Akashi's words made Tanegashima's mind go blank. Back when Akashi fought Byoudouin, he had already shown another Alternate Dimension. But what he just used was clearly different. In other words, Akashi had awakened a third Alternate Dimension—something completely beyond Tanegashima's understanding.
Chaldeas! This was the special Alternate Dimension born from the hidden power deep within Akashi's soul. Strictly speaking, calling it an Alternate Dimension wasn't entirely correct. Chaldeas was actually one of the three ultimate trump cards of the Chaldea Organization.
The organization's full name was the Human Order Security Organization, Finis Chaldea—a magecraft workshop built in a place free from any nation's interference, a facility that could keep absolute secrecy.
Its goal was to ensure the continuation of human history, keeping it long and resilient. By gathering researchers from every field, combining magic and science, they created an institute and observatory whose ultimate purpose was to prevent the extinction of humankind.
They developed many facilities far beyond the present age, and among them, Chaldeas was the most important. Simply put, it was a miniature model of Earth's environment, a magecraft device capable of replicating the planet's soul.
If a planet possessed a 'soul,' then Chaldeas was the copy of that soul. To ensure humanity would not perish, Chaldea called it "Earth's data a hundred years from now," running as a simulated system.
The famous Holy Grail War could summon Heroic Spirits not just with the summoning system, but also with the pseudo-spiritual particle transfer support of Chaldeas. Through Chaldeas' internal simulation and the observations of Sheba, Heroic Spirits gained traits they didn't originally possess—such as class and magical power rank.
After awakening the Alternate Dimension of Chaldeas, Akashi built it as a miniature model of the Generation of Miracles' black-and-blue world. Using that fictional node, he could temporarily materialize their abilities as his own power.
Perhaps due to Gilgamesh's influence, Akashi's Alternate Dimension also drew from the Fate worldview. Combined with his Akashi template, this strange phenomenon allowed him to wield the abilities of the six other Generation of Miracles members. If he wanted, he could even use Kagami's power, though he felt no need.
For both the Kuroko Akashi and the present one, Kagami's potential was on the level of the Generation of Miracles, but he lacked any special ability. His only traits were superhuman jumping and hang time—useful in basketball, but meaningless in tennis.
Earlier, during his match against Ryōga at the training camp, Akashi had used Haizaki's ability to plunder Ryōga's techniques, while Ryōga was unable to devour Akashi's. First, Akashi's Alternate Dimension carried divine nature, suppressing Ryōga's instinctive devour. Second, the existence of his system template.
Akashi's core was the template granted by the system—the kuroko Akashi. Though he had fully mastered its power, in essence, it retained a special nature. That made Ryōga's devour ineffective against him.
Moreover, since Haizaki's plunder resembled Ryōga's devour and even shared certain principles, Akashi had gained an understanding of the latter. Naturally, he would not fall for it easily. That was why Ryōga had laughed so freely after their match ended.
Though injured by Akashi's offense, he had finally felt the thrill of unleashing his true strength without restraint. Ryōga's devour wasn't something he could fully control. Once he got serious, his opponent's tennis was bound to be devoured.
"This should be your third Alternate Dimension, right, Akashi-chan?" Tanegashima asked uncertainly after recovering.
"No. This is only my second," Akashi replied, not bothering to explain about Enkidu. The other wouldn't understand anyway.
By now, the crowd around the court was utterly shocked. The world No. 23 Japan Team was leading the No. 1 Germany Team by four games, even with Volk on the court. Even if it was just an exhibition, it was hard to accept.
On Germany's bench, with coach Ken Lendoll absent, Q.P. had been managing everything. His expression was dark—Japan's strength far exceeded expectations, their threat to Germany even greater than the United States.
"Volk won't go all out in an exhibition. And with Schneider not here, Bertie can't show his full ability. This is bad, tch…" Bismarck muttered, frowning.
"If we lose this exhibition, the media backlash will hit Germany hard. All we can do now is see how Volk responds," Q.P. admitted grimly. They simply hadn't studied Japan enough.
In the fifth game, it was Volk's serve. Though Japan led four games, Volk's performance hadn't changed much. But sweat had begun to bead on Bertie's forehead. His mentality hadn't collapsed, but the pressure was heavy.
