Chapter Nine: To Avert Disaster from the Brink and Support the Crumbling Edifice

“Something feels different.”

“What happened? No, nothing happened at all.”

On the OMG side.

As the bottom lane duo holding a significant advantage, COLD, controlling Galio, was constantly thinking about continuing to press the V5 bottom lane. He felt the key moment was approaching because the enemy’s aggression and positioning were visibly anxious.

But...

Right after the top lane swap, the enemy’s pace suddenly slowed, and their weaknesses gradually diminished.

What the hell?

This sudden sense of frustration felt like a middle-aged wife complaining to her husband, saying, “If you can do it, just do it. If you can’t, then don’t. Why take a break now?”

That instant shift was the most disappointing.

“Don’t rush. Their bottom lane duo has been silent this early game.”

Perhaps due to their advantage, Able on V5 didn’t seem too withdrawn. They were simply used to V5’s bottom lane giving them opportunities, so the sudden lack of them caught them off guard, but it wasn’t a big deal.

Both sides entered a brief peaceful farming phase; the only difference was that V5 tacitly gave up the second early dragon.

A little over a minute later.

Steel, OMG’s mid laner, gradually sensed something was off.

Ryze was missing!

Looking at the top lane minion wave, he could almost guess where the enemy was because a large wave was about to push under the tower.

“Mid missing, he might have gone up. I’m heading up!”

He shouted in team voice chat while steering Galio towards the top lane.

Up top.

Hearing his mid laner’s voice, Shanjī felt reassured.

Although the jungler was not in the upper half, with the tower backing and a sizable mid wave, he had a chance to operate under the enemy tower. Glancing at Camille, who was pushing the wave towards the tower, Shanjī began to plan his counter-kill.

Until...

With only one red minion left to push the wave into the tower, Camille stretched her E skill towards the lower wall, and Ryze’s ultimate activated just beneath OMG’s upper tower.

Seeing two illusions within the blue teleportation array, Steel decisively ulted!

R [Hero’s Arrival]!

In that moment.

Steel had already thought through the combo after landing.

First this, then that, then this and that again — he envisioned perfectly coordinating with his top laner to cut down several enemies beneath the tower.

But.

Just as his ultimate successfully launched.

Within vision, the two illusions originally inside Ryze’s ultimate teleportation array suddenly disappeared. At the same time, Camille, instead of kicking Gwen as Steel had imagined, decisively ran into OMG’s top jungle.

He ran?!

“See? I told you we could bait out the ultimate.”

In V5’s voice chat.

With Logic’s triumphant tone, the laughter of the top, mid, and jungle instantly filled the entire team voice chat.

Initially, they hesitated about baiting Galio’s ultimate.

After all, in a professional match, it’s tough to predict if the ultimate can be baited out. But Logic’s reasoning silenced them:

What’s the harm if it doesn’t bait the ultimate?

None.

At worst, Ryze wastes one ultimate.

So the question was: what does it matter if Ryze wastes his level one ultimate at this stage?

No problem!

So they boldly did it.

Unexpectedly, they really did bait out the enemy mid laner’s ultimate.

This delighted XLB and LittleShow to no end. The two quickly rotated back mid, seized the last moments of the Rift Herald’s summon, and decisively called for a mid push to open the gold mine.

Seeing this, Steel, who had just teleported in with the ultimate, froze.

His teleport cooldown wasn’t ready, and the walk from mid was too far to protect the turret.

The jungler could defend, but after Camille’s E, she was also heading mid. AKI doubted that if he appeared alone near mid tower, the enemy’s top, mid, and jungle would immediately swarm him.

Thinking, “A friend in death is not a foe,” he pretended not to notice.

Top lane.

Shanjī, left waiting in vain, cursed aloud.

In his eyes, Logic was a rookie, and the LittleShow Dream was even newer. XLB was a veteran but certainly wouldn’t think up such a dirty tactic — this was definitely the work of rookies.

These two young players had no honor, tricking and toying with him, an old-timer from ’00.

Is this fair?

[“Haha, which of the Thirty-Six Stratagems is this?”]

[“Feign east, attack west? Secretly crossing the Wei River? Besieging Wei to rescue Zhao? They’re all pretty much the same.”]

[“This is hilarious! Galio’s ultimate is so easy to bait? Just like that, they gave it away?”]

[“Or rather, V5’s players are just too sly. How can they play so joyfully?”]

Dirty!

So dirty!

So dirty even Karsa on the other side was dumbfounded. Reflecting on Rookie’s reaction, he almost incredulously asked him, “Was this in your expectations?”

Rookie was taken aback.

He didn’t expect it at all. He just thought that with a top laner, maybe they could split-push mid-game to buy time for their team to gear up. How could he have known these guys would play the ultimate so creatively?

