"What the hell is this... why do I feel my whole body trembling!" Kaidō muttered from the stands, his voice shaking as he watched Duke unleash the Alternate Dimension—Destruction Demon God.
"So this is Duke-senpai's true strength?" Oishi said, equally shocked.
"As I thought, this ore-sama wasn't wrong. As No. 3 of Team Japan, there's no way his strength could be that simple," Atobe spoke calmly, as if he wasn't surprised at all.
On the high school coaches' bench, Mifune twitched at the corner of his mouth as he looked at Duke, who had activated an Alternate Dimension. Even though he had expected it, actually seeing Duke unleash his full strength still made him a little surprised.
Among the First String, aside from Byoudouin and Oni, everyone else showed shock. None of them ever imagined Duke had also mastered an Alternate Dimension, and it was clear his power was terrifying.
"Duke really hid it well, huh~" Omagari was the first to react, speaking helplessly.
"Should I say, no wonder he's always been by Byoudouin's side?" Tanegashima put away his surprise and replied with a playful smile.
"So Duke-kun's been hiding his strength all this time, huh? Totally unexpected~" Irie laughed as he spoke.
"You don't really have the right to talk about others, do you, Irie~" Kimijima rolled his eyes inwardly, but outwardly kept his princely composure.
Meanwhile, on court, Akutsu rolled once and stood right up, looking mostly fine, though his eyes were sharper and fiercer. That last Duke Homerun's power far exceeded his expectations.
"So you're finally willing to go all out? That's more like it! Otherwise, even if I won, it wouldn't be satisfying!" Akutsu licked his lips and said excitedly.
He walked to the sideline, swapped his racket, then returned to the baseline and tossed the ball high. In an instant, seven afterimages appeared behind him as he used eight different serving motions at once. With a sharp crack, the ball turned into a yellow beam streaking toward the other side.
"Eighth Consciousness!"
But Duke had already adapted to this technique. He flashed straight to the landing point and, without hesitation, smashed a powerful forehand. A massive shockwave blasted toward Akutsu.
Akutsu didn't back down. His left hand gathered golden light as he launched a glowing shot in return. But the giant golden ball instantly shattered under Duke's strike. In Akutsu's shocked gaze, the returned ball blasted his racket away.
"0-30!"
"Strange! That glowing shot from Akutsu just now seemed way weaker! He didn't use his new technique, and he didn't even activate his Alternate Dimension. What's he doing?" Tachibana Kippei frowned in the stands.
"It's not that Akutsu didn't activate his Alternate Dimension. I'm afraid he can't anymore," Akashi suddenly spoke from the coaches' bench, answering Tachibana's doubt.
"What?!" Everyone turned to Akashi in shock.
"Duke's Alternate Dimension—Destruction Demon God—should have the same ability as him. That last strike probably destroyed Akutsu's Alternate Dimension. For now, he might not be able to use it at all," Akashi said flatly, but his words deeply shook the others.
As if to confirm Akashi's words, Akutsu's aura surged again after losing the point, but then his face twisted in shock, like something beyond his understanding had happened.
"My Alternate Dimension..." Akutsu muttered lowly. But soon his face turned fierce again. Without hesitation, he tossed the ball up once more. Eighth Consciousness erupted fully, and eight figures in different stances appeared across the court.
"Eighth Consciousness, huh? I'll destroy them all!" Duke snorted coldly, rushing straight to the landing point. For the first time, he used both hands and unleashed a Duke Homerun with full force!
Akutsu flashed to intercept, splitting into eight figures, each swinging differently. But the instant the racket touched the ball, every figure vanished. Akutsu and his racket were both blasted away.
"0-40!"
When Akutsu stood again, a thin line of red blood slid down his forehead. He had been injured by Duke's destructive strike. But for Akutsu, this level of injury meant nothing.
He quickly served again with Eighth Consciousness, but this time, only five attack forms appeared. That last shot from Duke hadn't just broken his balance—it had shaken even his Eighth Consciousness.
Facing the five attack forms, Duke easily predicted the correct ball path and launched a fierce assault on Akutsu. In the mental world, the Destruction Demon God's massive hand grabbed Akutsu's head and slammed him into the ground.
