The course was a 2,400-meter dirt track. King Halo led in the opening phase, with the Overlord trailing by one length. Neither side had admitted defeat at this stage. But as they came out of the bend, the atmosphere of the race changed in an instant. Both released their pressure. The real battle was about to begin.
The Overlord's footsteps began to accelerate. King Halo felt the spine-chilling malice coming from behind her.
Although [Fusion] was not a traditional blocking skill, the pressure of its aura was no weaker than a Flash-level blocking skill. This, one had to admit, was the beauty of raw values. But what made it even more deadly was that this ability was not strong only in values. Its mechanics were just as cheat-like.
I was prepared for it, but it really is frightening.
King Halo thought. This power felt completely different from when Rice Shower used it. It gave the impression that it was not merely a domain ability, but a living evil spirit, a presence with life. That was why it could continue evolving by plundering the opponent's power.
"Strong..."
But!
King Halo leaned forward. The sound of her sprinting steps exploded. The wind she tore open left afterimages in the air, and in the blink of an eye she had rushed out of the Overlord's attack range. Fragments of skill light could be seen clearly fading around her legs. This kind of freely controlled burst was precisely the result of her efforts.
"!"
As the Overlord looked at the figure flashing away, disbelief appeared in her eyes. Even with her reaction speed, she had failed to react in that instant. King Halo had just burst out with speed beyond her upper limit. It was truly hard to believe. After all, the Overlord had already absorbed three people's powers. In theory, she should have been able to crush King Halo.
Show me more, Overlord.
King Halo thought calmly. She did not believe the things she had shown so far were enough to pressure the Overlord. If this little bit was enough to shake her, she could never have defeated those people. Besides, that move just now could only catch her off guard the first time. It was a short-term burst technique. There were countless ways to counter it.
[Demon King's Aura (Flash)]-
Red lightning released from the Overlord's body, and in an instant, terrifying gravity descended onto King Halo. This was an absurdly powerful blocking skill released entirely against a single opponent, a super killing move that Demon King Gold Ship would never bother to use. Even an umamusume of King Halo's level would find this attack somewhat strenuous.
Even so, King Halo's expression did not change much, because this move was within her expectations. In the next moment, her speed slowed, and several fragments of recovery-skill light appeared over her body in succession. Then, just as the Overlord was about to catch up, she accelerated again and opened the distance. Her response had no visible flaws, as though she were a machine that had calculated everything.
"So you knew my abilities ahead of time."
The Overlord understood. But just as King Halo knew her methods, she also knew King Halo's abilities and habits. Calculation so precise it resembled a computer, along with an analytical eye that could predict the future to a certain degree. But could those methods truly calculate her trajectory? Could they truly see even a one-percent chance of victory in a match against her?
"The game ends here."
The pitch-black aura suddenly surged. The Overlord did not think King Halo could bring her surprises the way Demon King Gold Ship and Kitasan Black had. At best, she was on Tokai Teio's level. There was no need to find a way to break these little tricks. She only needed to release greater power and crush her directly.
The lights of multiple skills flashed at the same time, only to be covered in the next instant by that terrifying darkness. This was [Dark Fusion], different from Rice Shower's [Hero Fusion]. Yet its effect was similar. The strongest skill born through the sacrifice of multiple skills was also a brand-new Flash ultimate technique that symbolized the Overlord's strength. Its functionality and values were both pushed to the limit: recovery, speed, burst-
[Wicked Heart Burst (Flash)]: greatly restores stamina, greatly increases speed ceiling, and greatly increases acceleration!
Its manner of appearance and its effect were practically announcing openly that it was a cheat.
But so what if it made people think that? As long as she could truly display this power in a race, then it belonged to the Overlord's efforts. Even if it was darkness, it was still enough to shake the heart. Just as people pursued light, they could also be drawn in by the darkness of the abyss. And the Overlord was the absolute existence within that darkness.
King Halo instinctively tensed. Her unfocused eyes entered a state of extreme concentration. If Kitasan Black were here, she would discover that it was a state she had only luckily entered not long ago. But King Halo entered it merely through instinctive reaction, and her state was completely different from Kitasan Black's. She still looked so calm, already able to freely control this state.
After entering this state, everything around her seemed to slow. The Overlord's sprinting sound also slowed. Yet strangely, only her own movements remained normal. It looked similar to Tokai Teio's time-type ability, but in truth, it was different. This was only an abnormally hollow sense of cognition produced because her own strength had temporarily surpassed her upper limit, causing every aspect of her to fall out of alignment.
Tokai Teio's ability, on the other hand, was a true time-type power.
King Halo thought calmly.
This was the Overlord's strength. Merely becoming serious was enough to make King Halo react by instinct and enter this state unconsciously. That meant King Halo's instinct as an umamusume clearly understood that this was an opponent she could only possibly defeat by going all out, even by surpassing her own limits.
"I understand your strength well enough now."
Although she had estimated it beforehand, the Overlord's actual performance still exceeded her expectations. The Overlord's [Fusion] truly could not be lumped together with Rice Shower's. And this was still not the Overlord's limit. Her [Fusion] still had even higher room to rise.
As she thought this, more than half the race had already passed without her noticing. The third bend lay ahead. Although she was temporarily in the lead, King Halo had no sense that she could win, because even in this state, even after surpassing her own limit, she had not shaken off that spine-chilling aura behind her.
She had already been locked onto by the Overlord. Being caught was only a matter of time. When she would be caught depended only on how much strength the Overlord was willing to use against her. She even suspected that, even in her current state, if the Overlord truly wanted to, she might still have a way to catch up.
