Chapter 20: A Flicker at the Corner of the Eye, the Ruthless Iron Hand! (3/5)
Chapter 20: A Twitch at the Corner of the Eye, the Ruthless Iron Hand! (35)
Two minutes earlier.
From an omniscient perspective, the commentators and viewers clearly saw Darius rush straight from the base to the enemy’s mid-tier one tower, then sneakily die alone while no one was watching.
A one-way trip, indeed.
“The Shaqima Darius support just gifted the enemy turret a kill right after coming up... Although it’s not a huge impact, this kind of play can really mess with one’s own team morale,” Guan Zeyuan was dumbfounded.
He had seen all sorts of situations.
But this one? Never before.
If anything, such scenes only happened in casual matches where some teammates had given up entirely.
Then, the second time Darius appeared on the map, he didn’t obediently head down to the bottom lane to support.
Instead, he crossed mountains and valleys, making a long detour all the way to the enemy’s blue buff.
Knight quickly spoke up, “No worries, he’s probably just going to the river to take crabs; there should be at least a ten-second window. I’ll poke Syndra’s health a bit and then back off; he won’t be able to catch up.”
Though reluctant, Syndra’s health remained fairly healthy.
“Akali’s about to dive the tower! Is there any chance she can escape?” The commentators held their breath, eyes fixed on the moment.
Syndra’s peril was narrowly averted.
“Be careful, I need to farm a bit to level up; I can’t help you guys yet,” Karsa warned over voice chat.
Now, the one in danger was himself.
One smite wasn’t enough to take the blue buff.
“WTF!!! Didn’t this guy go to catch crabs?” Knight’s wrist trembled as he exclaimed in shock.
Cheng Xuan recalled the system’s attached description.
What?
What on earth?
How did the situation suddenly turn in their favor?
Initially, Knight only planned to trade some health damage, but he sensed a glimmer of opportunity.
...
First blood!
Darius spun his axe rapidly; at the very moment Akali tried to dash away, the sharp blade tore through her tender skin.
If he could hit and stun Akali, he could avoid being killed this time.
In the next moment, Darius smited down the backline minions, quickly reached level three, and instantly leveled up the Q skill.
The once lively chat barrage instantly turned into fickle whispers.
A seemingly harmless river crab beast was crawling.
Darius’s mighty axe emitted a low hum.
Just as the patience bar on the blue buff was about to run out...
After clearing the minions, Cheng Xuan maneuvered Darius back to the river path.
...
Master! I get it now!
Seeing Syndra’s grab time reach its limit, Rookie swiftly moved his mouse forward, passing the blue buff into their own F6 zone.
“Shaqima seems to have a new understanding of the game. He chose the blue jungle knife at the start. TES didn’t place wards at their blue buff early on, so they didn’t spot Darius’s movements. Darius placed a ward and saw the Viego attacking the buff, with about half health left—planning to steal it? Darius threw his hook! He pulled the blue buff out of the wall, but honestly, with that health, even with smite, Darius still...” Guan Zeyuan’s rapid commentary was cut off.
But as long as it’s not a stun, the mark from the E skill hangs on Syndra, and no distance is too far for him to close.
The moment Darius hooked the blue buff, a figure lurking in the riverside grass was already moving in with intent.
Although he dodged Syndra’s stun earlier, the damage from W and E skills still hit him.
Akali at level three had just over 800 health in total.
“Now!!” Knight’s eyes gleamed with cold murderous intent.
“Because you don’t want to win, you can win.”
Third Move of the Throw-Game Series!
Dirty Teammate Minions!
90% Slow, Charge One Second!
Cheng Xuan had practiced Darius during this time—not a master, but he had the basic combos down.
Gritting his teeth, he decisively flashed!
---
Darius stormed out from the bush, his bloodied great axe swinging wide, forcibly dragging Akali from midair.
Because Darius’s interference, his Akali reached level three first, while Syndra, sharing experience with Darius, had only just barely hit level two.
Landing two QA combos, combined with the double-hit from E and Electrocute plus Ignite, was enough to take down a full-health, squishy midlaner.
An auto-attack!
At the same time,
Anticipating Syndra’s panicked attempt to use a survival skill, Akali twisted her body with a subtle sidestep, dodging Syndra’s stun.
Just as she was about to raise her axe to finish off the river crab,
A small hand pushed gently, indifferent to the world.
The screen was filled with floating “sorry” messages.
So, he turned and walked toward mid lane.
His health suddenly plummeted to half.
Darius had just hooked the half-health blue buff out when Syndra immediately followed up, grabbing the blue buff. The two began moving toward their own red side jungle.
“I want to carve the character ‘miserable’ onto Karsa’s thigh!”
Using the speed boost from Akali’s passive, he advanced with an auto-attack.
He had only intended to throw the game from the start.
But on second thought,
Little did he know, this extreme throwing was creating a strange chemistry in the eyes of the enemy.
