Chapter 206: Racers Enter One by One
Chapter 206: Racers Enter One by One
Currently, there were only five people present at the scene, and these five could be called the designated honest folks of the event. They arrived on time, truly without any ulterior motives. The group consisted of Gudako, Artoria, Hephaestion, Waver, and Alexander. They were all quite familiar due to their previous interactions, although the relationships between them were not exactly perfect more like tangled webs of misunderstandings.
As for the vehicles... Hephaestion and Alexander each brought their own Noble Phantasms as expected. Artoria's vehicle, on the other hand, seemed to be missing for the moment. Meanwhile, she was casting an angry glare, albeit strictly at Spike in the shopping basket behind Bai Song.
Shifting the perspective to Gudako's side, Bai Song nearly choked on his soda when he saw her "vehicle."
"What... What kind of abomination is this?"
Staring at the Red Hare standing next to Gudako, Bai Song struggled to hold back his laughter. After several beautiful contestants, suddenly there was a centaur with a horse's head in the midst, which was quite shocking, to say the least.
Oh, and when he said "shocking," he meant that it gave him weak legs.
Bai Song was all too familiar with this creature it was none other than Red Hare, who claimed to be Lu Bu Fengxian.
Moreover, if Bai Song's memory served him correctly, Red Hare was the first "localized" Servant in the TYPE-MOON universe.
Why? Because Red Hare was a mare, a female horse. As a result, for a long time, Bai Song had given Red Hare peculiar looks. And now, he could clearly see the disbelief in Red Hare's eyes. It was hard to get past this shock without splashing some cold water on his face.
Gudako noticed Bai Song's disdainful expression and thought he was targeting her, so she shot him a fierce glare in return. However, Bai Song chose to ignore Gudako's gaze, which seemed to lack anything but hostility. He didn't even spare her a direct look.
Well... it's a bit of a stretch to say that. He did, however, glance at the top of her head to check if her scalp was still there.
"Zzzt." After arriving at the parking area, Bai Song applied the brakes, and the cat and mouse car came to a halt beside Waver and Alexander, conveniently putting some distance between him and Gudako.
Seeing Bai Song park next to him, Waver was so startled that he quickly hid behind Alexander.
Waver's timid behavior, reaching sky-high levels, left Bai Song utterly speechless. He was here to save the world, so why was he attracting so much negative attention? It was beyond his understanding. Bai Song pondered this silently, wondering if he had done anything particularly outrageous. Shaking his head, he casually pulled out Ryuunosuke's phone from his pocket. Seeing that it was only 10:02 AM and there was still some time before the official race start at 11:00 AM, he decided to pass the time by scrolling through Twitter.
Three minutes later.
"Vroom!" A low engine rumble suddenly emanated from the entrance in the distance. At the sound, including Bai Song, everyone present turned their attention towards the entrance.
What appeared at the entrance was a convertible pure white sports car, with the interior color being a vibrant girly pink. The color scheme alone triggered all sorts of imaginative thoughts, leading one to speculate that the owner of the car must be a cute muscle-bound man capable of uprooting willow trees. Just looking at this pink arrangement made it easy to guess that the owner was none other than Merlin.
However, the person sitting in the driver's seat was not Merlin but Irisviel, the wife of Emiya Kiritsugu. The reason was simple: Irisviel had better driving skills than Merlin.
Merlin, seated in the passenger seat, stood up, surveyed the area, and waved excitedly with a cheerful tone, "Yo-ho, old acquaintances everywhere!"
Yet, except for Artoria, no one seemed interested in greeting him. Artoria glared at Merlin, her patience wearing thin, "Merlin, clean your neck and wait for your demise."
Merlin heard Artoria's threat but showed no sign of fear. He knew very well that Artoria's holy sword had already been severed by Spike, so there was no need to fear being chased and attacked by her.
With a smile, he patted his head innocently and said, "Oh dear, I'd be so heartbroken if you said that..."
"Honk!!!"
As Merlin spoke, an extremely discordant honk blared from behind him.
"Hey, hey, don't block the way up front!"
"Ah, my apologies, my lady. I've finished greeting. Please drive in," Merlin turned back and apologized before resuming his seat. He addressed Irisviel, who was at the wheel.
"Alright." Hearing this, Irisviel started the sports car and maneuvered it into the waiting area.
The pink car with Merlin and Irisviel inside definitely stood out, leaving the crowd of participants quite bewildered.
After the pink and white sports car entered the waiting area, it revealed the vehicle that had honked aggressively behind it. This car closely resembled the vehicle "Deluxo" from the game "Grand Theft Auto V" and was named "Deloso." It even had neon lights underneath, giving it a distinct cyberpunk vibe.
Upon seeing this car, Artoria's eyes lit up, and she exclaimed, "Assassin, you're finally here!"
Indeed, the owner of this car was Okita J. Sji. The car parked next to Artoria after entering the waiting area. Soji got out of the car and lightly caressed the car's hood. "This is the promised racing car. With this car, you're destined to be the ultimate winner of this race!"
"Mmm, a true ally!" Artoria stroked the car's hood with both hands, as if petting her own warhorse.
Seeing Artoria's satisfaction, Soji felt relieved. With her head held high, she attempted to introduce the racing car she brought, "Its name is 'Star Assault II Max Edition,' boasting top-notch speed and equipped with a powerful weapon system..."
After a moment of thought, Artoria said with deep emotion as she continued caressing the car's hood, "Starting today, you shall be known as the 'Dullahan.'"
"What 'Dullahan' ? It already has a name."
Confused by Soji's question, Artoria responded sternly, "Now it belongs to me, so naturally, it needs a brand new name!"
'Ugh, don't randomly name other people's cars! I'm definitely going to blast you later!' Even though these thoughts were raging within her, her expression remained very friendly. "Ahaha, you're right! I won't disturb you further. I'll head to my designated waiting area now."
Saying this, Soji quickly walked toward the vacant parking area nearby.