That was how strong the Overlord was.
Her talent was simply astonishing.
"Even above McQueen."
King Halo gave that evaluation calmly.
In terms of talent alone, the Overlord was truly unparalleled.
Even the current strongest, Mejiro McQueen, would definitely have been broken by this cheat-like talent if she and the Overlord had started from the same starting line. But that was a meaningless assumption, because such a situation could never occur. Just as the Overlord had possessed this terrifying talent from the start, Mejiro McQueen had already climbed to that realm through her own efforts even earlier.
Then... did the Overlord have hope of defeating Mejiro McQueen?
King Halo felt the footsteps behind her drawing nearer and nearer.
Thinking of that, her emotions stirred.
She could not calculate the answer.
Between a fully grown Overlord and Mejiro McQueen, who was stronger? Perhaps that could only be known after they determined victory and defeat themselves. Even her ability could not analyze it at this stage.
That truly was frustrating.
"The gap between us is really this large?"
King Halo found it difficult to calm herself.
In the next instant, terrifying malice covered her. A sensation like suddenly losing gravity and falling made King Halo's eyes widen instinctively. The Overlord's footsteps rang beside her. That pitch-black figure overtook her in a single instant, then grew faster and farther away, as if mocking her, an ordinary talent.
The race ended.
As expected, the Overlord took victory.
Neither of them felt like speaking. The Overlord looked deeply at King Halo, then turned and left for her next stop.
King Halo simply stood silently where she was.
Above, thunder rumbled from deep within the dark clouds.
Just as I expected.
That person... deliberately lost to me?
From the surface, King Halo had gone all out and had still been easily crushed by the Overlord. Yet after losing the race, King Halo showed no surprise at all. The Overlord had also sensed that King Halo seemed to be plotting something.
However, the Overlord did not think deeply about it. After all, she had already obtained a result that satisfied her. Even if King Halo had her own plan, it did not have much to do with the Overlord. Besides, she did not think King Halo's plan could affect her, just as she did not believe King Halo had any hope of defeating her.
Only two remained...
Rice Shower and White McQueen!
The Overlord felt the power gestating within her body.
That ever-present sense of incompleteness made it clear that she could not avoid this. Even though she had deliberately ignored that person before, she now had to face her of her own accord. Only by doing so could she obtain complete power.
Complete [Fusion].
And so, the Overlord arrived in a world she had visited once before.
Rice Shower's world.
Compared to World No. 0, this world was perhaps where she had begun. Back when she was still inside Rice Shower's body, she had also run in this world. And now, finally, she had returned.
The moment the Overlord came back to this world, Rice Shower, who was on duty watering the flower beds, sensed her arrival as well. The two looked at each other at the same time. Their similar appearances and different eyes made words unnecessary. Even without speaking, they knew what the other was thinking.
Then... the duel arrived as promised.
Rice Shower did not refuse the Overlord's challenge. She did have many things she wanted to say, but the Overlord had already proven her resolve through the previous races. Rice Shower would never stop the Overlord from doing what she wanted to do. However, as long as the Overlord continued walking down this dark road, Rice Shower would never give up on challenging her.
"If I win, give Fusion to me."
"If Rice wins, you come home with Rice."
Both sides placed their stakes on the scales.
The dark race opened once again.
On the abandoned school building's track, the Overlord and Rice Shower prepared for their duel.
The only spectator was Mihono Bourbon.
Although she did not know what had happened, did not know why another Rice Shower had appeared, and knew nothing about a dark duel, Mihono Bourbon still agreed when Rice Shower asked her to act as referee. Her heart was full of questions, but because she was poor at expressing herself, she could not ask them.
"Are you both ready?"
Mihono Bourbon looked at both sides.
Rice Shower nodded firmly.
The Overlord nodded expressionlessly.
After confirming that both sides were ready, Mihono Bourbon lifted the whistle hanging around her neck to her mouth. Once she saw them take their starting stances and confirmed there were no problems, she blew the whistle.
The instant the whistle sounded, Rice Shower and the Overlord rushed out from the starting line at the same time.
And while the Overlord was still considering how to run this race, Rice Shower had already made up her mind. She immediately activated her aura. As deep-blue flames rose, the aura of [Fusion] released instantly. This was Rice Shower's own [Fusion], after leaving the Overlord's support behind.
Rice will go all out!
The Overlord looked at Rice Shower's performance in surprise.
Did Rice Shower discover the emotions she had hidden so deeply? What an idiot. She could clearly have used that weakness, yet now she was actively trying to help the Overlord overcome this knot in her heart.
The Overlord had always understood. If there was an opponent most likely to defeat her, it absolutely could not be anyone else. It had to be Rice Shower. Not because Rice Shower was stronger than the others, but because the Overlord knew that when facing Rice Shower, she might not be able to bring out all of her power. That was why she had kept ignoring Rice Shower before.
But at the very end, if she truly wanted to defeat White McQueen, then she had to face Rice Shower, because her power was incomplete. Challenging White McQueen while incomplete would be nothing but wishful thinking. Thus, this race was actually dangerous for her. If Rice Shower used this weakness, then there was a very high chance the Overlord would truly be ended here.
But perhaps the Overlord had known from the start.
Rice Shower would not do such a thing.
"..."
The Overlord looked at the figure ahead, the one giving everything she had. Although her face remained expressionless, her eyes changed.
I understand.
Right here.
I will surpass you too!
...I no longer need a hero!
...
Get 20+ chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"