Chapter 757
Vision Illuminated
With a low growl, Achen's Fiorogg decisively crushed the Herald's Eye in front of the enemy's mid-lane tower ruins.
The massive Rift Herald rose from the ground, its enormous body swaying as it lowered its head to gather power before slamming into LNG's mid-lane second turret!
"boom!"
The mid-lane second tower, which had already lost a significant amount of health to EDG's mid and jungle, collapsed with a crash after this collision.
At this moment, the LNG team had just respawned from the fountain and could only watch helplessly as the EDG team retreated like the tide, without even having the courage to stop them.
"Return to base for supplies, light up the vision in the lower half of the map, and prepare to control the third dragon." Su Mo glanced at the timer in the upper right corner and issued the instructions methodically.
Fifteen minutes and twenty seconds.
Su Mo returned to the city and opened the shop.
Taking advantage of the extremely high bounty and tower-pushing economy from this team fight, he didn't hesitate to buy the assassin's second core defensive and offensive item—[Night's Edge]!
Just over fifteen minutes later, he had Ghostblade, Boots of Lucidity, and Edge of Night.
At this moment, Talon, with his spell shield, not only possesses devastating damage capable of instantly killing squishy targets, but is also completely immune to LNG's only countermeasure—Nautilus's initiating headshot ultimate.
"This equipment... Mozi is really leaving LNG no way out." Miller looked at Talon's equipment bar on the commentary stage, shaking his head with a wry smile. "With the Night's Edge, LNG's lineup, which originally relied on Nautilus to force Talon to engage, has become a complete joke."
Sixteen minutes.
EDG's formation began to execute a 1-3-1 split push.
Su Mo's Talon went to the bottom lane to push. And facing him was Scout—Yone—who had been forcibly sent by LNG to defend.
"Zika's Udyr probably wouldn't even dare to leave the tower if he saw Talon now, so LNG can only send Yone, who has a slight fighting chance, to the bottom lane to hold them off," Ning analyzed.
But is restraint really effective?
Sixteen minutes and thirty seconds.
Su Mo pushed the minion wave across the river. Scout's Yone stood in front of the bottom lane's second turret, holding his three-part Q's whirlwind, his mind on high alert. He knew that if he made the slightest misstep in positioning, the assassin lurking in the shadows would instantly kill him.
"Tarzan, can you come counter-gank bot lane? I feel like he's going to gank me," Scout shouted in the voice chat.
"I...I'll try my best." Tarzan's Nidalee was only a pitiful level eight at this point, and her equipment was so bad that she was worse than a support. But at the call of the team, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and head towards the Golem bush in the lower half of the map.
However, as a top assassin, Su Mo has a keener sense of danger than anyone else.
He glanced at the dark enemy's lower jungle and a cruel smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
"Prey always like to huddle together for warmth."
Sixteen minutes and forty seconds.
Instead of pushing the lane and towers directly, Su Mo activated the active effect of Youmuu's Ghostblade, transforming into a streak of crimson lightning and diving directly into LNG's lower jungle!
"Talon has entered the jungle! He seems to have detected Tarzan's location!" Wawa shouted.
Instead of taking the conventional route, Su Mo used his E skill, "Assassin's Way," to smoothly vault over the wall near the toad and silently sneak into the bush behind the blue buff!
At that moment, Tarzan had just transformed into human form and placed a defensive ward.
The moment his vision lit up, he saw a dark red figure with a layer of magical shield standing less than three hundred yards away from his face!
"Holy crap!" Tarzan was so shocked that he forgot to speak Korean and blurted out a Korean phrase, instinctively using his W [Pounce] to try and escape back to the second tower.
But Su Mo's hand speed was breathtaking!
The instant Nidalee leaps, Talon unleashes his W [Eliminate the Weeds], two throwing knives precisely applying a slow effect!
Immediately afterwards, he uses his Q skill, "Noxian Diplomacy," to dash into the air!
"Bah!"
When a basic attack lands, the passive bleeding effect is triggered.
Tarzan didn't even have time to switch to human form to heal himself before his already low health bar was instantly emptied!
"EDG.Mo has killed LNG.Tarzan!"
"Like killing a chicken!! It really is like killing a chicken!!" Guan Zeyuan roared hoarsely, "Tarzan has been traumatized by Talon in this game! In his own jungle, he's like an unarmed novice!"
Scout shuddered upon hearing the kill notification. He quickly abandoned the bottom lane's second turret and retreated to the high ground without looking back.
