Football Reborn: The Manager from the future

⚽ Football Reborn: The Manager from the Future

Chapter 61 – León Prime vs The Fire-Born

What happens when a genius creates his perfect self…

…and that self wants to kill him?

🧬 Underground Arena Zeta: Fire Protocol Engaged

Chuva stood in the observation deck, staring down into Arena Zeta — a coliseum made entirely of carbon-shielded glass. It was resistant to fire, shock, and even kinetic shrapnel. Why?

Because León Prime was about to play against The Fire-Born.

And only one of them was human.

🔥 The Fire-Born: Who He Was

He had no name. No number.

He had been trained in Siberian bunkers and Andes caverns. His body temperature ran two degrees hotter than human norm. Skin grafted to withstand friction burns. Eyes engineered to track ball flight even through smoke.

He wasn't born.

He was poured from a lab.

His only instinct? Destroy the Original.

🎩 León Prime Walks In

If the Fire-Born was chaos, León Prime was poetry.

He entered in silence.

Wearing the blue-and-white strip of old Argentina. A tribute to Maradona, Messi, and himself.

Chuva whispered under his breath:

"He's not a player. He's a movement."

León looked up at the glass ceiling.

He wasn't nervous.

He was curious.

📢 Ada's Announcement

From her perch, Ada Basalt's voice echoed through the underground system:

"Match protocol: no rules, no fouls, no stoppage."

"Objective: Disable opponent via psychological or physical dominance."

"Winner receives a tactical override code to the World Council's AI firewall."

Chuva flinched.

So that's what this was about.

This wasn't football.

This was a cyber-coup disguised as a match.

💣 Kickoff – Fire Starts With Fire

The Fire-Born launched like a missile.

No formation.

No warm-up.

Just a blinding sprint, a slide, and a sweeping leg aimed not at the ball — but at León's shin.

Except—

León wasn't there.

He had already pirouetted out of range.

Not dodged — predicted.

The Fire-Born skidded past.

León trapped the ball, rolled it back with his heel, then sent it forward with a no-look flick.

It wasn't just football.

It was art.

👁️ The AI Glitch

But something rippled in the Fire-Born's eyes.

He processed León's move mid-air. Calculated the trajectory.

Landed.

Then intercepted the ball before it touched the ground.

How?

Chuva gasped.

Seraph confirmed:

"The Fire-Born is using quantum path prediction. He doesn't react. He predicts."

León smirked.

And whispered, "So can I."

🎮 León's Mastery – Beyond Football

León didn't run anymore.

He danced.

Feints layered inside feints.

Movements that looked wrong — until they were exactly right.

He kicked the ball against the wall — not once, but four times in rapid succession. Each bounce warped the ball's spin and direction.

The Fire-Born adjusted.

And missed.

The ball zipped past him.

Into the goal.

1-0. León.

☠️ Fire-Born's Counterattack

The lights dimmed.

And then flames erupted.

Literal flames — the Fire-Born's override activated Arena Zeta's "Trial Mode."

The field became uneven.

Tiles lit up. Some turned molten.

Chuva jumped back from the observation window.

"He's cooking the field?!"

Ada merely said, "He was built for war."

The Fire-Born used the chaos. Sprinting through fire. His body not just immune — but thriving.

He tackled León — shoulder into ribs — and sent him flying.

The crowd of silent watchers flinched.

But León got up.

Bleeding.

Laughing.

And said: "Still predictable."

🎯 León's Final Trick

He let the Fire-Born chase.

Circles.

Laps.

A decoy run.

Every movement uploaded into the Fire-Born's predictive brain.

But León was feeding it trash data.

And on the final run, when the Fire-Born lunged, expecting a side step…

León stopped dead.

The Fire-Born overshot.

Fell.

And León?

He nutmegged him with a backheel into the net.

2-0. Match over.

🧠 Aftermath – Psychological Death

The Fire-Born lay still.

Not injured — just confused.

His system had no input for failure. He wasn't built to lose.

His brain looped.

Chuva watched as the once-feral killer curled into a fetal ball on the turf, mumbling code.

León knelt beside him.

"Want to know the secret?" he whispered.

"It was never about prediction."

He touched the Fire-Born's chest.

"It was about feeling."

🗝️ The Firewall Key

Ada dropped a silver key into Chuva's palm.

"This unlocks the World Council's football engine."

"You win two more matches… and you rewrite the sport."

Chuva held it tightly.

León walked past him.

"Next," he said simply.