The whistle echoed across the stadium.
The ball rolled backward.
The scoreboard still displayed the impossible.
3–3.
Southside had erased a three-goal deficit.
The crowd refused to settle down.
Every chant grew louder than the last.
Every Southside supporter believed.
Even the players believed.
For the first time all match—
Nocturne looked vulnerable.
Or so everyone thought.
Aka stood over the ball.
He didn't move.
Didn't speak.
Didn't even blink.
His eyes remained fixed on the players celebrating moments earlier.
Then he tapped the ball backward.
The match resumed.
Nocturne didn't attack immediately.
Instead—
they kept the ball.
One pass.
Then another.
Then another.
Southside pressed.
Yuma sprinted toward Marc.
Takumi closed Réservoir.
Yusuke hunted Aka again.
The crowd screamed for them to win it back.
Nothing happened.
The ball simply kept moving.
Left.
Right.
Backward.
Forward.
Every pass had purpose.
Every touch had patience.
"They're calming it down," Hiroto muttered.
"No..."
Pambara's voice was quiet.
Very quiet.
"They're making us chase."
Twenty seconds.
Thirty.
Forty.
Southside hadn't touched the ball once.
Yuma lunged.
Theo passed around him.
Takumi stepped in.
Lucien escaped him.
Ren tried cutting off a lane.
Réservoir simply created another.
The crowd slowly grew quieter.
Because they were beginning to understand.
This wasn't stalling.
This was control.
Réservoir finally received the ball near the halfway line.
He looked toward Aka.
Their eyes met.
No words were exchanged.
None were needed.
Réservoir smiled.
Just barely.
"So..."
he murmured.
"...shall we end this?"
Aka nodded once.
The pass came instantly.
Driven hard through the centre.
Aka received with his back to goal.
Yusuke crashed into him immediately.
"Not this time!"
Aka didn't even try turning.
Instead—
he flicked the ball backward with his heel.
Réservoir.
One touch.
Back to Aka.
The exchange happened so quickly that Yusuke barely had time to react.
Aka spun.
Gone.
The crowd gasped.
Yusuke chased.
Again.
Daichi stepped up.
Aka slipped the ball through his legs.
Ren collapsed inward.
Aka chipped it over his foot.
The entire defence bent around him.
Not because they wanted to.
Because they had to.
Every player in a blue jersey converged.
Exactly as Aka expected.
He stopped.
The entire defence stopped with him.
Then—
without even looking—
he passed.
The ball curved perfectly into space.
Theo Armand burst onto it.
Completely alone.
The crowd screamed.
Theo struck first time.
BOOM.
Tsubasa exploded toward the bottom corner.
SAVE!
His right hand pushed the ball away.
The stadium erupted.
But the danger wasn't over.
The rebound bounced into the middle of the box.
Marc charged.
Daichi charged.
Yuma flew backward trying to help.
Bodies collided.
The ball pinballed between legs.
Nobody could clear it.
Then Pambara arrived.
He didn't panic.
He didn't swing wildly.
He planted himself between the ball and Marc.
Marc shoved him.
Hard.
Pambara stumbled.
But he stayed upright long enough to poke the ball toward Ren.
"GET IT OUT!"
Ren didn't hesitate.
He blasted the clearance nearly fifty metres downfield.
The crowd roared louder than ever.
Pambara collapsed onto one knee.
Breathing heavily.
His entire body shook from the collision.
Yusuke jogged over.
"You alright?"
Pambara laughed weakly.
"...I think so."
"You just saved us."
Pambara looked toward the scoreboard.
Still 3–3.
Still alive.
Across the field, Aka watched quietly.
Then he turned toward Réservoir.
"...He's better than I thought."
Réservoir nodded.
"So is the rest of them."
A pause.
"But they're reaching their limit."
Aka looked across the Southside players.
Every one of them was exhausted.
Hands on knees.
Sweat dripping.
Barely able to stand.
Then he looked at the clock.
Only a few minutes remained.
He finally smiled again.
Not the playful smile.
Not the respectful smile.
The smile of someone who had made a decision.
"One attack."
Réservoir looked at him.
"That's all I'll need."
The crowd continued chanting Southside's name.
They thought momentum still belonged to them.
They thought the comeback was complete.
Only Nocturne knew the truth.
The most dangerous attack of the match...
hadn't happened yet.
To Be Continued.