101TH GEAR - DEADLOCK SECOND AMENDMENT

After our match was over, we immediately went backstage to meet with the whole Merry Knights. The moment I opened the door, there was a jumpscare to shock Flu and me.

“Congratulations! You breezed through and made it to the Grand Finals!” Ericka sprinkled out magical snowflakes blinking with all sorts of colors all over the room.

“Uwooooooogh! You are the best, Flu! You are the best Speedmage the Merry Knights, no, the whole Saint Crusade has to offer!!” Cruzo cried out loud as he blew the party horn.

“Tahahaha! Thanks, everyone!” Flu said as she embarrassingly scratched her head. “I think it was just luck, tehehehe~”

“It’s not luck, Flu!” Prez tapped the pink-haired superstar’s shoulder. “There’s no way you can be lucky three times in a row!”

“It’s pure talent! And hard work! Don’t forget the determination, guts, and love!” Cruzo beamed with a thumbs-up.

“Hey, isn’t it too early to celebrate?” I immediately popped their bubble. “There is one fight left, and we should be focusing on the Grand Finals.”

“What a party pooper.” Ericka pouted.

“Shut it, Useless Prez. I’ll treat you all guys to any restaurant after Flu becomes the Speedmage Champion. For now, we have to watch the next Speed Battle and see what happens next.” I said.

Ericka gave a short sigh. “Fiiiine.”

We four focused on the magical TV screen that shows the Triangle of the Grand Arena. The commentator started to talk.

“We are now live on the second Semifinals of the National Speedmage Tournament. The contenders for this match will be Liri Fontaine of the Saint Crusade Academy and the Speedmage Champion of the Mainland Regional Speedmage Tournament Lilith Nightshade. They both came from the central mainland but did not face off during the last Regionals. And now, whoever will win will have the chance to fight Fluonessia Asahime in the Championship Match!”

The camera pans to the viewing deck. Liri Fontaine’s navigator is Captain Tezza Flaschk, while Lilith Nightshade still has his guardian Gaylord Draculus as her navigator. Both navigators and Speedmages are busy setting up their gears and suits.

I can still remember when Captain Tezza and I had a small talk this morning.

<>

30 minutes earlier...

I was on my way to the backstage room to meet with my guild. I have to make sure that Flu is on top shape for her semifinal match, so I brought potions and dry face towels from a nearby magical vending machine. But then I crossed paths with a tall dark-skinned girl with silver eyes and a semi-bald cut.

“Coach Wardenorth.” Captain Tezza greeted with a smile.

“Captain Tezza.” I immediately wear a smile on my face. “You will be fighting Lilith Nightshade, right?”

“Yeah.” Captain Tezza gave a wry bream. “I don’t know if it is a blessing or a curse. Liri and I wanted to defeat Lilith, but we had hoped that we could have faced Fluonessia and you in an official tournament.”

“Welp, do your best, Captain. I would love to play with you in the finals.” I said.

“Honestly, I am not confident enough to face Lilith and Gaylord.” Captain Tezza bowed, seemingly losing heart. “It seems like the Speed Battle for today is not our destiny. Liri and I are an underdog here.”

I wordlessly keep silent while I clench my fist. In my objective and honest opinion, the performance Liri Fontaine had during the Joint Training Camp seems to be lacking. Lilith and Gaylord had an edge in pure speed, experience, techniques, and tactics. Their chances of winning are slim.

“Captain… Would you like me to be assigned as Liri’s navigator?” I muttered.

“Haha.” Captain Tezza gave an entertained laugh. She walked forward and tapped my shoulder. “We may be weak as of now, but there is something we are proud of. It is our pride as the Speedmages of Cool Escape. They can take away our win, but they will never take away our honor.”

I suddenly realized the stupidity of my proposal. It wasn’t me who just wanted to win against Gaylord. Fluonessia also wanted to win against Lilith. It was a good thing that Captain Tezza rejected my idea outright.

“I’m sorry.” I bowed.

“Don’t be sorry. Watch our match instead. Look for openings. Look for weaknesses. If we ended up as a stepping stone for Lilith, we will at least make her slip.”

Captain Tezza walked away, waving a happy goodbye at me.

<>

Back to the present...

“Both Speedmages Ready!” The referee shouted out loud. He raised his hand and readied the whistle.

Liri and Lilith took their starting positions on the 1st Checkpoint Tower. Both mages revved their mana on their Speedmage Shoes.

Side Note: Captain Liri Fontaine’s Speedmage Shoes is the Undine Force model, which is a brown pair of boots with green fairy wings. It is best suited for Speedsters as it amplifies the initial velocity of nature-type accel spells. And considering that her navigator is also a Speedster-class Speedmage, Liri and Tezza is a match.

Lilith gave a crescent-moon smile that gave menace in the air. Even watching from the TV screen, I can still feel the malice in the atmosphere.

“On your marks… Get set… Go!”

Fweeeeeeeeet!

“Flora Accel!” Captain Liri boosted forward with green contrail streaks with glittery sparkles! Whenever the green dust falls to the ground, a flower blooms in its wake!

Captain Liri Fontaine’s Flora Accel is a fusion-type magic that combines water and earth elements to create flowers or "flora". Her fragrant green contrail streak was the best-smelling speed spell I ever witnessed during our joint practices.

“Shadow Accel.” Lilith made a delayed and slow start with her dark speed spell. It was already given because Lilith is a Counter Speedmage which has inferior initial speed than Speedsters.

Five seconds have passed, and there are only one hundred and fifty meters left before Liri touches the 2nd Checkpoint Tower! Lilith is just five steps behind her!

