“Julia is retreating,” Ellen announced.

“Alright,” Howard nodded. As expected, it won't be so easy to score another kill here. A kill on Julia would have turned this into a 4v1, a dreadful situation for the enemy. With late-game's long respawn times, it would have given Howard's team more than enough time to turn the tables around. Maybe they could have even taken the Overlord during that time. Oh, well.

“I'll push Bot,” Howard said. “Tai, return to base to heal, then go replace Ellen in Top. Greg, you'll defend Mid for a while. I suggest you go back and heal first, just in case.”

“Nah, no need,” Gregory dismissed the idea. Like, c'mon, he was the super tanky Vanguard. His 40% HP was like over 9000% HP for anybody else.

Besides, who gonna get him all the way out here right now? Lars has just recently flown away from a fight barely hanging onto his life, while Julia was currently running away like a pussy. So, Mid was totally open for being pushed hard. At least, as hard as Gregory could possibly push with a tank which had zero damage, kek.

“Alright,” Howard went over the orders one more time. “Tai to Top, Greg in Mid and I'm in Bot. Elly, heal up and join one of us as necessary.”

“No problem, darling~”

With their game plan decided, the team split across the map and began regaining control across all three lanes.

Wait a minute, Yuel realized something big: the enemy most likely won't rotate to Top to chase Julia. Ellen was defending Top against Julia, so she surely informed her team about Julia's retreat.

There was a tiny chance Howard ordered to chase Julia through the jungle but that was unlikely. Howard's team wasn't that kind of aggressive kill-hungry gang. So, what move would Howard actually make here instead of chasing?

Howard knew Lars had to return to base with such low HP. Also, he knew Julia was in the middle of fleeing. In other words, he knew that all the lanes were completely open right now.

Optimally, he’d like to assemble his entire team on one lane and push all the way to Yuel’s Colossus. However, their team was too much behind on all lanes because Lars terrorized every lane with his Seraph. So, first, they had to reclaim their footing on the lanes.

Since nobody from Yuel’s team could possibly defend any of the lanes right now, this was a great opportunity to split across all lanes and reclaim control in all of them. There was also the possibility Howard would go for the Overlord instead if he wanted to be spicy, but he wouldn't take such a risk during such an important game.

Therefore, Howard will definitely shoot for reclaiming the lanes. So, how will he assign his teammates across the lanes? There were too many factors to consider, so Yuel couldn't tell for sure.

However, there were two specific arrangements which would be great for Yuel’s team: either Gregory or Taison staying in Mid to push. They both had low HP, but there was a chance they won’t return to base to heal and instead will push Mid right away. After all, from their perspective, there weren’t any immediate threats for them to be concerned about.

If that happens, it’ll be a beautiful weak point to strike. Under normal circumstances, Howard would never allow such an opening in his team’s formation. However, Howard’s defense has been slipping recently. Even though he still pulled impressive defensive plays, the rest of his team was more vulnerable than usual.

Therefore, there was a possibility Taison or Gregory would become easy targets. At least, it was worth a shot because the play he had in mind didn’t harbor much risk.

“Julia,” Yuel drew a path on the mini-map. “Go toward Mid.”

“Huh? You want me to go back? I thought I’m supposed to retreat.”

“You made it clear to the enemy that you’ll get away so they’re not going to bother with you,” Yuel explained. “They don’t consider you a threat right now because they expect you to retreat far away, so they’ll focus on pushing lanes. I think there’s a chance they’ll leave somebody with low health in Mid, so you may have a chance to get a kill there.”

“A kill...” Julia mumbled as her lips curved into a smile. “Okay, I’ll check what’s up.”

“If there’s somebody with full HP there, don’t bother. But, if you see somebody who is low and they’re alone-”

“I’ll murder them.” Julia’s eyes glinted dangerously. She was like a blade begging to be unleashed. If there was an opportunity to score a kill, she’ll seize it without thinking twice. It was a dangerous mentality, but it made her much easier to command compared to the usual defensive Julia who always refused to budge.

Julia strayed from the lane and cut through the jungle. She arrived at the exit to Mid Lane and scouted the area. It actually happened! It was one of the two best-case scenarios! Gregory was pushing Mid alone and he was at 40% HP.

According to the vision from allied minions, Taison replaced Ellen in Top while Howard defended Bot. Meanwhile, Ellen most certainly returned to base to heal the injuries she received from Julia.

In other words, nobody was around to help Gregory. This was a great opportunity to strike!

“Julia, go gank- ah,” Yuel paused because his words were unnecessary.

“I’ll kill him!” Julia was already on the lane. She didn’t waste any time examining the situation. As soon as she spotted her prey, she charged forth without thinking twice.

I’ll get it! Julia was convinced. Just a brief glance at the map was enough to inform her that nobody was around. She has spent more than enough time reading the mini-map data on her way to Mid.

