“Ok, what now?” Nia was right around the corner but didn’t dare to set foot into Top Lane. She just stood there and watched how the Dark Knight was pushing the Top Turret and the injured Knight was maintaining distance in fear of being killed.
Judging by the Dark Knight’s lack of reaction toward Nia’s rotation, it was safe to assume her stealth route worked splendidly. The Dark Knight didn’t even seem to consider the possibility of an incoming gank. The guy was drunk on his early-game strength and overextended hard without a care in the world.
“Ping that you’ll attack the lane and go for it,” Yuel said. “You might get a kill here but no need to put yourself in danger. Just strike hard to scare him and then retreat as necessary.”
“Ok,” Nia nodded. In other words, this was going to be yet another standard sneaky gank. The enemy hasn’t noticed her yet, so her job was to finish the Dark Knight off without giving him a chance to strike back or flee. It’ll be an assassination!
Nia opened the attack by summoning quicksand underneath the Dark Knight. No matter whether the guy was planning to attack or retreat, the slowdown will hinder him.
After that, Nia shot a fireball at the slowed Dark Knight. It deleted 20% HP. The Dark Knight was now down to 40% and the ticks from Quicksand kept reducing his HP even further.
Solid execution. Yuel nodded. Now, if the Knight just joins the offense- Oh, I guess that’s not happening. Alright then.
Instead of following up on Nia’s attack, the Knight used this time to recall. It seemed he was asking Nia to defend the lane for him. If so, he should’ve said something. Nia properly pinged her plan to attack the lane but the Knight was on radio silence.
Low ranks, I swear. Yuel shook his head. Still, even with that small issue, the gank turned out well overall. The Dark Knight was down to 35% HP and, despite his immense early-game power, his hands were tied. He’d have to get close to Nia in order to deliver any damage but she had ranged basics and the knockback from Windstorm. He won’t be able to get in against her.
But, apparently, none of that concerned him. The Dark Knight blitzed straight at Nia, ready to draw blood!
“W-What now?” Nia stuttered as she took a step back.
“Now, you kill him,” Yuel stated matter-of-factly. “He’s running low and his skills cost HP. He’ll become dangerous if he gets close but you can knock him away with your wind. You should be able to deal with him.”
“B-But, he gonna take me out in a few hits,” Nia retreated while firing basics at the approaching monster. If that thing catches up to her, she’ll be dead meat!
"Don't worry," Yuel said. "He doesn't have any mobility skills. And, even if he somehow gets close, you can- wha!?"
The Dark Knight vanished! Then, he appeared right in front of Nia's face!
A concealed Blink!? Yuel jumped. Darn, I should’ve considered that possibility!
This was a grave miscalculation. Back when Yuel was checking the Dark Knight's status, he noticed the Dark Knight hasn’t fully utilized all earned funds. However, the idea of a cloaked Blink didn't even cross his mind. After all, a Dark Knight had to get his build online as soon as possible.
Yet, this Dark Knight was confident enough to delay his build and go for Blink. He must have been aiming to score more kills this way because he didn't have any other ways to close distance to enemies. Unfortunately, this plan happened to serve him very well in this situation. Nia was in a real pinch.
"A-Ah!" Nia jumped as a fog of darkness appeared in front of her. The Dark Knight, coated in black miasma, towered over her and swung his dark blade without further ado. In just one basic attack, 17% of Nia's HP vanished without a trace!
"Eh, ah," Nia kept opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water. What. Why. Bad. Very bad! G-Gotta get outta here!
Nia turned her back to the enemy and ran like her life depended on it. But, that bully had no mercy! The dark blade slashed through her back, deleting another 17%. She was so dead! So freakin’ dead! I knew I shouldn't have ganked this monster! Fuuuuuuuu!
What is she doing? Yuel frowned. Instead of creating as much distance as possible, Nia just casually ran away. At this rate, a third slash will hit her. "Roll away!"
"Ah, oh! R-Right!" Nai activated Dodge Roll and jumped forth. But, she was just a moment too late. A third slash hit her and that's another 17% gone. Just three hits and she was down to 49%!
At least, with this roll, she created some distance between herself and that monster. Or, not!? The Dark Knight rolled right after her! He closed the gap in an instant!
Nice reaction time. Yuel frowned. Between the cloaked Blink and this clean execution, this player might actually be a unicorn, the nonexistent decent low-rank Dark Knight player. But, not all hope was lost. "Knock him away with Windstorm."
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"Eh? Oh, right, knockback," Nia clumsily turned around and activated Windstorm. She did everything in a haste and almost missed the target at first. Fortunately, she corrected her aim in the last moment and unleashed the winds right in the Dark Knight's face.
The Dark Knight brought down his sword once more and then got blown away. Nia lost another 17% but at least she got that monster off her. Some of the spell's damage reflected onto her due to the Knight's Nightmare but it didn't even matter. With how strong the Dark Knight's basics were, she was and remained one hit away from dying.
That Dark Knight is playing decent but Nia's responses are all over the place. Yuel frowned.
