Meanwhile, Rozaliya and Liliya had cleverly burrowed into the arm of an Ashvins, enjoying air conditioning and ice cream as they advanced.
Soon, Raven, who had fallen to the back of the pack, also arrived at the Red Lotus Abyss.
"What should I do? Am I going to get roasted alive?"
Staring at the scorching air of the Red Lotus Abyss, Raven cautiously stuck out one of her long legs to test the temperature, only to find that it wasn't hot at all.
"Ahem, a supplementary explanation: the burning effect of the Red Lotus Abyss only works on Valkyries. Therefore, those who are not Valkyries will not be affected by its negative effects," Otto explained.
"Hey! What kind of weird rule is that?!" Kiana protested.
But her protest was useless. In the end, she had no choice but to take off her invincible Hannah set and switch to a full set of Wang Zhaojun.
"The race now enters its third zone, the Elysian Realm... ah, no, the Elysian Chill! Some contestants are already showing clear signs of discomfort."
The camera cut to Ji Lin. Riding her horse, she was instantly frozen into a block of ice, clearly unable to adapt to the freezing weather.
"The race is now past the halfway point. Overseer, who are you more optimistic about?" Rita asked with a smile from the commentary booth.
"Hehe, of course it's my dear granddaughter, Theresa! With the S-rank Valkyrie Judah in hand, victory is practically guaranteed," Otto said with a proud smile.
---o---
On the racetrack, Kiana was shivering as she slowly trudged forward.
"Ugh, what kind of stupid track is this? It's freezing!"
Then, she spotted Stargazer and Fu Hua not far ahead, one playing a guqin and the other drinking tea.
Kiana's eyes lit up. She rushed over and snatched the warm cloak from Fu Hua's shoulders.
"Class Monitor! Let me borrow your cape! I'll give it back!"
With that, she took off.
Fu Hua: "..."
"Celestial, calm your anger. Allow me," Stargazer said.
She raised the ancient guqin in her hands, and a whirlwind instantly rose up from under Kiana's feet.
However, Kiana was running too fast and wasn't hit. Instead, the one Otto had favored, the one he thought had victory in the bag—Theresa—was innocently caught in the blast and blown right off the track.
Outside the screen, the Theresa watching this scene was completely stunned.
"What's going on? Why is there another me?!"
"Lady Theresa, calm down. Perhaps she's your sister in that parallel universe?" Einstein said with a smile.
"She still can't just attack me!"
"Hehe, Theresa, for some reason I get the feeling that the 'you' holding the guqin gives off an aura of supreme intelligence," Himeko teased.
"Hey! Are you saying I'm stupid?" Theresa puffed out her cheeks, dissatisfied.
"What the hell? What's going on? Wasn't I supposed to win? Where the hell am I?" Tesla was also completely bewildered, sinking into a state of deep self-doubt.
No, the answer was clearly that she had won. So why wasn't she even on screen anymore?
Was she going to cross the finish line on a rocket at the end?
---o---
"The race has reached the final sprint, and there are only three contestants left on the field! We can see that Rozaliya and Liliya are in the lead. Could they be the ones to take the crown?"
It was as if Otto's words were blessed. As soon as he said it, Rozaliya and Liliya lost control of the rampaging Ashvins, and the two of them were sent flying onto a crossbar, losing their chance at the final sprint.
In the end, only Kiana and Raven were left. The distance between them was incredibly close; they were practically neck and neck.
"For Mei, I absolutely cannot lose! Wings of Light, unfold!"
"For the villa, for the island! Kids, I will not let you down! AHHHHH!"
At this critical moment, both of them simultaneously unleashed their memory-fueled power-ups and accelerated.
"This is epic, epic, epic! I'm completely fired up! The final champion will be—"
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Just as Kiana and Raven were about to cross the finish line, a black shadow instantly shot past them and through the finish tape.
Taking a closer look—holy cow, it was Tesla, who had been rolling along with the Ganesha this whole time.
So that meant the two of them had rolled off the cliff and then just kept rolling all the way here?
"The final champion is—contestant Tesla!"
Battered, bruised, and utterly disheveled, Tesla sat on the ground with dizzy swirls for eyes. She hadn't even processed what had happened, but the cheers and applause from the audience erupted like a tsunami.
Then, under the radiant light of Dawei, Tesla declared her wish to become a Valkyrie.
But Dawei instead produced a "Little Tesla" armed doll made in her image. This result made Tesla furious. She tried to flip the table, only to be defeated by a giant Titan made of crystals.
In the end, with the encouragement and cheers of everyone, they all transformed into light and flowed into... Tesla's armed doll.
The power of light, filled with everyone's hopes, transformed Little Tesla into a giant Little Tesla. With a flurry of righteous "ORA"s, she utterly defeated the evil Dawei and his Crystal Titan.
With that, the video ended.
---o---
After watching the footage, every single person wore the same expression: Are you freaking kidding me?
This video was even more ridiculous than Theresa's "No One Survived" episode.
It was so absurd it made them feel like they were dreaming.
"Wh-what was any of that?!" Tesla yelled, grabbing her hair in a complete breakdown.
She had originally thought that her parallel-world self would have some kind of cool and dazzling performance. But as it turned out, she was nothing but a bona fide gag character!
Her, Tesla, the greatest scientist of the 20th century! How could her name be associated with the words "gag character"?
"I CAN'T ACCEPT THIS!!!!"
"Dr. Tesla, I have to say, the role of a gag character really suits you." Einstein patted Tesla on the shoulder and gave her a thumbs-up, a deep amusement hidden in her eyes.
"Damn you! Nest-head! How dare you laugh at me!"
Meanwhile, on the St. Freya side, aside from a certain Principal who felt she had lost face yet again, everyone else was having a great time.
"Hahaha, that's hilarious! How can it be so funny?" Kiana clutched her stomach, her eyes curved with laughter. Even though her counterpart lost, it didn't stop her from enjoying the show.
"Bronya feels as if she has just watched a comedy movie," Bronya stated.
"Hehe, it seems that even the Kiana from a parallel world is just as unwilling to lose," Raiden Mei said, smiling.
"Although the process and the ending were both absurd... at least they were all happy, and there was no fighting among them."
Himeko smiled, speaking with a touch of emotion.
"It would be nice if our world could be this peaceful too. Everyone happy and cheerful, and no one has to die."