The Zone is a miracle born from the heart of an Uma Musume.
But when exactly does she need such a miracle to descend?
Without a doubt, it is when all hope has vanished.
When she can no longer see the back of her rival, when the sting of frustration nearly incinerates her heart—that is when the Zone is forged from pure will, and miracles answer the call of a girl's desperate longing.
But what if there was an Uma Musume who never once prayed for a miracle?
If she never needed a miracle to win in the first place—if her raw, innate strength was enough to crush anyone in her path—then the Zone is no longer a prerequisite for greatness.
She can become the brightest star on the stage without it.
Even when faced with the miracles her enemies have begged for, she stands ready to conquer them all the same.
This is Equinox, the strongest Uma Musume of her generation.
The Zone is a miracle born of the weak and their bitter regrets; why would a natural-born ruler ever have a use for it?
Since the day she stepped onto the turf, Equinox has tasted defeat only twice.
Looking at those two losses, one might assume they were the catalysts for her awakening, but that's far from the truth.
In both the Satsuki Sho and the Japan Derby, the gap between her and the winner was a mere hair's breadth.
To her, those races were never hopeless.
Until the very last second, victory was within her grasp. Had those races been replayed under the same conditions, Equinox might very well have walked away with the crown.
Awakening the Zone requires adversity.
Even the world-renowned monarch, Shinzan, whom Dream Weaver once faced, had to endure relentless suppression during her lonely years studying in Europe. That hardship eventually transformed into the power that allowed her to defeat the European Uma Musume for the first time.
But Equinox has never known true hardship.
From the moment her talent blossomed, everyone looked at her as a future world-class legend. Born into a prestigious family and blessed with peerless gifts, how could she ever be acquainted with suffering?
If one had to find a failure she currently cannot overcome, it would only be her loss to Sea the Stars during a training session.
But that was just training.
The environment and the stakes can't compare to a real race—after all, Liberty Island failed to awaken her own Zone in training as well.
Moreover, Equinox knows that as long as she keeps growing, the day will come when she stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Sea the Stars to fight for the championship as a true equal.
That day isn't far off. Equinox's rate of growth has already surpassed everyone's wildest imagination.
The world sees her as a late bloomer, which is why they think she narrowly lost the Triple Crown and why she's currently on a five-race G1 winning streak.
They aren't entirely wrong, but they have vastly underestimated the speed of her "blooming."
When she was still immature, people projected the expectations of a world-class talent onto her. Now that those talents are being cashed in and she has begun to truly grow, the pace of her evolution has left everyone in the dust.
Liberty Island's hunch was right—Equinox was indeed hiding her true strength.
However, like everyone else, she misjudged the speed at which Equinox was developing, leaving her unable to see the girl's full potential.
"Titleholder has been overtaken! Panthalassa's lead has been shattered!"
"So fast! How can her closing speed be this terrifying? It's been less than a month since the Tenno Sho Autumn—how has Equinox improved this much?! Is this the power of a genius? Is this the strike of a true prodigy?!"
"A genius?"
Hearing the announcer's frantic roaring, Sea the Stars shook her head with a cold smirk.
"They're selling her short."
"A mere 'genius' doesn't deserve a speed like hers."
She turned to Dream Weaver, pointing toward the track without caring if the other girl was even listening.
"Before this Japan Cup started, everyone called it a stage where geniuses gather. That's not wrong, but they've got one thing mixed up."
"Panthalassa, Do Deuce, Stars on Earth, Symboli Kris S, Danon Beluga, Titleholder... and even Liberty Island. Perhaps because there are so many talents, people make the mistake of grouping Equinox in with the rest of these 'geniuses.'"
"But she doesn't belong there."
"Equinox is the genius among geniuses, the brightest star even among a galaxy of icons. If you had to use one word to define her, that word would have to be—"
"A monster."
Sea the Stars pointed at Equinox, who was currently pulling miles ahead of the pack. She flashed a bold, sweeping grin at Dream Weaver, lifting her chin with absolute pride.
"Just like you and me, Equinox is a genuine monster. And only a monster like that has the right to stand beside us."
Even as Dream Weaver remained silent, Sea the Stars didn't lose interest; instead, her pride only seemed to swell.
"The Triple Crown is a rare achievement, but if you count the Classic Triple Crown and the Triple Tiara winners together, there are over a dozen of them. And that's just within the Japanese racing world."
"America, Ireland, Hong Kong, Canada, Argentina... the world is vast. There are plenty of associations capable of holding Triple Crown series and training powerful Uma Musume."
"The Triple Crown is rare, but in the long history of racing, there have been dozens of winners. Liberty Island is a genius, certainly, but even if she achieves the feat of an Undefeated Triple Crown, she still won't reach the level of Equinox, or you, or me."
She paused for a beat, as if recalling a specific memory.
"You once said... that being a 'world-class' Uma Musume just means you've won a few more races than the rest, right?"
"That argument is both right and wrong. If an Uma Musume can win as many G1 races as you have, then she certainly deserves the title. But in a general sense, there is only one factor that truly confirms whether someone is world-class."
She gestured softly toward Equinox on the turf.
"It is whether she can suppress an entire era. When one girl weighs so heavily on her generation that no one else can even breathe, she is world-class—even if she hasn't won a mountain of trophies yet."
"Just like her. Just like me."
Dream Weaver hadn't participated in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe last year.
Consequently, that race became a battlefield to determine who was worthy of the throne in her absence.
The powerhouses who had been suppressed by her for an entire generation gathered as if drawn by the strings of fate.
It was a true Clash of the Century.
Titleholder, the so-called "King of Hanshin" who had swept three consecutive G1s at Hanshin Racecourse, had struggled just to qualify, and in that Arc, she was ranked near the bottom of the favorites.
The sheer scale of the world's talent had exhausted Titleholder in that race; she had been out of form all year, only regaining a hint of her former glory now, as the year-end Japan Cup approached.
And Sea the Stars was the sole victor of that historic battle.
But a simple victory isn't enough. When Dream Weaver was burdened by the "Curse of the Arc," many geniuses defeated her, yet none of them became world-class icons.
Only those who can crush the world's strongest with an overwhelming, peerless momentum have the right to claim that crown.
Sea the Stars had done it. Much like the Dream Weaver of old, she had single-handedly trampled the rest of the world.
A girl like her is naturally arrogant, yet even Sea the Stars views Equinox as an equal, believing that one day, the younger girl will stand level with her.
Together, they would be the ones to dominate the world in the days to come.
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T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.