Venus started the game in a cautious mode, but she realized more and more that Andria was allowing her to get away with things. So, like a child who was not properly scolded by their parent, Venus became a delinquent.
She dialed up the aggression as the game went on. Launching bold attacks at Andria, stealing Griffin camps, and even rotating to other lanes to gank. Essentially, Venus as she pleased. She was like a criminal in a city without police.
"Andria, please keep your lane opponent in check so she will not interfere with other lanes," Fiona requested. "This is part of your responsibility as her lane opponent."
"Hmm. True, that does fall under my jurisdiction, doesn't it?" Andria sighed. "But, my apologies, my dear princess. It's proving difficult to keep Venus on a leash without taking some risks. And, risks are the last thing I need right now."
As always, Andria maintained her usual theatrics as she laid out her reasoning in an eloquent fashion. Normally, the fact she was acting like her usual quirky self inspired confidence, as it showed she maintained her composure even on this big stage. However, right now, her acting looked like nothing more than a fragile self-defense mechanism.
Ultimately, Fiona failed to change her teammate's mind. Andria stuck to her guns and played carefully without ever taking any risks. She was too afraid of soiling her reputation by committing a misplay.
On paper, her defense was solid enough to keep Venus at bay. But, the consequences of this passive playstyle rippled to other lanes and started a tsunami.
『An ally has been killed!』
『FIRST BLOOD!』
"Gah! You damn commoner…!" Cornelia cursed through her teeth. "How did she even have the time to rotate all the way over here!? It's unacceptable!"
Venus had been freely rotating out of her lane for a while now, but this time it happened to lead to a kill. And, this was only the beginning of her momentum.
『An ally has been killed!』
Next, Karen was the one to bite the dust. She and Lua found themselves in a difficult spot in Bot, and that was when Venus joined the fray. Lua miraculously slipped out of the situation alive, but Karen was not as fortunate.
"Damn!" Karen ranted. "This bitch is aggressive as hell!"
"Karen, language."
"Yeah, yeah." Karen shrugged it off. "But seriously, what the heck? First, she went to Top. Now, she's in Bot. Like, she's zigzagging across the entire map! What the heck!?"
"She is an Aeromancer," Fiona said. "She has more freedom than most in that regard, but I do agree she gets away with it too easily. It should not be like that."
Though Aeromancer was largely regarded as a defensive pick for Mid, its kit actually offered some interesting offensive options. Venus was exploring those thoroughly in this game.
Unlike most mages, Aeromancer did not burst enemies in one shot. Instead, it summoned a whirlwind that slowly sapped away the minions' HP.
So, after placing said Whirlwind, the Aeromancer was no longer needed on the lane so long as this one spell could reliably eliminate the entire wave. At that point, the Aeromancer had the freedom to rotate out of the lane. It could go after jungle camps or even to other lanes.
In fact, Aeromancer's passive, Wind Flow, practically encouraged that playstyle. It granted a Movement Speed bonus after casting a spell, which buffed the Aeromancer's ability to rotate.
On top of that, Aeromancer had great potential as a setup ganker. Its Squall skill greatly slowed the target down, while Hurricane outright sucked enemies in. These were both great CC skills to set up a kill for the laner.
With that said, in Venus' case, she insisted on scoring all the kills herself. It was almost as if she was saying "All of this is thanks to me, so I deserve the kill."
Thanks to that, by the time the battle reached mid-game, Venus was substantially ahead of the curve in terms of farm. She was not snowballing yet, but she was definitely in a great position to dictate the flow of the game.
Simply put, Venus promoted herself into a Queen piece. Right now, on this board, she was the strongest piece.
I have to disrupt her momentum somehow before it is too late. Fiona frowned. I have been trying to do so for a while now, but she is not making this easy…
Perhaps picking Vampire for this game was Fiona's undoing. Her only good ganking option was her ult, so she had to sit on a long cooldown between every two gank attempts.
The main idea behind the Vampire pick was that it made Fiona a solid substitute laner on demand. This was a valuable trait when the team was underperforming across the board. It meant that whenever somebody screwed up, Fiona could decently cover for them in the lane.
However, prioritizing laning potential over ganking potential made it much harder to shut Venus down right now. To make things worse, StormBlitz excelled at a dynamic defense that covered every part of the map. So, even when Fiona thought she found a good opportunity to strike Venus, another member of StormBlitz would show up to interrupt the play. Frankly, it was rather frustrating.
And, the more momentum she gains, the harder it becomes to stop her. It is truly a vicious cycle.
Of course, Fiona made sure to not stay too tunnel-visioned on this topic. She also analyzed the rest of the board and considered other lines of play.
The only other realistic option I see is to wait for the enemy to overcommit with a big push on one of the lanes, and use that opportunity to split-push a different lane. Fiona thought. If I prioritize building Attack Speed, I could turn my Vampire into a decent split-pusher. But, will I be able to compete with the enemy's pushing speed…?
No, most likely not. The odds of success were below 10% even under the most optimal conditions. It was a weak attack plan.
Nonetheless, a reckless strategist like Yuel Fermond would gone for it anyway. Though, in his case, the attack plan would likely be more elaborate, featuring more trickery to boost the chance of success.
Alas, Fiona did not have any such sophisticated ideas at the moment. She had already tried every plan she came up with, but nothing grazed StormBlitz's absolute wall of defense.
