Haikyuu: Zero To Almighty-Chapter 540: The Demon King (Double-Length)
"Tweet!—"
Oikawa Tōru served the fourth ball.
Sanhos received it cleanly, a perfect first touch.
Fernand sent the ball high into the middle. Wallace jumped for the spike!
—BOOM!!!
The ball sailed past the block and slammed hard into the centre of San Juan's court.
São Paulo finally broke the serve.
Wallace returned a straight-over-the-block spike right back at Kaedehara Taichi!
[San Juan 4 - 1 São Paulo]
Service change. São Paulo to serve.
Sousa launched a powerful jump serve. Conte received it stably—a perfect first touch.
"Too bad," Oikawa said. "It's already too late."
He tossed the ball high into the centre.
Thump!
Taichi jumped!
How many countless reps had it taken for him to replicate the exact same perfect spiking posture every single time?
Reilly had no time to think.
"Triple block!" Lucas, Reilly, and Wallace jumped simultaneously.
—BOOM!!!
"Damn—!"
SMACK!!!
The ball struck Yoandy Leal's arm and bounced out of bounds.
Taichi scored again with another over-the-block spike!
[San Juan 5 - 1 São Paulo]
"Beep! São Paulo calls a timeout."
São Paulo had no answer for Kaedehara Taichi's offence!
"No need to panic," Yoandy Leal said with composure. "Let's focus on executing our own offence."
"As for Taichi's attacks, I'll handle them with Sanhos."
"Right," Sanhos added calmly. "Over-the-block doesn't mean invincible. We know that better than anyone."
"We'll keep restricting his shot angles with the block and adapt to his attack patterns. We'll get him."
"Leave the offence to me," Wallace said. "There's no way I'll lose to that kid."
-----
Timeout ends. Match resumes.
San Juan to serve. Loser jump-served with power!
Sanhos received it smoothly. Fernand sent the ball left—Wallace jumped to spike!
"Triple block!" Taichi, Bruno, and Ramos all went up together!
Wallace wound up and whipped his arm forward from behind.
Taichi's outstretched arm was so low it left almost no space between his hand and the net.
BOOM!!!—
The ball still squeezed through the narrow gap between Taichi and the net—
A razor-sharp net-hugging diagonal!
THUD!!!
"Out!"
Unfortunately, the ball landed just a step wide of San Juan's left sideline.
Spike out of bounds.
[San Juan 6 - 1 São Paulo]
On the sidelines, Coach Bernardo's expression was grim. Was it Wallace's poor form—or had Taichi's block pressure been that overwhelming?
That tight-angle diagonal was supposed to be one of Wallace's specialities!
San Juan to serve again.
Loser served his second ball.
It had more power, but the trajectory was straight.
Leal handled it head-on—a decent first touch.
"Push forward!"
Fernand closed in and sent a high ball.
São Paulo launched a full front-row assault.
Whoosh—!
The ball still went to the right side. This time, Lucas on the left drew Taichi's attention.
Wallace faced off against a double block from Bruno and Ramos and swung out another diagonal shot!
BOOM!!!
Smack!!
The ball slipped past the left side of the block and struck Taichi's arm, bouncing out of bounds.
Wallace scored!
[San Juan 6 - 2 São Paulo]
"He read it?!"
The moment the ball left Fernand's hands, Taichi had already retreated to the left backcourt.
As expected, Wallace went for the diagonal again, eager to prove himself.
Unfortunately, Taichi misjudged the angle by a hair and failed to receive the ball cleanly.
Service change. São Paulo to serve.
Wallace jumped high—a powerful jump serve!
BOOOM!!!
The ball rocketed toward San Juan's backcourt like a missile.
Smack!!!
Oikawa's first touch was off. The ball veered toward the net.
Lucas leapt at the centre, ready to slam down a quick strike!
Whoosh!—
But Taichi leapt up and, before the ball crossed the net, single-handedly set it to the right!
Ramos jumped to spike!
Reilly jumped to block alone, but the ball slipped past his right side and slammed down toward São Paulo's sideline.
Smack!
Wallace dug it up!
"Cover!"
Reilly landed and quickly moved to set, barely getting the ball back up—Lucas jumped to spike!
"Double block!" Taichi and Ramos were right there.
Tap!
Lucas snapped his wrist and tipped the ball toward San Juan's backcourt.
