In the VIP box, Rudolf and Groove watched intently.
"Teio's break should be good," Groove said at a glance. "In the stall she looked perfect."
"Mm. Her flexibility is a gift—she can unleash power quickly, hitting her threshold speed in the shortest time. That lets her seize position at the start," Rudolf nodded.
But her gaze slid to No. 7—the short-haired girl.
Doubt pricked again. Once in the gate, the odd aura around Stardust Mirage only grew.
Her eyes held little of a killer's hunger, yet her crisp movement and that familiar presence drew Rudolf in.
"No. 7—Stardust Mirage. That set-up doesn't look like someone planning to play it safe," Rudolf murmured.
To her eye, the girl was pitched dangerously far forward. Botch the balance at the break, and you get a slow start…
But if mastered, that little trick could explode into a stronger initial acceleration—perhaps even over Tokai Teio!
Stardust Mirage… will your run surprise me?
Rudolf pressed her lips tight. A sliver of worry for Teio crept in.
She'd said she wanted Teio pressured—but the thought of Teio losing her debut tightened her chest.
Such was the father-heart's contradiction.
"It's on," Groove said.
They looked down together. Fourteen sprang in unison. Teio, a blaze of flame, punched out from the inside—clear of the pack.
In racing, inside vs. outside matters. Even a single 100-meter turn can be over five meters shorter on the rail.
Most runners fight for the inside; to avoid being boxed, you also fight for the lead.
With both advantages secured, Teio could avoid traffic and run her race.
But just as Teio smirked inwardly at her success, a pale-blue figure flashed at the edge of her eye.
Splat.
A water-splashed step. The figure knifed like lightning—blasting down the far outside.
The sight rattled Teio's footwork. Who charges down the widest line right off the break?
Even if she steals the lead, she'll lose it at the turn!
Who is she?
[They're off! Excellent breaks all around—who takes the early lead?]
[Tokai Teio is battling with No. 1 "Kitty Run Wild," and No. 3 Fine Motion contests the inside for presser position. Teio's acceleration—remarkable! Teio seizes the initiative!]
[Wait! Blazing up the far outside—No. 7, Stardust Mirage! Ranked thirteenth by the bettors, Stardust Mirage unleashes a jaw-dropping opening rush, forcing her way into the lead fight from the outside!]
[This is—this is—an unforeseen assassin! Someone has latched onto Tokai Teio… N-no—more than that! She's in front!
Stardust Mirage has snatched the lead from the spotlighted Teio!!!]
The scent of grass hung in the air. Each step splashed from the damp turf. Stardust Mirage ran in that atmosphere, her data-stabilized body shining.
Every stride, every arm swing hit her comfort zone; error felt impossible.
Truth be told, she didn't know much about racing. She'd watched the anime, played the game—but running was another matter.
At the break, to avoid a scrum on the rail, she'd simply shot down the extreme outside.
Her Escape A runstyle ensured an explosive jump, letting her punch clear around the field and take the lead from Teio.
Now—endure the first half.
She reviewed her unique, laying plans.
Since Miracle Runner of the Holy Night triggers in the back half, she needed to hold a sane position through the first 1000m, or else even "igniting" wouldn't catch anyone.
Heat seared her back—
Teio.
"Like picking up where we left off this morning, isn't it?"
Teio tucked in tight behind. No trace of frustration—only delight in her eyes.
"…"
Stardust Mirage didn't answer.
The breath to chat mid-run proved Teio wasn't at full power.
Even so, Stardust Mirage couldn't shake her. Not even a single length.
"No reply? Then I'm going to start accelerating…!"
Teio grinned; the white forelock glinted; each stride looked recklessly big.
But the fighting flame in those blue eyes looked ready to ignite the grass.
Like a stalking lion, she ratcheted up through Turn 2, eating the gap step by step.
Stardust Mirage risked a glance over her shoulder and felt a stab in her chest—like a knife point.
What a pair of eyes.
Was she… going to be passed again, like this morning?!
Three lengths…
No…
Two lengths…
Don't…
One length…
Joke with me like this!!!!
Something deep inside buckled under that gaze. Teeth clenched, she kicked hard—slamming a straight leg into the turf!
Two. Whole. Lengths.
