Preparation and Wit

"My goodneeeeeeess!" The Impulse Bomb launched Ellen high into the air and sent her flying to the other side of the lane. She was diving right into enemy territory!

This was the play Yuel has been carefully setting up this entire time. With perfect timing, Lars hit Lv.5 while Ellen was still in the air. In other words, Trickshow was a thing now! The Impulse Bomb plucked Ellen out of her safe zone and placed her within reach, so Lars was going to decimate her now!

"It's time for a trick show!" The familiar ultimate sound cue. The decisive attack was starting now- DENIED. In a single move, the whole plan was shattered.

A holy blade crashed down on Lars, it was Howard's Justice Strike. It was so unexpected even Lars failed to react in time.

[How!? Didn't I just dodge his Justice Strike!?] Yuel exploded internally. When he started this offense, the first thing he did was to dodge-roll Justice Strike. He definitely saw the white blade forming! And he dodged it! It should have been on cooldown!

[Did he cancel it? But, that means...] Yuel bit his lip. Canceling Justice Strike required very precise timing because it didn't have a very long casting duration. For Howard to cancel Justice Strike on time, it meant he was prepared for the possibility Yuel would dodge.

No, Howard read even further. A mere moment passed between Yuel's Impulse Bomb play and Lars's Trickshow activation. In that brief window of time, Howard closed in enough on Lars to drop Justice Strike and deny Yuel's entire plan. As soon as Howard saw the impulse explosion, he knew to focus on Lars. There was not a single moment of hesitation.

[How!? Every single time...] Yuel bit his lip. He planned this play days in advance. It definitely had some weak spots, but nobody should have been able to shut it down so perfectly in the heat of the moment.

Yet, Howard did it. He always somehow did it. No matter what offense Yuel came up with, Howard was always ready to shut it down. Even though Howard failed to save Ellen from the Impulse Bomb, he perfectly shut down any follow-up plays.

With Lars silenced, Trickshow's zero cooldown benefit was rendered meaningless. Now, all Lars had were his basic attacks, 35% HP and because of Justice Strike, he was now slowed down and had lowered defense. Great...

Compared to that, Ellen was going to land with 45% HP and still had Backfire Cannon. Lars and Ellen both needed the same number of hits to take each other out, but the advantage of having an available skill was a huge one. Under these circumstances, Lars may lose a frontal fight against Ellen, especially with Howard on his tail-

BANG. A bullet pierced through the air and dug into Ellen's leg while she was still in the air.

"C'mon, dude!" Lars darted toward Ellen's landing destination. "Let's do it!"

"Wha..." Yuel blinked. Didn't that goof realize what just happened? Trickshow was rendered useless. The whole attack ended in failure. "But, your Trickshow..."

"Yeah, that part sucks," Lars nodded as he dodged Ellen's attempt to snipe him from the sky. "But, so what of it? I'mma just take her down with basics!"

"But, that's..." Yuel's words trailed off. No, Lars was right. Even without Trickshow, Lars was a mechanical beast! He will surely take Ellen down in a fair fight!

The beautiful shot Lars landed on Ellen in midair brought Yuel to his senses. This wasn't over yet! Howard threw off their plans a little, but it just meant they couldn't guarantee a 100% chance kill on Ellen. Okay, so now it was just 80% chance, still good enough!

[Wait, Howard must have realized that too- ack!] Yuel's daze cost him. Howard almost caught up with the slowed Lars. He must have been planning to pincer Lars!

In a 1v1, Lars had a good chance. However, against both Ellen and Howard at once - Lars was a goner for sure. Yuel was also here, but his basic attacks were even weaker than Paladin's and they were ranged, which meant Ellen will have an easier time dodging them. And, in the first place, Yuel was too far from Ellen right now, so he couldn't even support Lars right away! Goddammit!

[I have to get Howard out of the picture!] That's all Yuel could do right now. He couldn't compete in term of damage output, but he still had tools at his disposal.

Yuel cut in between Howard and Lars with an Impulse Bomb in hand. By activating the skill "Use Tool" he crushed the bomb flask in his hand. A booming impulse erupted around him and blew Howard away!

