Challenging AbsoluteWinner!

The Dark Knight was taking his sweet time approaching William. It seemed the guy was debating whether to fight or flee, but he ultimately decided to fight. It sure took him a while, though.

[Odd, considering how precious his time should be.] William thought. [He should be frantic, in a hurry to get something done before the early-game slips away from him.]

William's entire plan was based on that idea. After all, under normal circumstances, challenging a Dark Knight alone was extremely dangerous. Even though William was superior to Memer in every possible way as a player, the power difference between their classes was difficult to erase through skill gap alone.

[Risks like this are usually better avoided in competitive games.] William thought. [Especially, when the punishment for misplaying is going to be grave. Feeding their DK is the last thing we want.]

Yet, despite all that, William was here, facing the Dark Knight head-on. Why? Because it was a great opportunity to shut down that Dark Knight, once and for all.

[He should be at his lowest point right now, scared that the entire game will slip away from him. So, he'll rush this fight. And, while rushing, he'll make mistakes.]

It was a classic scenario for any 1v1 sport. When a player was on edge and felt like they had to hurry to achieve something, it often led to their downfall. William made an entire career out of squashing frantic opponents like that.

[Alright, here he comes.] William moved half a step backward.

SLASH! A black blade flashed in front of his nose! But, it only cut through empty air. William was just barely out of range, so the attack resulted in a whiff.

[You're wide open.] William thought as he glanced at his axe. [I could counter-attack easily, but I have to let you off the hook this time.]

Normally, this would be a great opportunity to strike back at the whiffing foe. However, William had to let this opportunity slide. And, he did the same exact thing against the opponent's second and third slash. Every time, he just barely stepped out of the enemy's range but he didn't strike back.

[I don't have the reach.] William stated matter-of-factly. His axe swing animation couldn't compete in range with the Dark Knight's bastard sword. Therefore, when William stepped out of the enemy's attack range, it also meant he was keeping his foe outside his own attack range.

But, this wasn't a surprise. William was fully aware of the disadvantages Viking had in this matchup. And, he came here to fight despite all that because he was confident in his victory plan.

[C'mon, one more attack.] William urged the reckless assaulter. [You're almost there. Just a little more.]

SLASH! SLASH! Memer tried his best to slice through William, but it was to no avail. None of his attacks connected. William maintained a perfect distance at all times, deceptively so. He was just close enough to make Memer think that he was within attack range, yet he was also far enough to be able to get out of range with a single step back.

Furthermore, every time William stepped away, he also shifted their position ever so slightly. In this fashion, slowly but surely, he was circling around his foe.

Was Memer going to catch up on what's going on at some point? Surely not. In his frenzy, there was no way he'll have any spare time to think about anything other than attacking. And surely, with every slash he misses, his anxiety will grow tenfold.

[Shit!] Luke gritted his teeth. [Hey, dude! Why don't you come over here and git hit already!?]

He slashed again, again, and again. But, all his attacks cut through nothing.

Every dang time, he was like 100% sure that he had Winner in range. But, at the very last moment, the guy always somehow slipped away just in time.

Every attack, Luke's black blade came just a few millimeters away from that bastard's nose, but that's as far as it ever got. No matter how fast Luke attacked for how deep he stepped in - nothing ever reached that dang Winner.

[What did Vince call this guy, again? Something like "Zone Controller", right? This sure fits well here.]

Winner was the maestro of spacing, it was something the team discussed when they reviewed the Leopards' scrims. But honestly, it didn't really register back then. After all, the Leopards mopped the floor with their opponents in these two matches, so they looked overwhelmingly strong in all aspects.

But now, that Luke was confronting Winner in the flesh, the guy's spacing felt like some real shit. Like, it was impossible to hit this guy! He was a "Zone Controller" for sure.

[Tch, I don't have time for this!] Luke stepped in deeper and swung his blade once more, but the result was the same as before. It was impossible to even graze this dude! At least, not without overextending as heck, which Luke definitely didn't want to do against a Viking who had access to his ult.

[What's his agenda here, anyway?] Luke wondered. [He's dodging all my stuff, but he ain't hitting back at all. I mean, it's probably because he can't reach me from this range. But if he's never gonna step in to attack, then how is he even planning to win at all? Or, is he just buying time?]

