As Bertie and Dankmar switched positions, Ochi Tsukimitsu took several rapid breaths. His stamina was basically at its limit. Compared to Mōri Juuzaburō, Ochi, whose mental power was overdrawn, felt a dull pain constantly pulsing in his brain. The only reason he could hold on this long was his belief that he had to win this match.
After recovering a bit of stamina, Ochi looked up toward the opposite side, but his brow suddenly furrowed. In his field of vision, there was only Dankmar's huge body. He couldn't see Bertie's position at all.
That made Ochi hesitate for a moment about where to place the ball. Right then, the umpire's urging voice rang out. With no other choice, Ochi quickly tossed the ball and relied on instinct to fire a Teleport Serve.
However, after three consecutive impact sounds rang out, Ochi knew his serve had been blocked. A tennis ball suddenly cleared the net and flew high into the Japan Team's side. Mōri was about to jump for a smash, but Ochi stopped him in time.
The ball traced a parabolic arc in the air and dropped straight toward the area just in front of the backcourt baseline. Although Bertie had blocked Ochi's Teleport Serve, precisely controlling the return angle was clearly impossible. Keeping the ball in bounds was already the best he could do.
Ochi watched the descending ball without hesitation and fired another teleport return. From the instant he swung, the ball vanished from everyone's sight. Yet just before Ochi swung, Dankmar had already dragged Bertie back to the forecourt. Yes, dragged him back.
So when Ochi used teleportation, Bertie almost simultaneously stretched out his racket to intercept, as if he had already known the shot Ochi would play. The ball was successfully stopped by his racket, and he smoothly dropped a short shot.
At that moment, Mōri appeared at the net as if he had teleported too. Sweat clearly poured more heavily down his face. He followed up with a high lob, but the ball had barely risen before a massive racket blotted out the sky and slammed down.
With a thunderous "boom," both Ochi's and Mōri's rackets were blown away. Dankmar smashed through their defense with a single crushing blow, making the crowd erupt in shocked cries.
"30-15!"
After Ochi and Mōri picked up their rackets, they exchanged a glance and both saw the same resolve in each other's eyes. Without a word, they returned to their positions on the court, as if the previous point hadn't affected them at all.
Bertie continued using Dankmar's body to conceal his own position, making it impossible for Ochi to judge his exact location. But Ochi no longer forced himself to care. He quickly tossed the ball and, ignoring the strain on his body, unleashed another Teleport Serve.
Unfortunately, his serve was completely read by Bertie. The return was awkward, but it still came back. This time, Mōri didn't let Ochi handle the follow-up. He leapt with all his strength, his body twisting strangely 180 degrees in midair.
In the next instant, Mōri lashed out with a backhand. It wasn't a smash, but an aerial backhand drive. Bertie clearly hadn't expected this move, especially since the motion itself already violated normal human body mechanics.
What Bertie didn't know was that, for this moment of surprise, Mōri had once again forcibly dislocated his shoulder to further expand his striking range. The ball streaked past Bertie, smashed into the German backcourt, and bounced rapidly out of bounds.
Just as it seemed Mōri was about to take the point, Dankmar's massive figure appeared outside the court from nowhere. The instant Mōri hit the backhand drive, Dankmar had already locked onto the ball's trajectory. Whether Bertie intercepted or not didn't matter. He only needed to cover the position.
That was why Bertie's expression remained calm. Although Mōri's return truly exceeded his expectations, he knew Dankmar would make it in time. Sure enough, the ball was sent straight back by Dankmar.
Seeing this, Mōri didn't hesitate at all. He gripped the racket with both hands and charged forward head-on. Thankfully, although Dankmar's shot was still extremely powerful, it was slightly weaker than his earlier serves.
The ball spun and hammered wildly against Mōri's racket. Just as Mōri was about to give out, Ochi's racket slid in and pressed against it. Together, the two of them forcibly blocked Dankmar's heavy drive.
But in the very next second, a yellow beam flashed past Mōri's and Ochi's eyes. Immediately after, the sound of the ball hitting the ground came from behind them. Bertie was frozen in his follow-through, smiling as he looked at the two of them.
"30-30!"
After Dankmar's return, Bertie had already calculated all the possible outcomes that could follow and chose the optimal course of action based on that analysis. As expected, he successfully took the point.
"It looks like, whether in calculation volume or calculation speed, Germany's Bertie surpasses me by at least 63.2%," Mitsuya Akuto said from the sidelines with a sigh.
"Akuto-senpai…" "Mitsuya-senpai…" Yanagi Renji and Inui Sadaharu looked at Mitsuya with concern.
