Chapter 20: Dawn, and Utter Despair
During halftime, a peculiar atmosphere filled Team Z's locker room.
"Since this last match is basically just child's play anyway, shouldn't we mess around with the opponents a little and have some fun?"
Because of a single remark Asahi Naruhaya made on the field, the rest of Team Z started keeping their distance from him, deliberately or otherwise.
Although he was a major player on their team, for these forwards—who originally came from various teams themselves—being treated this way by a teammate was hard to accept.
Everyone felt their dignity was being trampled on, and they quietly drew a line between themselves and Asahi Naruhaya within the locker room.
Asahi didn't care about these football scrubs at all. He walked straight to a chair, picked up his phone, and sat down.
Instead of thinking about how to defeat Team V's two awakening geniuses in the second half, he felt it was more important to use what little rest time he had to continue watching Mr. Arthas receiving the championship trophy for the US League (USL).
After all, no matter how awakened those white-haired and purple-haired guys from Team V got, they wouldn't be stronger than him.
Just as Asahi was fully immersed in his video, the alarm he had set rang, indicating the break was over.
With a resigned sigh, he put down his phone, stood up, casually stretched his body, then picked up a cup beside him and took several big gulps of water.
After finishing, he set the cup back down, took a deep breath, and returned to that boring field.
The moment he stepped onto the field, he could feel countless gazes landing on him, even with his eyes closed.
Not only the Team V players, but even his own teammates were staring at him intensely.
Tch. These boring football scrubs…
Since Team V had been the losing side in the first half, kick-off now belonged to them, with Nagi Seishiro taking the ball.
From the look of it, Team V wanted to protect their precious kickoff possession using a genius-vs-genius approach.
Asahi curled his lip. Boring strategy.
The whistle blew. Nagi advanced down the right side, and Asahi immediately charged forward—only to be stopped by Zantetsu.
Trying to move in any other direction was also impossible—three more players blocked him with their bodies, preventing any forward path. Over half of Team V's roster was defending Nagi's dribble.
Judging by their stance, they looked ready to commit a red-card foul if necessary, just to stop Asahi's interception.
It seemed they were fully aware of how terrifying Asahi's interceptions were. All their midfielders, forwards, and wingers surrounded Nagi, while their defenders remained in Team V's half, prepared for the possibility that Asahi might steal the ball and sprint past everyone to score.
Meanwhile, Team Z watched without worry.
That little tyrant may be a rotten human (?), but his football skills were the best in Building 5. Everyone believed that whatever the opponents tried, he would shut it all down.
Sure enough, Nagi was already close to being caught.
"Reo!"
Without even stopping the ball, Nagi used the instant his teammates blocked the enemy boss's sight to loft the ball high into the air, perfectly avoiding the dangerous high-ball zone around the 170-cm-tall tyrant, sending it toward Mikage Reo on the left.
"Nice one, Nagi." After taking the ball, Reo looked at Zantetsu sprinting ahead on the left.
As he prepared to kick, he stuck his tongue out playfully—like a chameleon about to strike.
Hey, Tyrant Naruhaya—watch closely. This is your long-range pass.
Meanwhile, Nagi used his 190-cm frame to block the tyrant, resisting even the instinctive urge to blink, afraid that in the next instant Asahi would slip past him at high speed and steal the ball before it landed.
Nagi never imagined he'd one day work this hard to use his back to defend a short guy.
But what he didn't expect even more was that instead of trying to shove him aside, the short tyrant suddenly crouched down.
The moment Reo's foot made contact with the ball, Asahi shouted loudly:
"Kuon! Jump!"
K uon hadn't even processed the words mentally before his body obeyed the tyrant's command and leapt with all its strength.
Pong!
The sound of Kuon's head colliding with the ball echoed through the field.
In that instant, Reo's purple eyes clearly reflected the failure of his perfectly modeled long pass.
Not only him—everyone except the tyrant widened their eyes in shock, their bodies trembling.
A single shouted command shattered Team V's attack rhythm.
