The race had begun, and all the guides that were present in the first challenge were also here. Hera was currently in third place, with Kelpi on his seahorse mount taking the lead of the pack. It's been only a couple of minutes since the start, and the Nimbus only had to dodge a simple set of barriers made out of sand. No one had any trouble going through them, but those who decided to jump over the obstacles, like Nina and Talpa, who were ironically taking control of a wolf and a lizard kobold, respectively, ended up getting slowed because of the lack of acceleration. Their mounts were a giant wolf and a komodo dragon that could fly.

Hera, along with Kelpi and Laika, who rode an old-timey bicycle with one large wheel, went around the obstacles, allowing themselves to gain more speed than the rest. For now, the race seemed very straightforward. Only a path with some random formations of sand here and there, but Hera was sure things wouldn't stay so peaceful in the future. Right beside her, Capri was doing his best to keep up.

"Hey, Capri! Quick question. You guys won't hit me if I don't throw the first punch, right?" the wind was so loud as they ran that Hera had to yell to talk to the guide.

A sculpture of a shirtless warrior with a ram's head was riding a large mountain goat by Hera's side. Capri turned to the side and nodded. His mouth started moving, but his voice was coming directly into the Empress' ear as if she was wearing an earbud, "That is correct."

"Good. If all of you were attacking me, I would have no chance of winning," Hera felt glad that she wouldn't have to worry so much about incoming attacks.

"That might be true, but this also means that we cannot attack each other," Capri replied.

"Why would you attack each other? I'm the only one who has to lose here, right?"

Capri gave her a mischievous smile, "This is not a team race. There will be only one winner, be it you or one of us."

"I see.." Hera looked ahead. She still had at least a minute before the next obstacle, which would be a 90 degree turn to the right after passing the checkpoint. Knowing that the guides would also be attacking each other changed things. Unlike the rest, she literally had eyes in the back of her head, and maybe causing some mayhem could improve her chances, "Say… How do you feel about an alliance?"

"An alliance, you say?" Capri gave her a satisfied smile and looked back. Behind the two, Nina and Talpa were fast approaching, and the two of them were also taking almost all space in the course, stopping anyone from taking them over, "Some already started that, and between your strength and my power. I'm sure we can take first and second places. However, I must warn you. Any alliances will last only until the last checkpoint. Beyond that, is every guide, or human, for themselves."

"So we have a deal?" Hera asked.

"We have a deal," Capri nodded.

Hera looked back, "Get ready to stop those in the front," she waved her hand and created a slow field attached to her sensory net. She also shook her bracelet at the same time, triggering a Battle Rattle to increase her attributes by 20%. She considered that Capri could be affected by it, but either way, she had a bonus to her attributes.

During these early moments of the race, things were not that exciting. People were running and trying to reach first place, but it was organized. No one was trying to endanger anyone else, and everyone was just doing their best to move forward. However, the second the slow field hit Talpa and Nina, the race plummeted into madness. The type of mayhem that would happen in a party racing video game. Being the first ones to be hit by the spell, the kobold sisters were slammed by the others behind them. Capri started throwing large balls of wool back at the group while Berthellemy made a protective bubble around him and made his manta ray mount glide outside the course, where the water was too deep for anyone to run to avoid the attacks.

Hera told Nimbus to push forward, and the Sentinel did as he was told, while at the same time, Daskka let out some dark mist to hide them from the others. Laika noticed that, and four flying saucers appeared above her head. The UFOs started attacking Kelpi with lasers that seemed to explode on contact. In response, the fish guide pushed some bubbles out of his suit and started dropping them on the track to stop the others.

The chaos continued for several minutes. The speed of the race increased drastically, and people stopped caring about anyone else. They all wanted to win. As Hera kept pushing forward, she watched in horror as Nina got hit by some kind of water ball from the back, and it shattered her armor, destroying one of the arms of the sculpture she was controlling. If the Empress was hit by an attack like that, she had no idea if she could survive. Hera tried to get closer to the leader, but at this speed, she had to be somewhat careful, and Nimbus wasn't that great during turns. Still, little by little, they were approaching the two who managed to take the lead.

