Chapter 1 The Beginning

Kratos's deep voice echoed in everyone's ears.

Most of the racers' expressions changed slightly, with shock and surprise on their faces.

A small number of racers, however, seemed to have expected this situation, their faces showing solemn expressions.

The previous champion team—the Hell's Roar team led by Mephisto, the Lord of Hatred—had intercepted players who appeared later in the middle of the bloody stage.

At that time, they trapped many people. In the end, Kratos took action, using his twin blades and axe to hack a demon god to death. Driving his car to the finish line forced Mephisto to give up intercepting the rear teams and chase after him.

Unexpectedly, Kratos would block the road this time as well...

"Hmph, I should see the expressions on your faces."

A contemptuous sneer rang out. The burly and tall Bowser swept his gaze around the crowd and said disdainfully, "All of us are just sets of data. Kratos is no more advanced than anyone else.

If you're afraid of even this little difficulty, you'd better surrender as soon as possible.

Don't even think about returning to your home game world."

"Then what about you?"

A racer frowned and questioned, "Aren't you unable to beat Kratos either?"

"Maybe, who knows."

Bowser shook his head. "Even if I can't beat him, I can hold on for a while.

The bloody stage stipulates that racers can attack each other, but they cannot leave their chariots for more than a certain period of time. Moreover, the chariot will automatically lose its qualification to participate after being damaged.

The first place blocks the road at the exit.

The goal of the teams behind is not to kill the first place team, but to delay time until enough teams leave the repair area.

Gather the strength of everyone,

Kill the first place, or break through the obstruction and drive to the front, forcing the first place to give up the interception.

Even if the racers can't trust each other, they can always cooperate for the common good, right?"

It must be said that Bowser's words sounded somewhat reasonable. The racers had different expressions and silently drilled back into their chariots.

Seeing that no one took the initiative to withdraw from the race, Kratos, standing on the roof of his chariot, remained expressionless. He held the Chaos Blades that had slaughtered countless gods, waiting for the challengers to appear.

In the racers' complex gazes, the second vehicle to enter the repair area—the Apocalypse Chariot driven by Fury, Death, War, and Strife—slowly drove out of the bubble barrier surrounding the repair area.

Fury, Death, War, and Strife all came from the action game series *Darksiders*. In the game's background setting, their strength was not inferior to Kratos, who was at the god level.

The two sides could be said to be the two strongest teams in terms of individual strength in this death chariot race.

"Oh ho,"

Sitting in the machine gunner's seat, Li Ang raised an eyebrow. "This time, there's a good show to watch."

"Who do you think will win?"

Luo Ri Rong Jin asked softly, "Judging from the data strength alone, it seems that the total amount of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is higher.

However, on Kratos's side, the three people sitting in the car are not weak either."

"Logically speaking, comparing combat power across worldviews should usually require the original author to come out and fight, or speak with sales."

Li Ang smiled and said, "Considering that the sales of *Darksiders* over the generations are not as good as *God of War*, and the former developer THQ has also been bankrupted and acquired,

I'm betting on God of War."

"Uh, you can't calculate it that way..."

Luo Ri Rong Jin twitched the corner of his eye. "If you only look at the value of the IP, then all the racers here would probably be circled up and A-ed by Pokémon."

"That's true too."

Li Ang rubbed his chin and murmured, "Anyway, as long as you have a big IP behind you, no matter how unmotivated you are, no matter what kind of crap you make, it will sell well, right?

No wonder everyone likes IPs now..."

Li Ang's complaints did not affect the changes on the track.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse drove into the track, facing Kratos from a distance of a hundred meters.

A hundred meters was no different from being close at hand in front of warriors of their level.

However, the rules of the death chariot race stipulated that racers could not leave the chariot or the track too far or for too long, otherwise they would be directly judged as losers.

This also meant that they had to attack each other, injure their opponents, or destroy their chariots at the moment of the chariots' confrontation and collision.

The two sides did not communicate or talk. They could confirm with each other's eyes that there was no room for mediation or negotiation.

Only one victor could return home.

"And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, Come..."

The outside of the heavy-duty chariot driven by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse was originally covered with pure white, jade-like, holy floating reliefs.

Now, as a strange, hoarse, slight chant rang around the chariot, the holy reliefs on the surface of the chariot gradually became dim and dark.

The tires of the Apocalypse Chariot slowly rotated, and the gray smoke formed by the friction with the ground carried a strong sulfurous odor.

"And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come.

And another horse came forth, a red horse: and to him that sat thereon, it was given to take peace from the earth, that they should slay one another, and there was given unto him a great sword..."

