"They're entering the first corner! Ines Fujin is maintaining her lead at the front! McQueen is right behind her, holding a very stable position! White Shining Rock and White Greatness are biting hard in third and fourth!"
The commentator narrated the live action in a steady tone.
"Da-da-da-da——!"
The urgent drum of hoofbeats rang out in a dense rhythm as the group of Uma Musume thundered through the first turn.
...
In the stands.
Symboli Rudolf watched the scene quietly.
To her, in Classic-year races like this, unless something truly unexpected happened, there were almost no tactics that could escape her eyes.
"We're into the middle phase now. Ines is still out in front."
She could see it clearly and spoke in a low voice.
"Under McQueen's pressure, Ines Fujin has no way to slow the pace. She's being forced to keep a stride rate higher than planned. For a front-running Uma Musume, that's a massive drain."
She paused for a moment.
"No, it's more than that. The tempo set by the front-runner is enough to radiate out and affect every Uma Musume in the race."
"McQueen's strategy is very clear. She wants to drain the stamina of every single Uma Musume in this field ahead of time."
Kuroha frowned slightly at that and answered in a low voice.
"A very decisive and very smart decision."
"...Kuroha, why do you sound like you're not very happy about it?"
Looking at Kuroha's expression just then, Rudolf raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"If nothing major happens, McQueen shouldn't have any problems at all, right?"
"Mm? McQueen? Of course she won't have any problems."
Kuroha shook her head.
If you asked who, in this whole world, believed more than anyone that Mejiro McQueen was definitely going to win...
It would be him, the trainer who had watched her grow up and come this far.
"I'm just thinking that in this race, there might be quite a few girls who end up getting hurt."
"Injured...?"
Rudolf lowered her lashes thoughtfully and looked down toward the track.
A few seconds later, she suddenly smiled.
"If, by their own will, they give everything they have for the sake of their dreams,"
"Then I think, even if they get hurt, they won't regret it."
Kuroha was slightly taken aback at that, then nodded.
"Maybe..."
That was what he said, but he then watched Symboli Rudolf turn at once to make a phone call, arranging for more medical staff to be on standby and emphasizing that they be fully prepared.
...
On the course.
Ines Fujin's brown hair whipped wildly in the gale raised by her own speed. She could clearly hear the steady, unnerving hoofbeats pounding behind her.
With every breath, she felt her lungs burning. The mere act of maintaining the gap between them was on the verge of igniting everything she had.
She tried to ease the pace just a little, but every time she tested it, the purple silhouette behind her seemed to anticipate it, immediately drawing closer and forcing her to push again to hold the distance.
"Damn it..."
Ines ground her teeth, beads of sweat seeping from her temples.
Being dragged along by someone else's rhythm like this felt absolutely awful, but she had no way to break free. McQueen's pressure was precise and lethal, giving her no room to breathe.
"Just like the Hopeful Stakes and the Yayoi Sho..."
She exhaled a long, rough breath, her eyes narrowing slowly.
In the corner of her vision, McQueen was like a magnet, stuck immovably to the spot behind and to the side of her, about two horse-lengths away.
Unlike White Greatness and the others...
Ines had already clashed with McQueen twice.
The first time was at the Hopeful Stakes at the end of last year. The second was at the Yayoi Sho.
And both times she lost, she was beaten by the same method.
McQueen would use her draft through the opening and middle phases, then explode her finishing kick coming out of the final turn.
After that, she would simply pass, using the most straightforward kind of overtake to leave the other Uma Musume far behind!
And even though it was such a plain, unadorned way of winning, Ines had absolutely no way to deal with it.
In speed, stamina, power, even technique, I'm far below McQueen!
Ines clenched her teeth.
For a racehorse girl, admitting she is slower than someone else is a pain even harder to swallow than having her wings broken.
But even so, a vicious light was spreading in the girl's eyes.
Something more primal, more scorching, was burning fiercely in her chest.
"This time is completely different from the last two!"
"Right now, we're already in the fourth corner!"
"I absolutely refuse to lose to you so easily again!"
That intense will roared through every inch of Ines Fujin's body.
Then, in answer to that will, her body began to respond.
A pressure that couldn't be seen was steadily pouring off her in waves.
Her muscles seemed to sharpen and harden, the lines of her flying form becoming more grounded and stable.
Her physical stats were changing under some inexplicable force.
They climbed, little by little.
"Mm?"
Behind her, McQueen was stunned for a second.
She had the distinct feeling that something about her opponent up ahead had changed.
But she couldn't quite put her finger on what.
...
Further back.
The fight for third and fourth was not as fierce as many had imagined it would be.
White Shining Rock and White Greatness exchanged no words and made no moves against one another. They simply followed in McQueen's wake.
"Da-da-da-da——!"
White Shining Rock's stride was steady, her powerful legs pounding over the turf as she flew along the course.
As if by some tacit understanding, White Shining Rock and White Greatness glanced at each other.
It's not time yet.
Their eyes crossed and, in that instant, they reached a silent consensus...
Trying to force their way past those two towering walls in front of them now would do nothing but waste energy and destroy their rhythm.
The true battlefield was the final turn and the home straight after it!
...
As time passed, the group of Uma Musume surged out of the third corner and were about to enter the final turn.
"They've now passed the 1400-meter marker. The girls are about to enter the final corner."
The commentator dutifully reported the state of the race.
"Right now, Ines Fujin is still in first place! The two horse-length gap behind her is steadily being closed."
"In third we have White Shining Rock, in fourth is White Greatness... Mejiro Ryan is currently in sixth. Is she still not planning to move up?"
On the track.
"Haa... hff... haa..."
Ines Fujin was breathing in ragged gasps. Big drops of sweat rolled down her cheeks, staining them a dark, dirty brown.
Does this girl's stamina never run out...
From the start of the race until now, McQueen's pace had been almost identical to her own.
But at this point she herself was on the verge of losing the strength for a late-race burst, while McQueen didn't seem to have broken even a single bead of sweat.
Ines could feel it clearly: her charge had already run into a wall.
The burning in her lungs, the screaming ache of her thigh muscles, were all madly warning her that she had to slow down.
But she couldn't.
She knew that if she slackened even a fraction, that overwhelming "tide" called McQueen would crush her without mercy.
How can I... how can I let it end here?!
Just hang on a bit longer... 1.6... once we hit the final straight... as long as...
BOOOOM—!!!
Suddenly!
A series of heavy, explosive hoofbeats burst out of nowhere.
Ines's pupils shrank sharply!
A pressure even more ferocious, even more all-or-nothing than her own, erupted from diagonally behind her!
It wasn't McQueen!
It was further back!
"—Oooooooh!! It's White Greatness!!"
The commentator's voice cracked on the shout.
"White Greatness has suddenly detonated! Right here, just as they're about to enter the final turn, she's launched her attack on the leaders!!"
"What is she doing?! It's still too early to move from that position!!"
Behind them, White Shining Rock froze.
Right next to her, that cold gray-white silhouette suddenly turned into a drawn blade!
In White Greatness's ice-blue eyes, there was now only the purest, most insane fighting will.
(End of Chapter)
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