Unleash the Demonic Power!

『An enemy has been killed!』

[That's one.] Yuel nodded to himself after Lars beautifully finished off Gilbert in midair. Now, the next target will be-

[Me, right?] Howard rolled aside to dodge a geyser eruption. He was the obvious next target, considering how deep he was into enemy territory and that the Golem was already targeting him.

"Target Howard!" Yuel ordered.

"On it!" Lars scored a headshot before Yuel even finished the sentence.

[Tch,] Howard frowned. [Lars will end me in no time if he keeps getting these headshots.] Howard retaliated with Icicle Rain and basic attacks to slow down Lars's attack speed, while at the same time also drawing some distance between himself and the mad dog. But, that wasn't nearly enough.

"Greg, pull out the Ents," Howard froze himself with Cryo-Freeze to negate the incoming damage from the Golem's boulder and Lars's headshot. It'd be great if he could just chill out here and slowly restore HP while being invulnerable, but...

[Not under my watch.] Yuel splashed water on the frozen Howard and melted away the freeze effect. This handy nullification effect of Splash was exactly what Yuel picked Aquamancer for!

[Figures.] Howard has already been spamming the Shift key this entire time to roll away as soon as his Cryo-Freeze is negated. Cryo-Freeze was merely a distraction to buy himself some time. To properly evacuate, he needed the help of Gregory's Ents.

Three giant trees appeared on the lane and made the area even more packed than it already was. Ents behaved like minions, so they focused on whoever was targeting nearby allied players.

"Wait," Yuel called out. "I'll hit him first to aggro the Ents." He activated Rainfall, which summoned a rain cloud over Howard's head. The rain slowed Howard down, which allowed Yuel to catch up and hit him. "Okay, you can keep attack-" A shot fired!

"Already on it!" Lars delivered a headshot right away!

[So persistent...!] Howard grimaced. The Ents were focusing Yuel, so they didn't scare Lars away as Howard hoped. But, that was fine. Their attack power scaled with Gregory's, so it wasn't high in the first place due to Gregory's defensive build. The Ents were just here as a distraction to help Howard maneuver around Lars's headshots.

Based on Lars's current attack speed, another shot was coming right about now. Howard turned to the right and went behind an Ent. A shot resounded, but it didn't land a headshot, it hit the Ent instead.

[Wha!?] Lars was so concentrated on Howard that he didn't notice the Ent stepping into the shot. [He's making Ents body-block for him!? Savage!]

[Such flawless defense.] Yuel frowned. No matter what they threw at Howard, nothing fazed that guy. It was impossible to take him down like this after all. "Lars, forget Howard. Focus on Gregory instead."

"On GG? You got it!" Lars gave up on one snack to chase another. He gonna get a bunch of kills here, he had to! This was the team's big comeback, yo!

Gregory has been running kinda low already. Dude was tanky, but with Lars's red buff and all the penetration in his build - he could do some hella fine damage!

"Greg," Howard said. "There's a chance he'll gun for you next, so retreat."

"Tch, got it." Gregory noticed Lars changing forward, so Howard's advice was most likely spot on. Gregory wanted to stay here a little longer to finish Roi off, but yet again he was forced to retreat without dealing the finishing blow himself. This was shit.

[Can Greg get out?] Howard pondered while making his own escape. [It's probably a 50-50. They got us well when they killed Gil right off the bat. But, it's not like that kill was for free.]

"You call this 'fine'?" Julia grumped. While the others were busy dealing with Howard, she went through some horrible stuff. Ellen downed her with Kraken and then Gregory pulled her with Nature's Grasp. The enemy forced Julia into close-quarters combat wiped her out. ["It'll be fine" my ass. Yuel is so full of shit sometimes.]

"I thought stopping Gilbert would be enough," Yuel made an excuse. In truth, he didn't have any special plans for protecting Julia in that situation. If Ellen were to step within his range, then he would have knocked her up with a geyser eruption to deny the Kraken play. However, Ellen knew better than to that such a risk and Yuel didn't go out of his way to make that situation happen.

To put it bluntly, Julia was a sacrificial pawn in this play. Her job was to bait some kind of play out of the enemy so that the team could take advantage of it. Trading their Mid Laner for the enemy's Mid Laner was advantageous because the team was behind, which meant every player on the enemy team was "worth more".

Of course, Yuel kept all these considerations to himself. Julia will make a scene if she hears any of this.

It was unfortunate, but being a bait was the best worth Yuel could find for Julia this game. She has been playing overly cautious ever since Taison killed her, so she didn't do her job well as a backline damage dealer. Instead of letting her stay in the back and poke every once in a blue moon, using her as bait in the team fight was far more efficient. Nothing personal.

『An enemy has been killed!』

"Woohoo!" Lars finished Gregory off. "Now we're talking!"

"Good job," Yuel said. Things were finally going their way. With this team fight, they might very well turn this entire game around!

