The WGP semifinal venue captured all eyes.
After the crisp sound of the starting shot...
The race has officially begun!
— BOOM!!!
Everyone was surprised!
This 3200-meter race, which should have been a long-distance endurance battle, entered its most frantic and intense 100-meter sprint phase in the first second!
"They're crazy! Have the two best sprinters from Tracen Academy completely lost their minds?"
The commentator's voice broke instantly due to the heavy shock!
"Taiki Shuttle! Justify! They are running this 3200-meter long-distance race at the speed of an 800-meter sprint! This is... this is a suicide attack!"
On the track, the golden figure and the red, white, and blue figure were like two intercontinental ballistic missiles, launched and burning their own lives.
From the beginning of the race, they ran at full speed, with a completely reckless and irrational momentum.
Zenyatta, sitting in the middle of the pack, showed for the first time a mocking and cold smile on her beautiful face, which usually remained as placid as a frozen lake.
She believed that this was the most basic tactical error, one that only the most foolish novices would make.
She decided to ignore them and continued maintaining her elegant and perfect rhythm, like a work of art.
However, she herself didn't realize.
In order not to be left completely behind by the extremely fast pace set by those two "crazies"
She had also been forced to spend at least 15% more of her precious stamina than usual.
The race entered the intermediate phase!
The two "suicide attack" competitors, Taiki Shuttle and Justify, who had burned brightly like fireworks, exhausted themselves and withdrew from the leading group after completing their mission.
The pace of the race slowed slightly.
Zenyatta prepared to begin her elegant and artistic "hunt"
But she immediately discovered she was "surrounded"
To her left was that wild and indomitable "Queen," Gold City
Every time Zenyatta prepared to adjust her breathing to the most comfortable rhythm, she accidentally bumped slightly, but incredibly annoyingly, against her powerful shoulder!
And to her right was that "Empress," Air Groove, solid as a Great Wall of steel.
She was like a super sticky soft candy.
No matter how much Zenyatta changed lanes or tried to shake her off, she stubbornly refused to give way!
What was even more annoying was what was behind her.
"Overlord" TM Opera O and "Painter" Manhattan Cafe: their steps were sometimes far, sometimes near; sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right.
They were like two cunning ghosts.
This forced Zenyatta to constantly divert her valuable mental energy to protect herself from their blatant "sneak attacks" that could come from any angle.
"This is infuriating!!!"
"What exactly do these damn flies want?"
For the first time during a race, Zenyatta felt deep within her soul an emotion called "distraction"
She, the proud and undefeated queen.
I had never been treated in such an "indecent" manner, like in a brawl between thugs!
Her elegance, her rhythm, her running style, like a work of art... were completely interrupted at that moment!
The last 800 meters!
The annoying members of the "harassment team," like flies, began to fall back after completing their mission.
On the track, apparently the only one left was the solitary Zenyatta, whose stamina had also been greatly depleted.
And the one who had been conserving her energy, waiting for the final showdown... The Emperor of Tracen — Symboli Rudolf!
Symboli Rudolf's eyes, always full of composure and confidence, now shone with the most intense light of a sovereign!
She reached Zenyatta from the outside!
And ran side by side with her!
Then, she proclaimed the final battle!
"European Queen, let's go!"
"Let me witness with my own eyes your so-called 'undefeated' status..."
"If you truly deserve it!"
Facing this powerful opponent who also possessed the aura of an El Emperador!
The queen Zenyatta was completely furious!
She poured all the fury of her heart and her remaining energy into this desperate confrontation, a duel between kings, with Symboli Rudolf!
The last 200 meters, the home stretch!
El Emperador and the Queen!
Their final showdown reached its climax!
The two were running practically neck and neck! It was impossible to tell who was superior!
All eyes of the spectators were completely focused on their epic confrontation!
Even Catherine, who was in the VIP box, stood up nervously from her seat!
Just at this moment—
Just when everyone thought the champion would inevitably emerge from between these two "sovereigns"
That black figure, who had been following like a shadow at the back of the group, and who had gone completely unnoticed by everyone...
— She moved!
"The final assassin"— Narita Taishin!
She did not take the conventional and crowded lanes, neither the outside nor the inside!
