Chapter 39 - Tatakae!

From the highs of the first half, Team Black fell into the abyss.

The loud cheers as their opponents celebrated felt like the wails of undead souls in hell reverberating at them.

They could hear the screams of defeat like they were now at the deepest depths of hell, Team Yellow's celebrations sounded like a condemnation to death.

Legion was shock-shelled, he bit his lips. "Endrick…, really is a genius".

His eyes narrowed. "He's the best".

Team Black seemed to have been struck paralyzed by thunder, they seemed broken. All Legion's teammates looked pale, except one.

Standing still in the mid-field with clenched fists, Enigma shook.

"Tatakae!" He muttered to himself.

As the explosive celebrations continued, he cared not about them and kept on muttering to himself. "Tatakae!"

"Tatakae!"

"Tatakae!"

As he muttered, he walked closer to meet his teammates.

He no longer muttered it in a muffled tone, he started saying it loudly. "Tatakae!"

"Tatakae!"

"What?" Ice-in-mah-veins asked.

"FIGHT!!!" Enigma roared.

"FIGHT…!!!" He roared again.

He glared at his teammates with eyes that suggested that he was out to kill. "After our display in the first half, you all started feeling conceited".

"You felt like you've already won the game when there's still the 2nd half".

"Are you blind?"

"Can't you see?!"

"We're better than them but they outplayed us in the 2nd half!"

"This proves that they are more determined than us to win!"

"You bunch of miserable losers are not even determined to win!"

"Hey, watch your tongue". Ice-in-mah-veins' voice sounded cold; it seemed like a physical brawl would ensue any moment.

"You only have the right to tell me that when your performances do the talking". Enigma glared fearlessly at this genius defender.

"In this 2nd half, you all have played like sh*t!"

"I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to give up until I score a hattrick in this game, I want to experience that feeling of exhilaration again".

"Endrick is good but we've given him too much space".

"Too much f*cking freedom!"

"Let me make it clear". His eyes gleamed with killing intent. "If you know you're not ready to give your all, make your way out of this stadium".

"I will not play with teammates not giving their all".

"I will only play with teammates who are ready to give their all to win".

"…"

Seeing that no one responded, Enigma's face remained fearsome. "You've all made your decisions, know this, there are consequences".

"I am a combat genius, none of you here can beat me in a physical battle". His voice reeked of arrogance.

"If I notice you're not giving your all, forget about Team Yellow, I will personally come over and give you the beating of your life!"

"Play aggressive!"

"Play like this is a war!"

"I don't care about you lots, I want to win!" He clenched his fists.

"Let's fight!"

The lengthy celebrations of Team Yellow finally came to an end.

"We're now in the lead, let's hold it and we can win this game, remember to stay sturdy". Endrick reminded his teammates just as the game was about to begin.

FWEEE!

The game finally restarted.

As soon as the game restarted, Enigma played a ground pass to Legion who further pushed it slightly backwards into the waiting legs of the aggressive midfielder who seemed to have the same aura as Enigma at this moment.

Apeman no longer seemed like a footballer, he looked like a warrior.

With eyes blazing with a fiery fury, he glared and observed the pitch.

For a moment, he wanted to follow the normal strategy that they discussed before the game by passing to Lord-of-Support and playing possession football but then he remembered their situation.

'We're losing!' Instantly, the wheels in his head switched gears.

"Play aggressive!"

"Play like this is a war!"

In his dilemma, WarriorThug was already sprinting towards him for another midfield battle, this was when Apeman swung his leg back to hit the ball.

BAM!

He hit it with immense power.

"Special Skill: Power Shot!"

{CRITICAL HIT!}

{+71 Damage!}

Apeman broke the record for highest amount of individual damage with that shot as WarriorThug recoiled from the power and damage.

It was a simple play of attacking football but it triggered a war.

With one midfielder of Team Yellow briefly obliterated, the ball floated back to his side of the pitch as Lord-of-Support kicked it back at him. Then, he charged into Team Yellow's half with the ball.

He easily beat Maria202 for pace as he charged into the box 18.

Like expected, Turtle909 was firm in defense, giving him no angle to shoot.