The chanting continued, and the reliefs on the surface of the chariot completely merged with the darkness.

Death, one of the four horsemen, sat in the driver's seat.

The remaining Strife, Fury, and War opened the car doors, jumped to the roof, and stared at the God of War in the distance, each holding a weapon.

The chariot began to accelerate slowly.

The racers in the hemispherical bubble barrier could not help but clench the steering wheel and hold their breath.

"And hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with pestilence, and with wild beasts,

to kill

a quarter of the earth."

The chanting reached its peak at the moment when the two chariots met.

The Apocalypse Chariot suddenly erupted with thick smoke.

Countless emaciated skeleton souls spewed out of the smoke,

They painfully scratched their bones, as if to dig out non-existent hearts, howling and screaming,

rushing towards the Chaos Chariot.

Boom!

The Chaos Blades in Kratos's hands suddenly burst into flames.

The pain rooted in unbearable memories, the haunting nightmares that tormented him, were all transformed into fuel for the flames at this moment.

Swing the blade!

The flames wrapped around the Chaos Blades were like some kind of corrosive poison, splitting the thick, impenetrable black smoke.

Any skeleton soul illuminated by the fire quickly melted like a candle, and could only scream and flee in all directions.

Clang!

The blade struck something.

It was an exaggerated two-handed greatsword, and the person holding it was the War Knight shrouded in a blood-red hood.

"God of War,"

The War Knight blocked the Chaos Blades, staring at the cold-faced Kratos in front of him, leaned forward, and said hoarsely, "Stop here..."

The Apocalypse Chariot spewed out black smoke again, covering the entire track.

A small commotion broke out in the repair area. The racers looked forward, but could only see the light of the Chaos Blades flashing in the black smoke.

They heard the muffled, loud sound of metal clashing, the roar of anger, and the wailing of souls.

What happened?

Who won?

Huge doubts lay in the hearts of all the racers.

When the surrounding black smoke gradually dissipated, the racers saw that the road surface was dilapidated and full of burning potholes.

The Apocalypse Chariot stopped in place.

The Strife and Fury Knights were lying in the potholes on both sides, their life or death unknown.

The War Knight, however, was still standing on the roof, propping up his greatsword.

"Phew..."

Most people breathed a sigh of relief. This was almost the best situation.

Kratos was defeated by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and the latter also suffered heavy losses, losing most of their combat power, and no longer had the possibility of competing for the top spot.

The next thing to consider was how to defeat the others...

Before the others, with their own thoughts, had time to calculate carefully,

They heard the Apocalypse Chariot on the road ahead making a sharp, tooth-aching friction sound.

Crack, crack, crack, crack...

The pitch-black chariot accelerated and disintegrated, turning into broken parts all over the ground.

The War Knight standing on the roof also slowly released the greatsword, lost all his strength, and fell down.

The black smoke completely dissipated. On the messy road,

The Chaos Chariot and its master were still standing.

"..."

Kratos still had a cold expression that revealed no emotions.

His muscular body was covered with deep, bone-deep wounds.

Blood poured out of his arms, and before it could fall to the ground, it was burned and evaporated by the flames of the Chaos Blades.

The wounded God of War was still standing.

"...Heh."

Bowser pursed his lips, clenched the steering wheel, and drove the chariot slowly into the broken track full of gravel.

"Mario is dead."

He muttered to himself, not knowing whether he was talking to himself or to the solemn-faced Toad and Donkey Kong in the chariot.

"He disappeared before we were kicked out of our game world, and he can't be seen in the Central City..."

Bowser stepped on the accelerator, causing the chariot to accelerate.

"Mario is my enemy. I hate him, I loathe him, and I pray day and night for him to die and fall into the abyss forever."

"But he is my nemesis."

"He belongs to me. His life, his destiny, his breathing, heartbeat, pulse, everything belongs to me."

"Without my permission, he cannot disappear, he cannot die."

Kratos's figure was reflected in Bowser's eyes.

The chariot was getting faster and faster, rushing towards the middle of the battlefield.

"Before I find him in the entire game world, any obstacles blocking the way, go to hell!!!"

Bowser roared, and at the moment when the two chariots met and collided, he kicked open the car door and jumped out. His huge palms with sharp, knife-like nails tightly grasped the chains tied to the Chaos Blades that were slashing towards the chariot.

Bang!

The impact of the collision between the God of War and the Demon King's fists was visible to the naked eye.

This loud noise seemed to be a horn, and several chariots drove out of the repair area and rushed into the track.

"No one!"

"Understands!"

"Being a villain!"

Like me!"

Bowser, squeezed on the roof of the Chaos Blades chariot, roared in bursts.

