The Innkeeper

Having a chicken coop above his cart served a greater purpose than cosmetic comedy. There was the obvious distraction of having an entire living being glued to his own head. But more than that, the coop completely ruined the aerodynamics of the already less than stellar design of the cart and added some weight to it as well.

Although the penalty was not permanent, considering that Lex was not first, and that there was tough competition around him, it… eggsacerbated his situation.

Lex winced at his own pun, but quickly diverted his attention back to the matter at hand. Gerard was in the lead, as expected, but he had been slowed down by a plough that was attached to his cart. He too had been a victim of someone's power up, and likely more than one over the course of the race or else he would have already finished the race .

Other than his own phenomenal driving, there was one very important reason why he was in the lead, as Lex eventually discovered. Unlike Z, who sucked the energy out of Lex's cart after crashing into it, Gerard was doing the same for every cart on the entire track!

Moreover, he was somehow getting away with it since he technically wasn't hurting anyone's cart, so it didn't count as an attack. Instead, Lex assumed that he was justifying it as defense by stating that he was simply keeping everyone away from himself.

Lex had no actual proof of this, but it was the conclusion he came to when he noticed a few things. First, he had originally used a defensive technique to escape the influence of the artificial gravity, but when he returned to the ground, he noticed that his cart was driving faster all of a sudden. He had not noticed earlier, since the difference had been so minute, but every cart was driving just a bit slower than what it should have been able to.

Gerard, with his unmatched skills, was able to turn that slight advantage into a huge lead. Of course, the reason he didn't outright shut all the carts down was because then the other racers would take cautionary measures. If Lex was able to protect himself from Gerards influence, so would others. Instead, by being discrete, almost no one had noticed.

But even if the plan was ingenious, it was the implementation that bewildered Lex. His range was just too ridiculous. He wasn't able to help himself and checked the old man's status.

Name: Gerard

Age: 1

Sex: Male

Cultivation Details: Foundation mid

Species: Human

Bloodline: Regalia Bloom III

Remarks: An employee with abnormally high affinity for his bloodline. He has already gone through 2 mutations for a remarkably stable bloodline, making him nearly invincible below the immortal realm.

'Damn!' Lex exclaimed mentally. If the system considered him nearly invincible below the immortal realm, his real capabilities must be ridiculously insane.

But Lex was not demoralized. He himself was no pushover either, and he wasn't about to quit just because the competition was tough.

The chicken as well as the coop finally vanished from atop Lex and his vehicle, and he did not hesitate to use his final power up! A massive explosion occurred with Lex at the center, not only knocking Xenmas and a few others aside, it also brought up a massive smoke cloud obscuring the path.

Lex, of course, was completely fine and so was his cart due to his incredible defensive techniques. The incredibly tenacious Z was also unharmed for he simply absorbed the energy from the blast and channeled it to his cart's engine.

For a moment it seemed like the showdown was going to be Z, Lex and then Gerard. Lex had already been through the various parts of the Inn, around the new Immortal Bastion, over the Fire temple and many other points of interest. That was after he skipped so much of the track from falling off the ship.

By now they were returning to the village, and the stadium where their race had begun was in sight. The track was straightforward with no power ups in sight. The only chance Lex had was to make the best of the time where Gerards cart was still slowed down by a plough.

Somehow, Lex transitioned from the physically capable yet emotionally volatile berserk state to the flow state. He shut out the world and focused solely on the track, finding the best possible, and efficient most path on the track.

The cheers of the crowd in the distance disappeared. The sound of the raging wind vanished. The world around him began fading away. There was only him and the track, which also began to vanish. Eh?

Lex wasn't getting in the zone, someone had used an unavoidable power up on him or someone close to him. He was driving in a sensory deprivation bubble. Basically, as the name suggested, while inside the bubble all his senses would disappear.

The bubble would only last for 10 seconds, but would cover a massive area around the targeted cart. Damn it.

Lex closed his eyes, or maybe they were already closed. He pulled up his memory of what the track looked like and just drove according to his memory. Fortunately, the path was more or less straight. The only thing he had to be careful of was that he was driving up and down a series of small plateaus.

If he just simulated the speed he was going at, and the scenery according to his memory, he would be able to navigate the track correctly. Whoever had made a move should be behind him, and it couldn't have been Z for he was keeping a track of Z's power ups.

So, either another player was making a last-minute attempt to win this, or Xenmas was getting his revenge. Whoever it was had made a good play, but Lex wasn't out of this yet. Driving on the track out of pure memory, he maintained the most optimal path to overtake Gerard. At the same time, he employed a massive Talk to the Hand behind his cart. Overtaking him wasn't going to be as easy as the perpetrator thought.

Back at the stadium, the crowds were going wild. They had seen the cart which had snuck up on everyone, and had seen it strike Lex with the sensory deprivation bubble. They could tell that Lex could see or hear nothing.

Just as they prepared for Lex to lose control, and the new cart to overtake him, something unexpected happened. Lex continued to drive, making the barest possible changes to his path necessary to stay on track - all with his eyes closed! Moreover, as the new cart came, using its boosters to overtake Lex, it directly crashed into an invisible wall behind Lex!

Only, it did not handle it as flawlessly as Z had done so, and became completely disoriented.

"A good try to contender John, yet another employee of the Inn! He used invisibility throughout the race to stay hidden and protect himself, but he himself ended up ramming into an invisible wall!" exclaimed the commentator, who had jumped out of his commentary booth by now. He was standing on the roof of the commentary booth, his excitement keeping him from staying still.

"Despite all that, driver Leo maintains his position and steadily gains on cart number 01, driven by the ever popular Gerard! With his eyes closed no less!"

A short while later, when the sensory bubble vanished, Lex opened his eyes and found himself exactly where he imagined he'd be.

They had entered the stadium and the finish line was within sight. Gerard was still ahead, without anything dragging him back. Right behind him were Z and John, who were now contending with one another!

There wasn't enough time, and Lex had no power ups. He wouldn't be able to overtake Gerard, at least not normally.

He closed his eyes once again and reentered the berserk state. Time seemed to slow down as he focused all his strength to his legs, or rather, to his right leg. If he used a technique it would be a foul, but he had already confirmed that using his physical capabilities was not an issue.

Gerard was 30 feet (9 meters) away from the finish line. As fast as he possibly could, Lex jumped out of the cart and landed on his right foot. The crowd seemed to realize something was about to happen.

Lex let out a deep, angry yell and he pushed all the strength in his body through his single leg. The track cracked right under his foot and slowly began to form into a crater, but even as it was forming Lex had already vanished!

Like a bazooka Lex shot forward, suddenly overtaking the ever leading Gerard! Everything happened too fast. The commentator did not even have a chance to scream, let alone the bewildered crowd.

Exhilaration flooded Lex's veins as he saw the finish line. It was right in front of him. He could practically feel the ribbon hitting his body as he crossed.

But the feeling was overshadowed by a warning. Something was coming. But everything was happening too fast. By the time Lex felt the warning it was already too late, and a string connected itself to him, leading back to Gerard.

A POWER UP! But it was too late. The next second he and Gerard had swapped places. He was behind and Gerard was at the finish line.

Dammit, he had been saving his power ups!

The next moment, instead of the siren of victory, the sound of a loud crash filled the stadium. Although Lex and Gerard had swapped places, Lex left his Talk to the Hand right behind the finish line!

Even if the skilled driver was capable of overcoming it using his bloodline, he would have to anticipate it first. The swap between them had been too quick, and they had been moving too fast for the racer to realize it was there.

The next moment, Lex crossed the finish line, and the sound of laughter filled the air.