Cato escaped from Fiona’s Queen Dominion. And, he did so easily. Too easily, in fact. Vampire’s ult was like a free ticket out of The Queen’s Dominion.

I’m sure she knew that as well. Cato reasoned. At best, she traded an ult for an ult. Was it worth it? Is there something so scary about my ult that warrants a trade? Hmm.

While pondering on that point, Cato flew all the way back to his Turret in bat form. Once he landed, he focused on assaulting the incoming minion wave while safely hugging his Turret.

But still, the question refused to leave him. Why did Fiona ult at the time?

From start to end, everything about that line of play seemed thoroughly researched. Therefore, Fiona surely knew she was going to achieve nothing more than trading ults there. And, she still went for it. Why...?

If anything, it was better for her to wait until I spend my ult first. Cato reasoned. Once I lose my escape ticket, then getting surrounded by lions will be the death of me.

For example, if Cato ever decides to go on the offensive with his ult, then he’ll ram into Fiona and stun her. That’ll give him a great opportunity to deliver heavy damage on the hapless prey, but it might not be enough to kill.

Then, once Fiona sets herself free, she’ll have a great opportunity to turn the tables on Cato by activating her ult. She’d imprison Cato in a cage of lions and pummel him to death. Without his ult, Cato will not have an easy way to escape that deadly violence.

To avoid a scenario like this, Cato had to be very careful about when and how he was going to spend his ult. It was his best offensive tool, but it was also his lifeline against The Queen’s Dominion.

And now that lifeline was gone, but the same was true for the great threat of Fiona’s ult. The two ults canceled each other out, simplifying the game board.

Both ults got the same cooldown too. Cato recalled the numbers from the top of his head. So, they’ll come back online at around the same time... or, will they?

Cato brought up Fiona’s build again. It was stacked with power items, but she also snuck in some cooldown reduction recently. The CDR affected all skills, including the ultimate.

Her ult will come back a little faster. Cato frowned. She has more CDR and she used her ult first. My, what a situation.

With these two factors combined, it was obvious Fiona’s ult will come online faster. But, by how much?

I’d say about 10~15 seconds. Cato ran rough estimates in his head. My, I really don’t like this position...

Worst of all, Fiona had the information advantage here. She knew exactly when her ult will come out of cooldown and she knew that Cato’s ult won’t be ready in time for that. That’s all she needed to open another timely attack. Except, this time, Cato will not be able to escape.

Well, it should be fine as long as I keep that piece of information in mind. Cato reasoned. I'll be on the defensive for now and make sure to stay out of her range. Shouldn't be too hard.

All of a sudden, the momentum shifted in Fiona's favor. Between her lightning-fast clearing speed and the threat of her ultimate, Cato couldn't do anything but hug his tower.

He was forced to farm minions under tower, losing on valuable exp and gold in the process. On top of that, the invaders gradually damaged his tower.

And, there’s not much I can do about any of this. Cato frowned. Patience is key here.

In a situation like this, inexperienced players would surely be tempted to mount a risky counterattack. But, not Cato. He knew all too well that patience was rewarded in this game. He merely had to wait until Fiona's power buff runs out and his ult comes online, then he'll be able to contest the lane like before.

The buff will run out in the next wave. Cato deduced. He remembered the timestamp of when he discovered that the red buff was stolen, So, from there, he could roughly estimate how much longer the buff had.

Our ults will also come online sometime after that. Cato smiled confidently. It’s a crafty idea you had there but looks like it’s all in vain. It appears the heroine's efforts were not enough to topple the overlord, muhahaha!

The next minion wave arrived. As always, Fiona went all out by leaping onto Cato's army and roaring in their faces, scattering them around. Then, she sliced them from behind as they fled, clearing a path for her army to advance.

Such a solid routine. Cato nodded in approval. The tells were still faint, but he already saw the makings of a competitive player in Fiona. One day, she might even become better than me at duels. But, that day is not today.

Cato patiently waited for the enemy army at his tower. He didn't dare to set a single step outside, to not give the opponent any openings. He'd gladly sacrifice some farm and tower HP for the sake of guaranteeing his own safety.

After annihilating Cato's minions, Fiona's usual routine was to lead her army into Cato's tower area. Then, she and her minions would open a relentless attack on the poor Golem.

But, for some reason, Fiona didn't step forth this time. Instead, she abandoned her army and ventured into the small jungle at the bottom of the map.

Is she going after the ogres again!? Cato failed to consider this line of play. My, my, my! Such smartassery. Leave it to the Landberht Princess to come up with a nasty line like that.

Cato couldn't tell exactly how long it'll take for the Ogre Camp to respawn, but it should be happening at the same time Fiona's power buff wears out. And, when will the buff wear out? Any moment now, according to Cato's estimation.

She's using my own passiveness against me. Cato frowned. I thought the storm will pass if I stay on the defensive, but now she pulls this move. It's a check. She’ll keep dominating the lane if I do nothing.

Cato's Golem was already down to 70% from all the attacks thus far. And, that percentage will go lower and lower as long as Fiona holds the power advantage.

I won't even be able to contest her at all this rate. Cato bit his lip. If I approach her, she'll try to ult me. Then, I ult out of her ult, and we're back to the current situation. As long as she has more cooldown reduction, her ult will always come online faster.

What an ugly position to play from. Fiona pressed Cato between a rock and a hard place.

I have to stop her from getting the buff. Cato concluded. But, I bet she’s anticipating that. She WANTS me to chase her to the Ogre Camp. That’s why she’s being so obvious about her plans.

Cato's ult wasn't online yet but it'll come back in 15 seconds. Then, how was Fiona's ult doing? It might already be out of cooldown. At worst, it'll be back online right as Cato intercepts Fiona.

