Morishita, who still had a silly, shocked face, still didn't understand.
'What happened just now?'
He couldn't comprehend it.
Why did it feel like he was about to hit the ball, yet the baseball vanished?
It didn't make sense.
He wanted to say something, but didn't know what to say.
He could only return to the dugout in defeat.
On his way back, he ran into his teammate Yuuta, the third batter, who had been waiting to bat.
They passed each other.
"Don't hang your head and pass your failure onto me."
Hearing the senior's stern words, Morishita finally snapped out of it.
At this moment, he was sweating cold.
Without realizing it, he had completely sunk into the despair of that earlier moment.
He had lost his fighting spirit!
The Demon King Sawamura!
Now he understood why the Not-that-flashy Sawamura had earned the title of The Final Boss!
Sawamura's title as the "Demon King" must have been given because he repeatedly brought despair to his opponents.
That's probably why he was called that, right?
"How does it feel? That last pitch?"
It seemed that Yuuta, the senior, also cared quite a bit about that pitch.
It was understandable because when that pitch was thrown, no one would care.
Though it looked similar to Sawamura's previous pitches, it was definitely different.
There was one moment when Morishita truly felt like he had hit the ball.
He believed he wasn't the only one who felt that way.
There were surely many others at the scene who had the same feeling.
In such a situation, failing to hit it was a huge disappointment.
Not even making contact with the ball!
What does that mean?
It meant that right when he was about to hit the ball, it disappeared.
"It should be one of his breaking balls?"
Morishita wasn't sure exactly what had happened.
But he felt that it was probably one of the many breaking balls the "Demon King" was rumored to have.
It was said that Sawamura had countless types of breaking balls.
The players from the former Osaka Kiryu High School baseball team had even counted them.
They had documented dozens of types of breaking balls with clearly distinct movements.
There were many breaking balls that seemed similar, but in reality, they were different.
So, they had no idea how many breaking balls Sawamura truly had.
What just happened was probably one of those.
Yuuta glanced at Morishita strangely but didn't say much.
He then stood in the Batter's Box, opposite Sawamura, ready to face him.
Earlier, he had asked Morishita a question.
He didn't expect to hear such an answer.
A breaking ball!
From the batter's point of view, what exactly did that pitch look like?
He still didn't know.
But just now, while standing from the side, he clearly understood the pitch Sawamura had thrown.
The first two pitches seemed a bit mysterious.
Though he didn't know exactly how they were different, compared to a normal fastball, they felt cleaner and purer.
But that last pitch was entirely different.
It lacked that clean, pure feeling and looked like a simple, ordinary fastball.
'That's right, it was a fastball!'
With Morishita's skill, he should've been able to hit it, provided he timed it right.
Although Sawamura's pitches appeared incredibly fast due to the invisible release point, they still weren't faster than his actual velocity.
His fastball was 147 km/h or more.
As long as he could find the rhythm and get used to the pitching form, hitting it was not completely impossible!
'Just now, Morishita clearly found the right moment, so why was the deviation between his bat and the baseball so large?'
The difference was more than 5 centimeters.
Although he was reluctant to admit it, Yuuta couldn't help but say that Morishita, though he was often a bit reckless, was truly skilled.
He shouldn't have missed by so much.
Why was that?
Why, from an observer's point of view, did what seemed like the most ordinary fastball appear as a breaking ball from the batter's perspective?
Yuuta couldn't figure it out.
It seemed that this could only be fully understood by standing in the Batter's Box, facing off with Sawamura.
The catcher, Miyuki, wasn't paying attention to Yuuta's thoughts at the moment.
He was thoughtfully watching Sawamura and secretly signaling.
Unlike previous opponents, this guy had actually seen Sawamura pitch on the field before.
Even though it was only in practice games, his adaptability was definitely better than the previous two players.
'Be extra careful while pitching!'
Miyuki's kind advice, however, was not understood by Sawamura.
Having reached this point, how could he continue dragging things out?
Two Outs, no runners on base.
Sawamura cleanly threw the baseball from his hand.
As expected, when facing the first pitch, Yuuta, who had doubts in his mind, didn't swing.
He wanted to stay in the Batter's Box and observe carefully.
He wanted to see what the special quality of Sawamura's pitches was.
"STRIKE!"
But he found that the pitch Sawamura threw was just the most ordinary fastball.
He wasted a Strike count!
However, Yuuta wasn't frustrated.
Considering that his opponent was the number one pitcher in the country, the Osaka Kiryu High School players had already mentally prepared for this before the match.
They knew full well that the upcoming confrontation wouldn't be easy.
But because of that, when faced with difficulties, they had stronger mental endurance.
Not being able to find Sawamura's weakness was completely normal for the players of Osaka Kiryu High School.
The opponent's expression didn't change at all.
This made Miyuki feel deeply impressed.
'As expected from a player with a background in a prestigious school, their mentality was strong!'
Even facing this situation, they were still unfazed.
'Next, the second pitch!'
On this pitch, Yuuta didn't stay silent.
Instead, he decisively swung his bat.
It seemed like he had confidence in his hitting, and he put all his effort into this swing.
From Yuuta's perspective, his timing was perfect.
He could clearly see the trajectory of the ball.
Although due to not being able to see the release point, he always felt that Sawamura's pitch was much faster than its actual speed, it didn't matter.
As long as he got used to it, that was just an optical illusion. In reality, Sawamura's pitch speed wasn't any faster than that.
Once he gets used to this, he should be able to find the right timing to hit the ball.
Even if his opponent was the Demon King, relying on such an ordinary fastball to defeat them was a little naive!
'You lost because of your arrogance!'
At that moment, Yuuta used every ounce of strength to swing.
He gave it his all to hit the incoming baseball.
Just as his bat was about to strike the baseball, the ball suddenly disappeared!
'Excuse me…?'
Yuuta's eyes widened in disbelief, but he didn't have time to take a second look.
The inertia of his swing sent his whole body spinning, and he ended up spinning around twice in the Batter's Box before he finally stopped.
It was like a circus act.
The audience in the stands let out a burst of laughter.
"Osaka Kiryu, where are you aiming to hit?"
"Are you here to perform a clown trick? I must say, you're doing a great job!"
The fans in the stands were laughing uncontrollably.
But in the Batter's Box, Yuuta's heart was in turmoil.
'How could this happen?'
He clearly felt like he was about to hit the ball, so why did the baseball seem to disappear out of nowhere?
'Why?'
'Why??'
He kept asking himself over and over again, but never got an answer.
While he was in a daze, Sawamura's third pitch came.
It looked like the same routine.
But horrified, Yuuta couldn't even bring himself to swing anymore.
"STRIKE! BATTER OUT!!!!!"
The fans, who had been laughing before, were now even more amused.
The Osaka Kiryu High School players must have just realized that they were lacking in IQ, right?
When they got into the Batter's Box, it was like they were idiots.
They didn't know where to hit, and they couldn't even find the ball with their swings.
That wasn't all.
In the end, even though they were already behind with two Strikes, they still forgot to swing.
Although weird things could happen every year at Koshien, the Osaka Kiryu High School team's weirdness was quite rare.
…