The first few checkpoints were very simple to go to, with just a few twists and turns. Kelpi was still in first place, sending his bubbles to those behind. Laika was still using her lasers to stop Capri and Hera's approach while those in the back were in the middle of their own form of mayhem. Thanks to the slow spell that Hera would toss every now and then, they were very far behind the leaders of the group. At first, it looked like each of the guides only had a single skill, but Scythe and Armory told the Empress how some of the guides were using different spells to attack others. Berthellemy was controlling some of the water outside the course to splash at the other guides. More spells started to pop out, but they were too far behind for them to understand what was actually going on. It was just a mess of explosions and particles being tossed back and forth.

It took a while for Hera to realize, but Capri had triggered a spell to increase his speed, along with everyone who was ahead of him. It was a bit of a complicated effect, and it would only work when there were at least two people in front of him, but it was a strategy that helped the guide to get even more ahead when he was ahead.

As the chaos slowed down a little, Hera noticed that Kelpi had gotten to the fifth checkpoint, which was the one closest to where they were. He began casting another spell, and the sky lit up, with a gigantic sphere appearing above the ground. However, she could also see through that ball of light. Beyond it, there was an island and the next checkpoint. For a brief moment, Hera was worried about what attack could come following that second sun that appeared in the sky. However, she could see how the mana was behaving, and it didn't look like it would have any follow-ups or anything. That spell, whatever it was, was stable, and it would probably be just something to hide the path from everyone else. That became even more apparent when the course split. One part of it headed to the left while the other continued forward.

Hera could see that both Laika and Kelpi pressed on, ignoring the turnard, even if that was the part of the road that was easier to miss because of the giant sphere of light. Capri was looking back when the spell was created, and now, he was changing lanes to make the left turn. Hera pushed forward and gestured for him to follow her. Capri seemed confused, but the Empress insisted. Receiving a nod from Boothudurn's guide, Hera led the way to the path hidden by the light.

Capri was clearly hesitant, but after a few moments, he understood what they were doing. If they took the path to the left, they would have to make a very wide arc around the island. Taking this route allowed them to cross through the island itself and reach the next checkpoint much sooner. However, it wasn't just a simple run. As soon as the two of them stepped onto the beach, golems made out of sand emerged from the ground and started attacking the duo. Seeing the enemies, the Empress just told Nimbus to start his frozen ash aura without missing a beat. This was supposed to be an obstacle course, so Hera was half expecting something like that to happen. With Capri following right behind her, she started dodging the attacks, summoning her court to parry the incoming blows and recalling them when they started to lag behind. It was something that she had to do very quickly since Nimbus was moving so fast, but with everyone's help, it seemed to work. Core and Frost were also tossing a few skills around to open a path or stop the golems from advancing, and soon, they reached a cliff. The checkpoint was a few meters beyond it, back on the ground.

"Capri, can your goat fly?" Hera looked back and yelled.

"You wound me. Even if it couldn't, my wings are more than powerful enough to carry us both."

"Then I would be worried about your legs. Can you carry a goat with your thighs alone?" Hera told Nimbus to keep going. The Sentinel could fly, and she wanted to take advantage of that. When looking to her left, she noticed a path leading down, but they would lose precious seconds if they took that detour.

"Fear not. I am magnanimous and will do whatever is required!" Capri announced proudly just as the two of them jumped the cliff. Nimbus simply spread out his wings and glided down while the guide created a pair of wool wings from his back and did the same. However, it was clear that carrying a goat with his legs alone wasn't exactly easy. Capri was making a face very similar to what one would see in a weightlifter when they tried to break a record.

"Are you ok back there?" Hera chuckled.

"I… AM… FINE!" Capri yelled through his teeth.

If a statue could sweat, Hera was sure the guide would be sweating right now. The poor goat under him also looked so confused about what was going on, that it was still trying to run on air. After a few moments, which felt like hours for Capri, they finally landed on the ground and continued through the checkpoint. A few meters in front of them, Hera could see Laika and Kelpi, both attacking each other relentlessly, trying to push their mounts from the road. Kelpi ended up being overconfident in his tactics and slowed down to get rid of Laika, who was currently in second place. Thanks to that, Hera was now much closer to the two, and it was a perfect moment to steal the first place position.