On The Side Of The Pitch With You

Gardon III

It then got passed around all the way to Earth's defense, but Manabe managed to kick it back to the middle, where Tenma was waiting. Still, Arbega had a confident smile on his face.

"That goalkeeper is calculating everyone's movements instantaneously." Mizukawa suddenly spoke up.

"Everyone? Both us and his own team?" Aoi asked.

"Yes. That is why he is able to cope with the changes in offense and defense so quickly. They're a tough opponent."

Aoi had a worried look before hardening her expression. "Don't give in, guys!"

Offense and defense were switched around in the blink of an eye. Arbega had near full control of the field, which meant that their team was using up a lot more energy than they should have to keep up. That was already bad, but what makes it worse is...

"Nebad! 2-3, 1.5!"

The red bird he called out to then kicked the ball out of bounds to prevent Kusaka from getting it, except that it didn't go out of bounds. Steam shot out from the strange devices circling the field, and the ball bounced off of it, letting another Gardonian take it.

"Whoa! The stadium's pyro exhaust systems on the ground are in operation!" The octo-commentator exclaimed. "He passed the ball using its hot winds, baby!"

Luckily, Minaho managed to block him, sending the ball actually out of bounds this time. It gave everyone a short break to drink and cool off.

"Don't drink it all at once." Manabe reminded. "250 milliliters is an appropriate amount."

Kimiko sweatdropped slightly. Not everyone is a measuring cup...

"But this heat is pretty rough..." Sakura argued, which none of them could debunk.

"This entire field is surrounded by pyro exhausts..." Aoi muttered.

"Yes." Mizukawa said from her usual position. "The exhausts automatically emit the heat that is below the ground to maintain stability of Gardon's crust."

"But to put it right around the field..." Kimiko sighed. I'm surprised no one's suffocated yet.

The match continued with Tenma and Matatagi's attack. Matatagi got past the defense and used Parkour Attack, but just like earlier, it was blocked by Arbega in a similar fashion. Then, Gardon went for the attack, passing far across the field. Soon, they had reached the defense, and after using a hissatsu (Magma Carpet was thankfully just an illusion and not actually magma burning Tetsukado's legs off), he passed a striker who used a regular shot on Shinsuke.

Shinsuke reacted timely and punched it away.

"Good job, Shinsuke!"

"Leave it to me! I'll protect the goal no matter what!"

Their team is back to being on the offensive, with Tenma getting through most of the field. Then, he passed it to...

"Tsurugi!"

Manuuba got it, but he had barely dribbled before the opponent kicked it away from him. However, no one expected the vents to work in their favor and activate right at that moment. The ball bounced back to Manuuba's feet as Tenma called for him to shoot.

He did with a regular shot, and Arbega was able to deflect it easily.

"This is Earth Eleven's striker? Laughable."

"What?!"

"Your skills are nothing beyond the numerical values of your data. I was expecting some hidden potential yet unknown to us, but this is a disappointment."