Chapter 154: Players vs. the Phoenix of Equal Courtyard! ...

In one sentence, the situation was reversed.

With just this sound, the Phoenix of Byodoin Temple was fixed as a challenger of the lower position.

The U17 overseas expedition team was keenly aware of this subtle difference in language and involuntarily looked in the direction of the Phoenix of Byodoin.

According to Byodoin's temper, it would definitely be on the verge of exploding at this time.

But, no.

Anger, contempt, dissatisfaction, the expressions that were expected to appear on his face were completely absent. He even looked extremely calm at the moment, which seemed a little weird.

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Some suppressed their complaints, wanting to speak out, but the U17 members who stayed behind reacted even more violently, taking the initiative to speak out.

"——Damn it!! Damn it!!! How come this guy from Byodoin can just skip the rest and go straight to the legendary Court No. 1 as soon as he comes back!!!"

"It's not fair—it's not fair!! I want to complain that this is not fair at all!!"

"God damn it, there's something fishy going on here!!! Refund! Refund!!"

U17 overseas return team: "..."

No, isn't this the normal reaction?

And where did the refund come from? ! ! Can you guys please wake up! ! !

There are so many complaints, and it's just a dead end.

And in the center of everyone's attention, the two people in focus,

The black-haired boy and the Phoenix of Byodoin Temple, the atmosphere was subtly stagnant.

It was the U17 coaching staff who finally broke the deadlock. Saito Shi smiled and stepped forward.

"In that case," he turned around, searched the crowd, and finally aimed at the eternal witness - Irie Kanata!

"Then I'll thank you for your hard work, Irie. Please be the referee."

Irie, who was called to stand out, raised his eyes slightly from behind his broken lenses, quickly scanning the Byodoin Phoenix, then lightly nodded at the back of the black-haired boy.

Finally, she smiled softly, "Okay, Coach Saito."

Clicking the challenge from the special NPC Edoin Phoenix, the player enters the battle mode with one click, and the central court appears instantly.

The Byodoin Phoenix was not to be outdone, and simultaneously entered the court with a 'swoosh'.

The two protagonists of the incident immediately entered the state, and the overseas expedition team and the remaining team members also went to the nearby area to watch the battle.

However, compared to the inexperienced overseas expedition team members, the U17 remaining group, whether in the winners group or the elimination group, kept a cautious distance.

While ensuring that you can see the situation on the field clearly, you can also find cover, crawl on the spot, or run away in the event of various emergencies!

The overseas expedition team was puzzled, but now they are more focused on the court.

The undisputed leader of the overseas expedition team, the Byodoin Phoenix, who holds the number one spot, and the black-haired boy who is said to be currently leading the U17 team, separated by a net,

"...He looks just like an elementary school student," Tono Atsukyo murmured.

Standing in the middle of the overseas expedition team and the base stay team, Tanejima Shuji heard this and glanced at him silently.

Back then... he, no, not just him, the entire U17 training camp thought so.

Now...

Tanejima Shuji wiped his face silently with a handful of bitter tears.

I didn't touch my face, but I did touch a hand full of dust.

Seeing the pitch-black hand he took, several people in the overseas expedition team were really shocked.

Looking at the two people facing each other across the net on the court, I don't know why I always have a bad feeling in my heart.

This premonition also continued to emerge in the mind of the Phoenix of Byodoin Temple standing on the court.

He had immense trust in his intuition, and this keen sense saved him from danger in several major battles.

But now, it actually appeared on a little black-haired boy?

The current leader of the U17 Field No. 1 is what coach Saito Shi directly acknowledged as "standing at the highest point above everyone else."

Excluding the possibility that everyone at the current U17 training camp was drugged, the most unlikely conclusion is the final one.

This guy who looks like an elementary school student actually has the power to stand above everyone else!

In that case——let him come and see!!

How on earth does this guy have the ability to convince Oni, Irie, Tokugawa, and the entire coaching staff! !

“…Here it comes.”

