Gank the Ganker

"Wha-!?" Kai gasped. The juicy opportunity to score a kill vanished in front of her very eyes!

It should've been impossible. The Aeromancer didn't have any quick escape tools. And yet, Merlin blinked away!

"Damn, he was cloaking that Blink!" Kai ranted.

"Yeah..." Yuel frowned.

Buying Blink in the early-game for extra safety wasn't unheard of. In particular, a class like Aeromancer benefited greatly from it.

However, Merlin went the extra mile and paid gold to also cloak the skill. In other words, from the get-go, he was planning to use Blink not only as an escape tool but also as a trap.

[This gives me Ellen vibes.] Yuel shuddered. [It looks like I'll have to ask myself twice every time I see an opening with this guy. Anything has a chance to be bait with him.]

Either way, it was too early to give on this play. Even after blinking away, Merlin was still somewhat within reach.

"Damn!" Kai cursed. "Get back here, you little...!"

She tossed a satchels charge ahead of Merlin, hoping to knock him right back within her attack range. There was still a chance there!

Alas, she was too late. By the time the satchels charge reached its destination, Merlin had already rolled ahead. He was completely out of reach now.

"Tch." Kai clicked her tongue and returned to her previous activity, that of clearing the remaining enemy minions.

"This isn't over yet," Yuel said. "We still have Nia's incoming gank, so no need to rush with clearing the minions. Instead, try to get as close as possible to them, to make sure you're ready to follow up on Nia's attack."

"Got it." Kai gradually moved toward the jungle side as she threw bombs at the enemy minions. [This time, I'll get the kill for sure!]

Nia was already right around the corner. Her rotation took longer than expected and it wasn't very efficient, but that was just standard Nia things today.

"Attacking...." Nia informed in a small voice, with a yawn right after.

This was a golden opportunity. The enemy still hasn't used Lumimancer's ult, so they shouldn't know that Nia arrived. So now, she just had to enter stealth mode and sneak up to them!

"Go for the Aeromancer if possible," Yuel advised. "This time, he doesn't have any escape tools for sure, and he even spent his Dodge Roll."

"Ok..." Nia did her best to keep her eyes open as he targeted her Shadow Clone. The plan was to summon her twin sister into the lane and distract the enemy. In the meantime, Nia will sneak up to the Aeromancer.

This was one of the basic Ninja routines, yet it felt so tiresome for some reason. In fact, everything felt tiresome right now. Nia really wanted to just curl up on top of this comfy esports chair and take a nap...

[No, this is an important moment.] Nia weakly shook her head. [I gotta focus. Focus. Focus...]

The word echoed into nothingness in her head. This was sooooo tiresome. She had to wrestle with her own eyes to keep them open. As a result, she didn't notice the unfolding situation in time.

While she was taking her sweet time to aim her Shadow Clone from the jungle entrance - the enemy was already here! ROAR! The Lionfolk leapt straight at her!

"G-Gufu!" Nia jumped. The surprise gave her an unexpected rush of adrenaline. [G-Gotta dodge- ack!]

Despite the adrenaline injection, she was far too sluggish. Nia started rolling to the side, but the lion already crashed on her. The damage was already dealt.

"Nia, retreat!" Yuel ordered.

"O-Ok!" Nia got up on her feet and ran back into the jungle. But, the enemy's next move was already here.

ROAAAAR! An orchestra of roars surrounded Nia from all sides. The narrow jungle entrance was packed to the brim with lions!

This was one of these scenarios in which Lionfolk's ultimate was totally busted. The lion cage squeezed itself inside against the narrow Jungle passage. Even a fly couldn't break past this tight blockade.

What's even worse, Nia rammed headfirst into this tight pack of lions before she could hit the brakes.

CLAW! A lion slashed Nia from the left. CLAW! Another lion attacked from the right. Rather than just a "cage", this almost felt more like the lions were ganging up to eat Nia alive! Scary!

Thankfully, these predators had no intention of actually chasing Nia once she distanced herself from them. What's more, their fierce assault helped wake up Nia even harder. The sleepy gears in her brain finally started to turn.

[I-I just need to jump out of here!] Nia turned her back to the lions, then performed a backflip over their heads.

The small jump of Shuriken Flip wasn't enough to cross tall structures like walls, but it sufficed for hopping over these lions. Nia executed the jump close enough to this short wall, so she successfully went flying over the lion barricade.

And, as for the shuriken she threw during the backflip? It went somewhere random. She had neither the time nor the luxury to aim that thing. She had to escape ASAP!

[I gotta run!] That was the only thought occupying her mind in this dangerous situation. [I'm dead if I don't shake him off. Scary!]

A jolt ran through her. The reaper's cold arms were trying to embrace her. She stood no chance if this predator catches up to her.

