ARML CH69

The match quickly began.

Following their pre-planned strategy, the four players of the FNO team—Support, Marksman, Jungler, and Mid-laner—grouped up together to invade the red buff.

Because the jungler hero [Stealth Rogue] had no mana bar, he was more reliant on the Red Buff. As long as they stole Chi Shuo’s Red Buff right at the start, affecting his jungling efficiency, they could suppress his farming.

The coach had said Tianhuan played around Chi Shuo as the jungle carry; the players in other roles were nothing to fear.

Mitchell led his teammates into the red buff jungle area, bumping into Qu Jiang and Cheng Xing. Seeing that four opponents had actually come, Qu Jiang immediately pressed retreat.

Cheng Xing reacted quickly this time, decisively using his Flash to jump over the wall and escape.

The opposing Support, [Mechanical Expert], possessed crowd control at level one. Once he was pinned down by a mechanical soldier, he wouldn’t be able to run. Giving up First Blood to the enemy would make the subsequent laning phase extremely difficult.

Meanwhile, Chi Shuo, Ye Shaoyang, and Qin Yizhu grouped up to counter-invade the opponent’s red buff jungle area.

Chi Shuo guessed FNO would come to steal his red. Fighting them head-on might not result in a win, so they simply avoided a direct clash and went to steal their red instead. This play was a case of “I predicted your prediction”; either way, they wouldn’t lose out.

After securing the red, Chi Shuo immediately returned to his own blue zone.

He quickly whittled the Blue Buff down to a sliver of health and then said, “Shaoyang, take the blue.”

Ye Shaoyang threw out a Q skill, securing the Blue Buff, and closely followed by returning to the mid-lane.

Although Mitchell and his team stole the red, they failed to secure any kills, and their own red was also stolen, which could be considered returning empty-handed. What surprised him was that the opposing Mid-laner was actually carrying the glowing aura of the Blue Buff.

Mitchell wondered in confusion, “Isn’t Tianhuan a jungle-core team? Why was the first blue yielded to the mid-lane?”

The Blue Buff not only restores mana but also accelerates skill cooldowns. More crucially—killing jungle buffs grants a relatively high amount of experience and gold.

If a jungler wants to quickly reach level 6 and learn their ultimate, they absolutely must take the first wave of buffs themselves. Only a utility jungler would yield the buffs to their teammates, allowing them to farm up as quickly as possible.

So… What on earth was Tianhuan thinking?

A jungle-core composition yielding the very first blue to the mid-lane meant that for the next 4 minutes, the jungler wouldn’t be able to reach level 6 or learn their ultimate, leaving them with no ganking ability!

A surge of joy rose in Mitchell’s heart as he said, “The enemy mid-laner took the blue, so their jungler won’t hit level 6. Bot lane, quickly clear the wave to apply suppression. We have the advantage for the first dragon team fight.”

Angus and Alan replied simultaneously, “Roger!”

Both sides began rapidly clearing waves to farm up.

Mitchell had secured his favorite hero, [Sun Wheel Mage]. This was the most ferocious among all mages, capable of wielding his wheel in close-quarters melee combat. He was surrounded by a golden sun wheel shield, essentially giving him 20% more health than other mages, making him very tanky.

[Sun Wheel Mage]’s damage output relied on the golden wheel in his hand. His attack range was very short, but once the wheel smashed into an opponent, the damage inflicted was extremely high. Most squishy mages would basically lose their lives right there if they were smashed by him 3 times at close range.

Mitchell seized the opportunity when [Abyssal Lord] stepped up to clear the wave. Suddenly, using the two-stage dash of his W skill, he pounced forward, forcefully smashing the golden wheel—which looked like a pot lid—toward his opponent’s head—

However, upon smashing down, he found that [Abyssal Lord] hadn’t lost any health at all.

Looking closely, he realized the opponent had left a shadow under the tower. The moment Mitchell moved to strike him, he immediately pressed the E skill to swap places, returning to the shadow’s location.

Mitchell unleashed a flurry of fierce operations, only to end up smashing thin air.

He couldn’t help but complain in his heart: “What a coward, actually hiding under the tower and refusing to come out!”

Ye Shaoyang had said: Try not to step out from under the tower.

So he simply didn’t step out, keeping [Abyssal Lord] stationed under the tower while continuously sending out shadows to clear the waves. The Q skill’s shadow could deal damage to enemies along its path, making it extremely convenient for wave clearing.

This strategy of shrinking back under the tower indeed looked cautious, a bit cowardly, and quite fitting for his “rookie” status.

But in reality… Ye Shaoyang was observing Mitchell’s attack tempo and movement patterns.

Mitchell truly lived up to being a world-class mid-laner. His movement mechanics were top-tier, swaying left and right in front of him, making it very difficult to predict where he would go in the next second. However, Ye Shaoyang quickly noticed Mitchell’s attack habit—

Whenever a full-health minion wave reached the mid-lane, Mitchell would use his Q skill to clear them. One throw of the wheel would leave all the minions at low health, and then two casual basic attacks would secure the last-hit rewards. This was also how most mages cleared waves: Q skill + basic attacks, killing all minions at the fastest speed.

