LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 23
“Oh no, if we lose this team fight, the game is over!”
In a tense situation where the Elder Dragon was on the line, it seemed that the final victory was leaning towards the opponent team after a fierce battle.
In the second match of the promotion series, without fail, those who had picked Asteria and Lulu were properly countered in the ban-pick phase, leading to a challenging game that lasted 40 minutes in a deadlock.
However, the fight began with a somewhat reckless initiation from the allied top, and Shia couldn’t afford to stay out of this conflict.
Yet, all factors—positioning, growth differences—favored the enemy, and ultimately, a fight that was never meant to be won flowed into an inevitable conclusion.
The opponent had a well-farmed ranged dealer and top jungler still alive.
Particularly, the ADC was a monster who could conquer the allied fortress with just a couple of hits.
“Aah… I felt we’d lose someday, but it had to be now…”
– I just want to kill the top player!
– Does it make sense that we lose because of these idiot teammates!?
Of course, the chance to rank up to Master still remained.
It was just that 500,000 won in donations was about to vanish.
To be honest, it would be a lie to say I wasn’t expecting victory. Given how things had gone with Na-me, winning streaks weren’t out of the question.
And then, Na-me’s Asteria barely survived and dashed into the enemy territory.
In the mid-lane, the enemy jungler was keeping an eye out, wary that Asteria might disrupt the soldiers’ march.
But her strategy was aimed at the bottom lane.
“Are we actually going for a backdoor?”
The enemy inhibitor was down, making it advantageous for sieging, but we had one and they had three.
A bold battle ensued.
“Hey! We’re being backdoored! What should we do? Ignore it and just hit the tower?”
“We’re faster. Just focus purely on the fortress.”
“Asteria’s attack speed is at 3! We need to block the home base!”
“If we don’t finish now, we can’t win the game. Someone just go stall for time.”
“I’ll block the home base.”
The top Maokai, who had a confirmed crowd control ability, was oblivious to the heaven that Asteria was unleashing and went back home.
It was definitely the right call to recall.
With a possession rate close to 90%, Asteria’s demolishing power was insane.
As the jungler said, the game that could’ve been a win could have been lost through a backdoor.
But no matter how skilled Asteria was with her movement abilities, she was utterly powerless against Maokai, who had confirmed crowd control.
Just one w-q would buy a second of time.
One second was more than enough.
After the mid and support had bravely fallen in the team fight, they breathed a sigh of relief and ceased issuing orders.
Asteria circled the fortress, trying her best to stay out of his range.
But Maokai had anticipated this and, at the moment of his recall, he sold items and bought three movement speed items to catch up to her.
The moment he stepped into her range of 525…
Maokai charged fiercely toward Asteria.
But curiously, Asteria, who maintained an incredible attack speed without hitting champions or minions to keep her possession at 99%, was…
[La Asteria Chalain Ksetan]
In the last moment, she hit Maokai with an auto-attack and activated her ultimate.
The ultimate was neither unpreventable nor target-locked. Also, the damage from the ultimate didn’t apply to the fortress.
Maokai thought she sensed defeat and was about to make a final desperate move.
At that moment, a wave of minions burst from the fortress.
“Huh?”
Asteria swung her blades at super speed within the range of the supernova.
Her movement was faster, so she kept teleporting along a star path that couldn’t be caught by Maokai’s unpreventable charge.
Then, the minions that were in her path received the full damage of the ultimate, and the inherent effect of the items activated, dealing area damage around the target, causing the fortress to begin to crumble.
“No way? This can’t be a bug!”
Asteria delayed the crowd control of Maokai’s charge with her ultimate.
Asteria’s kill score was 18/0/3. She was at level 18, and her item slots were already full.
Seeing how easily the fortress crumbled due to just one area damage from the surrounding effect, Maokai was filled with despair.
“Okay, we won…?”
The enemy jungler and ADC, who were about to roar in triumph after turning the game around, faced a shocking reality.
“What a f*ing bug of a game.”
[Defeated]
They could only gaze hopelessly at the last remaining hit on the fortress.
*
[Victorious]
– NoName is a god! NoName is a god! NoName is a god! NoName is a god! NoName is a god! NoName is a god! NoName is a god! NoName is a god! NoName is a god!
– Wait, how did the judgement turn out like that? LOL
– Asteria mvp confirmed LMAO
– Isn’t it a bug that the ultimate damage goes to the fortress?
– Definitely a bug, it seems because she’s a new champion.
– There’s no other deity outside of NoName, Asteria is NoName’s apostle.
“500,000 won… this can’t be a dream.”
Shia, entranced by something, changed the tagline once again.
[Unique God NoName: Master Promotion V V _ _ _]
It truly was a tough game. If I hadn’t known that I could deal damage to the fortress with my ultimate during the game, I could have lost outright.
The enemies, true to their Grandmaster-Challenger status from the previous season, had made no mistakes and only made the best choices after each team fight.
For example, the fact that the enemy jungler didn’t rush straight to the fortress but hid his presence to support the advance of his minions.
Specifically sending the crowd control champion Maokai straight home right after he dealt the least expected damage.
While I rotated the screen and observed, the enemy ADC cleverly utilized all their item passives and dealt maximum damage to both the fortress and the minions.
Had Maokai gone home from the start, things would have been different, but then I wouldn’t have had a reason to backdoor either, so it was a fair trade.
Simply put, I was just lucky.
Both I and the enemy team made the best choices, and in that situation, fate just favored me.