Sure, Ninja could deliver huge damage at close-quarters, but that's only as a surprise attack. Inazuma Drop was way too hard to land on anybody from the front. Not to mention, Nia wasn't exactly in peak condition this game, so she was in no state to entertain anybody in a fight.

[Need… to keep… focus…] Nia's vision flickered. Despite the adrenaline surge, her eyelids still felt heavy and threatened to outweigh her. She was like a hyperactive sleepy person, if that even made sense.

[I think I can lose him after this corner.] Nia squeezed all the brain juice she could in order to optimize her escape route. This was supposed to be a simple play she'd normally execute via instinct alone, but right now she had to actively think about what to do next. Truly, her half-functioning brain was a mess.

As soon as Nia went around the corner, she activated the Shadow Clone she failed to cast earlier. There was no time to decide in which direction to send her twin sister, and it didn't matter anyway. The important part here was the stealth Nia gained in the process.

[Ok. Safe. Now, I just need to pick a random route.] Nia went for one of the multiple routes available to her at the intersection.

As the chaser couldn't see her anymore, the guy would have to guess where Nia was headed next. But, even if he were to guess right, he'd still not be able to find an invisible escapee, right?

[So, I win. You'll never find me.] Nia breathed in relief. [This expert of hide-and-seek can't be caught that easily. Hmph.]

Unfortunately, with her thoughts so scattered, Nia failed to consider that the enemy had a cheating tool at their disposal.

"Ronald, boot your ult," Cato commanded.

"Here you go." Ronald activated Solar Wrath.

Five pillars of light penetrated through the sky and shone on five different spots on the map. These were the locations of the five enemy players. The skill revealed both regular and stealthed players alike. None could escape the all-seeing gaze of the sun.

[My, so that's where you went~] Cato smiled impishly. [I have to admit, I wouldn't have thought of searching for you there, of all places.]

VanishingFlower pretty much did a 180 around the corner and ventured back into enemy territory. Any sensible chaser would have assumed that the girl escaped toward her own territory, so they would have continued chasing in a completely wrong direction. What a sneaky little girl~

[But, too bad for you. I did my homework for today and this is the result.] Cato smiled confidently. [I wonder, how does it feel? I mean, stealth is the only thing you're good at, and now I've stripped you of it. Must be pretty frustrating, isn't it? Hehe~]

Cato came prepared for this match-up in particular. He extensively studied Vanishing's patterns and attributes, to give himself as much advantage as possible for when he finally gets an opportunity like this.

In essence, Cato was a spider and his wards were a web. Meanwhile, Vanishing was but a clueless fly who thought herself too stealthy to be caught by anybody. But, unfortunately for her, she ended up entangled in Cato's web all the same.

[And now, I'm going to enjoy this meal I captured~] Cato caught up to Vanishing and assaulted her again.

Escaping into this part of the jungle could have been a 200 IQ play under other circumstances, but Ronald's Solar Wrath turned it into a critical misplay. It gave Cato a huge tactical advantage.

Since the enemy ventured into the Leopards' territory of her own volition, it was easy to cut her off. In a matter of seconds, Cato appeared right in front of Vanishing.

[You don't have any more spaces to move to. It's over.] Cato unleashed Mighty Roar to drive this chase to its conclusion.

But, WHISH! The Ninja rolled away just as Cato started roaring! Vanishing escaped the crippling effect by a hair's breadth!

[My, what a pain.] Cato clicked his tongue. [Just let me capture this piece already.]

Even though he had all the advantages, this sneaky girl was hellbent on making his life difficult until the very end. This was turning into quite a pain.

[I did notice in the replays that her mechanical skill is occasionally impressive.] Cato thought.[ But, it looks like she's even better than I estimated. I might need a little help here.]

Cato already exhausted all three of his skills, yet the enemy still lived. Now, all he could do was to chase the prey by foot and claw at her with basic attacks. It was far from an ideal arrangement.

Vanishing was already down to 60% HP, which was nice but not enough to consider her dead yet. So, Cato definitely had some more work cut out for him.

"Hey, Sonya. Could you lend me a hand here? Pretty please?"

"Already on it." Sonya entered the jungle before Cato even said anything. She has just finished restoring her Chakra back to full via meditation, so she was ready to unleash her entire kit on the escapee. "I'll put her out of her misery."

"Yes, please."

"Try to lead her over here, if possible." Sonya pinged a route on the mini-map.

"Yes, that was the plan."

Ever since his Mighty Roar missed its mark, Cato was no longer trying too hard to catch up to his prey. Instead, he prioritized walling off the girl's escape routes, to box her inside the Leopards' territory. He was like a cat playing with a cornered mouse.

[And now, it's time for the little rat to step into the rat trap~]

Oblivious to all these master plans, the cornered Ninja just kept running forward, trying her best to stay alive inside this danger zone…