『An ally has been killed!』

But, nothing was earned for free. While Lars focused on Gregory, Ellen finished Roi off. In term of death counts, this fight was still two for two. Yuel's team didn't quite seize an overwhelming advantage yet, but this much was already impressive enough considering for how long they've been lagging behind. Just a little further and they'll gain the upper hand...!

"I'mma gun for that fox next!" Lars darted at Ellen even before finishing the sentence.

[My, how aggressive.] Ellen spotted a vicious doggie running at her and began her retreat. Escaping along the lane will do her little good, so she entered the nearby jungle.

"You ain't getting away, yo!" Lars chased into the jungle.

"Wai..." Yuel stopped mid-sentence. This was dangerous. So far, nothing good has ever come out of chasing Ellen this game. However, to gain a true advantage in this situation, killing Ellen was essential. That'll flip the entire game on its head!

[So, it comes down to this...] Yuel hesitated. Was it okay to let Lars fight Ellen? In term of HP values, Lars had a huge advantage. He was sitting at 70% compared to Ellen's 20%. In term of raw power, Lars was also obviously stronger. Ellen has also spent her Kraken, so she lost her most threatening tool.

In addition, Ellen ran into Top Jungle. It wasn't long ago that Taison was spotted going for the Dragon in Bot Jungle, so he couldn't have rotated all the way to Top Jungle to surprise Lars. Was Taison's Teleport online? Possibly. Were there any Checkpoint Ward in Top Jungle? Unless someone predicted this entire sequence of developments, that was unlikely. Sentry Wards were too valuable at this stage of the game to randomly carry Checkpoint Wards around, right...?

"Be careful," Yuel said. "I'll join you soon, so don't overextend if you see any danger."

"No problem! I got this!" Lars had no intention of letting Ellen slip away, not this time. This was such a rare opportunity, her HP was so low right now! He had to finish it!

[It's on purpose~] Ellen winked at the screen as she placed a Checkpoint Ward around the corner, in an area illuminated by an allied Sentry Ward. "Taitai, you're up~"

"Not again!" Lars cried out when Taison appeared behind him in the jungle. How was that dude always teleporting behind him like that!? EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. For real, yo!

[I had a feeling.] Yuel clenched his mouse. It seemed Ellen took it upon herself to always carry Checkpoint Wards for Taison, even though she was the Carry and should have been investing gold in her build.

This was all a part of the usual "two-step bait" strategy for killing Lars. Fist, Ellen baited Lars while placing a Checkpoint Ward nearby, then Taison teleported over there to kill Lars. Such tricky, as expected from a snake like her.

However, this time it was different. Yuel finally wiggled his way out through the giant Ents which were ganging on him, so he could quickly chase after Lars. If he gets there on time, he'll turn this into a 2v1 and- an ice wall!? It blocked the entrance into the jungle!

[Howard is back!?] Yuel couldn't believe his eyes. Howard, who should have fled for his life with no HP, turned around and returned to the lane! And now, he stood in Yuel's way. All of a sudden, reaching Lars to provide backup became a hundred times harder!

[Damn, he doesn't miss anything.] Yuel bit his lip. Howard had no shortage of tools to hinder Yuel's plan: blocking the jungle entrance with Ice Wall like he already did, freezing Yuel with Ice Coffin and slowing Yuel down with Icicle Rain. Ugh, such a pain!

"Howard is blocking me," Yuel said. "You're alone out there again, so do everything you can to not die."

"Don't worry!" Lars dodged a shot and fired back. "I'mma kick his butt this time! I got demonic powers on my side, yo!"

[Where is this guy getting his confidence from?] "... okay." Yuel gulped. Losing Lars here would be mean losing the entire game because Ellen, the enemy Carry, was still alive. Respawn times were long at this stage of the game, so until Lars respawns, Ellen will have more than enough time to heal up in base and push all the way to victory. Therefore, despite the many things Yuel's team achieved in the recent team fight, everything could crumble from the tiniest of mess-ups.

Unfortunately, Yuel's path was blocked and he couldn't do anything about this situation. There was no choice but to put faith in that goof...

"Let's rock n' roll!" Lars gave the hammer of his revolver a fast spin. This was gonna be good!

[This shit again?] Taison sneered. [Bro just ain't learning. That shit has no power here, yo!] Taison conjured a coffin and entered inside. Coffin Slumber, ez counter!

[Not this time!] Lars fired without hesitation. One shot. Two shots. Three shots. The coffin was blasted apart, but Lars kept shooting. Now, that Fan the Hammer was at Lv.6, it fired six shots in a row. That's way more than that pesky coffin could handle!

Boom! Headshot! Super critical damage! 30% HP erased on the spot!

[Fuck! I forgot it can fire so many!] Taison ate a crapton of damage right in the face. He had to dodge! Fast! He rolled aside, but the next shot hit him too. At least, it wasn't a headshot so it only took 10% HP. Still, that was a lot.

[Vampire is kinda a bruiser, ya know?] Taison grumped. He wasn't supposed to be some squishy loser like this. How the heck did Lars hit like a truck?

