Ten seconds earlier.
Derek Su had sensed that something was off about the Mecha Girl named Ice Soul behind him and Purple Lightning.
Out of caution, he chose not to take the launch ramp at Flying Dragon Cliff and jump straight across. Instead, taking advantage of Purple Lightning's ability to ignore obstacles while her skill was active, he tilted her chassis sideways, detoured up the mountain, and raced toward a cliff that stood even higher than Flying Dragon Cliff.
That cliff was nearly eighty meters higher than Flying Dragon Cliff and happened to form a natural ramp angled toward the sky.
And that was how the current scene came about.
Purple Lightning launched directly into the air from the natural ramp.
Because of the detour, however, she had fallen slightly behind Ice Soul.
"Just as I thought." Derek Su glanced down at the area engulfed by the blizzard, still feeling a lingering chill.
Ice Soul really was a sneaky bastard.
Her pilot looked perfectly friendly, but he sure played dirty.
That enormous terrain-based special skill had swallowed the entire Flying Dragon Cliff area.
Who knew what would happen to a Mecha Girl caught inside that blizzard?
If Purple Lightning fell halfway through the jump, losing the race would be the least of Derek Su's concerns. What would really break his heart was if the fall left Purple Lightning traumatized.
"Master, I-I'm flying!"
Purple Lightning seemed to have only just realized what was happening and let out a cute, high-pitched cry.
"That's right." Derek Su grinned. "Let's show the audience and the other contestants what it looks like when a Mecha Girl takes flight~"
He had thought Purple Lightning would be just as excited as he was.
After all, the combination of extreme speed and that weightless sensation in midair was enough to set anyone's blood racing. It was a feast of adrenaline and dopamine.
But Purple Lightning looked utterly miserable. She covered her eyes with both hands and cried helplessly, "Waaah, Master, I-I'm afraid of heights!"
"Uh-oh."
Derek Su immediately felt guilty.
He hurriedly reassured her. "Hang in there, Purple Lightning! We're about to land!"
Purple Lightning: "o(;＞△＜)o Aaaaaah!"
Hearing that they were about to land only made her scream even louder.
Derek Su simply stopped talking. He tightened both hands around the controls and focused entirely on piloting Purple Lightning.
Once Purple Lightning's special skill, [This Moment: Rhapsody], was fully activated, she could ignore terrain and obstacles.
But after testing it several times in previous races, Derek Su had discovered that her skill was even stronger than its description suggested. It was practically a state of partial invincibility.
In other words, even if Purple Lightning jumped from an extreme height and crashed down, as long as her active skill remained enabled, she would be immune to the impact damage from the fall.
Perhaps this tiny miracle was what she had gained in exchange for having her stability and Impact Resistance reduced to the absolute limit.
Among the Mecha Girls around him, Imperial Scale was probably the only one who could normally land from such a height without taking any damage.
Derek Su was quite certain of that.
Stella's Impact Resistance and stability still weren't enough. Or rather, as a speed-type Mecha Girl, she simply wasn't built with defense in mind. As for Purple Lightning, she could only pull something like this off while her skill was active.
One second later, Purple Lightning flew over Ice Soul's head, crossing above the rainbow.
Two seconds later, Purple Lightning landed.
Normally, a Mecha Girl had to weave in a zigzag pattern after landing to bleed off the impact and avoid losing control.
But with Purple Lightning's skill still active, she touched down perfectly steadily. Derek Su didn't need to perform any safety maneuver at all.
And only fifteen seconds had passed since the skill had been activated.
Purple Lightning still had another fifteen seconds with her Acceleration stat above 100.
The instant her tires regained traction, the downhill track immediately amplified her acceleration. Her speed shot upward from just over 700, reaching nearly 900 in less than two seconds.
From Trien and Ice Soul's perspective, they hadn't even made it off the ice bridge yet.
The moment Purple Lightning landed, six streams of purplish-red flame erupted from her rear exhaust pipes.
Then she shot away like a rocket. In the blink of an eye, all they could see were her taillights. A moment later, she swept around a bend and vanished completely.
A crow flew overhead.
Trien and Ice Soul fell into an awkward silence.
Then they turned on the in-car broadcast, and the commentator's voice only made them feel worse.
[Ladies and gentlemen, unbelievable! We have just witnessed the first super jump in history with a vertical drop of 150 meters and a span of over 600 meters! My God! I'm so excited I can barely contain myself! All I can say is that The Magician truly deserves the title of The Magician. Every race, he gives us another magical display of skill!!]
Trien's mental fortitude was still holding up. He hadn't cracked yet.
Then Kool Kenny continued.
[This time, The Magician piloted Purple Lightning across the jump practically over the heads of the Demon King Club contestants. And the Demon King Club is the number one club in the world! It's easy to imagine Stella Club's ranking shooting upward after this race. Any contestants hoping to join Stella Club had better hurry up and contact The Magician~]
Trien cracked.
Ice Soul immediately turned off the in-car broadcast.
He could already imagine the grilling he was going to get when he returned tonight.
"Master, I remember you telling me that we'd definitely achieve a good result in this race because my special skill is extremely powerful, and that you'd make full use of my abilities. Right?"
Ice Soul's quiet voice sent cold sweat pouring down Trien's forehead.
"Right." His face went pale as he forced out a strained smile. "We still have a chance."
"Remember what you said." Ice Soul snorted.
Trien gritted his teeth, took out the speed Module he had prepared in advance, and installed it on Ice Soul.
Ice Soul could no longer use her special skill again in this race, so they had no choice but to make a trade-off. They would sacrifice some of her stability and Impact Resistance as a combat-type Mecha Girl in exchange for higher Acceleration and make one final push.
It was also worth mentioning that Ice Soul's blizzard skill was so oppressive that when the contestants from the second starting group reached Flying Dragon Cliff, only a tiny number managed to get across.
Some of the more reckless contestants tried anyway and plunged from Flying Dragon Cliff after being slowed down.
Most of them chose to curse and complain while waiting for the blizzard over Flying Dragon Cliff to disappear before continuing the race.
...
Meanwhile, Derek Su continued his relentless pursuit in Purple Lightning.
"Purple Lightning, we've already landed." Derek Su reached out and poked her waist.
"Huh? Aaaaaah! o(;＞△＜)o"
Perhaps because they were still moving at extreme speed, Purple Lightning hadn't recovered yet. Her eyes remained tightly shut as she continued screaming in terror.
Derek Su rubbed the bridge of his nose and decided to let her scream.
There were plenty of places on this downhill section where they would have to go airborne anyway.
Whether she screamed now or screamed later made no difference.
Once her active skill ended and their speed dropped, she would calm down.
Taking full advantage of Purple Lightning's active skill, Derek Su drove straight through walls whenever they reached a bend and launched directly off steep slopes without hesitation.
They traveled almost entirely in a straight line.
Before long, Dawnbreak and Snowpeak appeared in the distance ahead.
"Oh? Laiya An and Leon Li are... competing with each other now?"
Sensing the faint hostility between Snowpeak and Dawnbreak, Derek Su narrowed his eyes, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.
...
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