“Waaaaaah Na-me Na-me!!! What are we supposed to do if we win in such a close situation?”
“I’m breathless, Shia… I don’t have time, let’s quickly jump into the next match.”
“Oh okay, okay!”
Queueing for the Celestial Realm rank takes at least 10 minutes.
As the clock pointed to 5 PM, there was just barely enough time for one last game.
[Game Found!]
[Valhalla’s Battlefield · Ranked · 5v5]
[Game Accepted]
“But seriously, how did you think of dealing damage with the ultimate in the last moment?”
“I saw the enemy Asteria dealing some damage to our fortress when she had a Tiamat last time she dove us.”
“Your eye for detail is incredible. I didn’t even think of that. Wow, it’s the last match. I’m so nervous!”
Shia seemed thrilled as if she had already sealed her 50-game winning streak and my Master achievement.
“That kind of flag is unsettling.”
Despite not believing in fatalism, there are indeed words that can deflate people’s spirits.
For instance, proposing to have a wedding if soldiers return from war or suggesting that this is the perfect opportunity to defeat the Demon King because his power is waning.
The soldiers didn’t return from the flames of war, and the Demon King was still intact, destroying the empire.
Of course, it’s just a matter of whether you have enough confidence to defy fate.
“Take this, adventurer seeking a legacy. It’s costly, so be wary not to lose it.”
Leaving the Minotaurs’ gatekeeper behind, we stepped into the battlefield.
But Shia’s complexion looked off.
“What? The enemy ADC is Paysoos?! And the support is Sauron?”
“Why? Do you know them?”
“Knowing them? They’re the winners of last year’s World Championship! Don’t you know TK Pathos and TK Sauron?”
“So, is that like being a pro gamer…?”
“Ugh, why are you still here, teachers? Didn’t you go to the World Championship?!”
– I guess they’re all Diamond now after returning from the World Championship LOL
– Yeah, true, that’s why they start at Diamond 1.
– Their nicknames are intimidating.
Shia said that if they had known they were Paysoos and Sauron, they would never have chosen the Asteria-Lulu combo.
The bottom lane composition of the enemy was a traditional Lunami-Arul combination that showed no signs of being nerfed for five years, making it a harsh matchup for enduring.
“We’re done… we’re done. Everything’s done.”
“Hey, can our bottom last?”
“Top is the ridiculous Miroking. Why did I have to get this Q? The ban-pick totally wrecked us.”
“Then let’s swap!”
Before the game even started, our team’s morale plummeted.
As they said, it was a matchup of a late-game Calista against the counter Mirocel, where Calista had no carry power.
Meanwhile, the bottom lane faced an Arul against Lunami, with Arul being mismatched throughout levels 3 to 11.
“Shall we swap?”
“I’ll go top. You play as ADC with Lulu.”
“Are you telling me to play top Asteria? Are you out of your mind?”
“If we want to win, we have to do it that way.”
“Hey, Na-me? Are you serious?”
“It’s going to be 108 ganks for Asteria against Mirocel, who’s already tough with Calista.”
Time continued to tick away.
In the end, Calista relented to my stubbornness and agreed to team up with Lulu.
“Ugh, am I unwilling to lose even if the bottom lane collapses?”
“Early game Calista-Lulu is way better, and we can give it a shot. Let’s do our best.”
The reckless prince embarked on his journey with Shia, while I walked the lonely path alone.
To break through or to be broken.
In the lonely fight at top lane, I couldn’t see where Mirocel was, hidden within the fortress.
“What? That’s not a top Calista? Could it be she’s come to top with Asteria?!”
However, as soon as Mirocel confirmed my appearance, he entered the middle of the lane to initiate a standoff.
“So the great Paysoos and Sauron have come? But what now? I won’t be easy either!”
“Mirocel couldn’t beat Asteria even if he died and came back!”
“Wow, that’s quite rude! Time for a lesson in manners!”
Although Asteria had a shorter range, she was still a ranged champion.
Mirocel, a melee champion with only one ultimate mobility, could claim the advantage until level six.
The only variable was a level two gank.
To fundamentally shut that down, Shia quietly came to top lane and placed a ward to illuminate the area.
And sure enough, the enticing fruit of ‘Top Asteria’ appeared as the enemy jungler rushed in, eager to claim it.
Our jungler had the standard buffs, while the opposing jungler dealt reverse buffs, so we couldn’t confidently engage in damage trading even though we had the upper hand.
I did my utmost to delay the enemy jungler for even a second, but without a clear response, I returned to the jungle without hesitation.
Despite being quick-witted and keen, I managed to push through the initial crisis.
“How did you figure it out? Was it the ward?”
“Who knows? Maybe it was a kind-hearted soul who put down the ward.”
“Unfortunate. I thought you wouldn’t consider a level two gank.”
Mirocel pulled back again, maintaining a safe distance from Asteria.
But still, he found himself within the increasing range due to the growing possession rate.
If it were a lower-tier level, Mirocel might have overlooked how Asteria’s range varied continuously and miscalculated the distance.
Flash!
Flash!
Mirocel, questioning the only element he could respond with, utilized E-Flash, while simultaneously, Rek’Sai popped up from behind me.
“Mirocel, can’t you land that? You only ate one jungle camp; this is gonna ruin me!”
“Wait…!”
Miroking looked visibly shaken.
Rek’Sai couldn’t suppress his anger and left for real, while I mocked him.
“Was that warding question too much to handle?”