Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Luocheng kept a close eye on Shenâs energy bar.
(Translatorâs Note: No, weâre not talking about food hereâmaybe later. Different champions use different resources, e.g. Shen uses Energy instead of Mana.
Energy recharges very rapidly, but is only ever available in a limited amount, so that Energy-based champions can only use their skills in short bursts, but they donât have to worry about long-term sustainability.
In that sense, perhaps Energy is like chocolate, while Mana is a ham-and-cheese sandwich.)
Shenâs Taunt skill, âShadow Dashâ, should have finished its cooldown by nowâit was just that he didnât have enough Energy to use it.
As Shenâs energy reached a total of 120, Luocheng hit E!
Here came the Taunt!
(Translatorâs Note: âYou fight like a dairy farmer!â âHow appropriate: You fight like a cow!â)
Luocheng was well aware that if Shen caught him with his Taunt, Vayne would follow up immediately with a skill combo, and that would be the end of him!
He couldnât let himself fall victim to Shenâs Taunting!
The instant he had 120 Energy points, Shen would definitely bust out that Taunt, especially because Luocheng had deliberately allowed him to get within range, so that he wouldnât be able to resist!
Whoosh! It was the fabled art of ninjutsu. Shen lunged in, his powerful physique drawing a long shadow through the air!
It was exactly what Luocheng had been waiting for. As a split-second response, he hit E!
Arcane Shift!
Even as Shenâs shadow passed over him, Ezreal stepped through that door between dimensions, vanishing and then re-appearing to the side!
The âArcane Shiftâ skill additionally fired off a shot from Ezrealâs exit point, which struck Shen squarely in the face. Luocheng used this moment to unleash a full combo on him as well!
He had his Muramana active. Although he was running low on mana, in order to ensure that he could finish Shen off right now, he had to burn his mana to enhance his attack damage!
In order to dish out a substantial amount of damage, a mana-based Ezreal relied on this property of Muramana!
As the incoming damage ramped up, Shen didnât have enough Energy to throw up any kind of protection. When the vicious onslaught finally subsided, Shen was already collapsing indignantly through an icy mist, onto the frozen ground beneath him.
***
Rivenâs corpse lay slumped against the wall. As Vayne plucked the bloodied crossbow bolt from her lifeless body and turned back around, she found that Shen had fallen to his knees before Ezreal.
The broad southern stretch of the river was now littered with bodies everywhere, including the two Support champions whoâd ended up killing each other.
And now, standing just beyond the Dragon pit, the only ones left were Yu Luocheng and Shallow Dream.
From this battle, it could be seen that all ten players were highly skilled, but ultimately it came down to the two of them to decide the outcome of this game: Bitter rivals all along, now it would be Vayne the âNight Hunterâ vs. Ezreal the âProdigal Explorerâ.
She, who moved through the shadows of Valoran, cold and haughty, hunting the wretched monsters that lurked in the darkness⦠a black knight keeping the order within her territory.
He, who braved the perilous places of Valoran, hot-blooded and courageous⦠an adventurer upholding his own sense of justice and discovery!
When two champions, both of whom have been named the mightiest of ADCs, were facing off against each other, treading over the fallen forms of allies and enemies alike as they stared daggers at one another, it somehow created the impression of two contenders for the throne, on the brink of all-out battle. The tension could be felt across all of Summonerâs Rift!
The mysterious huntress Vayne, or the cunning explorer Ezreal⦠who was the true power in Valoran?
And as for the two players behind them, they too had once faced off against one another like this, during a solo competition before the whole world!
But that time, sheâd inexplicably chosen to forfeit.
Some people had been of the opinion that she didnât consider herself the equal of F-Hawk, and had opted to spare herself the humiliation. After all, at the time, F-Hawk had achieved worldwide renown, and there were many elite players around the globe who held him in the highest regard.
Others believed that she might have been leaving the professional gaming scene one last scrap of dignity, for if an amateur challenger defeated all these professional players, the whole industry would be in utter disgrace!
