Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 910 Is there no need to continue reading?

Whoosh, whoosh.

Leila was breathing heavily, feeling her lungs burning as if on fire. Her strength was rapidly draining away, and if she couldn't determine the winner within this period of time, she would most likely lose the game.

But the two eye-catching numbers written on the scoreboard with charcoal pencil were 3-6. She was the losing team. According to the rules of the game, when the score difference between the two teams in a small game reached 4 points, the losing team would be directly judged as the loser. If she lost this small game, Leila, who was already in a disadvantageous position, would have almost no chance of winning the game.

It should be said that he is worthy of being a talented player ranked at the top of the WT list. His skills, awareness and tactics are far beyond ordinary people. He is not at the same level as the professional players he defeated in the qualifiers.

Through her sweat-soaked bangs, Leila glanced at Gloria on the opposite half of the court. The gray-haired girl was also panting, with sweat dripping from her forehead and neck. Drops of sweat fell on the court, leaving light ink-colored wet marks. But perhaps because of her advantage, her whole spirit seemed to be more at ease than herself. She didn't know how much energy was hidden in that petite body to support her in dealing with such a high-intensity game.

As if she noticed the gaze from her opponent, Gloria looked up, and their eyes met on the net. After a while, a bright smile suddenly appeared on the face of the gray-haired girl. The smile implied confidence and seemed to be encouragement, which made Leila stunned.

At such a crucial moment, he could still laugh and encourage his opponent... Is this the margin of a professional player?

It seems that I am still far from achieving this goal.

For a moment, Leila had the idea of ​​giving up on herself, and even felt that she had already lost the game. She instinctively excused herself, and her mind flashed through countless reasons she would explain to her family and friends after the game, such as "The opponent is one of the strongest professional players in the world, and it's great to be able to fight with her to this extent", and "It's just the first game of the main competition. Even if I lose, as long as I play well in the next game, I still have a chance to qualify", etc., but these were not enough to explain why she had the idea of ​​giving up before the game was over.

Leila apologized and gave her opponent an apologetic smile. Gloria waved her hand nonchalantly and said with a smile: "It seems that you have figured it out, Miss Leila. Then, let me look forward to a wonderful game. You should know that defeating an opponent who has no fighting spirit will not satisfy me, the Grey Queen, right?"

Is that kind of behavior what a person pursuing his dreams should do?
She remembered the promise she had made to the girl, "I will keep winning and have Xino come to watch my games all the time," the encouragement from every family member and friend before the game, and the laughter at the party when everyone talked about their dreams and imagined the future... Leila's eyes gradually became firm, and all the scenes unrelated to the game disappeared in an instant, as if they were in an illusion. She returned to reality, and when she lowered her head, she saw the wind flower ball in her hand.

"Don't forget, Leila." A familiar voice suddenly sounded in her ears, going straight into her heart, so clear and thorough: "You promised me that you would always win."

Gloria's prediction was wrong. She thought that at this critical juncture that would decide the outcome of the game, the safer Leila would choose a direct serve. Unexpectedly, she chose an aerial smash, which would mean a tactical failure if it was caught. In order to deceive her opponent, she deliberately abandoned her best inside-angle serve and chose to serve the ball to the more difficult outside corner. Wasn't she afraid of serving out of bounds and losing the game?

But once a bold choice succeeds, it often brings unimaginable rewards. Although Gloria never gave up the small movements of her feet and tried to maintain her own foot rhythm, the misjudgment at this moment still slowed her center of gravity adjustment. As a result, she had shifted horizontally and stretched out her right racket to catch the ball. She did make her racket touch the high-speed moving wind flower ball. However, the accuracy was enough, but the strength was not enough. The impact of the strong rotation caused the racket face to tilt after touching the ball, and the power was completely lost, and she failed to form an effective return.

"But I will protect the dreams of others."

Bang!

Leila's body leaped up, like a graceful bow stretched in the air, her arms fully stretched out to outline elegant lines, the power was transmitted from the soles of her feet all the way to her shoulders and arms, and she swung the racket hard, like the spear of judgment of "Bastral", the symbol of ancient knights, descending to the earth, hammering down from a high altitude. It seemed that one could even see the swinging of her arms stirring up a boiling wave of air.

