The longer the game went on, the clearer it became that Stratus would win if nothing changed. And, unfortunately, Cato was unable to come up with anything smart.

This kind of thing is SO not my forte. Cato admitted. A big part of why I like playing defense is that it helps me avoid helpless situations like this. But, once I’m forced into one...

He had no idea what to do. Sure, there were a few general tactics he was familiar with, but neither he nor his teammates excelled at utilizing any of them.

I see that Will is still trying things, but it's not going well. Cato placed some of his hope on William, the one player on the team who was both a strong warrior and a good tactician. If there was somebody here who could come up with a game-winning move, it'd be him.

And, indeed, Willaim launched a few strong attacks on the enemy. He was the only one on the team scoring a decent amount of kills, and it should be noted that he usually didn’t die in the process, unlike his younger brother.

Hmph. The brat doesn't even deserve to be mentioned. Cato made a face as he glanced at Ronald, who was waiting on his respawn timer once again. I mean, he's getting some kills, but they almost always come at a cost. If anything, this only makes defending harder.

Cato cursed every time Ronald pulled something stupid and got himself killed in the process. But, at the same time, at least the kid was trying to change something about the situation.

Meanwhile, Cato only knew how to stick to defense and wait for the endgame. He was placing all his hopes on Matthew, the Messiah who'll surely rescue them all!

On his end, Matthew was playing it safe. He understood the importance of his role in the endgame, so he didn't let the enemy get any kills on him until then. The only time he died was the result of a sneaky gank from Vanishing, which was something that caught every player of the Leopards off-guard at least once by now.

Matthew himself scored 1 kill and 2 assists, which made up for his 1 death. So, overall, his position was rather neutral as the fight was entering the endgame.

But, that's not good enough. Cato frowned. Even though we're practically at the endgame now, he still can't do anything too flashy because the momentum is on their side.

Cato's persistent defense safely delivered the Leopards into the endgame, but that's all it achieved. He failed to break the enemy's momentum and equalize the situation. And so, the curtain fell on this helpless game.

『DEFEAT』

It was an inevitable result, yet the Leopards still found themselves in disbelief as they stared at the red letters on the screen.

So, we lost... Cato bit his lip. His fists were shaking, but he hid them underneath the table.

Formation A, in which Cato and Matthew played Bot, was supposed to be their best formation for combating Stratus. And yet, Stratus still bested them.

To make things worse, the booing from the audience stuck again. CLAP! CLAP! Clapping resounded across the stadium as if mocking the Leopards.

Thankfully, this time, it didn't develop into thundering applause. Nonetheless, the stadium was quiet enough for the clapping to echo loudly.

It's not just one person clapping, that's for sure. Cato scanned the audience to find the culprits responsible for the mental attack. It was very much possible that the same hooligans were responsible for sparking the fire during the last round of applause too.

I see it’s mostly that group over there. Cato had a hard time making out their faces from this distance, but most of the clapping echoed from a group of kids, probably middle schoolers. Is that StormBlitz...?

Cato couldn’t tell for sure since he only ever saw StormBlitz’s members from afar, but he was almost convinced that they were the masterminds behind this clapping fiasco. It just made too much sense.

Yuel used to play on their team, so it’s not too strange for them to help him out a little. Cato reasoned. Besides, we're their biggest rivals, so of course, they want to drag us through the mud. My, so uncultured...

It was reassuring to know that an enemy team manufactured this mental attack and that the booing didn’t come from a neutral audience. Basically, it was just their biggest rivals throwing some dirt at them.

Then again, are they really our “biggest” rivals this year? Cato instinctively glanced at the other side of the stage. It seems StormBlitz isn't the only team we have to worry about...

With two wins to its record today, Stratus was on its way to establishing itself as a fellow “powerhouse” that could rival the Leopards. Yuel’s team was every bit as dangerous as StormBlitz.

Nah, I’m exaggerating here. Cato reassured himself. StormBlitz has solid fundamentals, but Stratus’ playstyle is a bit fragile. I’m sure that reviewing today’s games will expose many holes that we could’ve exploited in Yuel’s shenanigans. Once we learn how to capitalize on all these opportunities, Stratus won’t be a threat anymore.