"Chance ball!" Loser moved to receive.
"I got it!" Oikawa called, getting into position first. "With a setup this good, we're thinking the exact same thing!"
Taichi landed from his block and stepped left—then launched diagonally upward in perfect sync.
The ball met him at the exact right height—flawless!
Fernand barely kept up, leaping solo to block.
—BOOM!!
The ball grazed his fingertips and slammed down hard inside São Paulo's 3-meter line!
Ultra quick off a serve receive!
Kaedehara Taichi scored again!
[San Juan 7 - 2 São Paulo]
"Too fast…"
"How did they pull that off…?"
There was no time to even think, and yet Taichi and Oikawa had instinctively chosen the exact same play.
"Amazing! Amazing! Amazing!"
Hinata Shōyō's eyes gleamed with excitement, his face flushed red with joy. He wished Kageyama could see this—even on the world stage, their signature weapons still worked!
-----
The atmosphere on the court grew heavy. San Juan and São Paulo weren't holding hands—they were the biggest rivals in South America, and maybe even opponents at future World Championships.
Down by five so early in the set—this was hard to swallow.
Service change. San Juan to serve.
Kaedehara Taichi walked to the service line.
This time, Fernand was already in the front row at position 4—no need for teammates to cover him.
São Paulo left Fernand and Lucas in the front, while Reilly dropped into the back to form a four-man reception lineup.
Taichi's face was focused and expressionless.
"Tweet!—" The whistle blew.
A sharp glint flickered in Taichi's eyes.
He tossed the ball high, sprinted forward, and launched into the air. His body stretched to its limit, left arm drawn behind—and swung forward with full force!
BOOOM!!!
Smack!!!
The ball struck Yoandy Leal's arm and shot off his shoulder, flying out of bounds.
Taichi scored an ace!
[San Juan 8 - 2 São Paulo]
"Nice serve!" Loser shouted from the sideline.
Leal frowned.
He hadn't realised what it truly meant for Taichi to be ambidextrous.
Left-handed players were rare, but not unheard of. He'd faced a few before.
He thought it would be enough to just watch the hitting arm and react—but in reality, the brain and body struggled to sync in time.
And just like the endless variations of right-handed spin, every lefty's serve carried its own unique unpredictability.
"…I didn't expect it to be this tricky."
Leal signalled to his teammates, "Don't think about a perfect receive—just focus on getting the ball up first."
San Juan continued to serve.
Holding the ball in both hands, Kaedehara Taichi pressed down heavily, a faint smile curling at the corner of his lips.
"How many serves will it take for you to adapt?"
"Tweet!—"
Taichi served again!
BOOOOM!!!
Wallace and Reilly locked their eyes on Taichi, their bodies ready for reception. But the moment the ball left his palm, it vanished from their line of sight.
It was too fast!
So fast that their brains didn't even have time to process before the ball zipped through the gap between them like a bolt of lightning.
BAANG!!!—
Gulp. Even the sideline referee swallowed hard—he hadn't clearly seen the ball's landing spot either.
"In," said Bernardo.
"130.8 km/h!!!"
The replay confirmed the speed. Missing a ball like that wasn't just understandable—it was expected.
The sideline judge swung his flag and signalled in bounds.
Taichi scores back-to-back aces!
[San Juan 9 – 2 São Paulo]
The players on São Paulo's bench stared at the scoreboard in disbelief. Even during scrimmages, they had never seen their team get crushed so badly right out of the gate.
They began silently praying for the match to end as soon as possible.
Coach José looked calm on the surface, but his twitching fingers betrayed the storm brewing inside him.
Once Kaedehara Taichi got into his rhythm, his suffocating pressure could overwhelm even world-class teams. José never imagined that after bringing back a genius setter from Japan, heaven wasn't done gifting him with miracles.
"Hehehe." José nearly chuckled aloud.
Taichi remained expressionless, as if such a dominant lead wasn't even worth getting excited over.
The São Paulo back row could feel Taichi's gaze boring into them. Strangely, it left them breathless—as if the air had grown heavy, as if invisible chains had bound their bodies, making every movement feel sluggish and strained.
"Tweet!—" The whistle broke the stifling tension, snapping both teams back to focus.
BOOOM!!!
Sanhos shifted his feet slightly—only to realise the ball had already landed behind him.