At that moment, everyone thought of one phrase:
Spatial Awareness.
The field tyrant had, in the instant Reo's foot touched the ball, grasped Kuon's preparation time, jump height, position, Reo's kicking arc, force, and other parameters—and commanded Kuon to jump at the perfect timing.
If Hisaki had reacted 0.1 seconds early or late, he would have missed.
At that moment, everyone finally understood the danger of spatial awareness.
Isagi, who shared that weapon, finally realized just how terrifying it truly was.
Beside him, a golden puzzle piece labeled "Data" fell into his eye—but since it didn't match the other fragments, it remained useless.
Zantetsu, who had just looped around, stared in disbelief. The pass meant for him was intercepted just because of a single shouted command from that little tyrant.
By the time Kuon landed, the ball dropped with him, mere centimeters away.
While Kuon was still dazed, the tyrant gave another command:
"Kuon, I order you—run now and take the ball into Team V's side!"
What kind of joke is this? Why should I listen to someone who insults my soccer life?
Kuon thought that inwardly, but his body had already obeyed, sprinting forward.
In the end, Asahi's authority within Team Z was absolute. Even if Kuon wanted to resist, his body remembered the tyrant's violence.
Just the thought of what violent payback awaited him if he disobeyed made him freeze with fear.
It was that fear—buried deep in his subconscious—that made his body move.
In this moment, Kuon's body no longer belonged to him.
Meanwhile, Kuon's sudden action caught Team V completely off guard.
This was the first time Asahi used his tyrant authority in this match.
In previous matches, only Asahi, Bachira Meguru, and Chigiri Hyoma moved when they wanted to score; everyone else mostly defended and calmly watched as their aces tore the enemy goal apart.
And after Asahi's earlier insulting remarks, they'd even imagined Team Z might fall apart.
But the tyrant was still the tyrant—and his subjects were still his subjects.
No matter how he insulted them verbally, as long as his strength and status remained, they would obey.
Zantetsu froze for a moment before realizing his ball had been stolen. He exploded into motion:
"Bastard! Give the ball back!"
But Imamaru and Igarashi blocked his way.
Imamaru taunted, "Clingy men don't get girls."
Igarashi spread his arms dramatically, "Amitabha."
Zantetsu tried to break past them, but he lacked any special dribbling skill, and his tall frame made him easily defended. He had no choice but to watch Hisaki run into Team V's half.
Thanks to half of Team V's defenders staying back, Kuon—who lacked Asahi's dribbling—could only hold the ball in place.
Fortunately, Chigiri arrived quickly. Kuon passed the ball without hesitation, and the two began pushing through the defense.
Reo saw this and rushed back.
"Raichi—lock down the purple-hair."
The tyrant kept giving orders.
Raichi snarled as he obeyed, "Damn tyrant!"
"Gagamaru, Isagi—block the white-hair!"
A gust of wind rose beneath Nagi's arm.
The little tyrant had already slipped past him.
As Nagi watched Asahi's form, he felt as if he understood something. With Gagamaru and Isagi chasing him, he dashed along the edge of the field, managing to evade them.
Half of Team Z now surged into Team V's half like a swarm of goldfish suddenly deprived of their food.
Seeing Nagi ignore him, Reo smirked, then shouted in a noble tone:
"Everyone except Zantetsu—help Nagi get the ball back!"
Spurred by Reo's command, Team V's defenders all attacked Chigiri and Kuon, using elbows for fouls if necessary. Anything was permitted—as long as it wasn't against the tyrant.
This was their one chance to prove they weren't useless scraps.
Meanwhile, Asahi stopped.
Four players stood before him—two midfielders, two defenders—eyes wide, fully alert.
Learning from earlier, they were now prepared to deal with a small, tyrant-type player.
This let Nagi—and the two chasing him, Isagi and Gagamaru—slip past Asahi.
The four defenders could no longer spare any attention to help elsewhere.
The ball returned to Kuon. And Nagi's eyes darkened into a deep black mist, like a skull rising from a swamp.
