Brutal beating.

The match resumed almost immediately, and the Bariga Young Boyz looked fired up, eager to avenge the embarrassment of conceding a goal, because when the Dark Elites first walked onto the pitch, they'd been mocked and dismissed as nothing more than academy kids.

Some of the Bariga players even boasted that the Dark Elites wouldn't get a single goal past them, one overconfident midfielder had gone as far as swearing that if they conceded, he'd start answering to the name "Foolish."

That's what made the equalizer sting even more, it wasn't just a goal; it was a dent in their pride, and the fact that it came from a bunch of 18-year-olds only made it worse.

Bariga's playstyle shifted drastically, as they tightened up, held the ball close, and played with a ruthless edge, tackling hard and refusing to give the Dark Elites any breathing room when they were with the ball.

Their aggression paid off, after a long stretch of dominating possession, they found another opening around the 9th minute.

Idris sent a low pass sweeping across to Alaba, the left wing-back, who burst forward with speed and slipped past Igbo Boi with a simple dribbling, he then proceeded to play a slick one-two with the central midfielder, and as they bypassed Lambert in the center with the fast pace passes, and when the ball returned to his feet's Alaba timed a sharp left-footed cross into the box.

Jamiu had already anticipated the move and positioned himself perfectly, as the ball approached, he leapt into the air. But he wasn't alone, Tizzle (Iyang James) jumped as well, trying to disrupt him, still, Jamiu had the edge.

He was older, had better stats due to his level, more experience and that slight challenge from Tizzle barely even affected him.

With a subtle flick of his head, Jamiu redirected the ball, and before the Dark Elites defenders could react, it was already rolling neatly toward the left side of the post.

It was almost like time had slowed down, every Dark Elite player on and off the pitch silently wished for a miracle- someone, anyone, to reach the ball, and in that final second, when all hope seemed lost, a hand suddenly appeared.

Kado had launched himself off the ground with explosive force, and the very tip of his outstretched left hand grazed the ball, causing it to deflect off the post, ricocheting toward Okududu.

A wave of relief washed over the Dark Elites players, as Kado's save bought them a precious moment to breathe, but it was only a moment.

Out of nowhere, Adekunle struck again, proving once more why he was a menace, like a ghost, he slid in unseen, his left leg stretching out just in time to tap the rebound, one touch was all it took, as he redirected the ball to the far corner of the post.

Kado instinctively swung his leg in a last-ditch effort to block it, but Adekunle had positioned himself perfectly in Okududu's blind spot.

He didn't pressure the buildup, he didn't chase the ball earlier either, he had waited patiently for a mistake, for a rebound, for a chance to punish, and it came.

"Goal!!!"

The ball rolled cleanly into the net, as Kado couldn't stop it this time. Adekunle celebrated from the ground as his teammates piled on, right there in the Dark Elites' box, showing no regard for the visiting team's pride.

Bariga Young Boyz 2 – 1 Dark Elites.

Once again, Bariga took the lead, they were quick, clinical, and brutal.

The match resumed, but what followed was no longer a contest—it was a demolition.

Before the final whistle, the Bariga Young Boyz had put in seven more goals, with each one, the Dark Elites' morale crumbled further, the moment Bariga got serious, they left no room for error, the gulf in quality became quite obvious, and as the match went on the Dark Elites ran out of stamina and couldn't keep up with the Bariga Young Boyz who were superior in levels and didn't need to run all the time in order to regain possession.

Mystic, who was watching from the sidelines, understood something clearly, talent and luck alone weren't enough to win a match, to close such a massive gap, his players would need more than raw potential.

They needed levels, they needed power, otherwise, they would always be crushed by teams like Bariga Young Boyz who had higher level players than them.

It wasn't that the Dark Elites didn't try again, they did, there were bursts of promise, like when Mojo dribbled through Bariga Young Boyz midfield with help from Bhola in the 57 minutes and sent a sharp through ball to Tasty.

But just as Tasty made his move, Idris body-checked him with precision, calmly retrieved the ball, and launched it forward again.

Even Bhola, frustrated, took a long-range shot when Tasty couldn't shake off Idris, but the ball was easily caught.

Every attempt was thwarted, with Idris marshalling the back line like a seasoned general, in the end, Adekunle scored five goals.

After completing his hat trick, he even pulled off his jersey and walked toward the stands, holding it up in front of Mystic's face as if to prove a point, but all Mystic did was smile and shake his head.

Adekunle scored two headers, another two from inside the box, and one long-range strike, while the remaining four goals were shared among Jamiu, Alaba, and Idris.

Jamiu eventually netted two, taking advantage of the reduced marking as defenders focused too heavily on Adekunle's stealthy positioning.

Still, even with the extra attention, the defenders couldn't do much.

Dark Elite's back line consisted of low-level, common-talent players, so it was understandable why they couldn't keep him in check.

Idris scored from a corner cross, while Jamiu curled a beautiful shot from outside the box.

After the match, Alec spent twelve thousand Alliance Coins to unlock their status tabs, but he planned to review them later.

For now, he just wanted to leave, it hurt too much to watch his players like that.

But his goal had been achieved, they had lost badly, painfully, and he hoped that pain would ignite something in them, driving them to work harder so they'd never suffer such humiliation again, the only reason Mystic had chosen this brutal method was because he knew his players well.

Unlike others, they wouldn't give up.