Chapter 227. Adjusting to Capsule (1)

After being summoned to the shrine, Almond lightly moved his body here and there.

'Good.'

He certainly felt lighter than before.

He checked his physical condition and recalled what Tako emphasized before the game started.

“Top is the main focus of this game.”

He told Almond that the top lane would decide this match. Almond was hearing this for the first time since the tournament began.

‘The mid-lane can win easily. Bottom won’t be easy because we picked Sana this time. We have a chance to win if we focus on the top lane.”

The top lane was the only lane with the possibility of a plot twist. Therefore, they would focus on supporting the top laner to maximize the possibility of winning. This was Tako's strategy for the match.

Almond fully agreed with the strategy, but only in theory.

'Will it really work... with our Bubblegum...?'

Almond's deep-rooted familiarity with Bubblegum as a fan continually went against Tako's strategy. Even though Bubblegum was doing well with his main pick, Iron Ball, he was still only at the Gold level.

No enemy team ever tried to ban Ironball despite Bubblegum choosing him every time. His impact on the game was simply minimal.

“Above all, Sana is strongest when the tank levels up.”

Despite Almond's worries about Bubblegum, this last comment from Tako moved his heart.

The tank had to rapidly level up to be most efficient, so the team had to support the tank by quickly killing minions and pushing the frontline near the enemy's territory.

Moreover, the top lane was far away from the bottom lane. It was important to keep the bottom turret safe while the team secured the frontline.

Of course, securing the lane wouldn't be easy since BlackTea and Lemon likely anticipated this strategy.

"Ha ha ha! Long time no see, Almond!"

Lemon, standing next to BlackTea, acted boisterously as usual. Once again, she picked Cuifan - Sorcerer of the Sulfur Swamp.

BlackTea also waved but didn’t act frivolously like her friend Lemon. She looked very serious.

[Twin Gun Pirate - Olivia]

The champion she picked was Olivia, a pirate who dual-wielded guns. Her vivid red hair and the scar beside her eyes suited BlackTea's image.

There was a reason she was one of the most feared champions. Her minion-clearing speed was insanely fast. With twin guns, she could hit two targets at once. She also possessed a skill called Explosive Bullet, where bullets exploded from the barrel and caused significant splash damage. It could conveniently clear multiple minions at once.

On the other hand, Sana had no splash damage. She possessed some crowd control skills like the Shadow Snare Arrow, but that didn't help with killing minions. However, Almond already had a strategy in mind during the champion ban-pick phase.

"Almond, I'm going ahead."

"Okay."

"If this fails, I’ll die."

Almond slightly shook his head as if to say that would never happen.

Takoyaki snickered and stepped forward with a smile.

"You're pretty confident."

The sound of minions rushing in could be heard. Right before the minions from both sides clashed, Tako intervened.

Bam!

Tako's shield blocked the enemy minion's axe.

"!?"

"What!?"

This was quite a bold move at Level 1. Tako blocked the attack with his shield, but the enemy minions would target him with their next attacks.

Being surrounded by enemy minions at Level 1 was dangerous, especially when the enemy summoner was also around.

"Look, Sis! Let's kill him!"

"Alright!"

Lemon and BlackTea immediately aimed for Tako.

***

The casters were discussing the game's key points.

"So you're saying Almond's team needs to kill the bottom lane minions as fast as possible?"

"Yes. They need to maintain a much larger number of allied minions than the opposing side... so even if they go to other lanes, the turret takes less damage, and their experience loss will be less as well... but..."

"Is there a problem?"

"...The Twin Gun Pirate's minion-clearing skill is crazy. We have to remember that she uses two guns."

"Yes, yes. Oh! Takoyaki is suddenly taking a strange position!"

"What!?"

OrangeKing was also surprised, and his eyes widened.

'What is this? Is he trying to just take the aggro and heal up...?'

OrangeKing was right.

Tako intentionally drew the minions’ attention and planned to heal up later.

"Tako is taking the hits instead of their allied minions! He's disrupting the natural order of things!"

The caster demanded an answer from OrangeKing.

"Even if he's a supporter, there's no way he's worth less than minions! It's just to distract the dual guns from killing too many allied minions!"

"By sacrificing himself!?"

"Yes. He’s probably not planning to die, but he has to keep sustaining himself with heals... I think it’s too risky!"

"Oh, right. The team has Sana's healing. If it misses though, he’ll die! That’s quite extreme! Ah! Right now! BlackTea and Lemon are targeting Takoyaki!"

"It's a strategy that you can't use if you don't trust Almond!"

BlackTea used a basic attack on Tako, and Lemon summoned a toad. Both the toad's attack and BlackTea's bullet struck Tako.

[Health 87%]

Tako's HP significantly decreased.

Then, Almond unleashed his shadow arrow and struck the target on top of the enemy minion.

Thump.

The green target exploded, and a light arrow appeared in his quiver as a reward.

Wooong...!

Almond immediately drew the light arrow and strung it on his bow.

Bang!

It pierced Tako's head almost at the same time.

Thud!

〔The holy domain will protect you!〕

A green light spread out and healed Tako.

[HP 95%]

All of this happened in less than a second.

"Oh, we can get a sense of Almond's condition today just from that one move, right? Isn't it amazing? He knows what he's doing!"

It was a simple move, but it was so clean that it indicated his sharp condition.

"His movements are smoother."

"Ah! Is that so? To my eyes, he's just extremely fast and just in time! BlackTea and Lemon are about to deal even more damage to Tako."

