CHAPTER 139 - CHANGE TACTICS
When Rayne and I went back to the backstage room, we two were surprised when the purple cat Himeno greeted us.
"Congratulations on making it to the Championship Round!" She said, seemingly like she was in the best mood of her life.
"T-Thanks," Rayne replied with a forced smile.
"Look, Miss President!" Himeno showed her tablet and revealed a line graph that is currently colored green and going up in the slope. "This is our stock prices! Everybody was investing in our company because of your battle in the semi-final round! Keep up the good work!"
"R-Right," Rayne replied again with the same plastic smile. She shifted glanced at me, and then shrugged. I seriously don't know what's going on with the purple cat.
Did Himeno eat something? Maybe. I saw Ryan unconscious on the comfortable sofa with his fly on the open and his belt dangling around. I just don't want to think that these two did what they did not want us to do.
"Very good, President! I did not regret entrusting the fate of the corporation to you~" Himeno swayed left and right in bliss. She's so lively and hyper that it seems like she's a different person.
The door was opened once again, and then Esthesia and Firius made their appearance. Esthesia is holding a tablet and showed us the same line graph that Himeno just presented a moment earlier.
"Good news, Miss President and Elzane!" Esthesia celebrated. "Our stocks-"
"Our stock investment went through the roof." Himeno finished her sentence. "I already told them."
"Tsk! Why do you always steal the show, you cat thief!" Esthesia roared.
"I don't care whatever you are talking about. I am just happy that our investments are this high after seeing our president transform into a Cyber Fairy Queen." Himeno carefreely and sassily flicked one of her twintails.
"Hmmm, I don't get it, but the graphs shot up when Raynevere transformed. It made the audience get hyped up for some reason." Firius said. He scrolled down his phone and then showed me a video clip of Rayne's transformation. Then he also showed me another short video on how Rayne managed to defeat the Cyber Mecha opponent.
"Wow, that's actually amazing. It's all over the internet!" I exclaimed. "You're so amazing, President Rayne!"
When I glanced at Rayne, she smiled adorably with a blush. "D-Don't be like that! It was all thanks to you, Zane!" She started to scratch her cheek while being a little bit bashful. "You know you should take some credit too."
Unfortunately for us Kaisers, we won't get that much credit from the spectators. All we do is just unleash the right timing of the Command Cards, and not get hit by the opponent Gladiatrix's attack. In a real battle, we are almost a burden if not borderline useless on the frontline.
"Elzane."
It was Ryan's voice. He seems to have been awoken from tiredness, and he's calling out to me, gesturing that I should go closer.
As I took my step, I heard Firius sniff the air around him and then have this troubled face. "Hmm, what's this weird smell?"
"For the love of god, stop smelling anything in this room. Thank me later." I muttered.
As I went closer to Ryan, he showed me his phone. It was a video clip of Irida and Arth's previous battles. When the camera spanned Irida's backside and had the view of her Command Cards in hand, Ryan immediately paused the video.
"Look, Elzane. Do you notice something?" Ryan said.
There was nothing peculiar on the paused video until I saw Irida's hand cards. It's mostly Counter Cards; and worse, those are Skill Negate Cards. I nodded to Ryan, seemingly knowing where he was going.
Ryan switched to another video in which Irida and Arth were fighting during the Semi-Finals. For the second time, I saw Irida's hand cards: three Skill Negate Cards once again.
"I know it's not up to me to decide, but consider these past Gladiator Battles, Elzane. Irida specializes in counters, and her Gladiator is focused on defense. Using Skill Cards might not be the best option here. That includes the Combo Sword. She must have been wary of that card ever since the start of the Quarter Finals."
I crossed my arms and mumbled under my breath. "So I will have to change my tactics."
"You have always focused on offense because you trusted the President's ability to evade the attacks. However, Irida might be planning on taking all your offense cards out until you can no longer support your Gladiatrix. Irida has already a counterplan for your activations."
I immediately swiped the Kaiser Watch to activate the Gladiatrix System. Then I went to the Main Menu and then Edit Command Cards Deck.
"Depending on the situation, you might have to lessen the Skill Cards at your disposal. Or do some setup for you to use the Combo Sword." Ryan said.
I scratched my head. "This will be hard. I need to formulate a new command style."
"Well, you still have thirty minutes before the championship starts." Ryan smiled. "But at least there is still good news."
"What is it?"
"Raynevere's Cyber Fairy Queen has an advantage over the Cyber Seraphim. Arth's Transformation might be on the lead in terms of stats, but your Gladiatrix's Command Card Reactivation is overpowered. Furthermore, Transformation Cards cannot be negated."