Chapter Thirty: While You Gaze into the Abyss, the Abyss Gazes Back at You

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【???】
【What on earth just happened in the top lane? A solo kill? A rookie solo-killed Zoom? Is this for real?】
【Where is the director? Help us out here, stop playing the replays of the mid and bot lanes! The top lane! I’m telling you to show the replay of the top lane!】
【Typical LPL director, always missing the timing for the big plays.】

As the final kill notification echoed, the first to explode weren't the commentators or the players, but the hungry esports audience. Who cares about kills assisted by a gank? Forget the replays for a second. Someone, please, get the production team to show us what happened up there.

And so, as the replay hit the screen, the audience finally caught the details of the top lane.

The clip began with an Aatrox building up a minion wave to crash into the tower. Zoom, defending the tower, was in his mini-Gnar form with low fury and only about half his health. That health bar was a trap. Any higher, and he would have felt safe enough to stand under the tower; any lower, and a conservative player would have recalled to avoid the risk of being dove. But he was stuck in that awkward middle ground, and his fury bar was equally troublesome.

This was exactly what Luo Ji had orchestrated. As the wave was about to crash, he popped his ultimate, "World Ender," transforming into a berserker, charging straight in while soaking up Gnar’s Q.

Zoom wasn't stupid. Having laned against Luo Ji for this long, he was familiar with his opponent's intensity. If he could just dodge this Q and stall out the duration of Aatrox’s ultimate, he could save a few minions. So, the moment Aatrox accelerated and threw his Q, Zoom instinctively hopped diagonally backward.

However... at the very instant he jumped, the Aatrox, who had committed to a Q animation, suddenly shifted his position with a Flash. When Aatrox landed, the sweet spot of his Q landed exactly where Gnar was mid-air.

This! How is that possible!?
In an instant, Zoom’s composure turned to terror. He had overlooked one thing: while he was getting used to the pressure from Luo Ji’s Aatrox, Luo Ji had been studying Zoom’s habits throughout the previous three games and this fourth one. As the saying goes: when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back at you.

"Snap!"
The blade descended, and the giant fell. Zoom’s E-jump was successfully intercepted by Aatrox’s side-flashed Q!

Relying on the speed boost from his ultimate, Luo Ji landed a second-stage EQ, knocking up the Gnar who had just flashed away. Then came the W—the "Infernal Chains." It’s worth noting that Aatrox’s W had seen massive nerfs in the S14 patch, but even so, it still offered significant displacement. Once it connected, Luo Ji didn’t even bother chasing. As the W triggered, pulling Zoom back, the final "Darkin Blade" landed cleanly.

Solo kill confirmed!

"My dream!!!"
"Am I seeing things? You solo-killed Zoom?"
"666666, let’s go! If this Aatrox gets fed, who cares about Draven? One hit, one kill!"
"What a shame, I told you to use that 'S9 One-Hit Aatrox' build. You could have one-shot Faker, why not JackeyLove later?"

It was taking off! The solo kill in the top lane boosted V5’s morale significantly. Thanks to Ppgod’s shout, even though TES had managed to secure a kill for JackeyLove in the bot lane, that was their only window. With Ashe still holding her Flash and their levels rising, killing the Freljord duo would become exponentially harder.

For the TES players, this top lane death was as frustrating as eating dirt. It felt like the frontline was fighting a fierce battle, while the backline was just... moving back and forth, back and forth, and then losing anyway.

"Bro, what’s going on?"
"My bad. I thought I was fine, but I didn't know he could be this much of a specialist."
Facing his teammates' inquiries, Zoom was helpless. His experience didn't help him here; instead, his slower reaction speed, a byproduct of age, became a shackle that dragged the team down.

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He had tried to outplay him. But... the veterans out there know the feeling: certain mechanical feats that used to be second nature now fall apart under pressure as you age; your mind knows exactly what to do, but your hands fail you.

On the stage, TES was starting to get a headache over how to deal with the Aatrox. Off-stage, Ah Bu was busy wondering how he’d let this talent slip through his fingers.

"Damn it."
"You let a guy like this get away? Are you an EDG mole or something?"
Watching Luo Ji dominate the screen, Ah Bu felt like the villainous female lead in a regret-filled novel. But he hadn't forced him out; his contract had simply expired. Looking at this performance, if EDG wanted to bring him back, it wouldn't just be about money—and even if it were, they weren't the type to gamble on expensive buys. Everyone knew EDG was the only profitable club in the LPL. How? By selling players when they were famous. Who buys them back? They’d give you their heart, but not their money.

"What does it have to do with me? I told you, you didn't care at the time."
"If you didn't tell me, how was I supposed to care?"
"If you had cared earlier, I wouldn't have had to say anything!!!"

On the map, the 2/0 Aatrox now had the power to take on two opponents. Unless Gnar and Diana chained their crowd control perfectly, if Tian dared to gank, he had to be prepared for a 50% chance of being turned on. TES, who had hoped to use Draven’s power to force a Herald play, had lost all their tempo.

Aatrox... they never imagined V5 was hiding a pocket pick like this. This "old silver coin" playstyle perfectly fit the "Lao Liu" nation: sell one generation, use one, keep one as a prototype, one for the PPT, and research one—how many trump cards did they have? Disgusting!

