Ronald deactivated his Dragon form in order to have an easier time maneuvering around the jungle. Gunz and Chessmaster shouldn't be able to catch up to him anytime soon, so it was fine to escape the rest of the way as a human.

"Hey, I did it!" Ronald grinned. "I actually smacked that dang Vanishing! Pretty awesome, right?"

As if to answer the question, a loud BAM resounded! Right as Ronald passed around the corner, a shockwave knocked him high into the air!

"W-Wha-!?" Ronald exclaimed. "Why is he...!?"

It was Vanguard's Heavy Stomp and a charged-up one at that! EnduringPhoenix was here, and it's as if bruh was waiting for Ronald to show up here all along!

But, that wasn't the end of the surprises. While Ronald was in midair, a dark magical ball smacked him!

Even she is here!? Ronald gasped. Dang, it's like they’ve been waiting for me...!

Until now, Ronald was confident that he safely escaped from danger. But, it turned out a nasty trap was waiting for him along the way!

"Um, guys?" Ronald smiled wryly. "I might have a problem here, haha..."

He tried to roll away as soon as he landed, but the Sorcerer's Dimensional Collapse pulled him back toward the Vanguard. In turn, Phoenix unleashed Provoke, forcing the Dragonborn to stay around for a while longer.

Just like this, in a matter of seconds, that organized duo made quick work of what was left of Ronald's HP.

『You have been killed!』

"Welp, I tried." Ronald shrugged and dropped back on his chair. "At least Vanishing is finally out of the picture. I did good, right?"

"Absolutely not," Cato asserted. "That overextension was beyond foolish. Can you explain to me how you expected to walk out of there alive? You dove absurdly deep into enemy territory."

"Hey, I almost made it, right?” Ronald insisted. “I mean, I got in, smacked the Ninja girl, and then got out. It's not my fault they prepared such a nasty trap for me at the last moment."

"Except, it totally IS your fault,” Cato argued. “You should have expected it to be hard. I thought we all agreed by now that Stratus is a competent team this year and that we have to treat them as such."

"Eh, yeah, I guess." Ronald awkwardly scratched his head. "Buy hey, it was totally worth, right? Finally, we got a kill on this Vanishing girl! It's the first time we killed her this game, so big stonks!"

"Perhaps it would have been ‘big stonks’ if you had achieved this 10 minutes earlier," Cato said. "But, late-game is already around the corner. At this point, as long as we stick together, Vanishing should barely get any opportunities to assassinate anybody. In other words, she's not that big of a threat anymore."

"You say that, but the fact is, she’s still racking up them kills."

"... yes, she did pull a few fast ones on us, I admit." Cato frowned. Though, it wasn't just Vanishing, per se. I'm sure Yuel was the one who arranged all these convenient board positions for her.

Ever since Vanishing scored the Double Kill at the start of the mid-game, Cato had been extra careful to not give that phantom any more opportunities. And, Sonya also had been aiding him greatly in keeping track of the assassin's movements.

Therefore, as an individual player, Vanishing was thoroughly shut down. If this were a ball game, then Cato and Sonya were doing the equivalent of double-teaming Vanishing in order to stop all incoming passes from reaching her.

We did our job well if I do say so myself. But...

Somehow, Yuel still found ways to get the ball to Vanishing. He used court-wide distractions, forcing Cato and Sonya to respond to difficult situations. And, in the heat of such intense moments, their tight mark around Vanishing slipped ever so slightly. And, that little opening was more than enough for Vanishing to exploit the opportunity.

My, it sure infuriates me. Cato scowled. No matter how hard I try to come up with a defensive strategy against this nonsense, it never quite works out. Yuel's offense is so darn unpredictable.

As a whole, the Leopards' defense was airtight, Cato made sure of that. They deflected almost every incoming attack, ensuring that Stratus could not build any further momentum.

And yet, Vanishing somehow slipped through the tiny cracks in that defense. In the end, Cato managed to deflect every attack Yuel organized, save for the ones that involved Vanishing.

I'm sure Yuel realized that too. Cato thought. It feels like he’s focusing more and more on attacks that make use of Vanishing. Basically, he’s putting all his eggs in one basket. It’s such a Yuel-like thing to do.

