"Strange, why are the creatures in the imaginary world disappearing in large numbers? Why are they fighting each other?"
Medea looked at the map beside her with a puzzled expression.
"Could it be because of territorial instincts?"
Eichi replied, then stopped paying attention, as the race on the track was very exciting.
"Max Elephant."
A huge pink elephant trunk appeared on the race car, and in the next second, a massive stream of water sprayed out from the trunk.
"How cunning!"
Momo, who had been about to catch up to Megumi and take the lead, was very angry.
If the race car rushed into the stream of water ahead, it would definitely skid.
She might end up even worse than Noritoshi, who had just performed a high-difficulty spiral crash into the wall because of a banana peel.
"Miwa, take control of the car."
As soon as she finished speaking, Momo let go without hesitation.
"Eh? I'm driving a race car?"
Kasumi was stunned.
Her first thought was, 'I'm not old enough to drive yet.'
Her second thought was, 'How do I drive a car without a steering wheel?'
Kasumi, who habitually followed the crowd, had thought that Momo definitely had more driving experience than her when they were building the race car.
So not only was their race car shaped like a broom, but the controller had also been designed by Momo herself.
"Nue. If you're not driving, then you handle the attacks."
Momo, who had just summoned Nue, shouted loudly, then began forming hand seals in a panic.
Unlike Nue, which only required opening both hands and overlapping the thumbs, a simple hand seal, the hand seal for Tiger Funeral required the hands to form the image of a roaring tiger head.
That was still too difficult for Momo, who was experiencing hand shadows for the first time today.
Actually, to be honest, the simplest hand seal in the Ten Shadows Technique was Mahoraga, which only required clenching both fists and striking a pose, but its summoning time was also the longest.
Next was Nue, which even a beginner could learn instantly.
The other hand seals required long-term practice to perform quickly.
Kasumi frantically jumped from the back seat to the front seat, then grabbed the broomstick-like controller in front of her with both hands, trying to maintain balance.
Just then, Momo finally summoned Tiger Funeral.
"Rise!"
Under the combined effects of Tiger Funeral's updraft, Momo's own Tool Manipulation Cursed Technique, and Nue's efforts to take flight after grabbing the Nimbus 2000000, the Nimbus 2000000 briefly left the ground.
"Wait, didn't the rules say we can't fly? We'll be blown to smithereens!"
Kasumi clasped her hands in front of her chest and cried out in panic.
"It's okay, I read the rules carefully. Obvious high-altitude flight is prohibited during the race. Short glides like this, where we briefly leave the ground, are allowed."
Hearing Momo's explanation, Kasumi breathed a sigh of relief.
"If it's just a short glide, then it's fine."
At this moment, Kasumi seemed to remember something.
"How long is 'short'?"
"I don't know. The last rule states that the school has the final right to interpret the rules of this competition."
"..."
Kasumi's heart, which had just settled, tensed up again.
Then the two saw Max Elephant suddenly blocking the track ahead.
"Directly placing obstacles?"
If they were driving on the ground, Momo would only need to drift to avoid Max Elephant.
But they were currently gliding in a very heavy race car.
Most importantly, the Nimbus 2000000 only resembled a broom. It was not a real flying broom, so turning in the air was difficult.
"We can only gamble."
Momo's eyes turned serious, and she once again controlled Nue and Tiger Funeral to raise the race car's height.
As their Nimbus 2000000 approached Max Elephant, Max Elephant suddenly disappeared, and then Megumi's Nue appeared.
Megumi could not bear to let Max Elephant be hit by the race car, so he commanded Max Elephant to judge the timing, stop spraying water, and release its summoning.
Nue, using its body as cover to close the distance, suddenly extended its claws toward the Nimbus 2000000, then snatched a handful of broom bristles from the tail of the car.
"Kugisaki, I'll drive. You use your Cursed Technique with this."
Megumi moved to the front seat and squeezed in with Nobara, then gripped the steering wheel with both hands.
"I understand."
Nobara did not feel awkward about being squeezed together. She reached out, took the broom bristles, and placed them on a straw doll.
Not far behind, Momo, who had just landed, breathed a sigh of relief.
Although low-altitude gliding could indeed avoid Max Elephant's water stream and prevent skidding, she did not know what standard the rules used for "short."
Naturally, it was better to land sooner.
Just then, an unusual sensation appeared.
Momo noticed that the broomstick clamped between her legs suddenly began to shake violently.
Momo subconsciously looked behind her, then saw a sight that made her eyes widen in fury.
Her carefully styled broom had become a mess, and then a familiar surge of Cursed Energy erupted, directly blowing up the tail of her Nimbus 2000000.
"Kugisaki! I will never forgive you!"
Feeling the familiar Cursed Energy and seeing the easily understandable effect of the Cursed Technique, Momo immediately knew who had blown up her beloved Nimbus 2000000.
"Waaah, we're going to crash!"
Amid Kasumi's screams, Momo did her best to stop the car at the edge of the track.
Momo immediately opened the panel to check the condition of the Nimbus 2000000.
Fortunately, only the broom part at the back had exploded. The core Molten Orb was intact.
In that case, they only needed to repair the back half of the race car.
Race cars sped past them one after another, and the two quickly completed the repairs.
When they got back on the road, Noritoshi appeared beside them.
"Nishimiya, Miwa, what's the situation up ahead?"
"Megumi and Kugisaki are in the lead. They should be close to the finish line."
Momo said this unhappily.
"Is that so? Then I'm relieved."
"Huh? What are you talking about...?"
As soon as Momo turned her head, she saw a terrifying scene.
Missiles appeared one after another above Noritoshi's head.
A terrifying black aura also emanated from him, and his beautiful dark hair fluttered in the airflow.
Momo felt that if this were a horror movie, Noritoshi would be more suitable to play a female ghost than she was.
Which Jujutsu Sorcerer was not a little crazy?
"These are homing missiles. They can automatically attack the player in first place without needing to aim."
Seemingly sensing Momo's gaze, Noritoshi turned his head and explained with a smile.
He had first skidded near the item boxes because of a banana peel, and then, while racing with Todo, he failed a drift around a corner and crashed into a wall near the item boxes.
This meant that while others only broke one item box when they hit it, Noritoshi had managed to open two whole rows.
Momo fell silent for a moment after hearing the missile's effect. Then a similar red glow appeared in her eyes, just like Noritoshi's.
"Hey, do you have any more missiles? Give me a few too."
At the same time, Yuji and Todo ahead also encountered the third set of item boxes.
"Amazing, we got homing missiles this time, Todo."
Yuji excitedly shared the item's effect with Todo.
"Then what are you waiting for? Launch them directly."
Todo immediately said this.
"But we don't know who's in first place yet. What if we accidentally injure a teammate?"
Yuji hesitated.
"It's okay, Yuji. As long as we win."
Yuji thought that made sense, then also launched the homing missiles.
Megumi, who had not seen any pursuers for a long time and had relaxed after securing first place, felt utterly distraught upon seeing the sky full of missiles heading his way.
"Damn it, is this really a racing game?!"
(To be continued.)