The False Asura Path
Bang!
The whites of Muneyoshi's eyes had completely disappeared, and endless Darkness Light enveloped the entire stadium.
With his right hand twisted upwards, the black and red-framed racket was held in front of his knee, a purplish-black light spreading along the racket's threads.
This caused a purplish-black light to leap from every string, firmly enveloping the tennis ball.
The powerful impact generated intense wind pressure; even though Muneyoshi's racket blocked the tennis ball, his knees could still feel a strong impact.
Swish!
The crimson and pale Light Ball were completely devoured by Muneyoshi, who then swung his racket backhand with a powerful backhand, sending the tennis ball flying back once more.
Bang!
Everyone seemed to have a visual and auditory distortion; only after the tennis ball had long since disappeared did they clearly hear the sound of Saeki Muneyoshi hitting the ball.
With a loud thud, the tennis ball reappeared in Park Guk-chang's half of the court.
"They actually fought back?"
His gaze swept over the motionless body opposite him, Park Guk-chang gritted his teeth. "Then let's try again! Die!"
"Sizzle!"
The sound of thunder and electric current colliding rang out again, and a light intertwined with pale white and blood-red shone from his palm as his unique Shining Shot was once again launched.
The tennis ball, shimmering with a blood-red and greyish-white light, pierced the air with a menacing aura.
This time, it flew directly towards Muneyoshi's upper body.
"Ha, your little glow, tinged with blood and will-o'-the-wisps, won't get you through the long, dark night."
Muneyoshi lightly stomped his toes, and the entire Darkness Field seemed to ripple.
Muneyoshi's figure became increasingly ethereal, almost disappearing into the darkness of light and shadow.
He crouched low, appearing instantly in the path of the tennis ball like a nimble cheetah.
As he strode forward, a towering black aura rose, while Muneyoshi's eyes remained calm as water, dark as an abyss.
The place where Muneyoshi stood was like a bottomless abyss, Black Hole that swallowed everything.
Its domineering and unrestrained nature devours all vision and speculation, obliterating all spirit and probing.
As he watched the blood-white Light Ball sweep in, Muneyoshi's pent-up negative destructive desires no longer needed to be suppressed and surged forth.
These negatively charged spiritual energies merged with the Dark Radiance surrounding their bodies, and ghostly figures appeared on the court.
The Darkness Domain — Ghosts and Goblins!
As Muneyoshi took a step, all the ghosts, as if receiving a command, rushed towards the tennis ball and began to bite.
Buzz!
"Shadow Sever: Chaotic Flower Burial!"
Clang!
The darkness of the entire stadium seemed to gather sharp blades, and an extreme destructive force tore through the barriers of space.
It cleaved through everything in its path!
Extreme destruction and absolute darkness distorted the very space, and the deadly crisis drove Park Guk-chang to the brink of madness.
"What's this!"
A flicker of fear crossed his eyes as the malevolent black thread sliced through the court.
"Hoaaaaah!"
With a sharp roar, the tennis ball was so fast that Park Guk-chang had no way to dodge it and could only raise his rackets with both hands to block it in front of him.
Click!
Thump!
The teeth-grinding scraping sound lasted for less than a second before the tennis ball broke free of the racket face and slammed heavily into Park Guk-chang's face.
He felt as if he had been punched hard in the face.
The powerful force and impact sent his body flying three meters backward, blood gushing from his mouth along with his teeth, staining his uniform and the ground red.
"Ahhh... Ughhh!"
Painful screams and the sound of someone covering their mouth after their teeth broke echoed throughout the stadium.
As the captain of the South Korea team, Park Guk-chang, like his two teammates before him, rolled around on the ground in pain several times before finally stopping.
Seeing this, South Korea team coach Park Chang-ra quickly called a timeout.
"You think you can travel the world with such a tiny glimmer of light? You couldn't even survive the long night I gave you!"
Muneyoshi's voice was icy cold as he looked at Park Guk-chang, who had collapsed in agony, as if he were a dead man. "You'd better surrender quickly, or I can't guarantee I'll hold back next time!"
After saying that, Muneyoshi ignored him and walked towards the backcourt rest area.
A few minutes later, after a simple bandage and a new racket, Park Guk-chang returned to the court.
"The match isn't over yet, how could I allow you to escape? And you want me to surrender? Who do you think you are?"
Arriving at the backcourt service area again, Park Guk-chang was burning with anger. He knew perfectly well that Muneyoshi had been hiding his true strength.
What the opponent just displayed was definitely not at the level of someone who had just entered the world-class stage.
Then consider how old Saeki Muneyoshi is now.
Park Guk-chang's heart sank. Was South Korea destined to be suppressed forever?
