When Zeus got serious, you have to believe me when I say that they were like real gods angry at the earth. No, they were real gods angry at the earth. Dash Storm, Heaven's Time, and Mega Quake attacked us repetitively, and soon we were all collapsed on the ground. My ankle felt slight pain from when their defender threw us up through the rocks of his hissatsu, but I would hold on. I have to hold on and get back points.
The two forwards continued to shoot at Endou, until he was barely standing. "My, I wonder how far your determination will go before you learn to give up," Aphrodi mused. The ball rolled under Eris's foot. "You know," the ice silver haired female said to Endou, "People like you interest me. You're a lot like me, did you realize? You don't die even though you're supposed to. You don't fall when you're supposed to. You don't give up when there's no chance of winning. But...there can only be one of us that's left, pity." Then her face twisted into an insane grin. "Too bad, that will be me!"
She kicked the ball up, then did a pique turn with the same timing as Aphrodi as they jumped up together and clasped hands. "Pas de Deux Remastered!" the two shouted together.
This time though, I don't know what overcame Endou. Perhaps it was like whenever I became Inoue Shizuro, he became an all new person. His eyes shone as hard as steel, and then he reached his hand up. "Majin the Hand!" he shouted. It almost looked like he was going to deflect the shoot, but then the golden glow around him faded, and the ball went into the net.
Right after the ball rolled out though, something very strange happened. Aphrodi kicked the ball out of the boundaries, and all of Zeus retired off the field towards the cart from the beginning of the game, only with the cups refilled now. Water break? Another ritual? I also saw Poseidon popping a mint, but quickly overlooked it. Who cares what his breath smell like, I had more important matters at hand. Like our team's condition right now, for example, and how we were being overpowered.
"It looks like Zeus is taking a relaxing water break," Kakuma observed. A small gesture from our side caught my attention. It was the managers talking amongst themselves, then Natsumi gestured to the other two and they disappeared down a hall into the building. First a group water break, now a group bathroom trip? I mean, I knew that girls went to the bathroom in groups though I had no idea why (boys bathroom, remember? Inoue Shizuro doesn't go into the girl's bathroom, it'll taint "his" picture). Anyway, back to topic. That is....beyond weird, is all I can say.
The boys eventually got back onto the field and resumed the game. More minutes passed. More bodies thrown across the field. It was like a beginner juggler trying to use eight balls at once, only we were the balls, and they were doing it on purpose.
I layed on the ground, not knowing if I was even conscious. Was I being taken to heaven? My soul felt like it was slipping away. My eyes started to close too, and my body relaxed.
"They're at their limit. Referee," Aphrodi said calmly. The only thing I could think about was that at least he had the kindness to spare us. The referee looked around fearfully at the half dead bodies sprawled on the ground. He raised his arm, "As the players are unable to continue this match, this game will go to Zeus-"
He was interrupted by a certain brunette with a tattered orange headband. "Wait!" he said shakily. All eyes turned toward Endou. Even I managed to lift my head to see.
"But with only you..."
From behind me another voice piped up, one I recognized dearly. "It isn't just him," the flame striker said, climbing up too. "That's right," Kidou declared. Before I knew it, I clambered up and said, "I used to think that to destroy the other team automatically makes you the winner, but now..." I winced in pain from my ankle but bit it down and looked at Aphrodi, who raised his eyebrows, "As long as we don't give in and the ending whistle doesn't sound, you're not the victor yet."
Everyone had crawled up by now, their voices joining in, "We can still play!" Eris clenched her teeth and hissed. Aphrodi immediately snapped his attention to her again. "It's okay," he told soothingly her with that sugar coated voice of his which I've only ever heard him use on her, "They don't stand a chance. If they want to continue being beaten, then we'll beat them so bad they can never walk again."
Aphrodi grew wings. All of us widened our eyes to see him jump up and spread those wings. The massive power that he wields in that is obvious. For a split second, I lost all hope again. "Trust Endou," I tried to convince my brain, but with hopeless results.
"Have you ever heard the flap of an angel's wings?"
The blinding light from his hissatsu made Endou shield his eyes. When he opened them, it was too late, and the ball slammed into the net along with him. Eris smiled.
Our team tried to get it to the goal again, but we still failed just as bad as before. In just around two minutes we were all on the ground again. All except me, which I was sure they left out on purpose for Eris to do the honors.