As the caster said, BlackTea and Lemon continued to attack Tako's Hammer Warrior.

Crash! B-Boom!

A loud noise erupted, and Tako was slightly pushed back.

[HP 82%]

His HP dropped even more.

"His HP has greatly decreased! What is Tako's next move? They aren’t planning on letting Tako go, are they!?"

In response to the caster's comment, Almond fired two shadow arrows this time. Both arrows struck the target.

Boom!

Two targets exploded, and two light arrows appeared as a reward.

Almond immediately pulled them out and strung them on his bow.

Creak…

Both arrows rested on his bow, and he released them before the casters could explain.

The arrows flew and perfectly hit the center of Tako’s chest. No one even had a chance to feel any goosebumps.

Bo-boom!

The double shot echoed out.

[The Sacred Realm will protect you!]

[Creating the Sacred Realm!]

Tako's HP sharply dropped before fluctuating as it rose again.

[HP 98%]

The heal doubled this time, and the damage dealt by Lemon and BlackTea was almost completely recovered.

"Did the heal just double!?"

"Double shot! He just performed two double shots! One with the Shadow Arrow and one with the Arrow of Light!"

"Moreover, both of them perfectly landed on Tako! The amount of heal doubles! You'd usually only see this amount of healing in mid-game fights, but it's happening in the early game!?"

"Is this even allowed, OrangeKing?!"

Ordinary healers wouldn't get double heals even with casting the same skill twice. Most skills had a cooldown, after all. However, Sana's Arrow of Light didn't have such a thing.

"That's right. Sana's heal doesn't have a cooldown! It's one of the champion's abilities. Honestly, it would take forever to aim with the Shadow Arrow. Not to mention, taking out the Arrow of Light and aiming at the person you want to heal. If you miss even once, then you have to start all over! But right now, Almond is taking advantage of the no cooldown!"

"Yes! The no cooldown time was made to balance out with the player’s skill level! However, it makes Almond a scammer with that champion!"

"BlackTea! Minions are getting pushed more and more toward the turret! She has to choose now whether to attack the minions or Tako!"

BlackTea didn't necessarily choose one over the other.

Bang! Bang!

She attacked Tako with one gun, and took down minions with the other.

"Wow! It's like BlackTea is saying, 'I'll do both!'"

BlackTea suppressed Tako with one gun while meticulously last-hitting minions with the other gun. Many expected her to make a mistake in multitasking, but her bullets found their mark as if she had two brains.

"Wow, both players are cleanly executing double shots! Amazing!"

"Yes, amazing indeed, but... the Twin Gun Pirate was designed for double shooting, whereas Sana's arrows aren’t made for double shots at all. BlackTea might be at a disadvantage if this continues!"

OrangeKing was correct.

The frontline was gradually pushed toward BlackTea's side. The number of Balloon Stars' minions had nearly doubled.

As the laning battle continued, BlackTea's expression hardened. She felt something was going wrong.

'Why is it different than last time...?'

Almond seemed different this time.

'How has he improved?'

Almond's skills had unbelievably improved.

The muzzles of her two guns were aimed at the opponent and momentarily wavered.

"Look! BlackTea's minions are decreasing! You can't let this happen in a lane fight!"

"A decision must be made soon! If the lane continues to be pushed, Sana will become too powerful!"

“Even if BlackTea tries to attack the minions, Tako is getting in the way. All of her skills should be targeting Tako!”

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

BlackTea made her decision when she reached Level 3.

Thud.

She aimed both muzzles at Tako.

“Lemon, use all of your skills on Tako.”

“Huh? Are you sure? He won't die though.”

“Those two bastards are getting in the way. We can't kill any minions right now. If this continues, we’ll all die. Just do as I say. A chance will appear then.”

“Okay!”

BlackTea started firing.

Bang! Bang!

Bang!

Sparks flew from Tako's shield, and scratches appeared all over it.

Bang!

Tako began to push back.

"There! BlackTea is only targeting Tako now!"

"It's like she’s saying 'Let's kill the minions later. You die first!'"

"Lemon is repelling all attacks with her toad moves and poison spray!"

Tweak!

Splash!

Fierce strikes from the sorcerer flew nonstop toward the struggling Tako.

"Oh, no! What's happening to Tako!?"

"He's getting pummeled from both sides! Looks like he’ll experience a lifetime's worth of hits today!?"

The casters said from both sides, but they didn't mean from the Sorcerer and the Twin Gun Pirate.

[The Holy Zone will protect you!]

[Creating a Holy Zone!]

[The Holy Zone will protect you!]

[The Holy Zone...]

The casters were referring to the white arrows lodged behind Tako.

Pububuk!

"It's like a traditional martial arts novel where a doctor is forcefully stopping the bleeding to save a life?!"

"Oh no, Tako! His HP is dancing all over the place!"

"Le... Let me die..."

Bullets and sludge bombs ricocheted in front of Tako. At the same time, white arrows quickly pierced him from behind.

"Now, this is a battle of pride! Who will last longer!?"

"How will it turn out?"

This was a showdown of who could shoot more accurately and faster with greater concentration.

Pew pew pew!

White light and dark bullets swirled around Tako.

'I can't be pushed back.'

'I'll break through here...!'

Neither side seemed willing to stop until one prevailed, but then...

[First Blood!]

[Bubblegum → Jam]

A victory cry rang out from an entirely unexpected place.