Gamers Are Fierce-Chapter 663 - 661: Sneak Attack (4K)

"Ah, this..."

Sunset Gold Smelter was dumbstruck, lost for words.

The Kirby in front of him was the largest creature he had ever seen. This spherical pink demon towered like a mountain, standing tall and seemingly touching the sky. On both sides of its body extended massive, brown-furred, muscular gorilla arms. The pair of red oval shoes under its feet stretched out like city walls on either side, seeming to go on without end.

Inhale, exhale.

Ordinary breathing, amplified by its gigantic size, now turned into a raging gale capable of blowing away trees and houses.

The spores sprayed from the vertical exhaust pipe on top of the Leviathan War Chariot were torn into dust by the storm before they could even form, and even the entire war chariot was slowing down and shaking.

"That's some strong breath," Li Ang complimented, then commanded the Leviathan War Chariot. With a CLICK, a total of forty-eight sharp legs popped out from its sides, digging deeply into the road's surface to prevent the vehicle from rolling back.

The drivers in the vehicles behind them each showed off their unique skills, anchoring themselves firmly. Although they harbored animosity towards Li Ang and wished nothing more than to utterly destroy the war chariot that had caused them so much trouble, the transformed Kirby's Dream Land was currently of greater concern.

The pink demon's fury was directed at the Chaos Race Car in front of it. Kratos, his skin pale, held the Chaos Twin Blades, looking up without a trace of fear at the towering, otherworldly creature. He had slaughtered more colossal deities than he could count on his fingers, and even ancient Titans had fallen to his blade.

"Why isn't anyone calling a foul?" Nero stared at the mountainous Kirby, shouting loudly through the car's intercom. "Where's its car? Where is its car? Can it even continue racing without one?"

"The car is under its feet," Master Chief replied indifferently.

Following his indication, the crowd glimpsed a red truck being crushed under the edge of the giant Kirby's red shoes.

"DIE!!"

With Kirby's roar, a fierce gale poured down from above. The gorilla arms fell like the collapsing Mount Buzhou towards the racetrack.

"SHIT!" Nero cursed under his breath, steering his vehicle to rapidly retreat along the racetrack.

The other drivers, as if waking from a dream, began to either reverse their vehicles to get as far away from the overwhelming palm as possible, or build defensive fortifications on the spot, hoping to withstand the racetrack-covering slap.

Some attempted to retaliate. However, after seeing Master Chief maneuver his tank (an Emperor's Venom Series Tank from the Warhammer 40K series) rotate its twin barrels and fire a full-powered plasma blast (comparable to The Sword of Oath Victory), only to cause slight charring to a few of the target's hairs, everyone abandoned the idea of fighting back.

"Move back, move back!" Sunset Gold Smelter urgently warned. In his kinetic prediction vision, the giant palm appeared a deep, ominous red-black, and the Smart Chip at the back of his neck was desperately blaring alarms.

The Dusk Knight tried to start the vehicle, but found no response no matter how he twisted the steering wheel or pressed the pedals. A higher level of authority had taken over the vehicle's control system.

BEEP.

The button in front of the vehicle labeled "Seat Ejection" lit up inexplicably, and the overlapping screeches of countless Bug Clan members echoed from inside the vehicle, "Please fasten your seatbelts! We are about to take off!"

The three passengers' complexions changed drastically as vines dropped down, tightly binding their hands, feet, and torsos. Just as they tried to struggle free, a loud BANG came from under the vehicle.

The Leviathan War Chariot abruptly shed its heavy armor from all sides except the front. Thick, intertwined vines grew from the bottom of the vehicle, like the beanstalk in fairy tales reaching into the sky, propping the vehicle high up.

Pale-faced passengers, along with the war chariot, shot straight into the sky. The excessive G-force caused even these Transcendents to feel intense discomfort.

BOOM!!!

Finally, the giant arm of Kirby's Dream Land smashed into the ground.

The earth crumbled.