"Relax. I'm just feeling a bit emotional, not shaken by it," Mitsuya said with a gentle smile. "Otherwise, I would've been completely crushed by Akashi-kun more than a year ago~"
On the court, Ochi fired another Teleport Serve. Dankmar looked helplessly at the ball behind him. Although he wanted to lock onto its path immediately, even with his eyesight, he couldn't fully see through a teleport serve.
"ACE! 40-30!"
As the match reached match point, everyone on the Japan Team showed excited expressions. Judging from Dankmar's earlier performance, he should be unable to return Ochi Tsukimitsu's Teleport Serve.
"I'm afraid the Japan Team players have already started celebrating in their hearts~ But unfortunately, even if Schneider can't handle that kind of serve, can Ochi Tsukimitsu really hit another one like that?" Bertie said softly with a smile at the corner of his mouth. He didn't care about match point at all, as if everything was under his control.
When Ochi tossed the ball for the sixth time, a wave of weakness spread rapidly through his entire body. The Ability Synchronization between him and Mōri Juuzaburō completely broke, causing Ochi's expression to change sharply. With no time to think, he instinctively fired a Mach Serve.
Dankmar seemed to have expected this outcome. He had already set his stance at the baseline to deal with a Mach Serve. The ball slammed straight into his huge racket and, using the rebound force, flew back into the Japan Team's half.
Mōri rushed forward and returned a crosscourt passing shot, but Bertie saw through it easily. He spun around, intercepted Mōri's return with a backhand, then flicked his wrist downward. The ball skimmed the net and smashed directly into the ground in front of the Japan Team's net.
In the next second, Mōri sprinted in and swung to drive the ball the instant it bounced. But at the moment his racket touched the ball, his expression suddenly stiffened. Immediately after, the ball, spinning violently, crashed straight into the net.
"FAULT! 40-40! Deuce!"
"Powerful backspin…" Mōri muttered softly as he looked at the ball rolling on the ground.
After that, Ochi continued to serve with Mach Serves, but they couldn't do much against Dankmar. Mōri was also completely suppressed at the net. No matter how he returned, he couldn't escape Bertie's calculations.
"40-40! Germany advantage!"
"GAME! Germany! 5-4! Change sides!"
When Mōri and Ochi returned to the bench, they no longer had the strength to speak. They covered their heads with wet towels and forced themselves to quickly eat bananas. At this point, even recovering a little stamina was better than nothing.
Coach Mifune looked at the two of them and sighed inwardly. He knew very well that the chances of winning this match were already very slim, even though they still held an advantage for now.
The 90-second timeout quickly passed. When both sides returned to the court, Bertie didn't hesitate at all and immediately fired an ultra-high-speed serve. From this alone, it was clear that, setting aside special cases like Akashi Seijurō and Omagari Ryuuji, the German team's average stamina completely surpassed that of the Japan Team.
Although Bertie and Dankmar were also drenched in sweat, their movements were hardly affected. Their remaining stamina was clearly still plentiful. In contrast, Mōri and Ochi even looked unsteady on their feet.
"GAME! Germany! 5-5!"
Under these circumstances, they quickly lost the tenth game. The match returned to the same starting line again, but for the Japan Team, this was nothing but bad news. Everyone could see the condition Ochi and Mōri were in.
"GAME! Germany leads! 5-6!"
Sure enough, in the next game, Mōri no longer had the stamina to hit a Teleport Serve. Even his net interceptions were noticeably slower than usual. The result was that they lost the eleventh game without any resistance.
During the timeout, Ochi and Mōri sat on the bench with their heads lowered, both breathing heavily and saying nothing. Of course, they barely had the strength to speak anymore. The only reason they hadn't given up was the belief and unwillingness burning in their hearts.
However, the timeout wouldn't be extended just because of their exhaustion. Soon, Mōri and Ochi dragged their heavy bodies back onto the court. To make matters worse, it was Dankmar's service game. Mōri could only let out a bitter smile.
"GAME! 7-5! Match over! Winner, Germany! Final score 2-1!"
With the umpire's announcement, the second doubles match came to an end. Germany didn't let their title as world number one become a joke and successfully pulled a match back. As for this result, the Japan Team could still accept it. After all, they had no worries at all about the upcoming second singles match.
After arranging rest for Mōri and Ochi, Mifune walked up to Akashi Seijurō. Even though he clearly understood Akashi's strength, he still couldn't help but speak with a grave tone.
"Next, it's up to you, Akashi-kun! You will decide the Japan Team's final fate!"
"Victory is everything. At some point, it became a mission. The winning side is always right. I don't allow the word 'defeat' to exist in my life," Akashi said calmly, looking at Mifune with an unruffled expression.