However, the Sun Wheel Mage had a unique trait. Although this melee mage appeared very fierce, he was also relatively clunky. The instant he threw out his wheel, he would experience a post-cast delay stiffness of about 0.1 seconds, stopping in place unable to move.

A fleeting stiffness was an excellent kill opportunity.

The corners of Ye Shaoyang’s lips curved up slightly.

The pre-cast and post-cast delay stiffness of skills could be fatal during mage laning.

Mitchell clearly thought the opposing [Abyssal Lord] was a “coward” who feared him, hiding under the tower and not daring to come out. Thus, while clearing waves at the front, his positioning was extremely arrogant, completely ignoring details like post-cast delay.

Ye Shaoyang, hiding under the tower to clear waves, quickly reached level 6. With Chi Shuo yielding the first Blue Buff to him, he started off a level higher than Mitchell. Plus, the Blue Buff provided rapid skill cooldowns, allowing him to clear waves faster than Mitchell as well.

Therefore, by the time he hit level 6, Mitchell was only level 5.

During the previous laning phase, Ye Shaoyang pretended to be rather scared, always hiding under the tower and not daring to go out, only sending out shadows to clear waves and poke. The dark shadows could deal damage to enemies in a straight line. Several times, the dark shadows “coincidentally” hit Mitchell’s [Sun Wheel Mage].

At this moment, the [Sun Wheel Mage]’s health was only around 80%, and his shield had also been broken by the dark shadows Ye Shaoyang had sent out just now. It would take another 5 seconds for the shield to regenerate.

The next minion wave arrived.

As expected, Mitchell carelessly cast his Q skill to clear the wave. In his eyes, the opposing mid-laner had been completely suppressed by his aura, cowardly hiding under the tower and not daring to come out. Even though he only had 80% health, he couldn’t even be bothered to retreat under his tower to eat a healing mushroom. With this much health, he wasn’t even afraid of a head-on clash!

However, the instant he cast his Q skill…

[Abyssal Lord]’s three dark shadows suddenly surrounded him like a hurricane, and a black eye mark appeared above his head. Before Mitchell could even react, the crisp system sound effect echoed in his ears—

First Blood!

The screen turned gray. [Abyssal Lord] was still standing under the tower, yet the [Sun Wheel Mage] was dead!

Mitchell: “????”

Ye Shaoyang: I try not to step out from under the tower. But my shadows can step out. [Abyssal Lord] relies on shadows for kills.

Coach Lin looked up, seeing the familiar ^_^ smile on Ye Shaoyang’s face, and only felt a chill run down his spine.

He actually solo-killed Mitchell. A mid-lane solo kill!!

Mitchell was a world-class mid-laner; the mid-laners who could solo-kill him could be counted on one hand. In season S8, Fang Zhengqing had once solo-killed him using a summoner mage with burst and hard crowd control. But in regular matches, mid-laners facing him were generally suppressed by him; even if they called their jungler for help, a 2v1 might not even be enough to kill him.

How did Shaoyang do it?

The dark shadows just now were a dazzling blur. Mitchell merely stepped up to clear a minion wave, and then a chaotic mess of dark shadows suddenly darted out, followed immediately by him falling to the ground. The speed of the mechanics in that instant was startling.

When Mitchell was killed and sent back to base, his mind was completely blank.

His teammates were also stunned—what happened? The captain was actually solo-killed?

After respawning, Mitchell immediately said, “Positioning mistake just now, prepare to fight the dragon!”

Originally, FNO held a solid advantage for the first dragon team fight. With Chi Shuo’s jungler not at level 6 while FNO’s jungler was, possessing an AoE crowd control ultimate, wasn’t this team fight a guaranteed win?

However, when it came time for the dragon team fight, they realized it wasn’t at all what they had envisioned!

At this point, all 5 members of FNO had collectively reached level 6. Tianhuan’s top laner and marksman were level 6, the mid-laner was level 7, the support was level 5, and the jungler was also only level 5.

With the jungler lacking an ultimate, they would definitely be at a disadvantage in a team fight… But Tianhuan actually dared to take the fight?

Chi Shuo initiated the fight very decisively, commanding in the voice channel: “Old Qin, pull them in. Shaoyang, prepare to flank!”

As soon as the 5v5 team fight started, the top laner Qin Yizhu suddenly leaped into the crowd. With a single taunt, he forcefully dragged the opponent’s front-line top laner and jungler together.

Mitchell found it amusing in his heart. Taunting two meat shields, did you misplaced your taunt?

However, facts proved—Qin Yizhu did it on purpose.

He pulled FNO’s two front-line heroes with crowd control skills together precisely to facilitate Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang’s entry to dive the backline!

Chi Shuo wasn’t level 6 and hadn’t learned his burst ultimate, but the Stealth Rogue’s Q skill was an invisibility skill. The instant he emerged from invisibility, he could stun the opponent for 1 second and lower their defense.