Mud geysered under Teio's eyes; a deep print stamped the turf.
For an instant the girl ahead vanished; the next, Stardust Mirage had blown the hard-won gap open again.
Vanished?!
Teio couldn't parse it. With all her years watching Tracen's best, she'd never seen such a long-striding trick.
The girl hadn't even bend her knee—just stabbed a straight leg down—
Her torso rocked back and then whipped forward—shrinking the distance by a length as if by magic!
Behind them, Fine Motion's eyes bulged.
She'd just watched a Central genius—Tokai Teio—try to pass the leader and fail.
And that… bizarre trick—how could that exist?
A straight-leg stab at full speed? Even if it worked, one slip and you snap your leg!
Chatting earlier, she hadn't pegged the girl as a madwoman… Was she not afraid of a debut-race career-ending fracture?!
Who could have imagined—
A local-school runner ranked thirteenth, who'd taken up racing less than a month ago, was not only fighting Tokai Teio head-to-head—but holding her off.
It was the locals' revolt—the crowd's favorite show:
Gekokujō—toppled from below!
The stands erupted. Watching the girl refuse to yield, a sliver of hope sparked:
Could another local genius be blooming?
"Hey! Don't you care about getting hurt if you keep pulling that?" Teio shouted from behind.
In that flash she'd seen the principle:
Most runners slow for turns, hugging the rail to shorten distance and avoid risk.
Only a rare few can hold or even build speed through turns.
Super Creek. Maruzensky. Masters of cornering.
Teio too, with flexibility Rudolf herself praised—her corner burst had set up the pass she'd planned.
But Stardust Mirage was different. She'd suddenly changed form—using a goose-step stab as a pivot to convert the arc into two straight lines.
It negated corner slowdowns and even gained distance—two birds with one stone.
But the strain on the knee—
At full speed, stabbing a taut leg like a spear into the ground, then exploding again? That's not "fine."
Even as a rival, Teio couldn't help yelling a warning. The girl had earned her respect; she didn't want her hurt. Where would she find such a foe again?
"…"
Stardust Mirage still didn't answer.
No—she couldn't.
It was her first time running 1800 at full tilt. Errand-running and paper routes weren't the same thing.
To lead, she'd gone all-in at the break—then, under Teio's pressure, burst again to hold position.
The "trick" had been a desperate improvisation—a goose-step she'd discovered on delivery runs, fused with a hint of the burst woven into the Holy Night form now seared in her mind.
Combining the two had let her hold the front—but her weak Stamina was fraying.
How could she spare the breath to chat?
[On to Turn 2! The lead group is forming—let's see how it shakes out.]
[First by more than two lengths—No. 7, Stardust Mirage.
Right behind—No. 2, Tokai Teio.
Shadowing them—No. 3, Fine Motion. Far outside—Lightning Snow…]
[Swaggering up front! With a strange technique to cement the lead—what will Stardust Mirage do about the genius on her heels? Stay tuned!]
In the suite—
Listening to the announcer, the legendary Symboli Rudolf showed doubt for the first time.
She turned, startled, to her deputy.
Air Groove met her eyes, equally shocked.
Despite differences in form, both recognized the power application embedded in that move—something intimately familiar—
A runner who'd already battled in the Central for a year. Like Stardust Mirage, she'd come from a regional circuit—a gray-white phantom, the legendary Oguri Cap.
Her signature two-step burst—Stardust Mirage's stab was its twin.
As the title says, the real reference here is Kengan Ashura's "Niko Style: Shukuchi."
In essence, a sudden long stride plus a forward body whip to change direction, producing an instant shrink in distance.
In the manga, it flips retreat into advance.
Here it's repurposed to fold the corner—my own brain-gremlin says it tracks.
But it's a front-runner-only technique; you must be at the head of the pack to angle like this. Otherwise, the irregularity could cause chaos and incidents.
Call it the protagonist's first self-created technique.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you so much for reading until the end.
If you'd like to read more, you can Joining to my Patreon.
My Patreon: p*treon*com/Hydran_Tea
Chainsaw Man: The Covenant of Flame Demon [ 71 Chapter ]
Uma Musume: Wait—you want me to pop my Christmas Hat Ultimate? [ 53 Chapter ]