Whether one subscribed to the former or the latter, all anyone could really do was guess.
Eventually, it became a thing of the past, and only the most venerable gaming journals still carried the story in their archives.
Most likely, hardly anyone today would be aware of that unfinished duel in the history of international pro-gaming tournaments.
It didnât matter if everyone else had forgotten.
Luocheng still remembered.
And this time, he was facing Shallow Dream as an amateur player himself!
This time, Shallow Dream would neither withdraw nor forfeit. She watched Luocheng intently. Perhaps she too felt the same regret over what had happened, and that was why this game sheâd been playing so spiritedly, almost ravenously!
The inconsequential side characters were out of the way. Now it was just the two of them left to fight this savage battle.
Without a doubt, someone was about to see an Ace!
***
The air was frozen solid. Ezreal clutched an arc of magical energy in his hand. Vayne raised her own enchanted silver crossbow as well.
Fhwoosh! Mystic Shot!
With a range of 1,150 units, Ezreal could strike at Vayne without the latter being able to return fire.
Up close, Ezreal would have no chance. Before Vayne could close the distance to him, Luocheng had to take full advantage of his superior attack range!
(Translatorâs Note: Fully leveled up, Vayneâs âTumbleâ has a base cooldown time of two seconds, compared to thirteen seconds on Ezrealâs âArcane Shiftâ. So yes, together with âNight Hunterâ, she actually could close the gap to him⦠at the cost of not dodging his shots.)
With staggered steps, Vayne evaded this Mystic Shot from Ezreal! Then she closed in. Vayneâs passive skill âNight Hunterâ increased her movement speed when advancing toward enemies. Ezreal had only just used his Arcane Shift. Now they were 800 units apartâanother 250 units closer, and sheâd be within range to attack Ezreal!
âHuh!â Vayne exclaimed brazenly, using Tumble to gain even more ground, which finally brought her close enough!
A crossbow quarrel was launched towards Ezreal, but he didnât retreat right away, instead allowing Vayne to hit him twice!
Luocheng had been keeping Ezrealâs own passive ability âRising Spell Forceâ at its maximum of five stacks. Although heâd missed with that last Mystic Shot, heâd used his W-skill âEssence Fluxâ to keep his attack speed up.
(Translatorâs Note: âRising Spell Forceâ temporarily increases Ezrealâs attack speed each time he hits something with his skills, to a maximum of five âstacksâ, i.e. five cumulative instances of the same bonus.
Iâm given to understand that the author is still talking about the older version of Essence Flux, which was a straight-line AoE which could deal direct damage to enemy champions. Regardless, the new Essence Flux also counts for stacking Rising Spell Force.)
This brought his attack speed almost on par with Vayneâs. After exchanging two basic attacks, Ezreal didnât allow her to land a third Silver Bolt, using Flash to get away!
Vayne didnât use her own Flash to keep up with him, because Luocheng had chosen an excellent spot to Flash away, taking him across the walls of the Dragon pit. If Vayne used her Flash now, she wouldnât be able to get past the wall herselfâsheâd just be stuck on the outside.
(Translatorâs Note: If you use Flash while standing next to a section of wall, or some other obstacle which the short range of Flash shouldnât actually be able to get you across of, youâll be shunted towards the nearest empty space from that point (since you canât be left standing inside the wall). Often this takes you the rest of the way to the other side, effectively giving you a slight boost in Flash travel distance.)
With no wards over on that side, she lost sight of him.
A good Ezreal player had to know how to seek concealment like this, and then continue to apply damage while his enemies scrambled to regain line-of-sight on him.
Vayne was in hot pursuit, coming around the entrance to the pit. Sheâd enjoy a tremendous advantage in here, partly because Ezrealâs shots might get blocked by the Dragon itself, and also because it would be too easy for her to impale him against the wall with Condemn.