"Game! Team Japan! 5-1!"
"Game! Team Japan! 5-2!"
"Game! Team Japan! 5-3!"
"Game! Team Japan! 5-4!"
With the Alternate Dimension—Destruction Demon God, Duke pulled back four games in a row. Akutsu, who had temporarily lost his Alternate Dimension, was completely suppressed. Even though he resisted nonstop, he couldn't stop the flow of points slipping away.
During the break, Akutsu, battered and scarred, sat on the bench gasping hard. The pressure Duke had just put on him was no less than what Akashi had done in their training match.
"Duke has already gone all out, just like you wanted. But it looks like you've lost the ability to fight back, Akutsu!" Akashi said, his tone calm and emotionless.
"I'll definitely beat him! It's just that I can't use my Alternate Dimension!" Akutsu downed the whole water bottle, then stood and walked back to the court.
In the tenth game, Akutsu served, but just like before, he barely managed to defend against Duke's full-force offense, let alone counterattack. The walls around the court were cracked and broken.
"0-15!"
"0-30!"
Watching Akutsu fall behind, the junior high players all looked worried. Honestly, none of them had ever seen Akutsu this beaten down before.
But this was Akutsu. If it had been anyone else, they'd already be badly injured and unable to keep playing. Duke's power wasn't a joke—his Homerun was no weaker than a glowing shot.
"Still not planning to give up? Then I'll destroy your persistence along with you!" Duke said as he watched Akutsu stubbornly stand again.
"Tch~ stop talking big!" Akutsu spat disdainfully and unleashed another high-speed serve. He knew even Eighth Consciousness was useless against Duke now.
The two clashed again, but it was clear Akutsu was starting to lag behind. Still, he refused to quit. He, Akutsu Jin, would never allow himself to lose like this.
Gradually, Duke noticed Akutsu's returns were getting stronger and faster, as if he was growing braver the more he fought. That only triggered Duke's ferocity, and their battle suddenly rose to another level.
The black and red aura around Akutsu grew denser. He pushed his wild nature to the limit. Just as he had said, even without an Alternate Dimension, he could still explode with terrifying power.
"Turn all your obsession into dust! Duke Homerun!" Duke roared, every muscle bulging as he smashed the ball with all his strength.
At that instant, Akutsu's wild aura erupted like a volcano, covering half the court. Huge cracks split open across the ground.
"Don't command me! I am Akutsu Jin!" Akutsu bellowed back. Behind him, the shadow of Fenrir the Demon Wolf reappeared, its body wrapped in scarlet flames, howling madly at the sky.
The massive wolf's jaws opened wide, as if ready to swallow the world. Duke's Homerun vanished into Fenrir's mouth. In reality, Akutsu's body split into nine attack forms, and with a loud strike, the ball turned into a blazing scarlet beam blasting toward the other side.
"Ragnarok!"
The Destruction Demon God struck with its palm to smash the scarlet beam, but this time it failed. The ball blasted Duke's racket away, and even the demon god staggered back several steps under Fenrir's crimson breath.
"15-30!"
"Even your defiance is just like the captain's, huh? Even if destroyed, you crawl back from hell again! You're really a kid worth admiring, Akutsu Jin!" Duke said, both emotional and relieved.
"As long as you have unbreakable courage and belief, Fenrir the Demon Wolf will gain infinite power and ferocity," Akashi murmured on the bench, recalling the legend of Fenrir.
With Akutsu's Alternate Dimension revived, his power broke through. From then on, Duke was completely suppressed. Even the Destruction Demon God seemed to lose its might and was finally torn in half by Fenrir's jaws.
"Game! 6-4! Match over! Total score 2-0! Winner: Second String Selection!"
When the match ended, Duke returned to his usual gentle self. He glanced at Akutsu and, for some reason, smiled. He said nothing and walked back to the bench.
Akutsu, meanwhile, was carried off by the medical team Akashi had arranged in advance. Blood was seeping from his feet—the last outburst had damaged his body.
"So it's finally our turn! Let me properly teach you a lesson, Akashi Seijūrō!" Byoudouin leapt down from the bench, a cruel smile on his face, shouting toward Akashi.