“Liri! Activate it now!” Captain Tezza shouted through the mic.

“Copy!” Liri nodded, and then she clapped her hands. “Stun Spore Shower!”

All of a sudden, all the flowers that Liri activated bloomed and shot unlimited orange pollen that turned the air poisonous! Lilith passed through the smoke of pollens without no problems, but then she realized that her feet is getting sluggish to make a step.

“Ara ara, so you have this trick on your sleeve,” Lilith said, seemingly amazed.

“This is our countermeasure for your Deadlock Tactic!” Liri said with a smile as she boosted forward!

It was a good counter-strategy. Captain Liri used those Stun Spore Shower to slow the opponent’s movement to avoid getting Aether Switched once she get closer to the 2nd Checkpoint Tower. Since Lilith’s Aether Switch has a range of a hundred meters, all Liri had to do was stay out of range and score the first point!

Liri closed into the 2nd Checkpoint Tower and then touched it!

Beep!

Point for Liri, at 1:0!

After scoring the first point, Captain Liri drifted and made chase toward the 3rd Checkpoint Tower!

“Ara, ara, they are good,” Lilith said, still unfazed.

“Looks like Tezza-girl and Liri-girl have made their homework.” Gaylord Draculus scoffed through the mic of his telephone-looking antique headset. “But this is not enough. Lilith, proceed with Deadlock Second Amendment.”

“Yes, Father.” Lilith's smile widened. Her heterochromatic gold-and-crimson eyes glowed as she channeled mana on her whole body. “Shadow Dragon Surge.”

All of a sudden, a dark sticky aura manifested and coated Lilith’s whole body until she turned into a fearsome but beautiful serpent of magic! She surged forward and boosted towards the 2nd Checkpoint Tower with extraordinary yet stable speed!

Beep!

Point for Lilith, at 1:1!

After getting her first point, Lilith in the form of the shadow dragon boosted forward to the center of the Triangle!

At this point, Captain Liri has already covered 80% of the distance toward the 3rd Checkpoint Tower. She looked at the center of the Triangle to check on what Lilith Nightshade is doing, but then she was struck by a state of shock.

“Eh?” Captain Liri muttered.

Right at the center of the Triangle, Lilith Nightshade is standing menacingly. Her glowing gold-and-crimson eyes, her Cheshire cat smile, and her dark aura give only one thing to anyone who sees it.

Fear.

“Shadow Influx.”

As soon as Lilith muttered those words, she began puking out black sludge from her throat. This black sludge turned into the shadow that intercepted Captain Liri before she gets ahold of the 3rd Checkpoint Tower!

“Liri, watch out!” Captain Tezza shouted out loud.

“Eh!?”

However, it was too late for Captain Liri. The shadow sludge immediately unleashed tentacles that wrapped the flower spellcaster’s wrist and legs, and even her waist and neck!

“G-Ghhha!” Captain Liri cried out loud.

This spell- Shadow Influx is something nobody has ever seen before. It can pass through the magical barrier and wrap the limbs of its poor victim! It felt cheating at first glance, but all the shadow tentacles do is suppress Captain Liri and stop her from stepping further!

Captain Liri is just inches away from the 3rd Checkpoint Tower. She tried to reach out her hand, but the shadow tentacle is too powerful to pull out!

“G-Graaah! Gyaaak!” Captain Liri cried as she was helpless in this situation.

“Ara ara, what a shame, Liri Fontaine.” Lilith sleazily walked towards the restrained Speedmage. The witch pressed her face forward to look at the struggling Captain of the Cool Escape. “You were soooooo close.”

The witch walked around Captain Liri and had a good view of her exposed back. With a quick slap on it, a black magical circle point indicator manifested!

Beep!

Point for Lilith, at 1:2!

“And that ends this Speed Battle. Poor girl. Kekekeke!” The witch laughed like a villainess as she started to walk away.

There are still four minutes left in this Speed Battle. But since Lilith has the upper hand, all she needs to do is suppress Captain Liri’s movements until the time runs out. Just like what she did in her past matches, once she gets the point advantage, she will stall the time until the whistle is blown.

“G-Ghhh! Graaah!” Liri tried to reach out again, but then more tentacles started wrapping her body! There is no chance she can recover at this rate!

Captain Tezza cannot do anything but watch her fellow Cool Escape Captain suffer the four minutes of awkward humiliation. She clenched her fists, unable to say a word.

Meanwhile, Gaylord Draculus removed his headset and then proceeded to the exit, certain of his victory.

“Booooooo!”

Most of the audience started to condemn what Lilith has made. They are now throwing tomatoes, styrofoam cups, shawarma wrappers, and other garbage things. Someone even threw a bald cat. I guess it was pretty understandable as the crowd’s reaction as they are forced to watch this boring one-sided Speed Battle for the rest of four minutes. Heck, it’s not even a Speed Battle in the first place.

Meanwhile, here in the backstage, I saw the facial expressions of my fellow guild mates. Cruzo is just frowning with dismay, and our Prez is clenching her fists and gritting her teeth.

“This is absurd.” Ericka trembled in rage.

Meanwhile, Flu's expression is the same as the last time she watched Lilith's Speed Battle. Her blue eyes are sparkling like the ocean reflecting the sun's rays. Her smile is from ear to ear, as if she is thrilled to take the stage against Lilith next. She is so pumped up and excited even in this horrific match.

After four whole minutes of nothing, the whistle was blown.

Fweeeeeet!

“... The winner for this Semifinal Speed Battle is Lilith Nightshade! She shall proceed to the Grand Finals!” The referee announced.