League of Legends: League of Unknowns

“You have slain an enemy ! ¹ ”

The announcement rang out crisp and clear, and a green frame bearing two portraits appeared on the right side of the screen, declaring that Evelynn had killed Leona.

“Evelynn takes down Leona, what… it looked like Twisted Fate deliberately ceded that kill—could it have been about that Taunt from just now?” the MC said.

“Speaking of which: My fellow LoL players, be careful not to get too full of yourself! He who plays with fire will eventually get burnt! That’s exactly what happened to Leona, here: Slain by someone playing Evelynn with one hand.”

It seemed that the MC didn’t approve of such low-class behavior on the side of Team Aviator. It was no secret that Huang Yu was injured, and couldn’t play at full capacity. To meet him alone and then show him a Taunt… it was vile.

Meanwhile, at Team Aviator’s table, Wu Kai’s face was melting right off.

If Twisted Fate had been the one to kill him, that was nothing to shout about—whose fault was it that he was now walking around with such dominating gear?

But he’d stopped just short of the last hit, and allowed Huang Yu to do him in. It was the greatest possible humiliation.

“Wu Kai, what are you doing!” Liu Qi growled.

“I, er… If Twisted Fate uses his ulti to gank me, there’s nothing I can do.”

“If you run into Evelynn, just run! What were you preening about over there?” the captain snapped viciously.

Wu Kai kept his mouth shut. All he could do now was watch the seconds tick by in limbo.

***

Now that the enemy had been deprived of their Support player, Team Scarlet no longer needed to be as cautious. With the tide of battle down the Middle lane in their favor, they managed to pick themselves up a Dragon, and then right away they were laying siege to the enemy’s second-tier Mid Tower.

Twisted Fate was reaping minions like a combine harvester. As soon as a minion wave arrived, he’d unleash a fan of Wild Cards, cutting them all down almost instantly!

As the minion wave continued to push towards the enemy’s side, Kayle and Twisted Fate took turns tearing away at the tower.

With the absurd damage Twisted Fate was dealing, just a few cards was all it took to reduce Xin Zhao’s health by one-third, and Olaf’s by a quarter. Brand was worst off: with neither any Health Regeneration nor Spell Vamp ¹ items, he didn’t even have half his health remaining!

Whoosh!

Suddenly, an Enchanted Crystal Arrow shot across the battlefield in a straight line of frozen air, directly towards Kayle, who was a bit too far in front!

It came out of nowhere, too fast for Xue Haiyang to respond in time!

Wham!

The Enchanted Crystal Arrow slammed resoundingly into Kayle, and she was Stunned!

“Team Aviator wants to start a fight, and Ashe has landed a crucial ultimate against the enemy’s ADC!” the MC whooped.

Yu Luocheng’s heart sank. They were up against a truly skilled Ashe player, to be able to exploit such a minor error of positioning!

Leona should have respawned by now, and was likely already charging in to join the fight. They wouldn’t be able to disengage and avoid this team fight, not with a mad dog Olaf on the enemy team who could easily run them down as they fled all the way back up the length of the Middle lane!

Since retreat wasn’t an option, they would have to fight.

Yu Luocheng quickly began to Pick a Card, drawing a golden one and holding it at the ready. Then he saw, out of the corner of his eye, Leona approaching from the side, clad all in golden armor.

By now, Leona had come to hate Twisted Fate with every fiber of her being. Ignoring everyone else, her eyes saw only him.

Yu Luocheng immediately drew back, maintaining a safe distance from the oncoming threat.

Olaf activated his ulti, Xin Zhao charged in, and Leona brought down her ‘Solar Flare’ from long range to Stun. If even a single one of them managed to catch Twisted Fate and tie him down, he would be instantly slain by their combined assault.

Yu Luocheng found it rather annoying that he just couldn’t be allowed to deal his damage in peace. As for Kayle, who’d already been surrounded by the enemy, without her Flash she was doomed—with or without her ultimate skill.

As expected, a few seconds of invulnerability from ‘Intervention’ changed nothing. The enemy champions ganged up on her and she was instantly torn apart.

Now that they’d lost Kayle’s sustained damage, there was no hope of winning this team fight.

Renekton and Jarvan screened Twisted Fate protectively as they fought a retreating battle, but with the infinite Slowing capabilities of Ashe on the enemy’s side, it was a futile hope that they’d be able to make it all the way home from the enemy’s second-tier tower.

Ultimately, neither Renekton nor Jarvan were able to get away, and they were only able to take down Brand before they both fell.

“The most fearsome thing about Ashe is her ultimate skill. One good ulti can tilt the scales of power. After Team Aviator deleted Kayle, it was over for Team Scarlet, who came out with three deaths in exchange for just one kill!”

Now that Team Scarlet had been gutted, Team Aviator wasted no time bringing down their second-tier Mid tower, and then immediately turned around to go for Baron!

“Team Aviator is moving to claim Baron Nashor!” the MC hollered. “One-for-three in this latest team fight means that both sides are roughly even again, with Team Scarlet still holding on to a fighting chance. However, if Team Aviator takes the Baron, all bets are off—they would even be able to pick a team fight within Team Scarlet’s own walls!”

It was just as the MC had said: If Team Aviator managed to take the Baron, the situation would become all but hopeless for Team Scarlet. Even if they managed to avoid being dragged into another team fight, they were still guaranteed to lose all their outer towers.

The Baron itself was worth 1,500 gold.

There were two towers still standing in the Top lane, one in the Bottom lane: 2,250 gold for all three.

With this move, the gold difference between the teams could increase by almost 4,000 gold!

Team Scarlet was already one person short in every fight. If their opponents gained such a tremendous gold advantage over them, then as long as Team Aviator didn’t make any more gross blunders, the odds would be virtually insurmountable!

They had to be prevented from getting the Baron!

Yu Luocheng examined the enemy champions’ health: Olaf and Xin Zhao were at half; Leona was on her last one-third; Ashe remained unscathed.

They would definitely have Xin Zhao or Olaf tank the damage. Against Baron Nashor’s might, both of them would be reduced to very low health as a result, and wouldn’t be able to join in if another fight broke out.

The problem was Leona.

Leona was far too capable at crowd control. If he got hit by her ‘Zenith Blade’, and everyone pounced on him, it would be over in a heartbeat.

Yu Luocheng’s mind was afire, calculating whether it would be better to play defensively and fortify their base, or go out and disrupt their attempt to claim the Baron.

“Yu Luocheng, I have my ulti!” Huang Yu had stopped farming, and was now rushing for the Baron pit!

Taken aback, Yu Luocheng hurriedly brought up Evelynn’s stats.

Quietly, Evelynn had farmed her way up to Level 11—which meant that she now had her second-tier ultimate skill!

Yu Luocheng’s eyes lit up!

Evelynn’s ultimate skill was an area-effect Slow, which also took away a percentage of the target’s current health. If she could land her ultimate on at least three champions at once, their enemies would lose quite a lot of health—and with the Baron also attacking them in the meanwhile, it was certainly possible that they’d be able to score a few kills in the Baron pit!