Haise quickly glanced at the stadium clock.
There were still 25 minutes left before the end of the first half.
His gaze remained fixed on the scoreboard for a few seconds before he quietly sighed, as if he had finally made a decision.
PIIIII!
The match restarted.
The ball went directly to Kira, who immediately tried to command Matsukaze’s advance.
After conceding two goals, he wanted to regain control of the match as quickly as possible.
But before he could even push forward—
Haise appeared in front of him once again.
“Move. You’re in the way.”
Kira gritted his teeth in irritation upon hearing that.
Haise extended his right foot to steal the ball, making Kira react immediately and pull it away from his reach.
But that seemed to be exactly what Haise wanted.
In the very next instant, his left foot emerged from behind his own right leg.
TOC!
The ball slipped through Kira’s legs.
The Matsukaze forward’s eyes widened immediately.
‘A nutmeg steal?!’
And the moment Haise touched the ball, the atmosphere on the field completely changed.
A heavy pressure took over the pitch.
Matsukaze’s players instinctively trembled as their eyes turned toward Haise.
A thin strand of white vapor escaped from his mouth as he slowly advanced with the ball under control.
His violet eyes now carried maddening black spirals within them, while an intense blue aura seemed to burn around his body like flames.
No one said anything for a moment, because his presence felt completely different now.
FOOSH!
Haise burst forward, his acceleration so absurd that for a moment it looked as though he had simply vanished from his spot.
“He’s coming!”
“Mark him!”
Matsukaze’s defenders desperately rushed forward to stop him, but Haise sliced through them at high speed using sharp directional changes and quick cuts.
Not wasting energy or movements in that moment.
“Come on, Minato!”
“Got it, Kaito!”
The two midfielders appeared together to block his path.
Haise quickly shifted the ball to the right, drawing both players toward him at the same time.
Then he violently pulled it back and cut straight through the space between them in an explosive burst.
“What?!”
“Too fast!”
The two were instantly left behind.
The crowd began rising from the stands as they realized what was happening.
Haise was tearing across the field alone once again.
While sprinting toward the penalty area, he quickly analyzed the situation ahead.
Only the two center-backs and the goalkeeper remained.
The rest of Matsukaze was still desperately trying to catch up to him.
“Two more left…” Haise murmured calmly as he continued advancing.
“No… I was mistaken.”
Haise slightly slowed down while observing the field ahead.
His violet eyes analyzed the remaining two center-backs, the goalkeeper, and Matsukaze’s overall defensive positioning.
Then he calmly concluded:
“There’s nobody in the way.”
For a brief moment, Matsukaze’s players were confused by those words.
But before anyone could understand, Haise raised his right leg.
THUMP!
He shot the ball from there—more than 30 meters away from the goal.
The ball quickly soared through the stadium sky, making several players widen their eyes at the height and power behind the shot.
“Did he send it wide?!” Kazuma asked, almost celebrating.
For a moment, it really looked like a failed shot.
But then, the ball began spinning in the air, and its trajectory slowly started to change.
Kira’s eyes widened immediately as he realized it, and goalkeeper Kasen noticed it far too late as well.
“A trivela?!”
The ball began curving violently as it dropped toward the goal.
Kasen desperately leaped, trying to reach it, but he was already too late.
SWOOOSH!
The net rippled.
GOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAL!
Shotoku [3] – [0] Matsukaze
The stadium instantly exploded.
Shotoku’s supporters screamed in madness from the stands while several players ran around celebrating the third goal.
The commentators were practically shouting inside the broadcasting booth after that absurd long-range strike.
But unlike everyone else around him, Haise remained completely calm.
He simply stared at the ball inside the net while slowly walking across the pitch.
“Three more left…” he quietly murmured.
The blue flames surrounding his body burned even more intensely now, making his presence feel even more oppressive.
Meanwhile, at midfield, Kira remained standing there, breathing heavily.
His chest rose and fell rapidly while his eyes stayed fixed on Haise Sasaki’s back.
Completely shocked.
‘Speed… dribbling… ball control… technique… shooting…’ Kira repeated mentally while clenching his fists.
‘What the hell is this guy…?’
His eyes trembled slightly.
‘Is he even human?’
Kira felt something strange in that moment.
Throughout his entire life, he had believed himself to be someone naturally blessed.
Talent, Recognition, and Skill.
He had always possessed everything.
He had always been special in the eyes of the people around him.
But while watching Haise Sasaki on that field…
For the first time in his life, Kira felt as though God had chosen someone else above him.
As if someone had been given even more.
Far more than what he himself had received—to the point that it felt unfair.
Ah… if only he knew just how mistaken he was.
RESTART!
PIIIII!
Matsukaze quickly restarted the match.
This time, the team began exchanging short, rapid passes between themselves, trying to keep possession away from Haise at all costs.
Kazuma passed, and Tsurugi returned it.
Another player advanced a few meters before passing again.
Everyone was avoiding letting the ball get anywhere near Haise Sasaki.
‘We need to keep the ball away from him…’ Kira thought while following the passing exchange.
‘If we do that, we can still score and regain the rhy—’
TOC!
Haise intercepted the ball.
‘Huh…?’
Kira’s eyes widened.
Everything happened far too fast.
Haise had simply appeared in the path of the pass and stole the ball at the exact instant, as if he already knew where it would be before the touch even happened.
The ground seemed to disappear beneath Kira’s feet.
There were less than ten minutes left before the first half ended.
And in this state… nobody on Matsukaze would be able to reach Haise before he got to the goal.
“That’s impossible…” Kira murmured in shock.
FOOSH!
Haise advanced alone once again.
Matsukaze’s players desperately tried to react, but their bodies seemed far too slow to keep up with that monstrous speed.
BOOM!
Haise struck the ball, and it tore across the field like a missile before violently smashing into the back of the net.
GOOOOOOOOL!
Shotoku [4] – [0] Matsukaze
The entire stadium exploded.
[EH HAHAHA! HAHAHA!]
Goto was practically shouting and laughing at the same time inside the broadcasting booth.
[AND HAISE SASAKI, NUMBER 9, SCORES HIS THIRD GOAL!]
Mikami jumped out of his chair in complete shock.
[HE DID IT! HE SCORED A HAT-TRICK! A HAT-TRICK!]
The stands trembled from the screams of Shotoku’s supporters.
But despite all of that, Haise remained standing motionless in front of the goal.
Blue flames burned violently around his body while his spiraled eyes stared silently across the field.
As if all of that still wasn’t enough, Haise remained standing in front of the goal while watching the stadium scoreboard.
The blue flames surrounding his body blazed intensely, while his spiraled eyes remained fixed on the field.
Then he quietly murmured:
“Six more goals… should be enough to begin…”
The players closest to him felt chills run down their spines upon hearing those words.
Begin?
Haise had already scored three goals by himself.
And yet he still seemed unsatisfied.
Meanwhile, Kira watched him silently from midfield.
The more he stared at Haise Sasaki, the more absurd that presence seemed.
It wasn’t just skill.
It was as if there was something burning inside him.
Something selfish.
Something monstrous.
Haise quickly glanced at the stadium clock.
Only ten minutes remained before the end of the first half.
And there were still two goals left.
Normally, that would seem impossible even for the best forwards in Japan.
But Haise simply didn’t care.
His fingers slowly curled into a fist as he walked back toward his position.
The desire to advance, to destroy, and above all, to score more goals…
All of it burned intensely inside him.
Egotistically… he was going to score those remaining two goals.
NEXT CHAPTER → EGO