(MC POV)
I watched the game happening below while patting Brendan's head.
He wasn't as interested in the game as I was so he had already fallen asleep on my lap after he cuddled himself there.
I have to say, he honestly looks really cute as a shota though, not that you would hear me say that out loud.
On the field below, the game was still tied with no goals on either side.
It was pretty ironic how both sides were dealing with this game actually.
Cai Hong knew that there wasn't really any stakes in the game so she focused on having fun and told her team to do that as well. Thus, she even placed herself as the goalkeeper so that the others on her team could play on the field more while she remained at the back.
Iris, on the other hand, was taking this game quite seriously and even came up with some tactics to try and gain an advantage over Cai Hong. Unfortunately, those children only wanted to have fun so her tactics fell apart pretty quickly.
The good thing was that if this was the old Iris, she would have gone all out and given her players specific positions and tactics to play or even just controlled them herself. The fact that she did not already showed that our little plan with this World was working.
To see her grow like that, it really does give me a sense of pride.
As much as Iris might want to try and act mature and try to fill in the role of being my other half, but she's also technically one of my children too, considering I did create her.
Thus, she's pretty much the same as Cai Hong and Lilith actually, especially when in her child form.
Awww... Just look at her running on the field alongside the other children, she looks so cute!
I never really thought about this but I now know how those parents must have felt when they go and watch their kids during sports days. I think I could understand their feelings now, maybe even a little more considering the fact that both soccer teams were my children.
They're all so cute!!
If Cai Hong wins this, I think this could be the final game they can play before we can end this farce. I also want to pamper Iris too, you know?
One of Iris's team mates passed the ball to Iris and she started dribbling it towards the goal.
A defender came rushing towards her in an attempt to block her but Iris simply executed a roulette to slip by the defender.
As expected of Iris to be able to pull off a move like that.
Now there was nothing standing between Iris and the goal except for Cai Hong, the loli dragon looking so cute with how serious she looked trying to defend her goal.
Iris tried to fake a kick to her left before kicking it to the top right corner of the goal, a ruse that Cai Hong managed to see through quickly.
Cai Hong leapt towards the ball and managed to catch it midair before landing on her feet, doing a really cute pose when she did so.
She gave Iris a smile before tossing the ball overhead towards her teammates, allowing them to rush towards the goal behind Iris.
Again, as a testament to her growth, Iris did not seem annoyed that she failed to score but merely spun around to chase after the ball again.
Cai Hong's team pressed on the attack, taking advantage of the fact that Iris was behind them and not able to intercept them.
A few of the children from Iris's team attempted to cut off Cai Hong's team from advancing further, none of them sticking to the assigned positions Iris had given them.
The girl in possession of the ball attempted to make a pass to her teammate diagonally behind her but one of Iris's teammates intercepted the ball midpass.
She then made a pass back to Iris who only had one defender marking her.
Iris leapt up into the air to receive it, letting the ball bounce off her chest and redirecting it to her feet.
The aforementioned defender tried to prevent Iris from advancing again by blocking her path.
Iris grabbed the ball in between her ankles and flipped it up into the air. The defender got so distracted by the ball flying over her head that she did not notice Iris spinning around her and slipping past her guard.
By the time she realised it, Iris was already running past her with the ball in her possession.
Once again, it was Iris trying to score against Cai Hong, the two lolis facing off against each other.
Iris tried to get closer to score this time, forcing Cai Hong to leave her post to block her.
The white haired loli attempted to use the same ball flip trick to get past the dragon loli, only for Cai Hong to snatch the ball away midair before tossing it away quickly.
It was due to this that neither side scored a goal yet. Iris's team could steal the ball back from Cai Hong's team rather easily but no one could score a goal against little Cai Hong.
Unless something came in to break the stalemate, the game might end in a draw.
Both of them must also have realised this as they started calling out their teammates to move them to different positions on the field in an attempt to change the odds.
But as expected of children who were just here to have fun instead of trying to compete, it didn't change things much.
I have a feeling that Lilith actually picked out children who she knew wouldn't be as competitive to ensure that neither Iris or Cai Hong would win this easily and still make it look fair.
Judging by the smirk on her face, I'm pretty sure she did plan it that way.
I was fully prepared to see this game end in a draw because of that but just as I had that thought, Iris suddenly took possession of the ball again and made a rush towards Cai Hong with renewed vigour.
I wondered what had changed with her when she zigzagged her way past Cai Hong's team by herself and rushed straight towards the goal.
It was then that omniscience told me what had just happened.
Iris had been using her own omniscience to do simulations within her mind, learning the moves of all the pro players in existence and only just managed to incorporate them into her physical body.
Cai Hong once again tried to stop her but Iris dodged past her attempted dive to avoid her before kicking the ball into the net, scoring the first goal of the game.
It seems like Iris would actually win this game after all.