And, so far, it had been paying off. Yuel was gambling on the dark horse and snatching the big prize every time.

However, this wasn't the end for the Leopards, far from it. Though Cato was a little shocked at first by how things had developed, he was gradually coming to terms with this reality. He had no choice but to admit that Vanishing was a threat he couldn't fully neutralize, not with Yuel backing her up.

So, I’ll focus on minimizing casualties. Cato thought. That's the best I can do against these unpredictable plays. It might have sounded like a defeatist mentality, the Leopards were the kind of team Cato groomed to win with that approach.

In addition, since William had been competing against Vanishing over who could score the most kills, the Leopards weren't lagging behind Stratus by too much. Their biggest momentum loss thus far was Vanishing's Double Kill in mid, but otherwise, the two teams had been going toe-to-toe ever since.

We’ll reach the endgame as long as we keep defending. Then, Matt's Seraph can carry us to victory. At least, that was my plan, until a certain fool ruined everything...

Cato wasn’t lashing at the brat just out of spite this time. That kill Ronald scored on Vanishing was a terrible trade through and through.

I've been working my arse off to ensure everybody's safety, but this fool just went ahead and suicided on Vanishing. Foolish, so foolish…

"Congratulations," Cato said. "You may have just ruined the entire game with that play."

"Who? Me?" Ronald innocently pointed at himself.

"Yes, you,” Cato asserted. “Our game plan here is to defend and stay alive until the late-game, I’ve told you that many times."

"But, that's ‘the plan’ only because you’re scared shitless of Vanishing, right?” Ronald asked. “So, here, I took care of her. You should be grateful, not ranting."

"Yes, you did take care of her. But, you also died in the process, which invalidates the entire point."

"How so?"

"Oh my, is that head of yours just for show?” Cato sighed. “Your goal was to prevent further causalities, right? And, you tried to achieve that by suiciding. A 10/10 master plan."

"Heh, yeah, if you look at it that way, then it’s not the best outcome.” Ronald smiled awkwardly. “Man, I still can’t believe they caught me there. That was clean."

"Oh, I'm glad you think so highly of our opponents. Do you want to switch teams, perhaps? I'll fill in the papers for your transferral."

"Thanks but no thanks."

"Then shut up and listen, kid,” Cato said. “Your death just ruined everything we’ve been working on. We were finally entering the point in the game where Vanishing's opportunities to kill will be very limited, yet you went ahead and let Stratus get another kill for free."

"It wasn't free, though. It was one-for-one."

"Oh yes, it was a ‘fair trade’, sure,” Cato said. “But, which team currently has the lead? They do. And, do you know which team usually benefits more from 'fair trades'? The one that’s in the lead. In other words, them."

It was just like in chess. The leading player was more likely to offer “fair trades” because it simplified the board state for them.

So, Ronald’s trade only seemed fair on paper, but in truth, it greatly favored the enemy team. Yuel was probably thanking Ronald for that exchange right now. So foolish…

“Hey,” Matthew whispered privately to Cato. “I understand that you’re mad, but we need to focus on the game.”

“Right, right.” Cato took a deep breath. For a moment there, he almost lost himself in his anger.

After taking a couple of seconds to gather his thoughts, Cato finally moved on. He was still itching to lash at Ronald some more, but doing so wasn’t going to improve the Leopards’ situation.

Cato’s sour mood was caused by a combination of small annoyances like that - Ronald’s disobedience, Vanishing’s unpredictable attacks, Yuel’s bizarre tactics, and so forth.

Worst of all, there was also the Leopards’ reputation to consider. Losing this game would put the scrimmage at 2-2, tying the score. It’d make it look as if Stratus was on par with the Leopards, the regional champions. And, it’ll definitely make a certain Emperor quite mad...

But, Matt is right. The game isn’t over yet. Cato took another deep breath. No matter how many attacks Yuel launches at me, I’ll keep deflecting them until the very end. As long as we keep defending properly, I’m sure we’ll get our chance eventually.

Unfortunately, optimism wasn’t enough to win games. The impact of Ronald’s death was larger than expected, it gave Stratus a burst of momentum to push Mid. They already had a decisive advantage over there, and now they were expanding it further.

No matter how hard Cato wanted to deny it, things weren’t looking good for the Leopards...