A momentary, dead silence fell over the entire racecourse.
The usually noisy lake surface seemed to have been hit with a mute button.
Contestants on the other canoes, who were just moments ago busy sabotaging each other, froze mid-action. They stared dumbfounded at the boat that had been effortlessly split in two and the black monster slowly retracting its giant axe, reverting to normal, and licking its lips as if savoring the moment.
Someone let out a sharp gasp of horror.
The next second, as if by prior agreement, the two other boats that had been attempting to approach the Black Cat—The Cask of Amontillado (Raven Squad) and The Red Death—reacted like they'd seen a ghost. The helmsmen spun their rudders desperately, the rowers paddled backward frantically, putting distance between themselves and that dangerous patch of water as fast as possible.
Their faces clearly read: We're out. You guys play by yourselves.
For a moment, a weird vacuum zone appeared around the Black Cat.
"Whoa." Victor blinked, looking at Venom with renewed admiration. "Dude, you must be great at chopping firewood."
Venom hummed smugly twice, his big white eyes narrowing. "Next time we can try chopping something harder."
Wednesday took a deep breath, forcing herself to recover from the brutal visual impact. She glanced at the terrified opponents scattering around them and at the Gold Bug ahead, which also seemed to have picked up speed.
"Objective remains unchanged." Her voice regained its icy calm, but if one listened closely, a trace of suppressed... excitement? could be detected.
"Full speed ahead. Crush them."
The Black Cat, like a black arrow with all limiters removed, sliced through the water, chasing straight toward that piercing patch of yellow.
Venom seemed completely ignited by the thrill of splitting the boat earlier and was now in a state of extreme excitement.
His giant white eyes flashed with wild light. Suddenly, he poked Victor with a tentacle, his voice full of the joy of finding a new toy:
"Hey, bro! Can I use... use that? Right now! The atmosphere is perfect!"
Victor was stunned for a second, then it was like a switch flipped. A massive, maniacal grin blossomed on his face, his eyes shining with the same light as Venom's.
"Oh! Good idea! You're a genius!" He laughed loudly, his voice sounding a bit fragmented in the wind. "If not now, then when!"
Venom muttered excitedly, his massive body writhing like a black, viscous Doraemon pocket.
The next second, several round, dark objects were "spat" out of his body, landing steadily in his open palm.
He picked up a few with his tentacles and enthusiastically shoved the rest into Victor's arms.
"Hey! Ladies! Do you want some? Let's play together!" He didn't even forget to "politely" ask the petrified Wednesday and Enid, shaking the dangerous black balls in his hand.
Enid's hair stood on end instantly! A cold sense of terror shot up her spine to the top of her skull!
Grenades?!
Even in a "no rules" race, this was too much! Were they planning to blow the entire Black Lake sky-high?!
"Relax~" Victor seemed to see through their panic. While skillfully pulling a small pin on one of the black balls, he explained casually in a "nice weather today" tone.
"Home-made! Cocoa powder, potassium nitrate, sugar... and a little of my secret recipe! The power is very, very small! Just like a big firecracker! Mainly for the noise, just to scare people for fun..."
Before he finished speaking, his arm whipped forward in a standard throwing posture—
Whoosh—BOOM!!!
The black ball drew a beautiful arc and landed in the water less than five meters behind the Red Death.
Immediately, a muffled yet terrifyingly powerful explosion detonated! A thick column of water shot two or three meters into the sky.
Muddy lake water showered down like a torrential rain on the entire crew of the Red Death, causing them to let out shrill screams. Their rowing form completely fell apart, and the boat began to spin madly on the water.
Victor and Venom tilted their heads in sync, observing the effect.
"Seems the potassium nitrate ratio was just a little bit high?" Victor scratched his chin.
"Perfect!" Venom roared excitedly. "That's the kick it needs!"
"I completely fail to see where the power is 'small'!!!" Enid finally found her voice, screaming with a sob.
Wednesday's expression could no longer be described as cold; it was a dead silence on the verge of erupting into destructive force.
Her fingers gripped the rudder oar tightly, knuckles making a slight click sound from the pressure.
This was more powerful than the military-grade grenades she used to bomb fish in the lake back at the manor.
Are small workshops this impressive?
She wanted to stop them, but it was too late.
Having received "permission" and "encouragement," Venom and Victor were like two huskies off the leash, descending into a complete frenzy!
"Watch this!"
"Hahaha! Over there! The Cask of Amontillado! Give them a heavenly flower scatter!"
"Take this! Chocolate-flavored depth charge!"
One after another, the grenades were hurled out.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
The lake surface seemed to be under an intense bombardment!
Columns of water exploded one after another. The massive noise was ceaseless, and the muddy lake water boiled.
The contestants went completely mad. This wasn't a race anymore; this was a goddamn reenactment of the Normandy landings!
The instinct for survival overpowered any desire to win. Every boat that could still move used every ounce of strength to row frantically away from the Black Cat, breaking historical speed records in the process.
Their faces no longer held competitive focus, but pure, primal fear of the two lunatics behind them and their monster who could conjure munitions out of thin air.
"Lunatics! They're all lunatics!"
A rower on The Cask of Amontillado shouted through tears while paddling desperately, "I'm not playing anymore! I quit! Mommy save me!"
The entire racecourse spiraled completely out of control. Order vanished, leaving only explosions, crying, and the increasingly excited manic laughter of Victor and Venom.
On the distant spectator stands, the noisy cheering had long since disappeared without a trace.
Every spectator, including the teachers and Principal Larissa Weems, had fallen into a weird, deathly silence.
People watched with gaping mouths as the lake turned into a war movie scene. They stared at the pitch-black Black Cat continuously firing "shells," the columns of water exploding around it, and the other boats fleeing like rats.
Many faces lost all expression, leaving only blankness and shock.
This... this had gone far beyond the scope of "no rules."
This was basically... a terrorist-style... performance art?
Principal Weems stood in the center of the viewing platform, her silver-grey eyes narrowing slightly as she watched the vessel at the center of the chaos. Her face was devoid of expression, and no one could guess what the Principal was thinking at that moment.
Only the slight tightening of the corners of her mouth betrayed a trace of an extremely subtle emotion that might be called... a headache.
On the Black Cat, Victor pulled another pin and excitedly aimed at the flash of yellow ahead—Bianca's Gold Bug, which was also accelerating madly out of sheer terror.
"Hey! Captain!" He looked back at Wednesday, his face beaming with a child-like, pure joy of destruction. "Next target?"
Wednesday looked at the chaos they had created with their own hands, looked at the wailing opponents, then looked at Victor's brilliant smile that screamed "praise me" and the eager Venom beside him.
She was silent for two seconds.
Then, she issued her latest order extremely slowly, coldly, and clearly:
"Aim better. Don't waste ammo."