Chapter Twenty-Three: The Jester’s Maneuver—Anticipating Purification!

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Lee Ji-eun activated her first skill, Edge Unleashed, and Mirror dashed straight toward the Elder Master.

A full combo landed!

The Elder Master's health dropped by a third!

Damn, this Mirror's initiation burst is insane!

Lin Hao's reflexes were still at the two-thousand-point level, but this time his timing for the second skill was a bit late, so he took the brunt of Mirror's opener.

However...

If she blows all her burst, is she looking to die?

Then let’s grant her wish!

With four stacks of rage, Lin Hao activated his second skill, transforming into a war god. He pummeled Mirror while advancing toward the enemy’s mid-lane outer turret—the heart of the battlefield.

Only in the thick of melee did Lee Ji-eun truly understand the source of the pressure Yi Fan exerted during lane phase.

This Elder Master's movement was like magic!

It’s hard to describe; although Lee Ji-eun’s goal was to pin down the Elder Master—willing even to give up her life if necessary, just to buy time for her teammates to slaughter the opponents on the main battlefield and then turn to encircle him—

But somehow, as the fight went on, it was Lee Ji-eun who was being led toward the main battlefield by the Elder Master.

It was as if two people were pushing against each other's shoulders in a contest of strength, and one was slowly being forced in a chosen direction...

Even more absurd—

The Elder Master never once misstepped.

Normally, when you try to attack while retreating or advancing, there will be moments when your movement and basic attacks fall out of sync due to your opponent’s maneuvers, resulting in awkward stutters and swaying.

Yet the Elder Master showed none of this. Every attack was perfectly paired with a step back—no wasted motion whatsoever!

At Lee Ji-eun’s level, she already sensed something: this Elder Master’s understanding of movement was leagues beyond hers.

Meanwhile, the outcome on the main battlefield was nearly decided.

Sun Shangxiang was furiously signaling retreat, her health bar down to a sliver, not daring to turn back to deal damage. She’d already retreated to her own red side jungle, clearing monsters for life-steal.

Yi Xing and Lan, working in perfect unison, with Zhang Fei’s post-ultimate slow and extra damage, even managed to take down Charlotte.

But Marco Polo was just getting started. Seizing the moment, he unleashed his ultimate—Cyclone Venom Drill!

A crackling burst rang out. Yi Xing was forced to use his Immortal Blade. Zhang Fei fled in panic toward Lin Hao’s Elder Master, and Lan—already low—collapsed and died.

“The Elder Master has both ultimate and blink—he’s on the move!”

Elsewhere, Mirror, having spent all her skills, managed to drop Lin Hao’s Elder Master to half health before being pounded to death.

Lee Ji-eun quickly relayed the situation over voice chat, then muted herself.

“Ugh, my play there was a mess. Damn, not only did I get dragged around by the Elder Master, I wasted all my skills,” Lee Ji-eun grumbled. “He didn’t even use his ultimate!”

She had assumed the Elder Master would lock her down with his ultimate, but to her surprise, he remained calm and only used his first and second skills.

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“Coach Lee’s Mirror still isn’t cutting it!”

“Who banned Tiger, anyway? Unreal.”

“Who else? The Elder Master on the other side—Shark’s colleague, Haoran!”

“Maybe someone leaked info and tipped off Haoran to ban Tiger?”

Lee Ji-eun’s chat was buzzing with heated discussion.

...

The team fight raged on. Marco Polo was on a rampage but suddenly heard Lee Ji-eun’s voice: “Elder Master has ult and blink!” Then, in his vision, the Elder Master charged forward, swinging his giant ruler with unstoppable momentum.

Damn!

But Marco Polo couldn’t stop attacking now!

Yi Xing had already used his Immortal Blade; just a bit more effort...

The Elder Master was closing in—just within blink-ult range!

In that instant, Marco Polo’s instincts awakened. It was as if he’d grasped some profound insight!

Like the hero of a novel, who, under pressure and in battle, suddenly has a breakthrough and pulls off a higher-tier maneuver—defeating his enemy and transcending his limits!

That moment stretched on—both long and fleeting.

Marco Polo suddenly pressed Purify!

He’d been saving it for the Elder Master all along.

Yi Xing had already used all his crowd control on Charlotte.

Lan was spent.

Zhang Fei had already unleashed his ultimate.

So when Marco dashed in earlier, he’d kept Purify in reserve.

“Prediction!”

Marco Polo was convinced the Elder Master would blink-ult to bind him!

And since no one had targeted Marco, Yao was still attached to him. At this moment, Yao leapt off, positioning herself between Marco and the Elder Master!

As a fill-player, her reaction was flawless!

But then, to their shock, the Elder Master, at the very edge of blink-ult range, suddenly slowed down.

He began recalling, step by step.

They were dumbfounded.

What are you doing?

What they didn’t know was that Lin Hao, spotting the blue aura of Purify on Marco, had an idea.

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He’d been wary of Marco, worried that if he blink-ulted, Purify would cleanse the bind.

Unexpectedly, Marco predicted himself into oblivion.

How could he resist recalling right there to taunt him?

Marco instantly realized what the Elder Master was doing and was seething with rage.

After finishing off Yi Xing, he fired a first skill straight at the Elder Master!

Yao, ever dutiful, blocked in front of Marco.

Something strange happened again—the Elder Master feinted, and Marco’s first skill hit only three times.

What kind of movement was that?

With most of the enemy down and his own health still high, Marco boldly advanced on the Elder Master, ready to poke him.

You dare step up and poke me?

Seeing Marco’s audacity, Lin Hao couldn’t help but laugh.

If you keep your distance and harass with your first skill, maybe I can’t guarantee a bind.

But if you come up and poke me...

Tired of living?

Without hesitation, he blink-ulted and caught Marco!

From there, things were simple.

Marco Polo desperately tried to kite within the circle, hoping to at least dodge a few attacks.

But the Elder Master’s execution was flawless—auto-attacks and movement perfectly linked, not the slightest hitch, each step calculated for the next strike to land cleanly!

Even when Yao managed a minor crowd control, the Elder Master maintained maximum attack speed and efficiency!

Marco Polo, unwilling to give up, unleashed another volley.

This time, not a single shot landed!

The Elder Master circled to his flank and kept attacking.

Bang!

With the final blow, the Elder Master’s ruler crashed down on Marco Polo’s head. The Marco player’s screen faded to black.

Marco Polo’s rage +800!