26 – 14.
The arena roared—not in chaos, but in awe.
Like they knew: this wasn't showboating.
It was a message.
Coach Tsugawa stood on the sideline like a weathered mountain.
Unmoving.
Eyes locked.
Only nodding.
No clipboard.
No frenzied yelling.
Just those two words after every make:
"Keep pressing."
Because he knew something even the scoreboard didn't show yet.
Seiryuu was downloading.
Once complete, they wouldn't be reactive.
They would be perfect.
They always were.
So Horizon had one strategy:
Stay ahead.
Run faster than the data.
Drown the system in tempo.
Seiryuu tried to respond again.
This time, Seta called for a double off-ball screen.
Renji looped around the curl, caught it on the wing—fired.
Clang. Rim out.
Rikuya gobbled the rebound, flicked it to Dirga.
They were running again.
Dirga up the sideline.
Rei wide.
Taiga trailing.
Hiroki cutting baseline.
But Dirga didn't pass.
He stopped.
Mid-transition.
