The first leg of the competition had just begun, but many had already fallen to the bombardment of the three troublemakers in the sky.
Even so, those who were powerful enough had managed to protect themselves by evading, and deflecting the bombs that were raining down on them from above.
In fact, some of them even used this opportunity to eliminate their competitors by deflecting the bombs, and sending it towards other people.
Although the start of the competition was chaotic, the cheers of the people watching the event was at an all time high.
"Taking the lead of the Marathon is none other than Mr. Adee Dash," Kazogonaga said as he commented on the event in real time. "He is followed closely by Mr. Reeh Boke, and Mr. Nai Kee. However, the others are not far behind!"
Everyone was forbidden from using their abilities, and were even wearing artifacts that suppressed them.
They could only rely on their strength, endurance, stamina, and will power, which was something that they didn't lack.
Truth be told, none of them were worried about the race.
What they were worried about were the hurdles that would stop them from reaching the finish line!
"The bombardment finally stopped," Psoglav commented. "Is it just me or are those slimes purposely not targeting you?"
"It's just your imagination," Cethus replied.
Cethus was indeed not targeted even once during the bombardment of Blast Bombs from above, and the reason for this was simple.
He was someone who had taken good care of the Baby Slimes in their guild headquarters, and even protected them during the war.
Because of this, Eiko, Fei Fei, and Dim Dim didn't target him even once when they started throwing bombs at everyone.
A few hours passed, and the runners finally arrived at the next leg of their journey.
They needed to swim towards the Ford Federation, which was located on the other side of the sea.
Fortunately, there were several floating Slimes that held flags, which informed everyone the general direction on where they needed to go.
Those that had taken the lead in the Marathon earlier found themselves being overtaken by people who specialized in swimming.
Some of the participants lived near coastal towns or on islands, with others even being demi-humans that had aquatic origins.
Everyone thought that they would be bombarded by bombs, while they were swimming in the water, so they made sure to spread themselves accordingly, so that they could evade at a moment's notice.
"Damn, why isn't there a flying event in this contest?!" Cethus complained as he swam in the water.
Swimming wasn't really his strong point, but he practiced a lot just to join the tournament.
Several spectators who could fly in the sky followed the contestants, including Kazogonaga, who was riding on top of a Wyvern.
When the contestants were halfway in their journey, they saw several pirate ships sailing in the waters.
They were the members of Eiko's Boom Boom Pirate Crew, and their role was to become the obstacle that would hinder the contestants from reaching their destination.
"Aim!" Avery ordered, and all the cannons of the pirate ships aimed at the people that were swimming in their direction.
"Fire!"
All the cannons roared to life, but instead of explosives, the cannonballs were made of a silvery liquid that would encapsulate those it hit with an air bubble, trapping them in place.
Of course, those that were trapped inside the bubble could still break free. But, it would take them considerable time and effort to do so.
Unlike the first hurdle, this time, Cethus wasn't spared from the bombardment that was raining down on them.
However, none of the cannon balls hit him because he was able to dodge them in time.
An hour later, he managed to safely pass the Pirate Ships, who were only firing their cannons at the people that were in front of them.
Those who managed to pass through their defensive line were no longer targeted, making them sigh in relief.
Due to the bombardment, more than half of the participants were forced to retire because they were unable to break free from the air bubbles that trapped them in place.
Several hours later, the tired contestants finally reached the Ford Federation.
All of them were then given bicycles to ride, so that they could continue the third phase of their journey.
The sun was setting in the horizon, but that was not a problem.
Their goal for the third part of the race was to travel across the Bifrost Bridge, which would take them to the world of Hestia, where the final phase of the competition was waiting for them.
Most of the contestants had reached their limit by this point, even if they had superhuman strength.
The bike ride towards Hestia would take them at least ten hours at the minimum, if they were traveling at least 40 kph.
But, since most of the participants were already tired, the majority of them were only cycling between 15-20 kph.
Some were even moving at 5-10 kph, and resting their heads on the steering bar of their bikes to recover their strength.
Cethus and Psoglav were among the people who were trying to recover their strength for the final push.
This continued for several hours until they finally saw the world of Hestia in the distance.
