Chapter 157: A wild and crazy sports festival (5)

At about halfway around the track, Therese realized something.

The gap between them wasn’t something that could be closed with sheer determination alone.

“This is ridiculous! When did she even run that far ahead!? That speed isn’t human!”

Therese shouted in shock as she looked at Lancia, who was far ahead in the distance.

Fundamentally, once a human body reaches a certain level of physical ability, progress beyond that point is a matter of minute differences.

Of course, no matter how talented someone is, they are still human.

They cannot surpass the inherent limits of their species.

The only way to exceed those limits is by circulating magical energy or divine power to enhance the body—

a method commonly used by knights and paladins.

However, Lancia (at least from Therese’s perspective) seemed to have effortlessly transcended those limits.

She was moving at a speed that completely overwhelmed Therese, who had undergone her fair share of training—and yet, she didn’t even look remotely exhausted.

Far from it—she even seemed to be slowing down now and then, as if worried about leaving Therese too far behind.

If only she had done it discreetly, Therese might have been able to fool herself into thinking it was just her imagination.

But Lancia clearly wasn’t the type to lie.

It was obvious from the way she kept glancing back at her, unable to hide her concern.

Therese’s pride was wounded.

Rage surged through her. But anger was ultimately fleeting.

If it couldn’t produce immediate results, it would simply turn into a crushing sense of helplessness.

And that was exactly where Therese was now—

frustration and despair.

‘Am I just going to end up as a clown again?’

For a brief moment, memories of Tartarus flashed through her mind.

How she had dragged her younger sibling into an unexplored land in search of adventure—only to be utterly crushed by the remnants of the Demon King’s army and thrown into prison.

How they had barely managed to escape thanks to the hero, only for her to be toyed with and knocked unconscious by a demon legion commander.

Throughout all of it, Therese had never once played a role worthy of a protagonist.

She had merely charged in, blinded by arrogance, only to be thoroughly beaten—serving as nothing more than a stepping stone to set the stage for the real hero’s grand entrance.

At least the hero was someone special, chosen by the heavens.

It was understandable to lose against him.

But Lancia wasn’t the hero.

She was just another ordinary person. A fellow student, in the same grade as Therese.

If even Lancia surpassed her, then where was she supposed to stand?

If she fell behind once again, then she—

“?! Wait, what the hell is that?!”

At that moment, someone’s shout abruptly yanked Therese’s mind out of its downward spiral.

It wasn’t directed at her. Nor was it meant for Lancia.

Nor for the two students at the very back, still locked in a last-place struggle.

She turned slightly and noticed that the crowd’s attention was fixated behind her—specifically, on the ground.

Every single person, young and old alike, was staring in horror.

‘Huh? What’s going on?’

Tilting her head in confusion, Therese shifted her body slightly and glanced back to see what had caused the commotion.

And then, she saw it.

A revolting brown creature, its name starting with “B,” charging toward her at full speed.

“!?!!!?! AAAAAAAAAHHH?!?!!!

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! WHERE DID IT COME FROM?!”

Therese screamed in sheer terror.

This was completely absurd.

Cockroaches preferred dark places and rarely ventured into well-lit areas—especially not a place teeming with people like this.

In other words, the sight of a cockroach racing down the track was something so bizarre that one might only witness it once in a lifetime.

But of course, this was no natural occurrence.

This was a highly deliberate and artificial event—orchestrated by a certain ancestor with a deep love for her descendant.

“Hehehe, how does it feel to have a six-legged demon chasing after you?

Scary, isn’t it? You’d better run if you want to escape.♬”

Nelia smirked wickedly, hidden among the crowd.

Normally, charm magic didn’t work well on low-intelligence creatures like insects.

Their instincts were too simple, making them difficult to manipulate.

But that was only true for an ordinary succubus.

As the pinnacle of all succubi—and a former commander of the Legion of Lust, who had mastered the art of seduction—

Nelia could bend even the tiniest of creatures to her will.

And so, she had used her abilities to charm a cockroach that had happened to scuttle by.

Then, with a small tweak to her magic, she transferred the target of its fascination from herself—to Therese.

Now, in the cockroach’s eyes, Therese was no longer a towering giant who could crush it in an instant.

She was a captivating female of its own kind.

The smaller the vessel of existence, the more it follows its instincts. This is a universal principle that applies to all living beings.