Suddenly, Kirihara Akaya turned around and looked at Sanada Genichirō and Yukimura Seiichi who spoke at the same time.

The two spoke at the same time, and at the same time, they sensed each other's voices. Their peripheral vision moved slightly, stopped at the moment of eye contact, and then moved to the center of the court at the same time.

The bewildered Kelp Head looked left and right, "Hey, what do you mean by coming?"

Without letting his words fall to the ground, Yukimura Seiichi folded his arms and said, "Kei's opponent, Byodoin, judging by their aura, they must have decided to get serious now."

Genichirō Sanada continued, "To only care about appearances and not consider him as an opponent from the beginning is simply too lax!"

Unlike the remaining base group who had just started to take Byodoin seriously and had some complaints,

The overseas expedition team was truly surprised.

That guy from Byodoin… he was already releasing a powerful aura before the whole thing even started.

Could it be that the black-haired boy across from him is really something?

Their thoughts are very different and intertwined, and faintly floating in the air are the hearts of several people.

For players, what they care about now is the special NPC standing opposite the player and entering the combat state.

——As expected of a special dungeon boss that appears after such a long time,

As soon as the health bar expanded, it spread to the horizon!

If there hadn't been a precedent (Zhou Ben: Echizen Nanjiro), players would have been really surprised by the long and dense dungeon boss health bar that looked like an infinitely extended vernier caliper.

It would be fine if it was just the health bar with an infinitely dense vernier caliper, but when I looked at the status bar of the special dungeon BOSS——

Wow!

[Special NPC exclusive status: 'Phoenix Nirvana'! ]

['Phoenix Nirvana': The more you are defeated, the stronger you become. This is the fearless spirit of the man who conquers the world - immortality! !]

Players look, players think, players cross out.

Oh, immortality, if I had seen it before, there would have been something there.

But what the U17 lacks the most is immortality.

If everyone survives, wouldn’t that mean we are completely useless?

Abandoning this special NPC exclusive status, and looking at the other five-dimensional images and values ​​of the super model, as well as the various buffs that players have almost seen on the opponents in the previous few times,

The basic situation is at a glance. The player pulls out the racket from behind and goes straight to the ball without hesitation.

Come on, come on—players have been rubbing their hands and sharpening their knives for a long time! !

Irie Kanado uses the Q process and proposes that both sides choose to take the serving right.

Just as the player was about to click the six-sided die, the opposing special boss spoke directly, "No need to dawdle—serve first, let me see how strong you are!!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone on the side of the field who were either hiding behind cover, crawling on the ground, or ready to run away at any moment all stared at him.

——This, this is a true warrior!!

As expected of you, the Byodoin Temple that conquers the world, you can actually say such words to a chicken and a cat!

Suddenly, the sight of the warriors almost drowned out the Phoenix of Byodoin Temple standing in the center of the court.

However, Byodoin itself remained calm and had the situation under control, feeling at ease and not panicking at all.

As soon as the special NPC said this, the six-sided dice in front of the player immediately withdrew.

The battle automatically jumps to the player's turn.

Um?

Since the special copy BOSS has such a strong request, the players will satisfy you!

The player compared his own current values ​​with those of the special dungeon BOSS on the opposite side.

I'm not sure how the special dungeon boss will react when I use a skill.

So - the player took out the almighty basic attack!

—Gate A!!

Byodoin said that the opponent should serve first, but he did not relax or underestimate her in his heart.

The black-haired boy on the other side of the net seemed to be staring blankly at the air for a while.

I watched him take out a tennis ball from his pocket and a racket in his other hand.

"—Here they come!"

He said this in his heart, and immediately looked towards the Phoenix of Byodoin.

What kind of ball will this kid hit? Is it a special trick, or a unique serve that has never been seen before? Is it enough to stand at the top of the entire U17? It must be -

Start, throw the ball, jump, swing the racket, and hit.

"Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing—!"

"——It was just an ordinary serve?!!"