Volk stood at the baseline, picked up a ball, and for the first time tested its bounce. Then he tossed it high and swung hard. The ball tore forward with immense force and speed, crashing toward the opposite court.
Tanegashima's powerful mental resistance let him stay completely focused. The moment Volk's serve came, he had already read the ball's path. With a quick step to the drop point, he used Mu's ability to erase all the ball's momentum, then sent it toward Bertie's right side.
But Bertie seemed to have predicted Tanegashima's intent and direction. He rushed to the net early and quickly returned it. Soon the rally heated up again. This time, Volk and Akashi didn't fall back into a one-on-one mode.
Tanegashima handled almost all of the defense. Most of the balls were intercepted with Void, and from time to time he struck back with Halt Destruction Nothingness. Akashi focused on controlling return angles, letting Tanegashima perform at his maximum.
This wasn't the system's modified pseudo ZONE, but the original pseudo ZONE Akashi had used in the black-and-blue world—manipulating the match tempo with the Emperor Eye so teammates could shine.
The system's pseudo ZONE could push teammates' latent power to the limit for a short time, provided they still had unawakened strength inside.
The rally raged on, but Volk suddenly noticed Akashi's figure seemed to be fading, leaving Tanegashima to carry most of the defense and counterattacks.
Before Volk could think further, Bertie's return cleverly bypassed Tanegashima's coverage. No matter how strong Mu's defense was, if he couldn't reach it, the point was lost.
Just as Bertie thought the point was his, golden light burst behind Tanegashima. A massive glowing orb wrapped in plasma shot straight at him.
"Misdirection!" "Mana Cannon!"
The next moment, Volk's body blocked in front of Bertie. He swung in a rush, intercepting the ball, but without seeing Akashi's strike in advance and caught unprepared, the ball pierced his strings and blasted into the back wall, leaving a deep crater.
"0-15!"
"That was… Tanegashima's Reciprocal Void?" Kimijima muttered from the bench, surprised that Tanegashima would use it in an exhibition.
"No, that wasn't Reciprocal Void. Though the effect looked similar, I'm sure Akashi did something," Omagari answered firmly.
As Tanegashima's doubles partner, he knew the conditions for activating Reciprocal Void. In that moment, Tanegashima couldn't have used it, so he was certain Akashi's disappearance was unrelated.
In truth, Akashi had borrowed Kuroko Tetsuya's ability from the Kuroko world—lowering his presence and redirecting opponents' attention through his teammate, creating an illusion like invisibility. It resembled Tanegashima's Void Before Birth.
But compared to Tanegashima, Kuroko's ability was weaker. Akashi only used it to test whether it could resonate with Tanegashima's skill. It seemed not. Likely because it wasn't Akashi's own power.
He realized more clearly now. Ryōga couldn't devour his abilities, but he also couldn't resonate with others' powers. That was why he tried using Kuroko's skill, hoping for a different result.
After switching to a new racket, Volk launched another powerful serve. Tanegashima reacted instantly, returning it sharp. Volk rushed the net and smashed hard at the ball.
Akashi didn't call on the Generation of Miracles again. Instead, he activated the Complete Emperor Eye, seeing through Volk's every move. He intercepted each shot a step early, even reading Bertie's counters.
But after several rallies, Akashi noticed Volk wasn't planning to go further. The strength he was showing now was about the same as Byoudouin before his rebirth. Akashi could already guess Volk's intent.
Everyone knew—neither the Japan Team nor Germany was fighting with full strength. Tanegashima had only shown Halt Destruction Nothingness. Akashi hadn't drawn on Gilgamesh. Volk hadn't released his full five attributes. Bertie was clearly holding back too, especially with Dankmar still absent. Both sides were saving for the real matches ahead.
Once Volk understood Japan's true strength, he had already decided to give up this exhibition. Revealing his full power now wasn't wise. From then on, Germany was completely on the back foot.
"Game! Japan! 5-0!"
"Game! 6-0! Match over! Winner, Japan Team!"
When it ended, the crowd fell silent in shock. The world No. 1 Germany Team had been crushed by Japan—bageled, even with the world's top pro Volk on court.