"Thank you for your reminder, Miss Gloria, but there is one thing you got wrong." Leila took a deep breath and clenched the racket in her hand: "The person who will be defeated will never be me."

“I don’t know, Miss Gloria. All I know is that if I don’t try my best at this moment, I will let down those who believed in me.”

Leila's heart trembled. Somehow, a picture suddenly appeared in front of her eyes. It was under the dark sky and in the open field. A knight wearing white armor, holding a silver spear, riding a snow-white warhorse, stood alone in front of the huge monster and stated his belief in why he was fighting in a calm and firm tone: "I have no dreams."

Because, only if you keep winning can I keep coming to watch your games.

boom!
A parabola flew high over the net and toward the outer corner of the serving area at an extremely fast speed. In the eyes of the audience, it was like a flash of white lightning. The high-speed spinning tennis ball even rubbed against the air, making a hissing sound, as if it was burning.

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!
The sound of the ball hitting the ground was so clear in the noisy stadium. The wind blowing in her face seemed to become much more soothing, matching the rhythm of the girl's breathing. The rolling clouds in the sky dispersed, revealing a small piece of clean sky. The long-lost light condensed into a line and fell on the girl, making her eyes suddenly bloom with bright brilliance: "Because, I have a reason not to lose!"

"Shino!?"

On the sidelines, the referee frowned and reminded, "Laila, if you are not having any physical problems, please concentrate on the game. It is your serve now. You have ten seconds left to serve. If you exceed the time limit, it will be considered a violation."

"Haha, regaining your fighting spirit is a good thing, but such a strong fighting spirit—" Gloria narrowed her eyes slightly, and a dangerous light flashed in her misty eyes: "Will it be counterproductive?"

Bend your knees! Push off the ground! Throw the ball!

The voice was torn apart by the wind and drifted away in the dark depths of the wilderness. The frail figure gradually overlapped with someone in the girl's memory.

It turns out that somewhere unknown to me, Shino is also fighting hard?
She said that she had no dreams, but wanted to protect the dreams of others. Among those people she wanted to protect, was her name among them? If, if I gave up easily here, wouldn't I fail her expectations? Not only Xinuo, but many people would be disappointed in me, right? But that kind of disappointment was not because of failure, but because I didn't try my best, but I had already thought of excuses for failure.

"Feel sorry."

The wind flower ball bounced after hitting the ground and made a low muffled sound when hitting the side net. Leila poured all her strength into this ball, and even the guardrail net tightened by iron wire was shaken violently by the impact of the ball.

"Beep——"

The referee blew the whistle without hesitation and announced loudly: "The serve is valid, Leila gets a point, the current score is 4-6!"

The stands were quiet for a moment, then a louder cheer broke out, dispersing the haze in the sky. The excitement of this match far exceeded people's imagination. Not only did the highly anticipated talented player Gloria enter the arena with a new title, but even amateur player Leila also showed a superb level. The back-and-forth attack and defense made the adrenaline of every spectator boil, even more exciting than the exhibition match a few days ago. In a corner of the stands, a group of young people shouted with abandon: "Good shot, Leila!!!"

"Good job!"

"I knew you wouldn't lose to her!"

“Don’t let us down!!!”

……

In a box on the top floor of the stands, Phyllis jumped up from her seat excitedly: "Beautiful counterattack Leila! I love you so much!!!"

"Phyllis?" A dignified middle-aged man sitting next to her glanced at her.

"Uh, hey, hey, hey..."

Phyllis was embarrassed for a moment, then gave him a flattering smile and sat back in her seat obediently. But this obedience did not last long, and soon she could not help it and whispered: "What do you think, Dad? My classmate is really good, he can even fight with a professional player like Miss Gloria!"

