Volume Two: Life and Death at Speed in the Northern Realm, Chapter 111: Speed and Sapphic Romance

"Hold on tight, everyone!"

"What--Oh oh oh oh oh!!!"

My body was instantly compressed by the enormous acceleration, my upper body pressed completely against the backrest. I only felt a violent jolt, and when I came to my senses, we had already been submerged in a giant steel wave composed of countless race cars. The roar of engines, the dust filling the air, the charging steel monsters—for a moment, I thought I had been thrown into the filming location of a science fiction movie.

"Wait, it's about to open--"

"Ally! The two cars in front are trying to sandwich us!" Givinia suddenly shouted.

"We cannot let them succeed!!!"

Ally's roar even drowned out the engine noise. I saw her jerk the steering wheel with her left hand while her right hand frantically shifted the gear lever. The car lurched violently, and the huge inertia slammed me against the door. After the jolt subsided, I looked up and saw that Sirius had broken out of the encirclement!

This, this is how the race starts?! I haven't even processed anything yet!

"There are 24 cars alongside us now! There's a big downhill section about three kilometers ahead; we need to get rid of them before then!"

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

"Wait! There's something strange about the car coming from the right rear!"

Right rear?

I quickly sat up and looked out the window. A gray-black, aggressively styled SUV was closing in from my right rear. Just as it was about to overtake the car in front—

Sizzle!

The car that was overtaken suddenly went out of control, spinning and crashing into the car behind. The violent impact triggered a chain reaction, accompanied by a series of ear-piercing explosions. Seven or eight cars collided in a chain reaction, and the most severely damaged car was completely crushed!

"Oh no! Less than half a minute into the competition, the first accident has occurred in Zone C! It's an eight-car pileup! Medical and fire teams have already set off for the rescue!"

The commentators' exclamations, amplified countless times, came from above—none of that mattered; the important thing was that the gray-black car was already within reach!

"It's a knife!" Givinia shouted.

"Knife?"

"That car had something like an air blade installed on its left wing that could cut through tires! It was transparent, so the judges didn't notice!" Givinia, with her eyes closed, frowned as she quickly reported the firsthand information.

"Sister! Sister! What do we do?!"

"Tsk... it's too early to 'ejaculate' now... A Ye!!"

"Eh? Yes, yes!"

"I need to deal with the cars on the left first! You handle that scoundrel who uses the air blade!"

"I!?"

"Nonsense! You're a combatant!"

Her tone was quite fiery, clearly indicating her extreme anxiety. Understanding her, I immediately opened the sunroof, took a deep breath, put on my goggles, and leaned my upper body out!

"--Wa..."

The strong wind almost suffocated me; dust and sand stung my face like knives! I endured the wind, staring intently at the gray-black car through my goggles...

Got it!

The car was less than two meters away from us. Through the dust, I could vaguely see a strange device on the left side of its front, like a flat air nozzle! The nozzle was tilted slightly downwards, just right to be aimed at the left wheel of the vehicle!

"As long as we destroy that..."

"No, A Ye!"

"What!?"

Suddenly, Givinia's shout came from below, "What the hell? Why are you stopping me at this time... Ah!"

I understand now—the air blade on that car is transparent, so the referee on the airship above can't see it clearly and won't make a ruling; but my bright red Blood Blade will definitely be very conspicuous. Although I only wanted to destroy the air blade, I might be punished for it being considered a premeditated attack!

Damn it, if this happens...

"Hold on tight!"

The car lurched again, and I almost fell back into the vehicle. The race car on the left had suddenly squeezed in, forcing Ally to swerve to the right to avoid it! But this brought us to within a meter of the gray-black car! The sharp-edged front of the car was about to be in line with our rear, the air around the vents distorting unnaturally, and I vaguely saw the driver's sinister smile—

Clang!

"You think I can't do anything about this?"

The long-unused blood crystals formed a wheel cover, blocking the outside of Sirius's rear wheel. Air blades struck the crystal cover, but couldn't even leave a scratch! I could almost see the driver's horrified expression... But that wasn't all!

With a loud bang, the air vent suddenly exploded, emitting a wisp of blue smoke; it was completely destroyed! Startled, the driver lost his grip on the steering wheel and was immediately overtaken by other vehicles.

I smiled smugly. Sure enough, that air nozzle wasn't just "blowing out air." This air blade seemed to be generated by a special air circulation. If it could blast out air, it would naturally have an air intake. I had previously laid extremely fine crystal grains on the surface of the crystal cover. As the air blade cleaved the crystal cover, countless crystal grains were "sucked" in through the air intake, destroying it from the inside!

"All done, Ally!"

"Here you go!"

Without the air blade, the race car was no longer a threat. Having shaken off the car coming from the left, Ally immediately accelerated along a curve, leaving all the annoying flies around her behind.

I got back into the car, and Ally accelerated again. Once the feeling of oppression disappeared, the view suddenly opened up!

Looking to the left and right, there were very few cars driving alongside us anymore, and they were all quite far apart. The roaring sounds that had come from all directions at the beginning had all moved to the back. Through the rear window, we could see a straight line of dozens of race cars with similar speeds a couple hundred meters behind us. Further back, there was a rolling wave of dust and metal – that was where the main force was.

"Not bad, a good start!" Ally laughed. She looked more relaxed now, and her knuckles were no longer white from gripping the steering wheel too tightly. Givinia took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the sweat from her forehead. Ailin huddled next to me, her face pale. It seemed that this stretch of road had been too stimulating for her.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please look! The contestants have now divided into three groups, forming a stable pyramid shape! However, the contestants in groups A, B, C, and D who chose Route One are about to encounter their first challenge at the start of the course! That is a large, steep slope less than one kilometer ahead! Who will be the one to break the deadlock?"

"Steep slope?"

"When we get to the steep slope, all of you better sit tight! Otherwise, you might break a bone or get a serious injury!"

"Does it have to be this scary...?"

"I'm serious!"

Steep slope... that sounds dangerous, but Ally hasn't used her powers yet.

"Look everyone!! In Section C! Someone has stood out from the top tier in Section C!"

The commentary coming from above sent a shiver down my spine. I quickly looked to my left and saw a red and yellow streak of light leaving the other cars in the lead group behind, charging forward at an astonishing speed! I noticed that there seemed to be a fleeting pink Light Path on the ground as the car passed, which seemed to be some kind of supernatural ability that could accelerate the car!

"It's... the Abidal Beauties Team!!! However, they're only a few hundred meters from the steep slope. Choosing to accelerate at this time is extremely dangerous! Do they have other plans?" The commentator above was talking non-stop, seemingly very excited.

"Hey Ally, they've left us behind! What do we do?"

"As expected, she wouldn't be Emilia if she didn't steal the spotlight at a time like this. She speeds up, so I speed up too!"

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I've uploaded three character design images for now.