The Byodoin Phoenix inside the venue and the overseas group outside the venue spoke at the same time, but one was in his heart and the other was blurting out.

It's so ordinary that a tennis kid can do it.

The only difference is that it is more accurate, more patterned, faster... and so on.

No, how can it be so fast!?!

I was briefly deceived by the appearance of this ordinary serve, but then I realized the real meaning behind this false appearance.

It was fast, so fast that the ball crossed most of the court like a yellow lightning almost the moment it left the hand, and even rushed towards the face of the Byodoin Phoenix in a short blink of an eye!

"——Byodoin!"

"Good timing!" The man whose name was called, the existence of the ball was reflected in his eyes.

Fast, just the right speed, fast enough to satisfy his desire to challenge and conquer.

That's right, I'll show my full strength just like this - and then be crushed by him one by one!!

Paddle in place and swing your arms to meet the turn.

Byodoin held the racket with one hand, just one hand, as he preferred. But he was already taking it seriously enough. After all, it was just an ordinary serve. No matter what, it was impossible for him to put all his energy into it right from the start.

So heavy!!

The moment the ball hit the racket, a heavy and terrifying force rushed up along the strings and handle,

Byodoin could already sense that the friction between the racket and the ball was slightly exceeding the racket's maximum tolerance. The strings were on the verge of breaking, constantly making a hoarse groaning sound.

The high-speed friction sound and the undiminished heavy force directly react on the palm and wrist of the hand holding the racket.

Unable to suppress a grin, Byodoin Phoenix took the black-haired figure on the other side of the net in his eyes for the first time.

This kid... just a normal serve has such power and speed,

I see, I see—

But just like this, it is not enough!!

The muscles in his arms clenched, and he suddenly gathered strength and rushed towards his wrist and palm. The man holding the racket, the Phoenix of Byodoin, roared and was about to directly hit the racket strings that were showing signs of cracking, and forcibly send the heavy and high-speed friction ball back along its original path.

Even at this level, it's still a long way to go before I can defeat him——!!!

The racket suddenly hit back, and with a wicked smile on his face, Byodoin didn't take the danger of the ball seriously at all.

Or rather, he simply didn't take seriously the danger of the U17 that had been causing all the trouble since he entered the base.

The moment when the hand is about to slip out of your hand, less than a second later,

A spark, a flash of fire, a 'sizzle', the racket hit his palm without any warning, 'boom boom boom' suddenly exploded! !

The explosion filled the air with smoke and dust, and the stadium suddenly became the center of the explosion!

“…it exploded.”

"Yeah, it exploded."

“…”

Bewildered, hesitant, puzzled, doubtful, hesitant,

Complex and indescribable expressions appeared on the faces of the overseas returning group like spilled paint.

They stretched out their trembling hands, trying to point towards the Byodoin Temple in the center of the stadium.

But now it is all foggy, and there is no trace of the Phoenix of Byodoin Temple!

"...Hey, are you bringing any hidden weapons? If you can't defeat your opponent, you'll just blow him up, right?"

"Huh?"

The remaining team at the base looked at each other, then looked at the overseas expedition team who had said this, and waved their hands.

"No way, no way, it's completely random. Haha, isn't it normal to get blown up by a bomb if you can't catch it?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's perfectly normal. It's not a hidden weapon at all. It's not that scary at all!"

All of a sudden, the atmosphere above the remaining group at the base was filled with joy and happiness.

The overseas expedition team's eyelids are not only trembling, but now their whole hearts are trembling with fear.

Are these guys even talking like humans?!

What do you mean by completely random? What do you mean by being blown up if you can't catch it? What do you mean by no hidden weapons? This is a bomb, an exploding tennis ball!?!

This is a tennis court, not a Syrian battlefield!!

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration suddenly hit my brain.

The overseas elimination group members were slow to recall the U17 training camp base that had been completely bombed into ruins since they got off the bus.

And before entering the stadium, the members of the base who stayed behind were fighting with the background sound of "boom boom boom boom boom",

At that time, I just thought it was background noise and didn't pay much attention to it. Now looking at it this way -

No, were they using these bomb balls to fight each other at that time!?!

