Under the referee's signal, the two brothers quickly began the coin toss. Ryōma got lucky and won the right to serve. He turned around and walked straight to the baseline, with no intention of saying anything more to Ryōga.
Seeing this, Ryōga could only sigh helplessly. The smile on his face never faded, making it impossible to tell what he was really thinking. Just then, Echizen Nanjirō had somehow appeared in the spectator stands. After all, he was Ryōma's father, and deep down, he still couldn't help but worry.
"Aa~ these two brats really ended up facing each other on the court. Now all I can do is hope Ryōma's tennis doesn't get completely taken away by Ryōga…" Nanjirō frowned as he looked at his two sons on the court and muttered in a low, complicated tone.
"Best of three sets! Team America to serve first!"
Ryōma picked up a tennis ball from the side, tested its bounce, then tossed it high into the air. His left hand swung the racket down hard at the falling ball, and the tennis ball shot forward at extreme speed toward Spain's half of the court.
Ryōga looked at the plain, no-frills high-speed serve and chuckled lightly. His figure instantly appeared at the landing point. With what looked like a casual swing of his right hand, the rebounding ball immediately turned into a beam of light and flew back into America's half.
Ryōma was still positioned near the baseline. He didn't choose to rush the net, so when the ball landed and bounced up, he simply shifted sideways a few steps and swung his racket, driving a sharp crosscourt shot.
On the opposite side, Ryōga also didn't move forward. He quickly stepped in front of the ball, extended his racket, and snapped a backhand. The ball flew high into the air over America's court with clear topspin.
This time, Ryōma had to sprint toward the net at full speed. When he reached the center line, he leapt high into the air. In the instant he jumped, Ryōma instinctively wanted to twist his body and fire off a tornado smash, but he forcibly suppressed the urge and only returned a normal smash.
"Trying to use basic tennis to fight my devouring, huh? That's way too naive… chibi. When it comes to fundamentals, you're still far behind me~"
Ryōga's figure had already appeared at the front court without anyone noticing. Before the ball even touched the ground, he seized the timing and swung instantly.
The next second, a yellow afterimage flashed past Ryōma's feet. When Ryōma landed, the tennis ball slammed onto the baseline behind him and then bounced quickly out of bounds.
"0–15!"
"If you don't use techniques, chibi, you won't have any chance of winning this match~" Ryōga said with a playful tone, still smiling after scoring.
Ryōma had no intention of replying. He turned around and walked straight back to the baseline. This actually surprised Ryōga a bit—he had thought Ryōma would trade a few sharp words with him.
Soon, Ryōma fired off another high-speed serve. Ryōga shook his head with an amused smile, seemingly helpless toward his stubborn little brother, but his hands didn't hesitate at all as he easily returned the serve.
The two sides immediately entered a baseline rally. Neither showed any intention of rushing the net. Unfortunately, Ryōma's five-dimensional attributes were clearly weaker than Ryōga's. After only five exchanges, Ryōga caught an opening and took the point with a sharp, tight-angle drive.
"0–30!"
The next point went the same way. Ryōma seemed to be deliberately avoiding the use of any techniques, relying purely on basic tennis throughout the match. Even though some of his shot angles were tricky, they were completely ineffective against Ryōga.
"0–40!"
"This is bad! To avoid getting devoured, Ryōma has been sticking to basic tennis the whole time. This won't work. Ryōga's fundamental strength is clearly higher than his!" Kiko said worriedly from the American team's bench.
"I think Ryōma must have some other plan. There's no way he doesn't know he'll be at a disadvantage in pure fundamentals," Clive replied, sounding slightly uncertain.
"Maybe this is exactly how Ryōma plans to deal with Ryōga. If I'm not wrong, he'll activate that very soon…" Reinhardt said thoughtfully.
Almost as soon as Reinhardt finished speaking, Ryōma's entire body erupted with dazzling cyan light. Countless cyan particles began to swirl around him. In the next moment, the particles turned into rippling waves, spreading outward layer by layer.
"Radiance of Pain!"
"So that's how it is. Radiance of Pain represents the player's state of mind itself. It isn't a technique or an ability. Ryōga probably can't devour it, and there's even a good chance he'll be affected by the emotions carried by Radiance of Pain!" Hopkins said as he watched Ryōma on the court, already guessing his plan.
Right after that, Ryōma tossed the tennis ball up and snapped his left arm forward. As two almost overlapping impact sounds rang out, the ball instantly appeared outside Spain's baseline.
"ACE! 15–40!"
"So those last few points were just warm-up to activate Ten'i Muhō no Kiwami, huh~ But… if you think you can win this match just by relying on Ten'i Muhō no Kiwami, then you're way too naive, chibi!" Ryōga said. He didn't care about losing the point at all. The smile was still on his face, but his eyes were slowly turning dangerous.
"Heh~~~~~ then say that after you actually beat my Ten'i Muhō no Kiwami~" Ryōma shot back confidently, grinning as he stared straight at his older brother.
After saying that, Ryōma didn't wait for Ryōga's reaction. Without the slightest hesitation, he quickly tossed the ball again and fired off another ultra-high-speed serve. Empowered by Radiance of Pain, the ball didn't even leave behind an afterimage.
Even so, Ryōga intercepted the rebounding ball with extreme precision. His right arm suddenly exploded with power as he unleashed a brutal drive. Under Ryōma's slightly stunned gaze, the tennis ball directly blasted his racket out of his hand.
"GAME! Spain leads! 0–1!"
Just as Ryōma was about to go pick up his racket, he suddenly realized that the cyan light around his body had completely vanished. The power brought by Radiance of Pain weakened rapidly in a very short time, then disappeared altogether.
At first, Ryōma froze. Then, as if he suddenly understood something, he snapped his head up and looked across the net. Ryōga was now glowing with dazzling cyan light, cyan particles rippling outward from his body in waves. He was clearly in the Radiance of Pain state.
"What the hell?! He can even devour Radiance of Pain?! And why was Ryōga able to complete the devouring instantly this time?" Dodo shouted in disbelief from the American team's bench. After all, he already understood Ryōga's devouring ability from Reinhardt and Ryōma.
Simply put, even though Ryōga could devour an opponent's tennis, it normally didn't take effect immediately. Usually, it required several rounds of exchanges before the devouring fully completed. But now, when devouring Ryōma's Radiance of Pain, Ryōga had done it in just a single ball.
"Maybe we've never truly understood Ryōga's devouring ability at all… Light of Pride is Nanjirō-sensei's signature power. Ryōga must have already mastered it. Could this mean that if the ability being devoured is something Ryōga already possesses, then the devouring time can be drastically shortened?" Reinhardt slowly voiced his conclusion.
——————
At the same time, inside the stadium where Germany Team and Japan Team were playing, Ochi relied on his Instantaneous Serve, far surpassing Mōri's, to directly take the fifth game. Even so, it didn't change the overall situation on court. With Satellite Perspective supporting them, Bertie and Dankmar were always able to pinpoint all kinds of openings between the two of them.
"GAME! Germany leads! 2–4!"
The seventh game came with Mōri serving. When he reached the baseline, he suddenly caught onto a strange sensation. In the next instant, his pupils turned purple, and his body entered a charged state, yet his mind remained completely clear.
'I finally caught it… the long-lost meditation state~' Mōri thought to himself as he picked up a tennis ball from the side.