Just as he closed the distance to the defenders, Apeman kicked the ball back slightly, cushioning it directly where Lord-of-Support lurked.

"Special Skill: 3D Vision!"

This player threw a penetrating through pass the next moment.

Turtle909 tried to intercept the pass but Enigma aggressively won the duel, shoving this defender aside as he reared in on goal, face to face with GravityMan.

As he was about to shoot, he saw a silhouette appear in his vision.

Hell-Bulldozer aggressively slid in to block the shot.

At the last moment before unleashing the shot, Enigma faked it as he cut the ball with his right leg to the left. Due to his still lacking ball control though, this bit of dribble on his part let the ball to stray a bit far out of his control.

Having been charging in since, PowerTruck arrived first as he cleared the ball away with power towards the midfield which was now dominated by Team Yellow.

Enigma punched the air aggressively in frustration.

The commentators perked up instantly. "Is this another Team Yellow counterattack? Are we about to witness another goal?"

"And Maria202 plays a ground pass to the star man again, Endrickdinho".

"What will he do this time?"

"Another take on!" Her voice rose a crescendo.

On the right side of the pitch, Endrick started another slick display of dribbling skills while adding a bit of showboating. Despite trying her best, Team Black's left back, Aurora88 was unable to hold him as he penetrated in.

Team Black's defense was immediately put into disarray but they put in a fight. All of them felt like they could hear Enigma's aggressive voice on their heads.

"Tatakae!"

"Tatakae!"

"Tatakae!"

After a lot of twists and turns in the opponent box 18, seeing no angle open up, Endrick threw a pass to Maria202 who instantly laid it off to Anthony1.

The momentum of the game already changed completely, in Team Black's box 18, Team Yellow's players drippled and did one two passes in a bid to penetrate and score as Team Black remained dogged in defense.

"What are we witnessing this time?"

"Team Black seems determined to defend their goal, can they?"

For 3 minutes, the ball hovered between the midfield and Team Black's box 18 until Flash204 after a crazy burst of run finally won it comprehensively.

"OH! It's a steal! What's he going to do with the ball?"

"Flash204 does not hesitate, he throws a long pass, to who?"

"To Enigma, he's isolated against 3 Team Yellow defenders, can he do it?"

Leaping above all the others, Enigma controlled the ball with his chest. As he landed back down, his eyes gleamed with a crazy amount of fighting intent as everything that he just learned flowed in his head.

During the past few minutes as Team Yellow oppressed them with Endrick taking the lead, instead of going back to defend, he simply observed to learn.

By now, he already admitted that Endrick was better at football.

'If I'm not good enough, I will learn'.

Watching Endrick dribble, he learned some tips, now he tested them out.

Bam!

Enigma kicked the ball forward and charged after it as the defenders retreated while calculating his movements. As soon as he entered the box 18, Hell Bulldozer and Turtle909 both charged in to box him in.

Originally, faced with this situation, Enigma would be stumped but this time…, he refused to be stumped.

His eyes gleamed with fighting intent. 'Tatakae!'

At the last moment before they stole the ball, Enigma executed an extremely swift la croqueta skill, obliterating both defenders at the same time as he penetrated directly through their middle like a hot knife through butter.

Gasps spread across the Estadio do Arruna.

After that piece of skill, the ball briefly left his control as again, PowerTruck charged in to clear it away but Enigma refused to give up.

'Tatakae!'

"Tatakae!" He screamed it out as he dug into his reserves and charged after the ball.

Milliseconds before the ball could make contact with PowerTruck, Enigma got to it first and executed another extremely swift la croqueta.

"Holy…!" The commentator was going crazy.

The last Team Yellow defender was obliterated as GravityMan finally charged out. Reading his movements, in the zone state already, Enigma reacted impeccably as he flicked the ball up, lobbing it above the goalkeeper.

Once it landed, it rolled calmly into the waiting embrace of the net.

Silence descended across the Estadio do Arruna for a few seconds, then it erupted.

"GOALLL!!!"

At the 80th minute of the game, Enigma scored, making it 3-3!

"TATAKAE!" This player roared in defiance.