BANG!!!
Taichi scores another ace!
[San Juan 10 – 2 São Paulo]
After scoring no aces in Set 1, Taichi had now scored three in a row in Set 2!
"Tweet!—" São Paulo called for a timeout.
The second set wasn't even halfway through, yet Coach Bernardo was forced to burn his second timeout—both because of the same player.
Which meant: São Paulo now had no more timeout adjustments left in this set.
-----
"The Demon King…" Hinata Shōyō murmured, watching Taichi's silhouette on the court.
His mind drifted back to the Karasuno–Nekoma joint training camp. He remembered Kenma crouched next to a vending machine, sipping from a straw, his bangs casting a shadow over his eyes.
"Shōyō," Kenma had said, "don't you think Taichi is like a demon king?"
"Huh? You mean, like a final boss in a video game?" Hinata asked.
"You're a boss," Kenma replied, glancing at him. "Taichi's a demon king."
"???" Hinata had no idea what that distinction meant.
"A boss is someone you want to beat—a goal that makes you feel excited," Kenma continued with his own logic. "But a demon king is someone the more you understand…the more hopeless it feels."
Every time you thought you were close to defeating Taichi, you realised that gentle smile of his was just a mask. The real game began only when Taichi turned cold. When those crescent-moon eyes of his split open like cracks in ice—revealing the whirlpool underneath, black and unfathomable.
That's the real Demon King.
-----
Timeout over. The match resumed.
Though São Paulo's players looked noticeably steadier, Kaedehara Taichi's calm never wavered. It was as if none of this surprised him at all.
"Tweet!—" The serve whistle blew. Taichi fired off his fourth serve!
"Mine!" shouted Sanhos, stepping forward to receive.
"Nice!"
The ball arced high—half-accurate.
Fernand filled in and sent the ball to the left wing. Reilly jumped to spike!
"Double block!" Ramos and Conte both jumped.
BOOM!!!
Reilly struck a sharp cross—sending the ball past the block.
Smack!
Santiago Danani received it cleanly. The ball arced again—half-accurate.
Oikawa filled in, leapt up, and sent a clean set high to the middle. Conte began his approach—
Thump!
But Taichi soared from the back row!
Conte halted his run at the 3-meter line, just in time.
—At the last moment, he felt Taichi say: "That ball is mine."
"Triple block!" Fernand, Lucas, and Reilly all jumped in unison.
They didn't understand why Conte had suddenly backed off, but since this was a back-row attack against a triple block, they had to make Taichi pay for his arrogance!
As Taichi soared to the net, he met the blockers eye-to-eye.
There was no angle to spike through!
BOOOOM!!!
BANG!!!
Fernand's arms were violently blasted apart, his balance lost as he fell from the air.
THUD!!!
The ball hit the ground a moment before he did.
Utter devastation.
Taichi scores again!
[San Juan 11 – 2 São Paulo]
"He broke through the block?!"
"No matter where he is—front row or back—he's the hole in your defence…" Taichi's cold voice echoed as he looked down at Fernand.
Fernand sat stunned on the court, eyes vacant.
"Hey, asshole—you think you're hot shit?" Lucas snarled, staring up at Taichi.
"Hot shit?" Taichi's gaze didn't waver. "Can you block me?"
"You've only played one set. Don't get cocky," Reilly muttered darkly. This guy…he's even stronger than he was during yesterday's scrimmage...
"Is that so?" Taichi turned to Reilly. "I've scored 9 points. How about you?"
"Enough talk!" Wallace yelled from the back row. "Let your skills speak for you—block him first, then argue later!"
"Exactly," Taichi shrugged. "Too bad you can't."
San Juan continued to serve.
Taichi gently tossed the ball. One step. Two steps. Three. He leapt and struck—
—BANG!!!
"Lefty!" Sanhos shouted.
But the ball's flight was nothing like he imagined—
A float serve?!
"He can serve float too?!"
The ball wobbled over the net—then dropped sharply!
"Fernand!"
Caught off guard, Fernand misread the trajectory and had to switch to an emergency underhand receive.
The ball ricocheted into the net and dropped.
[San Juan 12 – 2 São Paulo]
Another ace!
San Juan opens the set with a 10-point lead!
Crack. Someone could swear they heard something shatter.
_________
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