A different kind of speed

[3rd POV]

"He's annoying," Yukimiya let out as he looked up at the score. 

1-0 for Team White. 

"Annoying is an understatement." Jude added with a slight scowl. 

Even he, didn't expect such a move. 

"Wowza..." Otoya added his own insightful comment. 

"Didn't I tell you that they were a team full of annoying geniuses?" Jude added with a laugh. 

But now, it was time to show them that even geniuses could be crushed. 

.. 

"It's not like our strength is our defense anyway." Hiori chimed in as he went up to restart the match. 

As soon as the sound of the whistle was heard, Hiori sent the ball back to Jude. 

"Show them, Jude." 

Jude finally put his foot on the ball. 

For the first time in this match, his special weapon took effect. 

[Emperor's Aura]

Once Jude touched the ball, an intangible aura surrounded him. 

It was usually followed by his teammate's face slightly brightening, having their moral raised. As well as his enemies' face visibly darkening and tensing up.

This time, he couldn't perceive the latter. 

He suddenly remembered the last segment of his special weapon's description. 

[The effects may vary depending on the mental fortitude of the players on the field.]

So it was easy for a broken player to immediately become overcome with doubt when faced with Jude. Yet, the four people in front of him were far from broken — let alone weak willed. 

Especially the king and lazy genius who didn't bat an eye at the change around the field. 

Maybe they couldn't even feel it. 

'What did I even expect from a C rank special weapon?'

What used to be one of his most important and useful weapons was now slowly turning into nothing more than a pleasant decoration in his status window.

The stronger his teammates and opponents, the more useless this would become.

But for now, that will do.

Jude then made his first move, he pushed the ball ahead and began running, followed by all of Team Red sprinting forward. 

Yukimiya and Otoya were especially fast and went ahead whilst Hiori purposefully remained behind to support Jude. 

Team Red had a formation of their own. 

It wasn't really something they worked on, in fact they barely played together. They were all strangers from different teams in the first selection. 

Yet, they shared a silent understanding.

They knew each other's strengths and weaknesses — other than Jude, whose strengths were constantly evolving.

But still, they had faith in one another. And so, all they had to do was position themselves in the most lethal spot.

Once Jude made his move, Yukimiya ran to the side to push for a 1vs1. He was fast. Fast enough to be considered a threat simply due to his speed, and so Chigiri immediately went to guard him. 

At the same time, Otoya weaved through the defenders. 

"There's more than one kind of speed." Otoya spoke to himself as he passed Nagi. 

He wasn't as fast as Chigir, nor did he have the acceleration of Zantetsu, but he had a weapon of his own. 

He was the most agile player. 

That, coupled with his A rank special weapon, made him the most fearful off the ball player in Blue Lock. 

For that matter, he was uncontested. He thus easily moved past everyone, the only one close to guarding him was Zantetsu. 

...Now all that's left is the final pass. 

But Otoya didn't need to worry about that. 

Jude was able to easily dribble past Nagi just a moment later, with both Yukimiya and Otoya in perfect position to use their weapons, he had a free assist. 

But someone came in and shattered that fantasy, Barou was keen enough to sense the danger and moved up to block his path. 

Jude could attempt dribbling past him like he did with Nagi.

In fact, he was very tempted. The more times he individually beat those geniuses, the better his reward would be at the end of the game. 

But even then, he didn't allow his greed to blind his reason. Nagi was right behind him.

A 2vs1 was doable, but not ideal.

Beating someone doesn't just mean dribbling past them, that's something he understood very early on in his career, he also knew that the system wouldn't make the quest as easy as to simply dribble past each of them.

Jude waited until Nagi caught up to him, and once he got close enough, he sent the ball away with a fast heel flick. Knowing that he wasn't on his right or left, it was easy to guess that Hiori was behind him. 

And so, at the best moment, he sent the ball to their midfield magician. 

With the ball in his feet, whether he chose Yukimiya or Otoya, it was a certain goal. 

...In the end, he chose to send it to the speedy ninja. 

The ball flew with a slight curve which bent around Zantestu before finally landing in front of Otoya who easily whipped the ball into the net. 

1-1.

He brought the score to a stalemate, announcing that the game will probably be the hardest they will ever play in the second selection, maybe even harder than any other game in the first selection — or even their whole career. 

Amidst all the tension, Otoya was the only one who remained unbothered. 

He simply celebrated his goal by jumping down on the ground and yelling some nonsense. 

"Wooo!"

Meanwhile, his teammate whose eyes were hidden behind his windproof glasses, didn't look as exalted.

He didn't even attempt to hide his annoyed expression as he approached Hiori. 

"Why did you pass it to him instead of me? Be honest, did you think he had a higher chance of scoring?" 

It was a rhetorical question, as nobody could be as lethal as Yukimiya in the final one on one. But Hiori wasn't phased by his new friend's reaction. 

His expression remained neutral as he explained his thought process:

"He didn't choose me. I had to prove him wrong, there's nothing more to it."

Yukimiya immediately understood what the young cyan haired boy was referring to. At the end of their last match, Yukimiya was set on choosing Hiori. 

Otoya, on the other hand, believed that Karasu would be a better fit for him. 

"I didn't think you had such a petty side to you." Yukimiya burst out laughing. 

"I'm letting it slide this time, but next one is mine."

.. 

.. 

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Author: I had a ton of tests this week + last week so I didn't have any time to write, but we're back for good.