Sections of the road caved in, deep fissures spreading out like electric snakes. Countless pieces of debris flew about, and the shockwave pushed dust outward, forming a ring with a mushroom cloud within it.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Countless particles of flying sand and pebbles pelted the front armor of the Leviathan, carving deep pits.

The players inside the vehicle felt as if they were a small boat in an enraged sea, a withered leaf in a sudden storm. The seemingly sturdy, skyward-reaching vines were simply swept by the shockwave, snapping backward, their green juices splattering wildly.

This was mainly because Li Ang had not continued to invest Divine Power to reinforce the vines. He waited for the moment just before the vehicle was about to hit the ground to extravagantly use the little Divine Power he had left, weaving several layers of robust nets on the ground with previously laid plant seeds. These nets caught the falling, broken vine columns, as well as the Leviathan on top.

No sooner had the Mutant Chariot touched the ground than its twenty-four centipede-like legs sprang out once more, casually deflecting obstructing stones, helping the tires traverse ravines, and aiding the Leviathan in navigating the broken road surface like a centipede.

Saved from the brink of death, Sunset Gold Smelter took deep, heavy breaths. That terrifying experience of weightlessness reminded him of his first time going to an amusement park with a female colleague to ride the drop tower. After getting off, he had intended to brag a little, but the moment he opened his mouth, he puked a faceful of bile, complete with lunch remnants, all over her. Considering that the female colleague was the boss's daughter, he was fired the next day for, metaphorically, starting the day off on the wrong foot.

Luckily, most of the organs in my body are cybernetic now...

With the unpleasant memories surfacing, Sunset Gold Smelter took a deep breath, held it, and gazed intently into the dust ahead. His eyes could perceive the future movements of objects under inertial momentum, and naturally, he could see through the dust as well.

To his surprise, aside from Kirby's arm, there were living creatures moving up ahead!

Chaos Race Car!

Kratos still stood on the roof, right hand wielding a blade, left holding a shield. But both the blade and the shield were battered and broken, much like his blood-stained body, riddled with deep scars from shattered stones.

BOOM!

The Chaos Race Car roared to life, its exhaust pipes spitting flames, propelling the car onto the huge, furry back of Kirby's arm.

The sheer difference in size made the hairs on the gorilla's arm seem like tall, sturdy trees to the driver. Kratos stood on the roof, constantly slashing, the flaming sword light shaving off layers of fur, allowing the race car to charge unhindered along the limb.

Kratos's son, Atreus, bow in hand, continually shot arrows through gaps in the window, hitting Insect Monsters that charged out from within the hairs—likely parasites from Donkey Kong's original arms.

As the vehicle raced along, Kratos, expressionless, bent forward slightly, holding his blade in a reverse grip, half-kneeling at the car's front. He could see Kirby's face contorted in a hateful, furious expression.

That look of despair, of being robbed of everything precious, was all too familiar to him—so familiar that he subconsciously caressed the snow-white skin on the back of his hand. Hate me? Then come and try. Kill me.

The determined look in Kratos's eyes flashed for but an instant. He stood up, slinging the shield onto his back, and used a chain to firmly bind himself to the race car at his waist. His palm, dripping with hot blood, grasped the Chaos Twin Blades tightly.

The colossal paw descended like a tidal wave, intent on crushing the Chaos Race Car, which had climbed to the shoulder, like a fly.

The engine's roar was deafening.

The Chaos Race Car accelerated relentlessly. Kratos looked up at the giant paw, exhaling like a dragon.

He bent his knees and sprang.

The chains dangling from the roof shot upwards like meteors in reverse, as the Spartan, famed as the God Slayer, ascended high into the sky to confront the massive paw head-on. The Chaos Twin Blades, burning with flames, had just traced a semicircle when the suddenly accelerating paw, along with the master of the blades, were grasped in its hand and squeezed forcefully.

The billions of residents in Central City watching on TV, Shou Margot high in the sky, and the various drivers on the road all instinctively held their breath.

