Actually, if it was just the competition itself, Duanmu Huai wouldn't have found it difficult at all. After all, if there were no other rules, he could have simply pounced on his opponent the moment the race began, tied them up, and then leisurely strolled all the way to the finish line without any issue.
Anyway, Duanmu Huai's combat strength was right there for all to see. Even if all these horse girls rushed him together, they still wouldn't be his match.
But… the problem lay after that.
After all, the duel was only a means; making the monster girls submit was the real objective. Just like that snow woman before—she had been so frightened at the sight of Duanmu Huai that she was just short of rolling over and showing her belly to express friendliness, yet in the end Duanmu Huai had still spent a long time without managing to deal with her.
"Then… are there any rules?"
Duanmu Huai decided it was better to ask clearly first and then consider things afterward.
"Mm."
Hearing Duanmu Huai's question, the horse girl nodded.
"1200 meters, 1500 meters, 1700 meters, 2000 meters, 2500 meters, 3000 meters—you can choose freely. Whoever reaches the finish line first wins. Of course, you may use any means you like, as long as you don't interfere with the other participants."
"...…"
Damn, worthy of horse girls—running events all started at over 1000 meters…
"Let me think about it."
After hearing the horse girl's explanation, Duanmu Huai nodded, then walked off to the side and stared at the grassland in front of him as he began to think.
Although it didn't sound very nice to say it, Duanmu Huai really wasn't fast at running himself. After all, he was big and bulky and not very agile. Without power armor or a jetpack, his speed was actually just average. Of course, he was definitely faster than ordinary people, thanks to the Dark Raven Guard's bonuses. But beyond that…
There didn't seem to be any speed-enhancing magic either—most of it was offensive or defensive.
As for the Electromagnetic Giant Rhino… could the Electromagnetic Giant Rhino outrun horse girls?
If Duanmu Huai remembered correctly, the Electromagnetic Giant Rhino was more like a heavy tank. Its speed wasn't great; its main purpose was to charge into enemy formations.
"All in all, let's give it a try first."
Duanmu Huai made his decision. He went back to the horse girl and explained the situation. The horse girl didn't seem to mind Duanmu Huai summoning something else to race against the horse girls. In the end, to be on the safe side, Duanmu Huai chose the 2000-meter race. Then he went to the starting line and stood side by side with a group of horse girls. Those horse girls also seemed quite interested in this hulking giant, frequently glancing over and sizing up Duanmu Huai and the Electromagnetic Giant Rhino beneath him.
"Then, the race… begins!"
As the horse girl giving the signal finished speaking, in the next moment Duanmu Huai saw the horse girl youths beside him suddenly spring into motion, charging forward at incredible speed!
"Holy crap!"
Seeing this scene, Duanmu Huai was also startled. Although he had already guessed that horse girls ran fast, he hadn't expected them to be this fast! He hadn't even reacted yet, and they had already left him far behind!
This won't do!
Thinking this, Duanmu Huai hurriedly controlled the Electromagnetic Giant Rhino, making it charge forward in huge strides, trying to keep up with the horse girls' pace.
The result… well, naturally, he lost.
How should he put it… compared to horse girls, Duanmu Huai's Electromagnetic Giant Rhino was like a wildly charging boar.
Of course, boars weren't slow either, but compared to horses… that was another matter entirely.
"These horse girls are even harder to deal with than horses…"
After racing a round, Duanmu Huai couldn't help but sigh. Only then did he realize that these horse girls actually ran even faster than horses. Thinking about it carefully, this was quite normal. Horses were large in size, so their air resistance was naturally greater. Horse girls, on the other hand, were petite girls, with much smaller frontal area and thus much less air resistance. So even if you put them together with horses, horse girls would definitely run faster… of course, horses had four legs, but having four legs didn't guarantee victory either…
The Electromagnetic Giant Rhino also had four legs, and yet it still came in dead last.
No choice—looks like he would have to use magic to deal with magic, and animals to deal with animals.
Duanmu Huai silently took out his Soul Cards again. Since magic from Manaria couldn't handle this situation, he could only see whether there were any animals in the Forest of the Borderlands that could help… like the Tree-Antler Reindeer he had summoned on the Terminator Planet before—probably not. Could deer run faster than horses?
Probably not. After all, the fact that there were horse races but no deer races already said a lot.
Unfortunately, he didn't have any horses in his cards either. That was normal—horses didn't really live in forests.
So the remaining choice was…
"Uh...…"
Duanmu Huai looked at the card in his hand and silently wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
[Primordial Dire Wolf · Omnis (Legendary)]
[Cost: 7]
[Attack: 4]
[Defense: 5]
[(Storm) Whenever this Dire Wolf enters your battlefield, grant this follower the 'Rush' effect.]
[Fanfare: Return X other cards from your battlefield to your hand, then summon X Dire Wolves to the battlefield (X equals the number of cards that left the battlefield due to this effect).]
[Its footprints cause the earth to sprout; if it howls, life endures.]
A wolf… hmm, wolves did seem to run pretty fast, right? And this one was huge—there shouldn't be a problem?
It's just that… it wouldn't treat these horse girls as prey and eat them, would it?
Probably not… right?
Forget it, he would know once he tried.
Duanmu Huai silently took out the card. Then, with a flash of light, in the next moment a white giant wolf about the same size as the Electromagnetic Rhino appeared in front of him.
(My lord…)
The giant wolf lowered its head toward Duanmu Huai and respectfully bowed.
"No need to be so polite, Omnis. The reason I summoned you here is actually very simple…"
As he spoke, Duanmu Huai explained the matter of racing against the horse girls, then looked at the white giant wolf.
