章 14: The King's Fall
The match had become even tenser as a result of Dennis' words. He had the mentality to show respect to his enemies by giving them none, not the opposite. His respect will be to not show them any mercy. He then continued to continuously widen the gap between their goals.
He may have broken Barou's ankles multiple times already. His movements made absolutely no sense for such an enormous tank-like body. At one second you believe he is going in one direction, and there is nothing indicating that he will change that, but…
'That way,' Barou would guess, but Dennis wouldn't match his guesses. The exact opposite of his guess would happen. As if the third leg would come out of his butt and take the ball unexpectedly under its control.
However, from the camera's perspective, his play was much different. His technical abilities in football were unrivaled by Barou, and by watching him, you realize what true effort is. Knowing where the ball is going to be without even looking at it is not a talent.
Basketballers are required to drive the ball without looking at it; similar things are required in football, but maybe it's less appreciated. Lifting your head from the ball is one of the basics in this sport, and Dennis took it too far by doing some tricks without looking at the ball. This made it more dangerous though,
Imagine being able to see what is going on around you while you are doing the extremely difficult thing that requires your opponent's full attention. 'Some say dribbling is nothing more than moving on the field with the ball to relocate and open up more pathways.' Dennis, during his training with his uncle, had many theoretical lessons with him as well.
They weren't actual documented teachings, but deep insights into football. The players, the defenders, are the ones who have elevated dribbling to an art form by relentlessly pursuing the dribbler in order for them to pass the ball to or steal from them. In our case, it was Barou who kept pushing himself into stopping Dennis.
This forced the players with the ball to control it; no mistakes were tolerable as the defenders were waiting for that precise moment.
Barou's chest smashed against Dennis' shoulder, and the force of this collision reverberated on his ribs as he could feel the strength put into this by Dennis. Most would lose the ball, but not the German; he still held the football. 'How can he have it at all times?' Barou analyzed the game, and he could say that the item never moved away from his opponent's feet for more than a meter.
It could have been behind, in front, or to the side, but never at too much distance. Dennis could always reach the ball with his long legs, and he did this with such quickness that not even Barou was able to put his leg before it. This time, he shielded the ball with his entire body, and the collision was brief. Dennis produced an almost clean 360-degree spin, with the ball magnetically attached to one of his feet.
Barou's jaw dropped, 'Spin move?!' It was not a clean one, but it was done so masterfully that it made perfect sense to do it at such speed. Most of the time, stopping the ball at such speed required slowing down your own body, but Dennis did it without that. 'He is crazy!'
'I'm not Zidane, but I did what I could.' Dennis also knew. This wasn't a clean move and got disappointed. Some referees would call a foul for that, and the German would have been at fault. 'I need to work on this one more; I have to find a balance between my physical play and my technical one. Sometimes I use too much force into things that require little strength at all.'
In the end, it still achieved the objective, and Dennis' internal rant wasn't heard by anyone. Bang! The football found itself in the net with a clean curve shot that burst into the nine.
"Yeah, another goal, and I don't feel any satisfaction." Dennis sighed at his own goal, "You had to try better, Barou, and maybe then things would have been different." He looked at the player of Team X.
Barou fell to the ground on his ass, tired of running after Dennis. Kuon, meanwhile, watched them from a distance as Dennis walked up to the defeated beast. The brown-haired Japanese didn't see the face of Barou, but the dude definitely felt terrible.
Dennis crouched next to his opponent, "So, how are you feeling, Barou? Terrible, maybe? Do you want a cup of water?" He got closer to his ears and whispered so that the other guy on the field couldn't hear it.
Barou experienced a whole spectrum of emotions from those single words. Anger was a particularly dominant emotion, but when he looked up, it had been replaced by fear. He couldn't explain it, but someone else glaring at him with a head above his was a terrifying sight. Dennis had transformed into a monster in his eyes—a dark monster who appears to be an angel on the outside.
His face had an ethereal quality to it, but his eyes—which seemed to almost glow blue from the field's reflection—were too cold.
"That's right, Barou…" Dennis began to whisper more, "You are nothing. You are just at the tippity toes, while I'm at the tippity top of the mountain." His expression had only softened after saying this, but not to reassure Barou but to admire his own deeds.
"Do you seriously believe that just because I scored the same number of goals as you... binds me to your level? How foolish of you to think this way. You are not even close, and this proves it. You have your ass on the ground, while I am standing just fine. Engrave it in your mind, 10-0."
Never in his life had Barou been so desperate to mute his ears, to cover them so he didn't hear that number directly told to him. He lost like the loser he believed others to be... His face revealed his desperation as it seeped out. He felt like throwing up.
