"The atmosphere is electric!"
"It takes me back to when you were still on the track."
Up in the stands, Maruzensky smiled beside Symboli Rudolf.
"It does," Rudolf nodded, her face also alight with a smile.
Since her retirement, the domestic Shining Series had slumped—
no superstars, no passion, and none of these matchups that could ignite the crowd like wildfire.
That long-lost frenzy—hot enough to tear the air—stirred something in her blood that had slept for years.
"After so long… maybe we'll see it again."
Rudolf spoke softly.
But both her longtime friend Maruzensky and the representative Chiaki still caught the meaning between the lines.
"Mm~ see it again, huh?"
Chiaki tilted her head, intrigued.
Rudolf nodded. "Yes. If it's those two… perhaps they can…"
…surpass their limits and step into that realm that defines an era.
She didn't speak that last part aloud.
Behind them, Inari One leaned furtively toward Kuroha's ear and whispered, "Trainer, what kind of riddles are they talking about?"
"That's grown-ups' tacit understanding, little Inari."
Kuroha tapped Inari's nose with a grin.
Inari pouted, lowering her head. "Mmm, but… I'm not that little anymore."
Following her gaze, Kuroha's expression turned a bit strange at the Edo girl's "big harvest."
This dummy—no one meant that…
Though, to be fair, it really wasn't little.
In fact, aside from Obey Your Master and Maruzensky, there weren't many here who were "bigger."
Very soon, rousing music surged through Tokyo Racecourse.
Under the staff's guidance, the horse girls filed toward the gates.
"They're finally moving into the stalls!"
Akagi's live call in the broadcast climbed higher.
"On one side, a win means an unprecedented seven straight graded victories!"
"On the other, victory would be the first Spring–Autumn Tenno Sho double in history!"
"Either way, a historic record will be etched today!"
"Twelve—no—one hundred and twenty thousand sets of eyes are locked on them!"
"Hooo———haa———"
Inside her stall, Oguri Cap drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
Her heart hammered the walls of her chest, every beat pumping scalding fighting spirit.
Blessings from her Kasamatsu friends, Fujimasa March's expectations, her trainer's trust—
and the mountain looming before her: Tamamo Cross!
Everything fused into fuel and blazed inside her!
Bang!
In another gate, Tamamo Cross clenched her fist.
She stared forward in earnest, her knuckles paling from the pressure.
"No one… will stop me…"
In the depths of the girl's eyes, thunder seemed to brew.
Those sharp blue pupils fixed on the sliver of light at the stall's front, as if to pierce the metal itself.
"Alright, all thirteen horse girls are loaded!"
"Turf 2000 m, G1—Autumn Tenno Sho—————"
With the announcement, the racecourse fell silent.
Everyone held their breath, bodies leaning forward toward the spectacle.
Suddenly—
Beep!
The light flipped!
Bang!
The gates blasted open!
"The race is on!!!"
Akagi's voice reignited the hushed air in an instant.
At the clang of the gates, battle-hardened bodies sprang like coiled springs let loose—
almost abreast as they burst out.
But one horse girl still lingered a beat in the gate.
"Ah?! Peak Spring botched the break!"
The live call jolted the late starter from her daze.
"Uwaaaaaah!"
With a yelp, the girl scrambled after the field.
"Da-da-da-da———"
Thirteen streaks of color tore across the emerald turf like bolts of lightning.
"She'd declared she'd Pace Chase and control the rhythm, but a starting error instead! In contrast, the Noble Monarch has blasted straight to the lead!"
"Haa———"
The Noble Monarch let out a steady breath.
There's only one thing I must do—
and that is—
BOOM!!!
Her long legs detonated with power, shoes biting deep into the ground with a heavy, solid thud.
Lead! Lead! Lead!
Keep leading—
until the race is over!!!
Her figure began to pry open a gap from the trailing pack.
"A ferocious lead!"
"Three lengths! Four! Five! Six!"
"The monarch of frontrunning proves worthy of the name—eh?!"
Akagi's smooth cadence hitched as if he'd just seen something absurd.
"Tamamo Cross?!"
"Tamamo Cross is in second?!"
In the stands, Kuroha watched the shape of the race with calm eyes.
Same as the original timeline.
To counter Oguri Cap's last spurt, Tamamo Cross had even concealed it from her trainer and changed her running style on the fly.
But her read on the Front Runner strategy known to the Noble Monarch was lacking, and she had overestimated her stamina.
The Noble Monarch was executing a kind of pseudo–all-out Front Runner:
open a gap in the opening, then stabilize to a cruising pace through the middle, baiting others into thinking she's fading and about to stall.
