Chapter 214: Joint Tryout (10)
Facing Chris's request, Reo had no reason to refuse. In fact, getting the chance to go one-on-one with Shinichi on a battlefield where the top mentors were fiercely competing was a golden opportunity.
Whether it was to prove himself defensively and improve his value for the upcoming player draft, or to refine his own defensive skillset and gain more experience against Shinichi, it was all incredibly valuable.
Unlike other youth players who feared messing up and dropping in value, Reo was confident—his performance in the first stage served as a safety net.
He believed he wouldn't go undrafted in the second stage, which gave him the courage to take risks.
"All right. I'll do my best."
Nodding firmly, Reo concluded his conversation with Chris. Because Chris had been whispering with Reo for quite a while, Noa had held back the tempo and refrained from launching a full-force counterattack.
This rare lull allowed the pace of the match to slow, but once Reo and Chris split off into their respective positions, tension once again filled the field.
The ball started moving between the three mentors, their shifting positions making the defenders increasingly uneasy. Finally, as the ball reached Loki's feet, the three—who had been suppressing the tempo—finally bared their fangs.
Almost the instant the ball touched his toe, Loki exploded forward like a bullet. The defenders didn't even have time to react—some didn't even register his first step before he was already behind them. But just as an overwhelming pressure bore down on him, Shinichi—with eyes crackling like dark lightning—stood in his path.
"Didn't you say you wanted a showdown? I've been waiting for you."
Shinichi lowered his center of gravity slightly, eyes locked firmly on Loki's every move.
Loki didn't disappoint—he leaned forward and vanished from Shinichi's line of sight.
It was just one step, but it nearly put an entire body's distance between them. His feet moved so fluidly that the ball seemed glued to them, his massive strides and undiminished acceleration demonstrating to the world the high-performance engine of the prodigy named Loki.
Skrrt—
Though it was grass, a loud screeching sound tore through the air. Dirt and grass clippings flew as Loki's right foot carved a deep groove into the field, bearing the weight of his entire body.
With his left foot he pulled the ball back and shielded it behind him, watching Shinichi—who once again mirrored his exact posture, lowering his center of gravity and blocking the path ahead—with cautious eyes.
Those eyes, flickering with obsidian lightning, radiated a heavy pressure that slowly crept into Loki's mind. The cold, piercing gaze seemed to see right through him.
"Let's keep going, Prodigy. You're not going to tell me this is your limit, right?"
"He really thinks I'm nothing, huh..."
At this moment, Loki completely tore away his usual friendly mask. The whites of his eyes were now tinged with black, emanating a savage malice.
"Then come and try me."
His right leg twitched and feinted toward the ball.
Shinichi didn't flinch. As expected, Loki's foot never touched the ball—but it wasn't a meaningless fake.
After the feint, his leg withdrew slightly inward, then sharply flicked the ball outward. At the same time, his left foot pushed off explosively.
The fake transitioned into a seamless launch. With a roar like an engine revving, the prodigy-brand supercar accelerated off the line.
And yet—no matter how hard he pushed—he couldn't shake off that streak of black lightning on his tail.
The two figures weaved across the field like blurs, their rapid-fire direction changes too fast for the cameras to keep up.
The director of BLUE LOCK TV had no choice but to switch to a wide-angle shot to capture Loki's footwork.
But for Shinichi, inside the chaos, it was as if he were a piece of gum stuck to Loki's heel—unshakable, ever-present.
The flickering black lightning traced their paths at the heart of the field, constant and unextinguished.
"It's like watching a tightrope act. One wrong step from either of them, and it's a straight fall into the abyss."
Even Isagi watched, utterly captivated. Even Noa and the other players had stopped in their tracks. After all, this was just a tryout. No one wanted to ruin an epic one-on-one showdown.
Under this unspoken mutual understanding, most players instinctively made way for the duel. Only the two center backs and the keeper were quietly cursing inside.
This was still technically a match—and their positions were impossible to abandon. All they could do was silently pray that Shinichi would come out on top. If Loki managed to dribble through solo and score, the humiliation would tank their value in the draft.
"Damn, you're persistent," Loki muttered just outside the penalty box, coming to a stop, breathing slightly heavier now.
But even then, he protected the ball tightly, not giving Shinichi any chance to steal it.
Shinichi, too, was breathing a little harder, but the crackling dark lightning around him never faded. His eyes stayed locked on Loki, saying nothing—just watching.
"…"
With no reply, Loki lost interest in the conversation—or rather, he'd only tried talking to catch his breath and maybe distract Shinichi a bit.
But seeing that impenetrable stance, he took a deep breath, held it, and steadied his focus.
This was it—his final sprint.
Suddenly, Loki's feet began moving faster. He started dribbling side-to-side with intense pace—completely different from before. Shinichi didn't rush to attack, instead locking his gaze on Loki's hips, waiting for the shift in weight.
The moment Loki leaned in—the moment he started to sprint—would be his window to strike.
At a critical split-second, both Shinichi and Loki launched into action. As Loki shifted the ball toward his left foot, his right leg suddenly accelerated.
Shinichi instantly adjusted, shifting his weight in response—but in the very next moment, Loki twisted his center of gravity in the opposite direction and unleashed a powerful strike with his left leg.
It wasn't a sprint—Loki had chosen to shoot instead, right from outside the penalty box, directly facing Shinichi's defense. The ball rocketed forward—targeting the gap between Shinichi's legs in a nutmeg shot!
Even Shinichi's expression briefly flickered with surprise as the ball slipped past his legs. But in the next instant, he dropped to the ground, retracting his right leg mid-stride. In a motion almost like a behind-the-leg trap, he swung his heel back between his legs.
As Shinichi hit the turf, his heel barely made contact with the ball—just enough to deflect it. The power behind Loki's shot instantly dropped, and the ball, now off-course, was easily scooped up by the goalkeeper.
With lightning-fast reflexes, Shinichi narrowly won this one-on-one duel!
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