The Beast That Transcends Common Sense

After Yuel returned to base, he purchased an Lv.1 Windmail. An unconventional move, since it was usually better to upgrade items to Lv.3 before buying new ones. He already had an Lv.1 Repelling Amulet, which he bought to combat the enemy's magical comp, but he chose to not upgrade it at this time.

Repelling Amulet granted him HP and magical defense, but no physical defense. That's what Windmail came to fix. While magical defense was valuable against the basics and spells of Pyromancer and Lumimancer, physical defense was necessary for tanking minion attacks.

In addition, Windmail had an aura effect which increased the movement speed of all nearby allies, similar to how Repelling Amulet had an aura which increased the magical defense of nearby allies. Both auras were weak while the items were at Lv.1, but just having auras was huge for a Paladin. His passive, Holy Aura, granted him defense and HP regeneration for each aura item he built, regardless of the item's level. Therefore, stacking two aura items early on gave him more "effective health" overall for the upcoming operation.

As soon as his Paladin fully recovered, he dashed out of the base. According to his estimation, he and Breaker were going to reach the lane at about the same time. She had a head start, but he had the small speed buff from Windmail, which became increasingly more impactful when traveling across a long distance. She might outrun him if she built boots, but knowing her - she probably went for damage. And, even if she did build boots and gets to lane first, Lars would know to stay back and avoid picking fights when he's running low on HP, right? Right? [I better hurry.]

Fortunately, no disaster occurred. Breaker got to lane a little before him, but Lars stayed in the back and farmed near the Turret like a good boy.

As soon as she returned, Breaker pushed harder than before, no doubt trying to capitalize on Lars's low HP. Insisting to stay on lane with such low HP was a rather unusual scenario on high levels of play. It's normally considered blatant overextension, the kind you'd only expect to see from greedy newbies.

So, how well did Breaker practice such unusual scenarios? How well with her "orthodox defense" deal with this peculiar situation?

As expected, she forsook defense and became the aggressor. She was probably led to this decision by some combination of the following factors: her limited experience with such silly overextension situations, the salt from her the previous failed attempt to kill Lars and the fact she was almost killed by Lars's Trickshot back then. Perhaps there were even more reasons, but these were the ones Yuel accounted for. Thus, he could tell with certainty she'd go on the offensive here, just like he wanted.

That's the first mistake Breaker made. Even though Lars stayed in the back and played "defensively", he was like a starved beast. He consistently sought an opportunity to leap on Breaker and tear her apart. The term "playing defensively" didn't really exist in that goof's vocabulary, he was like a hungry wolf Yuel kept on a leash right now. But, Breaker didn't see the leash, so she thought Lars was a well-behaved doggy. So, she approached the doggy and poked it, only to be bitten by a wolf.

Her HP fell all the way to 70% after they exchanged blows, whereas Lars stayed at 10%. Breaker's side still held an undeniable advantage, but she must have begun realizing she was doing this wrong. So, after her failed attempt to scare Lars away, she and Night retreated back to the center of the lane, inviting Lars to leave the Turret and get wrecked in a fight.

It's unfortunate, her retreat came much faster than Yuel expected. He hoped to bring Breaker's HP down to 50% first, but she noticed the pitfall in her aggressive approach too quickly. Regardless, his plan was still very much feasible.

The two ranged enemies were now back in the middle of the lane, so Yuel gained more freedom to move around as a melee player. He positioned himself on the frontline and body-blocked the shots of enemy bowmen, who were the hard-hitting minions in the wave. In exchange for his own HP, he reduced the total damage their minion wave received and gave them a push advantage.

Of course, this stunt put him in the range of the enemy Pyromancer and Lumimancer. It's a risk he had been avoiding until now in fear of feeding Breaker, but now he knew such tactics could actually throw Breaker off. In fact, he played on the front even more blatantly than usual, declaring his fearlessness.

"Could you not rotate your camera so much?" Yuel requested.

"Hm? Me?" Lars blinked. "Wait, why are you looking at my screen while playing? You got your own."

"Just getting a feel for the perspective," Yuel answered. "You're about to hit Lv.5, right?"

"Yeah, like one more minion."

"Good, make sure you get the last hit. Things are about to go down."

"Heh, sounds fun!"