What a strange feeling.
Nagi didn't know why he was trying so hard. Was it because of something that short tyrant said?
Or because, for the first time, he felt the sensation of losing?
…Whatever. This curiosity could no longer be stopped.
The black mist thickened, and the skull behind him grew.
"Reo. Football is kinda interesting. Thanks for bringing me here."
With that, he stole the ball right from under Kuon's nose.
Offense and defense flipped instantly.
Nagi prepared to chip the ball high back toward Reo—still in Team Z's half—but before he could, a dark figure stole the ball from directly under his foot.
"Of course. Even geniuses have no intention of dribbling past a tyrant."
Isagi's blue eyes burned as he passed the ball instantly to Chigiri.
Nagi looked at him. "I feel like we'll meet in a lot of places."
In the box, Chigiri could hardly contain his excitement upon receiving the ball.
"Nice one, Isagi! I'll reward you later!"
He fired with full power—
Thump!
The goalkeeper blocked it.
Team V's keeper burst into laughter.
"Hahaha!! What kind of striker are you supposed to be?! Other than that damned tyrant, nobody on your team scares me!!!"
"Nice!" Reo shouted, seeing hope the moment the shot was saved.
Team V erupted in cheers.
Without the tyrant's offense, Team Z was nothing but sand.
But the four defenders marking Asahi could not smile.
They had seen him idly picking at his nails and scraping at the grass—he had been moping around, using them as an excuse to stand still.
He hadn't taken any of them seriously. Not even Chigiri's failed shot fazed him.
Asahi half-lidded his eyes, glancing at the faraway box, at Chigiri's missed shot and the cheering goalkeeper.
(=ˍ=）
When will this boring match end?
That red-head brat—he had warned him about stamina in the Team W match. No wonder he missed after overexerting himself.
As for Team V's goalkeeper… Weak teams always grow fastest where they face the strongest threat: the keeper facing the strongest striker.
Mr. Arthas was absolutely right.
But it seemed Team V's meal was nearly prepared too.
Asahi lazily stretched and watched the white-haired baby pass the ball to the purple-hair, who immediately passed again under Raichi's pressure.
Everything unfolded exactly as he predicted.
Now he only had to wait for the white haired's awakened curiosity to strike.
And just as he expected, Nagi charged toward Team Z's side.
The four defenders marking Asahi immediately tightened their formation.
"I'm done playing."
Asahi's brown pupils turned black. Golden silk wrapped around the form of a small Asian elephant.
The four defenders spread their arms to block him—only to feel the golden silk brush past their fingertips.
None of them blinked. They saw themselves moving at 0.5× speed while the tyrant advanced at 3× speed.
!!!
The tyrant of Team Z was coming to crush their hard-earned ray of hope.
Despair filled their hearts.
Meanwhile, Nagi—after receiving a pass—felt a chill down his spine.
He didn't need to turn around; he knew the tyrant was approaching.
Not the pressure from Gagamaru or Isagi—this was despair.
Reo, Zantetsu, everyone was doing their best—but that damned guy was about to steal the ball.
Reo, tightly marked by Raichi, saw Nagi hesitate and screamed:
"Idiot!! Go forward!!!"
Snapping out of it, Nagi's eyes brimmed with shooting intent. The skull behind him expanded.
If things had come this far—he would gamble everything.
He sensed a gap in Team Z's defense. Pretending to shoot with his right, he instead shot with his left.
Iemon, fooled by the feint, dove the wrong way.
The ball flew toward the empty goal.
Nagi already felt the certainty of scoring—
But a slicing sound behind him made him freeze.
It felt like some humanoid predator was sprinting desperately toward its prey—the ball.
Everything happened too fast. He only felt his hair brush against his face from the rush of wind—
Thud!
The ball was kicked upward, struck the crossbar, and bounced back out.
The tyrant had blocked his shot.
Everything they had built—
Pong!
Right in front of the goal, Zantetsu adjusted his glasses.
"Reo. Is this what you meant by moving forward?"
[GOAL!!!]
