90TH GEAR - THE GODDESS OF SPEED

Flu forced a smile as sweat crawled down her face. Her azure blue eyes are shaking, and she is suppressing the fear of dread she is feeling just by facing Vincent. I can even see her knees trembling due to the stress in the atmosphere.

Anyone would be surprised if they see a kind flippant person who was always smiling turned to be the most serious person in the room. Fluonessia must have pissed Vincent off when she surpassed Vincent’s teleportation speed.

“Flu!” I shouted at my mic with grit.

“Y-Yes!?” Flu snapped back to reality.

“You are still in a huge lead at 125:82! There are 3 minutes left! Try to defend and flee as much as possible!” My voice cracked as I gave that advice.

“R-Roger, Coach!” Flu nodded as she started to run away from the center of the Triangle. “Stardust Accel!”

The best approach in this situation is to run at the edges of the playing field since the volume of the teleporter swords is much thinner compared to the center of the Triangle. Also, if Flu ran at the edges, she would only watch out for the direction pointing to the Triangle as Vincent cannot teleport outside the playing field.

“Nice tactic.” Vincent smiled with a hint of anger. “But I will never let you do that.”

Vincent made a ninja hand seal, and then he started teleporting from one magic sword to another, and then to another. His rates in teleportation became extremely fast that he is now creating thirty speed mirages of himself, scattered all around the Triangle!

All of a sudden, Vincent reappeared right to the sword where Flu was headed! He spread out his arm and blocked Flu from her path!

Bzzzzt!

“Kyah!”

Flu cried as she was launched backward due to the repelling force. As soon as she recovered, Flu immediately continued her Stardust Accel to escape to the right!

“Futile!”

Vincent disappeared once again and then reappeared right in front of Flu! Just like before, Vincent pushed the pink-haired Speedmage closer and closer to the center of the Triangle! Flu tried and tried doing more detours, but every time she would attempt to escape, Vincent will just reappear and block her path!

“Aaaugh!” Flu cried once again as she was blasted by the repelling effect of the magical barriers!

“Try to lose him!” I immediately advised. Cold sweat dripped from my chin.

“I-I can’t! There are teleporter swords everywhere!” Flu’s voice trembled, full of fear!

This is not good! If this keeps up, Vincent will be able to use his ultimate move! What should Flu do? There is no escape anywhere!

“Do it now, big brother,” Justine muttered. 

Just hearing those words gave chills to my spine!

“Haaaaaaaaaah!”

Vincent roared out loud as he charged mana inside his body. The thirty speed clones he is maintaining by teleportation quadrupled their numbers! There are now over one hundred Vincent clones in the Triangle! All those clones surrounded Flu who now looks like a cornered puppy.

“Omnidirectional Strike!”

Hundreds of clones boosted forward with Photon Accel, and struck Flu in all directions! North, south, east, west, above- there is no escape!

Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt!

“Kwaah! Awawawawa!” Flu cried as she bounced through the hundred clones because of the repelling force! And since it is an omnidirectional assault, Vincent and his clones managed to strike Flu’s back!

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Points for Vincent at 125:93!

Omnidirectional Strike is a good finishing spell in Speed Battles as Vincent can score a lot of points in just a short blink of time. However, it is way less efficient than his Omnitouch in terms of scoring as the Omnidirectional Strike bounces back the target, making it disorganized.

Vincent continues to strike indefinitely in random directions, completely immobilizing his opponent while racking up some points.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Points for Vincent, at 125:102!

There was a light at the end of the tunnel. The duration of the Omnidirectional Strike slowly faded as Vincent’s teleporter clones vanished one by one. Soon, there were only five of them who were doing the random strikes! Two of those struck Flu’s back, scoring a couple of points.

Beep! Beep!

Points for Vincent, at 125:104!

And then…

The teleporting stopped.

Vincent was wheezing as he stood at the center of the Triangle with a smile on his face. Meanwhile, Flu is doing the same, albeit she is more dizzy than her opponent. This battle is still far from over as both the Speedmages mana capacity are still above 20%. There is one minute left, and Flu must be able to hold on before the whistle is blown.

However, the Land of Swords is still here. As long as the Alternate Reality Magic is active, we can never lower our guard. This is Vincent the Teleporter we are talking about, and even with over twenty points of lead, he can still catch up.

“Haaah… Haaah… Haaah.”

“Gaaah… haaah… haaah.”

Both panted for five whole seconds and then Vincent finally talked.

“I did not expect that Omnidirectional Strike is not enough to get through your points. However, I still have one last card to play. And I think it is time we finish this.”

“Eh?” Flu’s eyes became wide open as she felt something behind her! Just before she could turn her back, a white magical circle point indicator manifested! Vincent has teleported right behind her and has already scored a point!

Beep!

Point for Vincent, at 125:105!

