"Crap!" Luke exclaimed. "They're coming at me hard! I told ya that'll happen, man!"

"I didn't expect them to actually go for it," Yuel admitted. It seemed that he had to slightly adjust his evaluation of these two "defensive players"

With that said, this development didn't actually change anything of substance. Yuel’s plan already factored in this potential development, just in case.

"I'm coming over there now,” Yuel said. “So, just try to not die right away."

"Pft, easy for you to say, man. I think they're planning to straight-up blow me up!"

"Go to the opposite jungle entrance after the Sorcerer places two orbs. That'll buy you some time."

"Yeah, sure, if I don't get caught but this dang Vampire first!"

"I believe in you."

Yuel was already halfway through the teleportation process, so he was going to arrive on the scene soon enough. In the meantime, he ran over the simulation for this particular unlikely scenario one more time.

In this situation, I just focus on the Sorcerer. Yuel reminded himself.

This wasn’t the most ideal development he envisioned, but it was fine. Yuel’s high-risk high-reward plan hadn’t fallen apart yet. The big payoff was still very much within reach.

Alas, his partner in crime was nowhere near as optimistic about any of this.

“Dang, I didn’t sign up for this, haha!” Luke tried to drown his anxiety with dry laughter, but it wasn’t very effective. These bois are going for the kill for real, I feel it in my bones! But, I ain’t gonna fall here, no way. The meme is gonna live on!

Luke had come so far with his Dark Knight in this game. He had a very strong opening, a decent first jungling phase, and to top it all - he delivered a devastating gank on Top that won Stratus a tower!

This had all the criteria for an impressive snowball that’ll secure the team’s victory. But, to make it really happen, Luke had to push just a little further, to snowball just a little more. And, this strong attack on Mid was the play that was going to make it happen.

So, I’m sorry to inform ya, my dudes, but I ain’t allowed to die just yet! Luke waited for the enemy to place the second Magia Orb, and then he hit the brakes and rolled in the opposite direction. Gotcha, bitch!

Instead of continuing his retreat toward Top Jungle like the enemy expected, Luke pulled a switcheroo just as Yuel instructed and made a dash for the opposite side, toward Bot Jungle! They ain’t gonna catch him alive, not today!

The sudden change of directions clearly caught the enemy off-guard. They never saw it coming!

“Seriously?” Matthew sighed. “What a drag.”

“My, what a slippery rat we got on our hands here~” Cato smiled but it was a cold, scornful smile. Come back here, will you?

The sudden change of directions didn’t only thwart Matthew’s Resonance plans. It also made Cato’s charge in Bat form completely miss the intended target.

The bat form had high speed, which was usually a blessing. However, at this very moment, it turned into a curse.

It was impossible to hit the brakes on this skill, so Cato ended up charging ahead, right past the target that vanished.

In order to make it back and assault Memer once again, Cato had to circle around in mid-air and do a 180. It was doable, but it’ll be a huge time-sink.

Still, we have him cornered. Cato thought. This is just a little hiccup, nothing more. He won’t be able to make it out alive by shooting for Bot Jungle, not from all the way over there. He’s only delaying the inevitable.

Cato and Matthew didn’t flutter. Though this development was sudden and unexpected, it was well within expectations.

In the first place, they wouldn’t have pushed so hard with an attack that could be thwarted so easily by such a simple counterplay. So, they were prepared for a couple of counterplays.

“Got him.” Cato finally rammed into Memer, stunning the guy in place.

He reverted back into vampire form after the collision, then wrapped his arms around the victim and sunk his fangs into the poor guy’s neck... yes, right into that ironclad neck.

Realistically, the Vampire’s teeth should've shattered from biting the dark metal so hard. However, this particular Vampire had no qualms about biting on literal iron as long as it meant securing his meal.

“Your turn,” Cato said.

“On it,” Matthew replied so, but he actually had to wait another 1.5 seconds before summoning an additional Magia Orb. Until then, he could only fire basic attacks at the paralyzed Dark Knight.

Okay, finally. Matthew summoned the Magia Orb.

Unlike before, there was no longer any point in summoning the Magia Orb near the target, as Resonance Ignition wasn’t worth using with a single orb anyway.

Instead, Matthew placed the new Magia Orb right in front of himself. The plan was to slam the orb hard and send it flying toward the target.

And so, Matthew started activating Repelling Force, but then- ZOOM! An unusual sound played in the area.

It sounded similar to Blink and Recall, but it didn’t seem to be either of those. No, this was... Teleport!

“My, my, my...” Cato’s brow twitched.

To call this an “unexpected development” would be an understatement. This Teleport came completely out of left field.

Then again, this does explain a few things. Cato realized. The DK didn’t come here only to proxy farm. He also wanted to place this Checkpoint Ward as a surprise. If only I realized it sooner...

The one who appeared out of thin air was none other than Chessmaster, the Aqaumancer! And, knowing Yuel, he must have come here fully prepared.

"Do you have an estimation of how close their Aqua is to Overflow?" Cato had posed such a question to William just recently.

Yuel’s overly aggressive approach to clearing minions in Bot almost looked like he was farming Overflow. However, at the time, Cato didn’t know what to make of it, so he ignored that piece of information and moved on.

