Fear of the Beast

With Beat out of the picture, it was time to party hard on Mid!

"Okay, let's take the tower!" Jaiden ran toward the enemy's tower area.

"Yes, let's do it." Raymond also entered the tower area.

They had a full squad of minions tanking the tower's shots, so they were free to wreck the Turret to their hearts' content. Or, so they thought.

"Not so fast!" Lars emerged from the jungle, right behind Jaiden. BAM! HEADSHOT!

"Wha-!?" Jaiden jumped. "Already here!? Dang, that's not good!"

Terror gripped Jaiden, freezing him in place. It was the beast. The executioner. The deadeye sniper. Gunz was here! And, the beast was out for blood!

"W-We better pull away!" Jaiden rolled across the tower area, heading deeper into the lane. He had to get away, or else a combo of headshots will assault him- BAM! CRITICAL!

Another bullet, another headshot. Jaiden just recovered from the roll, but a bullet already found its way into his skull. It was amazing. Gunz's bullets were attracted to Jaiden's head like magnets. There was no escape from them.

Until Jaiden creates enough distance, he won't be safe. Nobody was safe against this raging phenomenon.

Yes, it was a phenomenon. That was no human being assaulting Jaiden right now. It was a natural phenomenon that created bullets and hammered them into people's skulls. That was the only way to describe Gunz's unnatural accuracy.

BAM! Another bullet. This one didn't hit Jaiden, but it clearly hit [something]. There was an impact sound and everything.

[Did he miss me?] Jaiden wondered. [Nah, no way. That aimbot never misses.]

Gunz must've hit something. But, [what]? Or rather, [who]? There was only one possible answer.

"Ray, you better get away from him!" Jaiden warned. As he feared, Raymond was much slower on the uptake.

Unlike Jaiden, who ran for his life at a moment's notice, Raymond retreated slowly and methodically, getting as many shots as possible on the Mid Turret on his way out. He didn't understand the gravity of this situation!

"Why are you so flustered?" Raymond's tone was eerily calm despite the terrifying situation. It's like he didn't register Gunz as a threat at all. "There are two of us here and Gunz is alone. We got the advantage."

"Well, yeah, but..." Logically, Jaiden understood that the odds should've been in their favor. However, hard as he tried, he couldn't shake off the sense of dread.

[If I get within three meters of that monster, he gone tear me apart.] Jaiden gulped. Fighting Gunz just once taught him a harsh lesson. It was impossible to combat this monster, or was it…?

"I'd really appreciate your help." Raymond stood up to the monster. He fired Squall, then immediately summoned a Jet Stream between himself and Gunz.

"Crap!" Lars rolled away in the nick of time. [I've seen this setup like a hundred times today. Ya ain't hitting me with this crap again!]

The moment Lars saw the Squall, he knew it gonna hit if he didn't move. Distance didn't matter against that setup. The Jet Stream granted Squall an unexpected boost and distance that caught Lars off-guard many times today. But, enough was enough.

[Heck yeah, git rolled!] Lars recovered from the roll and fired, aiming at Nirvana's head for that sweet critical damage. BAM! HEADSHOT! At least, it should've been...

[I missed...?] Lars couldn't tell what just happened. He ate a counter-attack before he had time to process the situation.

The enemy fired a gust of wind that traveled through Jet Stream, gained sudden acceleration, and then crashed into Lars before he had the chance to fully sidestep it.

Thankfully, the damage wasn't that high, as it was the case with most mages' basic attacks. Nevertheless, eating too many of these counters won't be healthy.

More importantly, how did Lars miss his shot in the first place? His aim should've been spot-on, yet the bullet whiffed. How? Why?

[Maybe I fudged something up.] Lars looked at the Jet Stream again.

The wind current blew against him, which meant his bullets slowed down as they passed through the Jet Stream. On top of that, the bullets' range was shorter.

But, Lars accounted for all of that. From this close, none of these factors should've been being a problem. Lars's bullets should still be able to reach their target no problem. As such, there was no explanation for that whiff.

[I'mma just go for it again.] Lars fired one more time, aiming at the Aeromancer's upper body. [This time, I'mma land this headshot for sure!]

But, he didn't. Yet again, his bullet missed.

[Nah, I didn't miss.] Lars grinned. [That dude sidestepped it!]

This time, Lars had no doubt in his mind. His aim was on point, yet the bullet failed to graze Nirvana's head. Why? Because the guy moved aside right before the bullet reached him!

[I knew he was good, but not THAT good!] Lars felt something burning inside him. This dude was awesome!

Lars was using Gunslinger, his strongest form, and yet there was somebody who could stand up to him. It was the best thing ever! Lars definitely had to win this one!

[Let's see here.] Lars stopped for a moment to better assess the situation. [The wind is making things easier for him. I gotta figure how to play around that first.]

