Boom!
With four deafening footfalls exploding one ahead and three behind, Ascot's turf was violently torn open.
The instant the four ghostlike figures entered the final turn, they abruptly reached an extreme burst that defied all common sense.
Within the pack, the four Umamusume who had begun sprinting almost all thought of the truth at the same time.
They wanted to accelerate, to keep up, to intercept.
But.
Putting aside the fact that these four leading powerhouses had already occupied absolutely favorable positions, that overwhelming explosive power alone was enough to crush every delusion of blocking them.
They could only watch helplessly as those four figures broke away from the pack at an unbelievable speed, as if forming a world of their own. Carrying an aura that seemed ready to destroy everything, they rushed madly toward the final straight.
At the forefront of this storm, a single black figure was bearing the greatest pressure alone.
"Hah... hah..."
Carefree, who had been leading from the opening phase until now, had a face filled with panic and fear that did not match her identity as the leader at all.
"No, no, no! There's definitely something wrong with this!"
Carefree gritted her silver teeth hard. Her lungs stung as if they were burning, but right now, she had no time to care about that.
Looking closely, faint strands of lightning were also flickering in this Front Runner specialist's eyes.
Evidently, she too was a powerful Umamusume who had stepped into Domain.
But precisely because of that extraordinary perception, she knew with absolute clarity what horrifying thing was happening behind her at this very moment.
In her senses, the track behind her seemed to have transformed into an ancient battlefield from myth.
Three.
A full three vast auras, immense enough to suffocate her, were swelling wildly behind her.
"You've got to be kidding me... How can three monsters at this level appear in the same race?!"
Carefree wailed inwardly, moving her legs with every ounce of strength she had. Her arms swung violently through the wind as she tried to push her own speed to the limit once more.
"And besides..."
However, just as Carefree was still thinking and grumbling, her heart suddenly clenched.
Panting heavily, she only had time to turn her head slightly.
Then, in the corner of her eye...
A nimble figure with purple hair and white clothing appeared soundlessly beside her as if by teleportation.
"...Mejiro McQueen!"
Carefree forced that name from her throat.
But she could only watch helplessly as that pure-white figure went from even with her to a neck ahead, then from a head ahead to half a length, surpassing her little by little.
No matter how she roared and poured on strength, no matter how she wrung every last bit from her muscles, that back still gradually shrank and drifted farther away in her vision.
Watching this, Carefree felt as though her entire worldview had collapsed.
"...How is there still one more person who can fight those three monsters behind me without even entering Domain?!"
She began to wonder if she had walked into the wrong room before the race and gotten ELO'd by the system, matched against four equally ridiculous opponents.
And after McQueen mercilessly overtook her, only a few breaths later...
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three savage footfalls like thunder came roaring in.
Those three monsters, carrying boiling mental landscapes and spewing dazzling lightning from their eyes, each treated Carefree as a speed bump. One after another, they crushed past her with unstoppable momentum.
From that moment on, at the front of Ascot Racecourse, only those four ghostlike, high-speed figures remained.
...
"She's overtaken! Mejiro McQueen has overtaken Carefree and charged into the final straight first!"
The commentator's emotions had already climbed beyond measure. The frenzy in his voice seemed almost ready to tear the roof off the venue.
"Four lengths behind her are Terimon and Sanglamore, running side by side. It seems these two powerhouses have completely unleashed themselves!"
"And only one length behind them..."
At this point, the commentator paused, then shouted excitedly.
"It's Generous! The overlord, Generous!"
"So fast! So fast! She's charging up at a speed visible to the naked eye! This is insane! This race has completely become a one-act show starring these four Umamusume!"
...
On the track, the wild wind roared.
Aside from the pure-white gray-haired figure at the very front, who was tearing through the gale with composed ease, the three Umamusume behind her, all having activated Domain, were also locked in fierce competition.
But anyone with sharp eyes could see that the golden-haired figure in fourth had a speed that simply defied common sense.
Even though Terimon and Sanglamore ahead of her had both already stepped into the second stage of Domain and gained a terrifying all-around boost, Generous was still closing the distance between them at a visibly horrifying speed.
Behind them.
"Hooo..."
A long breath echoed around her. The scenery of the track retreated madly, and Generous stared ahead without expression.
The pale-gold lightning in the girl's eyes had now become a steadily burning sun, bursting with dazzling light that illuminated all things.
At this moment, nothing remained in her eyes except victory.
Boom!
Her bulging thighs crushed the turf beneath her feet.
The pale-gold stream of light was like a Sword of Damocles freshly drawn from its sheath, determined to pierce through everything. In an instant, it began to run completely out of control.
The overlord of Europe was excelling from the outside lane.
"Wha...!"
A mere one-length gap.
Under the shocked, disbelieving gazes of Terimon and Sanglamore, that golden stream of light crossed their shadows with overwhelming, unstoppable dominance.
In just a few breaths, their positions were completely reversed.
"Oh my god! It's Generous!"
The commentator clutched the microphone and roared wildly.
"An unbelievable final kick! Generous has forced an overtake from the outside, instantly tearing through Terimon and Sanglamore's defense, and has risen to second place!"
"Now, in her eyes, only Mejiro McQueen remains ahead of her!"
"Ooooooooooh!"
"Generous! Generous!"
At the commentator's cry, the spectators throughout the venue erupted into startled cheers.
...
Unlike the hundreds of thousands of spectators on the racecourse, who were boiling over completely, the private box reserved for overseas trainers had fallen into a deathly silence.
The world-class trainers all remained silent, their gazes grave as they watched the battle below, a clash that could be called world-class.
Kuroha stood quietly before the enormous floor-to-ceiling window, arms folded across his chest.
Reflected in his deep eyes was that golden stream of light, dazzling like the sun, which had forcefully torn through two great Domains.
Within his pupils, an imperceptible fluorescent glow flashed and vanished.
The power of Body and Breath Perception allowed him to roughly judge Generous's exact level of strength in this moment.
"As expected of the great rival of this era's protagonist. This strength... she's in a completely different dimension from the heavy artillery Umamusume."
Kuroha frowned slightly and thought to himself.
Judging from the overwhelming performance currently displayed on the track, Generous was absolutely worthy of her famous title as the reigning European overlord.
Even after Terimon and Sanglamore played every trump card they had, they were still crushed by her pure hard power.
With this terrifying chasing momentum, barring any surprises, this race should have become her victory march toward the throne without the slightest suspense.
Kuroha narrowed his eyes slightly. His gaze shifted from that golden figure, slowly moving upward before finally settling on the pure-white back at the very front.
Yes.
Barring... any surprises.
(End of Chapter)
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