Maybe the entire operation was all about wasting Luke's time in this critical moment of the game. Winner probably knew how crucial it was for Luke to score at least one kill at this point, so maybe he was fine with just wasting Luke's precious time without actually winning the fight.

[Well, if you're just going to waste time, then I'mma go all in!] Luke charged at the breathing time waster in front of him!

"Luke, wait. He's leading you toward-"

Somebody mumbled something in the background, but Luke didn't have the luxury to spread himself too thin right now. He had to be 500% focused on this dang Viking and find a way to hit the guy! Nothing will get started here until Luke lands at least one hit.

"Vincent, I think you should-"

"I'm on the case! I shall-"

There was apparently an exchange of some sort in the background. Luke didn't catch all the details, but he could guess what it was about.

[Yeah, reinforcements would be nice right about now.] Luke thought as he swung his blade once again. [I don't like to admit it, but I don't think I wreck this guy on my own. He's too dang slippery!]

Unfortunately, it'll take Vincent a while to get over here. So, until then, Luke couldn't just sit here and do nothing. He had to get some damage in! Alas, all his attacks failed to connect. This put all his mechanical skills into question.

[I thought I was pretty good, but this guy is making me doubt everything I thought I knew.] Like, why was this happening? Was it a difference in mechanical skill? Class mastery? Experience? Knowledge? It was so dang hard to tell.

[I feel like a dang rat going up against a tiger here.] Luke shuddered, if only for a moment. As the aggressor, he was pumping tons of adrenaline, which pushed him forward despite all the hesitations.

[Dude ain't invincible, that's the one thing I know for sure. So, as long as I keep attacking...!]

Dark flames engulfed Luke. He stepped in further than usual and SLASH! He cut right through the dodgy bastard! And yet, Luke's satisfaction was mild at best.

[Damn, son.] Luke shook his head.[ I stepped in so much deeper than usual, but I just barely grazed his nose! Still, a hit is a hit, I guess.]

For the first time, his attack connected. By stepping in harder than usual, Luke was finally able to catch that smooth criminal.

In the first place, Luke should've had the speed advantage here all along. After all, moving forward was a little faster than moving backward in this game. Therefore, Winner's smooth brain technique was actually hella fake. There was no way he could always step back in time against Luke's advancements.

[I just wasn't pushing hard enough because I didn't want to get counter. But, this ain't no time to be a pussy and worry about stuff like that. I'm the DK here, so I'm stronger!]

But as expected, this overextension came with a cost. Right as Luke cut through the sneaky bastard, an axe drove right into his face! It was an immediate counter with robotic precision and speed.

[Dang, I thought the guy would be at least surprised for a moment that I actually hit him. It's as if nothing gets to him.]

Was Luke just dancing to his opponent's tune this entire fight? Sometimes it sure felt that way.

[But, no more!] Luke asserted. [Now that I activated my buff, I gonna keep pressuring you nonstop!]

For Luke, getting counterattacked hurt pretty bad because his build was very offense-oriented. But, in Nightmare form, all his stats were boosted by a flat amount, including his defense. So, he had some luxury of overextending without being too cautious about the damage.

On top of that, the dark mist covering his body also reflected incoming damage. Basically, while wearing this cloak of darkness, Luke's DK was more terrifying than ever!

But of course, with great power came great responsibility. Nightmare mode slowly drained Luke's HP while it was in effect. So, he really didn't want to activate it this early into the fight. Alas, it turned out that he had no choice.

[I was hoping I could settle this fight without relying on this suicidal strat, but no dice.] Luke braced himself for the side effects and pressed on. SLASH! [Try to dodge this!]

Once again, his black blade cut through meat. It was a clean hit! Unfrotatunely, this came along with an instantaneous counterattack from Winner. But, even getting hit was fine-ish right now.

[Git that damage reflected, boiiiii!] Luke snickered as a wave of darkness shot off his body and hit the opponent as well. Every time Winner was gonna hit him, a portion of that damage would shoot right back at the Viking. [So yeah, even getting counterattacked is part of the plan! Kinda.]

Believing that he had finally gained the upper hand in this fight, Luke pressed on with this reckless offense. At this rate, he was gonna win this exchange for sure!

But, that's only what [he] thought about this situation. On the other hand, his opponent had a very different take on the situation...