"He is indeed a good young man." Phyllis's father, Archbishop Pichel Cordri, who is also the general director of the Church's United Diocese in Sumia and the Archbishop of the Williard United Church, nodded slightly, revealing a sense of appreciation in his words: "Of course, my focus may be different from yours. The so-called strength is not that important. The key is this spirit of perseverance in the face of adversity. It is worth learning more from you, Phyllis."

Again.

Phyllis quietly rolled her eyes. She didn't know if it was because she did too much ideological work for the believers. Her father always liked to speak philosophically, just like a university teacher in class. Others only heard it once or twice, and they all thought that the archbishop was a kind and respectable man who spoke with reason. But Phyllis was tired of hearing him say this every day at home. She just made perfunctory noises and quickly changed the subject: "Then, what I said before, recommending Leila to Uncle Felix to join the Golden Glory Club, shouldn't be difficult, right?"

"Your classmate is talented, capable, and more importantly, young. I don't think I need to recommend him. Felix will not miss such a good seedling."

"Oh, that's different. If you recommend Leila to join the club, she will definitely be taken more seriously!"

"Are you sure that Miss Leila needs this kind of attention? Or does she prefer others to value her because of her strength and talent?"

"Well!"

Phyllis was stumped by the question and was speechless for a long time. Pichel smiled slightly and was about to take this opportunity to teach her more about life, but suddenly she was stunned for a moment, then turned her head to look outside the box. As far as her eyes could see, there was a cloudy sky. Apart from the city shrouded in dark clouds and the wilderness in the distance, there seemed to be nothing else worth noting.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, and a deep light flashed in his eyes.

It seems that the prepared backup plan is no longer useful.

The old patriarch of the Godafu family once sent his butler to visit and explain the situation to the church and the parish committee stationed in Sumiya City, and said that no help from others was needed. Whitethorn Flower had already made all the preparations and would definitely not let the threat of the beast expand.

Since ancient times, the Gustaf family has been the guardian of Grindelwald Field and has always been famous in this land. The White Knight Hibden has fought side by side with the philosopher Joan of Arc, so the church alliance couldn't refuse their face and verbally agreed. Having said that, for the sake of safety, they still made some arrangements in secret. If the Gustaf family showed signs of decline, they would rush to support them in time and make sure to eliminate the dangerous synthetic monsters here.

The reason for making such a judgment is that the Godafu family has been silent for a long time. No great magician has appeared in the past seven hundred years, and no one can inherit the Ice Heart Armor and the Holy Lance White Thorn passed down by Baron Vince. The united church is worried that their strength alone will be insufficient.

Now it seems that they were worrying too much. Destroying the synthetic monsters is not a trivial matter and must be treated with caution - they are not the only ones who understand this truth. The elderly patriarch Van Indreu probably knows it better than anyone else. He will never lose his mind and take the initiative to destroy the reputation of the Gustaf family.

I just don't know what his backup plan is. Does it have anything to do with the closed Forest of Loser, or does the key lie in the young heir?
"Dad? Dad! Are you listening to me?" Phyllis's dissatisfied voice woke Pichel from his trance. He nodded calmly, "I'm listening. What you said makes sense... By the way, don't you have another classmate who is also very good at tennis? I heard that she won the college championship and is the heir of the Gustaf family? Did she come to watch the game today?"

"No." Phyllis didn't know why her father suddenly asked about Xino, but she shook her head honestly: "She said she had something important to do today and couldn't come to watch Leila's game, but if nothing unexpected happens, she should be able to watch every game in the future. Then I will sit with her, and Dad, you can watch it in the box by yourself."

If nothing unexpected happens...it seems that the heir of the Gustaf family is very confident.

Naturally, Pichel ignored his daughter's somewhat filial words and fell into deep thought again: After today's battle, is it necessary to visit Shadoly Manor?

……

At the top of the stadium stands, Linger put down his binoculars. The cheers from the audience behind him came like waves, filling the air with a sense of restlessness. It seemed that the game was very exciting and everyone was fully engaged.

Go back and watch the game yourself.

After all, the outcome of the battle has been decided, so there is no need to continue paying attention to the situation over there.

The young man turned and left, his back gradually disappearing at the end of the passage.

(End of this chapter)