The sun still blazed high above Nakayama Racecourse, while the competition below had grown fiercer than ever.
The spectators watched the race with unbearable tension.
"This is incredible! The entire lead group chose to run as if their lives didn't matter."
"Yeah. A Great Runner strategy is certainly thrilling, but it's extremely difficult to win that way, and it places tremendous strain on an umamusume's body."
"In other words, they genuinely believe they have no chance unless they do this."
"They don't have a choice. Their opponent is that monster, after all."
Compared with the excitement inspired by Silence Suzuka's massive early move, the performance of Seiun Sky and the others produced an entirely different feeling. If Suzuka's run at the front had been domination born of overwhelming strength, then the three Runners now leading the race seemed to be "fleeing" out of despair. Rather than displaying confidence, their running made people anxious and sympathetic.
No matter how wide a gap they opened now, no one believed they could win.
The race had entered its middle phase.
The runners left the second turn and entered the second straight.
The situation on the course
had become every bit as frantic as the commentator cried.
"This is madness! Absolute madness!"
The commentator's voice had grown hoarse with excitement as he stared at the enormous screen. "Seiun Sky, Crimson Blaze, and Gale Wings—the lead group formed by these three Runners is challenging the physical limits of an umamusume!"
At that moment,
Seiun Sky, who had held an absolute lead, did something no one expected.
Her body, which had been taut as a bowstring, suddenly relaxed slightly. A clearly calculating glint appeared in the eyes that ordinarily held a lazy smile.
"Hah... hah..."
Seiun Sky adjusted her breathing. Her steps remained fast, but she quietly reined in their reckless explosive force.
"Skill activation—[A Breath of Fresh Air]."
At her silent command, a cool current seemed to flow down her windpipe and into her lungs. The burning sensation in her chest from the intense exertion eased at once.
The Great Runner who had charged ahead like a lunatic during the opening phase now voluntarily slowed her rhythm, almost like someone strolling after finishing a warm-up.
"Seiun Sky is slowing down!"
The commentator immediately caught the change. "She's surrendering the lead!"
Crimson Blaze and Gale Wings, who had clung tightly behind Seiun Sky, seized the fleeting opportunity like sharks smelling blood.
"Now!"
Crimson Blaze growled. Her eyes burned with the flames of revenge, and her only fixation was charging forward. She cared nothing for stamina expenditure or tactical planning. She knew only that if she ran fast enough, she could escape the shadow of the "sheer cliff" behind her.
"Activate [All-Out Effort]!"
Light erupted beneath Crimson Blaze's feet once more, proof that she was converting every last reserve of stamina into speed. Like a red cannonball, she cut past Seiun Sky on the inside and forcibly seized first place.
"I'm the fastest!"
Gale Wings refused to yield. As a runner specializing in explosive sprint speed, instantaneous acceleration was precisely her strength. The moment she saw Crimson Blaze pass, excitement blazed in her eyes.
"[Straight-Line Acceleration]!"
A white afterimage flashed past. With her astonishing explosive power, Gale Wings followed directly behind Crimson Blaze during the overtake and passed Seiun Sky, who had fallen to second.
Seiun Sky, formerly in first, now dropped to third.
But rather than becoming angry at being passed, an almost imperceptible smile curved her lips.
"Those two idiots..."
Seiun Sky mocked them silently.
She understood perfectly well that her "suicidal" early lead had consumed a tremendous portion of her stamina. Had she stubbornly remained at the front, she would never have reached the final straight, much less survived the next two turns.
And so she chose to use those two fools. Her secret observations of their training and investigation into their personalities had not gone to waste. By exploiting Crimson Blaze and Gale Wings' competitive natures, she could make them break the wind ahead while she hid in their slipstream, conserving stamina and recovering through her skill.
"They're so simple."
Seiun Sky lightly shook her head as she watched the two figures desperately accelerating ahead.
Even so, her own steps never faltered. She remained close behind them at an almost "extreme" distance. The greatest opponents in this race were still Grass Wonder of Rigil and the monster known as Special Week. This was the best situation Seiun Sky could secure for herself. Controlling the race's rhythm while competing against those two was simply unrealistic.
The three members of the lead group remained extremely close, forming a compact triangular formation as they raced toward the third turn at astonishing speed.
Behind them, the trailing pack, which had fallen ten lengths back, also began to change.
"The gap is shrinking! The pack behind is closing on the leaders!"
The commentator raised his voice again. "It seems the three Runners' frantic pace hasn't completely crushed the fighting spirit of the competitors behind them!"
Just as he said, the runners behind had not allowed the lead group to dictate their rhythm.
If anything, the pack behind was no less frantic.
The members of the Leader group—including Iron Will, Royal Glory, and Sea of Blue Skies—had all begun a furious pursuit.
"Catch them! It's time for me to make my move!"
Iron Will gritted her teeth, veins bulging across her habitually stern face. Relying on tremendous core strength, she forcibly maintained her balance at high speed and narrowed the gap with the leaders step by step.
Royal Glory refused to fall behind, her long golden hair whipping wildly in the wind.
"Don't underestimate me! I am Royal Glory!"
She encouraged herself over and over.
Dance of Phantom Mist and King Halo, caught in the middle of the Leader group, now looked somewhat disheveled.
Their stamina was slightly inferior, and neither possessed the same recklessness as the runners ahead.
Dance of Phantom Mist felt utterly out of place in this race. These lunatics were running as if their lives meant nothing, pushing this hard in the first half. It was nothing like what she had expected, and her rhythm had been completely disrupted.
King Halo's eyes had begun to tremble. For someone whose stats were comparatively low across the board, running at this intensity was nothing short of torture.
"Damn it... Why? Why am I already so tired...?"
King Halo bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes.