âHah!â A bolt of brilliant blue energy streaked out and struck Vayne just as she appeared at the mouth of the pit.
The additional effect from Iceborn Gauntlet threw up a cloud of frost in the area, slowing Vayne down.
Poof! Arcane Shift was ready again, and Ezreal used it to blink out the far side of the Dragon pit, never giving Vayne another shot at him.
Augh! Just then, the Dragon awoke in a storm of wings, roused from its restful slumber, and unleashed its wrath upon the hapless Vayne!
âWow⦠beautiful!â Xiao Bei couldnât help exclaiming in admiration.
Heâd lured Vayne into the Dragon pit after him, locked her down at the entrance with an Iceborn Mystic Shot, and then hit the Dragon once to incite its fury. Then heâd used his newly cooled-down Arcane Shift to hop right back out of the Dragon pit once more, while the Dragon helped him to deal that much more damage to Vayne!
It ought to be pointed out that the Dragonâs fiery breath not only did a substantial amount of damage, it also slowed down the victimâs attack speed. In a manner of speaking, it was as though Luocheng had hit Vayne with an extra skill!
(Translatorâs Note: Dragons have changed dramatically in recent years. Itâs one of the most interesting ways in which Riot Games continuously evolves the game.)
It was the second time Xiao Bei was witnessing Luochengâs use of wild monsters in combat!
The first time had been during the cyber café quarter-finals, when heâd employed the Baron Nashor to take off one last bit of health from Orianna!
This time he was using the Dragon not only to hurt Vayne, but also reduce her attack speed as well!
Luocheng seized this moment to hit Vayne a couple more times, and then promptly withdrew, denying Vayne any opportunity to retaliate!
***
âOP!!!!!â Seeing Luochengâs trick with the Dragon, Jarvanâs player unloaded a whole string of exclamation marks in chat.
All eight of the defeated players were watching the duel between their ADCs. When they saw this particularly brilliant play, they immediately filled up the chat box with their excitement.
With all the damage sheâd taken, Vayneâs health was now lower than Ezrealâs!
However, Shallow Dream didnât retreat. If she did, Ezreal would chase her down, and her doom would be assured!
Even with Tumble, Vayne wouldnât be able to reach Ezreal to deliver a shot. Instead, she let the Dragon have it, even as she got clear of the monster, her Tumble immediately becoming ready again.
Ezreal was fighting a retreating battle as always. At the moment, they were perhaps 700 units apart. The Iceborn Gauntlet required two seconds to cool down between each use, so the next Mystic Shot didnât carry any Slowing effect. It was actually quite easy for Vayne to catch up, across such a short distance.
Luocheng continued to run until they reached the brush in the corner of the Bottom laneâthe place where theyâd had their opening duel at Level 1.
If he ducked into the brush as Vayne reached him, sheâd lose sight of him again, making it impossible to chain three hits on him!
(Translatorâs Note: You probably already know, but each time Vayne lands three consecutive hits on the same target, she causes a great deal of additional damage to them.
When theyâre playing as Vayne, less-experienced players have an amusing propensity to dive into any kind of danger in order to land those all-important third hits. This can be exploited to hilarious effect.)
If he could just bring her health a little lower, Luocheng would be able to simply duke it out with her face-to-face!
But not quite yetâhe remembered that she still had her Barrier. Even if they both used their Barrier spells, Ezreal would still come out of it the loser!
***
âIf Vayne keeps up this chase, sheâs done for,â Lin Dong remarked, watching as Luocheng made for the brush.
âRight,â Xiao Bei agreed. âLuocheng has his ulti now. If he fires it the moment he enters the bush, Vayne will be caught by surprise. By the time she has eyes on Ezreal, sheâll be weak enough to go down in one combo!â
Lin Dong nodded. Luochengâs mastery of Ezreal was impeccable. Even against a late-game terror like Vayne, he was putting on a dominating display. Whatâs more, that Vayne hadnât died a single time this whole gameâshe was undeniably an incredible player herself!