Chapter 119: Bullseye [Gift Bonus]
"Star has already given Phantom a significant gap! Five hundred meters ahead?!! Can Phantom catch up?"
Nicholas tore forward at a terrifying speed, the distance between them shrinking with every stride.
The track blurred beneath his feet as his body dissolved into a trail of afterimages. For the first time since the race began, even Julie’s camera couldn’t keep up.
"What are we seeing??!! Phantom is cutting the gap incredibly quickly! God, what sort of speed is this!! And we thought Light was the end of it!"
[How can he be so fast while still avoiding the traps? He’s a literal machine!]
[He’s a literal speed God!]
Nicholas’s speed wasn’t carried by his legs alone. Every sense he possessed had been pushed to its absolute limit just to keep pace with the deadly track ahead.
His eyes swept across the track at lightning speed while his mind processed every trap ahead. His muscles tightened and relaxed with perfect precision, and even as the wind exploded behind him, his ears caught every shift in the air.
"He’s catching up! Phantom is catching up!!!" Julie’s voice rang out, a mix of shock, awe, and amazement.
Everyone watched as the five-hundred-meter gap was closed within seconds.
Blue traces streaked across the track at incredible speed, eventually compressing into a single point as Star pushed his ability to its limit.
But Nicholas was right behind them, and Star’s mind went into a swirl of thoughts.
’How is he so fast?! How could he catch up? How is he keeping up while avoiding all the traps?!’
Simply put, what Nicholas was doing at that moment was something even superhumans would have considered inhuman.
Star pushed himself to the absolute limit, but it was all to no avail. Nicholas was still right behind him.
"Your ability is unique. It allows you to break your body apart into tracers and dramatically increase your speed. In that state, you can push yourself beyond the speed of light."
Hearing Nicholas’ explanation, Star was stunned.
’Why is he telling me all of this? How does he even know all of this?’
"However, you have a limit to how long you can maintain that form."
Star felt a cold sweat run down his body as he heard Nicholas’ words.
’...Don’t tell me...’
"You can only maintain that form for roughly twenty minutes. After that, you’re forced back into your normal body before you can transform again."
’So all this time, he kept tracing me because he wanted to know how long it’d take for me to return to my human form?’ Star thought, dread creeping down his spine.
He didn’t know what Nicholas planned to do once he returned to his human form, but he could already tell it wasn’t going to be anything good.
"And if I’m not wrong... you’ve reached your limit." Nicholas’ voice came like a cold verdict.
Star gritted his teeth as his body was forced out of the earth, the blue traces reforming into his physical body.
The moment he did, he felt Nicholas’ sharp gaze pierce into his back.
"And in this form... you can be hit," Nicholas said coldly.
Star felt it instantly.
A spatial rift tore open beneath his feet.
’Shit!’
His legs slipped into the opening as the ground split apart beneath him.
"You run too fast and you might hurt yourself. Thanks for the warning earlier."
Nicholas’ voice dripped with sarcasm as he glanced down at Star one last time before running past him.
"What did we just witness?! Phantom has passed Star, and he’s now heading for the end of the track! Is this the end of the race? Will Phantom finish first and lead America to victory?!"
"He actually did it! Go, Phantom!" Dana shot to her feet, pumping her fists into the air.
Everyone turned toward Dana, but she couldn’t have cared less.
"Y’all are losers! Haha!" Dana shouted, her voice overflowing with excitement.
"Relax, Dana. The race isn’t over yet," Selena said, trying to calm her down.
Dana sat back down, her face still glowing with excitement.
"Phantom always delivers," Vixen said, a faint pink blush spreading across her face.
"I thought we’d lost it, to be honest. But again, Phantom always finds a way to surprise us," Nectron said, a smile spreading across his face.
"If he performs this well in this race, then I really can’t afford to mess up," Thinker said, their eyes glued to the screen.
The finish line was already within sight. Nicholas was only moments away from completing the second leg.
"He’s almost at the finish line! Will Phantom take first place?! Kite is still far behind, and the others don’t look like they’ll catch up in time!" Julie announced, her eyes shining with excitement.
But then...
Someone noticed something.
Selena sat in the theater room, her eyes widening as she counted the racers on the screen.
"There’s only four heroes on the track. Aren’t there supposed to be five?"
Dana frowned at the screen.
"The Australian hero... he’s missing."
She noticed the missing figure immediately.
"Where could he be?" Nectron asked, his eyes scanning every corner of the screens in search of the missing hero.
"Declaring yourselves the winners before the race has even ended... that’s rather arrogant. The race doesn’t end until the whistle blows."
Mercury’s calm, measured voice drew everyone’s attention.
"I agree. You never know what might happen at the very last moment," Jackson added.
The Americans immediately tensed upon hearing the Australians speak.
’What exactly did they do?’ Selena thought, her eyes fixed on the screen as she searched desperately for anything out of place.
Then she saw it.
A single red dot.
Hanging directly behind Nicholas.
"Fuck..." she muttered under her breath.
Nicholas was only a few meters from the finish line.
Just then, a voice echoed through the cave.
"Bullseye!"
And in that instant...
the race took a sudden turn.
{A/N: Thanks for the gift RedJen_OSU this bonus Chapter is for you!
Masatoshi_K, Thegreatestscape67 and Corey and everyone else! Thanks for helping us reach 100+ Goldentickets! As Promised, another bonus Chapter will be released tomorrow!}