Instead, she ran along the very edge of the track, practically glued to the cold white railing, through that "absolute dead end" considered by all Umas, a narrow gap less than half the width of her body!
She launched her silent, ghost-like, all-or-nothing—
The ultimate sprint!
Kaito, standing by the track, smiled slightly.
He knew.
This sharpest "lone wolf," whetted by his own hands... had finally revealed her most fatal fangs.
The queen Zenyatta used every last drop of her strength!
With an extremely slight, barely perceptible nose advantage!
She overtook El Emperador, Symboli Rudolf, who was by her side!
She believed she had won!
But just in that tenth of a second, when she was about to raise her arms and cheer for victory...
A black shadow, like Death.
Appeared as if teleporting from another dimension.
With an even more terrifying and swift speed, she zoomed past her on the inside!
At the finish line, the thin red thread.
Narita Taishin's cold and expressionless face remained frozen in place.
She crossed the finish line in first place, with a minimum, yet insurmountable, advantage of less than a tenth of a second!
Zenyatta's "undefeated myth"... was, in that moment... at the hands of an "assassin" she had never taken seriously from beginning to end.
Completely... finished
After crossing the finish line, Zenyatta remained completely paralyzed.
She watched, incredulous, the black-clad figure who had slowly come to a stop.
Then, she looked back at the other Tracen competitors, who had slowed down immediately after crossing the goal, each of them as if they were "watching a show"
Instantly—
She understood everything.
That suicidal pace.
That extremely annoying harassment.
The final showdown of that El Emperador... it was all a massive and precise trap directed exclusively at her.
She hadn't lost to anyone.
She had lost to a terrifying "legion"!
She had lost to that damn "King" who was behind the scenes!
Contrary to what everyone expected.
She showed no anger, nor disappointment, and certainly she did not cry.
Instead... after a brief and deadly shock.
She raised her head.
And let out a loud, even slightly pathologically demented—
Laughter!
"Haha... Hahahahajajaja!!!!"
"Interesting!!"
"Too interesting!!!"
Amidst the silence and confusion reigning throughout the venue.
Zenyatta, after her laughter ceased.
She held the magnificent ornamental object she wore at her waist during the race, which resembled a European rapier.
She pushed through the crowd.
And walked directly toward the true "culprit" — Kaito — who still maintained a calm expression, as if everything were under his control.
She used the tip of that sword, which symbolized her status as a "knight"
Gently and with extreme provocation.
She pressed it against Kaito's chest.
She looked Kaito in the eyes.
Her amethyst eyes, normally as cold as an iceberg, were now full of a burning and unheard-of fighting spirit, like lava, and... a blatant desire for conquest.
"You..."
"Is it the 'King' who planned all of this...?"
"Is it not?"
She extended the tip of her crimson tongue and lightly licked her lips, which had become parched with excitement.
She spoke in a tone that sounded as if she were swearing before the gods:
"Very well"
"The result of the race no longer matters"
"From now on..."
"My prey is no longer those boring mediocres on the track"
"My prey..."
"Is you"
[ - - WARNING! - - ]
[Detected an ultra-high intensity S++ level "Conquest" intention from Zenyatta!]
[Capture conditions met!]
[Host, quickly select the next capture strategy:]
[A. Continuous Frustration (High risk, high reward, the queen might break)]
[B. Play Hard to Get (Medium risk, longer duration)]
[C. Subtle Persuasion (WARNING: Success rate for this target is below 0.01%!)]
...
In the VIP box.
Catherine watched the strange, and even somewhat ambiguous, scene on the screen, completely dumbfounded.
Initially, she wanted to see Zenyatta brutally humiliate Justify, but Zenyatta lost.
She thought Zenyatta would be infuriated, but instead, she was laughing.
She thought Zenyatta would go face Narita Taishin, but instead... she... she was pointing a sword at that cursed man!
That look... that look was full of a blatant and undisguised "appetite," as if she wanted to devour the other person whole!
She felt her brain and her worldview were completely overwhelmed...
In what bold and fervent way would Zenyatta's "hunting declaration" toward Kaito unfold?
Faced with this undefeated queen who only longs to "be conquered"
What kind of wild capture strategy would Kaito choose?
A dangerous "bet" full of adult implications, where only the final "victor" can dictate everything... will be personally initiated by Zenyatta...