ground!

  You uimate my powers! Luke argued back. At least, that's what I wanna say, but dude clearly got the high ground here. I done goofed with that whiff. So, now what?

  How would a dying Knight win against a Lancer who has recimed the mid-rahis was going to be a super uphill fight. Luke now had to put in tremendous effort in order to get in against that Lancer gain. To make things worse, this oppo has learned from past mistakes, so things won't be so easy this time.

  "Just retreat," Yuel advised. "Winning the fight was he pn in the first pce."

  "Oh, shoot!" Luke ughed. "Yeah, ya right. I was only supposed to keep the guy busy so I don't die. Whoopsie."

  The euation was so hectic that both sides mixed up their priorities. Luke wasn't fightio get any kills, he was fighting for his life. If the enemy isn’t going to actively aggress on him, then he had no reason to push the fight.

  "So long, sucker!" Luke turned his back to the enemy and darted away.

  "What the-!? REEEEEEEEEE!" Nash gave chase. "e back here, you little...!"

  The situation flipped on its head again, with Nash being the chaser once more. This was his favorite sario. He transformed into a monster again, while his oppo became a helpless victim. Now, I’mma get this kill real ez!

  "Take that!" Nash thrust his nce.

  "What the-!?" Luke jumped. A spear went right through his shoulder. "He's already here!? How much speed does this guy pack!? Jesus almighty."

  Death. Cold, unescapable, and absolute death. It was looming over Luke yet again. He sensed cold hands reag toward him, ready t him straight into the afterlife. No way I'm going down there without a fight!

  Luke turned around before the attack arrived. There was no esg alive from StormMonster alive while on the run. Therefore, Luke had to turn this into a duel once more!

  "You're toast!" Nash fired the decisive attack. With that, the grand chase was plete... or wast it!?

  Not so fast! Luke sidestepped the attack.

  "Again!?" Nash gasped. "Yo, this freakin’ guy...!"

  You have no power here! Luke dashed in and delivered a terattack. He wasn't out of the game yet! Even against these impossible odds, he'll struggle to the very end!

  Just get dead already! Nash did a sudden dash forward.

  Whoa! Luke sidestepped the ining attack... that never came!

  "Ha! Fell for it again, idiot!" Nash faked out that scrub once again However, this time, he didn't use the opportunity to back away. Instead, he went all-in for the kill! This drone will attack right after sidestepping. That’s where I finish him off!

  Heh, k! Luke rolled away in the nick of time.

  "Wha-!?" Nash whiffed the decisive blow. How!? His entire flowchart is about sidestepping and terattag! He’s not supposed to roll here...!

  Adaptation, ahoy! Luke grinned. What, ya think only you put one and oogether here? I also got some tricks for ya!

  Even though Luke sidestepped ahead of time in fear of the fatal blow, he didn't rush to terattack this time. After all, there was no point in taking that risk. As Yuel said, Luke's job here wasn't to kill but to survive.

  Besides, this Lancer has already proved he knew how to use his movement to bait out a rea from Luke. It’d be dumb to not take that into sideration.

  Had a feeling you'll try that shit again. Luke grinned. Read ya like a book, bro!

  That's how he successfully reacted to the Lancer’s deyed attack. Though, Luke’s response was far from perfect. He panicked a little at the st moment and rolled away, which was totally unnecessary. But, he was still alive, so nobody would pin.

  What's , though? I'm basically a walking dead. Luke gulped.

  He had 2% HP left. Yeah, just 2%. He could barely make out the pixels on his life bar. If not for the pertage showing his remainih, he'd think he was already dead.

  If I start running now, he'll catch up again and it’ll be GG. But, I 't keep fighting him either. Luke moved bad forth to buy time. Okay, I’m running away. No, on sed thought, I’m staying to fight! Haha, just kidding, I’m actually running away... or am I!?

  The vague bad-forth made the enemy hesitate. StormMonster didn't want to carelessly rush in, to not lose his hard-earned mid-range spag.

  The battle turned into a standoff between two gunmen. Except, one of the gunmen had ay barrel and was essentially bluffing his way through.

  Luke didn't really have anything going for him. The boldness he was showing was just a cover-up for his helpless circumstances. He didn't want to be part of this shootout anymore. If only somebody came and saved him...

  " already!" Nash was losing his patience. Are ya gonna fight or what? If not, start running already. Do something, dammit!

  What an annoying limbo. Nash couldn't “chase” an oppo who wasn't running away, but he also couldn't take advantage of his mid-range spag against an oppo who wasn't attag. What the heck was this situation even?

  "Maybe he's buying time?" Rio suggested. "Their Aqua is still missing, so..."

