The battle within the Tube was intensifying, though every pilot fought strictly within the bounds of the rules.
"She’s not giving me an inch."
Jin, piloting Bib #11—the Zero—chased the Nile, Rubina’s delta-wing aircraft, as it streaked ahead of him.
With its wings partially folded, the Zero’s aerodynamic profile matched that of the delta-wing Nile. Jin held a slight advantage in engine output, but the Nile’s narrower total wingspan gave Rubina the edge in the tightest corners.
The rest came down to the pilots' skill.
They snaked through the Tube as it veered left and right, pitched up and plunged down. Each maneuver required absolute focus; touching the barrier walls meant instant disqualification.
This high-tension navigation continued for a full kilometer. The pressure weighing on the pilots was immense.
"Ugh, this wingspan is making things so difficult!"
Marikka, in Bib #13, was locked in a bitter struggle.
She had exploited a loophole in the rules to build a craft with an exceptionally wide wingspan, which had served her well until now. In the narrow confines of the Tube, however, that same design was proving to be a curse.
The average speed hovered around sixty kilometers per hour. It would take roughly a minute to clear the one-kilometer tunnel.
One minute of pure, focused warfare.
"Yes! That’s one!"
In a course where maneuverability trumped raw speed, Natalia used her Bib #1 triplane to dive past Sireen Eschenbach’s Bib #5 biplane.
"Man, I am really not cut out for this kind of course."
On the other hand, Sidney Marek was floundering. Surprisingly, he lacked the temperament for such technical flying, and his Bib #6 craft began to slide down the rankings.
"Jin-sama and Rubina are both doing quite well... I see no reason to force a reckless pass here."
Lordtoss held steady in third place. His Swallow, Bib #12, refrained from high-risk overtakes within the Tube, opting instead to wait for the second half of the race to make his move.
"Oh! Exquisite control from all participants!"
The announcer, Luckhart, shouted over the speakers.
The footage projected onto the massive magi-screens looked like a first-person view of a roller coaster hurtling through a tunnel.
Several spectators in the stands began to look pale, prompting staff members and rescue golems to move through the crowd and cast Healing.
"Wh-What a sight. The intensity is incredible."
Even Sion, who had traveled on airships, aircraft, and even spaceships, found herself breathless at the display.
"I have to get past here... Ah!"
Then, the first accident occurred. It was Sireen’s Bib #5 biplane.
In a desperate attempt to force her way past Natalia’s triplane, her main wing clipped the wall of the Tube. The barrier glowed a brilliant red at the point of impact—a visual indicator for the crowd.
In that instant, Sireen Eschenbach was disqualified.
"Oh, what a tragedy! Perhaps she pushed a bit too hard?! Bib #5, Sireen Eschenbach, is disqualified!"
"It was a risky move at those speeds. Though it is true that one cannot climb the ranks without taking risks."
"That was unfortunate, Sireen."
The biplane remained frozen within the tube-shaped barrier, where it would stay until it was safely retrieved after the race.
"And now, our leader, Bib #10, has emerged from the Tube!!"
"Rubina held onto the lead, didn't she?"
After roughly a minute of tension, the aircraft began to burst from the exit one after another. Twelve remained.
The Tube had guided them to a significant altitude; from the ground, they were little more than silver specks against the sky. However, the magi-screens provided a crystal-clear view of the action.
"Every pilot has opened their throttles! They’re diving for the eighth gate—ten meters in diameter!"
The aircraft, which had been restricted to sixty kilometers per hour, accelerated violently.
"Oh! Marikka-sama’s Bib #13 has jumped two positions!"
"Her acceleration is impressive. She must have made her craft very light."
This stretch covered only two hundred meters, making it a contest of pure acceleration rather than sustained top speed.
The order shifted slightly. As they cleared the eighth gate, the rankings stood at: 10, 11, 12, 8, 7, 13, 2, 4, 1, 3, 9, 6.
They cleared the ninth and tenth gates before entering a four-hundred-meter vertical dive. At the very bottom sat the eleventh gate—a mere three meters in diameter.
It was arguably the most treacherous point of the race.
Fueled by gravity, the aircraft reached speeds of two hundred to two hundred and fifty kilometers per hour.
"Incredible! Bib #8 has overtaken Bib #12 and #11 at terrifying speed! She’s almost at the front!"