[His exp lead is even better than I expected. He may be a goof, but his last-hitting skill is top notch. Instinct?] Yuel smiled wryly. The preparations were done. All that's left was to pull the trigger. He advanced even more boldly, taunting his opponents. [Anytime now.]

"Tch, these cocky scrubs are so damn annoying!" Jennifer ranted. Seriously, what's with that attitude? First, they didn't bother banning her Pyromancer, as if she's not a threat at all. And now, they're acting all confident with their overextension, thinking she gonna let them get away with this shit. Hell no! That Trickshooter was on his last breath and that Paladin totally gonna get burned playing on the frontline like that. She'll rek them both!

With the Trickshooter at barely 10% HP, there's no way he could advance to the front to help the Paladin whatsoever. In other words, the Paladin was totally on his own on the front line. It's basically the same mistake these scrubs made last time, but in reverse. Last time, the Trickshooter charged in alone while leaving the Paladin behind, and now the Paladin advanced solo while the Trickshooter couldn't follow up. These guys had abysmal teamwork.

"Let's rek this Paladin scrub." Jennifer grinned.

"So, should I go in?" Albert asked.

"Yep, go AAAALLLL in!"

"Got it." Albert nodded and activated Blinding Light. While his Lumimancer charged energy, he blinked forward with Flash, appearing right in front of the Paladin's face. Right then, a flash of light erupted from the Lumimancer, robbing the Paladin's vision.

"Good! Now eat this!" Jennifer circled to the Paladin's right and unleashed Flame Wave. Without his sight, he had no way to block the spell! He had no idea where it was going to come from!

[From the right!] Yuel nodded to himself and activated Divine Shield, blocking the incoming Flame Wave.

"Wha!? How!?" Jennifer jumped. He was blinded! He shouldn't have been able to see it coming! How did he counter her Flame Wave so easily?!

[Good, I pulled it off.] Yuel breathed in relief. For a while now, he had been playing while watching Lars's screen instead of his own. He adjusted himself to moving the Paladin from Lars's point of view, so the fact his own screen went white didn't matter at all.

With Breaker's Flame Wave wasted, they were now in a great position to mount a counterattack! "Go! Finish the Pyro with your ult!"

"On it!" Lars charged in without a moment's hesitation. Low HP? Tremendous danger? Who cared about that crap, yo. He just wanted to get some kills!

"It's time for a trick show!" The sound cue of Trickshow resounded, turning Lars's Trickshot and Trickslide into spammable skills. He slid straight ahead, gunning for Breaker.

"He actually moved forward!?" Jennifer was agasp. What's this situation? It's she and Albert who initiated this fight. They were the aggressors! Yet, these scrubs pretended they were the hunters and Jennifer was their prey! Raaaaaaaaawr!!! She gonna kick their asses for sure!

That Trickshooter couldn't do shit with just... just.... 17% HP? Huh? What? When!? Oh shit, it's that Flame Wave the Paladin absorbed earlier with his Divine Shield! He used the absorbed power to heal the Trickshooter! Nughhhhh! It's like Jennifer healed that scrub herself!

With 17% HP, things were quite different. The Trickshooter was no longer as easy to kill, especially considering the aura protection of Paladin's Repelling Amulet. But still, Jennifer was at 70% HP. Did they really think they could take her down like this? She gonna wreck them for sure-

"Would you stop already!?" Jennifer roared as a holy blade crashed on her from the sky. She was silenced and slowed, both her fighting and escaping options were sealed! [Don't you mess with me! I'mma take you down with basics then. Come at me, scrub!]

Instead of fleeing, she stood her ground and shot fireballs at the approaching Trickshooter. No matter what unfavorable factors were in play, she maintained a strong mental image. It's the image of her crushing these two scrubs with her own two hands! So what if she was restricted to just basics attacks? Bring it on! That'd only make her victory look that much cooler!

Alas, her first fireball missed. And, her second fireball missed. And, her third fireball missed. Eh? W-What's going on!? Shivers ran across her arms. The Trickshooter moved all over the place, like a damn cockroach on steroids!

[Are you for real?] Jennifer had no idea what to say. She was simply dumbfounded. Her instincts screamed to retreat and her Pyromancer already took a few steps back. But, escape? Really? In this situation? Didn't she imagine herself crushing this suicidal Trickshooter? That glorious image of her standing on top of the crushed Trickshooter... it grew hazy.

