As Baron let out its dying roar, JDG hesitated. They didn't know whether to retreat and wait for TES to push, or to make a desperate stand right here in the Baron pit.
On the caster desk, Guan Zeyuan had already made his call.
"JDG should be retreating here. TES has absolutely no pressure taking Baron—it's melting instantly. With a double-ADC comp that's already ahead, this is honestly kind of absurd."
"At this point, TES should be able to end the game in one push. Dine's items are just too good right now. JDG has no one who can withstand his damage. Even if 369 pops his ultimate, he'll still get deleted in one combo."
"Yeah. When Zeri got burst earlier, all I remember is Lucian jittering nonstop. I didn't even notice how many bullets he fired—then Zeri was just gone."
Rita followed up, then realized her wording was a little suggestive and couldn't help laughing.
Honestly… someone as handsome as Brother Infinite Borders who's also this good at the game—letting him fire a few more shots really isn't a problem, right?
She didn't know about others, but she'd be more than willing. Just imagining it was already beautiful.
"The gold gap for JDG is simply too large. It's not just Brother Infinite Borders. JackeyLove's farm is also very solid. With double carries like this, teamfights are effortless. Unless Knight can find a perfect flank, this should be completely one-sided."
As she spoke, JDG surprisingly didn't choose to recall and defend.
Instead—they prepared to force a fight!
Most importantly, Akali's position still hadn't been revealed. She was hiding near the blue-side blue buff.
Team comms erupted.
"We can fight now! Knight!" 369 shouted, immediately popping his ultimate and flashing in.
After securing Baron, TES didn't overthink things and began recalling in place. Naturally, there was an order to it—Gwen and Sejuani recalled first, leaving only Lucian and the bot duo of Kalista and Thresh at Baron.
This was the perfect window!
Without hesitation, 369 flashed over the wall, transforming into a prehistoric crocodile.
TES fans in the arena instantly grew tense.
"Oh! JDG! JDG is exploiting the timing difference! Zoom has already started teleporting, but Sejuani is running over—it's clearly too late."
Most importantly, Akali's position was excellent.
Guan Zeyuan didn't finish that sentence, but it made everyone in the venue focus.
Could there still be suspense in this match?
On the big screen, TES's bot duo was already outputting onto the incoming Renekton, when Akali suddenly appeared from the back. It was clearly a flanking assassination attempt.
At that moment, Lucian stepped forward with his twin guns raised—Galeforce dash, E–A–Q–A, then The Culling!
"Lucian solo-defending against Akali!"
"This damage is terrifying!"
But Lucian hadn't built even a shred of magic resistance. Facing a level 13 Akali with Hextech Rocketbelt and a large rod, there was absolutely a risk of getting one-comboed.
However, when Knight saw Lucian dash in with Galeforce, his first instinct was to E backward!
As a result, he got shredded for more than half his HP.
By the time he realized his damage was actually high enough to fight back, it was already too late.
He activated the second E—but was gunned down mid-air by Lucian.
Legendary!
The godlike announcement rang out once again.
Everyone could clearly see Lucian's HP drop by half. That was Knight's final struggle—Rocketbelt plus Q damage.
Insane damage.
Of course, Lucian being a squishy ADC played a big role.
After a brief one-second pause, the Hongqiao Tiandi Performance Center exploded.
Lucian, having killed Akali, immediately turned to help his teammates deal with the charging Renekton.
At the same time, Gwen landed and took position at the very front.
The scene JDG wanted never appeared.
At worst, Akali was supposed to sneak-kill Lucian amid the chaos, then pinch from both sides with the team. Without Baron buff, TES would have to back off, and the shutdown gold alone could enable a comeback.
But the Akali they pinned all their hopes on got solo-killed.
Thinking about it, it was actually normal.
Lucian had nine kills. Expecting a 0/4—now 0/5—Akali to carry was simply too much.
If Knight really had that ability, he wouldn't be sitting on a negative scoreline.
Renekton was about to fall as well, and JDG didn't choose to abandon him this time.
Two deaths in a row, TES with Baron buff—there was no way to defend afterward.
Might as well go all in one last time.
Lee Sin engaged. Zeri, with Yuumi attached, followed.
They committed everything to diving the double carries.
But the problem was Gwen's damage was also absurd—she was a fed top laner who'd eaten all the turret plates.
Ghost activated, she started snipping wildly.
Mark used his hooks to protect JackeyLove and Lin Fan perfectly.
