"Sorry, Zeus! I still lost..." After the match ended, Hercules walked to the bench and spoke to Zeus.
"No need to apologize, I know you did your best, Thalatta! Besides, I believe this match taught you quite a lot, didn't it, Evan~" Zeus, with his baby-faced look, replied calmly.
"This time when we go back I'll train harder, captain!" Evan stuck out his tongue at Zeus, already determined in his heart that he needed to improve quickly—he couldn't keep being a burden in matches.
"Will the next doubles match still be Charon and Uriah going in, Zeus?" Hermes stepped beside Zeus and asked.
"No! Their strength is still in the growth stage, and the next match could very well crush their tennis! So I'll have to trouble you and Vulcan this time!" After thinking for a moment, Zeus decided to change the players for the next match. From the moment Hercules lost, Greece's chances of winning had already dropped sharply.
"I see... that works... then let me and Hermes get a better grasp of Japan Team's strength~" Vulcan had no objections to Zeus's proposal, and immediately walked toward the court with Hermes.
Meanwhile, in Japan's lounge, Akashi first praised Tachibana Kippei and Chitose Senri for their match, then discussed with coach Saitō Itaru about the lineup for Doubles One. They decided to send in Krauser and Kite Eishirō as a pair.
Originally, Niō Masaharu was supposed to play, but he refused. Because during the group stage, the stadiums couldn't hold too many spectators, most matches were broadcast to the other national teams. Niō's Illusion couldn't trick the cameras, so he didn't plan to reveal his trump card early. It was best to hide Illusion until the crucial elimination rounds.
"I say, Niō-kun, your Illusion will be exposed to other teams sooner or later. Isn't it better to reveal it early?" Fuji Shūsuke asked playfully.
"Only when it appears unexpectedly at a key moment can it really surprise the opponent, don't you think?" Niō smiled back, looking every bit like a sly white fox who'd just pulled off a trick.
"Niō-kun really is interesting~ Well, I should get to the court now. I'll leave things here to you, Akashi-kun!" Saitō Itaru also smiled, then left the lounge after saying that to Akashi.
"Man, Niō, even at the world stage you still love stirring things up!" Tachibana chuckled as he wiped his sweat, speaking casually to Niō.
"Hiding strength in the group stage is also a strategy. If not for that strong high schooler just now, I wouldn't have revealed my trump card so early either!" Chitose replied from the side.
"As long as you know what you're doing, Niō. For now, let's just watch the match quietly~" Akashi wasn't surprised at Niō's decision. His eyes stayed on the big screen ahead as he spoke calmly.
Soon, Kite and Krauser appeared on the screen, slowly walking toward the court. The scoreboard already displayed their names and ages, and the crowd looked surprised. Japan Team had sent two middle schoolers to compete again.
Even though the tournament rules only restricted the number of high schoolers, almost every country brought the maximum four. Japan Team, on the other hand, kept sending middle schoolers—two doubles matches in a row.
"Now starting Doubles One! Greece—Hermes Kounellis (3rd Year High School), Vulcan Laertius (3rd Year High School)! Japan—Kite Eishirō (3rd Year Middle School), Liliadent Krauser (3rd Year Middle School)! Players, please enter the court!"
All four walked onto the court together. Kite rolled up his sleeves as he headed to the net. During the pre-match handshake, Vulcan looked at the two Japan middle schoolers and suddenly spoke in a flat tone:
"In Japan, you have that kind of free thinking, where I have to study and learn just to even understand it. And when facing big problems, even if we spend the same amount of time and use the same ways of thinking, we still can't solve them. That fascinates me. I hope after the match, I can really talk with your Japan Team about this!"
Krauser and Kite both froze at his words, not really understanding what he was saying. Luckily, Hermes quickly explained:
"Sorry! You don't need to mind what Vulcan said! I just hope we can give each other an enjoyable match!"
Kite and Krauser felt it was odd, but didn't say anything. Then, under the umpire's instructions, they went to the coin toss. This time Kite won the serve.
"One set match! Japan serves first!"