"No! I don't believe it! We absolutely cannot tolerate this kind of thing!"
Park Guk-chang roared and then tossed the ball high into the air.
He took a slight step forward, bent his knees, and then used the rebound force to leap into the air.
Boom!
The smash serve exploded in the air, its target, unsurprisingly, aimed at Saeki Muneyoshi's body once again.
A beam of light, a mixture of blood and pale white, shot out from the racket again, creating intense friction with the air resistance.
A glint of darkness flashed in Muneyoshi's eyes, and his clothes fluttered as the wind pressure from the opponent's incoming ball created a shockwave.
A flash of light appeared beneath his feet, and Muneyoshi's figure vanished from the baseline like a phantom. When he reappeared, he had already sprinted to the landing point of the tennis ball.
Swish!
With a leap, a shower of purplish-black cherry blossoms rained down on Park Guk-chang's field.
Cherry petals fell like rain, gleaming with endless chill like sharp blades.
Boom!
To Park Guk-chang's horrified gaze, the tennis ball struck his abdomen again, a heavy thud followed by a scream.
Shadow Sever - Cherry Blossom Fall!
As Park Guk-chang and the tennis ball fell to the ground simultaneously, the cherry blossom rain, filled with a chilling killing intent, dissipated in the air.
Park Guk-chang stood up once more, blood seeping out continuously. His pain, resentment, and desire for Muneyoshi's death intertwined with his fluctuating and distorted spirit.
The joints of his right hand were almost white; when emotions are concentrated to a certain degree...!
Boom!
Park Guk-chang's aura instantly surged, and a somewhat violent and terrifying pale aura rose from his body, while a cloud of gray mist, a fusion of blood and pale white, suddenly appeared.
The moment the gray fog appeared, countless negative emotions erupted from Park Guk-chang and surged toward Muneyoshi.
The black field surrounding him also began to boil, becoming incredibly active as if it had taken a tonic.
"Hmm... this aura is!"
Muneyoshi was genuinely surprised this time, and not only him, but also Oni Jūjirō, Tanegashima Shūji, Irie Kanata and the others were also astonished.
"That familiar aura..."
After sensing it for a moment, the group's expressions turned serious. "This is the aura of the Asura Path."
Muneyoshi's gaze narrowed slightly; having already awakened the Asura Path, he was even more acutely aware of this energy.
Park Guk-chang's aura does resemble that of Asura Path, but it also seems somewhat different!
There's a sense that it's both true and false.
"Kid, I wasn't originally planning to use this trump card on you."
Park Guk-chang's neck was covered with menacing blue veins.
"Now, prepare to die!"
Swish!
With a flick of his wrist, he slammed the tennis ball down from mid-air.
Bang!
A loud bang echoed throughout the court. Although it was just a simple high-toss flat shot, the power of the tennis ball exceeded everyone's expectations.
With the blessing of the Asura Path, all the spectators only felt a blur before the tennis ball tore through Muneyoshi's dark field.
It landed directly on the line where Saeki Muneyoshi was receiving the serve with his backhand.
Boom!
Smoke and dust flew everywhere.
The entire stadium floor trembled slightly from the vibration.
Even Muneyoshi was knocked back several steps by this powerful force, his back slamming heavily against the wall.
At the same time, Muneyoshi unconsciously loosened his wrist, and the tennis ball slammed heavily against the wall behind him.
When the smoke cleared, everyone discovered that there were large craters where Saeki Muneyoshi had been standing and in the wall next to him.
P. S.: I wanted to finish it in one chapter, but I realized it's a bit long. Before splitting it into chapters, I had already written almost 8,000 words. It should be around 11,000 words when I finish. I'll post the last bit together later. I'll see if I can finish writing and release it by tomorrow when I have to go to work.
My writing habits may be a little different from other authors. I write each plot point at once, so you can sometimes see that the word count is different. I can usually write about 10,000 words for one match, and I want to finish each match in one chapter.
After writing it, I'll divide it into chapters and polish it, because some readers might find it a bit too much if I don't divide it into chapters.
For example, in the protagonist's match, before it was divided into chapters, it was already past 1 a. m. and the word count was almost 8,000. I was too sleepy.
I thought about the rest, and I figured it would still be over 10,000 words by the time I finished.
I checked the time and stopped, otherwise I wouldn't be able to get up tomorrow morning.
I'll release the last paragraph together without splitting it up. I'll see if I can find time to finish writing and post it during work today. If not, I'll post it tomorrow morning.
I don't dare to openly write novels at work like I used to. I've been caught several times, and I've been fined a lot. They even assigned me extra work, saying I wasn't getting enough.