Having spent thousands of games in Bronze, Cheng Xuan knew this flow all too well.
Darius’s W skill, Crippling Strike!
A combo with Electrocute instantly took away nearly two-fifths of Syndra’s health.
But sorry, we have two smites!
Starting with the jungle knife and two smites, they instantly took the blue buff. Darius flashed a white glow overhead, reaching level two.
They successfully hit the disorganized Syndra!
Level three Akali was already transforming.
“Good opportunity!” Knight used his smokescreen, stepped forward to Q Syndra, then retreated, triggering his passive.
Just as he dashed away,
Ignite was applied directly.
Throwing the game isn’t that simple?
No one expected that, inexplicably, he ended up with an extra blue buff.
But,
“Sorry, Xuanbao, mom didn’t know you were this strong, boohoo!”
At this time,
Nightmare, who started red alone, saw the opportunity, crept along the wall by red buff, and smited through the wall.
“Great hook!!” Rookie shouted, flashing after.
But Knight’s seasoned experience told him that if he didn’t flash here, he might not survive laning.
“Learned it! Tonight I’ll call friends to try this tactic!”
Knight: “Damn, this guy is running mid to dirty the lane! There must be some new trick; I have to be careful!”
Throwing players don’t need to farm; if they farm well, is it still throwing?
“Phew, Darius finally left. Looks like the tactic didn’t pan out.” Knight breathed a sigh of relief and boldly moved forward to last-hit a few minions.
So now it’s super double!
Having activated super double and shown his hand, Darius, boosted by Phase Rush, charged close to Akali, his broad axe repeatedly slicing blood from her delicate form.
The ruthless iron hand!
Knight pressed E; as Akali planted one foot and lunged fiercely toward Syndra,
He pushed another wave of minions!
According to the famous Rift relativity theory in League of Legends, your slow equals my speed boost, and if you’re slowed while I accelerate...
Though pushed back a bit,
Akali, having just flashed, found her legs as if stuck in quicksand, barely able to move.
Initially hesitant, Cheng Xuan now fully embraced throwing.
---
E into auto-attack, then W.
“What kind of tactic is this?” Tong Xi was so astonished her mouth wouldn’t close.
But unfortunately,
The most critical thing was that Darius’s Phase Rush was already triggered.
A killing spree!!
Darius spun his sharp axe rapidly, cutting Akali down beneath the tower.
Akali had already used her safety smokescreen and her only mobility skill, E, before level six.
At this moment, she was utterly stunned.
Then, avoiding further engagement, she helplessly watched him farm minions and push the wave.
Seizing the moment when Syndra was last-hitting,
An auto-attack!
Now hit again by Darius’s E-A-W combo and an Ignite tick.
Still clutching a flash.
A cold, solemn system announcement sounded.
A golden light shimmered as he retreated 550 units.
This next E was crucial!
Knight used the smokescreen’s speed boost to find the perfect angle.
Akali’s kill threshold had been raised from level three to full health.
Controlling Darius toward mid lane, he freed his hands to let the hero auto-attack and clear minions.
The great axe thirsted for more blood!
Cheng Xuan was quick, adding another smite.
It was killable!!
Knight’s killing intent surged; Rookie clearly panicked, hurriedly casting his W-E combo.
The four-time World Champion, once hailed as the world’s best midlaner, though declining recently, was still adept at these fine maneuvers.
Caught out, it was a brutal beatdown leading to death.
IG’s mid Syndra!
Her W skill manipulates psychic energy, grabbing minions or monsters.
The Viego remained at their blue buff, lonely and waiting for mana to regenerate.
As for our protagonist Cheng Xuan,
Starting his throw with gifting the enemy turret a kill,
Throw move two: skipping bottom lane, roaming with smite, invading enemy jungle.
E skill: personal secret technique! Falcon Dance!
Akali smacked the ground with one hand and leapt back; her petite form ghostlike and agile, she flipped midair, drawing a sharp shuriken from her sleeve, firing it straight at Syndra.
Words almost on her lips were cut off abruptly.
“Akali is playing aggressively! While Darius went to take the river crab, he used the level three power spike to punish Syndra during last-hit; smokescreen initiated, QA combo with Electrocute shaved off a good chunk of Syndra’s health, then found an angle for E... It landed!! Syndra might be finished here! E in for another QA with ignite—Syndra can’t even flash away! First blood incoming?” Guan Zeyuan switched to rapid-fire commentary amid the sudden turn.
Meanwhile, in the match,
The astonishingly perfect team coordination seen by the audience was entirely self-driven by their own teammate.
Keep in mind, during all this, he had not exchanged a single word with his allies.
The nearby turret loomed like a towering monument before Akali.
“This...” Guan Zeyuan was stunned.
The screen flooded with waves of “666” (praise) and loud acclaim from the commentators.
Darius going bottom surely meant taking hits.
But the question was,
Who told you I’m going bottom?
(The End of Chapter)