With a complicated gaze, he looked at the remaining members of the base who were chattering, "This is normal," "Yes, yes, yes, isn't this just everyday life?", "That's right, you have to explode to be healthy."

Whether it is the winning group or the eliminated group, there is complete agreement.

Even Shuji Tanejima, who was standing between the base stay team and the overseas expedition team, folded his arms and nodded in agreement.

Looking at them again, they couldn't even put together a neat and tidy uniform, their hair was like popcorn, their faces were black and only their teeth were white.

The same disarray, the same grayness, the same sense of savagery...

It seemed like the case was solved in an instant, and the culprit who caused all this was found.

The overseas expedition team was hesitant to speak, wanting to prove that these behaviors were not normal at all.

You guys have been completely PUA!!

The U17 remaining group (elimination group/victorious group) members who had been completely "guilty" could no longer align with the thoughts of the expedition group, and even looked at them with some suspicion.

How can you not even know the greatness of the head coach's training plan - Guimen!!

How can a body that can't withstand the bombardment of a bomb withstand the attack of a tennis ball!

It's like a conversation between gods and humans, but we can't even connect with each other.

The overseas expedition team gave up trying to pull back these heavily polluted stubborn donkeys and focused on the battle on the field, especially the Byodoin Phoenix that exploded without any warning.

Adhering to the rules of the game, no one dared to enter the court without permission. The overseas expedition team looked at the smoke-filled front with unhappy expressions.

For a long while, there was no movement from the direction of Byodoin Temple. I could only suppress my emotions and wait, wait—

A figure suddenly soared into the air with a whoosh, breaking through the fog. Following the clear figure, several people couldn't help but open their eyes wide.

The one that broke through the fog was none other than the Byodoin Phoenix that had rebounded from its previous struggle!

“!!!”

“Alive, alive!!”

"Could it be that... the Byodoin Phoenix has gained immunity to explosions?" the overseas expedition team members were shocked.

"——You weren't killed by the explosion at such a close distance!?!"

The remaining group members who heard this looked towards them silently.

Oh... I don't know whether these guys care about Byodoin or curse Byodoin.

The towering Byodoin Temple not only attracted the attention of the crowd on the sidelines, but also attracted the attention of the players on the other side of the net.

The player looked at the status light that suddenly lit up above the head of the special dungeon BOSS.

[Special NPC exclusive status: 'Phoenix Nirvana'! Activated!]

['Phoenix Nirvana': The more you are defeated, the stronger you become. This is the fearless spirit of the man who conquers the world - immortality! !]

With the activation of the exclusive status 'Phoenix Nirvana', the stats of the opposing copy BOSS also increase dramatically!

All of a sudden, the aura around the Byodoin Phoenix became stronger!

It almost formed into a tornado, so majestic that it was hard to look directly at.

“T-This is—!!”

"Could this be - a built-in resurrection armor?!"

"oh?"

Saito raised an eyebrow and put down the half-boiled Keijutsu in his hand, "Looks like I saved this part~"

The overseas expedition team members looked at the strange color and gas in his hand with great taboo.

Don’t get close, absolutely don’t get close, you can’t touch this thing under any circumstances!!!

The lesson of the Byodoin Phoenix was still before their eyes, and the overseas expedition team was even more afraid of its power and became more cautious.

The remaining group looked at the Equal Court rising from the ground with its own resurrection armor and marveled at it.

"As expected of Kei's rival!"

"Yeah, yeah, you were able to recover from the bomb ball the first time you faced it—you're worthy of being Kei-sama's rival!!"

"I really envy Byodoin, damn it, damn it!!!"

Overseas Expedition Team: “…?”

Isn't this right? Isn't this the strength of Byodoin?!

How come everything is attributed to him being that guy's opponent? ! !

The Phoenix of Byodoin slowly regained consciousness, and the moment it woke up, it immediately realized that it had used the "Phoenix Nirvana" once.