Without the jungler's defense, LNG's bottom lane second tower was easily destroyed by Su Mo.
The economy is bad, and the number has officially broken through 8,000!
Seventeen minutes and twenty seconds.
The third dragon (Hextech Dragon) spawns.
This dragon can provide a significant boost to skill haste and attack speed.
"The dragon's been released! Released! We'll defend our high ground!" Coach U cried out in anguish, covering his face. Losing a jungler and going out to engage in a team fight in complete darkness was tantamount to collective suicide.
Achen's Foygo, in coordination with the bot lane duo, effortlessly secured the Hextech Dragon. EDG successfully secured the Dragon Soul!
Eighteen minutes.
With the loss of the dragon, LNG's defenses retreated entirely to their high ground towers. Summoner's Rift jungle became EDG's backyard.
Su Mo returned to the city and upgraded a [Serrated Dagger] and a [Stopwatch].
"Baron Nashor will spawn in two minutes. Clear out all vision in the top half of the jungle, and place control wards at all the entrances to their jungle." Su Mo gave the instructions while maneuvering Talon towards the top half of the jungle.
"Got it, Mo-ge! I've filled up their red buff area with vision, we can even see a mosquito fly out!" Ah Chen responded excitedly, patrolling the enemy jungle like a dutiful security guard with a scanner and a true sight ward.
Eighteen minutes and forty seconds.
The atmosphere inside the LNG tower was extremely oppressive.
"Baron is about to spawn, we can't just ignore it. We need to establish vision, otherwise if Baron falls, all three lanes will be pushed back." The support Titan gritted his teeth, bought three control wards, and prepared to scout ahead.
Zika's Udyr also activated his shield: "I'll go with you. I have double resistances and a shield, he can't kill me instantly."
The two cautiously walked out of the mid-lane high ground and moved towards the Dragon Pit step by step along the F6 passage.
However, the commentary and the audience, viewed from God's perspective, were left with a chilling feeling.
"They went out... but they didn't know that Mozi's Talon had been waiting for them in the red buff bush just across the wall for a full twenty seconds!!" Miller's breathing became rapid.
At this moment, Su Mo, like a patient hunter, quietly crouched at the edge of the red buff bush. The Night Blade on his body emitted a dark light, the stopwatch lay quietly in his inventory, and his ultimate skill [Shadow Strike] had finished its cooldown.
"The prey has been released."
Nineteen minutes exactly.
Just as Nautilus and Udyr reached the pass behind the Red Buff, and Nautilus was about to place a Control Ward in the bush!
Su Mo moved!
No time was given to react!
Talon activates his ultimate ability, Shadow Strike, and countless sharp blades explode in a ring!
Su Mo's figure disappeared into the darkness, and with the help of his high movement speed, he directly circled behind Titan and Udyr, completely cutting off their route back to the high ground!
"He's behind me!!" Titan exclaimed in shock, instinctively turning around to unleash his ultimate move, [Deep Sea Impact]!
But the moment the water jet touched the male knife, there was only a soft "pop" sound.
The Night's Edge's spell shield shattered, perfectly negating the Titan's fatal knockback!
"The shield blocked it! Titan's ultimate was negated by Night's Edge! Despair!!" Doll roared.
The moment the shield shattered, Su Mo emerged from stealth!
The melee Q [Noxian Diplomacy] ruthlessly pierced the unsuspecting Titan, instantly triggering critical damage!
The ultimate move's blades are relentlessly close in!
W [Cut the grass and eliminate the roots] followed by a basic attack.
Even though Nautilus is a pure tank support, he's like paper against Talon, who has two and a half armor penetration items! His health bar instantly dwindles, and he dies on the spot!
"EDG.Mo has killed LNG.Hang!"
Zika's Udyr was terrified and quickly activated his bear form to try and knock Talon unconscious.
But Su Mo didn't give him a chance to touch her at all!
With the Phase Rush acceleration triggered after killing Titan, Su Mo moved backward with extremely smooth movement, dodging Udyr's slam.
Immediately, he pressed the E skill!
Talon deftly vaulted over the thick red buff wall beside him, not only avoiding Udyr's subsequent damage but also jumping directly out of LNG's impending reinforcement encirclement!
"Killing one person in ten steps, leaving no trace for a thousand miles!!" Ning clapped wildly on the commentary stage. "Mozi's Talon play was so artistic! After killing the support, he used Edge of Night to block crowd control, then jumped over the wall and disappeared! LNG didn't even get a touch on his clothes!"
