Mate by Pawns

[What a nasty position.] Cato was right inside the lion's maw, almost literally. The already narrow area around him was now further enclosed by lions, raring to claw him to death. And, in front of him stood the queen in charge of this territory who received countless buffs just for being here.

To make things worse, Cato's ultimate wasn't up yet. Therefore, he didn't even have the option of going for an emergency evacuation. What a nasty and difficult position. What was the best line of play here?

[I need to sleep on this.] Cato meant that quite literally. He activated Slumber Coffin, taking a nap inside a safe invulnerable coffin. [Alright, now I have time to think.]

Cato took a deep breath to relax and sort his thoughts. There was no point getting too agitated over the situation at hand. The circumstances were as they were. No amount of denial would change that reality.

Instead of cursing, Cato had to figure a solution on the double. His ult will come out of cooldown in less than 10 seconds, so there was no reason to worry about survival. He [will] make it out of this cage alive, that much was guaranteed.

[Question is, where do I go from there?] Cato knotted his brows.

When faced with such an overwhelming force, the first instinct was to flee the scene as fast as possible. So, Cato's immediate instinct was to fly all the way back to his Golem after escaping the blockage. That was the safest line of play.

Not to mention, the enemy minions were currently partying at his Golem. So, it was reasonable to return to the tower and become ruin their party.

[But, that's probably what she wants me to do.] There was one gaping hole in that line of play. By fleeing back to the tower, Cato will have to leave Fiona completely unsupervised over here in the jungle. And, with her being so close to the Ogre Camp...

[She'll take the camp while I defend.] Cato figured. [Most likely, that's also a part of her grand scheme. If she researched this position ahead of time, then she surely considered all these options]

There was no easy way out here. Cato had to somehow clear multiple conflicting missions at the same time. He had to guarantee his own safety, guarantee the Ogres' safety, and guarantee the tower's safety.

Yes, he had to accomplish all of that at the same time, even though like most humans he only had two hands at his disposal. It seemed like mission impossible, certainly.

Nonetheless, there was one method that could potentially work. As unlikely as that sounded, it wasn't entirely impossible to meet all these conditions at the same time.

CREAK. CRACK. The sound of wood cracking apart interrupted his thoughts.

[Time's up.] Cato nodded. He had a couple of seconds to sit there and contemplate over his options, but Fiona's relentless clawing soon demolished his coffin.

And so, Cato was back in the sunlight now, something no vampire ever appreciated.

[Alright, let's do this.] For starters, Cato rolled away from his dangerous foe.

Few classes could contest a Lionfolk inside its royal domain, and Vampire certainly wasn't among such classes. Therefore, until Cato's ult comes off cooldown, he had to run around the area and minimize incoming damage- SLASH!

"Ack!" Cato gasped. Claws reached him as soon as he recovered from the roll! [Drat! She's so fast and accurate...!]

Fiona didn't waste a moment in resuming her offense. Before Cato even started rolling, the lioness was already heading in the direction he was planning to escape to. She caught up to him in no time!

[Tch. A nice outguess.] Cato commented. [Then again, it's not that hard to guess where I'll be going next. It's not like I have that many options here in the first place]

In such a narrow space, Cato didn't have many safe spots to roll toward. As such, he focused on getting to the closest safe area, and Fiona very much expected that.

SLASH. SLASH. The lioness clawed furiously. She had no intention of letting her target slip out of her range!

[My, such flawless execution...! How can a newbie be at this level???]

This didn't feel like a fight against a greenhorn who has only picked the game recently. Fiona's pressure was real.

In fact, it was embarrassing to admit, but the lioness's aggression almost made Cato shudder. That was a big achievement, one that only a handful of mechanical monsters unlocked before.

Of course, Cato trained himself for difficult situations like this. Despite the pressure, his fingers smoothly moved on the WASD as if playing an instrument. He zigzagged around the narrow area, doing his best to distance himself from the enemy's dangerous claws.

But, it proved futile. There was no escape from Fiona Landberht. Once she got her claws on Cato she didn't let up, not even for a moment.

The Queen's Domain boosted her Movement Speed, allowing her to stick to Cato like glue. All his juking attempts were practically useless. At most, he forced Fiona to be on her toes the entire time.

[Well, that's also something. As long as I make it difficult for her, she won't be performing at 100%. Probably.]

And so, Cato had to keep running around like that for five more seconds. These were possibly the longest 5 seconds of his life.

The lioness ravaged him nonstop during that short time. His HP dropped all the way down to 50% from all that aggression, and that's despite his defensive build.

It was all very impressive indeed. Nonetheless, Fiona's time was up. Cato's ultimate finally came out of cooldown.

[Adios!] Cato booted Night Hunt, transforming into a giant bat. Next, he launched toward the sky like a rocket, desperate to get away from the lioness as quickly as humanly possible.

Once he ascended high enough above the lion cage, he was practically untouchable. The lions couldn't reach him and Fiona didn't have any long-ranged tools at her disposal to shoot him down. Now, he was the one in control of the situation! He was the overlord! Muhaha!

[With that said, what's next?] Cato frowned. Though he had some time to consider his options earlier, he failed to reach a conclusive decision.

[These minions are making quick work of my Golem over there.] Cato glanced at the mini-map. A part of him itched to return to the tower and defend. However, the circumstances didn't permit him to do so.

[I can't let her take the power buff again.] Cato thought. [I have to cut off her momentum, here and now. So, that only leaves the last resort I thought of...]

How could Cato both defend the Ogre Camp and also avoid losing any further lane advantage at the same time? Only one answer came to mind, as tricky as it was.

