Tezuka was a little stunned when Q.P. managed to counter his Zero Shiki Serve, but there was no time to think about it. Under the umpire's signal, he tossed the ball again and unleashed another Zero Shiki Serve at full speed.
This time, Tezuka was ready. The instant the serve left his racket, he rushed toward the net. Just like before, Q.P. used the Zero Shiki's spin to return the ball with ease.
Once Tezuka reached the net, he naturally lifted his racket behind his head, then sliced sharply at the falling ball. It was clear he intended to use a Zero Shiki Drop Shot to deal with Q.P.'s return.
But Q.P. had already anticipated it. His body flashed forward, appearing at the net almost instantly. As the ball barely crossed the net, Q.P. swung decisively, driving it diagonally across the court.
Tezuka hadn't expected Q.P. to predict his move. Without activating Ten'i Muhō no Kiwami, he couldn't keep up with the ball's speed. He frowned slightly and stayed where he was, watching as the ball landed and shot out of bounds.
"0–30!"
Q.P. calmly retrieved his racket and turned back toward the baseline. The entire match was now completely under his control, and that realization only made his mind steadier.
For the next two rallies, Tezuka still refused to give up and served the Zero Shiki again. Unfortunately, Q.P. had fully adapted to it. Every time, he found the perfect angle to return the ball effortlessly.
Whenever Q.P. neutralized the Zero Shiki Serve, the two would enter another fierce exchange. The biggest problem was Tezuka's state of mind—just as Q.P. had predicted before the match, his focus had been shaken. He couldn't summon the Light of Love.
"0–40!"
"Game! Germany leads, 5–5!"
In the eleventh game, it was Q.P.'s turn to serve. For reasons unknown, after realizing Tezuka couldn't awaken the Light of Love, Q.P. didn't activate his own Light of Pride either. He simply relied on his natural five-dimensional attributes and sent out a powerful serve.
Tezuka sidestepped to the landing spot without hesitation. Despite the heavy impact making his left arm tremble, he forced himself to apply double spin to the ball—a move that came at the cost of immense strain on his arm.
A massive white whirlwind surged around Tezuka as he struck. The ball, wrapped in complex rotation, skimmed over the net and shot low toward Q.P.'s open right side.
Q.P. slid quickly, reaching the ball right at his feet. His expression didn't change as he used a half volley to return it.
Yet at the moment of impact, his brows twitched slightly. He realized his stance couldn't fully offset the ball's reverse spin.
As expected, once the ball cleared the net, it curved outward in midair and veered sharply toward the left sideline—then flew out of bounds at high speed.
"Out! 0–15!"
Q.P. glanced at Tezuka, who was already in position to receive again. He didn't say a word, but his evaluation of the Japanese captain rose another level. Even in such a tough situation, Tezuka could still stay calm and look for that single remaining path to victory.
When Q.P. launched another powerful serve, Tezuka repeated the same move—ignoring the pain in his arm, he gave the ball the supreme spin of the Ultimate Zone.
But Q.P. wasn't the kind to stumble twice in the same place. Before serving, he had already prepared his next move. The moment the ball was hit, his figure was already near the net—it was a serve-and-volley play.
Because the ball had just crossed the net and hadn't yet formed a low-pressure drop, Q.P. easily intercepted it and neutralized the reverse spin.
However, his return ball also hovered low and was quickly caught by the air current surrounding Tezuka. The ball was drawn back toward him—Tezuka's domain had fully formed.
From there, a long tug-of-war began.
Although Q.P. had countered the low-pressure shots, most of his returns near the net lacked the ideal strike force. Every angle he used was absorbed by the domain and pulled back toward Tezuka.
Even though Q.P.'s overall five-dimensional attributes were higher, Tezuka's mastery of the Ultimate Zone minimized that difference dramatically.
As the exchange dragged on, Q.P. finally made a small misstep. He failed to intercept the ball in front of the net. By the time he turned and chased it down, he could no longer neutralize its reverse spin.
"Out! 0–30!"
"Looks like Tezuka has finally figured out how to deal with Q.P. There's still a chance he can win this set!" Kimijima said, his tone easing slightly as he watched from Japan's player bench.