Same as his tactics in chess, Yuel had a wonky shot-calling style. It looked strong and sophisticated, but underneath all the smokescreen, there were many holes and openings. Cato just had to become better at exploiting these weaknesses, that's all there was to it.

Alrighty, that's enough of me pep-talking myself. Cato took a deep breath and stood up. Now that he pumped up his own spirits, it was time to do the same for the rest of the team. After all, he was the captain, so he had to pretend that everything was fine.

"My, my, how unexpected," Cato started.

"What do you mean 'unexpected'?" Willaim retorted. "They had the lead ever since mid-game started. It's all because of that Double Kill."

"Yes, that was the game-changer for sure," Cato agreed. "It was quite the elaborate scheme, I'll give them that. To be honest, I still can't figure out what part of it was planned and what was improvised."

"You can say that again." Sonya pushed her glasses. "The whole thing in Mid was too much. I can't believe somebody would actually commit to a clunky plan like that. It's not efficient."

"I agree.” Cato nodded. “It only worked out by coincidence." Though, I'm sure Yuel had it planned down to the details. Questionable and fragile strategies like that are his bread and butter. But, I'll keep that to myself.

Even in the unlikely scenario that Yuel orchestrated the entire play from start to end, it didn't change the fact the strategy had many holes in it. There were at least a hundred different things that could’ve gone horribly wrong. So, it was practically a fluke.

"They got us good with that lucky, little ploy," Cato said. "And, after that, I couldn't come up with a way to turn the tables around. I apologize for that."

"Damn straight," Ronald said. "You pretty much told us to defend all day, as if that was going to change anything."

"Perhaps it would have if a certain somebody cared enough to protect his life instead of throwing it away at every opportunity."

"Meh, all of us have died a few times, right?" Ronald shrugged. "Besides, if not for me and bro getting some kills, we would’ve had no chance of catching up."

"In theory," Sonya interjected. "Prioritizing stable defense should’ve netted us a better result than your reckless aggression did."

"My, as expected from my secretary~" Cato rejoiced. "I knew you'd support me on anything~”

“Only when you actually make sound arguments, which isn’t often. And, I’m not your secretary.”

“My, how brutal. But, that’s what I love about you~”

“Oh, put a sock in it.” Sonya spat a sigh, but she also cracked a faint smile at this dumb exchange. It was silly, but having this regular exchange was almost reassuring as if everything was alright right now. It certainly helped lessen the blow of losing a second game to Stratus.

“So, both of you gonna gang up on me?” Ronald asked. “You can say whatever you want about defense being ‘better in theory’, but defending all day long can’t win us the game.”

“Yes,” Sonya admitted. “Coasting on defense alone would have been tough, borderline impossible.”

“You see? That’s what I’m saying!”

“That’s why I said that your reckless attacks were uncalled for. On the other hand, William did a great job.”

“My, my.” Cato smiled impishly. “Praising your love interest as usual~”

“H-He’s not!” Sonya scowled. “I just give credit where credit is due, that’s all. Do you have to be such an ass about everything? I don’t think this is the appropriate time for stupid jokes like that.”

“Hmm. Maybe you’re right.” Cato smiled meaningfully. “Then again, it did make you forget about your troubles for a moment there, didn’t it?”

“Yes, because it created a whole new problem for me to react to.” Sonya fixed her glasses, then sighed in defeat. She knew she shouldn’t entertain this line of dialogue, it was a recipe for getting a headache.

But, admittedly, this banter helped Sonya relax a little. And, it seemed to have a similar effect on the test of the team as well. Perhaps this was Cato's plan all along, but Sonya didn't feel like giving the guy any credit for this.

After a few more exchanges, the team came down from the stage. The atmosphere around them was still a bit heavy, but they had mostly come to terms with this result.

Compared to suffering an embarrassing defeat in the 2nd game and dealing with the oppressive applause, losing this game didn't feel like the end of the world. It was frustrating for sure, but the team didn't have as much trouble coming to terms with it. At this point, they just had to admit that Stratus was a competent team this year, possibly on par with StormBlitz.

We'll just have to make a comeback in the next game, simple as that. Cato thought. Though, I suppose it won't feel quite as satisfying to win that game, not with HIM playing on the team...

And so, the team headed back to their room. They prepared themselves to get lectured by the coach, and possibly be grilled by the Emperor...