Chapter 513
Thududududu!
The chariot Orun had made shook violently.
Even if it was crafted by a master, a hastily assembled chariot in such a short time couldn’t absorb every shock.
And yet, the fact that Orun managed to produce this level of quality in just one hour… Truly, Orun was in a league of his own.
On top of that, the chariot had a hidden ace installed—so there was still plenty of hope.
‘How many kilometers are we behind by now…’
Just as Gapellius had declared, the Chariot of the Sun had already vanished from sight.
“Damn it, aren’t we already beaten at this rate?”
“Even if we tried to attack and slow them down, we can’t even see them.”
“Should I just fly ahead by myself and chase them down?”
A flurry of comments came from the group.
“Don’t worry. This is a long game. Besides, our summons are just getting used to running now.”
Jinhyuk gently gripped the reins.
A subtle wave of mana spread out…
[Unique Ability ‘Red Hare Riding’ is activated!]
[Unique Ability ‘Domain of Wind’ is activated!]
Abilities stored in the world’s memory were unleashed.
In an instant, the pressure on the reins changed.
“Mogiii!”
Starting with Goguma in the lead, the rest of the summons’ spirits surged as well.
Whoooosh!
A gust of wind erupted, and the chariot suddenly shot forward in the blink of an eye.
“Wh-what did you just do?”
Chun Yoosung’s eyes widened.
It wasn’t like they’d used some sort of doping.
Their summons, who’d seemed perfectly normal, were now dashing wildly—it was enough to leave anyone stunned.
What’s more, with ‘Domain of Wind’ supporting them, Malang the Azure Dragon was now able to assist the chariot several times more effectively.
Jinhyuk licked his lips.
‘Yeah, this is what it’s about.’
It felt worth it to have stored up so many abilities.
Being able to use them at just the right time was exactly why ‘Copy’ and ‘Fusion’ were so overpowered.
As he thought this, he began to see Gapellius’s chariot in the distance.
⁕ ⁕ ⁕
“L-Lord Gapellius!”
A warrior at the rear of Gapellius’s chariot called out urgently.
“What is it?”
“Look! You need to check behind you!”
“Behind…?“
Gapellius turned his head, not understanding.
His expression twisted into shock.
Jinhyuk, who he never imagined would catch up, was suddenly right behind him.
“How…?”
Thousands of questions raced through his mind, but it didn’t change reality.
No matter what tricks the opponent used, they’d made it this far. Now the real race would begin.
“Kahahaha! So it’s not going to be easy after all. Good, that’s how it should be. Makes it worth me coming here myself!”
Heracles, on the other hand, let out a delighted laugh.
It was as if his whole body had been itching for this.
At the same time, he placed a massive arrow on his giant bow, slung across his back.
Rumble rumble rumble rumble!
A terrifying killing intent gathered along the arrowhead.
Even without any magic, just pulling the bowstring created a tremendous shockwave.
[Heracles activates Lv??? ‘Heavenly Bow’!]
Boom!
A blast of wind surged forth.
That gale quickly turned into a storm that swallowed the sky.
…Fast and heavy.
The arrow spun at high speed and aimed for Jinhyuk’s head in less than a second.
But—
[Unique Ability ‘Song of the Sword’ is activated!]
Chun Yoosung, appearing in front of Jinhyuk, drew his sword.
Shing shing shing shing shing…clang!
The blade scraped along the arrow’s side, twisting its trajectory.
It was a flawless deflection that drew admiration—
But Heracles’s arrows were never the sort you could deflect completely.
“…Kuh!”
Chun Yoosung’s arm couldn’t withstand the shock and was forced back.
Boom!
A massive hole was blasted into the rear of the chariot.
And that was just a glancing blow.
A direct hit would leave nothing but shattered bones.
But then—
An anomaly occurred with the chariot, which should have crashed immediately.
[Orun’s chariot activates the special ability ‘Soul of the Artisan’!]
Creak…
…Crunch!
The rear of the chariot was rapidly restored.
Jinhyuk grinned.
“Don’t get so impatient.”
The race was just getting started.
“Ho. Not bad.”
A small sound of admiration escaped Heracles’s lips.
But it was only for a moment.
It would still take time for the chariot to fully repair.
Just then—
A massive floating stone appeared ahead of them.
Until now, they’d been gliding smoothly along the side course, but from this floating stone, the slope would suddenly become much steeper.
In other words, from here on out, coordination between driver and horses became critical.
“Haa!”
“Neigh!”
“Neigh!”
Thududududu!
Gapellius expertly pulled the reins.
As if this was nothing, his chariot stayed on track and glided smoothly.
Meanwhile, Jinhyuk’s chariot barreled clumsily toward the floating stone.
“Damn it, shouldn’t we do something too?”
“Kyaaah!”
“C-Contractor?”
Everyone shouted in panic.
Even if ‘Red Hare Riding’ maximized each beast’s running ability, having four of them maneuver like acrobats was impossible.
In that case…
“Goguma!”
Jinhyuk threw a dazzling, multi-colored mana stone into Goguma’s mouth.
“Mo, Mogii!”
Goguma’s eyes sparkled as he gulped it down in one bite.
Vwooom!
Goguma’s belly glowed, and the light rushed up from his stomach to his throat.
[Goguma has absorbed a top-grade mana stone!]