Kirby's Dream Land's face showed a complex expression mixed with cruelty, sorrow, and pain as its palm trembled slightly. Blood constantly seeped through the crevices of its enormous hand.

In the next second, fiery light burst forth from the palm!

Kratos, wielding the Chaos Twin Blades, pierced entirely through the back of Kirby's Dream Land's giant hand. He had no time to wipe off the copious bloodstains on his body. Dragging the lengthy iron chains, he rushed along Kirby's Dream Land's other arm, heading for its neck.

He swung his blade but cut through nothing.

A look of astonishment finally appeared on Kratos's face. The Chaos Twin Blades in his hand passed directly through the body of Kirby's Dream Land as if through an illusion, meeting no resistance at all.

This is...

Kratos instinctively looked down, only to see that the war chariot beneath Kirby's Dream Land had, at some point, ignited. The explosion of that war chariot was caused by the MKⅢ-shaped Bomb Tires thrown from the rear of the Leviathan Car. This tool, snatched by Li Ang and the others from the actual GTA5 trio, indeed lived up to its reputation for being 'excessively destructive.' Even from a distance, it directly destroyed the war chariot upon which Kirby's Dream Land's existence relied, and even blasted a vague path directly to the finish line ahead.

With its war chariot destroyed, the super-giant Kirby's Dream Land, no matter how strong, had to forfeit its qualification to compete. It was directly expelled from the track, transforming into a phantom, unable to make contact with other war chariots or drivers.

Wait, contact?

Kratos's brain whirred as if he had realized something.

The very next instant, the Chaos Race Car, having lost all support, began to free-fall, plummeting from the sky.

The drivers behind witnessed the scene and instantly understood what had happened ahead. They accelerated frantically, determined to stop the Leviathan War Chariot before it could reach the finish line.

There were less than fifty kilometers to the finish line.

The dozen or so remaining war chariots were neck and neck. The camaraderie forged while navigating the Spore Otherworldly Zone together began to dissolve from that moment. They saw the Leviathan War Chariot ahead, already in tatters. With every bit of distance it covered, the vehicle would shudder inexplicably, the rear exhaust pipe emitting choking black smoke. Like a dying old man in his last days, it seemed it could break down at any moment.

The drivers exchanged glances through their windows. It was unclear who made the first move, or perhaps several people acted simultaneously.

Beams, shells, flames, gales.

The battle erupted once again.

WHOOSH—

In the second before the Chaos Race Car was about to hit the ground and be destroyed, flames abruptly ejected from the bottom of the vehicle, providing thrust and allowing it to come to an abrupt halt, hovering a distance above the ground.

The condition of the four aboard was dire. The misshapen Fire God, squeezed by the deformed car body, bled nonstop from both arms. Senna, who was driving, had her waist pierced by shattered rocks, blood gushing profusely. Kratos's son, Atreus, had fired too many arrows; his arms trembled wildly, his fingers covered in deep, bone-exposing cuts. And Kratos himself had lost his left arm in Kirby's Dream Land's grasp.

"..."

Kratos looked at the other three members, his determined face showing no expression.

"Chase?"

"Chase."

Three voices answered succinctly and crisply.

The Chaos Race Car started again.

「——————」

"They're catching up," the Dusk Knight warned in a low voice, watching the other war chariots gradually closing in through the rearview mirror.

Now, with less than eight kilometers to the finish line, the Leviathan War Chariot barely maintained its lead, while only four chariots remained on the track.

After numerous battles and struggles, everyone was nearing their limits. At the forty-kilometer mark, Sunset Gold Smelter activated the power furnace within its cybernetic body and swept away Gordon Freeman's and Cloud's chariots with the Light Cannon. Twenty kilometers out, the Dusk Knight used a Saint's tooth bone—treasured by Westminster Abbey in Great Britain—to summon ten Otherworldly angels from the World of DND, destroying Master Chief's vehicle with holy light spears. With only ten kilometers to go, the Witch downed her last large Magic Potion, squeezed out every drop of her Magic Power, and attempted a Cracking Spell to annihilate their strongest competitor—Kratos.