[Yes! It worked!] Yuel got Howard out of the picture! Phew, this was a close one.

"Yo! Dude!" Lars exclaimed. "I didn't hear this was part of the plan!"

"Ah." Yuel mentally face-palmed. The impulse exploded all around Yuel, so it hit Lars too and sent the goof flying. Oops. The explosion didn't deal any damage to Lars, but it caused a terrible misposition. "I-I Just thought I'd help you get to Ellen faster. Yeah."

"Thanks, dude! VERY nice of ya!" Lars chuckled and his grin didn't vanish for even a moment. He was a total sucker for chaotic developments like these!

Thankfully, the explosion didn't send Lars that far. Still, it brought him closer to Ellen and that put them at a disadvantage because Ellen will have an easier time slipping by them. With Lars's reduced movement speed, he won't be able to keep up.

But, Lars didn't have the time to think about these matters. He just had to settle this fight as quickly as possible without getting killed in the process. Easy, yo!

"My, what a predicament," Ellen rolled as soon as she landed and dodged Lars's shot by a hair's breadth. She was down to 33% HP, so like three more hits and she's dead for sure. Scary.

Ellen retaliated and fired toward the spot where Lars was expected to land, but he dodge-rolled as soon as he touched the ground. Tch, unfortunate, but her main goal wasn't to hit him anyway. The time which Lars spent on rolling and recovering was extra time for Ellen to scram! DAAAAAAASH~★

"Should I go into the Jungle?" Ellen asked, seeing as Howard was blown too far away to help her.

"No," Howard said. "Just get back as quickly as you can."

"Gotcha." Ellen continued dashing toward her side of the lane while occasionally sneaking a shot on Lars.

"Geh," Lars made a face as another shot him, dropping him down to 20% HP. He planned to side-step that shot, but his reduced movement speed got in the way. It also made it difficult for him to chase Ellen. That fox was totally gonna slip away, yo!

But, Lars almost got her! Ellen was already below 10% HP, so he needed only one more hit! Just one! Even a normal basic shot would do the job! But, Ellen got out of his range. His bullets won't reach her.

But, not all was lost. The silence from Justice Strike finally faded and Trickshow's effect was still on, so Lars could spam his abilities for like two seconds! He slid after Ellen right away!

[It's already back!]? Ellen exclaimed as heard the sound of Trickslide behind her. Darn it, what a persistent beastie! She almost got away, but noooooo. Of course lil' Larsy had to chase her down like a stalker.

But well, it's not like she wasn't prepared for this. Ellen was saving her Backfire Cannon for this sort of situation. That was her trusty panic button~

Ellen turned around to face Lars and aimed Backfire Cannon at him. She wasn't gonna just escape, she'll also smack Larsy on her way out~! That'll teach him to mess with her!

To be honest, she probably won't be able to land this shot. But, it'll definitely make Lars either roll aside or slide aside. Either way, it'll slow him down and give Ellen more time to escape. Brilliant plan~★

[Oh boy!] Lars grinned when a cannon dropped in front of Ellen. She was going for her last resort and she was aiming right at him! Things were getting intense!

[I won't die if I'm hit by that stuff, right? Probably not. Probably. Anyway, let's go for it! She ain't getting away, yo!] Lars chained another Trickslide, but he didn't slide to either side. No, he charged straight ahead! Right toward the cannon pointed at him! "Dodging"? The heck did that word even mean? He was driving forward full gas ahead, yo!

A cannon shell flew straight toward his face... and missed. He slid underneath the shell! Matrix shenanigans, yo!

[Excuse me!?] Ellen roaring internally. What the flipping heck was that just now!? Did somebody order a circus? Because there was an acrobatic monkey right there!

[Uh-oh.] Ellen gulped. This was bad. Like, really, really, REALLY bad. One more hit and she's done for. And, because Lars didn't dodge like he was supposed to, he might actually catch up to her. "Wardy, save me~"

[Woohoo!] Lars celebrated after getting past the cannon shell. He saw Trever pull this stunt before, so he adopted this pro level play. Sickest thing ever, yo!

