Hearing the announcer's words, Sakura Laurel worked even harder. Just use all her strength to charge forward.
Grass Wonder followed close behind.
When Sakura Laurel caught Grass Wonder in the corner of her eye, she froze for a moment. Right now, Grass Wonder's gaze was somewhat frightening. Completely different from her usual gentle ojou-sama demeanor. Like two different people.
But she didn't care.
"Aghhh!!"
She continued shouting and pushing forward.
Whether she'd run out of energy later, she didn't care at all. What mattered was charging to the finish in one go. That's what leading meant. Don't think about whether you can hold out to the end. Use up all your strength first, then worry about it after that.
'If only I had the speed talent of Silence Suzuka.'
After a few seconds, she discovered a problem. Grass Wonder persistently stayed right behind her. The gap wouldn't open at all.
For this, she could only accelerate again, but Grass Wonder still kept up. They chased each other, making the race incredibly intense.
"If you've got what it takes, keep chasing! I won't give up!"
"The final corner was approaching. After the final corner would be a 400-meter straightaway."
Entering the corner, the critical moment to decide victory had arrived. The horse girls were ready to sprint. The cheers on-site reached a climax at this moment. The shouts of encouragement were constant.
"Not yet. It's not time yet. Need to hold back more. It's not sprint time yet." Silence Suzuka reminded herself again.
What she considered the optimal sprint distance was the straightaway. This was the pace-chaser style she'd read about in library books. Horse girls generally accelerated on straightaways. Even Air Groove believed straightaway acceleration was best.
Due to the principle of slowing down on turns, Sakura Laurel's cornering technique wasn't good enough. As Grass Wonder entered the final turn, she'd already accelerated past Sakura Laurel.
At that moment, Sakura Laurel's speed finally showed signs of dropping. She had no strength left to chase, needing to slow down to recover stamina. Horse girls passed by her one by one. She'd fallen to twelfth place.
"Oh my, Sakura Laurel can no longer maintain the lead! Currently leading is Grass Wonder, she's three lengths ahead of Silence Suzuka!"
"Will she be overtaken by Silence Suzuka?"
The expected overtake by Silence Suzuka didn't happen. Instead, another horse girl charged ahead of Silence Suzuka, blocking her view.
"The final 400 meters! Grass Wonder still leads! Will the race end like this? Silence Suzuka still hasn't made her move!"
"Sakura Laurel is catching up again! Currently in sixth position! This seems to be her limit already, her speed is dropping again!"
Sakura Laurel, having recovered just a bit of stamina, charged forward again. Unfortunately, she quickly exhausted it.
"Not yet. It's not the optimal moment yet." King Halo told herself once more.
200 meters. Almost 200 meters. With such a short distance, was there still hope to win?
"Let me see how to break through."
She was seriously observing the situation of the horse girls ahead, ready to break through at any moment. Just then, another horse girl passed her, blocking right in front of her.
"Blocked? What do I do? What should I do? The mid-pack position really is the worst strategy. I shouldn't have listened to that rookie's trainer nonsense."
"No..."
At this moment, tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision.
"Is it ending like this?"
"Mom was right after all. I shouldn't have any delusions about being first-rate."
"Going to embarrass myself again?"
"If I don't have talent, wouldn't working even harder be better..."
Silence Suzuka had finally prepared to accelerate. "The straightaway. I can accelerate now."
She wanted to reclaim the leading position. The desire was overwhelming.
"Huh?"
Only at this moment did Silence Suzuka realize she was mentally and physically exhausted. She had no strength left to sprint.
"What's happening? My body's so heavy. Can't use my strength? My power... it's gone..."
"Why... is this happening..."
"I can't see... the scenery ahead..."
At that moment, she felt her vision darken.
Tojo Hana couldn't stay calm and stood up, staring intently at Silence Suzuka whose speed was dropping. "What is she doing?"
At this moment, all the horse girls' speeds shot up for the final sprint. The 200-meter distance would be covered in seconds.
"The final 200 meters! So fast! Grass Wonder accelerated again, opening up a five-length lead over second place! Impossible to catch! Can no horse girl catch up?"
"Silence Suzuka's speed has dropped! She's fallen to eighth place! Is there a problem with her condition?"
As Silence Suzuka's speed dropped, the path ahead of King Halo suddenly cleared.
"No, absolutely not..." King Halo roared internally, blinking away the tears blurring her eyes, suddenly jolting awake.
She saw the road ahead had opened up, like light arriving in darkness.
"It's time."
'Not worthy of first-rate.' 'Just a participation trophy.'
"Let them say whatever they want, those words will be left behind!"
"Today, this king will rise above everyone."
"I refuse to bow to fate."
Just as the commentator finished saying "200 meters," in that split second of distraction, she seemed to see a flash of light burst out from the pack.
At the very top of the spectator stands, a woman wearing a sun hat pressed down on it, about to turn and leave. But that light-like figure caught her attention again. She decided to keep watching. "Right, just like that. You can do it."