But, as it turned out, it was a crucial hint toward the current situation, yet Cato failed to piece the puzzle together. It was a blunder of the highest degree.

“Watch out, he probably has Overflow!” Cato shouted and unhanded the Dark Knight immediately.

The tables have turned. Cato and Matthew were no longer the predators here. The Aquamancer’s appearance demoted them into being mere prey. They had to retreat ASAP!

But, it was too late. As expected, the enemy teleported here fully prepared. Yuel unleashed Tsunami right away! A gigantic wave washed across the entire lane!

In this situation, the only way to fully dodge the obnoxiously wide AoE was by slipping into the Jungle. Alas, both Cato and Matthew were too far from the sides of the lane to retreat to safety.

And so, they couldn’t do anything but allow the wave to sweep them away. Or at least, that would have been the case if Cato wasn’t playing Vampire.

By retreating into the coffin, he could easily withstand the gigantic wave and nullify both the CC and the damage

But, do I use it now? Or, is it better to wait until they start attacking me? Cato hesitated for a moment.

The entire development was so fast and unexpected that it threw his brain into disarray. He couldn’t help but second-guess himself at every turn.

As a result, by the time Cato reached a decision - it was already too late. The wave crashed into him at full speed, sweeping him toward the tower area. He missed his chance to pull a defensive card.

Meanwhile, Matthew didn’t even have any defensive options to speak of, so he was even more helpless against the big wave.

The only escape tool he had on him was his Dodge Roll, but where could he even roll? Nowhere near the tower area was safe. The tsunami came crashing on the entire area, washing away everything in its path.

Truly, the two of them were hopeless in front of this natural disaster.

My, this is definitely not a favorable position to be in. Cato felt sweat forming on his forehead.

He was trying to maintain his usual smile but his cheeks turned stiff. This was neither a funny nor joyous situation. In fact, it was an absolute disaster!

Depending on how the enemies coordinate their follow-up attacks, Cato and Matthew’s lives were as good as forfeited. And unfortunately, their opponents indeed followed up on the opening attack quite splendidly.

While Cato and Matthew were still carried away by the wave, a thunderstorm formed around them. Black clouds hovered over the giant wave and bolts of lightning rained on the two of them. This natural disaster was growing more disastrous by the moment!

That was the Electromancer using her Thunderstorm. She did so without any delays, as if on cue.

Clearly, this entire play was organized in advance. And, the mastermind must have been none other than Yuel.

What a nasty check. Cato frowned. And they also got a Berserker, so this could easily turn into a mate. But, they can’t possibly be THAT organized, can they?

While the wave was sweeping Cato away, he couldn’t even properly examine his surroundings. As such, paranoia naturally invaded his brain.

Was the Berserker charging up his slam at this very moment? If so, then it might be GG right there.

But, surely that wasn’t the case, was it? After all, chaining so many great plays in a row demanded near-perfect team coordination.

Did the “weakest team in the region” possess the necessary skill to pull this off? The answer soon revealed itself when two big axes slammed into the ground, right before Cato and Matthew got the chance to roll away.

To make things worse, judging by the damage and the impact, this slam was charged to its utmost limit. It delivered the most devastating version possible of the skill!

… yes, of course, Yuel’s team can do this much. Cato bit his lip. They’re no longer the dark horse of the region. I hate to admit it, but the Stratus here today is a... decent team, I suppose.

Even though it wasn't his intention per se, it seemed that Cato had been underestimating Stratus this entire time. He only thought about how the Leopards had to deliver an "absolute victory” in order to prove themselves as the reigning champions that everybody expected them to be.

He believed that winning was par for the course and that the only challenge would be to win “convincingly”. In retrospect, it meant that he thought very little of Stratus’ strength as a whole.

And, perhaps Cato wasn't the only one on the team with such preconceptions.

Part of the reason Sonya died in Top was her carelessness. It was an unthinkable turn of events for her under normal circumstances.

Likewise, there was Ronald who carelessly approached the enemy side during the opening of the game despite numerous warnings. Then again, that brat had always been an idiot so maybe this wasn't the most convincing example, but even Ronald usually had more common sense than that. He wouldn't have taken such a careless risk if he was playing against a known powerhouse team.

It looks like we reap what we sow. Cato smiled wryly as he watched his Vampire being helplessly ravaged by a barrage of lightning bolts and by a torrent of axe strikes.

All Cato could do was watch. He couldn’t do a single thing about any of this due to the powerful stun of the fully charged Barbarian Slam. Indeed, he was paying the piper for letting his guard down, just as Sonya did earlier.

But, could anybody blame them, really? After all, they were facing Stratus, the team with the stigma of being the "weakest in the region".

Even though they understood that this year's Stratus was nothing like before, it was nonetheless difficult to forget the stigma entirely. Even now, the Leopards still felt like their victory was more than assured.

To make things worse, Stratus' picks were beyond questionable this time around. That hyper-aggressive comp seemed as fragile as glass, bound to shatter into a million pieces at the slightest application of force.

On top of that, there was the absurdest pick of them all - the Dark Knight, and a Jungler to boot. A meme among memes.

So frankly, it was super hard to take Stratus seriously in the game. And yet, this fragile hyper-aggressive team was overwhelming Cato and Matthew at the moment, and the Dark Knight memer was charging straight at them, with his dark blade ready and loaded...