Chapter 181: Since Second One!
Caelum's expression darkened.
A massive lump of writhing flesh had attached itself to his UFO.
The fleet had already been withdrawn by him.
Now, all he wanted to do was continue the race.
Unfortunately, Voomie had other plans.
The Outer God's countless tentacles had wrapped themselves tightly around the Universal Floating Omni-chine, refusing to let go.
"…"
Caelum glanced at the monitor showing the eldritch creature clinging to his ship.
Without hesitation, he pushed the throttle forward.
BOOOOOOM!!
The UFO shot ahead like a comet.
Unable to keep up with the sudden burst of speed, the gigantic Outer God was violently dragged behind it.
The sight was bizarre.
It looked less like an eldritch deity and more like an enormous octopus being towed across the world.
Its colossal body scraped against the earth.
CRASH!
RUMBLE!!
The grasslands split apart.
Deep trenches formed wherever the creature was dragged.
Trees, boulders, and abandoned constructs were swept away by its impossible mass.
The spectators watched with open mouths.
"I-I…"
"Let me complete that sentence for you, I don't even know what I am looking at anymore. This is what you were going to say man!"
"Thats right!"
"They've completely forgotten this is a race…"
"At this point, they're just remodeling the course."
Even so, neither Caelum nor Voomie seemed particularly concerned.
One kept flying.
The other simply refused to let go.
Soon, the towering mountain range came into view.
Most competitors carefully climbed through the narrow passes or flew above the peaks.
Caelum didn't even slow down.
The UFO abruptly ascended.
Until it floated above the highest mountain peak.
Then, its invisible engines roared.
WHOOOOOOOOOM!!
The saucer accelerated forward with terrifying force.
The Outer God, still firmly attached beneath it, had no chance to react.
CRAAAAASH!!
The first mountain exploded.
The gigantic eldritch body smashed directly into the cliff face before being dragged into the next.
CRASH!!
Another mountain collapsed.
CRASH!!
Then another.
Peak after peak was pulverized into avalanches of stone and dust.
The mountain range trembled as if struck by an unending natural disaster.
Some unfortunate competitors were still navigating the cliffs.
Seeing entire mountains flying toward them, they could only stare in horror.
"…"
No words were needed.
A moment later.
BOOM!!
Their constructs were crushed beneath the collapsing terrain.
Thankfully, the Grand Epix's safety system activated immediately.
Flashes of light enveloped the eliminated racers before teleporting them safely to the recovery area.
No one was injured.
Only eliminated.
The announcer had completely lost his composure.
"W-WHAT ARE WE EVEN WATCHING?! THEY'RE USING THE MOUNTAINS AS WEAPONS! NO–THEY ARE USING EACH OTHER AS WEAPONS!"
The crowd erupted into deafening cheers and laughter.
"This anniversary race is insane!"
"They're destroying the track itself!"
"I've watched the Grand Epix for four hundred years!"
"I've never seen anything remotely like this!"
After reducing a large portion of the mountain range to rubble, the bizarre duo finally emerged over the next section of the course.
An endless ocean stretched beneath them.
The UFO hovered calmly above the water.
The enormous Outer God...
Was still hanging onto it.
Watching from afar, the remaining competitors instantly understood what was about to happen.
"Run."
"Leave the ocean!"
One after another, racers abandoned their ongoing battles.
Long-standing rivals called temporary truces.
Without a word, everyone accelerated toward the next checkpoint as fast as possible.
Because no matter how fearless or crazy they were.
No one wanted to be trapped in the middle of whatever Caelum and Voomie decided to do next.
***
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Skyler's scream echoed across the surroundings.
His gigantic golden coin had gone completely out of control.
Ever since the clash between Big Ice and the Fire Dragon Egg had knocked him off course, he had been rolling in the wrong direction without any hope of correcting it.
"TURN! PLEASE TURN!"
The controls had become almost decorative.
His construct had accumulated so much momentum that it simply refused to obey.
The coin continued barreling across the landscape at terrifying speed.
WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!
"I'M GONNA BE DISQUALIFIED!"
Skyler shut his eyes in despair.
Then, the terrain suddenly changed.
"…Huh?"
He cautiously opened one eye.
The lush grasslands were gone, so were the towering mountains.
Instead an endless barren wasteland stretched before him.
The ground was black and cracked, as though it had been scorched countless times.
Not a single tree remained.
Not a single blade of grass.
Only desolation stretched before him.
His watch suddenly vibrated.
Ding!
The holographic map updated.
[Current Location: Track Six – Bombarded Lands]
"…What?"
Skyler stared blankly at the display.
"What the heck?!"
He frantically zoomed out the map.
The route became visible.
His tiny marker was nowhere near the mountain section.
Instead, it had somehow skipped multiple checkpoints and landed directly on the sixth section of the race.
"...I-I accidentally took a shortcut?"
His expression immediately transformed.
"HAHAHAHA! I knew it! Luck has been with me since second one!" He triumphantly declared.
He meant to say day one, but for Skyler, even a single second mattered.
Days were far too long.
Still laughing, Skyler proudly crossed his arms as he declared philosophically.
"Sometimes getting lost is the fastest route!"
Then, he finally noticed the name of the area.
Bombarded Lands.
"That's an odd name."
Just then, he looked upward.
The sky above this region wasn't bright like the previous tracks.
Instead, it resembled a beautiful star-filled night.
Countless streaks of light crossed the sky.
"Ohhh! A meteor shower."
Skyler's eyes sparkled.
"It's actually kind of beautiful."
He slowed down just enough to admire the scenery.
"Wait a minute…"
Something felt off.
He frowned.
Meteor showers weren't supposed to behave like that.
Instead of scattering randomly across the sky, every single meteor seemed to be following the exact same trajectory.
Towards…
"Me?"
Skyler blinked.
Then repeated the name of this place.
"Bombarded Lands,"
His smile slowly disappeared.
"…"
His eyes widened in horror.
The first meteor rapidly grew larger.
Then another.
Then hundreds more.
They weren't ordinary meteors, they were guided bombardments.
And every single one had locked onto the only moving target in the wasteland.
"GOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Skyler didn't hesitate.
He slammed every acceleration control at once.
The giant golden coin glowed brilliantly.
Its denomination markings suddenly shifted across its surface.
The larger the denomination, the greater its momentum.
Such was the rule of money!
'With enough money, everyone or everything can be swayed… no, rolled!' Skyler thought.
RUMBLE!!
The coin doubled in speed.
Then doubled again as its speed compounded.
It became a golden blur racing across the wasteland.
Behind him, the first meteor landed.
BOOOOOOOM!!
The earth erupted.
A gigantic crater formed where Skyler had been only a fraction of a second earlier.
The shockwave launched his coin even faster.
"…"