"Pant… Pant… Pant… Pant.... Kah… Pant…"
"Pant… Pant… Well… That leaves the three of you left, then. Since I already have Brian, I'll skip her and move to Air Groove instead."
"Tch! Pres! If you want to gamble using our lives, then at least do it properly!"
"You should be angry that she used you as a chip to begin with!"
"Eh… I would do the same."
"Aaaah… Why am I the only normal one?"
"Ahahaha… I guess we're on the same boat, Air Groove."
"Suzuka…"
"Well, let's start with Air Groove's soul and body. Prepare yourself, Emperor. I will strip you of everything you have."
"Pant… Pant… Just a little bit more…"
Rudolph hasn't predicted that she would be the one who falls behind the entire time. An Uma Musume possesses a much bigger tank compared to humans, and yet, she is as tired as the young man. A Triple Crown winner panting while dueling a human was unthinkable before, but here she is. Being tricked left and right and wasting her energy on the young man's trick.
His tricks… His confidence… His trust… I need to have them! Come on!! Look at me again! Let me devour you!!
The reason why living beings can see is that physical objects both reflect and absorb light. When light waves hit an object, the object absorbs some of those waves while reflecting others. Those reflected light waves are what become those objects' color in the eyes of living beings. An object that reflects the green wave will be seen as green, and so will the object that reflects the color red.
So what happened when something doesn't reflect light at all?
It would be invisible. Anomalously dark. It would stand out like a sore thumb in our world of light. And that is what the young man's eyes are to Rudolph.
"Pant!! Pant!! Right!!"
"Hm…"
"Kuh!"
His eyes are like a black hole. An anomalous object in this universe that not even light could escape. Absorbing all information, even the microscopic one, and not letting it out. This is the truth of his [Fast Learner] skill. There are multiple types of learners in this world: visual, audio, kinetic, and writing/reading. The young man's skill has helped him in all of those fronts, and now he is using the visual learning to read Rudolph.
"Not yet!"
"Tch…"
Rudolph tries to grab the young man's shoulder, and he reacts by swatting her hand away. She has him where she wants, looking directly at her. The sensation that Rudolph had long forgotten ever since she became the undefeated, a sensation she had longed for, is finally here again, and she won't let him look at anything other than her.
"Pres is smiling so brightly!!"
"It's been a long time since she smiles like that."
The young man kicked the ball toward Rudolph with considerable speed. He never kicked it this hard unless it is to end the battle, which makes the president wonder, has she been defeated again?
Doesn't matter! I still have 1 more try!!
The young man positioned himself between Rudolph and the ball, effectively hiding the ball with his body. He lowered his body and had his right foot bend behind him. The ball traveled up his bent ankle, and the young man instantly flung it up and above Rudolph.
"Pant… Pant… Pant… Sorry, Air Groove…"
"Sigh…"
Air Groove herself couldn't complain much because she is getting what she wanted. The young man is now drenched in sweat, and all she needs to do is harvest it.
"Pant… Pant… Pant… Well… Pant… Pant… Now it's your turn to be sacrificed!"
"Don't worry, everyone… Pant… Pant… I'll win this time."
"You said that so many times before."
"Pant… Pant… My image of you has changed dramatically, Rudolph… Pant… Pant… To think the benevolent Emperor would sacrifice her subjects like this…"
"Pant… Pant… You're the last person I want to hear that from, Trainer Igo… Pant… Pant…"
"Pant… Kukuku! The StuCo is mine!!"
With renewed vigor, the young man dribbles the ball once again toward the Emperor. While the young man has nothing but defeating the Emperor in his mind, the Emperor herself only wants to have the young man's eyes for herself.
Copy his confidence! Copy his arrogance! Devour him and evolve!!
The reason why Rudolph wants to copy the young man's confidence is that it's one of the needed components to help her grow. Don't get her wrong, she is confident in herself, but not to his level. She still needs to look to her feet when she wants to make a move, unlike him, who never even glances down.
Symboli Speed once told her as to why a Dream Series runner rarely turns their head away from the front. A living being's blind spot is usually directly behind them. When something is in your blind spot, you wouldn't know what they're doing, and that's what those professional runners are waiting for.
When you have your face forward, your blind spot is behind you, while you're still able to detect your adversaries to your left and right through your peripheral vision. Once you turn your face to one side, your blind spot also turns to the other side, which will be taken advantage of by your adversaries. In a high skill battle that is a Dream Series race, even the slightest of opportunities will be taken, and it will cost you a massive disadvantage.
And there is nothing that will cost you more than looking downward. Because then, your blind spot will be lifted and cover more areas. Symboli Speed has become the victim of said mistake before, which is why she can tell it to Rudolph and Sirius.
Give me your eyes!!
"Pant! Pant! Hah!"
"Hmm…"
"Kuh! Not yet! Haah!!"
"Bravo… Miss…"
"UUH!! Haaah!!"
The young man tapped the ball back and forth to try to shake off Rudolph and win Air Groove, but the Emperor had grown during their battle. In the first few duels, Igo would've won with this tactic, but now Rudolph is keeping up with him.
"Fuuuh… Haaaah… Everything is mine, Rudolph!!!"
"Kuh!"
Scissor, magic turn, Cruyff turn, stepover, and the rest. The young man tries to get past the heated-up Emperor, but she quickly turns him down with nothing but her physical prowess. The young man himself is already pretty spent up from battling Rudolph this whole time, he simply couldn't do active dribbling.
The young man passes the ball from his left and right feet. He then quickly ran at before planting his left foot forward with the ball on his right foot. The young man flicks the ball inward with his right foot and then quickly moves that same foot behind in a familiar position.
Now he will kick the ball forward between my legs! So I'll stop it here!!
"Got you!"
"A…"
The young man was taken aback when Rudolph intercepted his kick. The ball moves high above and not forward. For once, an expression other than absolute confidence decorated the young man's face.
"You're mine, Igo Heita!"
"Kuh! Not yet!"
The young man planted his feet on the ground, bent his legs, lowered his body, and with all his might, jumped high above. He turns his body upside down before kicking the ball forward.
"A bicycle kick! Flashy ending for your first loss, Trainer Igo."
Rudolph instantly turned around and ran toward where the ball would be falling. His kick was powerful, but with Rudolph having the advantage here, her win is guaranteed.
I can't wait to have him all for myself!! The things I'll do to him, kukuku!!
Rudolph was fully engrossed in her imagination as she approached the position. Only when the ball was at eye level did she notice something about it. It is spinning so fast. A ball would naturally spin when kicked due to the air resistance, but normal air resistance wouldn't be spinning a ball this fast. This could only mean that the young man had planned this. A bicycle kick with a powerful backspin.
"Wah!"
When the ball hit the ground, it bounced toward Rudolph. Not away, but toward her. Rudolph was in full race mode, so her stride was wide to cover more ground, a perfect space for the ball to roll under, and perfectly come back to its rightful owner.
"Damn it!"
"And with this, I win, Rudolph."