[Gold Ship], with a complex expression, stepped down from the Winning Concert stage. It was her first time performing a solo stage, and she had barely managed to get through it. Besides, this wasn't even her stage to begin with. She had to pretend to be Demon King Ship while performing, which was incredibly uncomfortable. She and that kind of person were absolutely incompatible.
"Good work, Gold Ship."
"Lord Goldie-chan... is burnt out."
"I know you were wronged this time. Later, when we have some time off, I'll take you and everyone out to relax."
"Lord Goldie-chan wants to go to the forest!"
"Alright."
Okino secretly led [Gold Ship] out of the venue through a special passage. Normally, no runner or trainer would refuse the post-victory interviews, but right now, it wasn't suitable for [Gold Ship] to be exposed any further.
Demon King Ship's sudden disappearance had initially attracted some attention, but the matter was eventually covered up. Symboli Rudolf and the others had [Gold Ship] impersonate Demon King Ship. Aside from the spectators who were very close to the track at the time and still had their doubts, the incident didn't cause much of a stir in the outside world.
Although Demon King Ship's performance in the race was astonishing, because the total race time wasn't particularly outstanding, it didn't attract too much attention. Most people were focused on the defeat of Trêve, the Arc de Triomphe champion. Most reports, including those from local Japanese newspapers, described Trêve as being in poor condition during the race, trying to attribute this failure of her expedition to health issues.
However, this kind of news only fooled the casual fans. Most insiders felt something was wrong. If only Trêve was in bad shape, it could be blamed on the expedition. But the problem was, almost every runner in this race had been in bad shape. That meant things weren't so simple.
Many people had noticed Demon King Ship's existence.
But this was something that couldn't be hidden from insiders anyway. The reason they allowed these reports was merely to cover up the news of Demon King Ship's miraculous disappearance. After all, even though having [Gold Ship] impersonate her provided a reasonable explanation, if people dug too deep, problems would easily arise. At the very least, the difference in strength between [Gold Ship] and Demon King Ship was a problem that couldn't be solved for now.
While leaving behind a huge mess, Demon King Ship returned to her own world, washing up on the beach with the tide. Even though she hadn't been "fished up" this time, unexpectedly, the exit was still in this place.
Demon King Ship spat out the seawater in her mouth and lay on the beach. Her mind was full of the figure she had seen just before leaving that world. Uncontrollable emotions made the corners of her mouth turn up. Her mood wasn't as terrible as she had imagined; in fact, it was surprisingly good. She thought silently: 'That one really did appear. Next time... next time, this great one will definitely defeat her and take the title of "strongest" from her hands!'
Wanting to get close to Mejiro McQueen and wanting to defeat Mejiro McQueen... in Demon King Ship's eyes, these were exactly the same thing.
Because only that Mejiro McQueen could make her truly get serious in a race, and let her experience the joy of running.
Demon King Ship had never understood the joy of running.
Running with those weaklings only made her feel incredibly bored. Those races couldn't let her release herself fully, nor did they provide a target she seriously wanted to catch. It was all so uninteresting.
How could such races make her happy?
The prerequisite for wanting to win is the unknown outcome of the race. No matter how confident one is in their strength, if the result is known from the start, everything becomes boring.
At the very least, the opponent's strength must be enough to make her feel a one-in-a-thousand chance of the unknown. Only a race like that would be somewhat interesting.
She, Demon King Ship, wasn't like Mejiro McQueen, who was satisfied just being able to run. She wanted an opponent! She craved intense collision!
Only in that kind of race could Demon King Ship feel that she was running, and only then would the thought of "wanting to win" arise!
'Then admit it. Right now, this Demon King is the challenger.'
Demon King Ship brushed back her hair.
Although she had missed meeting Mejiro McQueen this time, and there was a sense of loss, it vanished in an instant. Right now, the surging battle lust in her body was constantly expanding.
Before, she wasn't actually sure if she could meet Mejiro McQueen. Even with McQueen's memories, knowing her own origins and the birth of this world were due to the system, she couldn't be 100% certain. After all, those were just memories; she didn't have much tangible feeling. So she was anxious to get a definite answer. When she discovered she had accidentally crossed over to the world where Mejiro McQueen had appeared, she was incredibly excited.
