League of Legends: League of Unknowns

Vayne was no fool. Seeing Ezreal in full retreat, she immediately gave up the chase, and turned instead to Jarvan and Riven.

Of course, even Shallow Dream had been startled! Not even she had been able to detect him before he was already right on top of Orianna.

What if he’d used that sneaky, unfathomable assassination technique of his on the ADC, who’d been likewise occupied at the time?

The ADC champion is constantly being threatened by the enemy front-liners. If she’d somehow been caught by CC for a moment, and Ezreal attacked her with Muramana and Infinity Edge in either hand, she’d have been instantly deleted with no chance to respond!

With Orianna out of play for the time being, Vayne was now the sole damage-dealer on blue team. Sona, Lee Sin, and Shen only had limited offensive capabilities—not to mention that Shen now had to extract himself from the enemy team’s midst, after which his main priority would be ensuring Vayne’s safety.

***

You’ve come all this way here—what’s your hurry to leave?

Ryze naturally hated to let Shen go. All that armor was well and good, but Ryze primarily dealt out magical damage. He unloaded his skills upon Shen: Overload, Rune Prison, Spell Flux… one after another, like a rapid-fire pulse cannon, and Shen’s health was rapidly melting away beneath the onslaught.

Jarvan’s life expectancy had improved somewhat, as a result of Orianna’s removal from the field. Meanwhile, Sona and a badly wounded Lee Sin were not going to be nearly enough protection for Vayne.

Riven was the greatest threat to her.

With her ulti already active, Riven flashed across the battlefield, her sights dead-set on Vayne!

With a great shout, she raised her blade high, and a palpable wave of energy burst outwards from Riven, Stunning all the enemies around her!

The effect would only hold for a very brief moment, but Riven knew that Vayne didn’t have Flash ready just then. Flashing in to attack her like this, she intended to take her down right away!

Strum! A chord reverberated through the air, as Sona played her ultimate skill ‘Crescendo’. All who heard it became momentarily disoriented, robbed of all their faculties. Jarvan and Riven, caught in a stupor, inexplicably began to dance . ¹

Crack! The crossbow instantly transformed, radiating holy power!

“Purge with silver!” Vayne coldly activated her ultimate skill, ‘Final Hour’!

(Translator’s Note: I went back and checked the previous chapter. No mistake in translation.)

Attack damage, movement speed, and agility were dramatically improved! The bolts that flew from Vayne’s crossbow now struck with even more force, punching straight through what scant little armor Riven wore!

Over the duration of Crescendo, Vayne with her ulti on could inflict a truly terrifying amount of damage. Choosing to ignore Jarvan for now, the blessed silver bolts flew from her crossbow, perforating Riven thoroughly.

As Riven came out of the daze, before she had the chance to use ‘Valor’ to shield herself, Vayne hit her with Condemn, impaling her against a wall, completely helpless!

More crossbow bolts slammed into Riven, who hadn’t been allowed to make even a single attack!

In the end, Riven only managed a final ‘Wind Slash’ before she perished.

With her current equipment, Vayne’s might was overwhelming. Never mind Riven, who hadn’t gotten any tank items; even Jarvan, who’d gone full tank, was by no means safe from her.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Attack pings ¹ rang incessantly. Everyone on red team was anxious to see Vayne destroyed. Otherwise, with the sort of heat she was packing, she could very well wipe them all out—with or without Orianna.

Riven fell, accomplishing hardly anything at all. On the bright side, because it had been imperative for Vayne to impale and kill her off as quickly as possible, she’d now put herself in a bit of a precarious position:

With a bellowing battle cry, Jarvan finally used the ulti he’d been holding onto all this while!

Cataclysm!

Taking advantage of Vayne having ventured a bit too far in front, he trapped her inside the Cataclysm crater with him, allowing the rest of the team to close in and surround her.

Having just used Tumble, Vayne would be stuck in here for at least two seconds ! ¹

Abandoning his fight with Shen, Ryze hurried this way. Everyone on the team understood that if Vayne wasn’t taken out soon, they’d lose this team fight. The two best people to get the job done were Riven and Ryze.

Riven was feeding the worms now, which meant that it fell to Ryze!

Ryze had purposefully been saving up a Rune Prison. Replete with movement speed-enhancing Runes, he rapidly moved up to the front!

Overload, Rune Prison, Spell Flux, Overload… With adept motions, Ryze unloaded a torrent of magic damage upon Vayne.

While Vayne continued to focus her attacks on Jarvan, she also brought out her Barrier to absorb some of the damage.

A combo like this from Ryze was especially hard for a squishy champion to take. Even with her Barrier, Vayne’s health was swiftly brought down to about one-third. A little more, and it would be curtains for her.

Once Vayne went down, this team fight would be over!