She looked at the figures still running desperately ahead, her heart filled with frustration.
"I can't lose... I absolutely cannot lose here..."
She endured the aching pain in her legs and lengthened her stride once more.
Through that desperate pursuit, she barely held her position.
Dance of Phantom Mist, who had previously kept her firmly suppressed, began to fall behind because her mental state was deteriorating.
Farther back, the rear group finally began to move.
Special Week, who had remained dormant among those runners, finally lifted her head.
Although she had entered the race using the Leader strategy, the frantic opening pace had not affected her. She maintained her customary warm-up and continued observing her opponents. As the rest of the Leader group ran wildly, Special Week drifted to the front of the rear pack, making her appear almost like a Great Runner despite her registered style.
In truth, that caused her little harm.
If anything, she had unknowingly reached a position that favored her.
It had brought her into the range where she excelled.
A golden gleam suddenly flashed through her previously placid eyes.
She could feel the currents of air ahead changing violently.
"It's almost here."
Special Week silently counted down.
She did not rush to activate a skill.
Instead, she made a subtle adjustment to her stride and shifted slightly toward the outside.
She was waiting for the right moment.
Behind Special Week, Grass Wonder remained trapped between Emerald Wind and Scattered Stars, looking increasingly irritated.
Grass Wonder watched the two runners ahead repeatedly change lanes in an effort to block her route, a chill flashing through her eyes.
"Those two... They're truly in the way!"
From the beginning of the race, they had worked in tacit coordination to become a wall that sealed Grass Wonder in.
Even with Grass Wonder's restrained temperament, anger was beginning to surface.
Yet she remained calm, held her speed steady, and continued waiting for her opportunity.
At last, the second straight drew to an end.
The straight itself was not particularly long.
The middle section of the Satsuki Sho was complicated, especially because the entire course measured only 2,000 meters.
That placed it among the shorter middle-distance races, with a total length not much greater than some mile races.
...
The race entered the third turn.
"Look! The three leaders are entering the third turn!"
Tension filled the commentator's voice. "They're still moving incredibly fast! But... wait! Something seems wrong with Crimson Blaze's form!"
The instant Crimson Blaze entered the third turn in first place, clear signs of complete exhaustion appeared. Her breathing grew rapid and disordered, her steps turned heavy, and even her repeated footfalls began to lose their form.
"Damn it... My legs... they're so heavy..."
Crimson Blaze gritted her teeth and tried to force her body under control,
but instinctive physical reactions could not be easily overcome through willpower alone.
The next second, her body lurched outward and nearly lost its balance.
"Danger! Crimson Blaze nearly fell!"
the commentator cried.
Gale Wings, who had remained directly behind her, was in no better condition.
"I can't... I can't run anymore..."
Despair flickered in Gale Wings' eyes.
At that moment, Seiun Sky gradually accelerated and passed them both with ease.
As the pair watched Seiun Sky maintain a steady speed ahead, regret filled their hearts.
"She... she was using us..."
At last, they understood.
Seiun Sky had not slowed earlier because she lacked stamina. It had all been a carefully designed trap.
But just as the front-runners began slowing from exhaustion, the pack behind finally caught them.
Emerald Wind, who had remained concealed near the front of the Leader group, suddenly activated a skill.
"[Curve Sommelier]!"
Like a green whirlwind, she began accelerating rapidly.
Before the astonished spectators, she broke away from the pack behind and entered the lead group in a single burst.
"Emerald Wind is passing on the inside!"
the commentator shouted.
By now, most of the Runners at the front and the members of the Leader group had fallen into the desperate state of complete exhaustion.
Emerald Wind felt as though heaven itself had presented her with an opportunity. She surged smoothly to the front, closing to within three lengths of Seiun Sky in first.
Seiun Sky felt the pressure approaching from behind and looked resigned.
"I guess it still isn't enough. Even though I saved some stamina just now, it wasn't enough."
Emerald Wind's burst instantly threw the race into chaos.
The original lead group had fallen apart.
Crimson Blaze and Gale Wings dropped back from exhaustion. Seiun Sky still held the lead for the moment, but Emerald Wind was visibly closing. Behind them, Iron Will, Royal Glory, and the others in the Leader group failed to produce anything remarkable. Instead, they began losing speed alongside Crimson Blaze and Gale Wings. Their earlier decision to cling recklessly to the Great Runner tempo had finally produced a severe stamina crisis at the critical moment.
But in the next instant, a single figure captured the attention of both spectators and commentator.
Special Week!
At some point, she had moved onto the outer lane. A deep, profound aura appeared around her as terrifying power and speed closed the distance ahead in an instant. The image created an overwhelming visual impact, as if everything around her were being thrown backward.
"Special Week is accelerating!"
The commentator's voice became a roar. "She's passing on the outside!"
Behind her, Grass Wonder heard the change in the rhythm of the footfalls. Her gaze sharpened, and she decisively began her own burst.
"Move!"
Grass Wonder barked, light flashing beneath her feet.
Scattered Stars tried to continue obstructing her, but with Emerald Wind already gone from their formation, she could not interfere with Grass Wonder alone. And at that very moment,
Grass Wonder's eyes turned hollow and profound. A rotating halo, like flickering candlelight, appeared at the edge of her vision. A terrifying aura erupted from her and spread toward every runner.
In an instant, every competitor's condition changed.
It was a blocking skill!
And a rainbow-colored, legendary-tier blocking skill at that!
Despair and fear appeared on the faces of the runners throughout the field.
Special Week, who had only just begun her move, also changed expression.
It was not merely because she had been obstructed. She had sensed something else.
"Is that... ZONE?"
The force of that presence distracted Special Week for a single instant.
"Spe-chan! I won't let you get away with this!"
Flames now burned fiercely in Grass Wonder's eyes.
...
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