NOVEL NEXT Chapter 25
The opponent Akali, who joined with Renekton, just sat there and watched from start to finish, and the moment Karthus got caught, she ran away.
That’s what a level 2 Akali is like.
No real crowd control, and practically nonexistent combat ability; just a spectator.
It’s no wonder they say she becomes a late-game monster after level 6 and with her first core item.
While Renekton and I had already used our spells, we couldn’t catch Akali, but considering she’s a champion with excellent survivability, it wasn’t too disappointing.
Afterward, Sion and Galion joined late, but it seemed they thought the situation was already over, as they soon returned to their lanes.
They were also, in their own way, just spectators.
I took the opportunity to munch on the toad and wolves in the enemy jungle.
I also made sure to leave one little wolf alive for Karthus.
It was a spoils of victory from our early skirmish.
“I didn’t see Karthus until I ate the toad and wolves. He must have headed to the lower jungle.”
Even though it was a perfectly normal deduction, it felt a bit surprising since the enemy was Yoon-ki.
Considering Yoon-ki’s usual playstyle, I thought he might just reverse course back to the upper jungle.
“Could it be because of GuineaPig?”
The wild horse trainer.
Although the mid position Rainbow has a very close relationship with the jungle, GuineaPig, as the supporter, could fulfill a similar role.
So, up to this point, one could say that Karthus just got one death, and we merely split the jungle.
However, a significant fact is hidden here.
Karthus’s earlier death was no ordinary death.
“A level 2 Karthus without a blue buff…”
Just imagining it makes jungle farming seem torturous.
In other words, Karthus had completely ruined himself through reckless judgment early on.
“No matter how good Yoon-ki is, recovering from that won’t be easy.”
And snowballing is a process that exacerbates the differences that have already opened up and solidifies them.
“Now, let’s see…”
I surveyed the situation.
Karthus had gone to the lower path after dying, and I had cleared the entire upper jungle, even eating the top crab.
The bottom lane looked a bit tough, mid was even, and the top lane was forming a massive dive.
Since the combination was Renekton and Elise from the start, and Sion had lost in the early skirmish, he too had to play cautiously in lane.
From now on, I could do as I pleased.
Just like I did with other opponents in the past, I could follow Karthus after going home and relentlessly torment him, or I could dive the top lane where a dive line was forming.
I looked over the bottom lane.
“Hmm… I could head back and then go harass Yoon-ki, but the bottom lane is nagging at me.”
If I went down to make Karthus suffer a bit more, the opposing Ruler, who was currently leading in lane, might join in.
The roster of the enemy bottom lane was anything but ordinary.
[SCV BlackDog – Jinx]
[SY GuineaPig – Ruler]
It’s the Red Cup’s top four AD carry and the Red Cup’s winning supporter.
Two practically world-class players were in the mix, so even a celestial user wouldn’t find it easy to endure.
“Just surviving is a blessing.”
By holding up against world-class players and maintaining slight control in lane, I had already proven my skills.
“I’m heading top now.”
I decided to go with the textbook play.
I pinged the map.
[⨷] [⨷]
[Prisoner(Elise) has marked 3 Min Top School Honorary Member(Sion)]
[Prisoner(Elise) has marked 3 Min Top School Honorary Member(Sion)]
Then, Renekton, who was slow-pushing and forming the wave, suddenly charged in aggressively as if waiting for this moment.
It was the classic setup for a top dive.
[Elise – Level 3]
[Renekton – Level 4]
[Sion – Level 4]
Under normal circumstances, Sion should have run away without caring about the wave long before it came to this.
From Sion’s perspective, having already lost the early skirmish and facing Renekton and Elise was tough.
Later, Karthus’s path also fled downwards, so if Sion didn’t want to die, he should have run from the lane at all costs.
But I know Sion.
To be precise, I know what kind of player is controlling Sion right now.