Similar to Elysium, Hestia was a beautiful blue planet.
Although the marks of the previous war could still be seen on its surface, the majority of people had managed to adapt to the changes of their environment, and live relatively peaceful lives.
Since the final descent to Hestia was downhill, all the contestants accelerated, even if they weren't doing anything special.
Most of them had recovered a bit of their strength during the journey, and were now preparing for the final phase of the race, which was a ten-mile-sprint.
The reason why everyone was adamant on winning the race was because of the prize that Lux and William promised to the victor.
Whoever won the first ever Elsoetia Olympics, would be granted a wish.
As long as the two Half-Elves were able to grant it, they would grant it without fail.
Of course, there were certain restrictions to the wishes.
Wishes that would harm anyone in whatever way were not allowed.
Wishes that might cause instability in the world were not allowed either.
But, as long as the wish wouldn't affect the two worlds on a grand scale, the two Half-Elves would grant it.
This was why many had trained so hard for this event because they wanted one of their wishes to be granted.
"See you at the finish line!" Psoglav roared as he dropped his bicycle on the ground and made a mad sprint.
"That's my line, you punk!" Cethus roared as well as he, too, ran with everything he had.
The other contestants were also running at their fastest speeds in order to reach the finish line.
A ten-mile-sprint was not a big deal to these powerful individuals, who had surpassed the limits of mortals.
It wouldn't even take them an hour to reach their destination.
'It's there, I can see it!' Cethus gritted his teeth when he saw the flags in the distance, where the finish line was located. 'Just a little more!'
Psoglav and the others were thinking about the same thing, so all of them pushed themselves to the limit one last time.
Suddenly, Kazogonaga's voice spread in the surroundings.
"What's that up in the sky?!" Kazogonaga exclaimed when he saw something that wasn't part of the event.
High above the clouds, and perched on top of the Bifrost Bridge, were Eiko, Fei Fei, and Dim Dim.
Behind them, countless baby slimes of different colors, all looked down on the contestants below with determined looks on their faces.
Eiko, who was the leader of the Baby Slimes, took a deep breath before shouting with all of her might.
"I'm Rolling!"
The moment she said those words, the Fairy Princess rolled down on the rainbow bridge that extended towards the ground.
Fei Fei and Dim Dim were quick to follow her example, as they, too, rolled down the rainbow bridge for the last leg of the race.
"Da Wei!"
"Dim Dim!"
The countless Baby Slimes also followed their leader as they, too, rolled down, creating a rainbow-colored-avalanche that made the people on the ground panic.
"Rolling."
"Rolling~"
"Rolling?"
"Rolling!"
"""Eyah!"""
Kazogonaga and the rest of the spectators could only gasp in shock at the unexpected turn of events.
The three troublemakers had gathered all the Baby Slimes in Elysium in order to join the last part of the race.
With Eiko leading the charge, all the bodies of the Baby Slimes glowed, encasing them in a protective coating, which would prevent them from getting squished.
"Sh*t!"
"Argh!"
"Damn!"
"F*ck!"
All sorts of curses escaped the contestants' lips as they were mowed down by the Slime Army, who were all giggling like mad as they rolled over them.
"Damn… I wish I was there!" Kazogonaga, who was commentating the event, could only watch with envy as the countless Baby Slimes rolled towards the finish line, leaving all the contestants lying on the ground.
"We won!" Eiko jumped in place happily.
"Wei!"
"Dim Dim!"
"Won!"
"Eyah!"
"Eyah!"
The happy Baby Slimes all jumped in place after they had successfully hijacked the event.
However, Lux and William descended from the sky and told the three troublemakers that they were disqualified from winning because they didn't participate in the event properly.
In the end, the surviving contestants were allowed to rest for two hours before restarting the final sprint of the race.
The final winner of the Iron Man competition was a tie between Cethus and Psoglav, so both of them were allowed one wish each.
As for what they wished for, no one really knew.
However, one thing was clear.
Both of their wishes were granted, which also marked the end of the first ever Iron Man Race, which would be held again in another ten years.
This event would pave the way for the next generation of heroes, who would play a vital role in the unexpected event that would shake the entire multiverse in the future.
