As soon as Byoudouin finished speaking, he instantly returned Keith's serve. Since Tanegashima had already gone back to Japan's bench, Byoudouin didn't use Destruction this time—but that didn't mean things would be easy for Keith.
Under the intense mental pressure of the Alternate Dimension—Pirate, Keith's Universal Gravity had already lost a lot of power. He hadn't noticed it himself, but the mental shock had even made his movements stiff.
Byoudouin instantly caught that opening and, without hesitation, fired the ball straight at him. Caught off guard, Keith took the hit right in the stomach. Sour bile spilled from his mouth as he curled up on the ground in pain.
"0–15!"
"Get up already! Can't handle even this much? And you were talking about destroying everything? What a joke!" Byoudouin sneered, looking coldly at Keith on the other side.
That taunt immediately brought back Keith's worst memories. His opponent had attacked Ling Xiu like that too. Unable to stand it, Keith had fought back—and the result was total rejection from the tennis world.
Thinking of that, Keith snapped. Fighting through the pain in his gut, he dragged himself to the baseline. His glare turned vicious as he blasted Universal Gravity at Byoudouin with full power.
"Yeah! That's more like it!" Byoudouin grinned excitedly, but even with Keith in berserk mode, it still wasn't enough. Byoudouin returned the serve with ease.
But Keith didn't let up. He quickly gathered another massive sphere of blue qi, forming it into a solid wall and smashing it at Byoudouin. Smoke exploded across the court, and all the spectators could hear was the sound of booming impacts from within the haze.
Moments later, Keith's body was flung out from the smoke, tumbling several times across the ground. On the other side, Byoudouin held his follow-through position, eyes cold as he stared down at the fallen Keith.
"0–30!"
And it didn't stop there. In the next two points, Keith tried desperately to fight back, but the gap in strength was too big. The tennis ball slammed him again and again, sending him flying. His body was wrecked, and the mental assault from the skeletal pirate tore at his mind.
"Game! Japan! 3–1!"
"Yare yare~ That poor England kid's really getting wrecked," Omagari said with a sigh as he watched Keith's miserable state on the screen.
"Captain's still going too easy! If it were me, I'd have given him the cruelest execution!" Toono gave a thumbs-up to Byoudouin's actions, but clearly didn't think it was enough.
"I'll correct you there, Toono! Right now, Japan's No. 1 is Akashi-kun. And I think this is only just beginning. You forget how those other countries' players ended up?" Kimijima chimed in beside him, taking a jab. Even though Kimijima had changed, when it came to Toono, he never held back—their dynamic hadn't changed a bit.
Hearing that, Akashi quietly chuckled to himself. 'Negotiation master' indeed. The way Kimijima switched tone depending on who he was talking to—it was master-level manipulation.
On court, Byoudouin's relentless attacks continued. The fifth game was his service game. He served a regular Glowing Shot, and though Keith blocked it with Universal Gravity, he couldn't stop the follow-up barrage of powerful strikes.
Even worse was the damage from the Alternate Dimension—Pirate. In the spiritual realm, the skeletal pirate was tearing Keith apart. Soon, Keith started losing point after point. The England team could barely bring themselves to keep watching.
"15–0!"
"30–0!"
"40–0!"
After dropping three straight points, Keith's mind was already slipping. His eyes were losing focus. When he returned Byoudouin's serve on instinct, he just stood there, dazed.
Suddenly, a sharp whooshing sound cut the air. The ball, spinning violently, slammed into Keith's chest. He coughed up blood as he was blasted backward—but strangely, the focus returned to his eyes for a moment.
"Game! Japan! 4–1! Change court!"
"Snap out of it! Who gave you permission to pass out, brat?! I already told you—I'm going to completely destroy you!" Byoudouin's eyes were filled with killing intent. With the hellish aura of the Divine Path of the Asura swirling around him, he looked like a demon god reborn.
"That's way over the line…" In the Swiss team's player lounge, Peter frowned at the screen in front of him.
"That's Byoudouin Houou—an extremely dangerous man," Amadeus replied gravely.
"Looks like you've got some history with this Byoudouin guy, captain," said Henri, the Swiss middle schooler, in a casual tone.
On court, Keith staggered to his feet. While the impact from Byoudouin's previous attack had helped him regain some clarity, his vision was now blurry. Pain shot through every part of his body, telling him one thing—he was almost at his limit.
While Keith was still trying to recover, Byoudouin walked straight over, grabbed him by the collar, and dragged him across to the other side of the court. It looked just like the scene from the original where Amadeus dragged Akutsu around. No wonder Byoudouin had earned Amadeus's respect.
"What the hell are you trying to do?!" Peter from the England bench couldn't hold it in anymore and shouted at Byoudouin.
"If he hasn't forfeited, then the match goes on. And I'm not about to let this brat give up that easily!" Byoudouin grinned cruelly as he turned to face Peter. The pressure he exuded felt like a wave from hell crashing down.
Peter froze in place, unable to get a word out. Ling Xiu, standing beside him, didn't fare much better—he instinctively stopped in his tracks.
"England player, please serve!" the umpire called out, urging Keith to continue.
Barely conscious, Keith raised his trembling right hand and tossed the ball. His left hand swung on reflex, but the ball floated weakly forward and hit the net.
"Fault! Second serve!"
Keith took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to focus. He tossed the ball again—this time it barely made it over the net. But Byoudouin didn't hold back. He smashed it back with a powerful forehand.
The tennis ball, carrying intense spin and force, slammed straight into Keith's abdomen. He spat out another mouthful of blood and collapsed to his knees, then slowly tipped forward.
"0–15!"
"All that talk about destroying everything... and this is the best you've got?" Byoudouin stood at the net, voice full of contempt.
"Keith!" Ling Xiu shouted and tried to rush forward, but Leon and Eric quickly held him back. At the same time, Peter was forced back into his seat by two senior players.
"Move! Can't you see Keith's at his limit?!" Ling Xiu's voice was a mess of anxiety, worry, and anger.
"The match isn't over yet! If you run in now, Keith's situation after returning home could get even worse," Eric said calmly, analyzing the situation.
While the England bench was caught up in the struggle, Keith, lying on the ground, fell into a flashback. His life played out before him—starting from the moment he had confidently joined the tennis school and formed a doubles team with Ling Xiu. The two of them went on to win multiple youth championships together.
But at the peak of his success, one impulsive act ruined everything. During a match, unable to bear seeing Ling Xiu get attacked, Keith used an incomplete Universal Gravity to blast the opponent.
The problem was, the opponent had connections to the tennis federation and got off scot-free. Keith, who retaliated, was expelled from the academy and blacklisted. No other school would take him in.
"Resolve… huh? That kind of thing… is meaningless… But… for this match… I really don't want to lose…" Just as Byoudouin turned to finish the match, a weak but determined voice came from behind him—Keith.