The fans of both teams were watching with bated breath—one side hoping this teamfight could be taken safely, the other hoping to seize this one and only chance to turn it around.
"Huanfeng! Huanfeng!" TheShy shouted loudly in team voice chat. He was anxious—he needed someone to come help finish the damage.
From this position, only the bot duo could reach in time. Zed and Azir were still too far away.
TheShy had started early because he noticed TES was searching for his position. If they found him, there was no way he could pull off a successful flank.
But the fight reaching this point proved he'd actually found the opening.
Huanfeng wanted to step up too, but a monstrously fed Vladimir had turned into a puddle of blood right in the middle of the path, blocking the way. He hesitated.
And in that hesitation, the window disappeared in an instant.
Kennen's ultimate had already ended. Having survived the danger, JackeyLove let out a breath and immediately started hitting Kennen—two hits and half his HP was gone.
Only then did the rest of Weibo finally arrive. Huanfeng steeled himself and charged forward.
Vladimir threw his ultimate onto four people—one cast, four hits.
After getting tagged by the ultimate, Huanfeng worried whether he could withstand Vladimir's damage, so his entry was delayed.
But TES's blades wouldn't hesitate.
With no interference from others, a simple 4v1—Kennen's head was taken with ease.
"Ah, shiba!" TheShy couldn't hold it in anymore.
That perfect opportunity, and Huanfeng didn't step up to deal damage.
He couldn't accept it!
As a pro, you'd rather die on the road of the charge than do nothing and wait to be eaten alive.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have fallen behind to the point where Kennen had to be the one to start with Heavenly Thunder.
With Kennen gone, what followed was a one-sided chase by TES.
First was Aphelios. Once Lin Fan locked onto him, there was no escape.
He was later finished off by a single chop from Draven.
Watching all this unfold from his position, TheShy felt like his pro career had just lost another year.
With these guys, nothing big would ever be achieved.
Another year of "happy gaming." Next year, he'd find another team.
In the end, SofM relied on his mobility—he went in, threw out his ultimate, then used Living Shadow to swap back out—barely escaping TES's follow-up.
But his teammates were all dead.
It had to be said: the Vietnamese richest man really had something. Either he tilted his opponents to death, or he tilted his teammates to death.
TES had no pressure. After killing four, they secured the Cloud Drake.
The Dragon Soul revealed this game was Infernal Soul.
But it wasn't exactly dreadful news.
With the gold gap already this large, losing was only a matter of time. It was just a question of when TES took Baron and when they pushed.
Or rather—when TheShy went in to donate, and TES ended the game in one wave.
The script was already written. It just depended on how the players acted it out.
At this point, every inch of Weibo's space was being squeezed. Their jungle resources were swept clean.
SofM wasn't happy.
He was a carry too, yet there was nowhere to farm. The laners weren't doing anything with their leads—just endlessly vacuuming waves.
To maintain his own economy, he chose to risk entering the jungle anyway.
Pitch black all around—the oppressive feeling was intense.
He needed to clear it fast and return under turret for a sense of safety.
But the moment he burned his W, a crimson mass suddenly emerged from the side.
Bang!
It felt like Vladimir detonated right beside him. Zed, who was nearly full HP, instantly dropped by more than half.
SofM tried to find a target, but Vladimir was already in Blood Pool—untargetable.
Which meant Zed's health continued to drain.
When the second wave of the ultimate triggered, combined with a second Q, it completed the cleanup.
A full-HP Zed… got deleted.
Vladimir was already dominating the match!
"…," SofM found it hard to accept what he'd just seen.
Vladimir can one-shot people now? What the hell?
But when he opened the item screen—two and a half items on Vladimir at this point in the game… the damage really was unreal.
And he hadn't built any magic resistance at all.
In front of Vladimir, he was just a squishy target.
Before, he didn't think Angel was that bad—now he truly realized it.
How is it that every game you're feeding the carry?
If Angel knew what SofM was thinking, he'd shout injustice on the spot.
That's because the enemy jungler actually knows how to raise a "dad." It has nothing to do with me!
…
As the game reached twenty-two minutes, TES slowly started setting up vision around Baron and clearing Weibo's wards.
If Weibo wanted to win, they absolutely couldn't afford to lose Baron.
TheShy pinged for everyone to group and push in together.
But TES didn't start Baron.
Instead, they squatted nearby, clearly waiting for Weibo to come.
It was a transparent play: don't come and they start Baron; come and they kill you.
When Weibo's five players walked into TES's encirclement, TheShy's fans silently closed their eyes.
It was over.
A twenty-minute-long torment had finally ended.
Gragas raised his barrel and blasted it straight into Weibo's cluster.
Zoom's ultimate was executed with surgical precision. First, it completely knocked Kennen away, while Aphelios and Azir were blasted right toward them.
Vladimir began charging—one detonation, and Weibo's two carries' health plummeted below half.
Regaining his senses, TheShy controlled the little electric rat and dashed into the crowd.
But this time, TES had full frontal vision. There was no way he could replicate the perfect flank from before and zap four people at once.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup