Chapter 531 - The Thermosphere Layer.
Shshs.h.!.+
Upon sensing something happening below his feet, Felix glanced down and saw that the platform was disintegrating rapidly!
He swiftly looked around him and noticed that everyone"s platforms were about to disappear as well.
Not wanting to be the first to fall, Felix moved to the corner of the platform, standing on one tiptoe.
Some players did the same as him while some jumped on their own and began diving downward rapidly, clearly planning to leave as much distance as possible right from the start!
Alas, half a second wasn"t enough to put a worth noting distance as the rest of the players followed after them unwillingly after the platforms completely disappeared!
Since there wasn"t any wind in s.p.a.ce, their flailing limbs as they fell didn"t make any sound, making the sight quite comical on the screen.
Thankfully, all of them had decent training in the past ten days as they had regained their balance after a couple of seconds!
Immediately after getting into a star-like posture, Felix turned his head behind him and zoomed in on Saltz Master who was only a couple of meters behind him!
He was truly put in an unfavorable position right from the start!
"There are 25 seconds left in the grace period." Kayn informed the viewers, "We can already see that many players are trying their best to break away from each other by any means!"
Sure enough, Felix wasn"t the only one trying his best to get out of the cl.u.s.ter as most players were either using their abilities to increase their diving speed, slowing themselves up to get above the pack, or just break to the sides like Felix was doing!
The method Felix was using to glide to the side was by spewing condensed white poisonous mist from his palms, propelling him slowly but surely away from Saltz Master!
The best part was the fact that the poisonous white cloud was left behind him, blinding anyone who went through it!
Naturally, it didn"t put the players to sleep after inhaling it due to being in the grace period, but it caused them some hindrance!
"Landlord"s method to break off sure is annoying the players!"
Kayn commentated while zooming inside the misty white cloud, showing that the players were having difficulty seeing in front of them.
Only those above Felix were affected negatively since the rest easily burst through the poisonous cloud before it gets shaped up!
Meanwhile, Felix didn"t give a s.h.i.+t about the other players as his full attention was placed on Saltz Master who was chasing after him!
He clearly was aiming to eliminate Felix early so he could feel less pressured during the rest of the race.
"Mother f*cker, can"t you leave me alone? It"s a race!" Felix cursed in his mind while watching Saltz Master doing the same technique as Felix but with a dark matter being spewed from his palms!
He was actually moving slightly faster than Felix due to dark matter providing better propulsion!
"What do we have here?" Kayn zoomed on the peculiar chase and commentated in intrigue, "For the stoic Saltz Master to chase after Landlord like this, it only meant he is either going for the bounty or he had an enmity with him!"
All of the viewers believed so since it wasn"t common for players to go out of their own way to aim at each other amidst a race without a solid benefit to go after.
"Only five seconds in the grace period! Is he going to strike him from that distance?"
Kayn wondered while zooming out, showing that there were ten meters between them, which wasn"t considered much for those players.
Felix knew that he would be in grave danger if he didn"t do anything.
"Thor"s Ordnance will let me create a wide distance between us while at the same time making him regret being this close to me...But, it"s too soon to use such a tramp card, especially when it butchers my energy!" Felix pondered quickly, "There must be another way!"
This sense of urgency sent his brain"s gears running like an oiled motor, making him eliminate a plan after another each split second!
However, he ended up coming with only failed plans!
Just as all hope seemed lost, making Felix reach out to his leather bag, he received a telepathic message from Wild"s Breath, "I am right above you."
Felix lifted his head instantly and saw that Wild"s Breath was indeed a couple of meters above him!
At the start, he didn"t even recognize him since he had half shapes.h.i.+fted into a squirrel! While his body was still humanoid, he had a loose furry skin between his legs and hands!
Due to it, his speed had been slowed greatly unlike the others, making him be above most players!
Because there was a thin presence of air in the thermosphere layer, he clearly managed to glide successfully here!
It was only natural that gliding wouldn"t be banned unlike floating or hovering.
That"s because the players couldn"t reduce their speed by more than 30% while the fall damage had been enhanced to 500%.
So anyone attempting to glide down to the ground without a parachute, wouldn"t like the outcome!
"Uhmm? They really allied together." Saltz Master frowned his eyebrows after spotting Wild"s Breath diving on an equal level to Felix.
Felix had already stopped spewing poison after grouping up with his ally. However, his eyes never left Saltz Master, who also stopped trying to approach him.
He didn"t mind trying to take care of Felix quickly and rejoin the race earlier. But now? He knew that both of them were going to delay him immensely if they went all out.
Unlike Sensation who received a direct order to focus on Felix, Saltz Master had been told specifically to focus on the bet by Erebus.
"He better not appear in front of me again." Saltz Master gave Felix a cold glance and switched his posture to nose-diving so he could catch up with the rest.
He could see that at least 15 players were way below them and still speeding further and further!
Upon seeing that he had given up on him, Felix removed his hand from the leather bag on his waist.
He could have easily given Saltz Master a hard time but he preferred holding in his cards this early.
Having an ally in those situations was quite useful since it made everyone thinks twice about whether it was worth it to go on you or not!
"It seems that Landlord has finally decided to take an ally!" Kayn commentated.
Some of Felix"s fans were a bit disappointed as they thought that Felix would continue going solo through all of his games.
However, the majority had welcomed the change as they knew that it was going to be just harder and harder for Felix to win games without relying on every resource available.
"Wild, let"s speed up." Felix informed while changing his posture to a nosediving, "We need to be near them when they start fighting for the rings."
Wild"s Breath nodded his head in agreement and folded his hands and legs together.
Then, he joined Felix in the same height level and continued going down while glancing upward from time to time.
There were still 5 players above them and they could go all out on them at any moment.
BOOOOM!!
Out of nowhere, the noise of a m.u.f.fed explosion reached Felix"s ears, making him quickly focus in front of him.
Upon zooming in with his enhanced vision, he managed to see an ongoing battle occurring between three players who were in the lead!
The reason for their fight was a speeding ring that was s.h.i.+ning brightly, making Felix notice it easily!
Boom Boom!
Soon, his vision got covered by a steamy white fog from their fight as one of them was a Fire Elementalist while the other was a Water Elementalist!
As for the other player? He already retreated from the fight after getting struck by both of them at the same time...By retreating, he simply glided to the side until he heals himself and returns to the course!
Meanwhile, Felix had swapped to an X-ray vision to keep watching as he wanted to see how the fight would end.
However, he ended up sighing in disappointment after noticing that both players had stopped fighting at once and went through the speeding ring one after the other.
When they emerged from the other side, their speed had been boosted by a whopping 20%, making them pull even further from the pack!
They didn"t continue their battle but separated from each other and kept nose-diving rapidly!
They clearly made a silent agreement to focus on pulling away from the pack so it would be just 1v1 when they reach the troposphere layer!
"The pack had realized the seriousness of the situation and currently trying their best to catch up!"
Kayn commentated while zooming out on the slightly cl.u.s.tered group of players, where Felix was currently at its tail.
"All of them are aiming at that one speeding ring!!" Kayn exclaimed in excitement, "It"s going to be mayhem with a high possibility of many players losing their lives!"
Everyone knew that he was absolutely right since the speeding ring was barely wide enough to let five players go through it at the same time!
This meant anyone aiming at it would require to buckle up as he would be forced to experience a rain of abilities hurled at it!
"Landlord, do you have a plan?" Wild"s Breath asked while glancing at Felix, who seemed deep in his thoughts.