  "What the-!?" Nash finally ected the dots. Suddenly, it all made sense! Everything Memer did, he did to buy himself some time! The Aquamancer, and maybe others, were probably on their way to help this poor d!

  So, even though he preteo fight, he was running away all along! Nash ignited his dormant monster engines. He refused tnize LegendaryMemer as a dueling oppo any lohis dude is running away, no two ways about it. Our entire fight was just a sham!

  "Looks like I hafta e at ya myself then!" Nash charged forth. He didn’t care about his mid-range advantage anymore. All that mattered was nding the final decisive hit. Enough is enough. I’mma kill yo ass!

  “Oh snap, I think he’s going all in.” Luke backpedaled as fast as humanly possible. No matter what, he didn’t want to show his back to this vicious predator.

  But, backpedaling like this wasn’t good either. It was slower than running forward, so Luke had no ce of getting away like this.

  Heh, looks like I gotta stand and fight. Luke’s grin twitched nervously.

  In order to survive, he had to put himself in danger and fight back. Wasn’t it just hirious? That’s how terrible his options were. The enemy ressing him between a rod a hard pce.

  WHISH! A nce darted at him like a bullet, but he sidestepped it! This was a great opportunity to terattack, but Luke decided to skip it.

  StormMonster was still at 35% HP, so it’d take too many hits to kill the guy. There's no way Luke would be able to nd that many hits before dying, so there was no point putting himself at unnecessary risk. This euation was already risky enough as it stood.

  "Yeah, keep running around like a cockroach!" Nash thrust his spear again. This time, the spear didn't even reach the target.

  Yo, this guy is tripping. Luke smirked. Another ez dodge. He barely even had to move against that one.

  Even though the attacks were ing from mid-range, Luke dodged them with ued ease. It's all because StormMonster was rushing things. Dude was way too aggressive, so his attacks were super telegraphed.

  Thrust. Another dodge. Thrust. Dodge.

  Man, if I terattacked after each of these attacks, I would've killed the guy by now. Luke smiled wryly.

  For some reason, StormMonster’s attacks became sloppy as heck. His offense was all over the pce. His thrusts always strayed too far to one side or the other. It was too easy to dodge them.

  Yeah, it’s all a cakewalk. So, why do I feel so pressured? For some reason, Luke couldn't rex, not even for a moment. It felt like iable doom was creeping onto him. Why? He couldn't even begin to tell. It was just gut feeling, nothing more. But, it was one of these very ving gut feelings.

  So, you ain't taking any baits. Nash nodded with respect for his foe’s caution. His rushed attacks were meant to bait the Knight into attag, to get that dying bruh closer, and then strike the guy down.

  But, Memer was obnoxiously cautious. He didn’t fall for any of that shit.

  I guess low HP makes everybody more careful, huh. Nash grinned. Not bad. I respect that.

  This much was within Nash’s expectations. Therefore, his haphazard thrusts had another purpose. Slowly, but surely, they were driving his prey into a er. Nash was like a cssic horror movie monster, pying with his food until the very st moment.

  Little did the victim know it yed with.

  Heh, I keep this up all day. Luke smirked. If this gonhe extent of the enemy's attacks, it'll be no problem to juke all that stuff for days. Luke simply had to maintain this safe distand back away, oep at a time- Bump. His back hit against something.

  "Eh? What?" Luke checked behind him. There was a jungle wall. Oh-uh.

  "Yo, when did I get all the way over here!?" Luke ressed against a wall. He couldn't create any more distance from his pursuer. Did this guy just lead me all the way over here with his “random” attacks!? Bruuuuuh.

  "It was fun while it sted." Nash grinned. "Now git dead, scrub!"

  "Nuuuuuuuuu!" Luke couldn't dodge this ohe attack was gonna e from the ideal range, not close enough to juke and not far enough to out-space. It was over...

  SPLASH! Water erupted from the ground! It kicked the Lancer high in the air. Yuel has finally arrived!

  "Gah! Shit!" Nash found himself in the air. He was just about to deliver the finishing blow, but then this shit had to happen. Damn! I almost had it! No, it’s too early to give up. I still make it!

  Even as the situation turned into a 1v2, Nash had no iion of forfeiting his offehat kill beloo him...!

  "You're a lifesaver, dude!" Luke celebrated.

  "It's not over yet," Yuel said. "You have to escape. He'll chase you for sure."

  "Yeah, no doubt about that." Luke hurried into the juhe closest safe territory.

  Even though the situation became a 2v1, Luke was too io actually participate in the fight any further. One more hit and it’ll GG for him, and then Yuel would have to take on StormMonster all by himself. It was hardly a task fitting for a Support.

  As expected, StormMonster won’t take this lying down.

