Chapter 496

“When was it?”

He kept forcibly pushing the man’s voice—the voice that kept dragging him back to last night—out of his mind.

Whenever he became conscious of the blue gaze that must be following him throughout the match, the conversation he had shared with that man drifted up again like an afterimage.

—The moment we met.

The excuse he had regretted, for being honest, answered his question belatedly and evasively.

We were in the same place a few years ago.

—...A few years ago? Where?

“Ugh...”

The participants flinched and recoiled with groans the moment they met those vivid yellow eyes. In their confusion, trapped in a narrow space with nowhere to go, several chunks of ore were pushed outside and fell into the abyss. Along with them, the metal shell Leonardo had released also plunged rapidly, shrinking to a dot.

A moment later, the shell collided with a low-rising rock formation and exploded.

Boooom!

The air, suddenly swollen by the blast, became a cutting wind that lashed dangerously across the rails. In the meantime, Leonardo, who had been sitting atop the ore, slowly brushed himself off and rose to his feet.

At the Imperial Palace.

Standing balanced atop the speeding cart, his golden hair whipped violently in the scorching gusts like something threateningly alive.

—The Imperial Palace?

<The shell’s destructive power is incredible! In front of Lion, it was nothing more than a dented ball!>

<Team Vertex may be losing morale, but they must not give up until the very end—>

Then, as if sweeping aside the cloak fluttering behind him, Leonardo stretched out the arm he had extended fully to the side.

Creak, screech, screech—

Following his gesture, the rails, corroded in places, began to emit ominous sounds. From the section Ero had ridden through onward, the rusted joints of the tracks had softened in the heat and begun to warp.

—You mean the departure ceremony?

That too. And in front of the audience chamber as well.

—...I did not think you would remember that time. You did not even glance at me back then.

<Lion, what is he trying to do?>

<The tracks are shaking!>

Unable to withstand the force of the sudden expansion, parts of the rails snapped back viciously. The flying fragments embedded themselves into gaps in the cliff or collided with other rails, severing them. And then, in the instant when the tracks, broken apart in a chain reaction, lost their balance and lurched—

Leonardo pulled the outstretched palm of his hand back to the front.

I thought you would not know I existed.

Then he aimed at the opposing team and, without blinking once, clenched his fist tight.

KRAAAASH—!

As if that were possible.

The rails winding throughout the entire canyon shattered at that trigger like a spine smashed to pieces. Sharp metal fragments, along with the plank supports, plummeted downward one after another. Starting with a collapse of almost unbelievable scale, the tangled rails and rock faces cascaded downward like an avalanche.

By then, the two members of Team Vertex had nothing left to do but stand frozen and look around them.

“...”

The savage explosions spreading behind them and the golden beast before them. The helplessness of being placed in the middle of a scene so overwhelming it resembled a natural disaster—there was no way to describe it in words.

<...The arena maintenance team is going to suffer for this one.>

Even the commentators could not properly continue speaking at the thrilling spectacle flooding their vision.

The skin-prickling magic, the destructive force and roaring noise shaking the entire arena as if that power had been made visible—the weight of any words lingering on the tongue fell absurdly short of expressing the intimidation laid out before them.

At that instant, the two carts that had kept advancing rounded the final curve and entered the straightaway.

<As I speak, the summit is right before them! They have almost reached the final destination—the furnace!>

The participants from both teams turned their heads in the direction the carts were moving. Clank, clank—the massive furnace shaped like a helmet kept opening and closing its entrance in a steady rhythm. Each time it did, scarlet flames and ash burst out from the boiling furnace within. It looked easily thirty meters tall.

One of the participants stared at it blankly, and the teammate behind him gave him a shove and spat out:

“Jump.”

“...Suddenly? Why?”

“Jump, now!”

Still answering without understanding, he soon turned back at the sharp noise approaching from behind. The collapse of the rails that had started all the way up there had come rushing toward the cart they were riding, like falling dominoes.

“Damn it.”

It did not take long for the man, biting down on his lip and cursing, to give up. The two of them jumped together onto a large boulder visible below.

The moment their feet left, the rail gave way, and the tilting cart fell along with it into the abyss.

<Ahh, Team Vertex! Are they giving up on the cart?>

<I wish they had held on a little longer, but it may be the smart decision. Considering who their opponent is, after all.>

<But the match is not over yet!>

A few beats later, the rail Leonardo stood on was collapsing at a terrifying speed as well. Watching the sight in silence, Leonardo strolled toward the cart’s control section.

Tilting his body, he planted one foot diagonally against the rear, then shoved the cart with all his strength and leapt into the air.

<Lion jumps!>

—But Leo, other than brushing past me in formal places like that.

Clatter, grind—

The cart, now sliding alone, shot forward with a shrill metallic scream. After firing three or four bursts of compressed air behind it, the rails that had barely been holding out collapsed completely, and the impact flung the cart into the air. Teleporting in front of it in an instant, Leonardo gritted his teeth and twisted his body.

—I mean, had we ever faced each other and spoken before that?

After shaking up his heart out of nowhere, it seemed the man had truly forgotten completely.

Carrying the resentment he felt toward someone who did not even remember, he spun and kicked the cart that was about to overturn in one clean motion.

With a crunch, the crumpled cart flew toward the furnace, carrying the ore inside it by centrifugal force.

Yeah, we had.

“Beast—!”

Right then, Gillian, who had arrived riding Orca’s whale, leapt down in front of the furnace. He dragged over a massive chunk of metal that looked at least ten meters long by sheer force, then rammed it mercilessly into the narrowing gap of the closing entrance. With the furnace’s maw caught at just the right moment and briefly halted, the sizzling cart and the ore passed calmly through the opening.

The scattered ore sank into the lava, then emitted a golden glow before melting away without a trace.

A moment later, dazzling light and dust burst out from the furnace. The bubbling lava popped violently in all directions.

Boooom—!

<Did they do it?>

Along with the breathless exclamation, the numbers on Team JOKER’s scoreboard began changing wildly. Soon, they settled on the symbolic record of ten tons. Before the commentators could even finish, the crowd’s roar tore through the canyon first.

Waaah—!

<Team JOKER! They have recorded the astonishing figure of ten tons!>

<It is the highest score ever achieved in a match held at Trigon Canyon!>

The excited voices thundered throughout the arena. On the cliff above, Ero and Beatrice, who had been watching anxiously, threw their arms around each other and jumped up and down in place.

“Waaah!”

“We won—!”

Gillian and Orca, who had taken shelter nearby to avoid the furnace explosion, also smiled when they heard the deafening cheers. Then the two looked at each other and smacked their right hands together hard.

“Killer whale, not bad.”

“Same to you.”

<Team JOKER wins the second group league match by an overwhelming score margin!>

<It was a thrilling match, like watching a film—. Their linked strategy was so precise it was as if they all moved as one body. At this point, I am beginning to suspect even Joker’s bubble gun was part of a planned performance—.>

<Haha, perhaps it was!>

Joker, Lion! Joker, Lion! The voices filling the arena became one, alternately shouting for Team JOKER and Lion.

As if answering that call, a figure slowly revealed itself, floating in the air amid the smoke rising roughly from grinding metal and shattered rock, with a fluttering cloak as its backdrop.

The immaculate ivory magic uniform, as though he had put on clothes he had been saving for the occasion, stood out more than ever.

When he raised his right hand high toward the audience, thunderous cheers engulfed the entire canyon.