Chapter 301: The Hero and the Demon King
Before making the decision, Harada glanced toward the dugout.
Coach Kunimoto lifted his chin slightly.
That kind of exchange didn't need to worry about their intentions being read.
At this level of powerhouse schools, sign security was taken extremely seriously.
A catcher glancing at the bench every few pitches was completely normal.
There was no chance of signs being stolen—this was something even pro baseball had dealt with ages ago.
A highly professional high-school powerhouse like Inashiro wouldn't make that kind of mistake.
The game had entered extra innings, and both sides were still locked in a stalemate. It was true that batting second gave an advantage, but scoring still depended on the lineup. As for pitcher vs. batter, the longer a duel dragged on, the more it favored the hitter. Situations with no hits and no runners were usually the result of overwhelming dominance—rare enough to be treated like home runs.
In other words, throwing a ton of pitches to disrupt the batter didn't automatically mean the pitcher had the edge.
This was already the sixth trip through the order—five and a half full rounds of direct confrontation. Even the inning where Sendo was intentionally walked had still been an attempt to decide the game. And after watching Narumiya Mei go all-out against Tetsu in the on-deck circle, Sendo had already seen far too many of Mei's pitches.
That was why Harada Masatoshi couldn't tell whether this choice was right or wrong.
Because if this at-bat didn't end the way they wanted, the game would truly come down to luck.
The ideal result was a strikeout or an out made by the defense. The worst—but still acceptable—outcome was a single. Narumiya's current state was a double-edged sword. If a confidence-filled showdown ended with a solid hit, Harada didn't even want to imagine the consequences.
This pitch was critical.
Best case: retire the batter.
Acceptable: a lucky single, as long as no run scored.
Anything else was bad—including another foul ball.
If it came down to lucky hits, anything could happen on such a huge field. If the ball stayed fair and dropped awkwardly, there was nothing you could do. Harada wasn't arrogant enough to think Sendo would definitely swing and miss—after all, he was calling for a pitch in the strike zone.
If it went foul again, Harada would have no choice but to gamble and hope the fastball worked afterward.
If even that failed, he honestly had no idea how long this at-bat would last. Most likely, Narumiya's pitches would be fully figured out—or a mistake would finally get crushed.
At that moment, Harada felt like a hero challenging the Demon King.
Even though Inashiro was supposed to be the reigning king, and Seidou the challenger—this was not a pleasant feeling.
But that was simply how it was.
The longer the game went on, the more a true power hitter created this kind of pressure.
....
"Ya-san, I get your worries,"
Narumiya Mei said with a smile.
"You're the catcher—you have to think about everything. But my thinking is simple. I'll win by facing him head-on and get my revenge. In my current state, I feel like I can do anything. Don't worry. This pitch won't get hit. A hero defeating the Demon King—that's destiny."
Those words gave Harada enormous courage.
"Let's go."
"Narumiya!"
"You're not fighting alone!"
"It's all of us—together—we'll take him down!"
"Even heroes need comrades!"
Behind Narumiya, the defenders all had different thoughts—but not a single one of them hesitated. Their fighting spirit burned bright.
"Sendo!"
"Hit it!"
"Go!"
"If it's you, you can do it!"
....
"Honestly," Narumiya thought,
"I've never seen a batter like you. Calm no matter the situation. But me right now—I have absolutely no reason to lose. My condition makes me feel like a god. So… sorry. Please fall here."
.....
"Set!"
"Sendo!"
"Narumiya!"
"Crush him, Narumiya!"
The moment Narumiya lifted his leg, countless shouts and thoughts overlapped in the air.
Only Inashiro's infielders and the battery knew this pitch would decide everything.
Seidou didn't know—they could only pray and treat every pitch as the last.
....
"Set!" (Replay…)
"Release!"
"Disappear!"
"Here it comes—the changeup!"
Seidou's bench screamed inwardly, eyes locked on the figure in the batter's box.
"No good—this one's a ball!"
Harada judged instantly from the trajectory. He didn't even dare imagine it not breaking.
He braced himself for a bounce.
When Narumiya's changeup entered the glove, it was already scraping the dirt. A ball would almost certainly bounce.
"Huh? He moved? At that pitch? That's suicide! Once he realizes it's a ball, he'll stop—right?"
Only after tracking the pitch did Harada catch, in his peripheral vision, that Sendo had already started his swing.
So he's going to pull back…
In that final instant, Harada actually felt relieved.
This pitch wouldn't decide anything.
"Hu—"
"BOOM!!!"
A white flash tore through his vision.
Harada's pupils widened in shock.
"Why… would he swing at a pitch that low…?"
That was the only thought left in his mind.
What Harada failed to account for was Sendo's long arms—and his unusually long bat.
Even standing at the very back of the box, waiting for the changeup to start breaking, Sendo could still move the contact point forward using sheer reach.
The ball was low—but for Sendo's scooping swing, it was enough.
Sendo's long limbs and bat length—aside from opponents getting used to them—were the most easily overlooked factors, especially by experienced players whose thinking had grown rigid.
That single swing made Harada, in his moment of shock, remember Sendo's hitting from six years ago.
The sound of the bat striking the ball turned into a different sound in his mind.
Just like back then.
Only now did he understand what that sound truly was.
The sound of a dream shattering.
"Center! Left-center!"
Harada shouted instinctively, even though it was already meaningless.
The instant the ball was hit, a grain of sand kicked up by Sendo's bat flew into Narumiya's eye. He fought through the pain and turned to look at the soaring white ball.
"The changeup is crushed! It's going deep! The center fielder is racing back!"
"YOSHI!!!"
"Catch it!"
"Break through them, damn it!"
Before the landing point could be judged—knowing only that it was far—both teams screamed at the top of their lungs.
Inashiro still had Carlos.
