We had done it. We took down the first tower.
Amid the broken stones, amid the dying hope, I knew one thing with certainty. By the end of this, at least half the people in this arena would be dead. To think that I'd need to end lives, to save my own…
I forced myself to focus on my magic and my crossbow and the dim, dark path ahead. With the announcement of the tower's fall, our enemies now knew our presence and our onslaught. They'd be on their way here now, if they weren't already tailing us. The shadows around us, of trees and bushes, could easily conceal the silhouette of one of them.
"Recall to base?" I asked Tanin. "Let's do hit-and-run."
He agreed.
We probably caught up a bit to our enemies in levels and gold, but they likely still remained ahead of us. A direct clash bode ill for us. Tanin and I fell back to behind our own top lane tower, then channeled our Rings of Recall. After 30 seconds of gathering up magic, the rings activated, teleporting us back to our base in a flash of light. We had farmed up plenty of gold as well, and I bought several potions from our vending machine. Tanin drank potions that boosted his movement speed. And miraculously, even on crutches, he could now move faster than I could.
「Saber has destroyed a bottom tower.」
We heard the male announcer's voice once more. It sounded nothing like Alice's, and I briefly wondered why Alice's voice was no longer used for announcements.
Saber, too, returned to our base not after long.
"Still no sight of them," Saber said.
That was a good thing…right? They hadn't been around to stop our offense. But what were they planning? What had they been up to this whole time?
"Should all of us go mid?" I asked. "Get that tower too."
Saber frowned for a moment. "Too obvious. If they siege our top and bottom lanes, we'd take one tower and lose two at best. Tanin, can you fight by yourself now?"
"I'll manage."
"Good. Go defend mid lane. Just farm the golems and stay safe. Sopia and I will keep pressuring top and bottom. It's the quickest way to catch up in levels."
"And if they ambush us three-on-one?" I asked.
"Run."
I shrugged. Her plan was far from failsafe, but I knew that winning from behind often required making these sorts of gambles.
"Good luck," I said before the three of us all went our separate ways.
Saber let me take the bottom lane this time and she headed top, to mix up our positions. I jogged down the bottom lane, accompanied by no one besides files of our ally golems. I had rarely felt so alone in the arena. Almost always I'd have fought alongside Hei at least, but now I had no one but myself to rely upon.
The moon had finally revealed itself in the sky. A crescent barely thick enough to light the ground.
I conjured a Cold Grenade and clutched it tight in my palm. I darted into the trees to the side of the lane's cobblestone road, to conceal my presence. Not before long, I crossed to the enemy's side of the arena. Our golems had already pressed onward, almost reaching the enemies' inner-bottom tower. But in their path was Brandon, frantically driving them back with fists and webs. I blinked twice to check his HP.
[HP: 510/580]
Wait. Why was his max HP so low? Don't tell me, after this whole time, he was still level 1. Were our deductions wrong? The missing zombies in the cave…had Brandon and his team not killed them, after all?
He turned right toward me as I hid among the trees, several dozen yards away.
"Saber!" he shouted out. "Is that you?!"
Drat. He somehow sensed my presence.
"Saber! Please, why! What are you doing this for?!" he cried out, pleading for an answer while I bit back my tongue, while I fought to ignore the ache inside my chest.
"We could have gotten along!" his voice pierced the night. "I trusted you! I…I even liked you!"
Had they been innocent all along?
Ah.
Either way, we no longer had a future here.
I conjured a Frost Missile and took aim.
We had done it. We took down the first tower.
Amid the broken stones, amid the dying hope, I knew one thing with certainty. By the end of this, at least half the people in this arena would be dead. To think that I'd need to end lives, to save my own…
I forced myself to focus on my magic and my crossbow and the dim, dark path ahead. With the announcement of the tower's fall, our enemies now knew our presence and our onslaught. They'd be on their way here now, if they weren't already tailing us. The shadows around us, of trees and bushes, could easily conceal the silhouette of one of them.
"Recall to base?" I asked Tanin. "Let's do hit-and-run."
He agreed.
We probably caught up a bit to our enemies in levels and gold, but they likely still remained ahead of us. A direct clash bode ill for us. Tanin and I fell back to behind our own top lane tower, then channeled our Rings of Recall. After 30 seconds of gathering up magic, the rings activated, teleporting us back to our base in a flash of light. We had farmed up plenty of gold as well, and I bought several potions from our vending machine. Tanin drank potions that boosted his movement speed. And miraculously, even on crutches, he could now move faster than I could.
「Saber has destroyed a bottom tower.」
We heard the male announcer's voice once more. It sounded nothing like Alice's, and I briefly wondered why Alice's voice was no longer used for announcements.
Saber, too, returned to our base not after long.
"Still no sight of them," Saber said.
That was a good thing…right? They hadn't been around to stop our offense. But what were they planning? What had they been up to this whole time?
"Should all of us go mid?" I asked. "Get that tower too."
Saber frowned for a moment. "Too obvious. If they siege our top and bottom lanes, we'd take one tower and lose two at best. Tanin, can you fight by yourself now?"
"I'll manage."
"Good. Go defend mid lane. Just farm the golems and stay safe. Sopia and I will keep pressuring top and bottom. It's the quickest way to catch up in levels."
"And if they ambush us three-on-one?" I asked.
"Run."
I shrugged. Her plan was far from failsafe, but I knew that winning from behind often required making these sorts of gambles.
"Good luck," I said before the three of us all went our separate ways.
Saber let me take the bottom lane this time and she headed top, to mix up our positions. I jogged down the bottom lane, accompanied by no one besides files of our ally golems. I had rarely felt so alone in the arena. Almost always I'd have fought alongside Hei at least, but now I had no one but myself to rely upon.
The moon had finally revealed itself in the sky. A crescent barely thick enough to light the ground.
I conjured a Cold Grenade and clutched it tight in my palm. I darted into the trees to the side of the lane's cobblestone road, to conceal my presence. Not before long, I crossed to the enemy's side of the arena. Our golems had already pressed onward, almost reaching the enemies' inner-bottom tower. But in their path was Brandon, frantically driving them back with fists and webs. I blinked twice to check his HP.
[HP: 510/580]
Wait. Why was his max HP so low? Don't tell me, after this whole time, he was still level 1. Were our deductions wrong? The missing zombies in the cave…had Brandon and his team not killed them, after all?
He turned right toward me as I hid among the trees, several dozen yards away.
"Saber!" he shouted out. "Is that you?!"
Drat. He somehow sensed my presence.
"Saber! Please, why! What are you doing this for?!" he cried out, pleading for an answer while I bit back my tongue, while I fought to ignore the ache inside my chest.
"We could have gotten along!" his voice pierced the night. "I trusted you! I…I even liked you!"
Had they been innocent all along?
Ah.
Either way, we no longer had a future here.
I conjured a Frost Missile and took aim.
