Chapter 161: Light and Shadow (2)
Red blood splattered everywhere.
Thud! Thud!
His sight, clouded by redness, went back and forth.
'What's going on?'
So this was what would happen if Yasu got a hold of him.
Even while Almond was being attacked, he kept thinking about how he got attacked by Yasu.
'I didn't realize their range.'
He didn't know the range of their attacks. He knew what kind of champion Yasu was, but it was his first time seeing it. There was no way for him to properly measure its range.
'And I don't even have any movement skills.'
Secondly, Sana had no movement skills. He thought he could dodge the attacks like he did with Raina, but Sana had to dodge the attacks ahead of time.
[Warning! HP has fallen below 30%!]
His health bar was depleted. It was the same with Raina, but all ADCs had low HP.
'What should I do...'
Even while Almond was getting hit by Yasu's powerful claws and his head being rocked back and forth, Almond was looking for a solution.
[Warning! HP is below 20%!]
The saliva coming out from Yasu's jaws was terrifying, but at the end of the day, this was a video game.
“Grrrr.”
The opponent was fully immersed in the game. He was screaming like an actual beast, trying to finish Almond off.
"Dieeee!!"
— Oh shit, is it over?
— If he dies here, the game's going to be really difficult...
— I guess even Almond can't do anything as a first-timer
— He was really good earlier
The enemy and the viewers thought this was the end. Only Almond was thinking otherwise. He didn't stop twisting his body and successfully pulled out an arm.
— Oh, his arm!
— His arm came out!
— Good good!
— But what's an archer going to do with one arm?
He took out an arrow of light with one arm. The quantity of the light arrows was finite. He gained one every time he hit a target that appeared on the enemy's body with the shadow arrow. Thankfully, there was a target on top of Yasu's right eye. He made a decision. Almond held firmly onto the arrow with wide eyes. At the same time, Yasu's sharp claws drew a red line across his face.
Chaaaaak!!
***
Tako deemed that it was over.
If Yasu got into that position, death was inevitable. It wasn't any other champion either. It was the brittle Sana, so there was no hope.
"Ah... That sucks. He made that decision because he's a beginner, but it was still a good try."
Then, he heard Sana's voice.
[I'll open the divine sanctuary.]
"Huh...?"
A bright green energy enveloped Almond.
Wooong...!
This wasn't possible. Tako's eyes shook.
"Wait, he lived?"
Almond lifted the arrow and pierced Yasu’s right eye with the arrow of light. The arrow disappeared as the target blew up, but the damage was already done.
— Holy shit
— He just stabbed him with the arrow?!
— Damn, he's quick-witted
— Don't you have to be at least Platinum to think like that??
— Damn…
He thought of thrusting the arrow using his hands in that situation even though it was his first time playing as Sana.
'I can't believe this.'
It wasn't just his good mechanics. He also had fantastic decision-making skills. He had no hesitation. Afterward, he and Yasu continued to fight. Yasu kept trying to tear Almond apart with his claws, but Almond kept healing himself using the arrows of light.
Thwack! Thwack!
He continued to pierce the targets in Yasu's chest, torso, and arms. His HP remained still and refused to go up or down.
"Alright, I will explain to those who don't know what's happening. If the arrow of light hits an enemy target, a divine sanctuary appears nearby and heals allies. However, this arrow can also hit allies and summon a divine sanctuary near them. Okie?"
— MC Tako
— Is he rapping?
— He's talking quicker than the arrows being fired, LOL
"Alright! But the arrows of light have a limit, right? What's he going to do next?"
There was a limit to the number of arrows, but no limit to Yasu's claws. This time, Almond stabbed him with the shadow arrow.
Thwack!
Then he stabbed him right away with the arrow of light.
"Wait, he's going back and forth this quickly?!"
He switched the arrows back and forth using one hand with perfect movement as if he practiced daily.
"That's crazy!"
Thwack! Thwack!
Yasu backed off after being hit by the shadow and light arrow. He felt like he could be killed. However, this hesitation only drove him to his death.
Pung! Pung! Pung!
Almond twisted his body out further and landed the arrows on the targets that appeared.
"Oh?! T-This is the curse's stack!"
[Curse of the Saintess x 7]
[Fainted!]
Yasu fainted.
— Wow!
— Damn, he managed to get the curse triggered?!
— Kya~~~!!
— Almond is better than Tako!
— Yasu's kind of stupid too.
"Wait, now I'm not sure what's going to happen! Why's a low tier laning phase so spectacular?!"
It was then.
Tang—?
A bullet struck Almond's shoulder. The enemy ADC had shot him.
"Oh, the enemy ADC joined in? Now it's 2 versus 1 again. Can he do it?"
Tako always said 2 versus 1 was impossible, but now he saw hope.
Tang! Tang!
The bullets continued to land on Almond's body.
[HP 9%]
Almond didn't care. He quickly took out more arrows of light. Yasu fully backed off now, so his arms were freed.
Creak…?
Almond quickly pulled on his bowstring.
"Ah!?Both of his arms are free! He's shooting! If he misses, he might die!"
Swoosh! Tang!
The trigger and bowstring were pulled at the same time. The enemy bullet landed on Almond's shoulder, and the arrow landed on the target above the enemy's head.
Pung!
"Wow! He hit it again!"
— How can he not miss a single one?!
— He's crazy
— His HP is going up again!
— If he missed one, he'd be dead.
[I'll spread the divine sanctuary.]
The arrow of light disintegrated and Almond regained his HP.
[HP 22%]
"But the enemy is shooting back! I don't think he can dodge that."
Then, strong mana spewed out from the enemy's gun.
Kwagwang!
