An ally has been killed!

  For real? Julia blinked. Roi? Beaten by that loser? Oh, it was a gank. That made more sense. After all, there’s no way Roi would lose against that l.

  But, this isn't good. Are they gonna focus Mid ? Okay, otom half everybody is in pce. Oop side... missing. Julia knotted her brows. Taison didn't stay in Top to push the undefended ne. Meaning, he was either ter jungling or... he gonna gank Mid!

  Julia immediately turned around. Dying right now would be the worst. Lars did a great job gaining an advantage in Bot, but Roi totally blew it in Top. So, now the kill t was 1-1 and each team dominated one ne. If Julia dies now and loses Mid, she'll be bmed for losing the entire game and everybody will point fingers at her. Lars will hate her! Nuuuuuu!

  Nope, not having any of that. Back, back, back! All the way to the tilbert was kinda running out of steam anyway, so he'll retreat any-

  “Excuse me!?” Julia blurted. That stupidface didn't retreat! He advanced instead! Even though Gilbert only got like 30% HP and 25% MP, the guy was ag like he was all that. The nerve!

  Okay, let's see how long you dare to stay here. Julia activated Whirlwind to summing winds in the ter of the enemy wave. Of course, she didn't miss the ce to hit Gilbert along the way. Unfortunately, he dodged the spell after being hit by just a siick of damage. 't you py like Bronze sometimes? Stop being good at this game.

  But, of course, Gilbert gotta be good like that. After all, he was StormBlitz’s Mid Laner, at least for now. If Julia just scores a kill on him...!

  Take that! And that! Two basics, two misses. Grr, that slippery bastard! Gilbert stayed just close enough to be within Julia's attack range, but also far enough to quickly step out of it. It's like he had a sixth seo tell delicate border betweewo. Did he have a uni degree at “Spag” or something? Jesus.

  Worst of all, Gilbert refused to budge. He stayed on the offensive even though he was running low on HP. It’s as if he was asking to get killed. Like, seriously, did he think Julia won’t dare to rush him?

  You won't attack. Gilbert fidently pushed foing on the offeh 30% HP was normally against his better judgment, but there was an exception to everything. One such exception was Julia's extreme tendency to stick to defense, even to turtle if necessary.

  Julia already dispyed her strong io stay on the defensive in the previous game. She remained on guard that entire game, even though she ying an aggressive css like Eleancer. And, this game, she went for Aeromancer, which told she was fully itted to the defensive game pn. It was just like Howard briefed them: Julia only pyed defense.

  Therefilbert extended more than usual into eerritory. He put aside his banced pystyle a full offeo pressured Julia with everything he had. Thanks to that aggressiveness he shaved the Mid Turret’s HP, little by little. These small pushes stacked up to sizable damage and gave Gilbert a big lead in term fo Turret health.

  So, even now with just 30% HP, Gilbert pushed hard. Every little bit of damage to the eurret will go a long way. In addition, this may tempt Julia to go on the offense and then...

  Darn it. Julia twisted her lips. She couldn't do it after all. To punish Gilbert for this overextension, Julia will have to fully it to the offense. But, there was the risk of getting ganked by Taison and besides, going on the offensive for real required her to... Ugh, she couldn't do it. Julia had to stay on the defehere had to another way to punish Gilbert.

  “Gilbert is overextending and stuff,” Julia notified, her words were aimed at their Jungler.

  “Okay,” Dan answered. “I'll get there in a jiffy.”

  “Wait,” Yuel said. “If you pn to gank, you better gh this route because there's... a Ward.” Ugh, too te.

  “Whoops,” Dan's mistake led to sequences right away. Gilbert turned around and begareating, fully aware of the ining gank.

  “Um, should I keep going?” Dan asked.

  “Yes,” Yuel said. “You may still have a ce to catch him.”

  “Roger.”

  Well, the gank is still a thing, but... Julia chewed her lips. Dan most likely won't make it in time. At this rate, Gilbert will get away scot-free after btantly overextending in Julia's face. Grrr!

  If I just slow him down a little... No, but that... Her heartbeat quied. This was a great opportunity to put on a strong show! Or, to mess up horribly...

  Jet Stream and Squall were online, so Julia could catch up to Gilbert and bst him from behind. However, that required entering eerritory and exposing herself to tremendous danger. Julia only had 60% HP, so this chase could g very fast.

  She... no. She couldn’t. It was too risky. It's not like Julia doubted her offensive skills or anything. She traihem plenty with Ellen and she tested them in Ranked. She also used them to punch the lights outta Yuel in 1v1 practice, though that probably wasn’t much of an achievement.

  Anyway, Julia could definitely go full offense if she wanted. But, she had a bad habit of getting overly excited and... blurting stuff.

