Dead on Target

Team Z had abandoned the defense as most of their players went into the attack. The time and the advantage of having already worked out their defense helped them out. Dennis' team started playing a smooth and fluid game, rotating the formations one after another and trying something new all the time.

While they were having their best game yet, their opponents were so perplexed that they couldn't figure out who the striker was. Everyone was attacking at one moment, and the second half was almost empty.

You would think one counter-attack would be enough to score a goal against Team Z, but that wasn't the case. The team had adrenaline rushing and blood pumping; they were not feeling tired, and they would run in defense right after the attack.

The match was only getting heated.

Dennis defeated one of the middle fielders with brute force, waving him off with just a push of his shoulders. His dominance on the field was undeniable, as he was rampaging through the middle of the field like a knife through butter. Multiple people tried to go up against him this time,

"Don't let him pass!" Believing their attempt would be successful after a stressful analysis of their opponent, they went into this together, three middle fielders all pressing on just one striker.

Dennis smirked, 'You guys are missing so many things…' The German scanned the left side of the field, finding one of the red-headed players on his team speeding on the flank. It didn't take him a lot to create a wonderful pass that flew across the entire field and landed in the right place for Chigiri to get it.

'Who the hell is this guy?!' Chigiri had previously understated the German's abilities, but this was just too wild of a performance today. All of his passes were so accurate; since when were humans able to literally calculate everything so quickly?

Dennis accelerated into the box as the speedster on the left flank did the same. Chigiri had run into the left side of the penalty area and made a nice cross for Dennis. In the wild scramble for the football, everyone jumped high in the air, trying to reach the sphere first. The ball missed the first few heads before finding its way to a certain brown-haired guy.

Someone else was also close by; the dark-haired with the weird haircut had jumped to stop Dennis, but a small guy like him couldn't do anything against an athletic freak like Dennis. The guy smiled as he towered over the little one. His head hit the football and sent it past the goalkeeper.

Goal!

"Fuck yeah!" Dennis shouted as they landed on the ground. Team Z came swarming at him as their score was already two, and you guessed it—two goals more than Team Y. "That wasn't the goal I wanted, but it's still good!"

"Dude, just forget about that thing! This was a banger!"

Bachira jumped on him, "I know, right? It looked like you were flying!" When he jumped, there was no stopping Dennis from getting raised into the air; it really felt like he wasn't going to stop. His knees were literally at the level of Ikki Niko when the defender hadn't jumped yet.

Obviously, the short guy didn't have a chance at stopping the effort, and Dennis used this to taunt the player with long bangs, "What is it, Shortie? Didn't work out like you said, huh?"

And maybe Dennis was getting a little too comfortable in the facility, but it made sense for him since Ego was searching for the egoist players, of which he had enough, maybe a little too much for himself alone.

The German helped Niko get up on his feet after falling to the ground, not out of goodwill but to tell him something, "Forget the team, score goals for yourself. These three points will be ours, and you will lose… If you want to advance further, of course." He whispered in his ears and saw the guy's blue eyes instantly widen.

"You guys have no chance today."

Like this, he then walked away, paying no attention to his shocked opponent. Niko can do whatever he wants from now on. He'll just proceed to pelt them with goals.

… … …

Another attack by Team Z; this time the one leading the attack was Isagi himself. "This is way too tight pressing." He couldn't shake the defenders off like Dennis, so of course he struggled to move the ball forward.

His great vision also hadn't seen the opportunity yet either; Team Y went into full defense, and the only one who remained in the attack was a guy called Hibiki Okawa. He is, however, currently ineffective.

Seeing how Isagi was marked and watching him struggle to maintain possession, Bachira had to act quickly and call the dude out and request a pass. "Isagi!" His yell was heard, and Isagi reacted quickly.

The blue-haired, "Bachira!" He also shouted, making it appear like he was giving a pass. The opponent's little movement was enough of a sign for him to do what he was planning initially. Isagi's, at best, decent dribbling worked, and he managed to get past his opponent.

"Aghh!"

Suddenly a pain came, and Isagi fell to the ground while holding onto his leg. One of the defenders couldn't handle the humiliation and pressure on him, so he played dirty by tackling the blue-haired boy.

The whistle was blown for the foul.

"Oi, what the fuck are you doing?!" Team Z immediately came rushing to the scene, and Raichi was especially enraged as he grabbed the defender by his collar. "Do you have a death wish?!" His yelling and angry face were scary even for his own teammates.

The defender raised his hands and said, with fright visible in his eyes, "I fouled; I'm sorry!"

"Well, too late you basta-"

"Don't do something stupid, Raichi, or I'm going to roll you on the field like a football along with that guy!" Dennis appeared on the scene as well and stopped Raichi's idiocy. His giant figure was more menacing than the entirety of Team Z combined; they didn't have the aura of the leaders, unlike the German.

