Chapter 130: The Substitution
Kira, Bachira, Isagi, and Niko formed a solid wall of blue jerseys. Behind them, the rest of the defense scrambled to lock onto their marks.
The Blue Lock Eleven adjusted their lines, bracing for the impact of the upcoming set piece. At the ball, Ryusei Shidou took a deep breath, settling into a firing stance. He caught Kira's eye and gave him a playful wink.
Kira didn't bite. 'What is this freak planning now?'
He shook the thought away, centering his focus. Knowing Shidou's obsession with the spotlight, a direct shot on goal was the most likely outcome. As part of the wall, Kira's job was simple: eliminate one potential shooting lane and let Gagamaru handle the rest.
Shidou wound up, his leg swinging back with enough force to suggest a cannonball strike. But at the last second, his movement shifted. He didn't touch the ball. Instead, he lunged past the arc, sprinting toward the left flank.
Kira's heart hammered. He realized the play instantly. It was a decoy. Sae was the actual kicker. With Shidou already in motion, Sae was going to loft a pass to find the demon in space.
'We need to close him down!' Kira thought, his eyes darting toward Shidou. He couldn't break the wall himself without leaving the center exposed, but he hoped someone—anyone—had the vision to track the run.
A streak of red moved across his vision. Hyoma Chigiri had seen it too. The Red Panther ignited, sprinting to intercept Shidou's trajectory.
Itoshi Sae didn't even acknowledge the defender. He stayed perfectly calm as he struck the ball.
Chigiri tracked the flight of the ball through the air. 'It's fast... too fast for a normal cross. It's more like a shot.'
His mind raced. If he could just get a head on it before it reached Shidou, the threat was over. Chigiri launched himself into a diving header, his body fully extended as he reached for the ball's path.
'Come on... just a little more!'
The ball whistled past. Chigiri felt the wind of its passage, but no impact. He missed it by less than an inch. As he hung in the air, his eyes met Sae's for a split second.
'Did he... calculate my recovery speed?' Chigiri thought in horror. 'He aimed for the exact point I couldn't reach, even at my top speed?'
On the other side of that gap, Shidou didn't even look back at the ball. He moved on pure instinct, his body a weapon primed for a single moment of impact.
"Perfect aim, Sae!"
"I'm using every cell in my body for this one!!"
While still in full stride, Shidou launched himself into a mid-air volley. He struck the ball with a violent, downward spin that sent it screaming toward the grass and then bouncing upward into the roof of the net. Gagamaru, despite his freakish reflexes, was a statue.
CRACK.
The ball buried itself in the Blue Lock netting.
"Ecstasy..."
Shidou landed softly, his tongue darting out to lick his lips like an apex predator that had just finished a feast.
"RAAAAAH!"
The stadium erupted. Sixty thousand fans stood as one, a deafening wave of applause and cheers crashing down onto the pitch.
Shidou didn't move. He stood on his tiptoes, his arms spread wide in a cross, his head tilted back as he bathed in the adoration of the crowd.
Kira watched him, a mix of annoyance and respect in his gut. 'Where does he get these poses? He's such a showboat.'
"Unbelievable! Ryusei Shidou, the U-20's secret weapon, scores a world-class goal to bring them back within one!" Atsuto Tereasa screamed into the mic. "The chemistry between him and Itoshi Sae is legendary! It's the perfect union of an angel and a demon!"
"Hahaha!" Shidou let out a manic laugh. "The adrenaline is hitting! The climax of this game is going to be a bloodbath!"
Sae looked at him with his usual cold indifference. "That was just the foreplay, you dysfunctional demon. Try not to get too excited yet."
In the Blue Lock half, Bachira wiped sweat from his brow. He looked at Kira, his expression unusually serious. "Kira... that goal was impossible to stop."
Kira nodded. "Yeah. Shidou just ran to the spot where he felt like scoring, and Sae put the ball exactly where Chigiri couldn't touch it. The precision of that pass... Sae was holding back in the first half."
