"This…" Aileen's expression started to get distorted. The more she realized it, the more terrified she became. "You… never tried to win this group match. Conserving strength for the individual matches!"
Ragna simply shrugged. He already knew Clovis' plan for this match and how he planned to end it.
Clovis had told them that no matter what she planned to do, she would end up playing in Clovis' palm. She finally understood what it meant.
However, the most amazing thing was the fact that Ragna could actually deliver.
'He positioned himself right in front of the flag to the point where his spear was only a few centimeters away from the flag. He used that shield to cover the flash grenade. If I were not blinded by it, I would throw myself away to avoid getting that flag.
'To win, one needed to get the flag. Even though I didn't hold the flag, the flag was still in my embrace. The rule stated that the flag must remain in the base, but the base area was bigger than just a single flag.
'That was why Ragna threw that flag to me, ending this match with this score. And this score means…'
Aileen bit her lips, realizing Clovis' actual plan.
Since the match had ended, Shion broadcast her voice to the entire stadium. "This is a rather unique situation. Did Libation Fiesta just throw the match? I don't think so.
"The score is 5-0. If they manage to win all three individual matches, they would be able to get 6 points, which would result in their victory.
"On the other hand, by ending the battle this early, Libation Fiesta manages to conserve their strength. When the Bloody Rose could get one or two more points, Ragna actually stopped them by ending the match early, leaving the possibility of winning open.
"As all of you already know, Libation Fiesta has never lost in individual matches. Most likely, this is their plan to win. Considering they have lost one person in the group match, they don't want to make the situation worse by using this tactic. It's a rather intriguing tactic."
As Shion said, Aileen had fallen into Clovis' trap. No, she should have realized this if she thought about the request Clovis made more.
"I'd like to request one thing. During the individual match, I hope that you can fight me in the first match. As for the rest, you can do it as you like."
That was Clovis' request. It wasn't that big of a deal for her, so she accepted. She wanted this favor to be paid by allowing her to join the party, which wasn't that hard of a choice for Clovis as well.
The more she thought about it, the more she realized she had been dancing in Clovis' palm.
The people were also stunned after listening to Shion's explanation. They thought Clovis really threw the match, but it turned out to be his well-thought-out plan.
"So this is how Clovis plans to win against Bloody Rose!"
"Well, if you think about it, losing Jay in the semifinal is a huge blow to Libation Fiesta. This plan is actually very rational."
"Indeed. If they let in one more point, they can only reach a draw. At that time, the Bloody Rose will have more people than them."
"Yeah. Libation Fiesta should be able to dominate the individual matches."
"But… can Clovis actually win against Aileen? After all, she is the strongest Tier 4 in this competition."
"He might be able to win. Clovis is the captain of the team and is supposed to be stronger than Jay. Jay has defeated Rafael, so Clovis should be able to defeat someone stronger than Rafael, which is Aileen."
"Defeat the Bloody Rose!"
The people started cheering after understanding the situation. Ragna simply nodded to Aileen before going back inside, not wanting to be here any longer.
Kanaria and Melody exchanged a wry smile, knowing about the plan.
Clovis simply sheathed his blade while saying this to Lana. "Well, you better not say more than that. I'm just afraid that Kanaria will end up sniping you out of spite."
Clovis simply walked away, leaving all these speechless people.
The group match had ended in such a unique way that the stadium was filled with whispers, discussing the tactic itself.
Meanwhile, the reactions of the two groups were vastly different.
Kanaria asked, "Are you sure about this? It might not look that good, you know."
"Don't worry. I'm already prepared for it. I have to take care of the group after all." Clovis shrugged.
"I don't really care about the result personally, so why not? Besides, you guys are still too young. I'm afraid that the neighboring cities are not the only ones paying attention to you. Even the capital city might catch wind of this in one way or another. So getting too much attention will definitely make it harder if you plan to visit Hana later on," Melody explained.
"I don't know much about the future plan, but I have also proved myself enough in this tournament. So I'll follow the captain's decision." Ragna nodded.
Kanaria couldn't say anything after these two expressed their feelings. Clovis nodded. "Thank you for letting me be selfish for a bit."
"But you gotta win, you know," Kanaria added.
Meanwhile, Aileen was discussing the plan in a heavy atmosphere.
"Clovis must come first. After that, it will be Ragna. As for the third one, Kanaria might participate. Since Captain Aileen is going to take care of Clovis, we should be able to win."
"But in the worst case scenario, we should send Lana in the last match. We have some information about Ragna's individual prowess, but we don't know much about Kanaria."
"Are you saying that Captain Aileen will lose?"
"Worst-case scenario!"
"If Captain Aileen can defeat Clovis, the match will be set."
"Can? She will defeat him!"
"Instead of that, we should ask her what she thinks. Captain Aileen. You can defeat Clovis, right?"
They suddenly stopped talking and stared at Aileen. The latter crossed her arms, contemplating seriously.
But Erwin had said that Clovis hadn't gone all out yet, so she replied, "I don't know."
"!!!" The answer was surprising for all of them, including Lana. It was rare for Aileen to have such low confidence.
Aileen said, "You guys can take care of the details for the second and third matches. I'll head out first."