  “You did a passable job overall,” Yuel’s words echoed in her head. “But, you could’ve done even more with a defensive css. If you ’t bring yourself to py offehen you should go for a css with more utility.”

  The words hammered at Julia. It's not like she pyed defensively because she wanted, dammit! Okay, that’s it! Julia cast Jet Stream, which created a trail of wind on the ointless move unless she was really going to give chase.

  O-Okay, what now? Her heartbeat quied. I-It's not like she was necessarily going to risk it. It’s just that, if she still wanted a ce to catch up, she had to start moving now.

  Julia passed through the slipstream and gained a movement speed boost. With her speed, it was a no-braio get Gilbert into her attack range. But...

  Not good. I... I don't know. Julia’s hands trembled. It felt like her heart was beating inside her skull. On one hand, she had to stay alive no matter what. Oher hand, she had to do everything in her power to win this match. If Julia lets this opportunity slip and it somehow leads to the team’s defeat via some crazy domino effect... But, if she chases as killed in the process, that’ll also... Gaaaaaah!

  “You could’ve done even more with a defensive css. If you ’t bring yourself to py offense...” Grr, that stupid idiot and his big mouth! It's not like Julia wao py like this! And, even though Aeromancer was a “defensive mage”, it's not like she couldn't go on the offe all, damn it!

  T-That's it! I'll show you what I do! Julia went full steam ahead! She gonna chase after Gilbert and slow him down!

  But, things weren’t so easy. Julia wasted too much time hesitating, so this chase became trickier. There was no choice but to venture a little deep into eerritory to catch up with Gilbert.

  But, Julia will make it! With her buffed movement speed, it was a non-issue. The only challenge was to nd Squall from that distance, but she practiced basic moves like that to the point they became as natural as breathing. It’ll be a ch! Julia just had to predict a few steps ahead and fire there. She’ll wreck Gilbert for sure- wha!? Thunder!?

  Dark clouds formed over Julia’s head and lightning shot through her body. Thuorm!? What the-!?

  For a brief moment, her eyes locked with Gilbert's. Amidst his escape, Gilbert turned around to unleash Thuorm. How!? What a fast switch from defense and offense! Darn it!

  Anhting struck. This was bad! Bad, bad, BAD! Should Julia push forward or retreat!? There was no time to think! She rolled aside and got out of the danger zone.

  Her HP fell down to 40%, but she got out alive. Phew, this almost ended as a disaster- Wha?! Bats!? Oh no! Taison was here! The gank came from Top just like Julia feared!

  Crap! I 't see shit! Julia cursed internally as she tried to figure the best course of a. She still had the speed boost from Jet Stream, so she might be able to get away. However, said speed buff artially diminished by the pesky bats fpping around her. And to make things worse, Julia could barely make out the situation with the bats c her s. Oh god, why me!?

  Think! Fast! Her heart was about to explode from all this craziness. There was only ohing she knew for sure: she gotta get away! Now!

  Julia turoward her Turret and flew at full speed! Stupid css. If your basient is to fly, then at least be as fast as Superman!

  New bats rammed into Julia as she was making her escape. Vampire's basic attacks fired bats and there were also bats flog around her. Flippin’ bats everywhere!

  No good, Julia already fell down to 30% HP. Taison will chase her all the way to the Turret unless she does something fast. A slowdown! Right, she should slow that idiot! That's what Squall was for! She won’t get to use it on Gilbert anymore, so Taison should get hit by that stuff.

  The blinding effect of the bats was about to lift up, so it was now or never! Julia turned around and took aim. Gilbert isn't the only one who quickly turn around and fire a skillshot, you know!

  Whish! A bst of wind cut through the air. It darted right toward Taison... but it missed.

  No, that's wrong. It didn't “miss” because Julia's aim ot on. Taison dodged it. Just like that, without breaking a sweat. It’s like he dodged a turtle that was charging at him, it was that easy.

  Oh god, I'm screwed. So screwed. There was no hope of defleg Taison's assault, especially not in a 1v1. This idiot was one heck of a monster in those, even Julia had to admit.

  Her only option was to keep running. Thanks to the Aeromancer’s passive, Wind Flow, she gained a 10% movement speed buff for 3 seds after casting a spell. Even though her Squall missed, she gained a burst of speedup from firing it. If she could just cast one more spell and gain an additional 10%, she’d get away in no time!

  As, Whirlwind was used earlier for zoning aream was used for chasing, so she had nothing. Her ult didn’t t because it required long casting time, so the 10% from Squall and the earlier buff from Jet Stream were the only things she had to rely on. And, Jet Stream’s buff was about to run out, so she won’t be from that buff stag for long.

  It was terrible. Taison had no problem staying oail with his ranged basic attacks, so the only hope she had was that maybe that dumbass would miss a few shots. Buuuuut of course that didn’t happen. Taison nded ead every flippin’ shot. His bats were like guided missiles.