---

But...

When the words were about to leave his mouth, Karsa heard this on the other end of the voice chat:

“Yes, exactly.”

“All of this was expected.”

“I knew this moment would come. That’s why I’m so focused on the Demacia Cup.”

Upon hearing this, Karsa was greatly shocked.

It was revitalized!

Everyone noticed the situation seemed to be gradually turning back in V5’s favor.

Nofe and Zero, watching from backstage, understood best: the rhythm was being reconstructed under Logic’s guidance. Although Lux, the Caitlyn, was still underperforming, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that the top, mid, and jungle were gradually coming alive.

In competitive matches, as long as one path holds hope, the fight continues.

Not to mention this time it was two lanes.

“Don’t take it, don’t take it! Hey Yigu, leave some for me!”

Logic’s eyes were anxious when he saw the two pushing the gold mine without him.

Even with E as a displacement, he was the farthest away. By the time he arrived, the Rift Herald would have already charged in.

“It’s fine, bro. There are still minions. You can take those.”

LittleShow shouted eagerly in the team chat upon hearing his big brother’s voice.

He loved partnering with Logic; both rookies, they got along well. The pace of this game wasn’t so much guided by XLB as it was by this big brother’s play.

If the big brother wasn’t here, who dared touch the spoils?

As for the Rift Herald?

It moved on its own — only saying that the jungler’s hands weren’t entirely clean.

Suddenly, three players gathered mid to push the tower, while OMG only had Galio slowly arriving top, and the jungler could only watch and wait for teammates.

At this moment, only the bottom lane duo, holding the advantage, could rotate over.

Once they arrived.

Lux got a breather.

In the Mythic update, Rift Herald’s weight surpassed that of elemental dragons.

The core lay in how mythic items could drastically transform a champion’s power, making a hero with mythic items nearly a different hero altogether. Rift Herald accelerated this transformation. If you don’t understand what transformation means, just look at the new star system next door.

One star is a mark, two stars a boundary, three stars divine, four stars strategy, five stars martial. As the “star level” rises, the surrounding air grows colder.

That is transformation!

In just a few minutes, OMG felt like the game’s pace was slipping away. Able, with the highest kills, was itching to fight, craving combat, but V5 simply wouldn’t give them the chance. Meanwhile, Galio’s ultimate, just baited out, was on a nearly three-minute cooldown, severely limiting their offensive leeway.

Troublesome.

Shanjī deeply understood the root cause of the sudden shift: the enemy’s top lane.

But now he dared not contest the enemy top anymore.

The reason was simple.

Camille had acquired Divine Rapier.

Camille without Divine Rapier versus Camille with it was like two different heroes. The former would likely win if all-in without the enemy running or kiting; the latter, if all-in, would instantly turn the Divine Rapier into their own.

Yes, a legendary lineage.

What could he do?

Only back down.

Before the second Rift Herald respawned, both teams were reluctant to engage. OMG waited for Galio’s ultimate cooldown, while V5 aimed to drag the game out to let Caitlyn farm. Both sides were at peace.

Except for Shanjī, who was getting beaten top.

During this time, XLB was also active, having fully committed to his playstyle.

The enemy’s fattest target was Samira, but Samira heavily relied on teammates to create entry opportunities. Galio was uncontestable, and Xin Zhao basically swapped jungle with him, so the only one he could really influence was top lane.

No more words!

He took a pink ward, marked his route, and tucked himself into the upper half to act as a loyal dog for the top laner.

Perhaps even he didn’t realize that this style partly resembled the original V5 Jordan tactic.

What’s the Jordan tactic?

It’s about avoiding direct confrontations as much as possible while creating 1v1 opportunities for your top laner Jordan—essentially forcing your counterpart’s same-position player to take the brunt.

Technically speaking.

Logic didn’t say he was far superior to Shanjī in skill, but he was better equipped and leveled!

Gamers know best:

The best mechanism in games is stats.

At fourteen minutes.

Only about twenty seconds remained before the Rift Herald respawned.

The first Rift Herald’s importance lay in accelerating a lane’s mythic item build to establish lane dominance.

The second Rift Herald’s strategic value was breaking or heavily pressuring the enemy’s mid tower health.

V5 had already pushed the mid tower’s health very low.

But the Rift Herald still couldn’t be abandoned.

Thanks to top-mid-jungle’s advantage, PPGOD comfortably placed vision at the top river, guarded by Olaf’s brawny presence, and supported in spirit by Ryze and Camille.

Even he couldn’t help but sigh like a CEO:

“Ah, this damn safety feels so rich.”

Broadcast booth.

Though the casters—names unworthy of mentioning—were here to practice, they clearly sensed the shifting tides from the teams’ active gatherings.