And so, Cato raised high into the air and set his course. However, he was not heading toward his attacked tower. Quite the opposite, he was toward the Ogre Camp!

[I'll just have to take the camp for myself!] That's the solution Cato reached after prolonged pondering. It was an absurd idea at first glance, yet it held the potential to resolve all his problems.

By securing the power buff for himself, he'll kill Fiona's momentum on the spot. But, there was more to it. With the boosted power he'll gain, Cato will be able to fully reclaim lane control in the upcoming waves.

So, by neglecting his tower just for one wave, Cato will secure the upper hand for many waves to come. Truly, despite how extreme the idea sounded, this play held the answer to all his current problems!

[It won't be easy, but I'm sure I can pull it off. After all, my opponent is an amateur.]

Cato landed in the middle of the Ogre Camp, right between the ogres.

Despite their scary looks, the ogres were, in fact, peaceful fellows. They didn't raise a finger against Cato even though he was clearly invading their personal space.

This was the standard behavior for jungle creeps. They never attacked players until somebody provoked them.

As much as Cato enjoyed provoking others, he had had no intention of doing so to the ogres at the moment. Instead, the one he was proving with this move was none other than the Landberht Princess.

[C'mon, try to take this camp. I'm ready.] Cato smiled impishly as he squeezed himself between the ogres. From this moment, the neutral monsters became his personal minions. They pledged their undying loyalty to the one and only overlord.

It was a check. If Fiona tries to assault Cato here, she'll have a hard time avoiding the ogres. And, once she touches any of them, the entire family will gang up on her. It'll become a 4v1 situation~

[I dare say it's mate in a couple of turns if she tries that.] Cato smiled confidently. [I've won.][I'm sure that, at your level, you understand that much, don't you?]

Cato smiled from ear to ear as he presented this beautiful chessboard position to Fiona. [What's your next move? How do you plan to untangle this problem, o genius?]

There was no response. His chess opponent didn't lift a finger for a while. She was still somewhere around the corner, deep within The Queen's Dominion. There weren't any signs of movements, at least none that Cato could see from his current position.

Was Fiona deep in thought? Perhaps, for the first time since gaining momentum, the lioness actually had to stop and carefully think about her next move.

[My, is something wrong?] Cato chuckled. [You're sure taking your sweet time to make a move. I don't have all day, you know.]

Fiona was bound to emerge from around the corner, sooner or later. So, any moment now.

Will she aggress on the Ogre Camp despite Cato standing guard here? Or, will she give up on the whole ordeal and retreat back to lane? Either way, Cato will come on top.

For a few good seconds, there was no sign of anything happening. Fiona simply refused to come out of the corner.

Was she too shy? No, of course not. The Fiona Landberht that Cato knew was anything but a shy person. Even in the face of the most unexpected developments, the girl always maintained her cool and bravely threw herself at the challenge.

[So, what's wrong?] Cato frowned. [Don't tell me she used this opportunity to recall? That's certainly possible but it'd be a huge waste for her. With that said, if she didn't recall, then what else could she be... oh. Oh, my!]

Cato realized another possibility. He certainly didn't expect a bold move like that from a greenhorn, but it was a sensible counter to his great move. In fact, it was arguably [the best] play Fiona could go for in this situation...!

As he suspected, Fiona didn't recall to base. However, neither did she show any signs of emerging from around the corner. Instead of heading to the Ogre Camp, Fiona headed in the opposite direction... toward Cato's tower!

[I blundered!] Cato realized far too late. While he was hanging out with his ogre minions, Fiona joined her army on the frontline. Her entire minion wave was assaulting Cato's Golem, and now she the effort!

[This is bad. Very, very, VERY bad. I have to defend!] Cato absolutely had to get back there and chase the intruders away!

But, he couldn't. The tower was simply too far away and he didn't have his ult anymore. Worst of all, if his calculations were correct...

[I lost the Golem.] Cato summarized. [It's a checkmate.]

There was no way to prevent the impending disaster, not from his current position. Fiona WILL claim the tower.

... [alright, then.] Cato turned to the ogres, his trusty minions. [I need you to sacrifice yourselves for my cause.]

Cato unleashed bats on the ogres. It was impossible to defend against Fiona's push at this point, so at least he'll take the power buff as originally planned. That was the most he could make out of this sad situation.

Unfortunately, compared to what Fiona gained from this exchange, the red buff wasn't going to be worth much...

『An allied Golem has been destroyed!』

Cato's Golem was reduced to dust. In place of a mighty guardian, all that remained in the area was a pile of rubble. Fiona busted the most important line of defense. And, to make things even worse, felling the Golem also powered up Fiona's minions.

Even though the Golem was the "first tower" in Duel, it granted similar benefits to the Golem of MOBA mode. This greatly rewarded whoever claimed a tower first. In fact, it made them almost unstoppable for a while.

[This is bad. Very bad.] Cato gulped. He cleared the Ogre Camp and recalled to base. Then, he confronted the next wave that came knocking on his door.

It was a regular wave of soldiers that spawned before his Golem perished. Thus, with the power buff at hand, Cato had no trouble eliminating these pesky invaders.

The real problem started with the following wave that featured super minions. These minions were no longer small fry that Cato could kill in a couple of hits. They were beefy and persistent opponents.

[She has all the momentum. All of it.] Cato frowned. [I might not be able to recover from this...]

In Duel, without any allies to call for backup, it was extremely difficult to mount a comeback from such a disadvantageous position. It was similar to being stuck in a terrible mid-game position in chess. It didn't always decide the winner, but it often did.

And, it just so happened that this game was no exception...

『DEFEAT』