At that time, his ult won't be ready yet. So, if Fiona cages him, he'll have no means of retreating from the scene. The lioness will tear him asunder inside her domain.

At a glance, Cato only had two options here. He could either feign blissful ignorance and stay at his tower, or he could place himself in tremendous danger and pick a fight with Fiona. Neither of these was a real solution to the problem.

But, only an amateur would think there are really only two options. Cato smiled confidently. It’s a false dilemma, no doubt.

The world wasn't black and white, there were countless shades of gray in between. Cato just had to carefully walk on the edge of the two colors without tripping in any direction.

Looks like it's time for the "Esmeralda Strat". Cato smiled impishly. It was practically invented for situations like this. Esmeralda would be so proud right now~

Cato left his tower range, ignoring the invading army. Yes, he chose to take the risk, as uncharacteristic as it may have seemed.

His goal was to stop Fiona from obtaining another power buff, which was undoubtedly a very dangerous task. However, it didn't mean he had to actually fight her upfront. Badgering would suffice~

She probably expects me. Cato entered the jungle with caution, sticking to the far wall. He had to make it as difficult as possible for Fiona to jump him.

There she is. Cato caught a glimpse of the troublemaker around the corner. As expected, the lioness was expecting him. She was ready to jump him the moment he came into view.

I should be fine at this distance. Cato peeked from around the corner to establish his presence on the scene. Then, soon after he appeared, he vanished back behind the very same corner and backpedaled.

Are you going to make a move? No? Alright then. The first bait attempt fell through. Looks like she won't fall for anything too obvious.

Cato altered his plans accordingly. Instead of staying as far away as possible, he stuck close to the wall separating him and Fiona.

This meant he was much closer to the danger zone, but thankfully the big wall was keeping him safe. It was too tall for Lionfolk to jump over, which meant Fiona didn’t have an easy way to aggress on Cato at the moment. Truly, this wall was such a trustworthy minion!

Time for a little bit of whack-a-mole action~ Cato popped from around the corner, fired one bat at Fiona, then retreated behind the wall again. Rinse and repeat every couple of seconds.

Even though he couldn’t see Fiona directly while he was hiding behind the wall, Cato had another pair of eyes on the scene. Namely, the trusty ward he placed at the camp earlier. It allowed Cato to jump out of the corner and land an accurate shot without wasting any time assessing Fiona’s position.

We're FPS now. Cato snickered. This sort of peek-shooting technique was commonly used in shooters, but obviously, Clasmancers had some of it as well.

So, how are you going to deal with this~? The tables have turned. Now, Cato was the one forcing a dilemma on Fiona.

Should she waste time aggressing on him even though he could easily escape from this position? Or, should she ignore his harassment and focus on Ogre Camp that'll respawn shortly?

Looks like she chose the latter. Cato concluded.

Fiona backpedaled to the far end of the Ogre Camp, staying as far as humanly possible from Cato. She probably concluded that dealing with Cato's polished harassment will be too much trouble. Instead, it was easier to focus on the camp and force Cato to come out of his hiding if he wanted to intervene.

Sharp thinking as always. Cato nodded with a wry smile. It's scary to think she picked the game just recently. Her decision-making is no joke. But, for now, I'm still superior.

Cato stepped out of his hiding in order to further harass his opponent. Of course, he did so cautiously while sticking to the wall like glue. It'd be bad news if he overextends here, so he had to approach his prey slowly and carefully-

"Shit!" Cato jumped. It happened so fast his brain failed to process the situation in time. As soon as he took a single step out of his hideout - Fiona jumped him! It's like she was waiting for this!

It’s as if Fiona knew he was coming before he even stepped out of the corner. Perhaps she, too, was spying on him with a ward. It wasn’t exactly a bad spot to place a ward, so it was possible.

Not good! Gotta turn back! Cato's instincts took over. He turned around and rolled forth, quickly retreating behind his precious corner. And, thanks to his speedy response, Fiona's Majestic Leap whiffed.

Good thing I never skip practice. Cato sighed in relief.

Normally, his reaction speed was nothing to write home about. However, regular practice against such scenarios allowed him to develop instincts that buffed his reaction speed.

Lionfolk was a common pick for Jungler and Majestic Leap was its most utilized gank opener. So, naturally, Cato practiced plenty against this move. Anybody who dared to call themselves a "competitive player" had to be able to react to the telegraphing roar of Majestic Leap.

Phew, bullet dodged... or not!? Cato jumped. As he turned around, the face of a lioness was right in front of him! Did she cancel her leap into Dodge Roll!? Such advanced maneuvers...!

To make things worse, Fiona didn't attack right away. First, she made sure to unleash her ult, which came out of cooldown as Cato feared.

The jungle hallway in front of them was too narrow for the lion cage. Therefore, it would have made sense for the game to deny Fiona’s request to summon “The Queen’s Dominion” in this tight area.

However, the devs disagreed with that sentiment. They claimed they worshiped "fun" above anything else, so they made "The Queen's Domain" a more “fun” skill a few years ago.

Instead of being canceled because the target area was too small, the lion cage dynamically fit itself to the terrain, like water in a bottle. The lions formed a blockage around the walls like soldiers called to duty. And, with Cato always sticking so close to the walls…

SLASH!

Ouch! Cato grimaced. One of the lions already clawed him. And, the others were raring to do the same if Cato continues sticking close to the walls.

Thank you very much for this "fun gameplay", CashSoft. Cato ranted internally. The devs' unnecessary meddling with Lionfolk’s design put Cato in an awkward spot here.

The threat of the Lionfolk’s ult became a reality. Cato found himself imprisoned inside the Queen’s Dominion without an easy way out. What was he supposed to do about this dreadful situation!?