When she saw that [Mejiro McQueen]'s "blooming" failed to attract the other McQueen's descent, the disappointment in her heart was uncontrollable. Until... she truly saw that Mejiro McQueen's figure at the end. In that moment, what she felt was not regret over missing her, but a surprise from the bottom of her heart. As if she had finally found a goal, the emptiness in her heart was greatly filled in that instant.
'With this, my goal is set. Mejiro McQueen—this great one will defeat you!' After confirming this, Demon King Ship felt an experience she'd never had before. That sense of satisfaction from the bottom of her heart made every cell in her body feel sublimated.
Is this the emotion a Demon King feels when witnessing the birth of a true Hero? A feeling that nothing else matters, an urge to just burn oneself completely. If she could burn herself out like this, then the ending wouldn't matter, right? To die in a fierce battle with the Hero... that was not unacceptable. In fact, it was good!
But—
No...
Demon King Ship rejected this ending. Because she wasn't satisfied. She wasn't the anime Demon King who became indifferent to victory or defeat after thousands of years of solitude. Compared to an ending where it's over after just one race, what she, Demon King Ship, wanted was to defeat the Hero, Mejiro McQueen, and then make Mejiro McQueen the challenger! Let their rivalry continue forever! Let this "battle" never end!
Yes. This is what she, Demon King Ship, wanted.
Or rather, it was what she wanted now. After all, she didn't know if something would happen to change her mindset after defeating Mejiro McQueen. Demon King Ship had no confidence in controlling her own emotions. She felt this was definitely the fault of this body. [Gold Ship]'s body must be affecting her thinking.
Now, her mission was to clear the story mode, and during this period, she needed to raise her condition to its peak. She would challenge Mejiro McQueen in her strongest form, surpassing even the "True Demon King" state!
Back in this world, the temporarily calmed Demon King Ship regained her reason. She knew very well she was currently no match for Mejiro McQueen. Although she really didn't want to admit it, and had deliberately ignored it all along, since she was going to challenge Mejiro McQueen, she had to seriously face this problem.
'I am the challenger. The stronger one right now is Mejiro McQueen' — this fact!
Red light shimmered in Demon King Ship's eyes.
Her aura burst out intermittently.
Is admitting one's own weakness... such a painful thing?
'Races. Lots of races! Compared to her handling of details, this great one is inferior. Whether it's control over skills or research into domains, I am currently beneath her. But it doesn't matter. This world is this great one's dungeon. Although the mobs are low-level right now and don't yield much XP, quantity can make up for quality to some extent. And... the level of the mobs can be raised.'
Demon King Ship leaped up from the beach. After returning to Tracen Academy, she first found Agnes Tachyon and recounted her experience of traveling to the parallel world, asking Tachyon to see if she could figure anything out. But in reality, she didn't hold much hope for this.
"Just do your best."
That was what Demon King Ship told Tachyon.
"But the focus of the research must still be on the transmission of skills. I need to run a lot of races next. If I can't raise the strength of these runners, it will be meaningless."
"How could I give up, Lord Demon King?! That's another world! How did you cross over? Can you still find the spot that let you cross? Take me there to see..." Agnes Tachyon looked at Demon King Ship with fanaticism.
"How would this great one know that kind of thing? But it's probably my special ability. Maybe there will be a chance to cross over again in the future, but definitely not now. Anyway, you focus on the work at hand. Knowing about this is enough for now." Demon King Ship had observed carefully when she returned; there was no "space-time tunnel" in the sea. She suspected this was a privilege only she and Mejiro McQueen possessed, caused by the system's power.
"Then it's a deal! Next time you cross over, you have to take me with you, Lord Demon King!" Agnes Tachyon made the decision on her own.
Although Demon King Ship noticed, she didn't refute it. After all, she needed Tachyon to work for her. If this would make Tachyon work harder, then so be it. She couldn't control this matter anyway, so she couldn't make any guarantees.
"By the way, give me two more sets of that product."
Demon King Ship held out her hand to Tachyon.
Although puzzled, Tachyon took two more sets of the "Skill Learning Manual" from her drawer.
"I seem to have lost the previous set in that world," Demon King Ship explained after taking them.
...
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