Every time he roared a sentence, he would swing his heavy fist, squeezing Kratos's space to move.

Kratos repeatedly avoided the opponent's sweeping fist, suddenly drew a round shield from behind him, and smashed the edge of the shield towards Bowser's fist with lightning speed.

The sharp edge of the shield deeply chiseled into Bowser's finger gap, and blood splattered in an instant, dripping on the roof of the chariot.

Thump!

Kratos punched Bowser in the chest, and the latter flew out instantly, rolled to the ground, and plowed a long mark on the concrete road.

"Pfft—"

Lying down in the pothole, Bowser vomited a pool of blood. His chest was imprinted with a fist, and he didn't know how many ribs were broken.

The airship responsible for monitoring the fairness of the competition also sent out a referee's ruling that Bowser had left the chariot too far and lost his qualification to compete.

But Bowser had a smile on his face.

His purpose had been achieved.

While Kratos was attacking him, Toad in the passenger seat took out a large number of bricks and planks from the void, flipped over and fiddled under the car for a while, and built a diagonally upward platform with acceleration belts out of thin air.

This special ability from the *Super Mario Maker* series allowed their chariot to directly soar into the sky, far away from Kratos's attack range.

Moreover, vehicles from the repair area were constantly coming. If Kratos wanted to maintain his leading position, he had to give up the siege and chase after them.

Bowser fell heavily. His remaining senses clearly felt that the road surface beneath him was rapidly wriggling, moving him out of the track and sending him to the medical staff.

"I still won... Go for it, Toad, I'll leave the rest to you..."

No one could hear Bowser's murmur.

Kratos sighed and turned to face the front of the track.

The engine of the chariot under his feet started again.

The bloody stage allowed the racers to fully exert their strength. As the divine power of the Fire God Hephaestus merged into every corner of the vehicle,

The Chaos Chariot began to fold, expand,

Intricate mechanical parts covered the surface of the chariot, as if putting on a blood-red steel armor for the vehicle.

"Nothing can stop us from going home,"

Kratos said lightly, "Charge, Senua.

I'll take care of the vehicles along the way."

Along with Kratos's whisper, the Chaos Chariot accelerated and charged, rushing towards the vehicle driven by Donkey Kong in front.

A large number of chariots rushed into the desert track, and the Stryker chariot ridden by Li Ang and others was also among them.

Since the siege in front had been broken, then... it was time to start competing.

The gravity gun sucked up sand and gravel and threw them out to the surroundings,

The Dragonborn roared out the Dragon Shout, causing the air to stagnate and stop, blocking the flying fireballs,

The pirate warship rammed and crashed, and the left turret fired crossbow arrows and ropes, dragging other vehicles over, allowing the racers on the pirate ship to jump on board and fight.

In the vast desert, the sounds of fighting were endless.

"Ex——"

The blond and blue-eyed girl knight and her lion suit moe stood on the roof of the chariot. The two of them each held up a long sword, surrounded by a whirlwind, and the sword body bloomed with thousands of feet of light.

——calibur!!"

A huge magic power erupted from the tip of the sword, extending a long beam of light for hundreds of meters.

The brilliant sword light that destroyed everything was swung out 180 degrees by the two Sabers working together.

After one sword,

The road could no longer be seen as it was originally. The land on both sides of the road was cut down by several meters, and hot steam left by burning was everywhere on the vast wilderness.

The chariots carrying the weak racers all burst and disintegrated. There were less than twenty chariots still driving side by side on the track.

"...That was close."

Luo Ri Rong Jin exhaled a long turbid breath. He felt like he was going to suffer when he saw Saber raising the Sword of Promised Victory just now.

Fortunately, Li Ang flipped over and hung outside the car, pressing the road surface with his palm to melt the road ahead,

Let the vehicle sneak into the underground tunnel,

At the same time, the witch released an energy barrier to cover the vehicle,

So that the Stryker chariot was not destroyed in the dazzling sword light.

The alchemy lightning in Li Ang's palm gradually dissipated, and the vehicle drove back to the surface again.

"This car is too slow."

He looked at his companions and said calmly, "I'll speed it up."

"What are you going to do?"

Luo Ri Rong Jin suddenly felt a palpitation in his heart.

He could see a strange energy gushing out of Li Ang's body.

Snap!

Regardless of his astonished teammates, Li Ang slapped the chariot with one palm.

The plant roots extending from the palm easily penetrated the metal armor on the surface of the vehicle,

Spreading, growing, occupying every corner of the vehicle, replacing the parts of the vehicle.

In an instant, the chariot was transformed into a deformed mixture of machinery, plants, and flesh and blood.