"This brat…" After being forced back by Shinichi, Lavinho gritted his teeth. He knew that Shinichi had likely entered that strange state again, but that didn't mean he could be easily pushed back.
It's important to remember that even though they lost 3-0 to Shinichi last time, there were a couple of factors to consider. First, at the beginning, they weren't taking things seriously. As long as their skill level was high enough, they were willing to let the opponent score. Second, Shinichi's strategy at the time was quite clever.
All five of them were forwards, and aside from Snuffy, the other four were all stronger in attack than defense.
Even though in the original match Shinichi managed to defeat Noa with a goal partly due to Isagi's interference, Noa easily broke through his defense, and Chris' shot went over Noa's head.
In the end, Isagi had to intercept to stop it. This showed that even the world's top forward, Noa, still had weaknesses in his defensive ability.
And Shinichi had noticed this key point, so he deliberately abandoned defense entirely, relying on his attack to exploit their weak points.
Moreover, they had underestimated him. Even though Snuffy entered FLOW, his goal was to stop Shinichi's ZONE state to prevent him from injuring himself, not to win.
In fact, when Noa entered FLOW in the end, he was able to easily stop Shinichi's shot.
These combined factors led to Shinichi's impressive feat, but it didn't mean that Shinichi was on their level.
At least, Lavinho didn't believe Shinichi could stop his attack.
"But that last move didn't seem like a fluke…" With excitement in his eyes, Lavinho's mouth curled into a grin, and sparks flew from his pupils. Soon, the flames grew fiercer, completely engulfing his eyes.
Lavinho had entered FLOW!
"Impressive... looks like I really can't treat you as just an ordinary rookie anymore, but..." Lavinho still wore his excited and exuberant smile, though the subtle, almost imperceptible contempt in his eyes had completely disappeared, "Now, it's time to get serious!"
"Watch out, it's slippery!"
As Lavinho's words fell, he pushed the ball forward again. Seeing this familiar movement, Shinichi frowned, intending to retreat just like before, but then he noticed Lavinho's left foot hovering above the ball. His ankle twisted, preparing to flick the ball outward.
'Is this... a feint, pretending to push forward? Or is he really changing direction outward? No, his ankle hasn't fully twisted yet; he might be trying to lure me forward and then push the ball back, maybe even doing a rainbow flick... damn, there are too many possibilities!'
Such a simple, small move had evolved into several different options. If the normal Lavinho could change direction at any point during a single move, then in FLOW, each of his changes branched out into even more variations, effectively doubling his choices!
"What's wrong? Hesitation on the battlefield is a big no-no!"
As giant butterfly wings spread behind Lavinho, his movement speed surged once more.
Not only did each move now have more variations, but the number of actions he could perform in the same amount of time had also increased!
Lavinho was very strategic in not revealing this ability right away. Instead, he accelerated suddenly at the exact moment Shinichi hesitated, catching him completely off guard with a surprise attack.
And that delayed movement from Shinichi gave Lavinho the opening he needed.
Lavinho immediately shifted his weight forward, using his left foot to flick the ball backward, creating a gap between them in an instant.
Shinichi forced himself to suppress his instincts and didn't charge forward. If he had, Lavinho would have immediately switched feet and spun around, and even with his speed, Shinichi would have had difficulty keeping up in such close quarters.
However, since Shinichi didn't rush forward, that brief hesitation allowed Lavinho to make a lateral change of direction and get a step ahead.
"Ugh!"
Shinichi stabilized his balance with effort, and the black-red lightning on his feet flickered.
Using the quick stop and change of direction he had learned from Barou, combined with his own speed, Shinichi barely avoided being directly passed by Lavinho.
At the same time, he reached out and grabbed Lavinho's shoulder, in his view, his arm was about to crush a fist-sized ice crystal on Lavinho's side.
Though it wasn't as massive as a one-meter-high ice spike, which could completely freeze an opponent, this small ice crystal would still cause Lavinho's corresponding body part to stiffen for a moment.
And that moment was enough for Shinichi to close the gap and erase Lavinho's current advantage, bringing them back to a level playing field.
However, just as Shinichi's hand was about to touch the ice crystal, Lavinho almost simultaneously raised his arm to block Shinichi's hand.
The ice crystal, along with Lavinho's movement, began to melt away. "Haha, you little brat, your gaze is too intense. Even if it were a weak point, you'd melt it with that fiery stare of yours."
"This guy! Even at a time like this, he's still setting traps, disguising his weaknesses, and he actually tricked me with the Ice World, turning the trap into an ice crystal!" At this moment, even Shinichi couldn't help but feel a little frustrated.
The Ice World gave him the ability to break through his opponent's weak points and freeze them, but determining those weak points and blind spots relied on his own eyesight, and he wasn't as adept at it as these experienced players.
The result of this misjudgment was that, after colliding with Lavinho, his speed faltered slightly. While Lavinho didn't gain any extra speed from the push, his movement was nearly unaffected.
The shift in momentum allowed Lavinho to pull two steps ahead of Shinichi.
However, even though Shinichi was outmaneuvered and completely left behind by Lavinho, his expression was only slightly displeased.
In fact, it grew even calmer. He lifted his head, and the explosive black lightning around him left an afterimage as it continued to chase Lavinho's figure.
Slowly, Shinichi spoke, declaring his victory while at the peak of his talent. "In ten seconds, I'll intercept the ball."
"Hah?" Lavinho wasn't affected by Shinichi's words, but it felt almost like a starting gun had gone off.
As soon as Shinichi spoke, the once one-on-one battlefield returned to reality. With radar-like eyes, Niko swiftly charged from the side and, without hesitation, slid in to intercept the ball from Lavinho.
"1."
Lavinho quickly jumped into the air, using his legs to clutch the ball and avoid Niko's slide tackle.
However, at that moment, Aiku, who also possessed the ability to surpass the ordinary field of vision, positioned himself in front of Lavinho, ready to intercept him while Lavinho was in the air and unable to leverage his movement.
"4."
But Lavinho forced himself to twist in the air, using his right foot to flick the ball over Aiku's head, quickly landing and bypassing him. However, where the ball landed, Lorenzo had been waiting for some time.
"7."
"Heh!" Even Lavinho found it difficult to handle this one. He grunted as his right leg slammed down, pushing off the ground with power, making a hurdle-like motion. His body stretched out, and he finally reached the ball just before Lorenzo, even managing to use his toes to flick the ball backward to prevent Lorenzo's press.
"9."
However, Lavinho wasn't able to regain the ball he had fought so hard for. The time wasted by the successive interceptions gave Shinichi just enough time to catch up with Lavinho, intercepting the ball halfway.
"10."
The fierce thunder shattered Lavinho's attack entirely, and as Shinichi, having leapt into the air to intercept the ball, landed smoothly, the personal panel on his screen quietly shifted.
After witnessing the battle between Shinichi and Lavinho, several of the top-tier pieces in Ubers had truly fallen under Shinichi's control, causing the "Player" trait to undergo a transformation once again. This time, a hint of crimson red stained the trait, bringing about a dramatic change.
Player (Purple) → King (Crimson Gold)!
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