Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story - Part 3

Vol.18 Ch.21: Relentless Chase

Nia escaped alive out of Apprentece's clutches, but it wasn't over yet. WHISH! The metal whip lashed once again! But, this time, it was aimed at somebody else: Ben.

"Eh!?" Ben froze in place. His mind short-circuited in front of the enemy's smooth shift of focus.

Just a moment ago, that predator was wholly invested in chasing Nia. And yet, in the middle of the pursuit, Apprentece discarded everything in an instant in order to lash out at Ben. The lightning-fast transition made Ben's jaw drop in awe.

"Ben, you have to retreat!" Yuel implored, to the point of raising his voice.

Thinking of it, there had been some noise in the background throughout the entire play. Ben failed to register it before, but now, he finally realized what it was.

Wait, was Yuel telling me to retreat this entire time!? Ben gasped. He was absolutely right! I should've listened! But, instead, I got myself into this sticky situation....

Ultimately, Ben didn't achieve much by rushing to confront Apprentece. He couldn't make a single dent in that predator's confident plays.

But, at least he was drawing Apprentece's attention away right now. So, if Ben's presence here made the Orc give up on chasing Nia even a millisecond earlier, then maybe it was worth it.

At least, that's what Ben thought until he turned around to retreat. That's when he finally realized his grave mistake.

"Ah! Oh no. Please no..." There was no way back. Ahead of him was a pack of minions, ready to rend him asunder.

D-Did I aggro them? Ben gulped. Oh, of course, I did. I ran past them before they entered the tower area. Ugh, I'm so stupid!

While Ben's head was filled with nothing but saving Nia, he carelessly drew the aggro of the entire enemy wave! Now, he found himself in a pincer between the minions and the Orc!

To make things worse, he had already used Gaia's Protection earlier, so the minions were going to hit him straight in the face. On top of that, his Dodge Roll was on cooldown as well, so he effectively found himself in the worst situation possible! The enemy was going to execute him right here!

But, that wasn't even the worst part. He's going to do an insane push with all these minions! Ben gulped. Is there really nothing I can do? Nothing at all!?

Ben ran, ran, and ran! Retreating to the tower was the only thing he could do in this hopeless situation, but he wouldn't reach it.

WHISH! The metal whip struck again. WHISH! The arrows impaled his back. Ben's HP fell below 20% in the blink of an eye. And if all that wasn't enough, the enemy swordsmen were closing on him too, to kill him harder as if that was even necessary.

That's it, I'm dead. I'm sorry, everybody... Ben couldn't apologize enough for his terrible display here. Even though Yuel warned him time and again, Ben continued acting like a stupid clown throughout the entire play. And now, he was going to pay for it...

The least I can do is to keep running until the very end...! Ben lost all hope about surviving, but he nonetheless continued running toward the tower. He had committed so many embarrassing mistakes here, so the least he could do was struggle until the bitter end.

With his fighting spirit in shambles and his mind in a total mess, Ben pressed onward while expecting death to claim him at any moment. Then, something odd happened. As if to reward his efforts, the enemies stopped attacking him all of a sudden. The Orc didn't lash at him again and the bowmen halted their barrage.

Hm? They're not finishing me off? Ben blinked in confusion. Did I get out of their range somehow? But, I'm not particularly fast, so how could I... OH!