Chapter 28: Frenzied Exchange

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

At eight minutes, their Creep Scores were fifteen minions apart. Normally, it should be Caitlyn getting the upper hand over Ezreal, but instead it was the other way around.

“Your farming is a bit off today,” Yu Luocheng remarked.

Being fifteen minions behind was equivalent to granting the enemy a champion kill. Once they’d both bought some equipment back at base, Caitlyn would have little chance of prevailing against Ezreal in a duel.

Sure enough, when both sides returned to the lane once more, Caitlyn was wielding a 1,550-gold B. F. Sword; Ezreal had one too, and a Vampiric Scepter as well ! ¹

With the Vampiric Scepter in hand, Ezreal began playing even more aggressively! However, rather than Caitlyn, he seemed to be aiming all his skills at Yu Luocheng’s Zyra!

Asmodai was a crack shot with Ezreal’s Q-skill, ‘Mystic Shot’. Many times, even when Ezreal was hurling the bolt at him directly across the battlefield, there was no way for Zyra to dodge it.

After suffering three hits from that skill, Zyra was already at half health! He hurriedly quaffed a Health Potion to restore his lost HP, for they would surely press to attack the moment their minions were cleared away.

Yu Luocheng had Zyra pull back a little, and noticed that Asmodai was meanwhile moving Ezreal towards the brush along the side. Attacking as he moved, Ezreal collected a cannon minion for himself, and then slipped into one of the bushes.

True masters of the champion Ezreal knew to move around while farming, scattering the minions apart so that he could take potshots at the enemy through the gaps.

Asmodai was performing a first-class demonstration of this technique!

It was obvious that he was positioning himself in the brush now in order to flank Caitlyn and Zyra with his Mystic Shot, now that both of them had run out of ways to recover their health.

Knowing that Asmodai’s real target was him, Yu Luocheng took cover behind two of his own ranged minions, which would help block Ezreal’s shots.

‘Huh? Something’s wrong!’ Yu Luocheng’s danger sense was blaring!

Normally, Ezreal would only hide in the brush for a moment before firing off his Mystic Shot, and then swiftly exit to resume farming.

Asmodai had been in that bush for at least a second now!

At the pro level, a split second was enough to decide between life and death. In that sense, Ezreal had vanished for close to an eternity.

Whoosh!

A vast golden crescent appeared, sweeping towards Yu Luocheng with frightening speed! It was Ezreal’s ultimate skill: ‘Trueshot Barrage’!

The two minions were no protection at all against a Trueshot Barrage, and disintegrated instantly as the energy wave swept through them. It then carried on without pause towards Zyra, a gleaming golden scythe blade intent on cutting her down like a stray weed!

Even Yu Luocheng’s heart skipped a beat in the face of this vicious aggression!

Yu Luocheng had about sixty percent of his health left. If Ezreal’s ultimate hit him now, he’d be left with less than forty percent! After that, an A-Q- A ¹ -Ignite combo would be more than enough to finish off a fragile champion like Zyra!

***

Yi Qin had also been shocked by this sudden Ultimate. Was it really worth expending an ultimate skill just to wear down Zyra’s health?

From where she was standing, it seemed doubtful that Ezreal could really take Zyra down, what with them being a thousand units ¹ apart at the moment. He’d need to Flash twice to get within reach of Zyra!

Thresh was over by the river, with some minions in his way, making it even more unlikely for him to do anything to Zyra.

Yi Qin just couldn’t understand what Asmodai was up to, but Yu Luocheng had some inkling of the strategy behind this savage assault!

True enough, Ezreal was two Flashes away from being able to use a basic attack on him…

… and Flashing twice was indeed something that Ezreal was able to do!

‘Bamf!’ Flash!

Immediately after unleashing his Ultimate, Ezreal Flashed in!

Even as he stepped out of the aether, a second halo of golden light rose up around him as he used his E-skill, ‘Arcane Shift’!

And then he teleported forward again!

This meant that even as the Trueshot Barrage reached Zyra—so did Ezreal himself!

Watching this display of grace and bravado, Yi Qin was dumbstruck with awe!

Worse, the energy bolt released at the end of the Arcane Shift flew out and struck Zyra squarely. This left her on her last twenty percent of health!

At this point, all it would take was two attacks from Ezreal, plus an Ignite, and Zyra would be down for the count!

In the face of his imminent demise, Yu Luocheng’s mind was on fire!

Should he flee? He could use his own Flash to evade Ezreal’s second basic attack. Even with that, however, he might yet be cut down by a longer-ranged Mystic Shot!

There was about a seventy percent chance of him dying even after using Flash.

If fleeing was not a viable option, then he would stand and fight!

This was an outright challenge from Asmodai. That double-Flash had been proof of his determination to take down Zyra!

Hadn’t he been wanting a good scrap with this guy? Why talk about retreating, then?

***

Yu Luocheng met the enemy’s brutal onslaught without the slightest trace of panic, his eyes cold as ice!

Hitting F on his keyboard, he applied Exhaust on Ezreal even as he appeared out of thin air. That would slow him down, and buy Zyra another precious moment of life!

Next, he reached out and tapped E to bring out Zyra’s disabling skill, ‘Grasping Roots’!

Curling tendrils wound along the ground in a straight path, entwining around Ezreal’s feet!

His finger slid over W, and a Seed popped up beside Ezreal’s feet which, upon contact with the Grasping Roots’ effect, sprouted into a Vine Lasher with a Slowing attack!

Playing Zyra was an intricate feat.

Even as the Grasping Roots surged through the earth, Yu Luocheng hit Q next! Deadly Spines—he used his second Seed in conjunction with this skill!

And then R, to finish: Zyra’s ultimate magic, Stranglethorns!

Executing this entire sequence of skills seamlessly, he produced Zyra’s highest burst damage combo!

***

Yu Luocheng’s health was rapidly evaporating even as he did all this, until the Ignite effect burned away his final Hit Point.

In death, Zyra wilted into an enormous bud on the ground.

***

Asmodai received three hundred gold for slaying Zyra.

However, now Ezreal was rooted in place, unable to move!

He’d been caught by the Grasping Roots, and the Deadly Spines had shorn off quite a bit of his health, but most terrifying of all were the vines, like a writhing mass of snakes, spreading outwards in a massive circle. This final spell dealt tremendous damage to him, and then knocked him high up into the air, leaving him vulnerable the whole time!

Asmodai’s Ezreal was swiftly running out of health, himself—and it wasn’t over yet!

Upon her death, Zyra could fire one last shot in revenge: a massive thorn which dealt a huge amount of True Damage ! ¹

Asmodai had defeated Yu Luocheng, but now he too was standing before death’s door!

1. Item builds change constantly, but it’s strange that Ezreal isn’t getting a ‘Tear of the Goddess’ as one of his very first items. Maybe it’s because Asmodai is expecting this to be a short game, despite Logan’s presence.
2. ‘A’ here refers to a basic attack. Although it takes a fair bit of skill to do so, you can unleash skills during the delay in-between basic attacks.And yeah, early in the game, Ezreal’s Ultimate doesn’t hurt that much.
3. Units here is a measure of in-game distance. Yes, I agree that Jeannie smells like a Bronze-tier player.
4. Zyra’s post-death revenge attack, ‘Rise of the Thorns’, was from an older version of the game, and has now been removed.True Damage ignores all Armour and Magic Resistance, making it the rarest and most powerful form of damage.