'I won't let you keep hogging the spotlight!' Seiun Sky grit her teeth and chased the figure in front.
Mejiro McQueen's speed was fast, but not so fast as to make Seiun Sky despair. If McQueen's current speed was the kind she only used in the final leg, Seiun Sky wouldn't even think of chasing. But obviously, McQueen couldn't burst with that kind of speed at the start. Therefore, Seiun Sky believed this was the best time to strike. Only at this moment was it possible to catch Mejiro McQueen.
As for the middle leg? Mejiro McQueen was no longer the rookie she was at her debut.
The old Mejiro McQueen would slow down a bit in the middle leg, but after she mastered the "Wave" technique, her middle leg became a non-stop sprint. If they waited until the middle leg to chase, having already been left in the dust in the first section, it would only be more difficult than it was now.
'So this is the best time!' Seiun Sky charged.
The other "Escape" runners were also giving it their all. They hadn't discussed it, but at this moment, they had instinctively chosen the same tactic, and they all knew what to do after catching up to Mejiro McQueen. They would use a "human wall" tactic to box her in!
'This era doesn't just belong to you, Mejiro McQueen!'
Mejiro McQueen's strength had eclipsed all other horse girls of her generation. If they let her keep winning, the only memory people would have of this era was Mejiro McQueen.
And as for them, her opponents, they might not even get the chance to have their names remembered.
Mejiro McQueen's dominance over a race was that terrifying. Her light was so intense it completely overshadowed her rivals.
This... Seiun Sky would not accept it!
Even if she had to lose, Seiun Sky didn't want to end up as a no-name character whose name
wasn't even remembered. So she wanted to have a showdown with Mejiro McQueen, even if it meant using such a "despicable" tactic!
Watching Mejiro McQueen get closer and closer. Seiun Sky's spirits lifted.
'It's fine, I can catch her!' The other "Escape" runners had the same thought. As their spirits rose, their speed even got a little faster.
'Mejiro McQueen, come down!' They shouted as one in their hearts.
But clearly, they had celebrated too soon. They weren't given a chance to stay happy. The shockwave around Mejiro McQueen turned into a deep purple aura. Her speed increased again, pulling away once more.
Although Mejiro McQueen rarely used "Wave" to speed up—usually using it to conserve stamina—"Wave" was, in essence, an explosive acceleration ability. It was clear Seiun Sky and the others didn't know this.
The "Escape" runners, including Seiun Sky, stared blankly at the receding figure. Their eyes were numb. Their auras vanished. Even as the main pack overtook them, they couldn't snap out of it. They gassed out completely and fell to the very back.
'I can't catch her at all...' They had tried their best. But the result was cruel.
Their "all" was nothing to Mejiro McQueen. They hadn't even earned the right to make her look back.
The "Escape" runners were utterly defeated!
The runners who passed them saw their dazed expressions, and their hearts ached. They wondered if they would be the next to look like that.
But no matter what the runners were thinking, the race continued. If they didn't want to give up, they had to challenge that opponent.
Running styles didn't matter now. What the runners needed to do was catch up as fast as possible, because Mejiro McQueen could maintain this speed all the way to the finish.
If this were the debut-era Mejiro McQueen, she would still need to slow down to recover stamina. But the current Mejiro McQueen no longer needed to. So they had to chase. Not chasing meant the race was over.
You could see the entire race's rhythm had fallen into chaos.
"...My, what a mess. The whole pack has gone wild. But the race has only just reached the first corner." The commentator refrained from further comment.
In the stands, the trainers' expressions were also conflicted.
'As expected, it's useless.'
'This monster is just a rookie who debuted a year ago... Does this mean we have to deal with her for another three years?'
'Damn it, how do you even limit an opponent like this? Tactics are useless! Nothing in the books works on her!'
'Is this the dominance of a king?' That horse girl has no rivals.
