The Zone is a miracle born from an Uma Musume's will, and naturally, the only thing capable of withstanding its power is another Zone of equal strength.
At that time, Liberty Island had yet to awaken her own, but her resolve—the very fuel for a Zone—had been tempered in race after training race, facing the Divine Blade head-on.
It was like forging a sword.
In the beginning, she was melted by the white heat until she lost consciousness; later, she gradually grew familiar with the searing air and could barely hold her ground.
Every time a training session ended, Liberty Island would pull her unfinished blade from the furnace and use her will to hammer it into the shape she desired.
Then she would melt it again, refining it, stripping away the impurities—over and over, time and again.
Liberty Island had lost track of how many times she had stood before the Divine Blade.
But if she counted from the first day she faced it—from April 10th after the Oka Sho until today, November 26th, at the Japan Cup—she had been tempering this blade for two hundred and thirty days.
She knew clearly that, compared to Equinox, she was undeniably the weaker one.
A year's gap in training and the natural difference in talent were things even Agnes Tachyon and Sugar Lights couldn't fully bridge in such a short window.
From the start, Liberty Island accepted the reality that she was the underdog. All she could rely on was that miraculous Zone, that blade that had yet to see the light of day.
Through those two hundred and thirty days, night and day, Liberty Island hammered at that steel.
So, when it finally cleared its scabbard today, it was bound to shake the very foundations of the turf.
The razor-sharp aura of the edge swept across the track.
The sword-intent felt so physical it made the other girls' skin prickle with pain. It was an illusory blade, yet in that heartbeat, it felt real enough to pierce through anyone's chest.
It carried a chilling, dignified light, as if it were about to whip up a storm of blood on the track in the next second. But before that moment arrived, it simply rested quietly in Liberty Island's hand.
Stars on Earth swallowed hard. For a moment, she had wondered if Liberty Island had only just awakened her Zone, which would explain why she hadn't responded to her challenge earlier.
But now, seeing that phantom blade with her own eyes, she tore that theory to shreds and tossed it into the gutter of her mind.
This could not be a newly awakened Zone.
No Uma Musume could master it to this degree the instant it manifested.
To be as poised as Liberty Island, one either had to survive countless battles or undergo rigorous mental training, questioning the soul and facing one's true self.
Since Liberty Island had only competed in a handful of races, she must have spent endless late nights confronting her inner self after her awakening to polish her Zone to such a stage.
Stars on Earth didn't have the luxury to obsess over how long Liberty Island had been hiding her strength, though. She only wanted to know the reason for unfolding the Zone now.
Something must have given her the confidence to believe this illusory blade could actually overcome Equinox.
Stars on Earth focused all her attention on Liberty Island, desperate to see the source of that conviction.
She wasn't the only one; every G1-class Uma Musume on the field who truly understood the terror of Equinox had their eyes locked on her.
Precisely because they had awakened their own Zones, they understood better than anyone how horrifying it was that Equinox had won five consecutive G1s without one.
That only made them more curious: how did Liberty Island intend to beat her?
Was she going to raise that phantom sword and strike at Equinox? If merely drawing it commanded such power, then an actual strike might truly stand a chance of winning the race!
But just as everyone was imagining the blade swinging through the air, Liberty Island—the master of the phantom edge—suddenly sheathed the blade once more.
"She gave up?!"
Liberty Island's move left everyone stunned.
They couldn't fathom why she would draw the sword only to put it back. Had she realized at the final moment that she couldn't win after all? Did she lose her nerve?
"No, that's not right!"
"It's not a forfeit. She's... gathering momentum?"
The other G1 racers were ahead of Liberty Island. No matter how much they focused, they couldn't just turn their heads and stare back at her.
At most, they could catch glimpses from the corners of their eyes or sense her presence through the resonance of their Zones.
But Panthalassa was different. She was right behind Liberty Island, the closest of all, and she saw it more clearly than anyone.
After the phantom blade was sheathed, Panthalassa didn't feel any relief.
On the contrary, it became harder to breathe, as if the air itself had been sucked into the scabbard along with the steel. Her heart hammered against her ribs—thump-thump, thump-thump—ringing in her ears.
This was definitely not a surrender, but Panthalassa couldn't name what it was, so she could only guess it was "gathering momentum" with uncertainty.
While Panthalassa couldn't quite place it, there was one girl on the track who understood exactly what she was seeing.
"It's Iai."
"I... ai?"
As Titleholder spoke the word, the Tracen Academy girls fell into thought. Only the girl from France, Iresine, asked in a confused whisper.
"A technique where the blade is kept in the scabbard, using the arc of the draw and explosive power to deliver a strike at god-like speed."
Through the Zone link, Titleholder explained the concept of Iai to Iresine. Wearing a racing silk inspired by the Metropolitan Police, she was well-versed in combat techniques, and Kendo was no exception.
"But that's a real-world martial art," Symboli Kris S, who had only awakened her Zone a month ago, asked immediately. "This is a Zone. Not only is there no physical scabbard, the blade itself is just an illusion, right?"
Though she came from a prestigious racing family and had guidance from her elders, her understanding of Zones was currently limited to just boosting her own speed.
"A Zone is a miracle born of an Uma Musume's will," Do Deuce explained.
"In other words... as long as she truly believes in her heart that doing this makes her stronger, and her resolve is firm enough, she really will become stronger!"
As they exchanged thoughts through the Zone resonance, Liberty Island, having sheathed her blade for the Iai strike, began to surge forward.
With every step she took, the aura surrounding the blade in her hand grew more terrifying. Her speed exploded, and in just a few seconds, she had already caught up to the pack of G1 racers.
"Here she comes!"
Panthalassa, who had already begun to fall back after losing speed, shouted at the top of her lungs.
She had no stamina left for a final sprint anyway, so she didn't mind wasting the energy to scream.
Under the shocked gazes of the crowd, Liberty Island, gripping her sheathed phantom blade, charged forward with an unstoppable, singular focus.
--+--
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.