“V5 is the first to group; they want to contest the second Rift Herald.”

“But OMG’s players are almost here; they don’t want to concede. Able is farming very well.”

“Will OMG initiate here?”

“It’s happening! OMG’s support Galio initiates first, hooks — but hooks Olaf. Olaf ultimates!”

From the God’s perspective.

COLD, the support, seized a positional error in V5’s formation and struck decisively. He knew hooking Olaf meant Olaf would have his ultimate, but their comp had such an advantage in river fights!

Because the distance wasn’t as far as expected.

On noticing the support’s initiation, Steel immediately planned to charge W to follow up.

But!

Q [Light Binding]

Mythic item [Everfrost]

Double crowd control locked down OMG’s first attempt to start the fight with Galio and Olaf.

Meanwhile, Logic and Shanjī, having noticed the fight, rushed toward the battlefield.

Because of lane advantage, Logic’s team could reach the front line faster.

“Don’t rush!”

“Kite them and trade.”

“We’ll hold the first wave.”

PPGOD shouted in voice chat while furiously casting spells.

Lux, the support, simply followed up after the Q snare like a student reciting from a reader, casting skills wherever the bars lit up.

LittleShow took the chance to fire off a combo; the mid-support duo delivered decent damage on the first wave.

However.

Just as the first wave’s assault failed and OMG’s mid-support were about to retreat.

A sudden chill arrived, followed by the flash of a spear.

Xin Zhao charged in hard!

Since the Mythic update a year ago, and even earlier, there has always been a notoriously broken item in the Rift:

Not a mythic item, but a common component:

[Stopwatch]

Only 600 gold, and in Season 8 it was integrated into the Perfect Timing rune.

Its existence made ten-minute team fights like the Oscars, with many “little golden men” appearing, pushing mid-lane assassins out of ranked games.

Now, it was Xin Zhao’s greatest asset in solo engaging!

One second after Crescent Sweep began, Zhao flashed forward again. With a “ding,” half-health Zhao immediately turned into a golden statue.

But that wasn’t the main point. The key was that he charged in perfectly!

Behind him, Galio [Hero’s Arrival] reactivated.

Nearby.

Able’s Samira was already itching to strike.

Just one glance told V5’s front four that this fight couldn’t be taken.

As the AD carry, Xiao Yan’s gaze locked onto Able.

He had played Samira before.

He knew this was Samira’s best entry opportunity; he could even foresee a few seconds ahead when she would charge in, cutting down him and his team.

But he was powerless; he was just Caitlyn. He couldn’t change the situation.

Were they going to lose?

He bit his lip hard.

Losing this fight meant giving up the Rift Herald, falling behind economically, and tipping the scales further against them.

All because of early mistakes between him and his support.

A surge of regret and frustration overwhelmed him.

As a Vengeful One joining V5, he wanted to prove through the Demacia Cup that he was no worse than JKL. He treated this tournament as a journey of revenge, desperately wanting to prove his strength to TES.

But now, were they about to lose?

That tidal wave of pain felt like cold shackles tightening around his throat, suffocating him.

Just when he thought the fight was over.

Suddenly.

In the team chat.

Logic’s familiar voice rang clear in everyone’s ears, firm and unwavering, like a beam of light piercing the darkness:

“Don’t rush, we can still fight.”

Instinctively, everyone looked up.

Their eyes met a silver-white figure weaving through hooks across the Rift, delivering a kick to the Rift Herald-empowered Galio who had just pushed behind OMG’s line.

Immediately following.

[Hextech Ultimatum] leapt high, landing squarely on the bewildered COLD.

As a support, COLD couldn’t fathom why, with his backline being torn apart, the front line didn’t come to rescue but instead chased down a support.

But he quickly realized because beside him the mid laner was still channeling.

At the very moment COLD was locked in Hextech Ultimatum’s leap, Galio—still charging his ultimate—was forcibly interrupted by Camille’s knockback.

The ultimate’s buff remained, but Galio’s landing knock-up was broken!

That wasn’t the focus.

The focus was that Able never expected Galio’s ultimate to be interrupted.

The moment he saw the ultimate’s array, he had already flashed and charged in.

But since Xin Zhao forced his way in with E plus flash.

After flashing, Able was still out of E range.

With the ultimate, he could have confidently pursued in the chaos, spinning down anyone on V5.

But now...

Without Galio’s ultimate, the AD who flashed in front became a sitting duck.

LittleShow’s W skill snared him, and Xiao Yan instinctively placed a trap beneath her feet.

He clenched his mouse tightly.

And in the next moment.

In the team voice chat, he clearly heard the most memorable phrase so far:

“Photic, pull the trigger.”