[Lv14 ‘Breath’ is activated!]
A nameless energy gathered at the bright spot.
“Hurry!”
Chun Yoosung gripped his sword.
Now the floating stone loomed right in front of them.
Slicing through a boulder hundreds of meters in diameter—even for Chun Yoosung, that was a terrifying task.
If they wanted to do something, it had to be now.
And at that moment—
“Mogiiiiii!”
Goguma unleashed his Breath.
A flash of light burst forth.
Then, an ear-splitting roar echoed out.
Boomboomboomboomboom!
The concentrated Breath blasted straight through the floating stone.
At the same time.
[Glacial Sculpting ‘Blizzard’ is activated!]
[Alice activates ‘Blood Spears’!]
Spears of ice and blood targeted Gapellius’s chariot.
Just at a glance, there were hundreds of deadly projectiles.
This time, it was Gapellius’s turn to be flustered.
“Destroying a whole floating stone wasn’t enough… and now a counterattack like that right away.”
He couldn’t believe the torrent of dual-colored rain falling toward him.
Still, this wasn’t his first time facing such a barrage.
As his ‘Riding’ skill and ‘Steadfast Whip’ activated, the chariot began to weave left and right in impossible maneuvers.
Crash! Crack!
Spears missed the chariot by a hair, shattering the ground below.
In an instant, the ground turned into a bed of spikes.
“Azure Dragon!”
“I know!”
At Jinhyuk’s shout, Malang the Azure Dragon manipulated the weather.
[Malang the Azure Dragon activates Lv?? ‘Weather Alteration’!]
Rumble!
A lightning bolt fell from the dark purple sky.
But—
“How foolish. What are you aiming at?!”
The lightning didn’t even graze the chariot.
It struck somewhere completely off target and quickly vanished from sight.
Gapellius scoffed.
But Jinhyuk still wore a smile—one even broader than before.
“No, I aimed it just right.”
One bolt of lightning wasn’t going to do anything to Heracles, who boasted monstrous magic resistance anyway.
The chariot hadn’t been the target from the start…
…the spikes embedded in the ground were.
“Those things stuck in the ground…”
Heracles’s eyes went wide as he finally caught on to Jinhyuk’s intent.
Looking closely, the spikes hadn’t landed at random—they’d formed a specific pattern.
[Glacial Sculpting ‘Lightning of the Sky’ and…]
The fallen lightning became chain lightning, running through hundreds of embedded spikes.
The chain lightning flowed, taking the shape of a massive rune.
[…Blood Spears ‘Spears of the Earth’ follow!]
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
Bolts of lightning signaled the end, crisscrossing above and below.
“Kraaaagh!”
“Kh…!”
“Aaaagh!”
Gapellius’s chariot was engulfed in a massive blaze.
⁕ ⁕ ⁕
On the floating stone where the administrators gathered—
“That’s… that’s just absurd…!”
Godirak, who had been watching the race in leisure, shot to his feet.
When they’d opened an overwhelming lead at first, he hadn’t doubted victory for even a second.
Especially with Heracles aboard as the combatant—he was certain there would be no variables.
But as time passed, a strange sense of unease crept in.
Now, anxiety had climbed all the way up his throat.
“Told you, didn’t I? You shouldn’t underestimate Kang Jinhyuk.”
Rick, looking satisfied, sipped coffee at the table.
“It really is interesting. Now, who’ll win is anyone’s guess. No, maybe something even more unexpected will happen…”
Bendivia nodded, stroking his chin repeatedly.
Naturally, the mid-level and lower-level administrators were equally unsettled.
The idea that Olympus, the top dog of the upper floors for countless ages, might lose was simply too intriguing.
-Are you just going to keep watching like this?
Godirak’s voice carried to the floating stone across from him.
And then—
One of Olympus’s chief gods, who had been silent, moved.
There was no answer—only action.
[Zeus activates the unique ability ‘Astrapē’.]
A blue flash lit up the air.
Just one bolt, but the power it radiated dwarfed the earlier lightning.
“…!!!”
Jinhyuk reflexively stacked ‘Mandala’ and ‘Blessing of the Stars’ for a defensive barrier.
He managed to defend just before Astrapē struck.
Of course.
Boom!
Such a barrier wasn’t nearly enough.
The chariot, half-destroyed, lost its balance.
“Graaah!”
Malang the Azure Dragon, who had been steering the wind, fainted from the shock.
The burden on the other summons instantly doubled.
“Jinhyuk!”
Teresa immediately started healing using divine power.
A gentle warmth wrapped around the entire chariot.
Regaining his senses, Jinhyuk glared in the direction the bolt had come from.
‘Damn it, so that’s how you’re going to play.’
As expected, the unruly gods of myth didn’t care about rules—they trampled even the rules of the race without a second thought.
“It may not be about winning or losing, but I can’t accept losing so pathetically.”
The timing still wasn’t quite right.
For the sake of the greater cause, Gapellius needed to buy more time.
Zeus raised a finger.
[The gate opens!]
“Ahhh…”
“Aah!”
Through a blue portal came sirens singing songs of doom—
“Kyaoo!”
“Kraaa!”
—and gargoyles whose entire bodies were made of stone.
Monsters filled the sky, advancing toward Jinhyuk at Zeus’s command.
