Blue lock: the true egoist

[3rd POV]

"Damn it!" Miyata cursed. 

Everything was perfect, down to the very minute details. He had the best positioning, nobody noticed him, his timing was also excellent. Yet as soon as he leaped up to go for the header before Himizu, he realized how stupid he was. 

Hiori's pass was tailored for Himizu.

Not only was Himizu one of the tallest players in the game, but he also could jump much higher than Miyata. 

Luckily, Miyata was fast to realize his mistake and thus adapt. Instead of dwelling on it, he twisted his body to get in Himizu's way, using himself as an obstacle to partially block his movements. 

Although it was impossible for Miyata to truly block Himizu, that was no longer his goal. 

Himizu was able to get the ball first. He attempted to send a strong header towards the net, but Miyata's body didn't allow him to position himself towards the net. This forced Himizu to either lose the ball or to pass it in Karasu's direction. 

The last minute pass wasn't great. It was so rushed that the fact that it reached Karasu could be called a miracle.

Time was against them.

Without wasting any moment to trap the ball, Karasu immediately shot the ball with a volley. 

It wasn't the type of shot he was used to, but he knew that if he wanted to score he had to think quick and act even quicker — yet he soon regretted rushing up his shot. 

"Damnit!" Karasu cursed as he saw Akira's foot blocking his shot and sending it flying high up in the air. 

"What's wrong, birdy? Where did your big and mighty talk go?" Akira mocked. "I hope you're no longer worried about being bored."

Gritting his teeth in frustration, Karasu made the most rational choice and ran back to the defense. 

He gave up on winning the game.

'I can't just rely on my luck and hope that the ball will land near me or Hiori. If I can't score, then I will make sure they don't either.'

Karasu sprinted back as fast as he could, and he made the right decision. The ball landed nowhere near any of Team V's members and instead was safely trapped by Yanagi. 

"Don't waste our efforts!" Yanagi yelled out as he launched a powerful shot towards Jude. 

The ball flew across the entire first half of the field. Even with the two players closely guarding him, Jude was able to jump higher than both of them and securely trap the ball with his chest. 

As soon as he felt the ball touch the ground, Jude burst into a sprint to the right. One of the players was immediately left in the dust, as for the other, he desperately struggled to follow after Jude's sudden acceleration. 

'Putting so many stats into my acceleration finally paid off.'

Jude was happy with the result. Thanks to his stamina, he hardly felt the tiredness settling in his body, all he could feel right now was the adrenaline pumping through his body. 

It was definitely there, running around for a full 85 minutes was bound to tire him out, but his stamina allowed him to still bring out the full potential of his acceleration coupled with his dribbling which already far surpassed most high schoolers. 

'This is it… the feeling I had earlier. It's as if my body's moving on its own.'

Jude noticed that his body reacted almost instantly to his wishes.

This allowed him to effortlessly dribble past players one after the other, and soon he reached the last line of defense. 

'There's only three defenders left, but i have to be quick or the others will catch up to me.'

Jude could see from his peripheral vision that the players he dribbled past didn't give up yet and were now trying to corner Jude who was now encircled and alone in the enemy's territory. 

For any normal player, this situation would be a dead end. He was alone in between 7 players. But Jude was far from average. 

Those few weeks in Blue lock turned him from a player of the highest level of high school football, to a player who stepped into the league of professionals. 

Normal players his age wouldn't stand a chance. 

In the midst of all the chaos around him, Jude was calm enough to slow down and allow his pursuers to get even closer to him. Once they were out of formation, Jude finally took his chance and used his acceleration to set the pace once again and burst into full speed. 

'Here comes the first victim.' 

Jude pushed the ball to the left and used the difference in speed to swiftly get past the first defender, then sharply directed the ball to the right to escape yet another tackle. 

Those sharp changes in direction and speed were hellish for any normal defender, and the best way to get rid of a bunch of them.

With barely two minutes left, Jude weaved through the defenders, successfully getting rid of the first two with his speed before finally nutmegging the last defender. 

He was now face to face with the goal — or at least he would've been if not for the player who suddenly slid into his view. 

'How did this fucker get here?'

Jude's eyes widened at the sight of the heavily panting Karasu. 

"Last time... You were seemingly exhausted... I was on the offensive and I won..." Karasu spoke up in between heavy breathes.

"Now it's your turn."

"So you're offering me a chance to get my revenge?" Jude was perplexed. He didn't expect to hear those words from someone like Karasu.

However, this was perfect for him. 

"Wrong." Karasu answered dryly.

"I'm offering you the chance to realize how inferior you are."

"I'm glad you're still as cocky. At least now I'm sure I will still get the pleasure of being the first to completely crush that fragile ego of yours." 

As soon as those words left his mouth, Jude picked up the pace. He was ready to face Karasu with all he had. 

This final one-on-one was going to determine the result of the match. 

.. 

.. 

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Author: It all began with a 1vs1, and it will also end with one.