Lee Sin and Zeri were completely stalled by this formation.
Hope, hot-blooded and reckless, flashed straight in and activated his ultimate.
It was a do-or-die moment.
If they won, it was a miracle comeback.
If they lost, it just accelerated the end.
Either way, it wasn't a loss.
Ending early wouldn't affect their mentality too much.
They could just reclaim momentum in Game Two.
But Knight's Akali really couldn't be picked next game—something felt off.
It was ridiculous. He'd wanted to prove himself, yet it ended like this.
He might as well have picked LeBlanc. At least she was mobile early and wouldn't have gotten smashed so badly.
In that last fight, LeBlanc could've traded for a carry—maybe even turned the game.
But now, since nothing was taken, all that remained was acceleration toward defeat.
Zoom wasn't thinking about kills. His only goal was to ensure the double carries stayed alive. He turned and output onto Zeri.
Lin Fan followed up with autos, crits exploding as he and Zoom finished off Zeri together.
Double kill.
On JDG's side, Hope watched as he jumped in without even dealing damage—then his screen went gray.
Then he saw his support Yuumi land and instantly get clipped by AoE damage, dying to Lucian's Q–A.
Triple kill!
At this moment, JackeyLove's eyes lit up.
If Brother Fan could get a pentakill here, then before that—I'll take Renekton!
The idea was great.
But the next second, Lee Sin kicked him away.
The follow-up damage didn't come through.
All he could do was watch Lucian dash forward and gun down the low-HP Renekton with two shots.
Team comms erupted.
"Pentakill! Pentakill!"
Mark spam-pinged wildly.
Tian, though still on the way, mentally assisted from afar.
"…."
JackeyLove could only watch as Lin Fan killed Lee Sin in two or three shots.
Pentakill.
Damn it—what was Kanavi thinking? Why kick me away? Why not kick Lucian?
Do you really like watching pentakills that much?
On the caster desk, Guan Zeyuan rattled off at lightning speed.
"JDG chooses to all-in!"
"Lee Sin kicks Kalista away—Brother Infinite Borders secures the Renekton kill!"
"Lee Sin—"
"Pentakill!"
"The first pentakill of the S12 LPL Summer Split is here!"
On JDG's side, Knight lowered his head, no longer watching the game.
Game One was over.
It was the champion choice—he'd believed online opinions and picked Akali.
What was Akali even good for? A toy!
Against that comp, any assassin could've worked. Why insist on Akali?
Next game, pick something stronger—it'll be easy to win…
Just then, the pentakill sound effect echoed in his headset.
"Penta kill~!!!"
Pentakill.
His lane opponent had secured a pentakill this game.
Knight felt miserable.
Lucian had taken a pentakill this match.
"Brother Infinite Borders truly pushed Lucian to the absolute limit this game!"
"Even if JDG hadn't forced that last fight, TES with Baron buff would've ended easily. All we can say is TES's overall tempo this game was phenomenal."
"It's unfortunate that JDG's comp couldn't afford to fall behind early. Once they did, it became impossible to play."
"We've seen it clearly—when Brother Infinite Borders picks a highly aggressive laning champion, his ability to close out games is still absurd."
"With JDG getting aced, TES takes this game easily. Hopefully JDG can adjust well afterward. Given their strength, today's match still has potential."
The game ended at 22 minutes and 51 seconds.
Lucian's stat line was absurd—fourteen kills.
Absolutely slaughtering.
The livestream chat went completely berserk.
"Holy crap, Brother Infinite Borders didn't even go this hard in previous games. Is it because he's facing Knight today that he pulled out Lucian?"
"I honestly think that's possible. Against Knight, you really do need to hit harder!"
"He beat two weak mids earlier and thought he was strong? Running into Brother Infinite Borders and still daring to pick Akali—completely exposed."
"He went absolutely insane. Collecting heads from start to finish. I'm calling the cops!"
"You guys are watching the kills—I'm watching Knight. When Brother Infinite Borders got the pentakill, Knight was literally shaking."
"LOL."
"JDG dead, JDG dead! Who was the idiot saying today would be full of upsets?"
"How much did you lose, bro? You sound desperate."
"For TES games, I suggest just taking the safe bet. It's not much, but it's steady happiness."
"Listen to me—normal people will never outplay the bookmakers."
At the same time, Weibo exploded.
TES winning Game One instantly detonated traffic.
Within moments, Brother Infinite Borders' pentakill shot straight to the top of the trending searches.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup