"Welcome, everyone, to the first-ever Elsoetia Olympics!" Kazogonaga exclaimed through the microphone, informing the countless people who were watching the event through the projections scattered all over Elysium, Solais, and the World of Hestia.
"Champions from Elysium and Hestia are now going to compete in the first-ever Inter-Planetary Iron Man competition! This event will test their endurance, perseverance, and willpower!
"A series of running, swimming, and biking events will be held. Hundreds of thousands of people have registered for this epic race, yet only one will emerge victorious once this event is over!"
Kazogonaga's voice reverberated in the surroundings, making the people in the venue, as well as those who were watching the projections all across the three worlds, cheer at the same time.
Along the starting line, countless people were doing stretches in preparation for the first leg of the journey, which was a marathon.
There, Cethus noticed a one-eyed Demon Dog, who was eyeing him with its single beady eye.
The Dragon Born and the Demon Dog stared at each other for a few minutes before raising their hands at the same time to shake hands.
"Cethus," Cethus introduced himself.
"Psoglav," Psoglav did the same.
The two cannon fodders nodded at the same time in recognition of each other's strength.
The other contestants were also eyeing each other as if looking for potential rivals.
"Now, before this Iron Man event starts, let's all welcome the two sponsors of this event—Willian Von Ainzorth and Lux Von Kaizer!" Kasogonaga shouted.
The sky then suddenly turned dark, making everyone who was watching suddenly feel anxious.
A moment later, countless fireworks painted the sky with various colors and designs.
But in the middle of these amazing fireworks displays, two golden lightning bolts streaked across the sky and drew a hand with the "peace sign" hovering across the sky.
After the symbol was created, a Draconic Skeleton King appeared in front of everyone, with his two arms spread wide.
The two golden lightning bolts then landed on the palms of the Skeleton King's hands, showing their faces to the two worlds.
"William Von Ainzworth. It's an honor to be here!" William introduced himself with a smile.
"Lux Von Kaizer. Is everyone ready to rumble?!" Lux asked, making the contestants raise their hands and shout their warcries.
"This event is being held so that the people of Elysium, Solais, and Hestia, can form stronger bonds with each other and work together to reach greater heights," William said. "It is the first of its kind, and I'm looking forward to seeing who will emerge as the victors of this match."
"So without further delay, I hereby declare the start of the first-ever Elsoetia Olympics!" Lux shouted. "But before that, let's have a commercial break first!"
At that exact moment, the Goddess Lily appeared on a giant projection in the sky.
The Loli Goddess was dancing to the sound of the upbeat music playing in the background.
On top of her head, the Dim Sum God, Dim Dim, was making countless Dim Sum spin in the air that synchronized their moves with Lily's dancing.
A moment later, these Dim Sums flew toward a platter on top of the table where several Baby Slimes were waiting.
These Baby Slimes then reached out to eat the Dim Sums, with the camera zooming in to give a close up view of their reactions.
All the seven Baby Slimes, who had the colors of the rainbow, had happy and satisfied looks on their faces as they chewed the Dim Sum in their mouths.
"Dim Dim's Dim Sums!" Lily said as she appeared behind the Baby Slimes. "Even Baby Slimes approve!"
All the Baby Slimes then looked at the camera and jumped at the same time.
""Eyah!""
"Dim Dim's Dim Sum, coming to a store near you!" Lily said with a smile.
"Dim Dim!" Dim Dim shouted.
The commercial ended. Seeing the happy satisfied expressions that the Baby Slimes had shown earlier, everyone who saw the suddenly felt hungry
Even Lux and William suddenly had the strong urge to eat after seeing that commercial.
Suddenly, a flying Sea Otter descended from the sky, and riding on top of him were Eiko and Fei Fei.
The two Baby Slimes were holding two torches in their hands, with the intention of lighting the giant torch, which was actually Eiko's giant bone cauldron that created Undead Monsters.
When the contestants saw this, all of them took a running stance. The moment the torch was lit, the Iron Man Race would officially begin.
Fortunately, they didn't have to wait that long.
When the Sea Otter was right above the giant cauldron, Eiko and Fei Fei both tossed their torches inside it.
"Ei!"
"Da Wae!"
Within seconds, flames rose up from the cauldron, and the shouts of countless people reverberated in the surroundings as the contestants all began to sprint.
The first part of the Iron Man Race was a long-distance marathon that spanned ten thousand miles.
The second stage was to swim the seas until they reached the Ford Federation.
On the third leg of the journey, they would enter a portal that would take them to Hestia, where they would all ride bicycles.
The last leg of the journey was a final sprint to the finish line.
This was the Inter-Planetary Olympics held in both Elysium and Hestia.
Solais couldn't take part in hosting this event at this point because the side effects of the recently cleared miasma were still prevalent in the surroundings.
It would take at least a decade before the environment healed and returned to its former glory.
"I'll see you at the finish line, Psoglav," Cethus said in a confident tone.
"Yes. You'll see me holding the gold trophy for finishing first," Psoglav replied.
"Hahaha! Nice joke."
"Let's see who will be laughing later."
As the two cannon fodders ran side by side, the other contestants ran past them.
Both of them only had one thought in their minds as they looked at the fools who were sprinting at full speed from the get-go.
'Amateurs!'
The two cannon fodders looked at their other competitors in disdain. Both of them were properly pacing themselves to save their strength to actually complete the long event.
This was a very demanding event that would push them to the very limits.
Since that was the case, pacing was the key to winning!
Kazogonaga was busy commentating, while the people cheered for the participants they were rooting on to win.
"Go!"
"Wei!"
"Dim Dim!"
The three troublemakers were currently riding the Sea Otter, Lucky, who was now big enough to carry all three of them at the same time.
They were flying above the competitors who were running on the ground, but none of the contestants paid the three of them heed.
That was their mistake!
Eiko, Fei Fei, and Dim Dim, were there for a purpose, and that was to make the event harder than it already was.
"Boom Boom Bakugan!"
"Da Wae!"
"Dim Dim!"
The three troublemakers started to throw blast bombs from the sky, hitting countless people on the ground.
The sound of curses and pained shouts spread in the surroundings.
But instead of intimidating the three troublemakers, those only made them even more excited, and they began throwing blast bombs like there was no tomorrow.
Those on the ground knew that this event wouldn't be easy because they had already been told that they would face obstacles along the way.
They just didn't expect that they would be bombed in the starting phase of the journey, making some of the competitors curse the organizer of the event in their hearts.
Hereswith, who was seated beside Kazogonaga, was smiling from ear to ear.
She was one of the organizers of the event, and the three troublemakers making things difficult for everyone was one of her suggestions, which the gaming committee readily approved.
Only one would emerge victorious!
Only one would gain fame and glory!
This was the start of the Elsoetia Olympics!