As a defensive player who was infamous for covering the entire map with wards, Julia had tons of experience with reading vision information from the mini-map. Whether it was vision from wards or from minions - Julia digested and analyzed everything in an instant. Minions were just like walking wards anyway as far as she was concerned.

Therefore, Julia’s quick and “reckless” attack was actually perfectly safe. Julia knew that Gregory was completely alone all the way out here, it was almost like he was waiting to be murdered like an idiot!

“What the-!?” Gregory exclaimed. “Guys, Julia is over here!”

“My, how aggressive,” Ellen smiled. “Don’t even think about fighting her. Run back to base on the double. I’ll get there as soon as I can.”

“Tch, got it,” Gregory didn’t appreciate the implication Julia was gonna tear him apart in a fight, but he had to concede here because he only had 40% HP. Julia’s build leaned toward the offense, so even as an Aeromancer, she could dish out some serious damage. Gregory had to scoot.

You ain’t getting away! Julia fired Squall at Gregory. The blast of wind slowed him twice: once due to Squall’s slowdown effect and one more time due to the Chains of Infinity in her build. So, Julia reduced that dumbass to nothing more than a big armored turtle!

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Next, she summoned Whirlwind right in front of Gregory. Normally, it wasn’t a very effective spell for killing because it slowly dealt damage over time and the enemy could easily maneuver around it to dodge most of the ticks. However, with the double slowdown on Gregory and with the Whirlwind blocking his escape route - he couldn’t dodge it so easily.

Fuck! I can’t let this shit get any more ticks on me! Gregory turned aside and ran around the whirlwind while trying to maintain as much distance as possible from Julia.

Not good enough, dumbass! Julia grinned as she channeled her ult: Hurricane. While Gregory was running away at the speed of a disabled snail, Julia finished the long casting animation of Hurricane and unleashed it toward Gregory’s back.

“Game over, fucker,” Julia cackled and turned her back to the scene. Yeah, that’s right. Julia turned around and left, just like that. It was done; Gregory was finished.

“A-Ah! It’s sucking me in!” Gregory ordered his Vanguard to run as fast as humanly possible, but this fatass mofo didn’t move! The hurricane approached from behind and sucked Gregory in!

The hurricane pulled Gregory all the way to Julia’s whirlwind, which was still going strong. In other words, he was pulled by one tornado into another tornado! Yo dawg, I heard you like tornados, so I put a tornado in your tornado. Fuuuuuuuu!

『An enemy has been killed!』

“Ha!” Julia pumped a fist. “Got that idiot.”

Yes! Yuel also felt like pumping. His gamble worked! This proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Howard’s defense was out of shape at the moment. So, despite the recent loses Yuel’s team suffered, the game was still far from over. Lars and Julia were more than enough to push against Howard’s weakened defense.

However, as much as Yuel wanted to exploit Howard’s moment of weakness and push hard, he had to play this patiently. Lars and Julia were the only teammates alive right now, so it was important to keep them safe until the others respawn. Above everything, Yuel had to make sure the enemy won’t be able to easily gank either of them. Therefore, it was best to keep them together.

“Julia,” Yuel started. “Push Bot together with Lars.” This was the safest offense he could come up with right now.

In truth, Yuel wanted them to push Mid and take down the Golem which Roi almost destroyed. However, placing the team's only survivors in Mid will make it too easy for the enemy to gank them from all sides. Taison will have an easy time rotating from Top and Howard will rotate from Bot.

Therefore, pushing Bot was the safer option. This way, if Taison chooses to rotate, it'll take him twice the time to get all the way over there from Top.

Darn it. Howard clicked his tongue. That stupid death Gregory suffered was completely Howard’s fault. What I was thinking? I should've ordered Gregory to go back and heal, no ifs or buts.

It was like karma. Back during the 2v2 between Yuel & Lars and Taison & Gregory, the main reason Howard successfully snuck into the scene and caught the enemy off-guard was that Yuel was overconfident and didn't request backup.

Unfortunately, the success of that play got into Howard’s head, so this time he grew numb to danger. So, he defeated an overconfident foe only to become overconfident himself and get bitten right away. Awesome. Exactly what he needed right now in his life. 10/10.

This is only becoming worse and worse. Howard had no choice but admit he was getting sloppier and sloppier with every passing moment. After all his recent misplays on the defense, Yuel surely realized that Howard's defense was no longer the same. In fact, it was possible some of Yuel's recent plays have been already designed around that knowledge.

Shit, we can't do anything like this. Howard stomped with his foot. The team only had three members alive and there were three lanes to defend, so each of them had to be assigned to a lane. Howard originally hoped to push at least one of the lanes with two players, but that became impossible now. Darn it all!

“My, you look troubled.” Ellen jabbed.

“You don't say,” Howard sighed. “I thought we finally had a breakthrough but turns out we're still stuck on the defensive. There's nobody in Mid now, so you gotta go there.”

“Do I, really?”

“Excuse me?” Howard raised an eyebrow.

