Chapter 254. We Were Not Wrong (3)

“Can Almond reach Level 6!?”

“He has!”

The commentators eagerly anticipated Level 6 because that would make it easier for Almond to quickly escape.

Five players rushed to the mid-lane just to catch Almond. Escaping with just one blade 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 players 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 Flashy Blade to escape from the five enemies.

"SweetRadish, SweetPotato, and WhiteChicken have arrived in the mid lane to kill Almond... Wait! Almond! Why are you going in!?" OrangeKing jumped in shock.

"He threw two blades 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 really coming in?'

'Is he for real?'

'Is he faking it?'

Two of the three thought the blades were decoys. They thought Almond would throw the blades in different directions and run away.

Only SweetRadish reacted correctly.

'... He's coming!'

He saw the blade gleaming as it passed by.

Zip! Zing!

[Flash]

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.

Clang!

"The blade was blocked!"

SweetRadish successfully blocked it. Just as he attempted to counterattack, Almond threw the blade and disappeared.

[Flash]

Woosh!

He didn't disappear toward the thrown blade. That blade was still on the Flash cooldown.

"Ah! Almond! He threw another blade and flashed away? But it's not the blade he just threw!?"

He teleported to the remaining blade that he had initially thrown and was nowhere SweetPotato.

Slash!

An attack suddenly struck SweetPotato.

“What, what’s this!?”

He felt disoriented.

"Wow! A perfect Spinning Strike! Almond threw a blade again!?"

SweetPotato counterattacked with his beastly claws, but he only swung at thin air.

Almond already threw a blade again.

[Flash]

Woosh!

He disappeared again.

"Ah! Where is he?!"

"This time, it's the blade he threw when he was fighting SweetRadish earlier!"

It wasn't the last blade 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 were coming at them.

Woosh!

Slash!

Zap!

Slash!

Despite the repeated flashing and attacking, Almond couldn’t land 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 blank 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 blades 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 mid-lane.

"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 blade and disappeared again.

"Acorn Jelly, the support, and even Daechu are coming! 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 enemies coming 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.

"The competition 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 place!"

"Takoyaki! He’s pushing the Beast!"

Now, even Takoyaki joined in.

A 4 vs. 5 skirmish unfolded in the mid lane. 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 could land 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 Flashy Blade’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 place. It was a large stone.

"Eh!? Bubblegum joined late 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 players floated in the air.

"That was insane! That headbutt was amazing!"

"That's why we keep playing! 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 flared 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 the commentators could say was:

"Almond!?"

"Aaaah!"

"Insane!"

It couldn't be helped.

Almond soared through the battlefield and flew with his four blades.

[LazySoldier is on a rampage!]

[LazySoldier → WhiteChicken]

Wherever he passed like a flash, an enemy fell.

[LazySoldier is dominating!]

[LazySoldier → SweetPotato]

— Woah

— Damn...

— Epic

— Wow

"Did he imbue his blade with the soul of his ex-girlfriend!? He slashes 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 player, SweetRadish.

[LazySoldier Triple Kill!]

[LazySoldier is Legendary!]

[LazySoldier → SweetRadish]

Within ten seconds, the outcome 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 minutes later…

Bang!

The commentators slammed the table and yelled out, "GG~~~!"

The game ended and the commentators displayed the scoreboard with an outcome 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

The commentators reviewed the highlights of Almond's Flashy Blade play. They speculated 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, that comment.

***

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 Flashy Blade. That was his main champion, and his understanding of the character was formed through reliable data.

"I always thought Flashy Blade heavily depended on team composition."

First of all, Flashy Blade wasn’t just sensitive to enemy team compositions. He depended heavily on ally compositions too. The whole team had to sacrifice the early game for him to be effective. That was why anyone who picked Flashy Blade in solo queue got yelled at.

Therefore, SweetRadish always thought that Flashy Blade 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 player using Flashy Blade was a mortal. SweetRadish had no choice but to admit it.

"He’s beyond imagination."

As he watched the replay of Almond's Flashy Blade, he realized that guy was playing in a different dimension.

"If you maximize the two skills, Blade 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. Flashy Blade

#2. Raina

#3. Sana

They replaced Iron Ball with Flashy Blade, and all three bans were against Almond.