>>5448776>>5448816>>5448820[Every man for himself]
[Did you not hear]
[What I’ve said at all?]
[Don’t expect me to honor the deal]
{But…}
{…..}
[Without leverage]
[There’s no reason to agree to it]
Fhang remains mostly silent for the rest of the way out of the cave. He passes the time by scraping off the crystal residue on his wings.
After minutes of climbing the perilous pillars and navigating the uneven terrain, the two return to the surface. Much like before, the island consists of rocks and fine sand.
The difference is that the three other contestants are sitting on the mounds of sand, scraping crystals off their wings and horses. The sea serpents are waiting on the shoreline nearby.
The contestants get on their horses and activate their wings again once they see the two heading towards them. Once Guang reaches the group, Xil drops Fhang off.
[Heh. It’s cute how naive he is.]
{..oh.}
{Thanks.}
{I.. I mean, you’re really..}
[Stop]
[And forget what I’ve just said]
Xil really should’ve severed their telepathic connection before thinking internally.
With Xil and Fhang readied, the serpents decide to continue the competition.
They’ve waited long enough.
Not even a single lap has passed and five contestants were too slow to keep up.
The journey with the serpents takes them on a path of lotuses and lily pads floating above water. The petals and leaves are normally soft, but it can quickly turn hard when force is applied to them. If the serpents or horsemen lose momentum, the plants will entangle them like a net.
Even the ones with wings aren’t safe, as rapid change in air temperature will cause them to counteract the effects by producing a cold or hot mist. While their bodies can take it, the mechanical wings can easily overheat or freeze up.
A mechanical wings user decide to be a smartass and try send out a jet cold air in front of her, but Guang leaps over the boiling hot lily pads and pull him towards her by using the gravity enchanted barrels.
Once dragged to the water’s surface, she accelerates and smacks his head into the heated plants with the iron reinforced butt of her pistol before he could react.
The muffled screams and sizzling are all the confirmation she needs.
They eventually reach an island which has faces on everything. Dirt itself is filled with thousands of faces, trying to bite or scream at the serpents and the racers as they trample on then.
After racing around it, rather than leaving the island, the serpents jump into a particular large mouth. Without carefully following the serpents, the racers could end up falling into the wrong holes and end up trapped.