[1 : 4]
"—Huh???"
All 21 others froze.
Except Zantetsu.
Even those on Team V saw the score update on the big screen.
Team V scored.
Everyone—Team Z and Team V alike—believed their hopes lay in the awakened Nagi. When his shot was blocked, they thought it was over.
But everything had flipped.
No one was more stunned than Asahi himself, sitting on the ground, having just kicked the ball out of bounds, feeling it skim past his ear.
He slowly looked at Zantetsu beside him, then at Imamaru and Igarashi—who sat collapsed, clearly smashed aside by Zantetsu's charge.
Asahi rubbed his temple. His mind was chaotic.
Zantetsu mentioned "Reo" and "moving forward"—but wasn't that what purple-hair said to white-hair?
No… don't think about that.
His brown eyes shrank as he looked at the glaring "1" on the screen.
I failed?
Whose fault was Team V's goal?
His.
He had focused too much on Team V's awakened duo, ignoring their other ace. Because of that, he misread the situation while using his spatial awareness.
Arrogance is poison to geniuses and the strong.
I'm sorry, Mr. Arthas. I heard your words at the press conference, but my body didn't remember them.
Why… why is my heart pounding?
Asahi touched his chest.
While the tyrant reflected, Team V swarmed Zantetsu, piling on top of him.
Their first ray of hope.
"Hey! Get off, you're heavy!" Zantetsu protested, protecting his glasses.
Reo stuck his tongue out before stepping off. "Since idiot Zantetsu said so, let's get off before we break our hero."
Everyone got off.
Nagi ruffled Zantetsu's black hair. "Not bad, hero."
Everyone congratulated him. Even if they couldn't win, scoring against Asahi showed their gap wasn't infinite.
But then laughter echoed.
"Hahahahahahahaha!!!"
Everyone turned.
The tyrant—Asahi.
"Great. This is the real game. I have never been so excited before. Mr. Arthas, please help me witness this moment."
Reo and Nagi—top students from Hakuho High—understood the English immediately and stiffened.
What did he mean?
Others exchanged confused looks, being academic disasters.
Asahi rose slowly.
Reo demanded in English, "Bastard, what did you just say about a real competition?!"
Asahi responded with a gentleman's bow:
"The meaning is that I will consider you as opponents in the upcoming competition."
Real opponents.
Reo and Nagi felt dread.
He hadn't considered them opponents until now.
"Reo… what did he say?"
Zantetsu voiced the question everyone had.
Reo glared at the tyrant.
"He said—he's going to play a real match with us."
"?"
Teams Z and V were equally confused.
Had they been playing a fake match?
Beep—
Kickoff returned to Team Z.
For the first time, Asahi felt the thrill of a kickoff.
And for the first time, he felt no nausea.
He smashed the ball toward the goal, then—before anyone could react—unleashed his full godspeed.
A blue-clad figure flashed across the field, arriving before the ball landed, and blasted it into the net before the keeper could move.
Pong!
Less than 30 seconds into the half—Team Z scored.
[GOAL!!!]
[1 : 5]
Shock overtook both teams.
Godspeed. Overwhelming offense.
This was the tyrant's newly unveiled weapon.
Over the next 20 minutes, he revealed even more weapons—far beyond his age group.
When colliding with defenders, he didn't dash away. He used the ball to bait them closer, then used his body as leverage, using his back as a pivot to break their balance and throw them to the ground.
Every defender who stepped up was flipped.
Pong!
Another goal. Three minutes later.
[GOAL!!!]
[1 : 6]
Before Team V's horrified eyes, Asahi rampaged like a demonic war elephant, uprooting every tree in the garden and beating the small animals with the trunks.
This was the first time anyone had seen such inhuman offense.
Every weapon trampled their defenses and crushed their hope.
GOAL.
GOAL.
GOAL.
Beep-beep-beep—
The field announcement sounded.
[Match over. 1–11. Team Z wins.]
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[TL]
Damn it was such a long ch. I may have fumbled some parts remind me.