Almond didn't dodge and was hit, but he readied another arrow of light.
"Almond determined that it was better for him to get hit instead of dodging! Is he thinking to get hit and just heal instead!?"
— Is Tako just casting now?
— Where's the feedback?
— ??? Feedback? Screw that! This is more fun!
Three more arrows of light flew out. This time, it was targeting Yasu who fainted. For Almond, hitting still targets was too easy.
Pububung!
The target on Yasu's right arm, torso, and right leg exploded with a white light. The healing from landing those three targets was immense.
[HP 48%]
His HP was almost back to half.
"Wow! It was a good decision to shoot Yasu. The ADC was far and has movement skills, so Almond could've missed. Right now, if he missed even a single shot, he could’ve died. It was a good play to aim for Yasu! But now, Yasu is charging at him again!"
“Krawwwr!”
Yasu woke up and charged at him again.
"How many arrows of light does he have left? He probably doesn't have too many remaining. Is he going to make a super play by going back and forth again?!"
As if he heard Tako's wish, Almond equipped the shadow arrow again. He didn't even flinch at Yasu running toward him and repeatedly released his bow while standing still.
Pung! Pung! Pung! Pung!
Several arrows pierced Yasu, who was charging toward him.
"Yasu's vision is clouded because Almond stacked the curses so quickly! But all the targets on Yasu are gone now! Almond is shooting quicker than the targets are reappearing!"
Yasu's vision was clouded again, but he still swung forward and aimed for Almond’s head.
Thud.
Almond's head swayed a little, but he fired the arrow of light without hesitation.
"He's shooting the arrow of light! But there are no targets???Ah! This time, to the ADC?"
The arrow flew toward the enemy ADC.
Pung!
The target on top of the enemy’s head disappeared, and Almond regained his lost HP.
"Wow! Since he hit all the targets on Yasu, he aimed for the ADC? Right about now, the targets should reappear on Yasu!"
The shadow arrows landed on Yasu again.
Pung.
The targets that just reappeared blew up again.
"He's fighting both of them at the same time, right? Since his shots are quicker than the targets appearing, this is more efficient!"
Meanwhile, Yasu swung with his claws and the enemy ADC pulled their trigger. The two simultaneously attacked!
Kwagwang!!
Almond's HP decreased again.
[HP 6%]
It was dangerously low.
"T-This is getting dangerous again. Can he do it with just one?"
Since two enemies aimed at him simultaneously, Almond couldn't handle the damage. However, he quickly found a way around it.
Creak…?
There were two arrows on his bowstring.
"Wait, that works!?"
Pubung!
The two arrows landed on the target’s left and right arms as if in reply to Takoyaki.
"The healing is doubled!"
Almond targeted the enemy support and ADC back and forth. He didn't miss a single shot while jumping around and shooting.
— Damn
— What am I witnessing?
— Almond! Almond! Almond! Oh, wait, wrong channel…
The enemy was close to death while Almond's HP went back and forth.
Tako shouted at the top of his lungs in excitement, "His heal timing is perfect! He's healing himself at 10%, so he gets the maximum heal!"
Sana's healing was more effective the lower her HP was. For example, if she healed when she had 80% HP, she only gained 3-4% from her sanctuary. However, if her HP was at 2%, she gained almost 20%. Almond was using this mechanic and playing to maximize his efficiency.
— He's insane!
— Tako's heating up!!
— His mechanics are insane
— I can't believe he can pull it off.
— Holy shit, I don't even think I can pull it off against bots
— It's normal, but it's still impressive.
Eventually, Yasu fell.
[Enemy eliminated!]
It was hard to believe that Sana achieved a solo kill with her low damage.
"This is like murdering him with a spoon... right?"
— LOL, for real. I can't believe he got him.
— It's like stabbing him a thousand times with a needle, LOL
— ??? Kill me...
It wasn't over yet.
[Double Kill!]
The enemy ADC died right after as well. Sana got a double kill all on her own. On top of their corpses were over twenty arrows embedded in them to supply Sana with her healing.
"Wow... he really won the 1 versus 2... You're not supposed to play Sana like this..."
— But he pulled it off so well, LOL
— For real, Sana just stayed still
— I think he misunderstood the assignment
— What's the point of moving if he's going to land everything like that, LOL
***
The game tilted in the favor of Almond's team. It was inevitable because they overwhelmingly defeated the enemy in one of the lanes. Above all, the enemy bottom lane had split up.
[Victory]
Almond's team won in the end. It was a quick match that ended in twenty minutes. Tako nodded in satisfaction.
"Wow, that was fun. Low-tier ranked matches are always fun to watch."
— LOL for real
— They really fought to the death
— Almond's play style is so funny. He's like a tank ADC. Tako, you're irrelevant now!
— Almond is better looking, has more hair, is taller, and is better at video games. How do you feel, Mr. Tako?
— I'm going to watch Almond. Bye, Tako.
Tako's viewers were so touched by Almond's plays that they joked about leaving his stream to watch Almond's. Tako laughed, but there was a worried look behind the smile.
'Anyway, what am I going to do?'
He was sure that StrawberryShooter would be a better ADC. He planned to pinpoint Almond's flaws and convert him into a different position. Since it was only Almond’s second day playing, it wouldn't have been difficult for him to switch.
However...
'I never imagined he'd be this good...'
It was hard to determine since it was just a normal game, but Almond could be a better ADC than StrawberryShooter. Of course, Tako didn't say that out loud because no one would agree. After all, it was only a normal game. However, Tako was a former professional player and could see it. Almond had everything it took to be a star player.
... It was troubling.
***
[Beginner's Tip: Conflict among allies is the greatest foe.]