Watching Akutsu unleash his Alternate Dimension, Duke's body unconsciously released a terrifying wave of pressure. He quickly suppressed it, but from the coach's seat, Akashi still caught it clearly.
'That's… the aura of the Destruction Demon God? But it seems Duke isn't planning to activate his own Alternate Dimension yet…' Akashi thought silently.
Truthfully, Akashi couldn't quite understand Duke's approach. In internal matches, it made sense that Duke might hide his strength to avoid injuring teammates. But in the World Cup, he still held back his full power. That was far harder to justify.
Akashi remembered in the original, when facing the Swiss team's muscle-bound pair, Duke only tore off his shirt before being easily defeated. Of course, one could say that duo was simply too strong, and Ishida Gin somewhat dragged him down as well.
But against the German team's pro doubles, Duke clearly could have relied on the Destruction Demon God to break Dankmar Schneider's elephant form. Instead, he chose to resonate with the ability Camus created through Niō's illusion.
Some say it was to inspire Niō's potential. But with Singles 3 already lost, not going all-out to fight for victory was questionable. If not for eventually winning that match, once Tezuka beat Yukimura, the Japan Team would've been finished.
As Akashi's mind wandered, Duke had already tossed the ball high. With a powerful swing, the loud crack of impact echoed. The ball carried immense force, tearing across the court.
Akutsu rushed to the landing spot, the massive phantom Fenrir behind him raising its claws. Golden light burst from Akutsu's racket, the ball transforming into a giant shining sphere that blasted straight toward Duke.
In the spirit world, Fenrir also raised its huge red-glowing claw and slashed down. Four blade-like strikes ripped forward, tearing the ground apart.
Duke ignored the phantom illusion and braced with both hands. The moment the glowing ball struck his strings, violent spin tore through them. His racket lasted only a moment before splitting open, and the ball shot past, smashing into the wall. Cracks spread instantly across the surface.
"Glowing Shot—Claw Rend!"
"0-15!"
"Destruction isn't just your specialty!" Akutsu grinned cruelly as he scored.
Duke looked down at his shattered racket, unsure whether to laugh or cry. Usually he was the one destroying others' rackets—today, it had happened to him.
"Such a savage Alternate Dimension! It's no weaker than the Captain's pirate power!" Duke praised Akutsu, then walked over to change rackets.
Once he returned, it was as if a switch had been flipped. Both of them went all-out, hammering at each other. Duke's Homeruns, Akutsu's Claw Rend—both aimed directly at shattering the other's racket.
The match turned into a strange scene where nearly every point required a new racket. Thankfully, the training camp had money to burn, and every player had plenty of spares. Otherwise, this match would've been stopped already.
"0-30!"
"15-30!"
"15-40!"
Though Duke's Homeruns could break Akutsu's rackets, once Akutsu's Alternate Dimension expanded, Duke clearly fell behind. Fenrir's mental pressure wasn't a joke—he could only resist briefly.
Without much in the way of state techniques, Duke was at a real disadvantage against an Alternate Dimension. Even so, he still refused to release his Destruction Demon God. No one knew what was going through his mind.
"Game! Second String Selection! 5-2!"
"Jin-chan, that's awesome! Keep it up! But later you gotta teach me that move, it looks so fun!" Kintarō yelled happily from the stands.
"I didn't expect Akutsu to quietly develop his Glowing Shot to this level! He never once used it during our training matches!" Tachibana Kippei said in surprise.
"Maybe he created it after joining the camp. Whatever the case, right now he's in control!" Chitose added, still amazed by Claw Rend, though calmer than Tachibana.
"So that's why he came to practice Wirbel Taufe with me before… it was to develop this move…" Krauser muttered under his breath, staring at the cracked wall.
"Genichirō, I wonder if this gives you any new ideas for your Lightning Strike?" Yukimura smiled, glancing at Akutsu before turning to Sanada.
"Hmph! Right now, I only want to further perfect my Black Dragon Slash!" Sanada answered bluntly—it was unclear if he truly had no ideas, or if he simply wasn't ready to share.
On the other side, Byoudouin was slightly stunned when he saw Akutsu unleash Glowing Shot. At first, he thought only Akashi had grasped a deeper form of Glowing Shot. He didn't expect Akutsu to use a move with power far beyond the normal version.
Akutsu's Claw Rend clearly focused on tearing. Although it resembled Ryōma's Hope, both able to destroy the opponent's racket, with the Alternate Dimension Fenrir supporting it, its overall power was clearly above Hope.
As the middle schoolers were still marveling at Akutsu's new move, Akutsu tossed the ball high again. In Duke's eyes, the rising ball slowly turned into a full moon, and behind it Fenrir's phantom raised its Boss to howl at the sky.
"Howling Moon!"
"Ace! 15-0!"
The umpire's voice snapped Duke out of his daze. Confused, he looked across the court. Akutsu had already finished serving and was picking up a second ball. That last serve had thrown Duke completely into an illusion.
"I didn't think you'd also use mental-type techniques… I underestimated you!" Duke shook his Boss, his voice serious.
But Akutsu ignored him and served Howling Moon again. The deafening wolf howl echoed in Duke's mind, while the giant moon filled his vision.
"Ace! 30-0!"
"Phew… even when I was prepared, I still got caught. Alternate Dimensions aren't easy to handle!" Duke muttered.
"Ace! 40-0!"
Akutsu quickly scored again with Howling Moon. Even though Duke focused all his concentration, the massive mental pressure wasn't something easily blocked. The first set had already reached set point.
When Akutsu struck the fourth Howling Moon, Duke seemed to give up resistance. He stood still with his eyes closed. The ball streaked past him, hitting the baseline and about to bounce out of bounds.
Suddenly, a towering figure appeared in front of the ball. Duke had moved without anyone noticing. His right arm swelled with muscle, and with a fierce swing he smashed the incoming ball, sending a huge shockwave forward.
"Duke Homerun!"
Akutsu didn't dodge. Fenrir's phantom opened its bloody jaws and swallowed the incoming ball whole. A thunderous howl followed, releasing torrents of crimson light that blasted in all directions.
In reality, Akutsu braced with both hands to intercept the ball. Just as his racket was about to snap, the ball transformed into a massive crimson beam and shot forward, blasting Duke's racket right out of his hands.
"Alternate Dimension Technique—Ragnarok!"
"Game! 6-2! First set over! Winner, Second String Selection! Overall score 1-0!"
With Akutsu's full-force burst, he took the first set. Yet Duke, despite losing, didn't show the slightest disappointment. He still wore his gentle smile, as if the savage aura from his earlier shirt-bursting never existed.
On the contrary, Akutsu, who won the set, looked dissatisfied. Though he admitted Duke's strength was high, compared to Oni, it still fell short.
"This isn't your full power, is it?" Mifune asked, glancing at Duke as he drank water.
"Sorry, coach! That was already my best!" Duke answered with an honest grin, his tone completely sincere.
Behind him, Byoudouin remained silent. He knew Duke's strength well. Even if Duke kept hiding it, that Alternate Dimension aura couldn't fool him.
In truth, Duke's mindset resembled someone else—not from the Prince of Tennis world, but from Bleach: the well-known supporting character Madarame Ikkaku.
Because he admired his captain Zaraki Kenpachi, Ikkaku always hid his strength and never revealed his Bankai, afraid it would force him to leave and take a captain's seat. At the time, three of the Gotei 13's captain positions were vacant.
Duke clearly felt the same way. Grateful to Byoudouin for saving his sister, he followed him to Japan. But that was exactly why Duke would never show his true power. Doing so would mean challenging Byoudouin himself for the No.1 spot.