Even with the cloaked Blink surprise, things weren't supposed to turn out like this. The Dark Knight should've gotten at most one hit thanks to the surprise element, nothing more. After conceding one hit, Nia should've immediately rolled away or pushed him back.
The Dark Knight can just barely cast Sheol with his remaining HP. Yuel assessed the situation. But, Nia is still one hit away from the insta-kill threshold.
Nia was at 32% HP, far enough from the 20% insta-kill threshold. Meanwhile, the Dark Knight was down to 11% HP, just barely above the 10% he needed for casting Gate of Sheol.
The HP difference almost made it look like Nia had the upper hand but their damage output was the bigger factor. While the Dark Knight could finish Nia off in about two hits, she'd need about four basics to do the same. With her range advantage, she might land two hits before the Dark Knight closes on her but it won't be enough.
Ideally, Nia should maintain the current distance while firing away at the enemy. His Nightmare will gradually wear off his HP so Nia will be able to come on top. However, this dangerous line of play required Nia to play swiftly and efficiently. So, considering how sluggish she has been so far in this fight...
"Yeah, retreat," Yuel nodded as Nia already turned her back to the enemy. Running away was the safer play here. There was no need to take unnecessary risks. The Dark Knight was already worn out and won't be able to return to lane, so Nia's gank has achieved its goal.
But, it wasn't over yet.
"E-Eh!?" Shivers zapped Nia. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. Heavy metallic sounds resounded behind her. The Dark Knight was chasing her!
"This guy..." Yuel had no words. That Dark Knight was one hell of a confident guy. It's as if the possibility of dying didn't even cross his mind.
In any normal situation, it'd be easy to punish the Dark Knight for such overextension. However, Nia wasn't performing right now for some reason. She was stuck in some sort of panic mode. So, there was no way she’d be able to fight properly.
H-He's getting closer! Nia shuddered. The metallic sounds grew louder and louder. Was she imagining it? Didn't Yuel say Dark Knight was a little slower than Wizard? Then again, Yuel was also the one who promised that nothing bad will happen in this gank. Lies! All lies!
It's ok. It's ok. Ok, ok, ok. Nia tried to take a deep breath but ended up coughing instead. This situation was too much. She could feel the grim reaper breathing down her neck. She was so screwed!
Despite the nonsense Yuel claimed, the metallic sounds were definitely getting closer. At this rate, that bully will catch up to her! She won't be able to simply outrun him. Instead, she'll have to juke that monster.
Luckily, this was a nice part in the jungle. There was a small roundabout right ahead with a wall in the center. Let's play hide-and-seek. I’ll warn you ahead of time: I'm pretty good at this game.
Nia ran around the wall. However, instead of retreating deeper into allied territory, she kept running along the wall. She circled around it and returned all the way into enemy territory!
The heavy metallic sounds were loud enough to inform that the monster was still hot on her trail. Compared to that, Nia's steps were quiet as a mouse's. That’s what you get for wearing metal boots while being ‘it’. That makes it easy to hear you coming.
While Nia could clearly hear the Dark Knight from a distance, the Dark Knight couldn’t hear her steps. Therefore, he couldn’t tell Nia just circled around that roundabout. With this maneuver, she was going to slip away!
As she approached the corner of the wall, she rolled toward it and quickly vanished around the corner. Then, she pressed her back against the wall and began recalling.
The hide-and-seek began. The Dark Knight only had a couple of seconds to find and catch her.
Does she really expect to get away like this? Yuel wondered. This was an insane gamble. Instead of exhausting the Dark Knight's Nightmare with a long jog, Nia opted for this gimmicky hide-and-seek maneuver.
It was impossible to make out all the details because Yuel was limited to Nia's POV. Based on the footsteps, the Dark Knight just passed the first corner. So, an odd view greeted him, an empty one.
The Dark Knight was expecting to find out where his prey headed net. Instead, he found nobody. Nia was sneakily recalling on the other side of the wall, out of his field of view.
This was a huge gamble based on mind-games. If the Dark Knight immediately sees through her ploy, he’ll catch up to her before she finishes recalling and will strike her down. However, how many players were able to figure something like that on the spot? Yuel wasn’t sure he would have made it in time either.
Judging by the lack of metallic stomps, the Dark Knight came to a halt. It seemed he was lost. Most likely, he was checking all the possible escape routes that made sense. However, there was no trace of Nia in any of them.
Logically, there’d be only two explanations. One, his prey somehow widened the gap between them. But, that shouldn’t be possible while Nightmare was on. It increased the Dark Knight’s movement speed enough to run faster than Nia.
So, there was only real option left: the possibility that Nia circled around the wall and ventured back into enemy territory. But, was that really possible? After all, it was such a risky and ballsy move.
Honestly, neither theory seemed realistic at first glance. So, it was easy to understand why the Dark Knight was perplexed.
Ultimately, it remained unclear what the Dark Knight thought of this peculiar development. Before they could see the guy’s next move, Nia finished recalling and was back at the base. Safe!
That shaved off a few years off my life. Nia sighed in relief. Phew, she somehow dodged death. And, she definitely never ever gonna do that kind of thing again! That was pure suicide. Yuel was such a bully.