Every trainer watching this race couldn't help but think this. From her relaxed appearance, she wasn't even using her full strength. Compared to her opponents, it was two different extremes.
Opponents who were going all out but couldn't catch her. And Mejiro McQueen, who wasn't even at full power but was already miles ahead.
Was there any suspense left in a race like this? We've lost. The trainers of the other runners thought in agony.
They knew it. They shouldn't give up before their horse girl did, but all their knowledge and experience was screaming at them: Your horse girl cannot beat that monster.
'As expected of McQueen-oneechan! Dazzling as always!' 'So elegant and magnificent, McQueen-oneechan!' Two small horse girls waved their support sticks in excitement.
There was also a short, blue-pigtailed horse girl in the crowd, yelling excitedly, "That's it! That's the ultimate running form! I love it! McQueen, you really get it! Go, crush them!"
"You can admire McQueen, but don't you dare try to run like her! You can't, you know that?!" Her teammates, remembering her trying to "burst" in practice only to gas out halfway down the track, felt their hearts grow heavy. Of all the styles to learn, you had to pick McQueen's?
Nice Nature was in the middle of the pack, looking at the frenzied runners around her, her face covered in cold sweat. 'This is bad. If this keeps up, forget winning, we'll lose all our stamina before the final corner.'
She wanted to slow down, but she couldn't. The pack was forcing her to maintain this speed. Nice Nature had never felt that running could be so painful.
In truth, the other runners felt the same. But they couldn't control it. Mejiro McQueen wasn't slowing down, so they had to keep chasing at this speed, unless they wanted to give up like the "Escape" group.
But no horse girl was willing to give up. If they were, they wouldn't have entered the race.
Tokai Teio was in the front group, currently in fourth. She was actually one of the more relaxed ones. Though she wasn't as strong as McQueen, her recent special training was real. Not to mention, she had grasped ZONE.
This alone made her much stronger than the other runners.
'I knew it.' Tokai Teio knew challenging Mejiro McQueen would lead to this. McQueen's strength was already on another level. The President (Kaichou) had told her this before the race. She knew very well that no one could beat McQueen right now.
'But that's only for now!' The fire in Tokai Teio's eyes was burning. It was a domain that burned her body and mind as fuel. And it was a specialized type of domain.
Only Tokai Teio herself and Symboli Rudolf, who was watching the race, knew the details. That domain was not a conventional one. It had appeared to achieve a specific goal. It was a firework that could only bloom once in a lifetime. Tokai Teio's current actions were gathering firewood. Only by gathering enough would the final firework be magnificent.
Mejiro McQueen, running in front, felt no pressure. She thought Teio would give her some, but Teio, despite having ZONE active, showed no sign of making a move. She didn't understand what Teio was doing, but she was sure she hadn't given up.
She didn't have a good feeling about this. She wanted Teio to burst forward. Then she could deal her a crushing defeat, make her give up on their "promise," and free her from her shackles, so she could run for herself, not just to chase McQueen.
But Teio's current actions had thwarted her plan.
'Is she planning something against me? I see. It must be your ZONE. It seems its effect is... special. It's active, but it's not time for it to "burst" yet.'
Mejiro McQueen was certain Teio already had ZONE active. But for a horse girl in ZONE, Teio's performance was lackluster. And it didn't seem to be consuming much stamina. All signs pointed to one conclusion: Teio's ZONE was likely the type that could store up power.
She could guess what Teio's goal for this race was. If Teio continued to enter her races, it would confirm it.
'Teio, you've lost your way.' Mejiro McQueen knew that if Teio's ZONE was what she thought it was, it was fundamentally wrong.
A ZONE opened to target someone completely violated the essence of that path. ZONE was supposed to be the power that blossomed from a horse girl's pure desire for her own victory.
Tokai Teio had gone down the wrong path. She didn't know why the Emperor wasn't correcting Teio's mistake. But at this point... This mistake could only be corrected by her.
...
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