As if hearing Yoru Ryoshu's dismissive voice, the veins on Barou's forehead throbbed with suppressed rage. He moved to block the beast that had just charged into his territory.
The distance between them closed to less than five meters.
Aki glanced at the surrounding defenders closing in, a jagged grin splitting his face. His eyes seemed to pulse with a faint, crimson light. "Insects should stay on the ground and look up at the miracle I'm about to perform!"
With a deft touch, he flicked the ball into the air.
In the next heartbeat, his entire body twisted with violent torque, his leg swinging through the air like a guillotine blade.
BOOM!
The ball shrieked past Barou's ear, a blur of white leather.
A collective gasp erupted from the stands and the sidelines. On the massive overhead display, the score flickered: Team Z 1 - 0 Team X.
Bachira watched the scene with an expression of calm familiarity. Long ago, before he met Aki, Bachira had been the "freak" on the pitch—the one people mocked for talking about the "monster" inside him. But after meeting Yoru Ryoshu, Bachira realized that monsters weren't just hallucinations. Real ones existed in the flesh.
And his friend was the king of them.
The monster was waking up. The Demon King of the Pitch was beginning to devour everyone in sight.
Bachira's grin widened. "Nice shot!"
Isagi Yoichi snapped out of his trance and shouted his approval. Even from the periphery, he had seen the sheer impossibility of what Aki had just done. He had seized the ball from his own teammates, bypassed the entire opposing defense single-handedly, and buried the shot.
The game belonged to him and him alone.
Raichi let out a sharp, annoyed huff. "If it wasn't for you and Kunigami getting in my way, that would've been my goal!"
Kunigami shot him a frigid glance. "It should have been mine."
Despite the goal, Team Z was a fractured mess. The internal sabotage had only intensified.
Aki didn't bother responding to the bickering. He simply looked at Barou. The "King" of Team X hadn't even had the chance to showcase his power before being suppressed. Under that calm exterior, Barou was undoubtedly reaching a boiling point.
This was about to get interesting.
Igarashi, the "Chestnut Head," scurried over. He looked hesitant to meet Aki's eyes, likely realizing that his earlier attempt to steal the ball had nearly derailed the scoring run. Before he could speak, Aki turned to him.
"Chestnut Head. If you ever try that again..." Aki's voice was flat, devoid of heat, yet it carried the weight of a death sentence. "I will kill you."
The monk's body went rigid. He didn't breathe until Aki had walked several paces away.
The bullet comments in Aki's vision were a chaotic stream of vitriol.
[Disgusting. Aki should have eliminated that cancer in the Tag game.] [For real. Aside from causing trouble, his skill is absolute trash. He's the lowest rank on the team and he's still sabotaging plays?] [Can't he just shut up and ride the carry?] [Chestnut Head needs to go!]
Aki watched the insults with a faint, unreadable smile. He had considered eliminating Igarashi during the first trial; there were a dozen logical reasons to do so. However, he had kept the monk around because he knew the boy would be a useful tool later on.
Regardless, the goal had changed the atmosphere. Team Z was no longer just a mess; they were a mess with a lead. Meanwhile, across the pitch, Team X was beginning to implode into their own internal arguments.
"Aki, do you still want me to feed you the ball?" Bachira asked, jogging up with an easy stride.
Aki nodded. "If you can. I prefer your service. Just don't put too much air under it—I'd hate to accidentally take someone's head off with a volley."
The stadium speakers boomed: "Team X, please resume play."
Both sides reset. This time, Barou Shoei was at the center circle. He stared at Aki with eyes like a cornered wolf.
The whistle blew.
Barou exploded forward like a bolt of black lightning. He drove the ball directly toward Aki's position. It was a blatant challenge—a head-on duel to reclaim his honor.
Aki stood his ground, but he didn't move to intercept. Instead, he let his lips curl into a smirk and whispered something too low for the microphones to catch.
Barou's pupils contracted. He surged past Aki, breaking through the "defense" with ease. Or rather, Aki hadn't even attempted to stop him. He had simply stepped aside and let the King through.
The room erupted in confusion.
"Why didn't you stop him?!" Raichi screamed, his eyes bulging as he watched Barou tear toward their goal.
Aki didn't even look back.
Without the threat of Aki in his way, Barou was a wolf among sheep. He bypassed the rest of Team Z with contemptuous ease and reached the penalty area. With a savage grin, he unleashed a thunderous strike.
BOOM!
The ball tore into the net before Iemon, who had zero experience as a keeper, could even blink.
Score: 1 - 1.
Raichi was livid. He stormed up to Aki and grabbed him by the jersey. "You think just because you scored once, the game is over? If you're gonna slack off, get your ass to the back and play defense!"
"I seriously want to kill you right now!" Raichi roared before turning to the others. "Pass every ball to me! You hear me?!"
"Like hell! Pass to me!" another teammate shouted.
The team was dissolving into total anarchy.
Barou walked up to Aki, his breathing heavy, his eyes burning with suspicion. "What the hell are you playing at?"
Aki's expression remained bored. "A team that is this chaotic from within... in my view, it's just a collection of dead weight. And I am not a merciful man."
"Waste belongs in the ruins."
Barou fell silent. For the first time, he realized someone was even more arrogant than he was.
Aki's message was silent but deafening: if this team couldn't score without him holding their hands, he would let them fail. He would let the team be eliminated, secure his spot as the Top Scorer, and move on alone.
He wasn't playing with them. He was watching them drown.