Luke continued his chase after Maverick. Somehow, the entire thing turned into a convoluted mess. Before long, Maverick safely arrived at the lane.
Fuuuuuuu! Luke raged internally. Man, why did I even bother following her so closely? I should've gone straight to the lane. I mean, it was obvious where she was heading.
It was obvious that Maverick's plan was to return to the lane all along. She picked a hella convoluted route to get to the goal, but the goal itself was super predictable. In hindsight, Lars could've taken a shortcut to intercept her on the lane.
What a total waste of time, man. Luke sighed. Also, somehow, the distance between us only increased along the way, too. I mean, I guess it makes sense. She was the one leading the way, so she knew exactly where she was going. Meanwhile, I had no idea WTF was going on.
Luke basically had to guess his way around. The glimpses he caught of Maverick were his only guide. He nearly lost track of her a few times.
In fact, there were some moments where he had to straight-up guess. Fortunately, his intuition worked every time, so he stuck to the right track. However, every element of uncertainty only served to slow him down.
Now that Luke reached the lane, Maverick was finally in plain sight again. But, she was far outside the reach of his Scourge skill. What a bummer.
Fortunately, Luke wasn't alone here. While he was chasing Maverick, Yuel rotated to the lane to intercept the fleeing prey. It's almost as if the guy knew that things would turn out this way.
Looks like I made the right call. Yuel nodded in satisfaction as he emerged from the jungle. I thought we might be investing too many resources into this play, but it turned out to be the right move.
"I'll wall her off," Yuel announced. "Tell me when you're ready to stun her."
"Alrighty! Taking aim now." Luke did a long Q press to carefully aim his Scourge skill. "Alright, I'm ready. Dew it!"
"Okay." Yuel erected a wall of ice in the middle of Maverick's escape route. This became a dead end for her.
"Wha-!?" Marim exclaimed. "Where the hell did this thing come from!?"
That huge wall appeared right in front of her face! It forced her to stop in her tracks, right as she was about to reach the tower area. And things were only about to get worse.
"Crap, I'm in deep shit now...!" Marim quickly turned around, only to realize that she was completely sandwiched! Memer was hot on her trail from behind, while Chessmaster swung into the lane from the right. Fuuuuu!
Given the circumstances, it was best to circle around the ice wall from the left, but- WHISH! A metal whip struck her before she could even move!
For real!? Marim gritted her teeth. It's like he knew exactly where I'll move! These guys are hella coordinated. Did they plan this whole play in advance!?
Until now, Marim thought she was in complete control of the situation. She messed with Memer and made him lag behind like a turtle. But, to think that such a nasty surprise was waiting for her on the lane...!
Naturally, these competitive players didn't waste a second here. They both assaulted her with basic attacks while she was stunned.
The Cryomancer's hits didn't hurt much, but they applied Slow. Therefore, even after the stun, it won't be easy for Marim to get away.
On the other hand, the Orc's basics hit like a truck. Each whiplash was deadly. 60%. 45%. 30%. Marim's HP plummeted at lightning speed!
Damn, early-game Orc is so busted! Marim gritted her teeth. Sure, he can't burst people down in a jiffy like I do, but these diabolic basics more than make up for it. I'm so fucked.
Despite the conclusion being so obvious, Marim tried to run some calculations just in case. No matter how crazy or stressful the situation was, it was best to deconstruct it as objectively as possible. Maybe, just maybe, there'll be a way out.
In other words, it was time for another simulation! First of all, can running away work? Hmm. Probably not, but let's simulate that option anyway-
『You have been killed!』