Kite walked to the baseline, calming himself. He wasn't nervous, but since this was his first world-class match, some waves still stirred in his heart. Once steady, he tossed the ball high. His left arm muscles tightened as he drove the racket through with force. A loud explosive sound rang out as the ball rocketed into the opposite court with tremendous power.
"Big Bang Serve!"
Vulcan quickly read the ball's path and rushed to the landing point. As the ball bounced, his racket struck cleanly, and the heavy spin from the Big Bang Serve seemed to have no effect on him at all.
The ball shot back even faster than it had come. Kite's eyes narrowed, and in an instant he appeared at the front court, intercepting it with a firm swing. The moment the ball hit the racket, sparks seemed to scatter, and Kite felt a heavy shock running through his left hand.
"Celestial Fire Hammer!"
Luckily, Kite had trained in martial arts since childhood, and this level of vibration wasn't enough to knock his racket away. With a flick of his wrist, the ball spun with tremendous rotation and curved sharply toward the open space on Hermes's right side.
Hermes slid across immediately to block, but when the ball bounced up it suddenly veered violently in midair. With an eerie curve, it twisted past his side and out of bounds.
"Habu!"
"15-0!"
"By swinging in the opposite direction to add irregular spin, the ball twists into a huge curve when hit by outside force? That's quite the technique!" Hermes glanced at the ball outside the court and calmly explained the principle of Habu.
Kite gave no reply. He just turned coldly, reset at the baseline, and tossed the ball again. Another Big Bang Serve blasted across, but to Vulcan, it was no different than any other serve.
He returned it with ease, but Krauser instantly flashed to the net, sticking his racket out to deflect the ball toward the right sideline. A moment later, Hermes appeared almost like he had teleported, whipping a sharp crosscourt passing shot.
The ball was about to smash into the far corner and fly out when Kite too seemed to teleport, intercepting it and sending it back. The two sides' movements blurred across their courts, flashing so quickly that spectators with weaker dynamic vision could no longer even follow the ball.
After several rallies, Kite suddenly unleashed another Habu. Hermes, as if expecting it, scooped the ball up before it landed. But the spin was awkward, and he failed to adjust, sending the ball high into the air.
Krauser leapt up, smashing down while loading heavy topspin. The ball cleared the net and pounded the center line. Vulcan rushed in, ready to return, but the bounce shot the ball up at a sharp angle, grazing the tip of his nose before flying out.
"30-0!"
"They can even keep up with Hermes's speed? That's unexpected. As I thought, Japan Team's players are never simple!" Zeus stood at the sideline, watching with great interest.
"Aren't you going back to the bench to watch, Zeus?" Hercules asked from beside him.
"Only here can I observe Japan Team's strength clearly, Thalatta!" Zeus answered with a light laugh.
"But right now it looks like Japan Team has the upper hand again~" Evan said, a little worried.
"Don't worry, Evan! The opening points were never Hermes and Vulcan's scoring chances anyway. Just trust them and watch—you'll see soon enough!" Zeus's tone was full of confidence, as if everything was already under his control.
On the third point, Hermes received serve and returned Kite's Big Bang Serve smoothly. Kite didn't mind—those three serves had used less than half his power anyway.
Not only Greece but Japan was also probing each other's strength. With unspoken understanding, both sides launched into rapid exchanges. Kite's all-court shukuchi perfectly countered Hermes's speed, keeping his trademark passing shots from showing their full effect.
Hermes suddenly dashed to the net and blasted a shot between Kite and Krauser. The ball turned into a streak of yellow light, racing toward the baseline. This time Kite didn't intercept with shukuchi. Instead, he sidestepped.
From behind him, Krauser appeared, swinging with a broad motion. His racket drove the ball back at Hermes with strong vertical spin.
Vulcan tried to cut it off first, but the moment the ball touched his racket, a crushing torque twisted into his wrist. His right hand let go instinctively, sending the racket spinning into the air while the ball ripped past the baseline.
"Wirbel Taufe!"
"40-0!"
"The Whirlpool Baptism of Volk! I didn't expect anyone in Japan Team to know that move. This could get troublesome..." Hermes frowned as he stared across at Krauser.