"Now Death Bringer, the two of us, you being the only one left on your team, perfect. Let me show you the way to heaven," Eris said. Her face twisted even more than before, her eyes glowed so bright and her hair so brilliant they rivaled Aphrodi's hissatsu from earlier. But Aphrodi seemed to be biting his lip, as if holding down himself to stop her. And...was that pain I saw flickering in his eyes? But why would he be hurting? It wasn't like he was the one who was being massacred on this field, nor did he seem like he had an injury beforehand, as I already knew Kageyama would do anything to prevent his "perfect soldiers" from harm as seen with Teikoku. Or else I would never have ever needed to become a manager at the beginning.
She kicked the ball up then snapped and the sky opened, revealing a glowing spotlight from the black grey storm clouds and snapping me back to attention. Now she jumped at a speed faster than last time, and slammed the ball with her heel. "Judgement Day!" she shouted in frustration and anger. And that ball was heading straight at me.
A flash of purple appeared in the middle of me and the blinding shoot. When I finally realized that I did not get hit, I discovered that it was Kidou holding the ball back with Dark Tornado. "Well?" he shouted at me, "A little help?"
This time I didn't think, didn't hesitate. It was as if I had been fighting next to Kidou all my life, rather than just a week ago. Helping him when he was in trouble, just as easily as he had helped me, came to me like an instinct. I jumped up, using Kuroi Hane Taifuu on the ball. Thankfully, Ichinose was close enough and helped out with Spinning Shoot, otherwise me and Kidou would have been out of the field with hospital injuries. With the three of our powers we just managed to make the ball lose its power and bounce off course.
Only downside? Ichinose now has a limp and was benched for field injury. That left only nine players against eleven gods.
That, and my ankle was hurting like hell, and it isn't even halftime yet.
The scene seemed almost like a mirage, as if I was looking at it in a movie or through a dream. Endou kept being hit repeatedly, used as a punching dummy by Aphrodi. Eris stood on the side, trembling, yet unmoving from her spot. Why she didn't, I had no idea.
We could all tell it was going to be useless effort, despite all the enthusiasm we had just had earlier. The gods were going to pummel us until there's nothing less to wreck. And Endou, the leader of our spirits, was going to go down first.
The brunette was just stumbling around now. I wasn't even sure he was conscious, he was just being tossed around by Aphrodi and his auburn haired friend with the scar. They didn't even let him fall down, just kicked it right back when the ball bounced to them.
Suddenly, a voice interrupted the moment. "What are you all doing, if Endou's being targeted, then go on the offense! Remember? If they score points, we just have to score more!"
We all turned, even the members of Zeus. In this moment a thump was heard as Endou crashed to the ground. Even though his face turned toward the ground, I somehow knew that he was listening too.
The voice belonged to Someoka. He was standing up, even though he was in no condition to even get off a bench. Not to mention the fact that he had refused to go into the ambulance that had parked outside the stadium and insisted on seeing the rest of the game through. None of Raimon did leave either and none had ever looked away as any of us had fallen, I suddenly realized. The courage in these boys were something Kidokawa, and even Teikoku, didn't have. It gave me a spark of hope. No, not a spark of hope.
An ignition. Flames that won't burn out until we win.
"But..." Kurimatsu stammered, "We can't even get the ball from them..."
Someoka merely scowled at him. "Fine, then I'm coming on." Before Coach Hibiki could say anything, he continued, "It's my decision and my health. If I want to sacrifice myself, I'll do it without someone stopping me." That shut up anyone who wanted to say anything really quick.
Stepping onto the field, he caught my eyes. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he grinned, even though it was probably going to be wiped off his face as soon as Zeus uses Mega Quake. Even though I was afraid, a stream of adrenaline shot through my spine, turning the fear to thrill that I knew all too well.
Here on this field now was Inoue Shizuro, the girl who called herself Sakurai Shizumi belonged in the shadows. "Oh you bet," I grinned back, my sharp incisors glinted dangerously for a second, just like Inoue Shizuro's trademark.
I turned to Kazemaru, who probably already knew what was going on. He was cowering in his position. But met with mine challenging and ready and Someoka's hard and determined, he sighed and gave a tired nod.