He immediately looked at the racket at hand - as expected, the racket strings had been blown apart and were completely useless.

In the referee's booth, Irie Kanata slowly adjusted the frame of his missing glasses and said, "15:0."

Byodoin Phoenix stared at the racket for a while, then raised his head and looked at the black-haired figure opposite him.

The other person's expression was dull, almost to the point of indifference.

There was no surprise or astonishment in watching him being blown up by the bomb and then resurrected.

Byodoin didn't ask like an idiot why a bomb was hidden in a tennis ball. Instead, his calm mind, which had gradually returned to its state of mind after his rebirth, simply scanned the situation inside and outside the court, and the appearance of the players.

All the clues are connected.

So that's how it is, so that's how it is. Byodoin almost wanted to laugh out loud.

Is this the way to train? It's so harsh, if you don't survive, you die—

It completely matches his fearless spirit in conquering the world. Who on earth could have come up with such a brilliant plan?!

He covered his face with his hands to hide the ecstasy on his face. Coach Kurobe Yukifu, who was also watching the game on the sidelines, casually threw a new racket at him.

Byodoin raised his hand and grasped it. The weight was slightly different. He looked closely and saw that it was a wholesale wooden racket used by the entire U17 training camp.

“…”

"Put on a new racket,"

Facing the silence of Byodoin, Kurobe Yukifu urged succinctly, "Over there, they're still waiting for you."

Turning my head in the direction I was heading, I suddenly saw a black-haired figure just across the net.

At this moment, the opponent had already taken out a new tennis ball from his pocket.

The Phoenix of Byodoin was immediately shocked. Although the previous attack exploded during the counterattack and failed to return the attack successfully,

But through that ball, we can fully see the real strength of this kid.

Haha, it’s not just a fancy thing.

However, if one wants to enter the realm of the world, reaching this level alone is not enough.

[Click·Skill: 'Your butterfly flash hits the wall 365 degrees, Thomas, no spin, barehanded 100% chance of catching a knife, the scheming frog touches your belly' is in use...]

[Ding!]

【Successful use! 】

The moment he made the move, not only Irie Kanata and Byodoin Phoenix, who were the closest, but also everyone watching the game from outside the arena felt the change in the atmosphere.

Sharp, intense, irresistible, and completely encroaching,

With a slight twist of the tennis ball in his hand, the yellow ball fell from his fingertips in full view of everyone.

The air currents were floating, and their direction was almost vaguely perceptible to the naked eye, rapidly converging towards the sphere in the center.

In the very next frame, the racket suddenly rose up—!

In less than a blink of an eye, the sphere sank into space and disappeared on the spot!

What followed was a sudden and extremely violent roar of "buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz", a devilish sound that pierced the ears.

It was like millions of bees, millions of butterflies, millions of tennis balls overlapping, colliding, rubbing and scouring.

For a moment, my eardrums swelled and felt a slight sting.

The moment I opened my eyes and looked, the entire court was enveloped by air currents, which flew and cut through like sharp blades, silently and without a trace.

——My brain kept warning me, “Run away!” “Run away!” “Danger!” My fear reached its peak.

The most direct feeling of the Byodoin Phoenix facing this attack was [emptiness].

It's so noisy, boiling, and intense,

But... the existence of tennis has completely disappeared!!

The ball——where did it go? ! !

“It appeared——!!”

"Here it comes—one of the three ultimate skills!!!"

"...What? What special skill?"

The overseas expedition team also saw this unpredictable tactic for the first time and were completely shocked and taken aback.

I asked this question completely on instinct, desperately wanting a name.

The remaining group looked at each other.

“Of course it is—!”

"——'You butterfly flashed into the wall 365 degrees Thomas without a spin barehanded 100% catch the knife's scheming frog touched your belly' ball!"

“…”

The overseas expedition team members who were truly seeking answers: "......?"

"Hey...you guys, are you kidding me?"

"No, who on earth has a special move with a name like that!?!!"