[Damn, son. This build...] Taison's grinned as he went over Lars's stats. Lars's built literally had only power, penetration and crit damage. Dude was like a freakin' ballista. He fired slow, but his shots were hella deadly.

But, that was also the build's weakness. Fan the Hammer was Gunslinger's only way to fire quickly, so once it went on cooldown - Taison had the speed advantage! It was over now! [You're dead, bro!]

[Let's see what ya got!] Lars took the challenge head-on.

It was a dance of shots and dodges. Bullets darted from Lars's side and bats charged from Taison's. Their movements were matched in term of skill. This time, Lars ain't gonna lose in a 1v1! But...

[Too slow, loser!] Taison fired, sidestepped and fired again. In that same time, Lars only got to shoot once and to just barely sidestep Taison's first shot in the last moment. As a result, Lars had no time to dodge the second shot. Khaha, so slow! This was easy peasy!

[Geh! It feels like he's moving twice as fast as me!] Lars couldn't keep up. Faster attack speed meant shorter recovery time, so Taison could transition from shooting into sidestepping way faster than Lars.

Even if they fired each other at the same time, Taison sometimes sidestepped the attack while Lars was still stuck recovering from the shooting animation. Dang it!

[Welp, about what we expected, right?] Lars smiled wryly. He started this fight on a strong note with Fan the Hammer, but now he was at 10% HP while Taison was at 40%. [Okey dokey! It's time to unleash the demonic power, yo!]

Lars unleashed a burst of black energy. It was Dark Contract! By paying half of his remaining HP, Lars received a huge boost in all his stats! His attack power, attack speed, movement speed, penetration - everything!

This was the final gamble Yuel prepared for this game. With this temporary power-up, Lars gonna overwhelm Taison for the first time today!

"Shit! Contract!?" Taison stumbled for a moment. "Khaha, what a guy!" [Too bad you're one shot away from dying. You tried!]

Taison fired the decisive shot! ... and missed. The fuck!? Oh, right! Dark Contract made the user faster, so Lars could dodge faster! Oh, shit! A counter was coming!

Taison sidestepped, but the bullet still drilled into his shoulder. So fast! And so strong, too! The shot erased like 15% of Taison's HP! Two more hits from that shit and he was a goner! This power-up was bad news!

[Shit, I just need one more shot and the guy's through! Just one shot!] Taison fired... but he missed. And, Lars countered with a shot right away. Fuuuuuu! Both of them were one hit away from dying!

[I-I ain't dying here!] Taison stepped back. This called for a tactical retreat! He totally wasn't running away like a pussy or anything, it was just better to retreat and reorganize. [That's called playing smart, yo!]

Taison turned into a bat via his ult and flapped away. His flight speed was hella fast, so if he just gets around that corner-

[Gotcha!] Lars activated his ult: Deadeye. He locked onto the flying bat right before it vanished around the corner. Once locked on, Deadeye will never miss. Even if it had to pierce through the Great Wall of China or fly across the entire cosmos, Deadeye will always strike true. It was over!

A lightning speed bullet. It cut straight through the jungle wall and pierced the fleeing bat.

『You have killed an enemy!』

『KILLING SPREE』

"Woohoo!" Lars pumped a fist. "That's what I'm talkin' about!"

[He really did it!] Yuel couldn't believe that absurd gamble worked. Dark Contract was a flimsy utility skill to rely on, but it worked like a charm this time. Rather, Lars made it work.

Yuel noticed before how Lars seemed at least ten times stronger with Dark Contract, it saved them a handful Ranked games. To think it also worked in a serious match... amazing, nothing short of amazing. They finally broke through that nasty strategy designed to kill Lars!

With this kill on Taison, the tides have turned. Lars scored three kills in a row and it put him on a roll. Until Ellen returns from the base, Yuel and Lars had time to reorganize and push Mid. Thanks to Fan the Hammer, Lars's push potential was huge at this stage of the game, so they'll be able to break through- SHOT!

"Eh...?" Lars's Gunslinger collapsed.

『You have been killed!』

"Eh? Wha..." Lars only saw the attacker for a split second before dying. It was Ellen.

[Surprise~] Ellen stuck out her tongue. These whippersnappers probably thought they won, but too bad~

Taitai has been doing a great job pushing Larsy around this game, but Ellen didn't believe even for a moment that this routine would keep working the entire game. After all, Larsy was a wild beastie. That's why Ellen had a simple backup plan: if Larsy ever beats Taitai, Ellen will just have to return and clean up the mess. It was a simple as that.

[It was a nice last-ditch offense,] Howard nodded with genuine respect. [But, this game has already ended a while ago. Ever since you lost the early game, you've never had a real chance to break through.]

"No way..." Yuel's lost grip of the mouse. Even though they got so far, even though they almost turned the tables around... everything was still within Howard's calculations. Yuel and Lars broke through one wall, only to discover an even greater wall waiting behind it. That was just...

"Weeeeelp..." Lars threw his head backward and stared at the ceiling.

They both understood what this result meant. It was over. They lost.