Chapter 184

The Bastard Munchen and Manshine City clash sits level at one each. Watching from the bench, Igarashi, Raichi, and Hiori break down how Isagi read Nagi's trap, shut it off, and grabbed possession for himself. Hiori grows unnerved, sensing that these plays stretch past instinct, and he shivers at how openly Isagi is enjoying the game.

With Kurona shadowing him for support, Isagi drives at the goal while cradling the ball so snugly that he never needs to glance down to control it. That frees his gaze to sweep the pitch and stockpile information. He describes a sensation of observing himself from somewhere overhead, charting the defenders he is about to meet and asking how a god would deploy him to greatest effect.

Leaning on Kurona to slip past markers, Isagi spots Kunigami barreling in as he nears the box and turns him into a lure. He winds up as if to strike, sells the fake to a defender, then feeds a square ball to Kurona and glides into a pocket of unseen space. There he waits on the return, confident that Kurona has grasped exactly what he intends.

Isagi strips the ball off Nagi's trap and launches a counter with Kurona in tow. By keeping the ball tight to his feet, he keeps his eyes free to scan the field and gather data through metavision. Approaching the box, he uses Kunigami as bait, dummies a shot, and instead slides a lateral pass to Kurona before ghosting into a defender's blind spot to await the layoff.

Isagi again leans on metavision to construct a chance, casting Kunigami as a decoy and Kurona as the assist provider. The scoreboard is unchanged, still reading one goal to one as the sequence builds toward a shot.