This will not work. I have to find another line of play. Fiona reasoned. For starters, is there anything at all I can do to disrupt their momentum?
In this game, the backbone of the enemy's momentum was Venus. The rest of her team was able to stick to their favorite defensive playstyle because Venus was there to press offense.
If I can shut her down, it will throw a wrench in the current flow of the game. Fiona thought. From there, if I can make a few more successful plays in a row, it might become a chance to turn this game around.
But, was it even possible to do anything about Venus at this point? The girl had momentum and level advantage, not to mention she was performing way better than in the first game.
No doubt, Venus was currently the enemy's Queen piece. But, was Fiona on par with a Queen in this game? No, she was not. At best, she was worth as much as a Rook, and even that might be optimistic.
By all accounts, Fiona would likely fail to stop Venus by herself. All the odds were against her in this case. It was almost certainly a lost cause.
Thinking about it, this mirrors the situation from the first game. Fiona realized. Back then, I was the one who had momentum, and I dare say mine was much greater than this. Nonetheless, Venus gathered the courage to challenge me. It might have been a last-ditch effort, but she nonetheless did it.
Venus did not run away from the seemingly impossible challenge. She even successfully put a stop to Fiona's push back then
Quitting without even trying will make me no better than Andria. Fiona thought. From all the ideas I could think of, hitting Venus while she is still on the high horse seems like the best shot we have got. I must at least try.
No matter how much more advantage the opponent seemed to have, there was a meaning in challenging them. Only by pouring everything into the fight and pushing herself to the limit could Fiona verify that her opponent was truly as dreadful as she imagined. Until then, the threat only existed in the theoretical analytics inside her head.
The human brain is a flawed masterpiece in that regard. Fiona thought. It is capable of so much, yet it comes with many hurdles to overcome.
Athletes constantly had to fight their inner demons in order to deliver their best performance. So many different factors could easily throw them off their game or make them lose heart. In fact, the Valkyries showcased that best today.
Cornelia possessed raw talent but her attitude constantly got in the way of her achievements. Likewise, Karen was a solid player across the board but her eagerness to fight was her downfall.
On the other hand, Lua was a great Support but she lacked assertiveness at the most critical times. And, Andria was a very stable performer on average but she crumbled once the odds were against her.
Each and every member of the Valkyries was like a diamond in the rough. They all had what it took to compete against high-level players, but their brains refused to let them fulfill their true potential.
Then, what about Fiona? She had been throwing herself at competitive sports far more than anybody else here. The countless experiences molded her into the strong competitor she was today.
Nonetheless, everybody had room for growth and Fiona was no different. Right now, in this severely unfavorable situation, even she found it difficult to take a step forward to confront this powerful opponent. If she makes a mistake, she could easily find herself dead instead. That would spell the end of the game, and she would have nobody else but herself to blame.
At times like this, Fiona imagined herself back on the running track. The fateful track from many years ago. It was the day when she started transforming into the competitive player she was today.
On that day, there was a race, one for which Fiona prepared extensively. She promised her mother she would win no matter what.
Alas, Fiona found herself stuck in 2nd place throughout the course. Furthermore, the player in 1st place was consistently a few meters ahead, maintaining a stable lead that seemed impossible to outpace.
By the time the race reached the final stretch, Fiona had already lost all hope of winning. At some point, she started thinking that second place was fine, too.
I worked hard and I got close to winning. It is good enough.
What she did not realize was that these defeatist thoughts turned into poison that weighed her down. The moment she gave up on winning the race, her determination wavered and her body became heavier. It was as if the brain informed the body that it no longer had to work hard, so the body decided it could take a break. It was a terrible case of miscommunication.
As a result, Fiona slowed down without even realizing it. This allowed the opponents in 3rd and 4th places to overtake her. She was outdone by others the moment she lost sight of her goal.
To add insult to injury, these two determined runners finished in 1st and 2nd. In other words, they passed the seemingly "unbeatable" 1st place runner who maintained the lead the entire race.
As it turned out, that girl was not as consistent as she made herself look. She maintained a solid lead for 90% of the race, but then fatigue kicked in for the last 10%. That utterly destroyed her pace.
Apparently, that was a known quirk of this girl. Others who raced her before were already aware of it.
But, Fiona learned all of that only after the fact. That embarrassing defeat made her realize she was not prepared at all for the race. She did not do her homework.
Given her athletic ability, Fiona could have won that race if she formed a proper strategy and trained a little harder. Alas, she did not do either.
It was a day Fiona would never forget for the rest of her life. She promised victory to put a smile on her ill mother's face, only for it to end in tragedy. That broken promise was the last thing her mother received before passing away later that day.
Was Fiona even serious about any of this? Why did she not try harder? Why!?
That incident became the darkest chapter in her life. On that day, the easygoing Fiona died, giving birth to a new Fiona who threw her everything into the sports she competed in.
Anything less than victory was unacceptable. If Fiona lost, she had to train harder, no ifs or buts. And, even when the odds were against her, she would still pour her everything into achieving victory.
Thus, she will stay true to this creed even in this seemingly hopeless game. No matter how much better StormBlitz's position was, Fiona will challenge them over and over! As long as the 『DEFEAT』 screen has not shown up, Fiona will continue fighting for victory!