Awakening the War God

Chapter 75 The Crash

The first turn brought a change in the rankings.

Maria, thanks to her initial head start, managed to maintain her lead even as the car behind closed in on her during the curve.

She gazed at Gabriel's car in her rearview mirror, her surprise evident.

Then, it finally clicked.

"So, you were the one behind the wheel of that van that day, not Thomas!"

The way Gabriel had expertly taken that high-speed curve, drifting with precision, mirrored the van's performance she had witnessed that fateful day.

There was no doubt in her mind now-Gabriel was indeed the one driving the van that day.

On the flip side, Thomas had a sluggish start and, during the curve, he ended up speeding into the median, crashing into a tree.

Such a lackluster performance was far from the van-driving virtuoso of that day.

Now, it appeared that her true competitor was Gabriel.

Thanks to the recent curve, Gabriel had moved into second place.

Maria's driving skills were undeniably top-notch, keeping Gabriel pinned and preventing him from overtaking.

As for Luca, who trailed behind after losing to Gabriel in the previous curve, he was growing increasingly restless, trying to figure out a way to surpass Gabriel.

But of course, Gabriel knew how to prevent Luca from overtaking him.

Luca couldn’t catch up with Gabriel at all, and even when by some luck he did it, he couldn’t possibly surpass Gabriel.

Ranked the third, Luca became agitated.During the initial start, he had deliberately bumped into Gabriel’s car.

However, to his surprise, instead of eliminating Gabriel, he found himself overtaken by Gabriel during the curve.

As a seasoned racecar driver, he couldn't simply let this slide.

Luca floored the gas pedal, determined to chase down Gabriel and not let him escape.

As for Thomas, he now found himself in fourth place.

Or rather, he had been eliminated from the competition.

His deceleration during the previous curve had been too slow, and seeing Gabriel overtake him had momentarily thrown him off.

By the time he reached the next curve, his speed was barely over seventy miles per hour.

With a turn of the steering wheel, his car lost control completely, veering into the median and crashing into a tree.

The airbag deployed, nearly knocking him unconscious.

"Boss, for the sake of our manhood, step on it!"

Whether or not they could save their dignity depended on Gabriel's performance now!

The race continued, and they were about to approach the second crucial point of the segment-the two imposing stone pillars.

The gap between them was narrow, merely wide enough for one car to pass through.

At high speeds, in the darkness of the night, even a momentary lapse in concentration could lead to a collision with the stone pillars.

This posed a significant challenge for the three drivers speeding down the road.

"Last time, I grazed these pillars, and this time, I'm going to make you taste what it's like to crash into them!" Maria thought to herself.

Even though it was Yvonne who had given her a nudge, causing her car to scrape against the pillars last time, Maria didn't care much about the reasons. She only cared about the results.

Hitting the pillars last time had been a source of shame for her.

She must wipe away the disgrace.

The only way to do that was to make Gabriel falter at this crucial point.

She had a plan in her mind.

Now she was in the first position with the best view, so it was the easiest for her to pass through the stone pillar.

On the other hand, the car behind her had a poor view because she blocked it.

To safely pass through, the best way was to follow her tracks and keep close to her wheel.

Otherwise, it would be easy to collide with the stone pillars due to the delayed view.

This was the opportunity she could take advantage of.

"Sorry about this!"

As they were getting close to the stone pillars, a sly smile crept onto Maria's lips.

She intentionally veered the steering wheel slightly to the right, deviating from the straight path.

By doing so, driving straight ahead was impossible, and it made it exceptionally easy to crash into the stone pillars.

Behind her, Gabriel and Luca, just as Maria had predicted, were almost sticking to her tire tracks due to their limited visibility.

To avoid slowing down, this was the best strategy.

And so, the three cars formed a straight line as they hurtled toward the stone pillars.

As the stone pillars drew nearer and nearer, Maria's eyes narrowed, and a grin crept onto her lips.

"Now's the perfect moment!"

She abruptly turned the steering wheel to her left.With only some 30 feet to spare, Maria expertly maneuvered her car into an S-turn.

Miraculously, she not only stabilized the vehicle but skillfully threaded it through the narrow gap between the stone pillars.