"Isaigi," He crouched down and shook the guy a little bit, "How's the leg, was it a knee?" The blue-haired shook his head and instead just touched his ankle. The right ankle didn't yet have anything apparent, and Dennis doubted it was something serious.

"Agh, damn, that's not really good. Just in case, get off the field for some time, check on whether you feel good, and get back. Until the end of the first half, there are only ten minutes." Dennis helped Isagi get up and walk off the field. The Japanese boy was obviously reluctant about this and wanted to stay on the field, pretending not to feel any pain.

Injuries were a serious issue for the players, and it'll be worse if someone gets them in the project, so it was better to just check on yourself before recklessly doing something. Isagi had to stay off the pitch, but thankfully for him, the defender who fouled on him got a yellow card, and his team also received a good opportunity to score again.

By the way, the foul happened right in front of the penalty area, maybe around thirty meters away from the goal. For Dennis, this was the perfect place; he was going to try something else.

"Are you going to shoot?" Kunigami tossed a football and approached Dennis. The person in question nodded before saying something,

"Just watch it. Top right corner, curved shot. Going to get past the keeper before he can do anything, or at least won't be able to reach it. The wall is going to jump, but it'll be fruitless." Dennis told Kunigami all of this while covering his mouth with his hand; the latter wasn't even surprised.

"You are quite confident."

Kunigami was speaking the truth, and Dennis never denied his confidence; he sure did. It was his first real attempt at this type of freekick in the match; Dennis usually prefers a knuckleball, and even then, the success rate was lower than he would have liked.

Curved shots aren't his specialty, and for now, he just went with his gut. Dennis positioned himself parallel to the goal line and waited for some time to truly comprehend the distance between the football and the goal. It was a lot. The key was to measure the strength properly, and the ball would eventually curl into the spot he was aiming at.

'Knuckleball is even harder than the curve; of course, this one won't be a problem at all.' There weren't many players on the professional level who preferred the knuckleball over the curved shot; it was risky. But if kicked properly, it's the hardest kick to get the hang of for a goalkeeper. 'Here goes nothing.'

His steps were slow, but the tension only rose as the wall of defenders prepared to jump and take impact on themselves. Dennis didn't care about them, as his approach to the ball continued in a similar manner. Since he was extremely aligned with the goal line, the shot was also supposed to be a curvy one.

Dennis gave his right leg some extra power, and when he swung it, it smacked the right side of the ball and launched it into the air. It spun extremely quickly, and in mid-air, the contours on its surface had blended into a more dominant color. The football was blurry in the goalkeeper's eyes, but he was damn sure he wasn't going to reach it in time.

Previously, the goalkeeper tried to place the human wall so that he could make his job easier when jumping. Speaking of the human wall, it turned out to be useless. The keeper jumped, and ping!

The ball hit the post and flew high in the air. "He missed!" Team Y shouted and swarmed the penalty area. The battle for possession resumed, with team Z joining in the struggle.

"I got it!" Wataru jumped high into the air; his vertical leap made it clear he was the highest jumper there. He hit the ball with his head and dropped it to the ground at Raichi's feet perfectly; the latter was turned with his back to the goal, though.

In the white-haired boy's mind, there was only one thought at a time. 'I'm going to score this freaking goal…' He was about to turn around and send the ball straight to the goal, but something in front of him was too persuasive to let him do so.

Raichi's inner feelings were forcing him to give up the ball and pass it to the approaching figure of Dennis. 'What in the hell…' Past Dennis, the white-haired guy couldn't see anything; it was just Dennis and him in his vision in slow motion. The glare from the German was so daring, the blue eyes seemed to glow.

Almost all the negativity on the field fell on Raichi, and the main reason for that was Dennis. He was probably going to be sorry if he didn't pass. Dennis' shadow that was following him around seemed like a living person… 'This dude isn't normal at all.' It was Raichi's imagination, but that was the effect of having Dennis around.

Raichi rolled the ball outside the box back to Dennis, and the second it touched the German's feet, it got sent back at an incredible speed, this time arriving precisely where he intended it to go.

Goal!

The straight shot blitzed into the net, thus securing Dennis another point for himself. "The first attempt was embarrassing; I hope this makes up for it, Kunigami." He smirked in delight as the whistle was blown.

"Holy shit! That was an absolute banger!"

"A cannon shot, I must say. Dead into the target!"

The goal was the goal, and nothing would kill its amazingness even if it was an additional shot. Team Z swarmed their teammate, complimenting his crazy goal-scoring abilities and kicking power.

They were winning by three goals now, with their enemies still having zero on their screen. Team Y is on the verge of being dissolved entirely. They will be kicked out and only one of the eleven will remain, who will it be?

"Ghh, I…have to score."