"But lucky you, I try to understand the players surrounding me, unlike bastards like you. You all have too much ego for your own sake. We'll play some more in the future days, get ready so I don't drag you around like today…"
Dennis finished his quiet conversation with Barou and stood up. 'Ah, I still got sweaty though.' He took off his shirt and called out to the oblivious Kuon. They left Barou alone on the field for him to think about himself.
Kuon ran up to his teammate's left, "You did him dirty… That is humiliating, I'll be honest. I didn't expect you to play that way." What he saw during the match was very different from what he did a moment ago.
And Dennis understood why Kuon had a question as well. He hadn't given it much thought before, 'Because it was an actual match, you dumbass…' Being careful isn't a bad trait, and besides, he wasn't the striker at that time. He could have done it, but the team wasn't ready for it.
"I'll play this way from now on; I got the hang of our team. Now, since I'm not worried about the team being chaotic, I can very well dedicate myself to the attack." Dennis was talking more to himself than to Kuon as they moved into the hallway.
Kuon was enlightened, "I see, so you knew that the team was going to be chaotic anyway, so you dedicated yourself to fixing the problem. That's something a great leader would do, and you not only tried, but you also fixed it." The more the brown-haired Japanese thought about Dennis, the more scared he became.
All of his actions so far were most likely thoroughly considered. Team Z could actually be called the team now; Dennis had the position of a leader, and his grip over the team was undeniable, but what Kuon didn't understand was this last play with Barou… and the humiliation Dennis gifted to number ten of Team X.
'Barou is our enemy; he wouldn't want to help him in a way; there must be something different that he knows of.'
Maybe it was a coincidence, but when Kuon thought of that, Dennis looked up at a corner with his eyes. It went unnoticed by the Japanese, thankfully. The German was staring directly into the shadowy lens of the camera, aware that someone else was watching him.
… … …
"Hahaha!" Ego creepily laughed while also slurping the noodles. "He even looked at the camera; isn't this something else, Anri?" He asked the young lady standing behind his chair, and the answer he expected from her was exactly what he expected. causing him to smile wider and crazier.
"He even beat Barou kun with no response at all!" She slammed her hands and papers on the table. Her eyes wondered at the multiple screens that showed replays as well as Dennis going to the changing room. "Barou was one of the deadliest strikers in the national competitions…"
"Anri, now you understand it, right? How advanced are those Western countries in comparison to Japan? His level is truly something else; he could already play at a professional level, I won't lie."
"Why do we have him here then?! He isn't Japanese, and most likely won't play for us!" Anri screamed, not understanding Ego's reasonings yet, but he had an answer and a demand before the project started. He would do as he pleased within these walls and make her request come true.
He scratched the back of his head. "I want these young, unpolished gems to feel the high levels, due to what I've prepared for them in future selections... They'll need this, meaning Dennis is necessary for our project."
"So what if he comes out on top? What about the other two hundred and ninety-nine players?"
"Hm…" Ego put his back on the chair and rested on it before saying, " They wouldn't matter after. They will be nothing but worthless trash; the one at the top will matter."
Then what was the meaning of Blue Lock for Japan? If they don't get anything from this. Anri could only hope, and she really wanted their players to become better. Ego was true to his words—only the best will matter. 'This doesn't make sense…' The woman looked at her friend, internally asking what plans he had.
Ego wanted to reach a bigger stage than just Japan; this was only a starting point, and these players were the same. They were going to help him achieve and bring success to this project, gaining it international recognition. "Anri, you might stop in your tracks before thinking something, there are quite some unpolished gems in other wings. Their performance in terms of scoring ability was just as good as Dennis'."
… … …
In one of the many Blue Lock's dressing rooms, Dennis and Kuon were changing their clothes after having a quick shower. They were in complete silence, as none of them had the desire to start a conversation. Kuon, however, had some questions unanswered in his mind. While Dennis was too busy with his thoughts.
'Barou Shouei is a good starting point here in Blue Lock.' Dennis clenched his fist and flexed his forearm. 'His scoring ability, it's not like mine. His long shots are perfected, and it'd be great if I can do the same.'
Dennis Kemp was getting riled up for further improvement here, and for him to devour someone else, he had to do similar feats as that person. Replicating the exact movement and making it even better—that's what "complete devour" means for him. Long shots from twenty-seven meters or even longer with absolute certainty of scoring.
That's something any player would wish for.
'I'll do it slowly, perfecting the skill, while Barou is trying to defeat me in avail. I'm interested, who is going to be next on my list...
…to devour?'
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