"No. Unless Tezuka makes a major breakthrough or activates two Radiances at once, he'll most likely lose this one," Oni said calmly, his eyes fixed on the court.
"I was about to say that! What's Tezuka doing? If he just activated two Radiances—or even all three—he'd probably have won by now!" Toono muttered in annoyance from the side.
"It's not that simple. Akashi-kun said before that Q.P.'s Light of Pride is a very special form. During the exhibition match, he even warned Tezuka not to use the Radiance of Strong Heart. That clearly means there's something deeper behind it—something we don't know," Mitsuya said quietly, still trying to figure out Akashi's reasoning.
"Hey~ hey~ didn't you guys notice something weird? That expressionless guy on the other side—his aura feels a lot like Tezuka's!" Kintarō suddenly said, tilting his head with a puzzled look.
"Ahem… Kintarō, where did you even learn the word 'expressionless'? And what do you mean his aura feels similar?" Tachibana asked, half curious and half exasperated.
"Eh? I heard Akashi say it once—it sounded cool! Is there something wrong with that? Anyway, when that guy started shining all sparkly just now, it felt just like Tezuka before. And that aura… it gave me a really familiar feeling!" Kintarō said, shaking his head as if trying to organize his thoughts—his brain clearly struggling to keep up.
"Love… and the Light of Despair!!!" Chitose suddenly blurted out, a flash of realization in his eyes as he connected Kintarō's messy words into a shocking conclusion.
Everyone turned to stare at him in surprise, unsure why he'd suddenly mentioned those two Radiances. Only Akashi smiled faintly. He wasn't surprised that Chitose had figured it out. After all, Chitose's passion for studying Ten'i Muhō no Kiwami far surpassed anyone else's.
"That Q.P. guy didn't just use a normal Light of Pride. He fused the Radiance of Love and the Radiance of Pain into it. That must be what Akashi meant by a 'special Light of Pride,' right?" Chitose said, his gaze turning directly toward Akashi.
"You're mostly right—except for one thing," Akashi replied evenly. "Q.P. didn't actually fuse the two Radiances. In fact, he hasn't even awakened them himself. He simply absorbed both into his own Light of Pride."
"Didn't awaken… absorbed… I see! That's why you told Tezuka not to activate the Radiance of Strong Heart during the exhibition match! You were preventing Q.P. from absorbing it too!" Mitsuya said aloud as everything finally clicked in his mind.
Everyone was stunned. Oni and Irie, in particular, looked shocked—both of them could activate Ten'i Muhō no Kiwami, so they immediately understood the danger. Chitose, having already guessed part of it, only nodded calmly. As for Kintarō… well, he was still completely lost.
"Game! Germany leads, 6–5!"
At that moment, the umpire's voice echoed through the stadium. The entire Japan team instantly turned toward the court. Q.P. now stood before Tezuka, his body wrapped in a blue radiance, his expression as calm as ever. Clearly, after losing two points in a row, Q.P. had chosen to activate his Light of Pride.
Faced with Q.P.'s power, Tezuka—still in his normal state—had no chance of resisting. He quickly lost the eleventh game, and the expressions of everyone on the Japan bench darkened.
As Tezuka walked back toward the coaching area, Akashi's thoughts shifted toward Oni. From the start, one question had been on his mind. In the original account, when the Perfect-Quality Q.P. fought Oni, who had activated the Radiance of Strong Heart, Q.P. had been completely overpowered and lost the second set without resistance.
Back then, Oni's strength might not have been greater than Tezuka's now. Yet even with the Radiance of Love, Tezuka still couldn't beat Q.P. By theory, all three Radiances of Ten'i Muhō no Kiwami should be equal in power.
Considering that in the original version, Q.P. had never activated the Light of Pride before evolving into his Ultimate Quality form, Akashi quietly reached a conclusion:
In that match, after witnessing Oni's Radiance of Strong Heart, Q.P. had deliberately stopped resisting—to fully experience and absorb its power. That was how he evolved into the Ultimate-Quality state in the third set.