The Ferryman didn't drive.He materialized—one moment static, the next a black blur tearing reality open with each shift.
Marcel jammed the throttle, Omega's twin turbos screaming in defiance. The underworld chamber spun around them as if the walls themselves were rotating. The spiral track they raced upon climbed and dipped like the coils of some sleeping beast, every curve tighter than the last.
The first corner came fast—a blind hairpin with no guardrail. Marcel threw Omega sideways, tires screaming over the abyss below. A molten river churned far beneath, casting the walls in a hellish glow. For a split second, gravity felt optional.
The Ferryman didn't drift. He slid in perfect silence, his black machine hugging the wall like it was magnetized, no tire smoke, no wasted motion. It wasn't just skill—it was like the track bent for him.
Adrian's voice cut through the G-force. "This isn't a normal race. Look at the shadows."
Marcel caught it in his peripheral vision—the Ferryman's shadow wasn't following him. It was ahead, taking corners before the car itself.
The next section was worse—two parallel roads, one climbing, one descending, connected by gaps barely wide enough for a single car to jump. The Ferryman leapt effortlessly between them, gaining height with every arc.
Marcel gritted his teeth and followed, Omega's chassis flexing hard as they landed. Sparks rained off the undercarriage, the suspension groaning.
The chamber roared as molten geysers erupted, forcing split-second decisions. Left? Right? No—through. Marcel took Omega into the plume, trusting the armor and sheer speed to cut a path. Steam blinded them for a heartbeat, and when they burst out, the Ferryman was gone.
"Lost him," Adrian said.
Marcel smirked. "No. He's waiting."
And he was—at the top of the spiral, parked sideways across the narrow bridge that marked the finish. Behind him, nothing but open air and the city lights of the underworld stretching for miles.
The Ferryman didn't move. Instead, he revved once—a deep, seismic growl—and the bridge began to crack beneath them. This wasn't just the end of the race. This was the last second.
Marcel's brain split into pure instinct. Clutch in. Downshift. Turbo spool. The bridge collapsed in slow motion as Omega launched forward, the Ferryman spinning to block him.
For one impossible heartbeat, they were side by side in midair, no road beneath them, just two machines locked in gravity's defiance. The Ferryman's burning-ring lights flared, and the underworld itself seemed to scream.
Marcel hit the apex mid-flight, twisting Omega in the air so they landed nose-first on the far side. The Ferryman landed a fraction later, but the bridge's final section gave way. His black machine slid toward the void, vanishing into the abyss below with a silent fall.
No explosion. No crash. Just… gone.
Adrian exhaled slowly. "We didn't win. He let us pass."
Marcel looked back into the darkness. "Then we'd better be ready. Next time… he'll collect."