"Can you do it?"
(Of course.)
Omnis's voice sounded again as it proudly lifted its head.
(I am the Primordial Dire Wolf. My speed is unmatched. Mere horses are no opponent at all. Even on the plains, I can easily catch up to them and then bite through their throats…)
"Stop, stop, stop, stop… it's just a simple race. Don't think about dangerous things."
(Understood, my lord.)
"...…"
Was it really okay?
But even if there was a problem now, there was no problem—after all, it was his subordinate Soul Card… it should listen, right?
Should?
So Duanmu Huai swung himself onto the giant wolf's back and once again came to the horse girls. Looking at the massive pure-white wolf before them, the serious-looking horse girl leader now had her face tense as well.
"This is?"
"This time I plan to ride this and race you. That's fine, right?"
"Of course… it's fine."
Obviously, faced with this giant wolf, the horse girl hesitated a little, but she still nodded.
"Then this time you choose…"
"3000 meters."
This was the choice Duanmu Huai and Omnis had discussed. According to the giant wolf, "Horses have strong explosiveness and speed, but their endurance is limited. As long as you keep chasing them until they're exhausted and expose a weakness, you can hunt them easily." It had even wanted to discuss in detail its experiences of prairie wolves hunting wild horses with Duanmu Huai—but let's forget that.
"Wuu…"
When Duanmu Huai returned to the starting line once more, the horse girls there all looked at the white giant wolf and seemed to feel a certain unease—hm, it seemed that although they were horse girls, the instinctive fear and threat toward natural predators still existed deep down.
"Then, the race—begins!"
With the command given, in the next moment the horse girls at the starting line instantly burst forward, charging ahead… why did it feel like they were even faster than before?
Uh… Duanmu Huai had a pretty good idea why.
"ROAR—————!!"
At the same time, the white giant wolf also leapt forward, charging ahead. It lowered its head, its entire body tensed, streaking across the grassland like an arrow, locking firmly onto the horse girls ahead. The white giant wolf then opened its mouth and let out a low growl.
"Eek—————!!"
Just hearing the growl coming from behind was enough to make the horse girls' expressions change drastically. Whether it was an illusion or not, they all felt as if a bloodthirsty gaze was fixed straight on them from behind, forcing them to run forward with all their might. They all had a feeling that if they fell behind, they would be pounced on by that terrifying white giant wolf and have their throats bitten through on the spot!
Just thinking about it made some of the horse girls feel a dull pain starting in their necks!
"They're really fast…"
Riding on the white giant wolf, looking at the horse girls ahead, Duanmu Huai couldn't help but sigh. Honestly, he could understand it—if, in a track meet, you released a pack of wolves behind the runners, you could guarantee they'd all break world records.
(Hehe, in the end they're just a bunch of little foals. They don't understand how to distribute their stamina at all. Even horses, when sprinting at full speed, will consume massive amounts of energy and gradually fall behind. Next, I just need to seize that one who falls behind…)
"Just so you know in advance, these aren't for you to eat."
(I know.)
As they spoke, one horse girl did exactly as the white giant wolf predicted. Due to excessive stamina consumption, her speed gradually slowed. At the same time, the white giant wolf suddenly accelerated like it had locked onto prey, charging straight up beside that horse girl. Seeing this giant wolf even bigger than herself, the horse girl—panting heavily—instantly turned pale. The white giant wolf stared at her with a cold smile in its eyes, then opened its mouth and suddenly made a "chomp" biting motion.
"Eek—————!!!"
In the next moment, that horse girl was so frightened that her legs gave out, and she collapsed straight onto the ground. The white giant wolf instantly accelerated again, continuing to charge forward toward its next target!
As the white giant wolf advanced, the horse girls ahead immediately fell into chaos. After all, they had never encountered a race like some kind of "battle royale" before. The horse girls running at the back were scared into screaming and fainting one after another by the white giant wolf, while the horse girls running in front were just as terrified when they heard their companions' screams. Before long, the entire formation completely collapsed. Then they saw the white giant wolf charging from back to front, pretending to bite each horse girl it caught. In the blink of an eye, the horse girl group ahead was completely wiped out, leaving only Duanmu Huai riding the white giant wolf, leisurely crossing the finish line.
And behind them lay horse girls strewn all over the ground—of course, not literally corpses everywhere.
"So this counts, right?"
Returning to the horse girl leader, Duanmu Huai recalled the white giant wolf and asked. Of course, he was also feeling a bit uneasy inside. The latter nodded.
"Of course. This is your victory. It can only be said that my companions still lack training. Faced with a bit of danger, they lost their composure. It seems they still need more training!"
As she spoke, the leading horse girl glared at the horse girls lying on the ground like survivors of a disaster. At this point… they couldn't even speak anymore.
"You've all seen it."
Withdrawing her gaze, the leading horse girl looked at the others.
"He has passed the test. So, who among you is willing to become this monster tamer's familiar?"
"...…"
Hearing the leader's words, the other horse girls hesitated. After a moment, a petite horse girl stepped forward, smiling as she looked at Duanmu Huai.
"Big brother, I want to ask—after becoming your familiar, where will you take me?"
"That's hard to say."
Duanmu Huai thought for a moment, then shrugged.
"After all, I won't stay in one place for long. I'll be traveling everywhere, and fighting too."
"Then how many places will you go?"
"Hmm… on a world scale, I guess."
"The world?"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's answer, the horse girl froze for a moment, then smiled brightly and held out her hand.
"Then, big brother, I'm willing to become your familiar."
(The chapter ends)