As the First and Second best stepped on the pitch, Murano smiled. This was his golden opportunity to show the world that he was better than them.
But of course it would be hard since they didn't become the best player for no reason. It was easier said than done.
But one thing was clear.
Now that those two were entering the play, the field would definitely change.
---
"Let's go, Manshine City. It's the last goal. Are you guys just gonna watch me be the HERO, or will one of you become a hero? Let's see, Blue Lockers!" Chris Prince said in attempt to boost their morale.
"The game has entered its final stages! whoever scores now wins the game! Who will emerge as the Hero? The superstars or a dark horse?"
The whistle blew, and Manshine started pressing aggressively before Bastard could even settle into shape.
The three minute timer for the star-change system started as well.
Noa was calm under pressure when he received the ball.
He moved the ball two touches ahead of the closing press, releasing it early to Ness, who returned it just as quickly.
'So, this is the best player in the verse huh...' Murano thought.
----
2:50
Murano cut the passing lane and closed directly on Noel Noa himself.
For a moment, the two of them squared up, Murano's speed against Noa's control.
Murano lunged first, timing his press perfectly, stepping into the passing lane before Noa released it.
Noa cut back, reading Murano's move. But Murano faked going in for the tackle as he didn't overcommit enough that he was able to rebalance himself.
Noa saw that Raichi had a lot of space around him so he sent a cross.
Murano jumped to intercept that, send the ball loose as it tipped off his foot at an awkward angle, bouncing away from him.
Isagi got possession of the ball.
"Damn it."
----
Then he passed it wide to Hiori.
But after dribbling forward for a bit, Hiori crossed the ball with a spin to Kaiser who ran past Agi and Reo in the final third, beating them with off-the ball movements.
When the ball was still falling, Kaiser readied himself for his magnus opum, Kaiser Impact, and rose to meet it.
Five Manshine players were already closing around him, and there was no time to let the ball settle, so he took it early.
A resounding strike, struck with everything he had while the ball was still in motion.
For a fraction of a second, the game almost ended.
As the ball tipped off the crossbar.
Kaiser stared at the spot where the ball had been. "You've got to be kidding me."
On a normal occasion it would've been a goal. But, Kaiser attempted to kick the ball while it was in motion rather than waiting for it to become stationary, which was a strict requirement for the Magnus's high-accuracy curved trajectory. Additionally, he was surrounded by five defenders and failed to apply sufficient spin to the ball, causing the shot to completely miss the goal.
----
2:30
The ball fell near the center circle.
Murano and Hiori both saw it at the exact same instant, and were near it.
They clashed into the same space at full speed, shoulder to shoulder, both throwing their entire weight.
"Move," Murano said as he used his arms to push Hiori away by his chest.
Hiori lost his balance, as Murano got the touch first and quickly went for a one-two with Nagi.
On the return ball Ness intercepted the pass.
----
The game inched closer and closer to a goal with Ness in possession of the ball and the timer for the star-change system running down to minute two.
Kaiser and Ness makes multiple one-two passes.
Ness gets by Agi with ease before passing the ball to Kaiser.
Then Chris Prince stepped up to Kaiser.
"I've heard the rumors. Hi, there, next generation world XI's Michael Kaiser."
Chris Prince challenged him. "How about you show me what you're made of?"
Kaiser doesn't fall for the obvious bait as he passed the ball back to Ness and said, "Like I'd fall for such a childish trick."
But Chris taunts him more saying, "Hey, now. Running away already?!" smiling, "I'm disappointed, Kaiser. You act all high and mighty against weaker opponents. But you cower in the face of someone stronger. Are you a coward little boy?"
That's when Kaiser had enough of Chris looking down on him and demands Ness to give him the ball.
Chris had successfully rage-baited him.
When Kaiser received the ball, Prince met him head-on.
Kaiser tried to slip past with a nutmeg but Prince didn't let him, closing the gap immediately, using his arm by Kaiser's chest to hold him in place
"Come on now," Prince taunted. "Get past me. Or is that title of yours just for show?"
Chris continues to taunt Kaiser telling him to try and get past him.
"Small fry," Prince muttered, right in his ear.
"Look who's talking." Noa arrived from the side without warning, sliding in to intercept the loose ball entirely.
But Chigiri got there even faster, beating everyone to the loose ball as the others were shocked at this thinking if Chigiri's reflexes were on par with the Masters.
Using his quick short burst to beat both master strikers to the ball before either of them could react.
----
As soon as Chigiri gained some distance he crossed it low to Murano who was surrounded by Raichi and Hiori.
Murano was already moving before the ball even got to his feet, cutting past Raichi and then Hiori in the same motion.
Murano has already made it into the world class domain as he approaches his golden zone. Bastard became worried that if he gets in any closer he was going to score no doubt.
Bastard's back line saw it too so they all rushed back, closing down on him.
But Kaiser had anticipated that already, arriving directly in Murano's path.
"Want to get devoured that badly?" Murano taunted him whiles grinning.
"Shut it, genius!"
-----
1:40
For a moment, everything slowed.
Murano could see it all at once. Every space, and every player's momentum.
p=mv
ΔxΔp≥2ℏ
He saw many forwards rushing into the box, every bit of detail.
Four Bastard Munchen players were closing on him, receiving the exact same treatment as Kaiser.
It was almost too much information at once, the entire future of the match squeezing down in his brain.
He faked Kaiser, cutting inside the instant Kaiser committed and then, his shooting lane opened up completely for just half a second.
But that was what he needed to shoot before the others approached him.
Igarashi arrived from behind, bumping his body straight into Murano's.
"Zero point one second too fucking slow," Igarashi reminded him, already recovering his own footing.
Murano knew instantly that he couldn't shoot. At least not one that would beat Gagamaru from this angle, as he was falling down.
So he didn't force it.
As his balance gave out, he held on to Igarashi using Igarashi's own body to keep himself a bit upright before crossing the ball across.
Just as he foresaw their momentum...
Chris Prince was moving in to that position, trying to beat Noel Noa.
In the moment Chris Prince received the ball, Noel Noa was already on him, close enough that there shouldn't have been any room left at all.
"You're not good enough for this," Noa said flatly, cutting off the shooting angle with textbook precision, pressing him toward the edge of d-arc of the penalty line. "I'm ending this right now."
"You're already too late," Prince said, grinning.
"You have no shooting course," Noa said. "This is borderline suicide."
"You're right." Prince didn't stop moving. "Logically, I don't have a shot. Challenging you head-on in a battle of logic would be suicide."
He shoot a knuckleball as he sent the ball over Noa's outstretched leg.
"...So I didn't build something logical." Prince grinned as the ball began to wobble mid-flight, erratic, unpredictable, dipping and swerving with no perceptible pattern at all. "I built something illogical."
Gagamaru's was confused and frustrated, tracking the ball's flight, a knuckleball, but worse, the trajectory shifting even as he watched it.
'Left or right?' He thought.
He was having a good game prior to Murano's second goal
"You don't get to guess," Prince called out, already turning away from the play, certain of what was coming. "Because I don't even know where it's going myself."
He laughed.
"That's what makes it unstoppable."