Challenger’s fierce offense wasn’t slowing down, and Nia found herself helpless against it. The attack caught her off guard. She lost almost all her HP while trying to get away.

It feels like she was distracted by something else when it happened. Yuel thought. If she paid attention, she should’ve realized that I was nearby. Then, she could’ve positioned herself a lot better. Or, maybe she was just nervous?

It was impossible to tell at this point. Either way, the fact remained that Nia only focused on creating distance between herself and the unexpected predator. She didn’t try getting closer to Yuel at all, which made it difficult for him to rescue her.

Ugh, I can't save her from here. Yuel concluded. "Lars, rotate over here!"

"Heh, I knew you gonna say that, dude!" Lars exclaimed. "Already on my way!"

"Good." Yuel nodded. "Kai, Ben. I'd like you to rotate toward Mid along this path." He drew a route on the mini-map.

"Got it."

"Alright."

"Okay." Yuel took a deep breath. "Nia, I'm sorry to say this, but your chances of surviving this are very low. So, the best you can do right now is fight back and injure him as much as possible."

"O-Ok..." Nia reluctantly flipped a switch in her brain. Instead of focusing 100% on escaping, she turned toward the predator and slashed back.

Her Shadow Clone and Izuna Drop were already on cooldown before any of this started, and she had also spent her Shuriken Flip a few moments ago. Heck, even her Dodge Roll was on cooldown. So, all she had left were basic attacks.

It's like he waited for the best moment to attack me. Bully! Nia pouted. Did he stalk me or something? Scary.

Challenger really caught her at the most awkward moment possible. She used to think of the guy as easy prey for her ganks, but it turned out Challenger could be one heck of a scary predator himself.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! The exchange of blows continued for a while longer. Nia swang her dagger as much as she could, trying to leave as many injuries as possible on her opponent.

Alas, the end was nigh.

『You have been killed!』

"Game over..." Nia twisted her lips in dissatisfaction. She knew her fate was sealed for a while now, but the outcome still upset her.

Just losing a fight against Challenger was still fine. But, dying and allowing the enemy to shrink the score gap wasn’t cool. Now, Stratus was only one kill ahead of the enemy.

My poor two-kill advantage... This felt like a personal attack against Nia in every way. Not only did Challenger target her specifically, but he also made sure to eliminate the firm advantage Nia established during mid-game.

Fortunately, even though it was clear how impossible it was to save Nia, Yuel still dashed to the scene. So, the entire time that Challenger and Nia were locked in a fight, Yuel also fired shots at Challenger from behind.

No matter how skilled Challenger was at his best, it was impossible for him to duel Nia and dodge Yuel’s shots at the same time. As a result, the guy sustained hefty damage from the entire exchange.

When he initially approached Nia, Challenger was at 80% HP. But now, thanks to the combined efforts of Yuel and Nia, the guy was down to 50%.

It should’ve been lower than that. Yuel thought. He’s such an aggressive player, yet he built his Dragonborn rather tanky.

Still, 50% HP was good. From this position, it should be possible to submit this aggressive Dragonborn. And, the right person for the job arrived just in time!

ZAP! A laser beam flew across the area, piercing through Challenger! That surely gave the enemy a good slap.

"Whoa!" Ronald jumped. "Gunz is here, too!? Sick!"

Thump. Thump. Thump-thump. His heartbeat accelerated. He could hear the beats all the way in his brain. The world around him slowed down as if it was framed inside a static picture.

Damn, how lucky! Not only did Ronald eradicate the enemy phantom, but he also got a chance to face Stratus' ace! This opportunity was hard to come by, so he wanted to go all ham on that strong bruh!

Can I take him out in dragon form? I'm pretty sure I can! All of Ronald's skills were on cooldown, including his Dodge Roll. Therefore, no matter whether he was going to fight or flee, his best bet was to turn into a dragon first. He can decide on his next course of action afterward.

As far as Ronald was concerned, going on the offensive against Gunz would be the sickest move ever! Elf didn’t have ultra-fast basic attacks like most marksmen, so he wasn't such a dangerous foe in duels, at least in theory.

Therefore, as long as Ronald stays in the guy's face and attacks nonstop, he should be able to gain the upper hand! Alas, the usual party popper had to interfere.

"Ronald, retreat. Now." Cato's voice left no room for negotiations. "You tell him something too, Will."

"Hmph." William didn’t respond right away. A part of him was curious to see how far Ronald's innate talent would get him in this gravely disadvantageous situation.

Ronald was at the absolute top of his game right now, which was a rare occurrence. Whenever the brat entered this special mode, it was nigh impossible to stop him, William knew that from experience.

Ronald was the more mechanically gifted brother, but Willaim still often won whenever they fought because he employed superior tactics. However, on rare occasions, Ronald entered a state in which he triumphed over a single strategy William came up with. When the brat’s eyes gleamed like a sharpened knife, his performance shot through the roof.

And, right now, Ronald had exactly that expression. So, if it was ever possible for him to defeat Gunz, then it was now.

I want to see it. Willaim thought. Can he pull this off even though I couldn't?

Willaim only ever reached a draw against Gunz. No matter what refined tactics he used, he couldn't overwhelm Gunz as he hoped. But, maybe Ronald can achieve that.

Do I want to see him succeed, or...? William wasn't sure where he was going with that train of thought. What outcome did he wish to witness? Which result will make him feel better?

"Um, Will?" Cato asked again. "If you don’t mind, I'd like your support to convince this brat to stop his foolishness. You're the only one he ever listens to, you know."

"Right..." Willaim shook his head to ward off the unnecessary thoughts. This is foolish. That isn’t even a real 1v1 situation, so what am I even hoping to see there?

"Ron, retreat," William finally spoke. "You're going to die there."

"Geh! Okay, bro." Ronald also has been wrestling with this dilemma for a while now. He felt like he might be able to destroy Gunz right now, but he was also plenty aware of the immense danger of the situation he was in.

If bro thinks it's best to scram, so I'mma scram. Ronald finished transforming into his dragon form.

"I'm out!" He activated Draconic Rush, which came off cooldown when Ronald turned into a dragon. And so, the dragon leapt high into the air, planning to fly over the nearby jungle wall.

However, while Ronald was still high in the air, he heard it coming - ZAP! Another laser beam went through him!

He can really do that!? Sick! Ronald found himself grinning. Even though his HP fell all the way down to 30%, he was nonetheless excited. I must have a proper duel with this bruh. I wanna trash him real good!

Unfortunately, the current situation didn’t allow that. Here, Ronald had no choice but to flee.

And so, jumped passed over the wall and landed in a different area of the jungle. With this maneuver, he quickly got away from his opponents, but...

Geh, these narrow passages! Ronald cursed. In his dragon form, it was really difficult to navigate through these parts of the jungle.

Most pathways here were just barely big enough to let him squeeze through. Every time, he had to perfectly pass through the in order to get through. It was quite the pain in the neck, and definitely a terrible escape plan.

Welp, nobody said I have to do it this way. Ronald reverted back to human form. Ah, yes, freedom!

Now, he easily passed through the jungle areas ahead of him without having to worry about squeezing through. And so, after successfully striking down the enemy phantom, Ronald was about to return home as a hero, or so he thought...