“Defending is important and all, but we have to go on the offensive at some point. Think about it, this is still a 3v2. We got the numbers.”

“These numbers don't help much while Top is attacked by super minions. We got no choice but to keep clearing them.”

“But hey, Mid is safe.”

“You call that ‘safe’?”

“Well, okay. I admit, the Golem over there is in rough shape.”

“More like, it’s half-dead.”

“Yeah, right. But, it's still standing and stuff,” Ellen insisted. “GG did a splendid job clearing the minions over there, so Mid should be fine for a while as long as nobody pushes it.”

“Alright,” Howard sighed in defeat. “Suppose you’re not going to defend Mid. Then, what are you suggesting?”

“Well, let's stop to think for a moment, shall we? You're the master of predicting Yuyu’s attacks, so where do you think he’ll strike next?”

“I don't remember ever claiming to be a master,” Howard shook his head but nonetheless squeezed out what little remained from his brain juice. He couldn't answer for sure where Yuel will strike next, but he could at least estimate what was the most inviting spot to attack right now.

Mid will be the enemy's top priority for sure, but it was risky to gun for it during a 2v3 situation. Howard and Taison will be able to rotate over there in no time and Yuel surely knew that. Therefore, as Ellen said, Mid was actually relatively “safe” at the moment. Its convenient location between Top and Bot indirectly served as protection even when nobody was there to defend it.

Of course, Yuel may still choose to gun for it despite the risks; there was never telling with that chesskid. However, considering that Yuel has just recently suffered a heavy blow in the 2v2 due to his own negligence, he should be trying to play safer for a while. Hopefully, that one mess up will stick in Yuel’s head for the remainder of the game and will screw his entire gameplan.

Oh, right, gotta focus. So, about Yuel's next attack... Howard rubbed his eyes. Instead of thinking hard, it was easier to just hope for the enemy to dig their grave. Unfortunately, things won’t just magically solve themselves.

So, where will Yuel strike? If Mid wasn't the target, then there was only Top and Bot. This was a tricky one.

On one hand, Taison's defense was much weaker than Howard's and the enemy had super minions in Top, so it was appealing to push Top. On the other hand, the Golem in Bot had low HP and taking it down will make let super minions oppress two lanes at once.

In addition, Vampire was a marksman type class, so Taison's wave clearing speed was decent. He has already pushed back one wave of minions, so it'll take the enemy some effort to push back all the way to the base in Top. On top of that, Howard ordered Taison to stay near base instead of pushing the lane any further, which guaranteed Taison won't become an isolated target for Yuel to pick off. So, Yuel couldn’t target Top to get an easy kill either.

Man, this all sounds so needlessly complicated. Howard’s thoughts became a salad. I can usually figure all that basic stuff without even actively thinking about them. Maybe I really need to start jogging or something for extra brain fuel...

“Yuel will probably go for Bot,” Howard concluded.

“My, even though you're the one defending it?”

“I've barely pushed the lane at all and I won't be able to damage the attackers much, so it's a great spot to target.”

“Okay, then Larsy and July are coming from Bot's direction,” Ellen smirked. ”Then, how about I go greet them?”

“You want to gank them by yourself?”

“There's no way they've already organized. Larsy should be leaving base right about now, but July was in Mid a moment ago. I don't think she'll head back just to regroup, sooooo...”

“You want to attack one of them in isolation, huh.” Howard wasn't too sure about that. The risk was high, but the potential reward was high as well. “Who you want to gun for? Julia?”

“No no no, I can't handle her in that fire mode,” Ellen waved her hand. “I could've beaten her if I laid out more tricks during previous matches, but July switched modes way too late. So, don’t expect me to ever beat her in a 1v1 this game. On the other hand, Larsy... Hmhmhm~”

“You've only been luring Lars into traps the whole day,” Howard pointed out. “Sure you can handle him?”

“But of course, darling. That was all part of the plan~” Ellen licked her lips. This was the moment she has been preparing for the entire day.

In this selection match, Howard and Ellen had to prove their absolute superiority to Yuyu and Larsy. So, just Howard beating Yuyu wasn't good enough. To make their victory decisive, Ellen also had to pull her weight and teach Larsy a hard lesson~

“But,” Howard started. “Julia will rotate to help him.”

“Then do something to prevent that, darling.”

“Heh, fair enough,” Howard chuckled. “I'll take the fight to her.”

“Alrighty, then we're set,” Ellen mounted her wolf and rode toward the jungle. Riding on the cute wolfie boosted her movement speed a lot, so it’ll be easy for her to get all the way to Lars before he regroups with July.

Meanwhile, Howard advanced toward the jungle to intercept Julia ahead of time. His job was to keep Julia occupied while Ellen handled Lars.

This was an unusually aggressive move for Howard’s team, but they had to shoot for it. Passively waiting for the enemy to stumble wasn’t good enough at this point, not when Howard’s defense was this sloppy. The only way to win was by taking the fight to the enemy and beating them at their own game of aggression!