However, the spell missed by a hair's breadth, grazing over the top of Kratos's head and striking Nick Ramos, who was behind him.

If Kratos had been even a centimeter taller, or if he had hair, the Cracking Spell would have hit, and they could have declared victory by now. Unfortunately... he was bald.

The Witch pursed her lips tightly. Her face was already covered in dragon scales, her pupils had turned into vertical slits, and even the shadow of dragon horns faintly emerged from the back of her head. If she were to cast even one more powerful spell, she would suffer a Magic Power backlash and permanently become a Dragonborn, her brain corroded by frenzied Magic Power, unable to regain her sanity...

With murky eyes, the Witch said hoarsely, "Or should we just broadcast it...? Anyway, our mission is to cross the finish line among the top three, not to win the championship.

"Tell them we have no intention to compete; they can fight and snatch as they please."

"It's no longer possible," the Dusk Knight shook his head. "Even if we said that, or even if we voluntarily stopped by the roadside, they wouldn't spare any potential competitor."

"..."

The Witch remained silent.

Throughout this leg of the journey, neither Li Ang nor the Leviathan Brain Worm had spoken, maintaining their silence. The three teammates didn't know he was straining to the utmost to harness Divine Power and maintain the Leviathan's balance. But judging by the constantly failing air conditioners, ventilation, and lighting systems, and the crumbling, disintegrating Worm components, they could guess that Li Rising was also on the brink of exhaustion.

To think, the finish line was just ahead...

"Let's end this..."

The Chaos Race Car accelerated for the last time. Kratos, one arm severed and his body a bloody mess, ignited the flames on his Chaos Twin Blades, waiting for contact with the Leviathan War Chariot.

Beside him, the master assassin Ezio Auditore, who had been exploiting bugs in Ubisoft series games all along, approached with his constantly flickering abilities—the other three passengers, to provide data strength, had actively sacrificed themselves to merge with Ezio.

On the last chariot, driven by Devil May Cry's Nero, four drivers actively cut off the tufts of hair on their heads, giving them all to the true King Arthur—these tufts were their proof of unique data, as well as the source of their power.

Three chariots closed in on the Leviathan.

Accompanied by Saber's roar, "Exca—!", the palms of three players were already on the car door.

The worst-case scenario would be abandoning the car, forfeiting the race, and then being stranded in this world...

"Remember our pact," Li Ang's voice suddenly resounded within the Leviathan War Chariot. The three players were jolted, about to ask questions, when they heard another voice—cold, indifferent, and not belonging to any member of their crew.

"Of course, I remember."

The voice sounded oddly familiar?

On the chariot behind, the young King Arthur recited the name between oath and victory, "—LIBUR!!!"

A beam of annihilating Magic Power poured towards the Leviathan War Chariot.

"Destruction Death Rays!"

A weaker, yet still destructive, beam of light suddenly shot out from a hidden spot beneath the Leviathan War Chariot, spanning fifty meters and hitting Saber's chariot. The beam released by Saber passed through the Leviathan like a phantom, causing no damage.

"Supersonic!"

"Flame Thrower!"

"Freezing Beam!"

"Ten Thousand Volts!"

Before the remaining two chariots had time to evade, another dozen attacks ambushed and struck their vehicles.

The race was over.

Only the Leviathan, still able to move normally, was left on the track. And, sliding out from beneath the war chariot, was a simple, spartan donkey cart with only four wheels, incapable of moving on its own.

On the cart lay Ash, the Pokémon Trainer, and his Pokémon.

The sudden turn of events shocked everyone. Under the astonished gazes of the passengers and the airborne reporters, the Leviathan slowly approached the finish line and came to a gentle stop. It then pushed the donkey cart, letting Ash cross the finish line first.