"No. She’s lost control!"
Florence Fahlheit’s swept-wing aircraft, the Blue Sky, screamed past Rubina’s Nile to take the lead.
But she couldn't hit the three-meter eye of the needle waiting for her. Just as Sion had feared, her speed was too great to manage. Despite a desperate attempt to pull up, she couldn't correct her course in time. She slammed into the crash prevention barrier and was disqualified.
Rubina’s Nile plummeted toward the gate, but she was carefully modulating her speed. It was a sign of how much she had grown from the girl who once only knew how to charge forward.
"Like this!"
She wrenched her craft around, using the broad surface of her delta wings as airbrakes.
Once she had slowed sufficiently, she leveled out and shot through the gate. At that moment, she officially claimed the top spot.
"Impressive, Rubina."
Jin followed in second. He descended at the absolute limit of his control, deploying his main wings about fifty meters before the gate. Using the air resistance to decelerate while fine-tuning his trajectory, he cleared the eleventh gate with surgical precision.
Lordtoss took the gate in third.
Ever the composed pilot, he managed his posture with room to spare as he glided through.
Bib #7, who had moved up to fourth after Florence’s exit, fully extended his tapered wings during the final third of the descent.
The drag slowed him down, but Shu’s Bib #2 swept-wing aircraft, the Denkou, was right on his tail and dived into the gate first.
"Damn it!"
Having missed his line, Bib #7 frantically pulled into a loop. He avoided the crash prevention barrier, but the maneuver cost him dearly in the rankings.
Marikka’s Eagle didn't force the issue, letting Shu’s Bib #2 take the lead before she passed through the eleventh gate. Bib #7 followed after her.
Greena’s Bib #4 elliptical-wing craft, the Tempest, came next, followed by the high-drag Bib #1 triplane, the Halcyon.
The Bib #9 biplane overtook Bib #3 to take the gate, with Bib #3 and #6 bringing up the rear.
With two pilots eliminated, the rankings stood at: 10, 11, 12, 2, 13, 7, 4, 1, 9, 3, 6.
After clearing the eleventh gate, they leveled off to pass through the three-meter twelfth gate.
From there, they aimed for the thirteenth gate—five meters wide and fifty meters ahead. Beyond that lay a two-hundred-meter straightaway to the finish line.
"It’s all down to the straight! A pure test of top speed!!"
"Still, everyone will be pushing their limits for this final stretch. It’s anyone’s race!"
Every pilot cleared the thirteenth gate without incident. Then, they threw their throttles wide.
The variable-sweep aircraft retracted their wings to minimize drag.
"Go, go, go!"
"This is the end!"
"Full power!!"
Each pilot pushed their machine for everything it was worth. The acceleration across the field was staggering.
Leading the charge were Rubina’s Bib #10 Nile and...
"Oh! Jin-sama’s Bib #11, the Zero, is picking up speed at an incredible rate!!"
Jin had been operating at ninety percent power until now. With the finish line in sight, he finally unleashed the engine's full capacity.
"Bib #12, Lordtoss-sama’s Swallow, is also showing incredible acceleration!"
His heavily lightened craft possessed remarkable pick-up.
On a mere two-hundred-meter straight, the race would be over before they even reached their true top speeds. This was entirely a battle of acceleration.
"Marikka-sama’s Bib #13 Eagle is accelerating as well, but is the wing drag holding her back?!"
Air resistance increased with the square of velocity, putting high-drag designs at a severe disadvantage.
Or so the crowd thought.
"Ah! Is Marikka-sama’s aircraft breaking apart?!"
The Eagle’s main wings suddenly snapped mid-way and flew off to either side.
"No, that’s not it. She jettisoned them!"
Stayhart, the commentator, realized the trick instantly.
As a secret final measure, Marikka’s Eagle had been built with a mechanism to shorten its wings. The wingspan, which had been two meters wide, was now reduced to a mere sixty centimeters.
It was a one-time gimmick; once the sections were gone, they couldn't be reattached. Marikka had saved her trump card for the final seconds of the race.
Having shed the weight and the drag, the Eagle surged forward with eye-popping acceleration. She screamed past Shu’s Bib #2.
The battle for the win had been narrowed down to four aircraft: Bib #10, 11, 12, and 13.