“Ain't that the truth.” There are little things more dangerous than someone who lives for spite. Kurai was once such a person, but with his father now gone what would he spite? Did he have to spite anyone? The system was a safe bet. Some algorithm with a face turned the world upside down and made it infinitely more hostile. That seemed like a good place to start.

He was just as frustrated with the situation as Panya was if not more. “All I can do is shoot things!” Kurai shouted as he thrashed the reigns about. Suddenly the woman called for him to perform evasive maneuvers. He wasn't sure why, but he prepared himself as he let her through.

Her grand plan was to attack the walls and cause the stalactites to fall. It was a good idea to slow down their competitors. If he could dodge them as well. Her efforts could end up hampering them more than they ended up helping them.

“You better hang on Panya!” By some miracle the carriage began to move between the falling debris. It wasn't as nimble as the actual motorized vehicles his opponents were using, but it managed. As a large chunk of stalactite fell on top of the last remaining sports car in the race a smaller one was hurtling towards them!

“Seere!” The demon knew instantly what they were to do. They aimed their spear at the rock coming their way and launched a white bolt of energy at it. At the same time, Kurai shot their own attack. The combined force broke it apart enough so that the fragments didn't cause serious damage to the cart. Although, he and Seere did have to cover their heads to prevent getting hurt.

Kurai jumped up and hollered in celebration! “Woohoo! That was so cool! Just one left! And look we're almost out of the cavern too!” He excitedly pointed towards the rapidly approaching light at the end of the tunnel. Soon enough they left the cavern and were back in the open desert.

The thumping on the ground kept setting the person on the motorcycle off course as the finish line came into view. It sounded much closer than before and was steadily encroaching on them. “We're almost there Panya! Just a bit more and we'll be able to reap the rewards!” His excitement was quickly dampened as the sight of an enormous golem caught his eye. It was obviously the source of the tremors but was quite a distance away from the track. “Let's hope that thing minds its own business until we're done.”

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Used: Basic Attack x2 (F-rank PWR damage)

Kurai wasn't entirely sure what was happening on top of the carriage. He could hear Panya shouting for the pair, but they were too focused on trying to navigate the treacherous terrain. It wasn't until Seere the stalactite coming at their vehicle was destroyed that the demon turned around to see what was happening. Unfortunately, she had already slipped off by the time they noticed.

Thankfully she was a resourceful woman and managed to find her way back into the cart. It didn't take long for her to embrace Kurai in celebration. “I think you did more work than I did, but thanks! We're not out of the woods yet though.” The smell of her lilac perfume helped ease his mind as they all heard a loud booming voice from off the track reciting another riddle.

“First think of the person who lives in disguise, who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies. Next, tell me what’s always the last thing to mend, the middle of middle and end of the end? And finally, give me the sound often heard during the search for a hard-to-find word. Now string them together, and answer me this, which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?”

Kurai groaned as he racked his brain to figure out the answer again. “Of course there's another riddle. At least there's not another wall we need to dodge.” That wasn't what he should have been worrying about however as their final competitor shouted out their answer. “Man?”

It quickly became apparent that answer was not correct as there was little warning before the ground began to shake once more. Looking over at the golem off the track the group could see it pulling a large boulder out of the ground. “Uh... Guess it's not leaving us alone after all...” He said as it launched the boulder onto the track at their opponent. Lucky for them it didn't strike them head on as they swerved to dodge, but the force of the impact sent them flying off the track. All it did was shake their cart and cause them to swerve for a bit. “Shit. We better guess right if we don't want to die.”

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Once again Panya did all the heavy lifting when it came to solving the riddle. Despite the vast amount of information Kurai was forced to consume by his father during his life he wasn't very good at word problems. Long ones like the booming voice of the golem just recited to them were especially troublesome. Thankfully she was here to take care of the actual hard work. If not for her he likely wouldn't have made it this far. He'd have run into the large wall they encountered during the first riddle.

While Panya worked her way towards the answer Kurai kept a close eye on the giant looming in the distance. He didn't expect it to do anything until they answered, but you never know. At least they didn't have to maneuver around the crashed vehicle of their opponent. Not that it would be much of a problem since the pegasus was actually the one guiding the cart. They did have to swerve to stop from running into the massive boulder in the middle of the track, however.

Thankfully Panya came up with an answer fairly quickly. Now Kurai could only hope that she shouted out the correct one. Judging from the lack of a boulder being thrown at them it seemed she was right. He cheered once more when a finish line rose out of the track in front of them. “Panya you did it! We've finished the race!” He quite literally jumped for joy as they crossed the checkered line on the ground.

The cart slowed down until it finally stopped a few feet beyond the finish line. A much smaller golem than the one chucking boulders at the competitors rose from the ground nearby. It walked towards them all and attempted to hand each of the people in the vehicle a stone trophy. “Yo sweet! This will make a perfect souvenir!” Kurai laughed out loud and patted Seere on the shoulder. “So... Wanna team up again to go do something else Panya?”

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