The wind howled past his ears, shrill and piercing. The scenery around him blurred into streaks of color as he moved too fast to make anything out.
He crossed the sections that required climbing on all fours as easily as if he were walking on level ground.
When the sign marking the end of the Seventh Section appeared above him,
Kazehara Tetsu raised his wrist and checked the time as he ran.
Three minutes and fifteen seconds.
"Maybe... a little fast?"
At the far end of the relay zone, Kanzaki Ryuji, who was running the eighth leg, stood with his hands clenched nervously.
The moment he saw the figure racing up the steep slope like a black streak of lightning, he froze.
Too fast.
No human being should have been able to climb that slope at such a speed.
Before Kanzaki's brain could process what he was seeing, Kazehara was already upon him.
"Take it, Kanzaki."
His voice was so calm that it hardly sounded like he had just finished running.
The instant the handoff was complete, Kazehara's leg muscles tensed sharply. He skidded to a steady stop, carving a half-meter-long braking mark into the gravel.
"...Yes, got it!"
Kanzaki snapped out of his daze. Intimidated by Kazehara's momentum, he instinctively tightened his grip on the relay baton, turned, and raced into the Eighth Section.
Kazehara remained where he was and took a moment to steady his breathing.
A full thirty seconds passed.
Only then did he hear hurried, ragged panting behind him, along with the sound of gravel tumbling down the slope.
Shibata Hayato scrambled up the final steep incline on all fours, face twisted with effort and cheeks flushed red.
"Hah... hah..."
Shibata handed the relay baton to his teammate.
"Kazehara... how long have you been here?"
He