He realized the scale of the challenge now. Sae wasn't just a midfielder; he was a god-tier commander who could turn a chaotic element like Shidou into a precision-guided missile.
"Hey," Shidou shouted, jogging past Sae. "I'm starting to like your style. Give me your number after the game?"
Sae paused for two seconds. "Get a hat-trick. Then I might consider you a person worth talking to."
"Consider it done!"
Shidou's confidence was unshakable.
***
As the players prepared to restart, a sudden silence fell over the Blue Lock squad.
"Ugh..."
Chigiri was sitting on the grass, clutching his right thigh, his face twisted in pain.
"Chigiri, you okay?"
Kira and Isagi reached him first.
"I'm fine... it's just a cramp," Chigiri gasped, though his pale complexion said otherwise.
Nearby, Niko let out a sharp cry and collapsed as well, holding his ankle.
Kira looked between his two teammates, his heart sinking. Double injuries. Just as the game was heating up, the high-intensity playstyle of Blue Lock was starting to take its toll.
"We have a situation on the pitch," Tereasa noted, his voice concerned. "Two Blue Lock players are down. It looks like the pace of the match is finally catching up to them. Captain Kira is calling for the trainers."
On the sidelines, Anri was panicking. "Ego-san! What do we do? We're losing our defensive core!"
Ego adjusted his glasses, his eyes fixed on the substitutions board. He wasn't surprised. He had pushed these boys to their absolute physical limits. It was time for the next wave.
"Your knee is okay, right?" Kira asked, helping Chigiri stretch out the cramp.
"I'm sorry, Kira," Chigiri muttered, covering his face with his hand. "The second half just started, and I'm already tapped out."
His voice was thick with self-loathing. He was remembering the months he spent in fear, the time he wasted avoiding the game. Now, in the most important match of his life, his body was failing him.
'If I had just kept running... if I hadn't been a coward...'
Chigiri felt like a failure. He wanted to stay on that pitch more than anything in the world.
"Stop it, Chigiri," Kira said, his voice firm but kind. "You've been the most active defender on the pitch since the whistle blew. You covered half the stadium by yourself. Your body isn't failing because you're weak; it's failing because you gave it everything."
"The subs are ready," the fourth official announced.
Chigiri's heart broke. He knew what that meant.
"Blue Lock is making a double substitution! Number 4, Hyoma Chigiri, and Number 3, Ikki Niko, are coming off!"
"Replacing them are Number 14, Mikage Reo, and Number 16, Yo Hiori!"
Niko gave Reo a tired fist-bump as they swapped. "It's all yours, Reo. Don't let them through."
"Leave it to me," Reo said, his eyes sharp with ambition.
Hiori met Chigiri at the sideline. "Hell of a run, Chigiri. Get some rest."
Chigiri didn't answer. He walked back to the bench with his head down, the weight of the exit crushing him.
"Hey. You got something to say?"
Ego was standing right in his path.
"No, sir," Chigiri whispered, tears finally stinging his eyes.
"Instead of crying like a child, focus on building the stamina to survive until the final whistle, " Ego said, his voice cold and devoid of pity. "This frustration you're feeling? That's your current level. Don't forget it."
Chigiri stood there, the words cutting into him like a blade. He sat on the bench and buried his head in a towel, the sound of his muffled sobs lost in the roar of the stadium.
Kunigami sat down next to him, placing a heavy hand on his shoulder. He didn't say a word. He didn't have to. He was feeling the exact same hunger, the exact same rage.
The second half was just beginning, and the stakes had never been higher.
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The next chapter is... woah. Ngl, even I'm hyped for what's coming because you're about to witness something every manga and anime fan knows all too well. I can't tell you what it is yet, so I'll just leave this here and head out.
300 PS = +1 bonus chapter (Instant drop in one hour!)
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