For the rest of the time, neither side forced a fight. The core reason was that the solo kill gave Aatrox a Teleport advantage. TES wanted to feed JackeyLove, but if they forced a fight, V5’s Ashe and Braum could easily hold out until Aatrox arrived. TES was hesitant, while V5, on schedule, started the first Rift Herald.

The Herald was like a countdown for Zoom. V5 was definitely going to dive the top lane and drop the Herald. With the jungler abandoning the top side to roam bot, Zoom felt like he was staring into a dark forest, afraid someone would jump out and gank him with the Aatrox.

"Get ready. I’m rotating through their jungle. We won't give Gnar a chance to escape," Rookie said, glancing at the mid-lane minions. Although he had killed the Lee Sin, his pushing speed was slower, and he knew that gap would only widen. He had to snowball the tempo while he had the advantage.

Karsa nodded. Soon, the death cry of the Rift Herald echoed. However, just as the V5 mid-jungle duo was closing the encirclement, a familiar Thresh lantern play erupted in the bot lane! It was accompanied by the TP of the mid-lane Lee Sin.

What is this!? A "besiege Wei to save Zhao" maneuver from TES!?

At the commentary desk, Remember, who had just triggered his "First Strike" rune, shouted:
"It’s happening! While V5 surrounds the top, TES has chosen to strike the V5 bot lane again!"
"Thresh throws the lantern, Diana clicks it, Lee Sin TPs—TES is out for blood!"
"What about the Aatrox!?"
"Aatrox doesn't have TP. V5 has the Herald and is trading lanes. If they play it this way, although Draven’s economy is up, TES’s team economy is going to completely implode."

They were desperate! TES was completely panicked. Aatrox’s presence made them hesitant, so they decided to just blow it all up. Any other team would find such a reckless decision impossible, but because it was TES, it somehow seemed logical.

Inevitably, Zoom became a sacrifice once again.

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The dignified Zoom from before the match had been reduced to a target. Under the beating of three people, even his Mega-Gnar form couldn't save him; he was CC-chained from start to finish and deleted.

V5 Rookie killed TES Zoom.

Immediately, Karsa dropped the Herald. At the same time, in the bot lane, the V5 duo was dived by four people and killed without any suspense. Xiao Yan didn't even bother using his Flash. He tossed his keyboard aside and let them have the kills.

Double Kill!
JackeyLove’s Draven secured both. Looking at the gold, Draven was the fattest on the map, leading Xiao Yan by half an item. But everyone knew TES’s team composition was horribly distorted. It was as if only Draven had damage. The audience found this familiar.

【Four-protect-one Draven?】
【Tears, Uzi has retired, and we’re still seeing four-protect-one.】
【I just want to ask, when the team fight starts, how will TES protect Draven’s damage? Relying on Knight’s ultimate kick?】
【Don't worry about it, just tell me if Brother Love is the fattest on the map?】

"They’re really desperate. Did they just abandon the top lane to protect Draven’s growth?"
"They’re grasping at straws. It’s a newly formed team, and their shot-calling is clearly an issue," Karsa said calmly. When he was at TES last year, the shot-calling was already problematic. Everyone played their own game; the person who should make the final call didn't speak, and those who did couldn't convince the others. Any veteran TES fan knew their games were "brainless."

Before "Autistic Tian" evolved into "Cheerful Tian," and before the support Zhuo was replaced by Mark, the current TES had some inherent issues.

Luo Ji didn't speak, just kept pushing. The Herald, combined with his teammates, destroyed the top outer turret, and the second turret was left at critical health. They could have taken it, but V5 intentionally left it. It wasn't about the bounty system—that wouldn't arrive until the S12 Spring Split—but because Luo Ji needed that low-health turret to fish.

If they destroyed it, their team gold would increase, but it would become easy for Zoom to farm safely. But leaving it at critical health was disgusting. If his teammates weren't nearby, he felt unsafe; if they were, the other lanes would be empty, and Draven would be prone to being targeted.

Even so, V5, holding the advantage, followed Karsa’s "Bible for Beating TES":
"We don't need to do too much. We just need to stay steady and wait for them to give us an opening and make mistakes."
"They will throw."

Time ticked past ten minutes. During this period, TES had been hesitant. Aatrox’s TP hung over their heads like the Sword of Damocles. It wasn't until Gnar’s TP came back up that TES finally showed signs of returning to their original form.

But by then, their disadvantage was obvious. Because they were afraid to start fights, they gave up map objective after map objective. The first Herald and two elemental drakes had all been secured by Karsa—an incredible feat for a team facing a 3/0 Draven. But when you accounted for his teammates, it all made sense.

At this point, TES seemed to be cooking up a scheme. Pings lit up on Aatrox’s head, and as the whole team gathered, it was clear they were preparing for a final assault on Luo Ji.

The three commentators perked up.
"It’s coming."
"TES seems to be making a move on Aatrox."
"But Karsa and Rookie are nearby. TES’s movements are too obvious, and V5’s bot lane is rotating up too. It looks like both sides are ready to fight!"
"This team fight will decide the outcome of the match!"

Emotions ran high. This time, the top lane saw a repeat of the attempt to dive Gnar. Only this time, it was at the second-tier turret. Unlike the previous attempt, TES was able to gather faster here. This was their window of opportunity.

To the finish line, or to the graveyard—there was no third option.
TES chose to go all in!