Chapter 126: Victory or Defeat Decided!
"What on earth is going on?
"The substitute member of Team Eikou, Lancelot, her true identity turns out to be the Dragon Witch of France class?"
Finn stared at the big screen for a long while, yet he still couldn't believe his own eyes.
And the real culprit — Napoleon — only quietly took a puff of his cigar, exhaling faint smoke.
...
Before the 'camera', under the horrified gazes of the entire arena, Jeanne Alter held tightly onto the heavily injured Eikou, and behind her, the Evil Dragon Banner erupted into soaring flames, cutting through the wind to push the two of them straight forward!
In just a blink, the distance between her and Baobhan Sith had already been rapidly shortened.
"What kind of situation is this…?"
Baobhan Sith looked back at the raging fire behind her and immediately became somewhat flustered.
She had thought that Team Eikou would not collapse so easily, but she hadn't expected the opponent to be an Avenger from France class.
"That guy… went and recruited some strange women from weird places again, didn't he!"
She sighed helplessly.
But very quickly, her spirit rose again.
"Oh oh, although this situation was completely beyond the expectations of contestant Baobhan Sith, she still quickly issued a France countermeasure, which is to have her teammate Gareth also unleash her Noble Phantasm, seemingly intending to use the Noble Phantasm to oppose, to shoot down Team Eikou who is advancing at high speed!"
"However, Lancelot's… no, contestant Jeanne Alter's terrifying speed, completely unpredictable, had already launched the attack one step faster!"
"In such a short span of time, she has already caught up to Baobhan Sith's team!"
The swirling flames swept past.
In the blazing fire rushing in, Gareth and Baobhan Sith saw a witch wrapped in flames, along with her sharp golden eyes.
She held in her hand the black sword, waves of surging fire sweeping toward them, instantly erecting a curtain of light formed from raging flames.
The battle of Jeanne Alter had no notable techniques, but the amount of magical energy she unleashed was incomparably overwhelming and magnificent, combined with the support skills from Charlemagne and Eikou, which pushed her already shocking burst of power to an even higher level.
The roaring flames charged forth, like an evil dragon suddenly striking straight at Gareth.
That was an absolute strike from Jeanne Alter!
Boom!
The surface of the water surged up with terrifying waves, thick mist violently spreading out all around.
"Ugh…"
Before Gareth could even release her Noble Phantasm, she had already been struck head-on by this vengeful fire.
Even as a Round Table Knight with extraordinary endurance, before such terrifying magical energy she still could not avoid being gravely injured, struck straight down into the water.
Gareth, defeated!
The next instant, the gazes of Baobhan Sith and Jeanne Alter met.
Their minds, in that moment, resonated as one — both thinking the same thought, that they had already exhausted themselves, their Noble Phantasms burned dry.
"First place is mine!" x2
The two of them shouted loudly without hesitation, then poured all their strength to ignite their Noble Phantasms to the extreme, rushing toward the finish line at the fastest speed!
The distance to the finish line was less than two hundred meters!
"Finally, the champion is about to be decided,"
Finn, seeing this scene, could not help but leap up in excitement,
"Our contestant Jeanne Alter, and contestant Baobhan Sith, both have entered the final sprint. Neither side yields to the other, as if burning their souls, consuming all of their magical energy, driving their burst power to the absolute limit!"
"Yet it seems that as a Quick Servant, Baobhan Sith has the advantage, being swifter and lighter, fully displaying the edge of Riding A and Agility A!"
"But even so, she still cannot widen the gap with Jeanne Alter, who has been stubbornly making up for this disadvantage by relying on the explosive force of her Noble Phantasm, clinging tightly to contestant Baobhan Sith and maintaining the same distance!"
"Wait, Jeanne Alter suddenly makes a second acceleration!"
Only a thunderous explosion was heard, the magical energy bursting out behind Jeanne Alter erupted once again.
Compared to the previous times, the amount of magical energy released this time was particularly tiny and insignificant.
Yet it was precisely that small amount of magical energy that, though with great difficulty, allowed her to successfully create a slight gap from Baobhan Sith.
Baobhan Sith clenched her teeth, pouring out all her strength, but she realized that she no longer had any way to shorten the distance, not even a little.
The finish line was already right before their eyes!
Strong gusts of wind like galloping warhorses swept past, the flow of magical energy stirred up fierce waves on the water's surface.
At that moment, like two raging storms of black and red, Baobhan Sith and Jeanne Alter, the two teams almost crossed the finish line at the very same instant!
Ding!
A loud and resounding sound was heard.
Jeanne Alter thrust the Evil Dragon Banner down right at the finish line!
As if declaring her own victory!
She pinned the Dragon Banner into the finish line, then slowly brought to a halt the bicycle that was already completely wrecked, holding Eikou with his blood-covered chest in her arms.
"Did we… win…?"
Eikou asked weakly, barely even able to hear the referee's voice.
He couldn't confirm who had actually won, but surely their team had touched the line just a bit earlier.
On Jeanne Alter's face appeared a rare gentle expression, as she softly brushed aside a lock of hair at her ear, lowering her head to say to him:
"Of course we won, there's no need to even think about it, because I truly gave it my all."
She gently brushed away the disheveled hair on his forehead,
"But all of this is only because you were here, that I was able to do this. If it hadn't been for your final magical energy support, then I probably wouldn't have been able to perform that second acceleration in the final stretch."
"In short, I really thank you so much…"
"Now, please rest for a bit, don't worry anymore, I'll immediately call for the medical staff of Chaldea Academy to treat your wounds."
Hearing Jeanne Alter's affirmative answer,
Mochizuki Eikou finally let out a sigh of relief, smiling as though a heavy burden had been lifted.
...
Meanwhile, inside the simulation room, the two homeroom teachers were replaying the result of the match, watching the live broadcast segment of the two teams crossing the finish line simultaneously, carefully checking it again and again.
They both turned to look at each other.
"You saw clearly, didn't you, Napoleon-sensei?" Finn said.
"Haha, don't underestimate my sharp eyes." Napoleon laughed, "Well then, let's announce the champion——"
"But I still don't really understand the situation, is this witch lady ultimately one of yours, or one of ours?"
Not only Finn felt confused, but even the audience below the stands and the substitute contestants were all abuzz, arguing over who this victory truly belonged to.
"Finn-sensei, it seems you still haven't quite grasped the whole matter… fine, fine, then let me announce the final result of this match."
Napoleon solemnly cleared his throat.
Then, Director Napoleon of the France class raised his resounding voice, announcing the result of the match to everyone:
"The winner of this year's race is…"
"Team Eikou of the Britain class!!!"
(Note: Finally this arc is over, damn it, dragged on for 50 chapters. Even though the story is good, dragging it out too much isn't good either.)