In truth, it's a classic Front Runner ploy—
set the pack's tempo through midrace at the fastest pace she can sustainably endure, then pour the saved fuel into the final push.
Because she isn't actually empty, even if others do come charging in the home stretch and try to duel—
the cushion she banked through the first and middle stages crushes them. They can't get by.
Tamamo Cross believed she understood that play.
She thought she had the power to crack it.
But what she hadn't expected was how draining the Monarch's execution would be.
Even if her stamina can carry her past the Monarch—
it wouldn't be enough to defeat a second opponent!
First time switching style, and against such an out-of-forecast frontrunning rhythm…
Tamamo Cross would burn more fuel than she'd planned.
"At this pace, once she's driven to the brink, Tamamo Cross will awaken [Domain]."
Light flashed in Kuroha's eyes as he studied the course.
"And if it's only [Domain], today's Oguri seems to have sensed it."
Running mid-pack among the Pace Chasers, Oguri Cap's eyes stayed locked on Tamamo Cross ahead.
That strange pressure, that aura…
No mistake.
It's similar to the power from that training race in summer—
the day she lost to Fujimasa March…
"If it really is the same power as March's… what should I do…"
Oguri grit her teeth.
She still remembered the night of that loss— how she'd gone, all fired up, to ask Fujimasa March what it was.
March had thought for a long while and only asked one question:
"Oguri, why do you run?"
Why run?
Because running is joy…
Is that… all? Just that?
Oguri didn't understand.
Right now, regardless of whether Tamamo Cross possesses a power like Fujimasa March's—
she must endure!
And wait for the moment!
In the gray girl's eyes, thin wisps of shadow seemed to flicker.
"The pack is about to enter the fourth turn, but Oguri Cap, sitting mid-group, still hasn't moved!"
With the call, Tamamo Cross followed the Noble Monarch into the fourth turn.
As the final stretch loomed closer, the wild, bestial pressure from behind sharpened; Tamamo's back went taut.
She knew whose gaze that was—
Oguri Cap.
The "gray monster" from Kasamatsu who nearly tore Central apart!
What a terrifying pressure…
Tamamo's lips curled; a strange smile—excitement or nerves—spilled across her face.
So this is Pace Chaser, huh?
You can't help but care about what's behind you!
Where is the "monster" now?
When will she fire?
Should I glance back to check our positions?
As her mind wavered, she caught sight, in the corner of her eye, of the stands—
her trainer Katsumi standing, worry etched on his face.
Tamamo's pupils snapped tight.
"Damn! What am I thinking?!"
With her will snapping back into place, streaks like lightning flashed through the girl's eyes.
"There's only one thing for me to do now!"
"And that is—forward!!!"
"Da-da-da-da———"
The field swept out of the fourth turn and surged toward the final straight.
The call tracked their positions in real time:
"They've rounded the fourth turn—still leading is the track's sovereign who has made the pace from the start!"
"Tamamo Cross is pressing in second!"
At the very instant they hit the home straight, several top horse girls reacted together—
Now!
In the same heartbeat, multiple horses ignited!
The formation began to churn violently.
But they had only one goal—
overtake everyone in front!!!
Farther back—
Symboli Sirius, the former Derby contender, panted lightly.
"Tch, I got passed again up front!"
"What now? Swing wide again around the far outside?"
She scowled, still thinking, when—
"—!"
Up ahead, Peak Spring, who'd blown the start and spent precious fuel just catching up, cried out in a loser's wail and began to drop.
A gap!
Sirius's eyes flashed.
"What perfect timing!"
"Race gods, I've gotta thank you properly!"
Laughing, she didn't hesitate—those battle-forged legs unleashed the power they'd banked and stamped down—
But in that instant—
Crack!
A dry snap seemed to explode in the depths of Symboli Sirius's very soul.
A lance of pain followed.
She stared down in disbelief, teeth clenched.
Is… it over for me?
In the stands, Kuroha watched Sirius with quiet eyes.
In his sight, multicolored lights were peeling away from the girl's body—
and in their place, a hollow stillness.
"The Three Goddesses' Blessing… has faded."
It was the first time Kuroha had seen so clearly the end of a top horse girl's peak.
"And her leg… is fractured."
Even so, on the track, Symboli Sirius kept grinding onward through the searing, tearing pain, clinging to the back of the field.
Not just her.
Even Peak Spring, stalling and already at her body's limit, and other horse girls—
were squeezing out every last drop.
All for the light at the finish!
"..."
Even though he'd seen scenes like this before, Kuroha still couldn't help but sigh.
(End of Chapter)
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