Chapter 149: The Master Enters
Inside the Blue Lock control room, Jinpachi Ego nearly choked on his cup of ramen.
He spit the noodles back into the bowl, his eyes wide behind his glasses. 'Holy hell. Kira's speed... he has to be the fastest player in the country right now.'
Anri stood beside him, watching with a mix of concern and curiosity. "What's wrong, Ego-san? Surprised by Kira's performance again?"
Ego realized he had lost his composure. He quickly grabbed a napkin and began cleaning up the mess with mechanical precision, his face returning to its usual mask of indifference. "Please. Why would I be surprised? That was a standard play for someone of his caliber. I just ate too fast and it went down the wrong pipe."
"Oh? Is that so?" Anri didn't buy it for a second. The timing was too perfect. Kira scores a world-class goal, and suddenly the man who lives for efficiency is choking on noodles? He had been inhaling those things for months without an issue.
Ego caught her skeptical look and felt a surge of professional pride. He wasn't about to admit he'd been rattled by a woman. He gave a firm, dismissive shake of his head.
***
On the pitch.
"Nice one, Kira! That goal was absolute perfection!" Niko and Aryu sprinted from across the field to join him.
"I've gotta say, that speed? Totally stylish," Aryu said. Since meeting Kira, his definition of style had been rewritten daily. The guy was a bottomless pit of potential.
Niko looked at Kira with a gaze heavy with envy. Speed had always been his own weakness. Seeing Kira perform with such effortless perfection made his previous goals of 'beating' him feel like a fantasy.
'Better to have a monster like that as a teammate,' Niko thought. 'Facing him on the other side would be pure despair.'
Lorenzo swayed toward them, his expression twisted into something resembling a scowl. "That wasn't OK, Kira. Not OK at all. That wasn't part of the tactical script we drilled."
"Hey, give him a break," Niko argued, stepping in to defend his captain.
Kira raised a hand to quiet Niko. He knew he'd gone rogue. He'd seen Charles's dangerous pass and reacted on pure instinct, burning a Loki Trial Card to get back and save the play. He was about to explain himself when Lorenzo's face shifted.
Lorenzo clapped Kira on the shoulder, flashing his gold-plated teeth. "Next time, we're putting that into the playbook. If you can just outrun everyone, the rest of us can actually slack off once you've got the ball. High-speed security... I like it."
Typical Lorenzo. Even at the pro level, the guy was looking for a way to coast. The rest of the Ubers squad swarmed in, laughing and cheering. The atmosphere was professional, high-energy, and completely focused on the win.
***
Over on the P.X.G. bench, the silence was heavy.
"I knew it. He was always going to find the net," Nanase muttered. He'd seen the writing on the wall the moment Kira accelerated.
Rin shot him a look of pure annoyance. It didn't take a genius to see that. Kira had moved like a rocket; nobody on the pitch could have touched him.
"Wait, Kira's coming over here," Tokimitsu whispered, his anxiety spiking.
Under the confused stares of the French squad, Kira walked straight up to Julian Loki. The Master Striker, who had been sitting with his head down in thought, looked up. He locked eyes with the boy who was technically his peer in age, if not in status.
"You coming down to play, or what?" Kira asked. It should have sounded like an insult, a challenge to a superior, but Kira said it with the casual confidence of an old friend inviting a buddy to a pickup game.
Nanase's jaw dropped. He knew about the 'Star Change' rule that allowed masters to enter for three minutes, but he never expected Kira to have the ego to actually call one out. He glanced at Loki, expecting a dismissive remark.
Instead, Loki smiled. "It has been a while since I really stretched my legs. You've got a deal."
Nanase felt like his brain was melting. Loki, the supernova of French football, had actually accepted the challenge. It was the coolest thing he had ever seen.
"Requesting a substitution," Loki called out to the cameras, shedding his warmup jacket. He spared a glance at Rin and Tokimitsu. "You two are with me. Let's go."
Nanase blinked. 'Wait, what about me?'
***
On the Ubers bench, Sendo was losing his mind. "Did that kid just call out the opposing Master? Is that even allowed?"
Snuffy sighed, rubbing his temples in exasperation. He turned to the cameras as well. "Fine. Requesting a substitution on our side, too."
Sendo froze. "Wait, Coach is going in? We're actually doing this?"
Kira stood in the center circle, hands behind his head, watching the chaos at the sidelines with a look of total boredom, as if the entire spectacle had nothing to do with him.
"Pretty bold move, you fake King," Barou growled, his eyes alight with fire. He didn't care about the drama; he just wanted to see the big dogs hunt.
P.X.G. overhauled their entire look, shifting into a 3-4-1-2. Rin and Shidou took the front as a dual-strike force, with Charles sitting just behind them as the playmaker. Loki, Tokimitsu, Karasu, and Zantetsu filled out a high-speed midfield, supported by three academy defenders.
It was a terrifying lineup.
Ubers shifted as well. They had drilled for this scenario. Kira took the lone striker spot at the top. Barou moved to the wing, and Niko pushed up into the CAM position. Snuffy dropped deep into the DMF role, acting as the team's anchor, while Lorenzo moved into a central pivot. With Snuffy and Lorenzo pushing the play, Ubers was no longer a defensive counter-puncher—they were an offensive juggernaut.
"Interesting," Loki noted, eyeing the new formation. "Ubers is going to be a problem."
Beep!
Match restart.
P.X.G. had the ball. With Shidou, Rin, and Loki all on the pitch at once, the game's tempo hit a gear that made the previous minutes look like slow motion. They tapped the ball through the backline once before Karasu spotted the opening. He launched a booming long ball toward the flank.
Loki was already there, waiting. He ignited like a rocket, tearing down the sideline.
"Oh?" Loki hummed as Kira dropped back to meet him.
The two of them blazed down the wing, shoulder to shoulder, turning the sideline into a private drag strip. Loki realized he couldn't just blow past him, so he abruptly killed his momentum and changed direction. Kira mirrored him perfectly, keeping his center of gravity low and his eyes on the ball.
"What? Kira is actually holding Loki back?" Nanase shouted from the sidelines, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.
Loki's brow furrowed. It had only been a short time since their last encounter, but Kira had evolved. He was sharper, faster, and more composed.
"Don't stop now. We've got work to do," a voice said.
Snuffy appeared out of the fog of the midfield, closing in on Loki to initiate a double-team with Kira.
"You really look after your students, don't you, Snuffy?" Loki said. He knew better than to get trapped by the Crown Messenger. He immediately fired a back-pass to escape the pocket.
Karasu received the ball, looking frustrated. Even with a Master on the pitch, Ubers had forced them to retreat.
'How do we break this?' he wondered. 'How do we find the opening in a team that has two Kings and a God?'
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I'd really appreciate some Power Stones. With your support, I'll try to get back to my old release schedule. Right now even if it's not as fast as before, I'll keep updating at my own pace.
For early access to 20 chapters: p@tre~~.com/Demonic_Fiction (Link is in the synopsis and my profile).