Nineteen minutes and thirty seconds.
Without support, LNG completely lost the chance to contest vision of Baron Nashor. Udyr could only slink back to his high ground, watching the countdown to Baron Nashor's imminent spawn on the screen, his eyes filled with helplessness and despair.
The entire audience erupted in cheers.
Support signs of various colors were waved wildly in the audience, and shouts of "Mo" came one wave after another like a tsunami.
Nineteen minutes and fifty seconds.
Su Mo, controlling Talon, stood quietly on the edge of the Baron pit. At this moment, the Baron pit was completely illuminated by EDG's control wards, leaving no blind spots for the enemy.
Achen's Fryegor, Xiaoyue's Annie, Leave's Aphelios, and Vamp's Bronn, the four of them, were fully armed and surrounded the Dragon Pit.
EDG's five-man formation was like an insurmountable iron wall, completely blocking LNG from entering the river.
Nineteen minutes and fifty-five seconds.
Su Mo picked up the thermos and slowly took a sip of the still-warm goji berry water. His deep eyes reflected the crimson glow of the male swordsman on the screen.
"Prepare the dragon."
His extremely authoritative voice rang out calmly in EDG's voice channel.
Twenty minutes exactly.
With a deafening roar, Baron Nashor tore through the void, his massive and ferocious body crashing down into the depths of the Summoner's Rift river!
The final judgment is imminent!
EDG's five players gathered at the dragon pit, and with their huge economic advantage, they took down the dragon at an extremely fast speed. Leave's Aphelios wielded the red and white blades (Soul Breaker and Mirror Image), and Fahrenheit frantically slashed at Baron Nashor's massive body, causing his health to drop rapidly at a visible speed.
"Eight thousand! Five thousand! Three thousand!" Wawa stared intently at the Baron's health bar from the commentary booth. "Is LNG coming to watch? Without support vision, how are they going to see anything?!"
At this moment, the remaining four members of LNG were huddled on the high ground, while Tarzan's Nidalee had just respawned from the fountain.
As Tarzan watched the Baron's health bar jump on the screen, he bit his lip until it bled, a burning sense of resentment, typical of a top-tier jungler, simmering in his chest.
"I'll go check it out, you guys defend the base." Tarzan bought a control ward, activated his cougar form's W [Pounce], and charged like a madman through the jungle towards the Baron pit.
Twenty minutes and fifteen seconds.
Baron Nashor's health has dropped to 2,000! He's on the verge of being killed by Smite and burst damage!
Achen's Fiorio gripped the Smite tightly, his fingers digging into the keyboard.
Just as the dragon's health dropped to 1,500!
Above the Dragon Pit, on the wall behind the large Dragon Pit, a True Eye "dinged" and pierced into the Dragon Pit!
The instant the light appeared in my vision!
A long javelin with an extreme range shot out from the dark wilderness!
"Tarzan is here!! That javelin!" Miller exclaimed in shock.
As the javelin struck, Tarzan's Nidalee didn't hesitate to use Flash, transforming into a resolute cheetah and pouncing directly from above the dragon pit!
In mid-air, the Q skill [Kill] combined with Smite caused two golden lights to shine simultaneously!
"boom!"
Baron Nash let out a shrill wail, and his massive body collapsed with a crash, turning into purple fragments.
However, the system notification that popped up at the top of the screen caused the entire room to fall silent instantly.
[LNG.Tarzan has killed Baron Nashor!]
I got it!!!
"Oh my god!!!! He stole it!!! Tarzan stole Baron!!!" Ning jumped up on the commentary stage, frantically grabbing his hair. "In a desperate situation, Tarzan risked his life to steal this life-saving Baron!!!"
Tarzan, who fell into the dragon pit, didn't even survive a second before being instantly killed by Su Mo's Talon with a melee Q and a basic attack.
But on his face, he let out his first triumphant laugh since the start of the match.
"Got it! Damn! I got it!!" Tarzan roared in the voice chat. "Hold on! We have the Baron buff! We can stall for time!"
The purple aura of the Baron buff instantly descended upon the four surviving members of LNG.
Meanwhile, EDG's voice chat channel fell into an awkward silence.
Ah Chen's face turned deathly pale instantly, and his hand holding the mouse even trembled slightly: "Brother Mo... it's my fault. I used Smite a fraction of a second too early and didn't calculate the last critical hit damage from Aphelios... It's all my fault."