[There? No, damn...!] Just as she thought she predicted the Trickshooter's next slide, he suddenly canceled it and rolled to the other side! What's this nonsense?! Did he read her mind? ESP?!?!?

But, the dodges weren't even the most amazing part here. It's the Trickshots he fired in-between slides that struck her with a mixture of awe and terror. Some shots were aimed straight at her, others bounced off a wall and then struck her. No matter the angle he fired from - he never missed! Not even once!

Jennifer did her best to move around, making it hard for him to aim. Yet, his shots didn't waver in the slightest. Sure, her movement speed was reduced by the Paladin's Justice Strike, but she should have been able to dodge at least some of these shots. But, they always found their way to her, like goddamn guided missiles!

[Shit, what's with this damage?!] She turned pale. She was at 70% HP when she started, but it's already down to 30%?! How was that even possible?! Gah, she realized her defense was debuffed too. That damn Paladin and his stupid Justice Strike!

[This is bad. Like, seriously freaking bad.] She gulped. Even though she moved around to dodge, even though she fired basic attacks - it felt like she was frozen in place, like a practice dummy for that Trickshooter.

Did Trickshow always last this long? It was supposed to last only a couple of seconds, but it felt like this torture lasted an eternity. She was locked in a cage of bullets, with no way to escape.

Where was her mental image of victory now? It shattered to pieces. She couldn't see herself winning by any stretch of imagination. Retreat... Geh, she had to retreat! Now!

The slowdown was about to wear off and she still had 20% HP left. Trickshow had to be approaching its end too, so the Trickshooter probably had only one more Trickshot left before it goes on cooldown. At 20% HP, a straight Trickshot wasn't going to cut it. So, he'd have to make it bounce. If she dodges that final shot...! Yes, there's a chance! She could make it out!

WHISH. She'd recognize this sound effect any day. The decisive Trickshot was fired. Just like she trained, she was going to roll forward and-

『You have been killed!』

『FIRST BLOOD!』

"Wha.... Ah..." Jennifer sat there like a statue. The Trickshot came as expected and she rolled as planned... but it still reached her. Just as she finished the roll and stood up - the shot pierced her skull. Not only did it hit despite her roll, but it was a headshot too?! J-Just what's wrong with that guy...

"Sorry I couldn't help more." Albert apologized as he barely escaped to safety. "Everything was on cooldown. They really played us there."

"Played us...?" Jennifer produced a dry laugh. "You're saying they planned this whole thing?"

"Not sure to what extent, but I think they were aiming for this."

"Planned... this bizarre play? Heh. Haha." Jennifer laughed because that's the only response she could come up with. She was sure the Trickshooter and Paladin had shitty teamwork, but what if it was actually godlike? What if it transcended everything she trained to beat?

She was supposed to be able to deal with any situation, that's what she trained herself for and what she prided herself in. But, this development... she failed to even register it as a "situation to deal with" at first. From the Trickshooter's reckless charge and down to his hellish Trickshow - everything about that play transcended common sense! If it was really planned by these two, then... wow. Just wow.

"Welp," Lars twisted his lips. "The Support got away."

"You greedy bastard," Yuel smirked. They just pulled off a pretty insane play, but that wolf wasn't satisfied until he devoured every last opponent. Well, it's probably this hunger for victory that allowed him to pull off these insane stunts in the first place.

Thanks to "Lars Trickshot Services Ltd.", they finally found a way to penetrate through Breaker's airtight early game defense. StormBlitz seized the momentum first! They had to roll with it and gain further advantage while it lasted! It was up to Yuel, as the captain and the shot-caller, to ensure that was going to happen.

"Congrats on the first blood," Roi said. "Nice beginner's luck there, lol."

"Luck?" Lars grinned. "I'mma kill her twenty more times, ez. Just ya watch, yo!"

"So," Gilbert smirked. "If you score less than 20 kills we'll sub you out."

"Geh! N-No problem! Easy peasy lemon squeezy!"

With this one kill, what remained of the team's awkward atmosphere now entirely vanished. They were joking and laughing again. No ranting, no shifting blame. It was amazing. Lars, the "Momentum Generating Wonder Boy", was amazing!

In the last match, Yuel spent the whole time thinking up ways to improve the team's morale, to no avail. However, with Lars at his side, he found a solution within seconds. With Yuel's strategy and Lars's strength - they could pull through anything!