Chapter 85: Defeat
"Rin stopped Luna?" Bachira's eyes were filled with disbelief. Had Rin improved too, just like Kira?
"Such stylish defense... biting like a wild dog," Aryu commented.
Isagi noticed that Rin's movements were significantly faster than before. It was as if something had ignited inside him.
"You brat, you're actually pretty good."
"To keep such a frantic desire for survival even now."
Luna's footwork slowed slightly, feinting as if he were about to make a move.
A spark flashed in Rin's eyes, and he suddenly lunged, extending his foot to steal the ball.
"Don't commit, Rin!"
Seeing Rin's move, Kira immediately shouted a warning.
Rin had lost his cool. Luna slowing down his rhythm was a trap—deliberately exposing a weakness to bait Rin into lunging.
Unfortunately, Kira's shout came a split second too late.
"Then I'll sincerely crush that unrealistic dream of yours."
Luna smiled, the look of someone whose scheme had succeeded. At the same time, his rhythm changed again. With a sharp flick of his toe, he pushed the ball through the gap between Rin's legs created by his lunging stance—a nutmeg.
His body became a blur as he slipped past Rin!
"My, my. Spreading your legs so easily... people might think you're a loose man."
As Luna breezed past, he whispered into Rin's ear.
"Damn it!"
Enraged, Rin finally realized he'd been played and immediately turned to chase.
Kira also charged in from the flank, cutting off Luna's path to the goal.
"Stop him!! Sasuke-kun (Kira)!" Isagi screamed, cheering for Kira with everything he had while sprinting back to help defend.
"White-haired kid, do you really think you're some kind of genius?"
Seeing Kira join the fray, Luna exploded with power. His legs churned like pistons, a blur of speed.
Kira was a step too slow. In an instant, Luna had pulled away, creating a gap between them.
"Dammit... when Luna accelerates, I can't catch him right now."
Kira felt a deep sense of helplessness as he watched Luna tear toward their goal like a cheetah.
Aryu, Isagi, and Bachira arrived to provide cover.
But Luna was too fast, and his dribbling was rock steady. With his tyrannical explosive power and polished technique, he breezed past all three of them effortlessly.
Bachira's face was filled with terror. He wanted to slide tackle to stop the ball, but his speed couldn't match Luna's pace at all. He tried to reach out and grab Luna's jersey, but he grabbed only air.
He could only watch Luna's back as he sped away.
Bachira knew in his heart that he had a long road ahead before he could catch up to this adult in front of him.
Luna faced the goal one-on-one.
With an elegant chip shot, he sent the ball over the robotic goalkeeper, who had zero awareness for defending high balls.
GOAL!
The ball went in.
White Team 5-2.
Loki raised his hands high on his side of the field, watching Luna deliver the ball into the net.
Even he was involuntarily impressed by Luna's performance. "As expected of the 'Prince' of RE-AL. I look forward to facing you in the Champions League."
Silva, however, scoffed. "All flashy moves. Just showing off against some kids."
Blake didn't say anything, but internally he agreed with Loki. Luna was going to be a formidable opponent in the future Champions League.
"Finally over. Time to shower. I still need to go look around..." Cavazos stretched lazily.
Lost?
This was his first loss since transmigrating.
Kira felt a mix of complicated emotions. He understood the gap between himself and the opponent. He knew clearly that even with the Trial Cards, he was still no match for them.
To put it in gaming terms, today's match was like a ranked game where the enemy team had five top-tier players. On his side, only he was at that level (the jungler), Rin a tier below (mid-laner), and the other three another tier down. Maybe Isagi and the others were barely scratching the surface of that second tier. But it didn't matter—the gap was just too vast.
But it didn't matter.
The gap was too big.
The expressions on the Blue Team members' faces were desolate. They had been shouting about becoming the world's number one striker. But when world-class top strikers appeared right in front of them, that gap made them want to give up on their dreams.
Was their football career ending here?
Isagi couldn't help but question himself. Was this really something hard work could catch up to?
"Hey, hey, relax. You guys look too serious."
After scoring, Luna waved goodbye to the Blue Team with a relaxed look. "The real purpose of this match was to select players to represent Japan in the U-20 World Cup."
"Which means, from the very beginning, you were destined to lose."
Destined to lose?
Isagi and Bachira looked up upon hearing this.
What did that mean? So this final selection wouldn't eliminate anyone? A feeling of surviving a disaster spread among the Blue Team members.
"Hey, you kids really know how to dream. You didn't actually plan on winning, did you?"
"Besides, there was no way you could win anyway." Silva's words were like needles. Straight to the heart, man.
Kira felt like the big guy was pointing that at him. But he looked at the panting Rin beside him and realized Rin had wanted to win, too.
"Alright everyone, we have to go report your skill levels to Ego..." Cavazos waved goodbye as well.
"I need to get back to the hotel ASAP. Gotta hit the bars and pick up girls tonight." Blake returned to his true nature.
"Huh?"
Just as everyone thought the world stars were about to leave, Loki walked slowly up to Kira.
"How did you feel about this match? Japan's Supernova... interested in coming to France to play football?"
"Tch." Hearing this, Rin's hands unconsciously clenched into fists. He recalled his own parting with his brother.
***
Monitoring Room.
Slap.
"That Loki has really crossed the line, taking players straight from other teams," Anri pouted angrily. In her mind, Kira was a treasure-level player now, and Loki had just started recruiting him right there.
"Tch."
Ego tapped the desk, unbothered by her outburst.
Kira's performance today indeed showed he had the qualifications to stand in the top five leagues. If Kira chose to accept, Ego would respect that decision. Going to a higher stage was what every striker dreamed of.
***
On the pitch.
It suddenly went quiet.
Everyone was waiting for Kira's answer.
"Hey, Loki, you brat, you move too fast." Silva actually had his eye on Kira too, but he couldn't bring himself to ask.
The other world stars all looked at Loki with complaint. They had planned to find him privately later to poach him.
Seeing that Kira hadn't answered, Loki smiled and continued, "With your current performance, you could come straight to our B-team."
"No, even the first team. I believe you could secure a starting spot in a very short time."
"I look forward to being teammates with you."
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