Seele quickly advanced into the attacking third, only to find Rosaria stepping up to block her.
"It's her!"
Seele's heart skipped a beat.
Rosaria's whirlwind kick from earlier was still fresh in her mind.
Was she about to get launched again?
Seele tensed up, ready to dodge the instant Rosaria showed any sign of lifting her leg.
To her surprise, Rosaria didn't use her special move this time.
Instead, she challenged her directly for the ball.
"No special move?"
Seele didn't know why Rosaria held back, but that was good news.
With a sharp pull and flick, she executed a perfect rainbow flick—an elegant elastico-style feint.
"Whoa! Seele can do that?"
Valerius was genuinely impressed.
He hadn't expected Seele to know advanced dribbling techniques.
Then again, with the physical abilities these people had, pulling off flashy footwork wasn't all that surprising.
Successfully getting past Rosaria, Seele grinned proudly.
See?
As long as she controlled the ball properly, she didn't need to rely on violence like everyone else.
One clean fake, and she was through.
She knocked the ball ahead and sprinted after it.
Soon, she reached the top of the penalty arc.
From this position, she was certain she could score.
After all, Razor didn't exactly look like a dependable goalkeeper.
She flicked the ball into the air and leapt high.
"Seele, look out!"
Bronya's terrified voice rang out.
At the same time, Seele felt a gust of wind behind her.
Her expression changed instantly.
She didn't need to turn around to know what was coming.
Rosaria's whirlwind kick.
"I…"
Seele was in a terrible position.
She could either shoot and get kicked out of the sky…
Or try to dodge while airborne, which was nearly impossible.
"I'm shooting!"
In the end, she made her choice.
Even if she got flattened, she was getting this shot off.
"In your dreams."
Nearby, Sucrose suddenly lunged forward with a flying header.
She moved with astonishing speed.
A split second later—
Seele's foot and Sucrose's forehead struck the ball at the same time.
A powerful impact knocked Seele backward.
Before she could process what had happened, Rosaria's whirlwind kick arrived and sent both Seele and Sucrose crashing to the ground.
"Hiss…"
"That was brutal. She even kicked her own teammate!"
In the stands, Furina shuddered.
She had been considering joining the soccer match since there were so many players.
Now?
Not a chance.
Turning to Nahida, she asked nervously, "Maybe… maybe I shouldn't play after all?"
"I don't want to either."
Nahida felt the same.
With her tiny frame, how was she supposed to survive among these monsters?
She'd go onto the field standing upright and come back horizontal.
"Well… we are gods, after all. It wouldn't be appropriate for us to bully mortals."
"Yes, exactly."
Nahida nodded, though her cheeks were a little red.
The truth was much simpler: she absolutely did not want to get kicked.
"Ow…"
Seele took a long moment to recover.
Then she glared at Valerius.
"Are you seriously not going to do anything? Is this actually allowed?"
"Within the rules."
Valerius spread his hands helplessly.
"You… Fine. Fine!"
Seele narrowed her eyes.
So this was how little she mattered to him.
"Watch me pass every ball to Bronya from now on."
If Valerius wasn't going to protect her, then she'd drag Bronya into the chaos.
Bronya would definitely get targeted.
Then they'd see whether Valerius stayed so calm.
Meanwhile, Mondstadt regained possession.
Seele immediately chased after them.
She'd only touched the ball twice, and Rosaria had kicked her twice.
There was no way she was letting that slide.
Rosaria, now with the ball, launched a long pass forward toward Jean.
She had noticed that Jean was the only Mondstadt player behaving like a normal person.
Everyone else was some flavor of chaos.
Jean received the ball and looked up.
She spotted Diluc already sprinting toward the goal—practically inside the penalty box.
"Chance."
With no offside rule to worry about, Diluc's position was perfect.
One through pass and he'd have an immediate shot.
Jean didn't hesitate.
A precise pass split the defense.
"Excellent. Another goal."
Diluc was ecstatic.
The pass was perfect.
And with his special shot, there was no way Sampo would dare defend.
He had already planned it.
Chest trap.
Turn.
Shoot.
"I'm coming!"
On the other side, Sampo saw everything clearly.
Diluc would definitely shoot the moment he got the ball.
But wasn't he getting a little too close?
Sure, Sampo was afraid of the ball.
But he had no problem punching people.
The goalkeeper charged out of his box and unleashed a massive uppercut.
The ball was untouched.
Diluc, however, was sent flying.
"Heh."
Sampo calmly controlled the loose ball.
Then he glanced at his teammates sprinting upfield and smirked.
Pass?
Why bother?
He'd do it himself.
After all, he was the legendary Cold-Legged Uncle Sampo.
Time to show them what a goalkeeper's shot looked like.
"…Why is the goalkeeper leaving the goal?!"
"The keeper's charging forward?!"
"What if he loses the ball?"
The crowd buzzed in disbelief.
Sampo didn't care.
He had already discovered something incredible.
As a goalkeeper, his physical stats were significantly higher than everyone else's.
"Pass the ball, Sampo!"
Belobog's players were nearly coughing up blood.
Their goalkeeper was dribbling out of his own half.
Everyone begged him to pass.
Sampo ignored them completely.
Pass to them?
Could they score?
No.
Clearly, this was a job for him.
He dribbled into the attacking half.
Kaeya and Rosaria moved in to double-team him.
Win the ball here, and a goal was almost guaranteed.
"Out of my way."
Sampo lowered his shoulder.
With a single charge, he sent both of them flying.
"What the hell?! Sampo is that strong?!"
Seele stared in disbelief.
Rosaria had even activated her whirlwind kick, and Sampo still bulldozed straight through her.
"Go, Sampo! Amazing!"
"GOGOGO, Sampo!"
Belobog's fans erupted.
Their goalkeeper might be terrible at actual goalkeeping…
But physically, he was a monster.
"Wahahaha!"
Sampo laughed triumphantly and continued his rampage.
Amber tried to stop him.
One elbow.
Amber down.
Bennett spun in with a flying kick.
Sampo plowed right through him.
At last, he reached the penalty area and stood face-to-face with Razor.
"Heh. There's no way you're stopping this."
Razor crouched and braced himself.
Sampo flicked the ball up and leapt.
"Take this—Cold-Legged Uncle Shot!"
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