With FNO’s frontline pulled away, Chi Shuo swiftly went invisible and flanked around the back. The instant the invisible rogue appeared, the enemy marksman positioned in the backline was suddenly stunned!

Then, the [Abyssal Lord] hiding above the dragon pit released three dark shadows. The black shadows enveloped the enemy marksman like lightning. Angus only felt his vision blur before the squishy marksman instantly fell to the ground.

—[TH0003 ([Abyssal Lord]) killed Angus ([Machine Gun Hunter])!]

As a harvest-type mage assassin, [Abyssal Lord]’s strongest asset was that after securing a kill, his ultimate would instantly refresh, and he would enter “Vengeance Mode,” increasing his magical output. As long as his shadows didn’t die, they could be continuously controlled by the master, who could use the E skill to swap positions.

After the three dark shadows deleted the marksman, the ultimate refreshed. The next target was naturally the enemy mid-laner.

Sensing danger, Mitchell reacted with lightning speed, using Flash to jump over the wall and escape!

However, [Abyssal Lord] could use his E skill to swap places with his dark shadows. In the canyon, the three dark shadows continuously teleported like relentless ghosts, catching up to Mitchell’s [Sun Wheel Mage] in the blink of an eye!

The familiar black eye mark appeared above his head once again. So what if the [Sun Wheel Mage] is tanky? You’re not a tank, after all.

In [Abyssal Lord]’s post-kill Vengeance Mode, both magical damage and magical critical hits are increased simultaneously. Ye Shaoyang consecutively triggered 7 marks within an extremely short time, and Mitchell’s [Sun Wheel Mage] fell to the ground once again!

—[TH0003 ([Abyssal Lord]) killed Mitchell ([Sun Wheel Mage])!] —Double Kill!

Ye Shaoyang secured a double kill, and his ultimate refreshed once more.

At this moment, FNO’s top laner and jungler were locked in place by the allied top laner Qin Yizhu’s taunt. Cheng Xing hid far away, rapidly firing single shots. Although the [Holy Spirit Archer] he picked lacked early game damage, after firing continuously for several seconds, the enemy jungler was also reduced to half health.

Sensing something amiss, FNO’s jungler Kevin immediately turned around to run. Chi Shuo, who had been lurking nearby all along, emerged from invisibility with [Stealth Rogue] and stunned him once again.

[Abyssal Lord]’s three dark shadows turned around to envelop the enemy jungler. The [Abyssal Lord] with a refreshed ultimate was simply unstoppable. With a flurry of magical critical hits, the half-health enemy jungler also lay flat.

—[TH0003 ([Abyssal Lord]) killed Kevin ([Fighter])!] —Triple Kill!

This triple kill allowed [Abyssal Lord]’s economy to take off instantly.

The three FNO members who were sent back to base were completely dumbfounded. Mitchell slapped his thigh in anger: “Jungle-core?? This isn’t jungle-core, they’re running a mid-core playstyle! I was careless, so careless!”

A blank expression also appeared in Coach Tom’s eyes. Could the intelligence have been wrong? Didn’t they say Tianhuan’s mid-laner Qu Jiang couldn’t play mage assassins?

At the FNO base, the group looked at each other in dismay.

After securing the kills, Ye Shaoyang obediently returned to his tower once again.

Coach Lin: “…………” I try not to step out from under the tower. When I step out from under the tower, I get a direct triple kill ^_^

This team fight made Ye Shaoyang’s [Abyssal Lord] the boss with the highest economy in the entire match; he was even a whole staff ahead of the enemy mid-laner Mitchell.

After both sides returned to their lanes once again… Ye Shaoyang still didn’t step out from under his tower. But Mitchell didn’t dare to step out from under his tower either; going out meant getting killed!

Under the circumstance of being crushed in equipment, stepping up to fight wasn’t called hot-bloodedness; it was called stupidity. Mitchell had underestimated his opponent too much just now, thinking the opponent was a second-rate mid-laner who would cower at the sight of him. But from this moment on, he would remember Tianhuan’s mid-laner!

That level 6 Abyssal Lord who took advantage of his skill’s post-cast delay to suddenly strike and solo-kill him. That terrifying mage assassin who dove the backline during team fights, continuously securing kills, refreshing his ultimate, harvesting the battlefield, and taking a triple kill in one go!

An [Abyssal Lord] in an advantageous game truly was a force that slaughtered gods when they blocked the way and buddhas when they blocked the way. This was FNO’s first time encountering an [Abyssal Lord] mid-core system, and they were caught completely off guard.

And when they dragged it out to the late game, they discovered that Tianhuan’s [Stealth Rogue] had also geared up. The invisible assassin moved like a ghost through the canyon. Angus, who had been assassinated by the rogue three times: “…This game is so hard!” Alan, the support who was ignored and bypassed every time: “Unable to protect the marksman, it’s so hard for me too!”

The two looked at each other—why was there a sense of familiarity?

The first game quickly ended.

Mitchell stared blankly at the computer screen, his face full of disbelief.

His KDA this game was unprecedented: 0-3-3. The opposing [Abyssal Lord] was: 7-0-5.

Mitchell: “…………” Should I uninstall the game?