Xiao Yue swallowed hard, trying to ease the tension: "It's alright, it's alright. We still have a huge economic advantage. Even if they have the dragon buff, they can't get out."
But everyone knows that in this version, the Baron buff's enhancement to minions is game-changing. With the Baron buff, LNG's composition can completely defend their high ground and forcefully drag the game out for five to eight minutes. And pure assassins like Talon become less and less threatening in the late game.
In this suffocatingly awkward atmosphere, Su Mo's expression remained completely calm.
He didn't blame Ah Chen, nor did he sigh.
He simply picked up his thermos, slowly took a sip of goji berry water, and stared at the leopard woman's corpse lying at his feet on the screen.
"What's the rush?"
Su Mo's deep, calm voice, carrying a quality that instantly soothes the heart, rang out in the voice chat.
"All he risked his life for was to delay the other side from unplugging the network cable by a few minutes."
Su Mo controlled the Talon, stepping over the Nidalee's corpse to escape the Dragon Pit: "Back to base for supplies. Since they want to stay in their shells a little longer, let's unplug their oxygen tubes."
Hearing Su Mo's calm yet domineering words, Ah Chen's previously frantic self-blame miraculously subsided.
"Yes, Brother Mo! I'll go clear their jungle right away!"
Twenty-one minutes.
In LNG's team voice chat, morale reached a small peak.
"Nice, Tarzan! This dragon is crucial!" Scout breathed a sigh of relief and quickly bought the Immortal Shieldbow.
Gala quietly added Infinity Edge: "My items are slowly coming together. As long as the minions are buffed by Baron, they can't push the high ground. Give me five minutes."
Zika's Udyr stood beneath the high ground tower, looking at the purple dragon aura surrounding him, and finally felt a sense of security.
Twenty-one minutes and thirty seconds.
EDG did not force their way through.
Su Mo knew very well that with the minions empowered by the Baron buff, combined with Udyr and Yone's wave clear abilities, pushing the high ground would easily lead to mistakes and being caught out.
He returned to the city and poured out the gold coins from his backpack.
[Serelda's Resentment]!
The fourth major item!
It provides high armor penetration and a slowing effect from the skill.
At this point, Talon has Youmuu's Ghostblade, Boots of Lucidity, Edge of Night, and Seraph's Blade. His physical penetration on this stat sheet is almost equivalent to true damage against squishy targets. Even champions like Nautilus and Udyr absolutely cannot withstand his full burst damage.
Twenty-two minutes.
The real struggle and torment have begun.
EDG employed a classic "suffocating" strategy. They firmly controlled all three lanes in front of LNG's high ground towers, neither advancing nor retreating.
Ah Chen and Xiao Yue, carrying two scanners, cleared out every inch of bushes and every corner of the LNG jungle.
For LNG, the entire lower and upper halves of Summoner's Rift had become an absolute "dark forest".
Twenty-three minutes.
Inside LNG's high ground, the atmosphere became tense once again. Although the Baron buff saved their high ground towers from falling, they dared not step off the high ground even a fraction of an inch.
Because that male swordsman disappeared.
Since leaving after acquiring the equipment, Su Mo's avatar has never lit up on the map again.
"Where's Talon? Has anyone seen him?" After respawning in the fountain, Tarzan didn't dare to step into his own jungle.
"I don't know. Aphelios and Annie are pushing the top and bottom lanes, so he hasn't shown himself." Scout glanced at the dark jungle and felt a chill run from his feet to the top of his head.
The unknown is the most terrifying thing.
This is the psychological game of top assassins. Su Mo doesn't need to show himself online; as long as he remains hidden in the shadows, the five members of LNG must maintain 200% vigilance at all times, their minds on high alert.
"That's the power of Brother Mozi!" Ning exclaimed in amazement from the commentary booth. "His inaction is even more terrifying than his appearance. LNG is like a person trapped on a deserted island, knowing there are great white sharks in the sea, but having to watch its fresh water run out little by little."
Twenty-four minutes.
EDG has been dealt a real blow – the fourth dragon (Hextech Dragon) has spawned.
This is EDG's Water Dragon Soul!
"We can't let it go. If we let the Dragon Soul go, we'll die when the Baron buff ends anyway." Coach U gave the order backstage.
"Stand up and head out, I'll scout ahead!" Titan gritted his teeth, grabbed three control wards, activated his W shield, and led the five LNG players out of the bottom lane inhibitor gate like frightened birds. (End of Chapter)