Chapter 254. We Were Not Wrong (3)
“Can Almond reach Level 6!?”
“He has!”
Thementators eagerly anticipated Level 6 because that would make it easier for Almond to quickly escape.
Five yers rushed to the midne just to catch Almond. Escaping with just one de would be impossible, but what about two? He would have a chance then.
"He has to run now!"
If Almond survived, it would be a huge disadvantage for High Protein. Five yers had invested their time to kill Almond. If that time went to waste...
The rest of Balloon Stars could be elsewhere, destroying towers or taking down the enemy wards.
Reaching Level 6 wasn’t simply for shy de to escape from the five enemies.
"SweetRadish, SweetPotato, and WhiteChicken have arrived in the midne to kill Almond... Wait! Almond! Why are you going in!?" OrangeKing jumped in shock.
"He threw two des toward the enemy!?"
Almond threw both swords toward the enemies. One flew toward SweetPotato and the other toward SweetRadish.
SweetPotato, WhiteChicken, and SweetRadish all momentarily paused as they rushed toward Almond.
''Is he reallying in?''
''Is he for real?''
''Is he faking it?''
Two of the three thought the des were decoys. They thought Almond would throw the des in different directions and run away.
Only SweetRadish reacted correctly.
''... He''sing!''
He saw the de gleaming as it passed by.
Zip! Zing!
[sh]
Whoosh!
Almond''s silhouette cast a shadow over SweetRadish as he appeared out of thin air. He really jumped into the enemies.
Now, it was a 3 vs. 1 situation. In a very short moment, it would be a 5 vs. 1 battlefield. Almond had cornered himself into this.
"Fortunately, SweetPotato and WhiteChicken rushed toward where Almond originally was! They didn’t think he''d rush toward them!"
A one-on-one showdown quickly ensued with SweetRadish.
Gulp.
SweetRadish dryly swallowed.
Almond immediately spun in the air. He unleashed a triple strike with a sweeping motion and another fierce strike from above.
ng!
"The de was blocked!"
SweetRadish sessfully blocked it. Just as he attempted to counterattack, Almond threw the de and disappeared.
[sh]
Woosh!
He didn''t disappear toward the thrown de. That de was still on the sh cooldown.
"Ah! Almond! He threw another de and shed away? But it''s not the de he just threw!?"
He teleported to the remaining de that he had initially thrown and was nowhere SweetPotato.
sh!
An attack suddenly struck SweetPotato.
“What, what’s this!?”
He felt disoriented.
"Wow! A perfect Spinning Strike! Almond threw a de again!?"
SweetPotato counterattacked with his beastly ws, but he only swung at thin air.
Almond already threw a de again.
[sh]
Woosh!
He disappeared again.
"Ah! Where is he?!"
"This time, it''s the de he threw when he was fighting SweetRadish earlier!"
It wasn''t thest de he threw, but the one before. He continually moved in this pattern.
They knew this, but it was too difficult to counter during such a critical moment. From the receiving end, it felt like off-beat attacks wereing at them.
Woosh!
sh!
Zap!
sh!
Despite the repeated shing and attacking, Almond couldn’tnd a single hit.
"Ah! This is dragging on too long!"
"He didn’t get a single hit! Now Acorn Jelly, the supporter, and Daechu are joining!"
Just then...
Woosh!
‘?’
‘What?’
‘Ah...’
The three High Protein members all had a nk expression on their faces.
Almond teleported back in front of his own tower as if the battle had never happened. He looked at the three, no, five of them.
‘Next time...’
With a swish, he spun the two des as if loosening his wrists and decided on his next target.
"...!"
OrangeKing suddenly became speechless.
Originally, the five High Protein members came to hunt Almond, but it seemed like Almond was pondering who among the five of them to kill.
"Who''s hunting who here!?"
The five briefly and dumbfoundedly stared at Almond. This scene truly showed who owned the midne.
"High Protein! You''re wasting time again!"
Time continued to tick away.
“Everyone, go all out!”
SweetRadish, perhaps in haste, swung his sword and used a powerful skill.
Kwaah!
"He’s using quite a strong skill right now!!"
With a swish, Almond threw his de and disappeared again.
"Acorn Jelly, the support, and even Daechu areing! Now it''s a real five-person gank!"
All five rushed toward Almond in their prepared formation.
"Ah! Finally! The Balloon Stars members also arrived!"
However, time had already been wasted.
Of course, the Balloon Stars members also prepared and chose to defend Almond.
"Miho and StrawberryShooter have arrived! They’re in conflict with WhiteChicken!"
The first bottom duo to arrive shot the enemiesing from the south. Their opponents were also a bottom duo, WhiteChicken and Daechu.
Pa Ba Bang!
They fired projectiles at each other and moved to the middle as much as possible.
"Thepetition for position is fierce!"
"Jecheon is rushing in! We don''t know where Almond has gone!"
"Bubblegum is also jumping in!? He’s jumping in from an entirely unexpected ce!"
"Takoyaki! He’s pushing the Beast!"
Now, even Takoyaki joined in.
A 4 vs. 5 skirmish unfolded in the midne. All sorts of skills flew around. In an instant, everyone''s health decreased.
They flew around the battlefield using their movement abilities, but even a blind projectile couldnd in a skirmish where numerous skills were being fired.