The reach reduction part of Jet Stream wasn't the problem. Lars's bullets had no trouble reaching their destination even as they passed through the blowing wind.

The real culprit was the slowdown the bullets suffered. That made them easier to sidestep.

On top of that, the Aeromancer was moving fast as heck right now. He has just finished unpacking his entire kit, so his passive boosted his Movement Speed through the roof. He was the fastest sidestepper in the entire world!

[I hafta go all out if I wanna beat this dude.] Lars concentrated his everything on this one foe. Forget map awareness, forget the other dude on the lane, and forget defending the lane.

[Me vs. Nirvana. Right here and now. Let's gooooo!] That's all Lars could think about. [I've been waiting for this the entire day. ]

They've been clashing the entire day, but none of these fights truly satisfied Lars. As a mage, Lars wasn't strong enough to compete with a dude who genuinely mained Mid. And, when Lars played Trickshooter last game, Nirvana always dodged fights.

But now, against Lars's Gunslinger, Nirvana finally decided to stand his ground and fight for real. It was a proper duel!

Neither side could yield. Lars had to keep fighting in order to protect the super important Mid Turret, whereas his opponent had to push hard because this was a golden opportunity to do so. Neither of them was willing to give up.

[Then, let's see how ya handle this!] Lars rolled diagonally with Combat Roll, getting around the Jet Stream. [This thing is in the way. I can't hit headshots with them slow shots. I hafta shoot fast and furious, yooooo!]

Even in Ranked, few players could sidestep Lars's slowed bullets. However, Nirvana pulled it off without breaking a sweat. Dude was legit fire!

[That's why I gotta shut him down, right here and now!] To do so, Lars had to fire from an angle from which Jet Stream couldn't interfere. And, his new position was perfect to do just that.

"I'm going all out, yooooo!" Lars booted Fan the Hammer and took aim. BAM! HEADSHOT! BAM! HEADSHOT!

"Wha-!?" Raymond barely had a chance to flitch. The bullets came flying at him one after another without rest, yet they were all so accurate. As soon as Raymond started sidestepping an incoming shot, the bullet has already dug itself into his skull. Gunz was firing like a machine.

[So, this has to be what made Jaiden so concerned.] Raymond finally understood. [Indeed, this combination of accuracy and speed is deadly.]

It was one critical hit after another. In a 1v1, nobody here stood a chance against this flawless machine.

But, Raymond wasn't fighting alone here. As such, there was no reason to confront this beast all by himself.

BAM! Another shot rang.

Raymond already knew he wouldn't be able to sidestep in time. And, rolling wasn't an option either because the enemy's two headshots crippled him. Such was the benefit Combat Roll granted to the headshots that followed it.

To make things worse, a third headshot will outright stun Raymond. And, it was bound to happen at this point. There was no point in resisting the inevitable.

Instead of focusing on dodging, Raymond addressed his lane companion. "Jaiden, hit him with Kraken! He can't move right now."

"Ah, right!" Jaiden snapped out of his analysis paralysis. He has been following the fight from afar this entire time, too scared to commit to any move.

Raymond was supposed to fully retreat by now, just like Jaiden did. However, Gunz captured the captain and locked him in place. The third headshot connected and stunned Raymond.

It was a terrible situation for Raymond, but this stun leaked an important piece of information that Jaiden failed to notice until now. The stun effect proved that Gunz used his Combat Roll when he rolled around Raymond's Jet Stream.

It was difficult to distinguish between Combat Roll and Dodge Roll at a glance, so Jaiden wasn't entirely sure which of the two it was until now. The cripple effect would have been damning evidence as well, but it wasn't as visually obvious as a stun to a bystander, so Jaiden failed to pay attention to it. But, now everything was clear: Gunz has spent his Combat Roll!

Fan the Hammer was a powerful tool, but it had one terrible weakness: it couldn't be manually canceled in the middle of the action. Combat Roll was the only skill the Gunslinger could use to interrupt his own Fan the Hammer. And, with that already spent, it meant Gunz literally couldn't move from his spot while shooting right now!

No matter how much of a monster Gunz was, even he couldn't disregard the game's rules. Therefore, he was completely defenseless against a Kraken!

"RELEASE THE-"

"Ack!?" Lars almost bit his tongue. [Crap, I fudged up!]

He was so preoccupied with beating Nirvana, that he completely forgot about the existence of Renegade and the threat of Kraken. He was done for! "Nuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!"

Lars rotated here to defend Mid. However, instead, he somehow found himself overextending on the offense. [Gah! We gonna lose Mid because of me!]

It was over for them. Lars will die here, then the enemy will take Mid and steamroll from there. And, it'll all be thanks to Lars's carelessness. This outcome was like the selection match against Ellen all over again...