“Kuh!” Flu cried.

Vincent pointed his hand at Flu and channeled his last speed spell for this fight.

“This is my… Flash Bullet Barrage.”

Vincent then teleported at the nearest sword that is the closest to Flu’s back and then boosted with Photon Accel, and struck his opponent!

Beep!

Point for Vincent, at 125:106!

Vincent has once again teleported to the nearest sword, boosted with Photon Accel, and struck Flu’s back, over and over again! White contrail streaks looked like reverse fireworks can be seen in the Triangle, repeatedly striking Flu’s rear without any halt! Stacks of white magical circle point indicators manifested, and Flu can’t do anything but be swept by the repeated repelling effect!

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Vincent’s absurdly quick and precise strikes gave a rhythm to the bleeps of magical circle point indicators! Because of this, Vincent was able to catch up with his points!

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Point for Vincent, at 125:126!

The opponent was able to take the lead once more!

125:127 

125:128 

125:129 

125:130 

125:137

125:150 

125:161.

The rates of Vincent's scoring power is slower, but it is much more precise. It's like Flu has this big target on her back, and Vincent is always striking the bull's eye.

The score of this match is too absurd to be true. But what’s more ridiculous is Vincent’s will to fight and give it his all in this Speed Battle. He even invented the new speed spell Flash Bullet Barrage for his final match against Fluonessia. He knew that if he did not grow during the period when we are busily training, we would eventually beat him.

“This is so fun, Coach!” Flu smiled, and then she was struck in the back. “Kyah!”

“You think so? You’re getting beaten up.” I said with grit.

I know that we are in a pinch right now. But that is the very reason why Flu is smiling.

“Y-Yes, but… Kuh!... I think I came to love Speed Battles more… Kwah!” Flu continued to talk even with those yelps and the noise of the magical circle point indicator beeping.

“Oh yeah? Then stop resting and show the Ex-Speedmage Champion how much you love Speed Battles.” I said with a smile.

“Kyah!” Flu cried as another magical circle point indicator manifested. Then she returned my smile and her blue eyes gave the final glint. “Roger that, Coach!”

Beep! Another magical circle point indicator manifested on Flu’s back!

Point for Vincent, at 125:182!

Flu was launched again because of the repelling effect, but when Vincent teleported and rushed to strike her back one more time, Flu made a somersault that is as graceful as a dolphin! She finally managed to evade Vincent’s assault by going overhead!

“W-What the” Vincent muttered as he glanced up.

“Get ready, Mister Vincent! Let me show you my version of your Flash Bullet Barrage!”

Flu swiped her hands out wide, and three Stardust Trampolines manifested in midair. She jumped from one trampoline to another to create three magical speed clones of herself, and then the three Flus boosted forward to strike Vincent’s back!

Beep! Beep! Beep! Three magical circle point indicators manifested!

Points for Fluonessia, at 128:182!

As soon as both Speedmages are launched in opposite directions because of the repelling force, Flu created three Stardust Trampolines once again, created two speed clones of herself, and then rushed once more!

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Points for Fluonessia, at 131:182!

Flu repeated the process over and over again, sending Vincent in random directions. The pink magical circle point indicators stacked on his back like pancakes, and the endless beeps became a long one that screeched through our ears.

“This is my Chain Trampoline: Triforce Bullet Barrage!” Flu made her ultimate war cry!

140:182! 

152:182! 

170:182! 

182:182!

Flu has managed to tie the score! And there are five seconds left! Flu continued to rack up points mercilessly with her huge advantage in momentum!

I know for a fact that Flu was resting and reserving her energy after that disastrous Omnidirectional Strike. When Vincent started his relentless assault using Flash Bullet Barrage, Flu was watching and learning how it was used. That is why she never did anything and saved her evasion technique at the right time.

Flu is a genius and a prodigy as Vincent has predicted, and now she is displaying it by copying Vincent’s ultimate move and making her version of it. That is nuts, considering that Flu was only able to watch it for one time and learned it in just a matter of seconds. She continues to grow during Speed Battles until nobody else is left to catch up with her.

“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Flu screamed out loud as she continued to score a point! Her voice mixed with the noise of the magical circle point indicators that beeped almost endlessly!

Meanwhile, Vincent is no longer reacting, except for the satisfied smile on his face. His mana and stamina have dried out, and he can no longer do anything but let Flu take the lead. He closed his eyes, made a deep breath, and then glanced at his back to talk to Flu.

“I acknowledge this true resolve of yours! You stepped forth, trespassing the realm of the gods, and outspeed teleportation! You have defeated me, seized my throne, and showed to me that you are worthier than I to enter the Speedmage Tournament!”

Vincent gave a wide beam on his face and shouted out loud.

“I, Vincent the Teleporter, proclaim you the Goddess of Speed!”