  "e back here, dang it!" Nash gave chase as soon as he nded. He pletely disregarded the Aquamahat dude didn't matter. It was far more important to secure the kill on LegendaryMemer. I ain’t gon you slip away!

  It's not a good idea to ignore me. Yuel threw a water ball at the ining Lancer, but the guy didn't even flinch. For StormMonster, Yuel was like air.

  It made seo ignore Yuel's damage because his basics barely dealt any damage. However, ign the potency of his spells was a grave mistake. Didn’t the enemy reize that fact...?

  "Nash, where are you going?" Jaiden asked. "You gotta get outta there."

  "Nah, no problem!" Nash insisted. "I almost got that guy! I'mma catch up to him real quick. This Aquaman over here ain't gonna kill me anyway."

  “I ted his spells back when he was in ne,” Rio shared. "He most likely has Overflow."

  "He has WHAT!?" Nash excimed.

  "We informed everybody a while ago..." Rio narrowed his eyes. He did his part and shared that info with Jaiden, and then Jaiden broadcasted it to the rest of the team. But, apparently, Nash missed the memo. Sigh.

  "No way! Then..." Nash gnced sideways at the Aquamahe guy didn't even try to stand in Nash's way. Why was that? "Oh no, pls no..."

  The Aquamaretched both arms into the air. He was eling one of his mightiest and most devastating spells!

  "Fuuuuuuuu!" Nash couldn't dodge that shit! A huge wave appeared outta nowhere and charged straight at him! It was a tsunami!

  Dam me pass him on purpose! Nash just now realized his carelessness. From this position, the tsunami gonna push Nash hel deep into eerritory, almost all the way to the eower! And, there was no dodging that huge ass spell from this close! REEEEEEEEEEEE

  WHOOSH! SPLASH! The tsunami crashed into Nash and dragged him to the edge of the enemy's tower area.

  Damn, fet chasing that Knight! Nash gulped. I gotta find a way outta here now!

  Checkmate. Yuel cast Rainfall, summoning bck clouds right above the Lahe raindrops didn't deal any damage, but they severely slowed down the Lancer’s Movement Speed. So, even with Yuel's low damage output, it was easy to take care of an oppo who was fleeing at the speed of a turtle.

  You have killed an enemy!

  It was over. The Lancer colpsed and ood up again.

  "Gaaaaah!" Nash held his head. "I was so close! Almost got that sweet double kill!"

  "Too greedy, man. Too greedy," Jaiden said.

  "Yeah, I fudged up." Nash slumped. "But, ime! ime I'mma whoop that Knight food!"

  "That's the spirit. And don’t worry, I’m about to make up for that in Mid.”

  With that, the fight in Top finally came to an end. It was a long and difficult struggle, far more difficult than what Yuel initially envisioned. His i pn for defeating DragonMaster turned out to be risky against oppos of such high caliber.

  No, that’s not quite right. Yuel thought. In theory, I khere was risk involved.

  Even though he was fident that a 2v1 situation would be enough for taking down a Berserker, he also khat Vi and Luke won't e out of the fight unscratched. So, any gank on them could prove fatal at that point.

  And, indeed, StormMonster's gank almost resulted in two deaths. It was a miscalcution that could've cost them the game.

  I thought I trained myself to avoid taking such risks. Yuel frowhese oppos really forced my hand there. There was no way I could let them take trol over Top. Our situation in Mid is already bad enough as it is.

  If the enemy seized absolute ne trol in Top, they'd trol 2/3 of the map. That absolutely wasn’t allowed to happen, not against these oppos.

  But, did that warrant arranging such a risky setup? Yuel couldn’t tell for sure.

  In the end, his pn somehow worked out. But, it almost ended in a disaster. One misfortune like that would spell doom for the eeam. They might lose the entire scrimmage to a small mistake like this.

  "Yo, that was tense!" Luke pumped a fist. "We gave that guy the biz, haha!"

  "Yeah...” Yuel said. “Except for the part where we almost fed two kills to their Jungler."

  "Yeah, that was close as heck." Luke grinned. "But hey, it was fu's do that again sometime!"

  "Fun...?" Yuel blinked. Was it fun? Well, if I look ba it now, then yes, it was quite a thrilling experience.

  They took a calcuted risk and things almost turned for the worse. However, they overturhe situation at the very end and even scored a kill that Yuel wasn't even ting on. plex sarios like this were the most fun to untangle and analyze.

  Despite the hiccups along the way, the py was a success overall. They got two kills and gained a tremendous advantage in Top. Now, Stratus was the one holding map advaop Lane fell pletely uheir trol, and they were also dominating Bot Lane for the most part.

  The team was about to head into the mid-game with a det advahis fifth and final game was already shaping out to be a pletely different kind of beast. And, this time, Stratus will win!

  DarkestCymore