....
Yakushi High – Radio Broadcast
"What the hell is this commentator doing? Have some consideration for people listening on the radio! Stop saying things that don't tell us what's happening and just teasing our curiosity!"
Raizou Todoroki complained.
No one replied.
Raichi sat on the ground, bat placed in front of him, hugging his knees quietly.
"OHHHH!!!"
A massive roar burst from the radio, making Raizou itch with impatience.
Whether it was caught or landed, the crowd would cheer either way!
All they could do was wait for the verdict.
"Should've watched the TV broadcast…"
Raizou muttered.
The others silently agreed—while also wanting to scream at him.
You're the one who said radio wouldn't interfere with practice!!!
Mishima screamed internally.
....
"It's in!!! Top of the left-field stands!! Top of the 12th inning, no outs, runner on second— A gigantic two-run home run that cleared the entire outfield stands! Seidou High takes a two-run lead!!!"
After several seconds—once the roar of the crowd began to settle—the radio finally delivered the commentator's near-hysterical call.
One could only imagine how excited he must have been.
"…You're kidding me!!!"
"Wasn't that changeup just described as absolutely terrifying? How on earth did he do that?!"
Mishima blurted out in shock.
Countless people wanted to ask the same question—but the one who wanted an answer the most was the catcher at home plate.
"This… can't be real!!!"
Harada stood there in a daze, managing only those two words.
"OH!!!"
"AH!!!"
"He did it! That bastard!!!"
Kanemaru hugged Maezono-senpai, the two of them crying and shouting at the same time.
The bench erupted in the same way—Jun-san clung to Tanba, crying his heart out.
"Ahahahaha! He's on a completely different level from us now—that guy!!!"
Miyuki was so excited he didn't even know what to say anymore, ending up laughing just to let it out.
The girls were hugging each other too, while Rei clenched her small fists in front of her chest, leaning forward slightly, her whole body tensed with excitement.
She really wanted to vent right now—holding in this kind of climax was torture.
After all, she was a mature woman… she had to endure it.
(That move she made when they won the autumn tournament—seriously adorable, Rei.)
"Ahahahaha! Nice one, you little brat! Hahahahaha!"
Azuma was crying too!
The dream he had passed down to the next generation was finally right in front of him!
"Don't get careless—the game isn't over yet,"
Azuma reminded himself, sharp even in his excitement.
"Yes! That's how it should be! There's no one you can't crush! That's the man I believed in!"
Ozawa thought to herself.
That 'believed in' was probably about baseball… probably.
....
"OH!!!"
Tetsu roared in his deep, ringing voice as he sprinted around the bases.
"Senpai, we're ahead again!"
Sendo, who wasn't running the bases, took off his helmet and held it in one hand—like a headless knight carrying his own head—wearing a relaxed, gentle smile.
Then he casually tossed the helmet behind him to the first-base coach.
Before that senior could even react, he was swallowed up by the thunderous cheers.
The roar was like mountains collapsing and seas surging, shaking the heavens themselves—everyone in the stadium felt deafened, unable to hear anything else.
No longer expressionless, no longer caring whether Harada could hear him, Sendo smiled as he jogged the bases slowly, savoring a moment that belonged entirely to him.
On Inashiro's bench, Coach Kunimoto tilted his head up at a forty-five-degree angle, sweat pouring down his face. He slowly closed his eyes, as if accepting reality.
Beside him, the assistant manager looked much the same—except he stared blankly at the field. Most of the substitutes on the bench were frozen in shock.
On the field, it was no different.
The infielders and outfielders all lowered their heads, their faces hidden beneath the brims of their caps, as they let Tetsu sprint past them and Sendo jog by.
In front of the stunned Harada, the figure wearing the number 1 still stared up into the sky, motionless.
The confidence from moments ago had turned into deathly silence.
The more confident someone was, the more devastating it became when that confidence was shattered.
When they saw that perfect changeup, they truly believed they were invincible.
They believed Inashiro would ride the momentum of shutting down the cleanup hitters and sweep the game in one stroke.
At that moment, it really looked like the game would end that way.
But in their wildest dreams, they never imagined that after the cleanup hitter barely reached base…
"This game may very well end here. Inashiro Industrial, a national powerhouse and the king of West Tokyo, possesses unmatched toughness and confidence—like a mighty dragon. But Sendo shattered the king's spine with his bat—and crushed it to pieces. Narumiya is without question the best pitcher of this era, but right now, all I can hope is that he'll still appear on the field in the fall. The greater the genius, the stronger their absolute confidence—the belief that they can defeat anyone. But after a plate appearance like this, one that feels like dimensional domination by Sendo, everything can collapse. This blow is nothing short of catastrophic. Even if Narumiya were to quit baseball because of it, no one would find that strange—just like Egawa Suguru back in the day. That's the terror of single-elimination tournaments. Players can exceed all expectations when their form peaks—or drag the entire team down when it doesn't. That's why winning is so difficult, and winning consecutive championships even more so.
In this at-bat, Sendo stood on a completely different plane from everyone else. No… not just a different plane—more than one dimension apart. Of course, this was a result of him being in extraordinary form today. His true level is probably closer to what we saw in the at-bats before he was struck out. But even so, today's game has more than proven how high his ceiling is. Japan is about to witness the birth of a truly terrifying monster."
With the entire stadium in a frenzy, Mine spoke these words in awe.
Of course, when he said the game was over, that assumed Inashiro wouldn't be able to recover. In reality, everything would still depend on what happened next.
But for now—
This moment belonged to Seidou High.
Tens of thousands of eyes were fixed on Seidou's bench, cheering them on.
Watching those boys celebrate wildly.
------------------------
If you want to read 20 chapters advanced.
Visit my patreon: patreon.com/Shu_21