"You bastard..." Peter gritted his teeth, glaring at Ling Xiu. The hatred in his eyes was practically overflowing, but in the end, he didn't reject Ling Xiu's proposal.
Although his Triple Star attack had managed to take down one of the opponents earlier, the other player—the mixed-blood-looking guy—seemed completely unfazed. Peter understood that if he tried to win this alone, it was impossible.
"Never thought the England team would have players like these. Their playstyle is totally different from the last World Cup!" Mitsuya's eyes glinted as he scribbled rapidly across his tablet screen.
"They're all members of an organization called Clack. That energy-condensing technique they use was taught by Ling Xiu himself—it's said to come from some ancient Chinese heritage. After all, he's a Chinese-British player," Akashi said calmly, eyes on the monitor as he explained what he knew.
"Honestly, I've always been curious—Akashi-kun, where do you even get all this inside information?" Kimijima asked, smirking with interest.
"You seem to misunderstand the intelligence capabilities of the Akashi Group," Akashi replied flatly, glancing at him. With the Akashi Group as a perfect cover, he didn't have to worry about anyone probing further. After all, it wasn't like he could tell them he was a time traveler.
Kimijima still looked doubtful but didn't press further. He wasn't the type to dig endlessly, and besides, Akashi's intel had been a huge asset for the Japan team. During this World Cup alone, he had provided detailed data on many foreign players.
Meanwhile, in Japan's bench area, Atobe finally understood what Eric's warning earlier had meant. Ling Xiu was tolerable, but Peter's style was pure brute-force tennis—though his technique made it more insidious than the usual type.
On the court, Tokugawa glanced at his racket, already having a general grasp of the opponents' tricks. He didn't yet understand exactly how they did it, but if they thought they could win using such gimmicks, that was nothing but wishful thinking.
The second game was Tokugawa's service game. Stepping to the baseline without hesitation, he tossed the ball high and drove his racket down sharply. The ball shimmered with dazzling light as it streaked across the court.
Ling Xiu was momentarily blinded by the burst of colors, and before he could react, the ball zipped past him and bounced out of bounds.
"Illusion Serve!"
"ACE! 15–0!"
When Tokugawa served another Illusion Serve, Ling Xiu closed his eyes this time. Holding his breath, he heightened his senses to the extreme. The moment the ball touched down, Ling Xiu lunged left.
The ball, which was about to bounce out, was intercepted midair by his racket. A faint, transparent energy orb formed around it, and he returned the shot with a powerful backhand.
Duke, moving with surprising agility for his size, darted to the net and swung gently. Two orbs of energy struck his racket, but his tightened muscles absorbed the impact entirely as he followed through with his swing.
Peter rushed forward toward the net, wary after what happened with Duke's drop shot earlier. But before he reached it, a sharp crack filled the air—the ball slammed straight into his face again, snapping his head back and sending him flying several meters before he hit the ground.
"Duke Blitz!"
"30–0!"
"Tch~ That guy held back, huh?" Akutsu muttered in irritation as Peter staggered to his feet.
Byoudouin shot Akutsu a sidelong glance. He knew Duke's gentle nature all too well. Despite his size, the man had a surprisingly calm heart. If it hadn't been for Tokugawa being attacked earlier, Duke wouldn't have struck so harshly.
As soon as Peter stood, Tokugawa tossed up another serve—again the Illusion Serve, but this time, much faster. The ball flashed like a streak of light across the court, and with his still-spinning head, Peter couldn't even react properly to the blur dancing before his eyes.
"ACE! 40–0!"
Peter shook his head hard, trying to snap himself back to focus. But on the opposite side, Tokugawa had already tossed up the next ball. The colorful light trails shimmered across the air, flashing once before the ball dropped sharply toward the right baseline.
Finally regaining a bit of clarity, Peter rushed toward the ball—but he was still too slow. By the time he reached the corner, all he could do was watch helplessly as the ball flew out of bounds.
"Game! Japan! 1–1!"
"Damn it!!! If only I could use Real Tennis, I'd never let that guy get away with this!" Peter snarled, glaring furiously at the ball that had bounced out of play. Then he turned, his eyes filled with venom as he stared at Duke.
"Their strength is more than we expected. You'd better focus on the match, Peter!" Ling Xiu's tone grew sharp, clearly irritated with Peter's attitude.
"Shut up, you worthless bastard! Who are you to lecture me?!" Peter snapped back without hesitation, his voice full of anger.
Duke and Tokugawa silently watched the exchange. It was obvious that the two didn't get along—and no one could understand why they were paired for doubles in the first place.
The third game was Ling Xiu's service game. He stepped to the baseline and glanced at Duke on the opposite side, his mind racing for a way to break through. But with the serve timer ticking, he quickly tossed the ball up.
He didn't use Twin Stars this time—just a straightforward high-speed serve. Duke slid smoothly to the landing spot and returned it with ease. Peter, forming an energy orb in his left hand, charged the net and swung with full force.
The ball, wrapped in a blue aura, sped sharply toward the right side. But Tokugawa suddenly appeared before it, splitting into three afterimages—four Tokugawas in total, each swinging in a different direction.
It sounded like a barrage of strikes as the ball was returned cleanly. With his premonition ability, Tokugawa could sense the movement of the energy orbs ahead of time. Peter's dispersed attacks only played right into his rhythm.
Refusing to give up, Peter once again unleashed the Triple Star, targeting Tokugawa. But Duke suddenly appeared at the net, ignoring the barrage of energy and blasting out a fierce return—a baseline passing shot.
Ling Xiu slid forward to intercept, forming four transparent energy spheres that merged into his racket. He countered with a full-force swing, the ball flying straight with the orbs aligned in a sharp line, slicing past Duke and heading for the baseline.
But Tokugawa was already there. He waved his racket several times in quick succession, and four intersecting elongated black holes formed before him. The energy spheres hit the voids and instantly collapsed, while the ball itself froze midair, suspended by the gravitational pull.
The next second, Tokugawa swung his racket sharply. In Ling Xiu and Peter's stunned gaze, the ball shot forward like a blur, slicing right between them and bouncing out at the baseline.
"Black Hole!"
"0–15!"
"You've got to be kidding me! What the hell was that?!" Peter shouted, staring at the fading black holes in disbelief.
"This is bad… both of them can counter our Twin Stars technique," Ling Xiu muttered, frowning as tension filled his voice.
Unlike Leon and Eric, members of Clack had never seen the Japan team's exhibition match against Germany. This was Ling Xiu and Peter's first time encountering the Black Hole technique—and it was far beyond what they expected.
"You said earlier you'd win this match for your friend, didn't you?" Tokugawa's calm voice broke through the silence. "Then show me—how strong is your resolve?"