This would help lighten the burden on Alexei, who was tasked with closing out the match.
Even though Ash hadn't watched this particular match herself, just listening to her classmates animatedly recounting it in bits and pieces allowed her to imagine how exhilarating and tear-jerking the game must have been.
And that wasn't even mentioning the following legendary match between the Montis team and the Oryza team—a battle described as a god-slaying event!
Despite the Oryza team maintaining an undefeated record for the past twelve years, Alexei, the captain of the Montis team, faced their vice-captain Hadrianus Moreau and the world's top-ranked Beast Master, their captain, Hope Aldrich Rockefeller, in back-to-back matches.
Alexei defeated Hadrianus with an impressive score of 6-2 but ultimately fell to Hope with a narrow margin of 3-2 after exhausting all his Spirit Beasts, leaving none of them available to continue the fight.
It was this heartbreaking loss that became the most unforgettable and bittersweet moment of the World League Tournament.
Once again, the Montis team's dreams of a miraculous comeback were crushed, leaving them just short of the finals.
Even Ash, who had never met Alexei in person, couldn't help but feel a deep sense of regret alongside her classmates after hearing the story.
They had been so close.
Just a little bit closer, and this young champion—the youngest in Montis's history to win the Four Pillars tournament—could have ended the Oryza team's twelve-year winning streak and led the Montis team to the pinnacle of the world stage.
"So close, yet so far…"
Her lament blended into the background as the school bell rang, signaling the start of class.
Ash pushed aside her emotions and reached into her desk to retrieve the textbook she needed for the lesson.
She then lifted her gaze, focusing on the teacher's back as they wrote energetically on the blackboard.
The bright sunlight streamed through the windows, illuminating countless specks of chalk dust dancing in the air.
Ash stared intently at the blackboard, but her mind once again drifted to the World League Tournament match her classmates had described—a competition that left so many hearts filled with unresolved emotions.
...
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"
The graceful woman who is usually so poised, could no longer maintain her composure.
Leaning on the shoulder of the man beside her, she covered her face and sobbed uncontrollably.
The once-confident team manager appeared to have aged ten years in an instant.
Sitting silently on the stairs, he gazed up at the celebratory fireworks rising into the night sky, his lips trembling as if trying to speak, though no words came out.
Above them, a black-and-red dragon with six wings soared arrogantly through the sky, its presence overshadowing even the bursts of fireworks.
It was a hauntingly familiar sight—exactly like the scene twelve years ago when a young Alexei that is not yet a professional Beast Master, had watched the same dragon on television, feeling the same overwhelming frustration.
"When will Montis finally win a World League Tournament championship?"
This was the question that had been printed in a magazine Alexei had read during his high school years, one that introduced the grand history of the World League Tournament.
Now, twelve years later, Alexei had led what was undoubtedly the strongest team Montis had ever assembled.
And yet, they had still been unable to bring home the championship that every Montis citizen had longed for.
What about the next four years?
With some players retiring, others recovering indefinitely from injuries, and no guarantee of forming such a powerful lineup again, their chances seemed dimmer than ever.