[LazySoldier]
[HP: 35%]
Suddenly, his health had dropped to 35%.
"Eh!? Almond''s health is at 35%. He might meet the condition for his ultimate!"
SweetRadish widened his eyes and shouted, “Now! We have to kill him in one shot!”
“Kill Almond first!”
If only 5-10% more health disappeared, that would fulfill the conditions for activating shy de’s ultimate skill.
High Protein had to kill him with one shot of damage that was perfectly timed. Therefore, they concentrated all their firepower.
"High Protein! They’re activating all their strongest skills and aiming for Almond!?"
"Their mind is set on killing Almond!"
However, it wouldn’t be so easy. That was the charm of a 5 vs. 5 skirmish.
"Balloon Stars just needs to defend Almond. It won’t go as they like, right!?"
Paat!
A variable emerged from an unexpected ce. It was arge stone.
"Eh!? Bubblegum joinedte and has such a good position!"
[Headbutt]
Kwaang!
Without much thought, he rammed in.
[Status Effect: Floating]
[Status Effect: Floating]
Due to this bump, as many as three yers floated in the air.
"That was insane! That headbutt was amazing!"
"That''s why we keep ying! Even if you lose every day, just one good headbutt can turn things around!"
— Insane LOL
— That''s how Bubblegum is!
— LOL How could you guys even predict the strategy of a bronze?
For a brief moment, all the attacks ceased.
Just then, the High Protein members could hear a chilling voice.
[You still remember the contract forged in blood, don''t you?]
Almond''s health bar stopped precisely at 30%.
Swoosh!
His hair red up with red mana and turned white. He had activated his ultimate skill.
All the nearby enemy weapons became temporarily disabled.
Whizz!
Almond disappeared somewhere.
***
After Almond activated his ultimate technique, all thementators could say was:
"Almond!?"
"Aaaah!"
"Insane!"
It couldn''t be helped.
Almond soared through the battlefield and flew with his four des.
[LazySoldier is on a rampage!]
[LazySoldier → WhiteChicken]
Wherever he passed like a sh, an enemy fell.
[LazySoldier is dominating!]
[LazySoldier → SweetPotato]
— Woah
— Damn...
— Epic
— Wow
"Did he imbue his de with the soul of his ex-girlfriend!? He shes with insane tenacity!"
"Thankfully, this was nerfed to ten seconds! If it was fifteen seconds like before the nerf, this would be a big problem!"
It took exactly ten seconds to defeat the remaining yer, SweetRadish.
[LazySoldier Triple Kill!]
[LazySoldier is Legendary!]
[LazySoldier → SweetRadish]
Within ten seconds, the oue of the 5 vs. 5 skirmish had been decided.
[Finish!]
It should never have been this one-sided, but the result was one-sided.
"All of Balloon Stars survived! Every single High Protein member is dead!?"
"Is this even possible? It''s not like they tower dived or anything!"
Naturally, the game flipped upside down. It felt like a déjà vu of the first game.
Around ten minutester…
Bang!
Thementators mmed the table and yelled out, "GG~~~!"
The game ended and thementators disyed the scoreboard with an oue that no one expected.
[Balloon Stars: 2 High Protein: 0].
— This is insane LOL
— Wow, betting on the underdog paid off!
— I can''t believe it LOL
— Amazing LOL
Thementators reviewed the highlights of Almond''s shy de y. They spected on various aspects of the game.
OrangeKing even smirked and predicted toward the end, "This could actually turn out to be a 3-0 sweep."
— So excited to go home early LOL
— No way, King Peel!
— Crazy LOL, he''s jinxing it.
— Why would he say that!?
— LOL, thatment.
***
SweetRadish spoke to his team in High Protein''s waiting room, "We were wrong. To be more precise, I was wrong..."
Admitting this wasn’t easy for a pro gamer.
"It''s different from what I thought."
Until now, he had some prejudices about shy de. That was his main champion, and his understanding of the character was formed through reliable data.
"I always thought shy de heavily depended on teamposition."
First of all, shy de wasn’t just sensitive to enemy teampositions. He depended heavily on allypositions too. The whole team had to sacrifice the early game for him to be effective. That was why anyone who picked shy de in solo queue got yelled at.
Therefore, SweetRadish always thought that shy de didn''t need a strong counter. Just poking him in the early game could effectively neutralize him.
"I misunderstood this, and Almond overcame it."
This was only true when the yer using shy de was a mortal. SweetRadish had no choice but to admit it.
"He’s beyond imagination."
As he watched the rey of Almond''s shy de, he realized that guy was ying in a different dimension.
"If you maximize the two skills, de Art and Spinning Strike, you can change the entire team fight with minimal items. I know this theoretically and have even done it a few times, but to make it a reality every time..."
SweetRadish trailed off. There was nothing more to say. He couldn''t keep saying, ‘The enemy is strong.’ That would only demoralize the team.
"But does that mean we can''t win?" he asked to lift their spirits. "Not at all. We''re still far ahead in skills. The only issue was this secret weapon. Now..."
He erased and updated the ban list on the whiteboard.
[Ban List]
#1. shy de
#2. Raina
#3. Sana
They reced Iron Ball with shy de, and all three bans were against Almond.