Chapter 276: [276] "DEFYING LAWS"

Cillian engaged his broad shoulders, shielded the ball with his frame, and absorbed the impact. The Phocéen player practically bounced off the Irishman’s back.

Cillian laid the ball off to Klaus. Klaus swept it wide to Sordell on the left flank.

The Valois possession system roared to life.

They kept the ball moving, refusing to let the Phocéen players establish a rhythm in their press. The ball traveled from Sordell all the way down to Amadou, across to Hadj, and out to Gabriel Assis operating in his not-so-new role at right-back. Gabriel did not launch the ball forward. He trapped it, invited the Phocéen left-winger to commit to a sprint, and played a simple pass inside to Hugo.

For the first three minutes of the match, the ball did not leave the boots of the SC Valois players.

The hostile crowd inside the stadium began to whistle. The collective high-pitched sound of twenty-nine thousand frustrated fans echoed in the air. They wanted tackles. They wanted their team to assert dominance. Instead, they were watching Valois execute calculated rondos that stretched the blue shirts across the width of the pitch.

Luc hovered in the final third. He kept his back to the Phocéen goal, standing just close enough to the left-sided center-back to force the defender to acknowledge his presence. He was waiting for the shifting possession to manufacture a crack in their mirrored formation.

Down on the right touchline, Gabriel received another pass from Klaus.

This time, the Phocéen left-winger was a fraction of a second late to close the distance. The fatigue of three minutes of fruitless chasing showed in the winger’s heavy steps.

Gabriel recognized the hesitation. He pushed the ball forward, bypassing the winger, and drove a firm pass up the touchline.

Bachra Goza was waiting for his moment.

The Spanish teenager trapped the ball near the halfway line. He had spent the last several fixtures watching Gabriel. Tonight, Henri had unleashed Bachra on the right wing with a singular directive, attack the fullback.

The Phocéen left-back stepped up. He was a veteran defender, built for physical confrontation, preferring to lock wingers against the touchline and strip the ball through his physicality. He lowered his center of gravity, keeping his eyes fixed on Bachra’s knees, determined not to fall for any erratic footwork.

But Bachra did not attempt a complex sequence of step-overs.

He received Gabriel’s pass, stopped the ball with the under of his boot, and stood still for one full second.

The pause shattered the fullback’s rhythm. The defender anticipated momentum. When Bachra provided none, the fullback took a single, uncertain step forward to close the gap and force the issue.

The moment the defender shifted his weight, Bachra exploded.

He dropped his left shoulder, feinting inside toward the congested midfield, before snapping his boot through the ball. He pushed it down the outside channel, relying entirely on explosive acceleration.

The fullback turned to give chase, but the speed disparity was tantamount. Bachra chewed up the grass, his cleats kicking up clumps of turf as he surged past the defender. He breached the final third, driving hard toward the corner flag.

The Phocéen defensive line scrambled. The left-sided center-back abandoned Luc, sprinting across the penalty area to cover the vacated space left by his beaten fullback.

Bachra reached the byline. He did not slow down to survey the box. He knew the center-back was closing the angle, preparing to launch a sliding block. Bachra whipped his right leg around the ball, delivering a cross while operating at high speed.

The delivery was meant to be a low driven ball aimed at the near post.

The recovering center-back threw his body across the turf, extending his leg in a desperate bid to block the cross.

The defender’s shin guard clipped the underside of the football.

The impact killed the forward momentum of Bachra’s cross, sending the ball rocketing skyward. It spun on a chaotic, unpredictable trajectory, looping high over the six-yard box and dropping toward the penalty spot.

Inside the box, the shape of the attack fractured.

Hugo had made a near-post run and was now out of position, trapped underneath the flight of the ball. The Phocéen right-sided center-back was backpedaling, tracking the dropping ball, preparing to launch a clearing header.

Luc was standing near the penalty arc.

He tracked the ball as it reached its apex against the glare of the stadium floodlights. It was descending rapidly, carrying a vicious spin caused by the deflection.

The Phocéen center-back was positioned well. The defender bent his knees, preparing to jump and head the ball out of the danger zone.

Luc took two rapid strides forward, inserting his frame between the dropping ball and the defender. He utilized his upper body mass, throwing his shoulder back into the center-back’s chest, anchoring himself to the grass and establishin leverage.

The defender grunted, pushing back, but Luc held his ground.

He owned the airspace.

But the ball was a nightmare to control. It was falling from the air, spinning away from his body. If he attempted to cushion it with his chest, the spin would cause it to ricochet yards away, allowing the Phocéen midfielders crashing into the box to clear it easily. If he tried to trap it with his boot, the momentum would make it bounce it off his laces as he wasn’t as gifted in control as Max Caster was.

He needed to strike before the defense reorganized. He needed the ball dead before the strike.

Luc accessed TES.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

[REMAINING BALANCE: 5 GP, 5 SP.]

[INVENTORY CHECK]

[VACUUM TRAP (X2)]

[PHANTOM STEP (X1)]

[ABSOLUTE STRIKE (X1)]

[PREDATORY AURA (X1)]

His mind isolated the top item on the list.

[VACUUM TRAP X1 - ACTIVATED]

[REMAINING X1 USE]

The blue text flared and vanished.

Luc raised his right leg, extending his boot into the air to meet the falling ball.

To the thousands of fans watching, to the center-back pressing against him, to Fresko standing near the halfway line, the sequence that followed defied the basic laws of physics.