Perfect execution! Maria let out a sigh of relief.

She couldn't help but steal a glance in her rearview mirror with a smile, fully expecting Gabriel to crash.

With such a tiny gap and no room for Gabriel to react, a collision seemed inevitable.

Now she only needed to wait and enjoy the drama to happen.

"What the heck, is this a setup to take me out?"

In that split second when Maria's car changed direction, Gabriel found himself in a heart-stopping predicament.

He looked ahead and saw that nearly half of his car was aimed straight at the stone pillars.

At the speed they were going, with so little distance left, a collision was imminent.

And a crash would mean game over.

"Nice try, but you're underestimating me!"

Gabriel's eyes hardened with determination.

With his left hand, he gripped the steering wheel, while his right hand clung to the bottom of the passenger seat.

He shifted his body weight, exerting downward pressure on the left side of the car while simultaneously pulling up on the right side.

These opposing forces combined, causing the massive taxi to flip over.

In this incredible feat, the car's left wheels became the axis, and the right half hung suspended in mid-air.

And he managed to clear the stone pillars.

"Ah..."

Unfortunately, Luca, who was trailing behind, lacked Gabriel's skill.

In a panicked frenzy, he wildly yanked the steering wheel to the left.

In the end, he crashed into the stone pillars.

A deafening "bang" marked the end of his race, and the car was ruined.

Airbags deployed, and Luca's race was over.

Now, it was a head-to-head race between Maria and Gabriel.

"Impressive, truly impressive!"

Maria couldn't help but marvel as she watched Gabriel's car make it through the stone pillars at an angle.

How had he pulled off such a stunt?

It was simply mind-boggling!

To be honest, Maria was beginning to nurse a grudging admiration for Gabriel.

Growing increasingly excited, she pressed the gas pedal harder.

But the race wasn't over yet.

The final champion had to be her.

While initially careless, Gabriel's expression turned serious after passing through the stone pillars.

"You little cunning girl, nice move. Well, just wait to lose at the final reverse V-turn. I must strip you down eventually!"

With his grip on the steering wheel tightened, Gabriel floored the gas pedal, chasing after Maria relentlessly.

As they approached the final reverse V-turn, it was the deciding moment.

Although the upcoming road was a village road, it was fairly smooth and posed no real difficulty for the two racecar experts.

Soon, the village road ended, and the reverse V-turn lay ahead.

“All right, this will decide it!”

Maria glanced in her rearview mirror, noticing, as expected, that Gabriel showed no sign of slowing down.

Now, she had a choice to make.

To slow down or not?

Slowing down might allow Gabriel to overtake her. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Not slowing down might result in a repeat of the car flip from that day.

And a car flip meant a defeat.

"Well then, let's see if my way of handling the turn can beat you!"

Maria was filled with excitement as she shifted gears with her right hand.

In the end, she opted to slow down.

Although she reduced speed, it wasn't by much.

She maintained a speed of around eighty to ninety yards.

This speed was still incredibly risky.

However, what Maria's car did next was mind-boggling.

Instead of turning directly into the curve, the car continued straight.

Only after passing the curve did Maria slam on the brakes and make a sharp right turn.

In this way, she actually turned around. Right after that, she shifted gear immediately and floored hard onto the gas pedal.

In this position, the car's rear wheels were in the grass, while the front continued forward.

"Success!"

This was the tactic Maria had thought of.

By using an R-shaped maneuver, reversing to make the turn, she had completed the reverse V- turn.

In doing so, she saved a significant amount of time, much faster than simply slowing down for the curve.

After executing these moves, Maria flashed a victorious smile.

This time, she was going to win.

She was the racing champion, the true car witch.

However, at that moment, Gabriel's car suddenly appeared on her left side.

Then, unbelievably, he overtook her.

"What...?"

The smile of victory faded from Maria's face, replaced by a look of disappointment.

She had pushed herself to the extreme, so how had Gabriel managed to overtake her?

If she hadn't been mistaken, Gabriel hadn't even drifted this time.

He had navigated the curve hugging the inner edge perfectly.

Did this even conform with the laws of physics?