"Yare yare~ Romeo really deserves his reputation as one of the top three middle school players in this tournament. That kind of psychological control is honestly pretty scary~" Ryōga said with a playful tone from the Spain Team's bench.
"So you're planning to take Romeo's ability too? Remember your promise. In the Spain Team, other than me, you're not allowed to play against anyone else," Medanoré said coldly after hearing Ryōga's words.
"Come on~ I don't want to get scolded by that old man. Relax. No matter what, we're teammates now~" Ryōga replied with a light laugh.
"You'll be playing Singles Three against your own younger brother next. What are you planning to do? Are you really going to completely take his tennis?" Medanoré changed the topic and asked about Ryōga's upcoming match with Ryōma.
"That day was bound to come sooner or later. Besides, it was the little guy who suggested it himself, wasn't it? As his older brother, I've got to grant his wish~" A strange light flashed through Ryōga's eyes as he quietly took another bite of his mandarin.
——————
After three minutes of set break, the four players from the Japan Team and the Germany Team returned to the court. Even though Germany had just lost the first set, neither Dankmar nor Bertie showed any sign of frustration or unwillingness.
The first game of the set was Ochi's service game, which looked like a good start for the Japan Team. However, Akashi on the sidelines didn't think so. In his mind, he was already fairly certain that Bertie had found a way to return the Mach Serve.
After walking to the baseline, Ochi wasted no time and tossed the ball straight up. As he swung, two sharp impact sounds lined up into one. Dankmar stood there without reacting at all, clearly not even seeing the ball.
"ACE! 15-0!"
After scoring with his serve, Ochi didn't hesitate and tossed the ball again. But at the instant he swung, he keenly noticed that Dankmar's expression was completely calm, without the slightest trace of panic from being unable to receive the Mach Serve.
"ACE! 30-0!"
After Dankmar and Bertie switched their front and back positions, Ochi glanced at where Bertie was standing and suddenly fired off the third Mach Serve without any warning. Yet the moment Ochi tossed the ball, Bertie had already started moving sideways to the left.
This time, three impact sounds lined up into one. Ochi was startled to find that his Mach Serve had rebounded cleanly off Bertie's racket, as if the two of them had planned it in advance.
However, Mōri, who was still in his sleeping state, moved first. He stepped forward, leapt high into the air, and swung his racket down hard with his right hand. The ball instantly turned into a streak of light and shot toward Germany's half.
But Dankmar seemed to have anticipated it. The instant the ball hit the ground and bounced up, he used a half-volley technique to smash it straight back. The ball flew at extreme speed, flashing past Mōri's feet in the blink of an eye and heading straight for the baseline.
Ochi hurriedly shifted sideways and swung without waiting for the ball to land, but Bertie had already moved to the front court. He and Dankmar had actually formed a two-man net interception formation.
Bertie flashed in front of the ball and snapped a quick backhand. The ball, which had just crossed the net, flew back into the Japan Team's court at an even faster speed. Fortunately, Mōri had already landed. Relying purely on instinct, he pivoted on his right foot, spun sharply, and swung to intercept it. He managed to return the ball, but because of the angle, its trajectory was completely within Bertie's expectations.
The instant the ball crossed the net, it slammed straight into Bertie's racket. It was like hitting a lump of cotton. All the kinetic energy on the ball vanished, and it slowly dropped toward the ground.
Mōri immediately ran toward it, but by the time he reached the landing point, the ball was already lying quietly on the court without even a slight bounce. That alone showed just how precise Bertie's control had been.
"30-15!"
"He actually intercepted Ochi's Mach Serve in advance? Just from collecting data? Can that really reach this level?" Toono said in disbelief from the sidelines.
"In theory, as long as the data is sufficient and precise enough, it is possible. But even I've never successfully returned Ochi-senpai's Mach Serve. Germany's Bertie is clearly not relying on data alone," Mitsuya said, his gaze deep as he looked at Bertie.
"Even though Ochi's Mach Serve is insanely fast, its trajectory is too simple and straightforward. As long as you predict the landing point in advance and grasp the timing precisely, it's still possible to return it," Byoudouin Houou said, giving his own view.
Oni didn't say anything, but it was obvious he agreed with Byoudouin's opinion. After all, he himself could only barely return the Mach Serve using that method, yet he couldn't do it as calmly as Bertie just did.
While they were discussing, Ochi had already fired off the fourth Mach Serve. The result was the same, as Bertie directly blocked it back, and this time Mōri didn't immediately jump for a smash, because he had already woken up from his sleeping state at some point.
Mōri simply watched the ball pass over his head without trying to intercept it. He knew Ochi would return it perfectly. After confirming Bertie's return, Mōri immediately closed his eyes again. This brief awakening was clearly just to stop himself from instinctively smashing, so the opponent wouldn't catch an opening.
Ochi didn't look at the slowly descending ball. Instead, he locked his gaze on Bertie and Dankmar. After clearly seeing their positioning, he swung upward from below and actually returned a high lob as well.
The ball instantly shot high into Germany's half. That height was clearly beyond the normal smashing range, but Ochi knew Bertie could jump to that height with Dankmar's assistance, so his full attention stayed on Bertie.
The next second, a massive shadow completely engulfed Ochi and Mōri. The entire crowd cried out in shock, because in their vision, a giant had suddenly appeared in Germany's half.
Dankmar's figure had become unbelievably huge, almost occupying more than half the court by himself. Compared to his current size, the high lob Ochi had hit looked completely ordinary.
Dankmar simply swung his racket casually, and the ball was instantly sent back. Because of the height, it flew straight over Mōri in the front court. With shock written all over Ochi's face, the ball slammed heavily into the ground and then bounced out of bounds.
"Ability—Colossus!"
"30-30!"
A visual proportional diagram of Dankmar's Colossus ability.
"Am I seeing things?" Kirihara said from the Japan Team's bench, rubbing his eyes with a dazed tone. Dankmar's Colossus ability had clearly hit him hard.
"This… this is way too shocking. Is this guy even human?" Even Sanada, who was always known for being serious, completely lost control of his expression.
'That really is kind of ridiculous… If Captain Levi saw this scene, Dankmar's nape probably wouldn't survive,' Akashi couldn't help but think as he looked at Dankmar in his giant form.
On the court, Ochi stood there stunned for several seconds before slowly accepting the situation. Even though he didn't know how the opponent did it, just looking at Dankmar's current positioning made his head ache, because Dankmar had practically covered the entire baseline.
However, the umpire's urging quickly rang out. Ochi had no choice but to quickly toss the ball and swing. It was still a Mach Serve so fast it was invisible, but this time, Dankmar blocked it with ease.
Dankmar extended his enormous racket downward, and Ochi's serve slammed straight into it, completely losing its speed advantage. And you couldn't even call it a foul, because the rules never said you weren't allowed to temporarily make your racket bigger.
Still, Akashi knew very well that Dankmar hadn't truly enlarged his body. It was a kind of illusion created by a special aura combined with his mental power, just one that looked incredibly real. As for being able to return the Mach Serve, that was most likely Bertie's doing.