Chapter Text
Fang Xuecai watches the team match—Ye Xiu and his ragtag recruits versus Excellent Era’s brazen remains—with a growing sense of unease. He recognises Xiao Shiqin’s tactics, because he’s worked with his captain for years, and they’re beautiful tactics. They’re highly effective tactics.
They’re also tactics which presuppose a team whose talents must be combined to face off against gods, and Xiao Shiqin is accurately marking Ye Xiu as a god.
But Excellent Era also has gods; they proved that in the one-vs-ones. It’s a team that thrives on aggressive tactics and showcasing its power. Xiao Shiqin should have been able to adapt to that, but—
Excellent Era has not faced a true challenge since Xiao Shiqin joined.
Fang Xuecai’s heart breaks at that realisation. It’s not just about Happy splintering Excellent Era or using Box-1 strategies against them, or even about Xiao Shiqin’s final directive before Life Extinguisher falls. It’s about all the lost opportunities. Excellent Era could’ve been better if they hadn’t been too proud to ask GPA teams to scrim with them. Excellent Era could’ve been better if they hadn’t relied solely on One Autumn Leaf’s spear in every match. Excellent Era could’ve been better if, at the end, Xiao Shiqin hadn’t assumed that his team was in a losing position.
It’s not inevitable when Excellent Era loses.