Danmachi Races Novels & Stories

13 - Ruby Fridays — ۩ Racers, you have reached the final mission of your game - Midday Mile. This racetrack is full of danger and deception, with death awaiting at every turn. The Midday Mile racetrack awaits the final challenge for the eight racers competing for freedom. The racers have been provided identical high-performance racing cars for the ultimate test of speed and endurance. The track is one mile long and divided into six laps. Each lap contains different obstacles designed to slow and fail racers down to doom. If you wish to escape this arena of doom, you must cross the finish line first and claim the missing piece of the map that will show you the exit.

Forsaking the ability to be a man would be far easier. Ashrac's newest toy is a drone used by the earth realm's U.S. military, or so he tells me. It doesn't work, but Ashrac broke it down and rebuilt it so he knows everything it can do. Acasia explained over tea that Dmitri, an earth realm vampire and friend, is creating documentation so Ashrac can attend one of earth's scientific colleges in about twenty-five years. It will be good for him.

Demon King, Lucifer the Prideful, snapped the headless troll’s legs in one flick as he chose to focus on the game finally – a malicious grin plastered on his youthful face. The announcer continued, “Ladies and gentlemen, the tables have turned! Damon the Prideful is now leading the race by crashing his golem onto the golem of Apollo Sky the Loyal – setting it as his stepping stone as he snatched the dragon golem of Merlin! All of it in one successive move!” Screw you, Damon!

He threw three bombs in a series aiming Dae's cart and one of them hit the cart. " Ahh..You ! ", Dae groaned and Phet giggled. Dae was now trying hard to regain the game while Phet was moving in first position. The game was reaching it's end and they almost saw the finishing line. Phet was so excited to beat Dae. But then his cart again flew upward and blasted. " Yes..", Dae squealed jumping up. He finished the race in first position. Phet looked at the screen with an open mouth.

I asked curiously, staring at the track. Damon stared at me with a look showing I wasn’t supposed to ask that. “Get on the race and you would find out” he said walking away. That answer was not exactly what I had expected, but still I had to focus on the game in front of me. Or I’d rather say race. “Ready?!!” Damon yelled holding up the shotgun like earlier before. I clenched my fist, ready for the worse as I had my eyes fixated on the track.

The crowd blurred into a kaleidoscope of color and noise, but I tuned it out, my world narrowing to the track ahead and the man I needed to beat. Finally, Damian’s voice came through again. “Got it. His jammer’s offline. He’s still dangerous, but he doesn’t have that edge anymore.” “Good,” I said, my lips curving into a grim smile. “Time to show him what real racing looks like.” I closed the gap between us, my car edging closer to Victor’s. He tried to block me, swerving wildly, but I anticipated his moves, finding openings where none should have existed. My pulse raced as I drew alongside him, our cars mere inches apart.

"In lane one, we have Viper in his modified Dodge Challenger! Lane two features our returning champion, the mystery racer known only as Black Red! Lane three brings us Nitro in his souped-up Mustang! And in lane four, we have newcomer Phoenix in what might be the fastest BMW we've ever seen on this track!"

Damon Luca and I headed back to his house in our cars. We had a mini race, and of course I won. It wasn't much of a surprise, I was better in real life and in games. I jumped down from the car, a grin on my face. He rolled his eyes at me, “Yeah, you were just lucky. If I had put my mind to it, I would have won" he said. I slapped him on the back, laughing at him, “Yeah, this is the third race you're saying that, come on now. We know I'm better at this"

The light-blue-and-yellow bike pivots and rotates Romeo’s body right into his path. The impact thunders through the speakers, brutal and sickening. Damion’s wheel slams into the back of Romeo’s neck at nearly 100 m/h. My stomach lurches at the crunch of carbon, the crack of his helmet on contact. It’s brutal. Jesse switches feeds, and the Race Control broadcast slams into the screen like a punch to the chest. The camera shifts to a wide-angle shot — eagle-eye view — just in time to catch the instant everything goes wrong. Damion hits Romeo like a bullet through glass.

My mind kept screaming at me to run. I could feel his grasp on my arm tighten as I writhed. “Let go, leave me.” I repeated like a mantra. My eyes fell on the table and I saw my salvation. Grabbing the beer bottle, I smashed it against his head. The moment the hand holding me went limp, I made a run for it. A mad dash as I knew I just had to get out of there, I ran blindly as the film of tears blocked my vision.