  Still, Julia somehow made it! She reached her Turret’s area! She was barely alive, but she still- BAM! Aric explosion! The Thuorm from earlier inflicted Julia with Electric Charges and now Gilbert detohem. Just great...

  You have been killed!

  Fuck! Julia smmed oable. I knew I shouldn't have chased! I died without getting anything out of it! Goddammit!

  “You shouldn't have extended so much,” Yuel said.

  “Yeah, I KNOW that.”

  “The opportunity itself wasn't bad,” Yuel droned on. “But, you took too long to decide-”

  “I said I KNOW!” Julia thundered. If she just decided her course of a faster, she would have avoided this disaster. She had to run so deep into eerritory only because she started te. Goddammit.

  “I got him!” Dan leaped onto the ne and surrounded Gilbert with lions from all side.

  Oh, at least something came out of it. Julia sighed. Gilbert had to turn around to unleash Thuorm on Julia, so maybe that slowed him down enough to help Dan catch up. If Dan scores this kill... oh, nevermind.

  “Ah!” Dan excimed. Gilbert activated Thunderd blinked outside the prison of lions. He got away, just like that. “No way! He had the blink? Weeeeeelp.”

  “That was careless,” Yuel remarked. “You should've asked Julia if Thundercp .”

  “Yeaaaah, I just kinda assumed he already spent it to get this far. I mean, if he didn’t blink even ohen how the heck did he escape all the way out here against an Aeromancer?”

  “..........” Julia left the question hanging. As far as chasing potential was ed, Aeromancer had all the tools to outpa Eleancer: a movement speed buff from Jet Stream, another buff from Windflow and a speed debuff from Squall. To get away against these odds, Eleancer would normally have to blink away with Thundercp, so Dan's assumption wasn't too out there. The o fault here was... goddammit.

  “You still should double-check the situation with the ner befanking,” Yuel said. “Anyway, get out of there before Taison catches you in a 1v1.”

  “Roger.” Dan fled from Mid to avoid frontation ahe ne pletely unguarded. Thankfully, Gilbert was forced to retreat due to running out of steam, so he won’t get to capitalize on this opening. However, Taison was totally free to push Julia's undefended ne.

  We'll lose. Because of me. Julia cwed at her knees. She was supposed to do her best today, so what's with this crappy performance? If she keeps going like that, she'll drag down the whole team. They'll lose and it’ll be her fault. She’ll single-handedly ruin Lars's ces of being a first-string member and he'll hate her for life. I... I o... I don't even...

  Of course, for the other team, this development was worthy of celebration.

  “Nice kill, Tai.” Howard said.

  “Heh, ez!”

  “Stay in Mid for a while and push.”

  “You got it, bro!”

  “Nice escape there,” Howard addressed Gilbert.

  “It was a no-brainer,” Gilbert shrugged. “We already know she ’t go on the offensive, or at least that she 't switch gears quickly.”

  Heh, good job critig Julia while emphasizing why you’re a better pyer. Howard chuckled. Gilbert was selling himself in his own roundabout way, it was cute.

  Julia's erforman the offensive ar for the course, but Dan's slip-ups during the gank were quite unusual. Firstly, Dan telegraphed the gank by letting a predictable meta Ward to expose him. Sedly, Dan used his ult right away without ating filbert's Thundercp.

  The Ward issue was the smaller offe of the two. With Dan's experience, he should have known to not take the straight path to Mid because it retty much always warded. But alright, that's just on paper. It was impossible to have perfect judgment during a stressful match, so this kind of mispy was uandable.

  However, the mess up with “The King’s Dominion” just looked bad. For Lionfolk, the ult was the surefire way to secure kills. In fact, the enemy clearly picked this css to bully Howard's team position. Most of the csses on Howard’s team didn’t have any good ao “The King’s Dominion”, so they were great targets fank.

  However, Gilbert did have an answer in the form of Thunderd Dan should’ve kept that in mind. Yet, Dan pletely butchered that opportunity and now his ult was on cooldown, so his ganks won’t be nearly as scary for the time being.

  Was it a case of misuniaybe Julia didn’t remember whether Gilbert has already used Thundercp, so she couldn’t feed Dan with the necessary information on time. However, in that case, Dan should have thought twice befoing all in. No matter how Howard looked at it, it was clearly a huge mispy by Dan. Just like Roi, Dan has been slipping this game.

  The effect of the first game is sinking in. Howard smiled meaningfully. Just as he suspected, Yuel hasn’t resolved the core issues pguing his team. Roi wavered, Dan slipped and Julia couldn't bring herself to py aggressively.

  Only Lars still posed danger, but that won’t st loher. It was time t out the “Lars Killer”. Ohey destroy the st pilr that was supp the eeam, it’ll be over.