[3 Min Top School Honorary Member – Sion]
A top laner who decorates one side of my friend list.
As his name suggests, the 3 Min Top School Honorary Member is a typical top lane zealot who believes every game’s top lane battle is decided within the first 3 minutes by the enemy and ally junglers.
[⨷]
[Prisoner(Elise) has marked 3 Min Top School Honorary Member(Sion)]
Finally, as I emerged from the bush with the dive line, Sion thrashed around desperately, trying to dodge my cocoon.
If by chance I missed and Renekton drew the turret aggro first, the dive could easily fail.
So I calmly approached Sion and gauged my cocoon angle.
“I’ll hit first.”
Even without any voice chat, Renekton waited patiently, as if he understood.
Since I didn’t know if this was a pro or not, either way, he was definitely a top-tier player.
-Twang!
After my cocoon landed…
Like a scene from a movie, Renekton’s empowered W followed up with skill combos.
Sion, trying to resist as a tank, still wasn’t much more than a level 4 tank without items.
It’s no accident that the Elise-Renekton combo is deemed a classic combo.
Just as Sion’s Q was fully charged and aimed at me…
I gracefully slipped away, attracting turret aggro with impeccable spider web skills.
-You have slain an enemy!
Just like Karthus, Sion was briefly resurrected by his passive after dying.
Come to think of it, that was a pretty resilient combo for the top lane.
However, unfortunately, Sion was running the Conqueror rune instead of the Frozen Heart, so, like our Sion before, he couldn’t effectively utilize that formidable passive.
Right now, Sion’s passive was only good for eating remaining minions.
-Hahaha!
Renekton’s laughter echoed through the rift.
『👍』
『🐣』
After exchanging warm emoticons with Renekton, we both returned home together.
Once home, I immediately bought tier 2 boots.
I felt an urgent need to move as quickly as possible.
“The dive line is forming at the bottom.”
And Karthus was heading down.
Combining those two pieces of information gives a crystal-clear result.
“The enemy is planning to dive bottom.”
In the realm of Legends of League, there’s a theory known as the diagonal law.
Simply put, if allies gain advantages on one side of the map, enemies will suffer losses on the opposite side, so one needs to be careful. Right now, the bottom dive was precisely that diagonal law in action.
Well… lately it’s been mocked as the “King diagonal” and all that good stuff.
Nevertheless, at this very moment, it was proving the law, as Karthus would soon appear in the bottom bush.
[Karthus – Level 3]
[Elise – Level 4]
The data directly showed that Karthus, a champion strong in jungling, was lower in level than Elise, a jungler who went for an all-in gank after skipping camps.
Therefore, the following bottom dive was exceedingly vital.
If the dive was successful, it would render all efforts to control Karthus meaningless.
[↓] [↓] [↓]
I pinged repeatedly.
I’m coming, so hold on a bit longer.
“Will they be able to hold?”
Under normal circumstances, I would barely make it in time, but the variables were that the enemy comprised Yoon-ki, BlackDog, and GuineaPig.
Combining all that makes for an imposing roster of two Red Cup champions and a top four liner.
I couldn’t afford to be careless.
[❕] [❕] [❕]
Retreat pings were issued in succession.
The dive line was already being pushed forward by the enemy Jinx and Ruler.
Karthus was blocking our escape route.
Just as Karthus’s W landed on our Ezreal and Maokai in a critical moment…
-Wooosh…
The ward our allies placed in the bottom lane bush started glowing.
It was a teleport.
“I didn’t expect them to come that far.”
There was no need to explain whose teleport it was.
Among our allies, there was only one champion who had teleport available.
[⨷] [⨷]
[qwdkmqwojfte(Renekton) has marked SCV BlackDog(Jinx)]
[qwdkmqwojfte(Renekton) has marked SCV BlackDog(Jinx)]
With that, Renekton, fully armed with muscles, appeared with the teleport effect.
The top difference had arrived.