Diego observed Vast for a while. The prince now had the nunchaku in his hands, swinging it with great skill until he stopped the movement with one of the sticks under his arm.

"What did he do?" His eyes spiraled frantically. "It shouldn't be possible to rebound my shot, and I wasn't distracted enough to not notice the ball, so how!?"

He quickly glanced at the scoreboard. The glaring difference of 11 goals in his favor calmed him down. Just a momentary outburst. Even though the prince had found a way to retaliate, it was practically impossible to catch up to him now.

That said, making a shot to figure out the enemy's strategy was a sensible move if he wanted to maintain the significant difference between them.

TUM! Without warning, Diego kicked the ball, identical to before. The sphere vanished into thin air, and the prince remained still until half a second after the shot. When that time passed, he drew the nunchaku.

Stretching the blood chains, Vast caught the cannon shot that was the ball, wrapping it in the blood chain and using the momentum to shoot it back.

Diego heard the whistle in his left ear, followed by the announcer's warning.

GOOOOOOOOAL!! Score: 13x2.

I see! Diego let out a short laugh, a surprise even for Vast, who believed the enemy was already incapable of thinking.

Basically, Vast used the momentum of Diego's shot and captured the ball in midair, redirecting it towards his own goal. The force wasn't enough to stop the ball before a point was scored for Diego, but it was still a form of counterattack.

The combined speed of both attack forces — Diego + Vast — was so fast that neither of them knew where the ball had gone until it stopped or the announcer tallied the points at the end of the round.

"He can counterattack and score a goal, but he's unable to prevent my goal from happening. Overall, he might be able to score points, but the situation itself remains the same!" He stomped forcefully, shaking the ground.

TUM! A magnificent goal kick. The perfectly oblique shot could end up disorienting Vast. It was easy to catch a ball that came in a straight line, but how would he handle it this time?

The ball grazed against the blood chain, an impact too powerful for him to contain before it crossed the goal line. However, far from being enough to let it escape. The chain wrapped around the sphere, and the prince's spinning motion sent it back to the opponent.

GOOOOOOOOAL!!

Diego didn't even bother to look at the scoreboard. It was obvious, after all. At this rate, the game would end within ten minutes. However, his order was to delay Vast as much as possible, regardless of whether he was entirely certain of his victory. But... who cared about that at this point?

"What exactly do they see in him?" The question was thrown away along with the ball in the next shot.

The same sequence of events and a resounding GOOOOOAL. The scoreboard updated again.

Again! Shot, defense, and counterattack! Another GOOOOOAL. And so on and so forth. One, two, three, maybe five or seven. Both lost count of how many rounds they had played without looking at the scoreboard, too focused on each other for such a thing.

"So much focus... I think I understand the boss. This guy's gaze isn't normal." Diego frowned. "A shame. He doesn't play so bad; if I could convince him to become a vampire, maybe we could play more."

By sheer instinct, he glanced at the scoreboard. Frivolous, without even recognizing the pictures. That is, until the next moment when he looked more closely at the numbers.

SCOREBOARD Diego Baskerville 20 x 11 Vast Los Filho

What? A slight reaction. Diego's brain, still dealing with the impact of the transformation into Descendant Vampire, took extra moments to grasp the numbers better.

— WHAT!? The shout didn't even make Vast flinch. — HO-HOW??

20x11 was something that simply didn't make sense, nor should it exist. Such a small difference in points.

His only certainty at the moment was the initial difference of eleven points. However, in a snap of his fingers, it simply vanished before his eyes.

"When did it happen?" Almost reaching a state of insanity. The camera angle again. "Since when did he manage this?"

Upon further thought, it gradually made sense. The speed at which he, Diego, kicked the ball was quite high, but Vast could still intercept it. However, the opposite never occurred.

The prince had grown accustomed to the power of his shots and was now trying to equalize in points. Diego kicked, Vast stopped the ball before he scored a goal, and returned it with the sum of both forces.

It was definitely something, Diego was unable to deny that. In fact, he now began to understand the reason they hadn't killed that man earlier. His staggering ability to evolve. If someone with such talent for mastering a Curse were to become an ally, the benefits would be immense, but this was far from being a plausible scenario now.

"They wouldn't care if I killed him here, right?" His orders were different. However, he was already unable to contain himself. "They wouldn't mind if I seized this chance, WOULD THEY!?"