After Lars finished the slide, Ellen was finally within reach again. This was it! He took aim. A single hit will seal the deal. It didn't even have to be a Trickshot, a basic attack will suffice. She was so ded- wha!? A wild Paladin appeared! Howard blinked between Ellen and Lars!

[Gah! Then, I'll shoot through ya!] Lars switched to Trickshot because it could pass through units. There's no stopping him now! He was gonna shoot right through Aegis and strike Athena down!

Except, there a problem. Howard was in the middle of raising his shield, so Divine Shield was going to be a thing. Trickshot will just get absorbed in Howard's shield at this rate! Nuuuuu!

[Geh! T-Then, I'll shoot around you!] There was only one option left: a bouncing shot from the side! If Lars can't shoot through Howard, he'll just shoot around him! E-Easy!

In the split second before clicking, Lars rotated to aim at the wall. There was no time to figure the right angle or literally anything. He just had to shoot! Right now! He had to trust his honed trick-shooting instincts!

The bullet hit the wall and bounced off it. Okay, this was the easy part. Next, it had to actually hit Ellen...!

[A Trickshot?] Ellen heard the distinctive sound effect. Knowing Lars, he might find a way to make his shot reach her even though Howard. Therefore, Ellen rolled forward without thinking twice. This outta mess up Lars's aim- aya!

It didn't help. As if anticipating Ellen's roll, the Trickshot caught Ellen during the start of her roll. The bullet pierced right through her shoulder. It was a hit. A fatal hit.

『You have been killed!』

"My, how infuriating," Ellen dropped back on her chair.

"I almost got you out," Howard shook his head. "Lars apparently changed his aim in the very last moment after seeing me."

"Yep, Larsy is crazy like that."

"I was sure the most he'd be able to do is either shoot into my Divine Shield or miss. I guess I was naive. Heh, to think it was like half a step difference."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"My timing," Howard explained. "I'm sure if I delayed my blink just a little, Lars wouldn't have been able to change his aim so easily. Against most people, it's best to blink as soon as possible in these situations, but apparently, this rule doesn't apply to Lars."

"Yeah, Larsy is special. You can't block this brute when he got Trickshooter."

"But, I have to able to. There will be others at his level at the nationals. You expect me to give this excuse to the scouts from Grandview when they ask me why I blew the nationals?"

No, of course not. Ellen didn't even need to respond. Howard was aiming to play in Utopia, the strongest high school team in the country. If he really wants to get into prestige team, he can't allow himself to be held back by some acrobatic trick-shooting clown.

"Well," Howard smiled weakly. "I suppose that's how this match gotta go. That Impulse Bomb play looked like something Yuel planned way in advance. Had we managed to shut it down, maybe today's match would have ended right there."

"Really?"

"You didn't see Yuel's reaction, did you?" Howard smiled meaningfully. "For a moment there, he completely froze in place. He was shocked when I silenced Lars because that kinda killed the entire follow-up play he planned. Maybe he even thinks I'm some chess pro who reads twenty turns ahead, haha."

"My, Yuyu is so fun to bully~"

"I'm sure it would have shattered his confidence as a shot-caller if you managed to slip away in that situation. Then, this match would have become a much easier ride to victory. Oh well, the 'unexpected developments' during that play must've shaken him enough."

"And that's great for us~"

"That's for sure."

In the other room, Yuel and Lars celebrated the successful kill.

"We did it, yo!" Lars pumped a fist. "Easy!"

"Yeah, right. Easy." Yuel rolled his eyes but he found himself smiling too. Despite the hiccups along the way, they ultimately secured a kill on Ellen. Yuel's plan was made into a success through Lars's strength. It was great!

But, another feeling brewed inside Yuel as well. It took him multiple days to plan this and other strong plays against Howard and Ellen. Nevertheless, Howard nearly shut down the entire play on the spot. If not for Lars's quick wit, Ellen would have slipped away for sure.

[Even that much preparation isn't enough?] Yuel frowned. Aegis, the absolute defense. Every time Yuel tried to pierce through it, he was forced to realize anew how impenetrable it was.

Will any of the other plays he prepared work against Howard? There was no guarantee. Still, Yuel and Lars won this first exchange. They now had to push this early advantage all the way to victory!