There was no test here that could be avoided by taking a step back. There was only one path forward: charge ahead.
Lianye leaped from a tree branch and rushed fearlessly into the unceasing rain of falling trees.
Facing the torrent of trunks crashing toward the ground like an avalanche, Lianye stepped across trunks and branches from every direction, weaving forward with agile twists through narrow, life-or-death gaps. He even stepped onto a falling log to launch himself higher, drawing one step closer to that cunning Void Bug.
It was thrilling enough to stop the heart, yet it set the blood boiling.
PS: This is an explanation for those in the review section who questioned why the protagonist's personality seemed so different before and after. All I can say is that sometimes he adapted to the identity of the Pride Stalker and became an iron-blooded hunter, but more often, the protagonist was a Summoner—a player—with a rather playful nature.
End of chapter.
Invisible Threat
In the end, Lianye caught up with Kha'Zix. The Pride Stalker had hunted down the Void Predator.
Within the forest, Kha'Zix's elytra could not spread freely to achieve maximum speed. Even the powerful Leap granted by his evolved Insect Wings was restricted by the three-dimensional terrain.
In terms of individual species evolution, creatures like fleas and mantises could easily leap heights dozens or even hundreds of times their body size. Although the abilities of Void Bugs could not be judged by those of such lowly, poorly evolved insect species, Kha'Zix's explosive strength still could not be compared to that of a human his own size.
Among the 130-plus champions in League of Legends, the Void Predator's instantaneous explosive power ranked among the very best.
—Some enthusiast once conducted a test—some bored Summoner—and concluded that if League of Legends held a long-jump contest, measuring the longest single dash displacement, Kha'Zix would definitely rank among the top three.
However, that was merely instantaneous speed. With Rhythm of the Hunt activated, the Pride Stalker gained acceleration while charging toward his prey, and in a long-distance pursuit, he would soon surpass Kha'Zix with his exceptional chasing ability.
During their several-minute tug-of-war, the two had covered who knew how many kilometers. They had already left the Dark Forest behind and reached the low shrublands and grasslands beyond it.
But the distance between them kept shrinking. When he reached a suitable range of roughly a dozen meters and locked onto the Void Bug's back elytra, Lianye did not slow down. Instead, he stepped on the thick trunk of the last towering tree and accelerated in an instant. Riding the momentum he had already built up, he pounced with godlike speed.
Void Predator.
Kha'Zix seemed to have realized that his figure had been locked onto by the iron-blooded hunter. Continuing to flee would only leave the humiliating scars of a hunter upon his back, so he halted his charge.
The thin membranes of his long elytra—Insect Wings—vibrated violently like the grating drone of summer cicadas. His bent insectoid joints swung in a Z-shaped motion as he leaped in the opposite direction along an arc utterly unimaginable to humans.
—Just as Lianye had completed the first and second stages of the hunter's mission, Kha'Zix was not some weak insect without evolutionary gains. After evolving Insect Wings, his leaping speed and range were actually far greater than those of the Pride Stalker.
His spreading claws stirred dark violet Void ripples. Crossing his scythe-like claws, Kha'Zix unleashed a cross-shaped slash.
Taste Their Fear!
Linking Taste Their Fear during Leap was the Void Predator's most basic assassin combo.
In the past, there had also been various special combos, such as Leap into Void Spike, or into the ultimate Void Assault (Dynamic Camouflage). For a time, the entire Summoner's Rift had been shrouded beneath the shadow cast by the Flying Mantis. Whether in the jungle, top lane, or mid lane, the Void Predator possessed absolute dominance—unfortunately, Riot Games later swung the blade of "balance" at this assassin, reducing the "invisible threat" Kha'Zix posed and nerfing the Flying Mantis all the way from a flying cockroach to a Happy Mantis.
But outside Summoner's Rift, free from the restraints of balance rules, both Lianye and Kha'Zix could rely on their agile physical abilities to unleash astonishing combo chains.
This heart-stopping battle could not be perceived by ordinary human eyes. Not only did the two hunters move faster than dynamic vision could track, but more importantly, both ultimate hunters, capable of posing invisible threats, possessed the ambush ability of FullDive.
Only in midair did the two hidden figures reveal themselves alongside their powerful attacks, emerging from dynamic camouflage—or from the Void itself. After pursuit and ambush came the true hunt!
"Clang—!" "Clang—!"
Two teeth-grinding metallic shrieks crossed through the air. Lianye's hunting blade collided with Kha'Zix's slashing, expanded claws, and neither side gained the upper hand.
A chain of explosive bursts followed from where their blades met, but it was not the effect of gunpowder or firearms. Rather, the dark Void energy on Kha'Zix's claws had detonated, releasing indescribable Void energy in a surprise follow-up attack. Unreal Matter, scattered by the blast, splashed onto Lianye's shoulder with a series of sizzling sounds. Clearly, this energy possessed a considerable corrosive effect.
Before you continue