Another ball flew with all its might towards the goal. Vast quickly drew the nunchaku, and in a deafening friction, the collision occurred between that cannon shot and the crimson chains.

A rebound! Of course, not before Diego's point was tallied. The prince's counterattack was so fast that the announcer had already given up saying anything a while ago. At the end of the round, the scoreboard read 21x12, followed by Diego's voice:

— LET'S GO! ENTERTAIN ME A LITTLE MORE, PRINCE VAST!!!

It was impossible to tell if he had reached insanity or climax. Nevertheless, Vast smiled for the first time in a while and replied with a simple you got it.

The values changed drastically. First, Diego scored a goal and suffered another in the rebound effect. In other rounds, only Diego scored. And at one point, Vast was able to defend the goal and still make his own. Due to the extreme excitement, Diego didn't even notice this last occasion right away.

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Round after round, shot after shot. The end of the match drawing nearer with each passing moment, and both of them exhausted from the countless climaxes that had ensued with every play. Sweaty, their clothes clinging to their bodies as tightly as leggings, accentuating their defined physiques.

After so much, the score — somehow — stagnated at 28 to 27, still in the vampire's favor.

Vast had managed to stop several balls before they entered his goal, but the strength needed to throw them back had been depleted for some time. By the time they reached the middle of the field, they were traveling at a speed that allowed Diego to stop them with some difficulty.

Both practically tied in points and comparable in skill. Victory would fall to whoever gave in to exhaustion last, which had plagued them since halfway through the match.

— You've got quite a skill with those balls — said Diego, as if he still wanted more. Vast wouldn't admit it aloud, not to this person, but the speed at which he had adapted to his counterattack was also impressive.

— I really wanted to — Diego continued —, but I can't extend this any longer.

The story was one when they were 11 points apart, but seeing that the chance of defeat was a possibility, the banter lost its place in the game.

After a hand signal that Vast didn't recognize, three shadows appeared on Diego's field. Emerging from what looked more like a portal from hell, humanoid figures emerged already in a defensive position. They wore the exact same uniform as their teammate, with the letter T highlighted on their shirts. Their faces were summarized in wooden dolls with eyes, mouth, nose, and hair drawn at a ten-year-old's level.

"What exactly is this? Teammates? Shouldn't this be considered cheating?"

Perhaps, but the rule spoke about external interference and things not within the user's own capacity. Due to the lack of a penalty when using his nunchaku, he forgot about the possibility of the enemy using something similar. In this case, Vampire abilities.

The new players positioned themselves in a triangle. One in front and two behind. Above their heads were their names and something labeled as "HP" for each one.

The one in the front was NeyNey. The two behind were called Ristiano Cromado and Levandoaóbito.

"Does he intend to create barriers to slow down my balls?"

He wondered if it would affect Diego's shots, but he was far from being dumb enough to make such a mistake.

The ball was by his side. Of course, this was a terrible moment to lose concentration or lose the ball to the other side, so a predictable shot was not safe.

Imitating one of Diego's plays, Vast launched a curved ball that passed through the right side, high enough for Cromado to be unable to reach it. Indeed, it worked, as the pawns only watched the ball fly over them, unlike the goalkeeper.

The curved shot was defended by the Phantom Hand once again. As warned, Diego said nothing before kicking it back.

It was a weak shot, but the prince's goal wasn't even the target. First, the sphere fell to Levandoaóbito's feet, who passed it to Cromado in a stronger kick, who didn't even control the ball, passing it directly to NeyNey, in the front, who in a movement equivalent to a dance, launched the ball back to Diego with a bicycle kick.

When it came beautifully in Diego's direction, the prince, for the first time, felt fear.

An initial contact that occurred as slow as a snail's pace, followed by an explosion so powerful that there wasn't even anything to compare it to. In the background, Vast heard the announcer scream: TAFAREEEEEEEL!!

A mere illusion in the air, to which the prince reacted purely by instinct. The nunchaku firmly positioned where the shot would possibly pass, and luck — perhaps misfortune — was on his side this time. The shock of the collision caused Vast's goal net to break, leaving only the goalpost and crossbar to mark the area.

The crimson chain was about to break, just like the prince's own arms. His entire body was being dragged backward, his feet already passing the goal line, and no sign of the checkered sphere losing the slightest bit of power.

"I can't lose here... NOT NOW THAT I'M SO CLOSE!!"

