The ninth lap soon came to an end, and as expected, Mason was at the twelfth place by the end of it.
At the start of the tenth lap, Mason was now hot on the heels of the eleventh place. Anyone could see that even before the tenth lap was over, Mason would be eleventh. That was only just one spot away from the top ten.
Currently, the crowd was astonished at his progress. This was because Mason didn't just overtake a driver per lap, but he did so while moving at almost the same speed as the top four drivers.
These drivers, due to the early lead they had, were already in the eleventh lap. This meant that they had overtaken some drivers at least twice, and most, thrice. However, Mason was able to avoid such a fate because he was moving at roughly the same speed as they were.
Mason currently drove out of the first half of the tenth lap being at the eleventh position, while the top four drivers were still at the starting infinity tracks of the eleventh lap.
"One more to go." Vienna seemingly said absentmindedly, but it was a reminder to Yovahn about the bet.
Mason was currently at the eleventh spot, so there really was just one more to go.
"Haha. No need to be so worried. Even if he overtakes, it has no meaning if he can't finish in that position."
Recalling something, Yovahn smiled and added, "Maybe, due to his reckless decision now, he might not be able to conclude the race at all."
Yovahn's belief was that Mason was incapable of driving the Viper at such a speed for long. From the moment he accelerated at the seventh lap until now, the tenth lap, Mason has been under pressure. The speed was standard for a drift racer, however, the circuit was tricky, requiring them to be on alert always.
Yovahn believed that the pressure would accumulate and become too difficult for even Mason to handle. That would be the time he couldn't handle it anymore and would either decelerate, or crash if he maintains the speed.
To those words, Lucas was unbothered. If Mason crashed during this race, it would mean that the latter lacked the talent to be a driver. After all, they had already 'cheated', so failing won't be tolerated.
"Hmm?"
One of the drivers on the track suddenly noticed a spot on his radar fast approaching him. This driver was the current tenth place as well as Yovahn's last line of defence.
Yovahn had requested his help alongside the two previous others, but the man wasn't too interested and simply gave a vague reply. This was because he was aiming for the top ten, so there was no reason to mess around with those below that rank.
Now however, someone was threatening his position, and when he identified the approaching driver, he realised it was the target of Yovahn's ire.
'He's at eleventh which means the others failed.' The man thought.
The proposal from Yovahn was to prevent Mason from getting thirteenth place. So, for Mason to be here, it meant that the other two had failed to stop him.
'Heaven provides you with a safe path, yet you chose to walk elsewhere.' The man smirked.
He didn't know that the terms of the deal had changed and Mason was to aim for tenth place. Instead, he still thought it was thirteenth place.
The Infinite Eight Circuit was divided into eight tracks, but the first four were the 'safety' tracks while the remaining four were the more risky ones as they were located within the mountain and littered with traps.
The duo were currently in the second half of the tenth lap, which meant that they were in the last four tracks. The man's intention was to utilise those traps to his advantage and take out Mason.
Unlike the brown-bearded man and the one before him, the tenth place driver didn't just want to keep Mason behind, but end his journey.
'I'll show you why this is an unofficial league.'
Seeing as Mason was quickly closing in on him, the man abruptly flipped a switch in his shuttle and stepped on a pedal.
*Bang*
A loud sound erupted from what looked to be an exhaust pipe behind the shuttle. It wasn't an exhaust as racing shuttles were powered by stellar energy and not chemical energy (fuel). Rather, it was a uniquely inserted rocket booster. The aim was to help increase the speed of the racing shuttle and approach, or even break the sound barrier, albeit for a short while. However, it also had a special feature.
The booster could generate a seismic reverberation using stellar energy, and affect the air molecules behind it. This might not sound like much, but it could be threatening to a racing shuttle behind, after all, these vehicles drive at extreme speeds and relied on air pressure and aerodynamics.
Similar to how "dirty air" [1] affected drivers in racing contests on Earth, these intensely vibrated air molecules could also affect the performance of a racing shuttle. The driver behind might end up with an underperforming shuttle, or in the worst case scenario, have an accident after a malfunction.
Although the use of boosters that generated such seismic reverberations was banner in the official leagues, the unofficial leagues didn't have such rules. However, it wasn't so common since such boosters added extra weight to the shuttle, slowing it down. Also, using them consumed a lot of energy which would have been better used to generate more speed and power for the racing shuttle.
However, some teams were desperate to win, which was why this 'weapon' could still occasionally be seen.
Following the loud bang, the air behind the tenth place driver was greatly unsettled as the molecules were sent into disarray. If a racing shuttle not up to the task moved within this environment, it would be unable to traverse easily and might even have an engine failure. This was because such shuttles used the atmospheric pressure to draw in air to cool their engines. With the current situation of the air molecules in disarray, it could affect the performance of the cooling system leading to the shuttle being overheated and a possible malfunction.
A red light fired up in the Viper's cockpit, indicating an issue with the atmospheric pressure and airflow. As a professional drift racer, Mason was able to pick up this warning even while navigating at such a high speed. It didn't take him much thinking to understand what was going on; his opponent was trying to end him here.