I then turned to Aphrodi. "One point," I said loudly, making sure that Eris, Poseidon, and Endou could all hear me. "We'll get one point before the halftime whistle, you bet on it or I won't be the Death Bringer for nothing."
"Look at this, audience! It looks like Raimon is planning something! Could it turn the tides of the game? Player number thirteen Sakurai has just declared a challenge with Zeus, putting even her well earned nickname on the line! Folks, this may just be the match of the century! It's the gods against soccer's best legends,Teikoku's genius gameplayer Kidou Yuuto who has risen after his school's lost, and the duo ex-Phoenix strikers of Kidokawa Seishuu Gouenji Shuuya and the once Inoue Shizuro Sakurai Shizumi!" Kakuma shouted, stirring up the crowd even more.
"Soon we'll be making our own legend too," Someoka said. "Yeah," Kazemaru replied. The teal haired boy who stood in front of me wasn't the scared teal haired boy I saw earlier, nor the first day when he took a shot for Endou. He was a demon, just like me and Someoka. We were going to run Mount Olympus.
"Let's charge through!" Kazemaru shouted, and we were off.
I don't know what happened, but I think pretending we weren't afraid either made us stronger, or made them lose their godly powers. All of a sudden, I could see through all their flaws. After all, what is a god to a nonbeliever? Just a couple of wannabes who thought they could do anything just because. Well too bad cuz we ain't gonna let ya.
Somehow, we had managed to make it through the whole court. Often Kazemaru would run ahead, Someoka would stall a defender, and I would blow the way across using Kuroi Hane Taifuu, with Kazemaru intercepting the ball and passing it back and forth with Someoka until I had caught up with them and we could repeat the process. All while the three of us were laughing like demons sent from hell. It was legendary and unbelievable, unlike anything I had seen before. This was our power, the one that would cleave a legend behind.
"We call on you," I shouted as I kicked the ball up, black feathers and a swirl of wind surrounding it.
"Destroy everything in your path!" Kazemaru followed up just like he was trained to so many times, only this time, he didn't need the help of Kabeyama and his body seemed to be one with the wind. Spinning around it he added a new gust of wind and accelerated the ball, then kicking it down to our final key which would unlock this door.
Someoka's foot came across the ball, changing the rotation and increasing its power to the max and a beautiful, chaotic, and utterly terrifying mint colored dragon serpent that looked as if it was carved out of apophyllite with wings like knives rushed at Poseidon at top speed, its bloodcurdling roar echoing the whole field. A typhoon of white feathers blasted stronger than any other wind disturbed the peace of the sky, waves of sonification and wind rippled across the sky and shook the ground.
It was a deity made of wrath, sent from the sky to reduce the world to ruins.
Gasps rippled across the field from both Raimon and Zeus, and the crowd was in a frenzy. Even at the Raimon bench, all the injured members managed to climb up to their feet. Megane, whose glasses had slipped from his nose during the impact of the shot repositioned his glasses quickly and exclaimed, "Let's name it Boreas Fiend!"
"No way," Someoka growled with a victorious smirk.
I turned to Megane, my expression mirroring Someoka's."That's right, only one name will do this hissatsu justice." Megane flinched.
"Divine Sky Dragon," Kazemaru finished for us, a rare glint of malice finding its way into his eyes.
I had almost forgotten how it felt when a hissatsu first comes to life under your feet, especially one that was executed by more than one person. But this, this just brought me back. I remember the day Phoenix Feather had lit the way to the goal that first time, it was just like this, only this was different. While Phoenix Feather had felt like we had each others back, this felt like we were charging together as one. Just like Someoka had said, carving our own legend.
The halftime whistle blew. We made it in. It wasn't all just useless effort, maybe humans can overthrow gods if they work together. Everyone has it in their heart to break beyond the borders and soar in the endless possibilities beyond. All it takes, is to crack that shell.
This chapter was actually the result of combining two separate chapters I wrote. It's kinda obvious where I linked it, but I felt that splitting it wasn't necessary. If you read the manga you would recognize the "one point" part. Two or three more chapters, depending on how I decide it to be later on, and that will be the end of the first book of Life As Teikoku's Manager (I decided to make the Aliea/FFI arc separate from the FF arc because of plot reasons). Also, I kind of want to change the title since "Life As Teikoku's Manager" seems much too whimsical to such a dark twisted story though it was kind of what started everything. Should I? Do you think it would affect readers?