A cockroach that discovers the presence of a female emitting pheromones in front of it will ignore all danger signals around it and charge at full speed for the sake of mating.

And, of course, this was by no means an enjoyable development for Therese.

“AAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!! SOMEONE HELP!!!!!!!!!”

Therese, her face turning pale in an instant, dashed forward like a madwoman.

There was one thing that all members of the Valois-Rambouillet family, including the twins Therese and Marianne, had in common: They absolutely despised and feared cockroaches.

Because of this, the palace of Sanchina always boasted an almost obsessive level of cleanliness.

If even the tiniest hole appeared in a hallway, it was immediately discovered and sealed shut.

Bug traps were scattered everywhere to ensure that anything crawling in would be caught and killed on the spot.

One time, something resembling a cockroach was found in the corridor, and before long, all the servants below the chamberlain were fired and replaced with new staff.

That’s how much they hated cockroaches.

The exact origins of this deep-seated hatred within the Rambouillet family remain unclear.

Given that every blood-related member shares this trait, it seems likely that genetics play a role.

However, their ancestor, Nelia, never displayed such an extreme phobia—she merely found them unpleasant.

That leaves only one other possible source: her husband, the infamous Demon King Astaroth, who led the Great Invasion.

But it’s hard to imagine a tyrant who ruled the entire demon realm with sheer charisma trembling at the sight of a mere cockroach.

Not to mention, records about him are sparse.

Regardless of its origins, one thing remains certain: Therese, like the rest of her family, is absolutely terrified of cockroaches.

To the point where, if faced with one climbing up her body, she would rather die than endure it.

Or at least, she would run as if her life depended on it.

“Hic!!! Hiiik!!! Heeaaahhh!!! Gyaaaaaaah!!!!!!”

With ear-piercing screams, Therese sprinted along the track, chasing after Lancia.

It is said that, when faced with extreme situations, humans can momentarily exhibit superhuman physical abilities.

Like a woman lifting hundreds of kilograms to save a child trapped under a carriage.

Or a man in a burning building who shoved aside a collapsing ceiling to escape.

Normally, our brain imposes limits to prevent our bodies from overexerting themselves, but in moments of crisis, those restraints are temporarily lifted.

That was exactly what was happening to Therese right now.

Faced with what she perceived as a life-threatening situation, she instinctively pushed her speed nearly threefold and charged forward like a wild animal.

She was practically running at cheetah-like speeds.

She was so fast that she instantly closed the gap with Lancia, who had been far ahead just moments ago.

“!? Huh? Wait, when did—”

“OUT OF MY WAYYYYYYY!!!!”

“KYAAAH?!”

Lancia flinched in shock as Therese overtook her in an instant, the gust of wind from her passing making her stagger.

She could only stand there, dumbfounded, as she watched Therese vanish into the distance like a storm.

Her face was filled with utter bewilderment.

“W-What? Was she holding back this whole time? Just to lure me into a false sense of security?

But… she really looked exhausted earlier… It didn’t seem like she was faking it…”

Muttering to herself, Lancia instinctively turned around to find the cause behind Therese’s sudden burst of speed.

And then.

“!?! KYAAAAAAAHHH!!!!”

Before long, Lancia also let out a shriek and started running for her life.

Though she wasn’t as inherently terrified as the Rambouillet family—whose fear was practically embedded in their DNA—Lancia was still a young girl in the prime of her youth.

Of course, she hated cockroaches too.

With one scuttling toward her from behind, there was no way she could remain calm.

As a result, Lancia also unintentionally received the same speed boost as Therese.

An unintended side effect.

“AAAAAHHHH!!!! HELP!!! SOMEONE SAVE ME!!!”

“EEK! GET IT AWAY! PLEASE, SOMEONE, ANYONE!!!”

And so, the final stretch of the 500-meter race turned into a chaotic mess, filled with nothing but the girls’ desperate screams and tears.

Even after crossing the finish line, the two didn’t stop running.

They continued for another lap and a half, only coming to a halt once the referee incinerated the cockroach with a Scorching Ray.

A tragic battle where no one emerged unscathed.

Meanwhile, among the cheer squad, one of the members abandoned her dance routine and fled in terror.

However, the whole scene was so chaotic that nobody even noticed.