However, the moment the Rune Prison wore off, Vayne Tumbled out of the crater, turning invisible as she did so!

The next moment, she reappeared beside Jarvan, positioning herself at a right angle from Ryze.

An unbroken flurry of silver bolts tore through Jarvan, and his health plummeted away toward nothing. Whatever your defenses, however plentiful your health… it was all just a laugh to Vayne!

One last chain of Silver Bolts, and the Exemplar of Demacia succumbed to the silver quarrels riddling his body, his fearsome Dragon Lance tumbling out from limp fingers.

Double Kill!

Clad in the finest equipment, Vayne had made short work of two champions.

Now, Ryze was the one in a pinch. Behind him, Shen with his Taunt; in front of him, Sona with her Slow and harassment—and between them, Vayne with her touch of death!

“Hah!” At long last, Zyra deployed her own ultimate skill! This whole time, she’d been zoned off by Shen, and only now was she able to lend a hand to her team.

Thick vines undulated like pythons underfoot, rapidly interweaving together into a deadly web!

Shen and Sona had been caught by Zyra’s vines, and had no hope of escaping the area of effect of her ulti now. Vayne meanwhile Tumbled nimbly away, vanishing yet again!

At the edge of the Stranglethorns, Vayne re-appeared with a flutter of her coat. She opened fire on Zyra, each bolt tearing through her vital organs!

As death approached, Zyra Flashed away, beyond Vayne’s attack range!

Ruthless as ever, Vayne had no intention of allowing her to escape. She turned her Blade of the Ruined King on Ryze, and before he could lock her down with another Rune Prison, she used the speed she’d stolen with the Blade, along with another Tumble, to catch up to the fleeing Zyra!

The next shot was the last one!

“Ahh…” With a pained moan, Zyra folded up into a venomous bloom, alluring and deadly.

Her last, Vengeful Thorn flew wide. It was no easy task, trying to hit Vayne.

Triple Kill!

Three bodies now lay scattered about the vicinity, all done in by Vayne’s Silver Bolts!

For clarity’s sake, Orianna hadn’t managed to do much of anything before Ezreal had snuffed her out. That meant these three kills were entirely Vayne’s own handiwork.

Three kills in one fell swoop. Vayne was like a boss monster right now.

Just as they’d thought, failing to kill her had meant their total demise!

***

Ryze was in a rage! This team fight had gone worse than he’d thought possible. He watched Vayne, only 600 units away from himself, and wished he could speed up the cooldown timer on his Flash by thirty-odd seconds, so he could blink over there and finish her off with one combo.

Without Flash, not even his movement Runes would allow him to catch up to a Vayne with Night Hunter and Phantom Dancer, especially with Shen Taunting him, and Sona Slowing him down . ¹

Glancing at Sona’s health bar, Ryze couldn’t hold himself back any longer. He’d start with whoever was within easy reach, then!

Having taken exception to Sona now, Ryze was just about to let her have a few choice spells when suddenly, from just nearby, an energy bolt swept along the wall, catching Vayne as she fled!

An icy mist enveloped her, freezing her limbs, and drastically Slowing her down!

It was Ezreal, with a beautiful Mystic Shot!

One moment, Ryze had been fuming at Ezreal’s inexplicable departure. Now, he was so happy to see him he almost cried out in joy!

Running for all he was worth, Ryze charged towards the Slowed Vayne!

With such little health left to her, if he could just get within 550 units of her, she was dead meat!

“Hoo!” It was a Taunt from Shen, catching Ryze just in time!

The player controlling Ryze very nearly hurled his mouse to the floor!

Shen’s ‘Shadow Dash’ had just come off cooldown, at this most critical of moments!

He was a Mage, but now he was forced to tangle with a ninja fully clad in armor. It was a frustration to make him rip his hair out by the roots!

‘Whoosh!’ A dashing figure swept past them.

Ignoring the muscle-tower that was Shen, he was heading straight for Vayne. With an Arcane Shift, he was suddenly standing directly before her, calmly regarding her badly wounded condition.

Vayne’s Triple Kill had been an impressive feat, but she was on her last drop of health, now. Ezreal, meanwhile, was essentially still full up. Even if it was Shallow Dream at the controls, she was at his mercy all the same.

‘Now I’ve got you!’ Ezreal didn’t actually say this out loud, but the smirk upon his lips pronounced it clearly enough.

Slowed as she was by the frost cloud, Vayne had no hope of escaping. Hugging her wounds, she remained where she was, as cold and haughty as she ever had been.

***

He who knows how to make the fullest use of his own team, only he will be laughing to the end.

Vayne had fought valiantly, and had slain many foes. She had been magnificent, terrifying… and so what?

Luocheng had allowed his team to weasel out every last one of her cards from her. No matter how skilled she was, she was naught but a sitting duck now.

‘This time, I win!’