Chapter 203: Dark Strike

"Bang!"

This time, to prevent the Spiral Ball that had just appeared and drilled through the ground, Amadeus reduced the speed and force on the tennis ball, increasing the trickiness of the ball's angle.

"Bang!"

Takahashi deliberately twisted his wrist, causing the point where the tennis ball contacted the racket to be exactly at the position of the Super Sweet Spot.

Brilliant golden light immediately scattered from the racket, heading toward Amadeus with a magnificent aura.

……

"Takahashi actually returned a Light Strike?"

Duke exclaimed.

As someone who had always followed Byodoin, he deeply understood the power and terror of the Light Strike.

At the same time, he also knew that the Light Strike was not so easy to hit; it required the player to accurately and flawlessly find the Super Sweet Spot on the racket, and coordinate it with the corresponding power and speed.

Therefore, the Light Strike was more common as a Serve, because when serving, one could control everything about the tennis ball and more easily find the sweet spot position.

Whereas when returning a ball, due to the other factors added to the tennis ball by the opponent, the difficulty of hitting a Light Strike rose in a straight line.

"This is the same as that time..."

Tokugawa said.

"What?"

Byodoin asked.

"Once, Takahashi returned a tennis ball that had been stopped by the Black Hole into a Light Strike."

Tokugawa replied.

"No, the difficulty of returning Amadeus's ball into a Light Strike is only greater."

"It seems that in terms of attainment in the Super Sweet Spot, Takahashi has already run far ahead of us."

Oni Jujiro said.

Byodoin frowned and said: "Although I also admire Takahashi's strength, being able to hit a Light Strike when returning a ball."

"But the Light Strike poses no threat to a professional player like Amadeus."

"This attack of his will likely not score!"

……

Just as Byodoin said, professional players are not pushovers.

Amadeus swung his racket with one hand, successfully sending the tennis ball back into the opponent's half of the court.

……

"To think he returned it so easily."

Tokugawa was somewhat surprised.

"This is the strength of a professional player!"

Byodoin said.

……

The moment Amadeus saw the Light Strike, he thought of Byodoin, whom he had once battled against.

Both were players from the Japan Team, but Takahashi was much more troublesome than Byodoin.

Before he could finish his musings, he suddenly remembered one thing.

Why did Takahashi suddenly want to use a Light Strike?

Although the Light Strike posed no threat to him, in order to return the Light Strike, he had also used the Super Sweet Spot.

In other words, the tennis ball now already contained the power of two Light Strikes.

Then the kinetic energy on the tennis ball...

"Thud!"

The tennis ball landed with astonishing momentum, spinning continuously.

Dust flew up.

The tennis court seemed to have turned into a battlefield, with smoke rising everywhere.

After the thick smoke dissipated, a tennis ball was lying quietly in a pit custom-made for it.

"0-30!"

"Japan Team scores!"

……

Japan Team rest area.

Byodoin's eyes narrowed.

Was the Light Strike actually a decoy, meant to force the opponent to hit a Power Ball, so that he could then hit a Spiral Ball?

Recalling that Spiral Serve in the Training Camp, Byodoin deeply felt the speed of Takahashi's growth in strength.

Because serving tests one's own strength more, while in the process of returning a ball, one needs to consider the ever-changing situation on the court more.

After all, the opponent will not hit the ball according to your will.

Therefore, this Spiral Return was even more difficult than a regular Spiral Serve, testing the player's own strength and reaction speed even more.

Thinking back to the exhibition match, when facing Q. P, Takahashi had not used this move at all.

So, was this return move something Takahashi had recently mastered?

And Takahashi was currently facing the professional player Amadeus.

Back then, just receiving Amadeus's return ball had exhausted all of Byodoin's energy, and he had no strength left to launch an attack.

Yet Takahashi not only received Amadeus's ball with ease, but was even able to use the opponent's force against them.

What terrifying strength!

What terrifying mental acuity!

Looking at the tiny tennis ball lying in the crater, then looking at the two small craters in his own half-court, the expression on Amadeus's face turned gloomy.

What a thorny enemy!

A professional player like himself actually being pushed to such a point by a middle school student.

"Takahashi, you are only in your first year of middle school this year, right!"

"Undeniably, you are indeed a tennis genius."

"However, this is the world stage; on this stage, countless geniuses fall every year."

Amadeus said indifferently.

Accompanying his words, a strange aura enveloped the entire court.

Immediately after, a darkness descended.

"Bang!"

The crisp sound of a tennis ball hitting a racket rang out.

"What is going on? I only heard the sound of the ball being hit, but I didn't see the trace of the tennis ball at all."

Irie was somewhat surprised.

Byodoin pointed with his finger to the front of Takahashi.

Irie discovered with horror that a black tennis ball shadow had appeared directly in front of Takahashi.

This ball shadow grew larger and larger, carrying a strange, terrifying aura, and swept aggressively toward Takahashi.

Facing the black shadow that could almost shroud his entire body, a huge phantom also emerged behind Takahashi.

That phantom was about 10 meters tall, with a human face and a sheep's body, emitting an extremely terrifying aura.

"This is Takahashi's Other-Dimensional Phantom—Taotie!"

Oni said; listening carefully to his voice, one would find that his voice was trembling a little.

This huge phantom evoked bad memories in his heart; back then, Taotie had faced his Other-Dimensional Phantom—Ghost God, causing him to collapse directly to the ground.

In the match against Q. P, Takahashi had not completely released Taotie, so Oni had almost forgotten the sense of oppression brought by Taotie.

Now that Takahashi has completely released Taotie, it is still as terrifying as ever!

No, this aura is even more oppressive and terrifying than it was back then.

Byodoin, on the side, saw his pupils shrink violently and said in a deep voice: "Is this Taotie?"

Byodoin had played a game against Takahashi before, but Takahashi had scored directly relying on 4 Serves, so Byodoin had not personally experienced Takahashi's Other-Dimensional.

And in the exhibition match, Takahashi had only vaguely released the aura of Taotie, and in the end, the appearance of Taotie was only for an instant, so this was still the first time Byodoin had faced the full appearance of Taotie!

This suffocating sense of oppression was much stronger than Byodoin's Other-Dimensional—Pirate.

"I remember that when Takahashi defeated Q. P, he used another Other-Dimensional, which was the enlarged version of himself; why is he not using that Other-Dimensional now?"

Mifune looked at the wary Byodoin and explained: "Taotie is one of the ancient divine beasts of the Dragon Kingdom; in legend, its greatest characteristic is devouring."

"It can devour all living things, including humans."

Just as Coach Mifune's voice fell, the Taotie behind Takahashi simultaneously opened its bloody mouth and took a fierce, powerful breath.

The hand holding the racket of Amadeus opposite suddenly trembled.

The moment that monster opened its mouth wide, an unprecedented fear surged into his heart.

Then he discovered with surprise that the huge tennis ball that had already been wrapped in Shadow had returned to its original size.

The aura belonging to Shadow on the court was also completely sucked into the monster's body.

"Hiccup!"

The monster seemed to be full and satisfied; it let out a hiccup and gradually dissipated behind Takahashi.

"Bang!"

"Thud!"

Two sounds rang out almost simultaneously.

"0-40!"

"Japan Team scores!"