He dug his feet into the ground, his brow furrowed to the point of making him look like a demon. For a moment, his eyes went white, and the return of consciousness brought a surge of strength that lasted less than a second; enough to throw back that lead ball.

Different from the other times, Diego was already able to see the strike approaching. Containing it, however, was an entirely different matter.

— GO! MY FAMILY MEMBERS!!

Changing formation, the three players on the field adjusted themselves into a line. NeyNey took the first impact, losing one of his legs and dramatically rolling out of bounds.

The speed of the shot barely diminished, and after being hit by such a heavy stone, Levandoaóbito had his name changed to Obito.

Finally, Ristiano Cromado failed to stop the ball with his bicycle kick because it was — somehow — performed in slow motion. It would have been truly epic if his foot reached the ball.

Despite his family members' little help, it was enough for Diego's eyes to identify the ball. A risky move when he decided to control it with his chest.

The sound of ribs breaking and the image of the ball sinking into his body disturbed the prince. The Vampire would have been pierced if not for a superior technique. An evolution of the Phantom Hand, the technique called ***anic Hand!

The announcer quickly warned of a goal, and the change in the scoreboard followed: 28x28.

A brief joy that lasted a second filled Vast. He had tied the game for the first time, but the ball was still spinning with more than half of its force. Diego, on the other hand, seemed to have an intention far from just controlling the ball.

A different sound! With total attention on his opponent, Vast noticed his chest returning to normal while the ball still pressed against it.

"He's using vampire regeneration to contain the ball?!"

The prince's first move was to apply more blood to the nunchaku. The chains thickened, becoming as thick as his forearm. However, a whoosh cut through his ears before he could even prepare to defend.

GOOOOOOOOAL!!!

Diego Baskerville 29 x 28 Vast Los Filho

Perplexed for a few seconds, he quickly began searching for the ball, but there was no sign of the checkered sphere. The lack of a net made it get lost on the field. And in the end, he wouldn't have found it if not for the voice calling him.

— That was truly — said Diego, between dense breaths — a great match, but I'm afraid we're finishing here.

His chest was finishing its regeneration, but besides it, another place exhaled a thick vapor. At his feet, the ball revealed itself after cooling completely.

A weight equivalent to the entire castle fell upon Vast's shoulders. His legs trembled. Diego didn't even have time to say anything else. The prince acted faster than he ever had in his life.

With the Scarlet Shooter, he created a kind of spiderweb in his goal, one layer overlapping another, and another, and another. In the end, within five measly seconds, Vast covered the entire area of his goal with gelatinous blood, making it similar to a portal to a world of flesh or something like that. Added to it, the nunchaku with reinforced chains.

The opponent, on the other hand, gave a wide smile. His snap of fingers made the three fallen family members gather at his feet and, in a blender-like sound, merge to form a black sphere that Diego swallowed.

Veins bulged all over his body, and he increased in size entirely, especially his right leg — now completely disproportionate to the rest.

— I really didn't want to admit this, but this was the first match where I felt truly alive since I gained this Curse.

Vast didn't sympathize, nor did he have time for it. His breath was failing, his legs only not shaking because they were sunk into the ground. His chest almost exploding, and his eyes widened by the numbers he saw in the opponent's aura.

Descendant Vampire

Strength 99/100

Agility 1/100

Intelligence 20/100

Attribute sacrifice, something Vast had never seen in his life. Perhaps a type of ability that only a Cursed turned Vampire could exert. But, ignoring this, what really mattered was the crucial factor.

"This strength... Can I defend?"

His body, Diego's aura, the whole world itself. They all said no. In his mind, he had already accepted this fact himself.

— It was a pleasure playing against you, Vast Los Filho.

THUMP! The stomp lifted the ball into the air, and in the next second, only one sound was able to reach the prince's ears.

Bang!

The ball remained in mid-air, but slowly fell until it collided with the ground, still beside Diego. He himself fell right afterward, suddenly on his knees, with his eyes still fixed on the ball.

A hole was created in his chest, just above the heart. Behind him an unusual object, a huge wooden stake, where at its sharp tip was the lost organ of the Vampire, still pulsating.

A powerful whistle traveled every inch of the field. The scoreboard began to fail drastically, but it wasn't even necessary.

In a panel similar to the one Vast saw when observing a vampire's aura, the message he had tried so hard to avoid in that damned game appeared.

EXTERNAL INTERFERENCE IDENTIFIED!!

PLAYER VAST LOS FILHO PENALIZED: RED CARD