King and the Child of God

At the umpire's signal, Yukimura and Atobe each took their place at the back of their side of the court.

Atobe tightened his fingers around the small mustard-yellow ball, then glanced up at Yukimura across the net. A smile played on his face.

"Child of God? Hmph. There's no need for any more pointless probing. Let's see whether the move you used on Tezuka works on me."

Whoosh!

Atobe gave a quiet shout and tossed the ball high into the air.

Thwack!

He pushed off the ground, channeling all his strength from his legs through his waist and into his arm. The tremendous force sent his racket whistling through the air before it slammed into the mustard-yellow ball.

Atobe wore a smile, but the chill in his eyes seemed ready to spill over.

"Yukimura, freeze!"

Whoosh!

Like an arrow loosed from a bow, the ball traced a graceful arc through the air before dropping swiftly toward the backhand corner of Yukimura's court.

Across the court, Yukimura sensed something was wrong at once.

The instant the ball struck, countless razor-cold icicles filled his entire half of the court.

A powerful chill seemed to freeze everything in an instant, making it difficult for Yukimura even to move.

"So this is your Ice World... You've made good use of your mental strength, but unfortunately..."

Hoo...

Yukimura softly exhaled a breath of nonexistent frost. Violet light gleamed in his pupils as he said with a quiet smile, "Those openings are all illusions to me."

Violet light flooded the court, driving away the chill around Yukimura. His feet sprang into motion.

He moved with effortless grace. Reaching the ball's landing point, he raised his arm and lifted it back over the net with a smooth, backhand stroke.

Crack!

Every icicle in his path shattered in