Two American Umamusumes caught up with Tokai Teio in an instant. Their auras, emanating from their respective Zones, were aimed directly at her back, startling her.
"Whoa whoa whoa!! Huh?!"
Tokai Teio carefully sensed the aura behind her and realized that it was nowhere near as terrifying as Rice Shower's back at Takarazuka Kinen.
"Indeed, there is a difference in strength between Zones. After experiencing Rice Shower's aura before, this level suddenly seems like nothing..."
"Cattleya and Bonnie have caught up with Tokai Teio!"
Bonnie and Cattleya, activating their Zones, passed Tokai Teio from either side.
"Surrounded by the combined aura of two Umamusumes, go back and cry."
As they overtook Teio, both women simultaneously turned their heads to glance at Tokai Teio, who stood between them.
They wanted to see Tokai Teio's terrified expression under their combined pressure.
Tokai Teio kept her head down, her bangs obscuring her eyes, making it impossible for Cattleya and Bonnie to see her expression.
Without a doubt, this Umamusume was completely terrified and expressionless.
Cattleya and Bonnie felt smug and were about to look away when their gazes suddenly sharpened, and they even wondered if they were seeing things.
Because they clearly saw the corners of Tokai Teio's mouth slowly curl upwards.
"All three stepped onto the final straight line simultaneously!"
As Sakura Bakushin O's high-pitched voice rang out, like a signal, Tokai Teio took a step and then lowered her entire body.
From the perspective of Cattleya and Bonnie, who were in their Zone state, Tokai Teio's slow, crouching movement gave them a bad feeling.
At this moment, Tokai Teio's body was arched. Although she was much smaller than Cattleya and Bonnie, the two American Umamusumes, she gave them a sense of poised power.
With a "thud," a deep crater appeared in the turf beneath Tokai Teio's feet, and her body shot out.
A white aura instantly enveloped Tokai Teio's entire body. She was sandwiched between the two Zone Umamusumes, her steps undiminished.
"Here it comes! Here it comes! Tokai Teio's final burst of speed!"
"Tokai Teio, Bonnie, and Cattleya, the three Umamusumes, are all charging forward at the same speed!"
At the same moment, many of the newly enrolled Umamusumes watching from the sidelines erupted in cheers once again after witnessing Tokai Teio's acceleration.
To the average Umamusume, Tokai Teio's final burst of speed was only comparable to that of the two American Umamusumes.
However, to a select few in the arena, especially to several American Umamusumes who had mastered their Zones, the scene was quite different.
Golden Crown Eagle, sitting next to Obey Your Master and watching the match, immediately stood up in astonishment upon seeing this.
"How... how could she? How could she maintain the speed of Cattleya and Bonnie without her Zone? And not let them overtake her?!"
Golden Crown Eagle's dark green eyes widened.
Although she had heard Obey Your Master say that Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen possessed strength comparable to a Zone Umamusume,
she had only ever seen Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen running back in Takarazuka Kinen.
"Cattleya and Bonnie's Zones, while only low-level, are still considered high-level Umamusumes among their peers. How could they not keep up with Tokai Teio?!"
What?!
She achieved the same speed as a Zone purely through sheer physical strength?!
Golden Crown Eagle felt like she'd seen a ghost. When she saw those two Umamusumes being completely overwhelmed by Rice Shower at Takarazuka Kinen, she thought the so-called strongest active-duty member was only strong against Umamusumes without a Zone.
She never imagined that Tokai Teio, who hadn't even mastered a Zone, or even a "presence" of it, could reach the level of a Zone through pure raw power.
If Golden Crown Eagle was so shocked, Bonnie and Cattleya, flanking Tokai Teio in the arena, were even more stunned.
The Zone had always been their pride, their source of confidence and their unparalleled dominance among their peers.
Throughout the entire Pluto Academy, the number of Umamusumes who could surpass them in their class could be counted on one hand.
That meant only Golden Crown Eagle, the strongest among the Pluto Academy active-duty Umamusumes, who had mastered a higher level of skill, could have done it.
Golden Crown Eagle's skill surpassed theirs, so their defeat was fair and justified.
But...
"What exactly is this Tokai Teio?!"
Cattleya and Bonnie had this thought simultaneously.
Between the white and black auras, there was an ordinary Umamusume—it was simply unbelievable.
"Mejiro McQueen, 200 Meters passed!"
"Mejiro McQueen, leading the way!"
Sakura Bakushin O's voice once again broke the shock of the two Umamusumes, drawing all eyes back to Mejiro McQueen.
Bonnie and Cattleya were both startled upon hearing the voice, looking up at Mejiro McQueen leading the way.
"So there was another Umamusume ahead?!"
They were so astonished by Tokai Teio's strength that they had even forgotten this was a 2v2 match.
Beside Tokai Teio, their opponents included another Umamusume with light purple hair.
Now, noticing Mejiro McQueen, the shock was overwhelming.
Beside them stood an Umamusume who, through sheer speed alone, could hold her own against them.
And ahead of them was another Umamusume who had led from start to finish, never being overtaken.
Previously, Cattleya had thought that Mejiro McQueen and Tokai Teio's speed would begin to wane in the mid-to-late game.
As a result, not only did they not lose speed, but they even increased their speed further in the final stages.
Having activated their Zones, they were gradually closing the gap with Mejiro McQueen.
However, due to the initial large gap and the fact that their speed after activating their Zones wasn't significantly faster than Mejiro McQueen's,
the gap was closing extremely slowly.
"200 meters of distance, and you can't catch up?!"
The first time.
This was the first time Cattleya and Bonnie had ever had such thoughts about an ordinary Umamusume.
This reality was undoubtedly a heavy blow to these two top active-duty Umamusumes from Pluto.
"Tokai Teio and the other two are still neck and neck; they've also passed the 200-Meter mark. It's a fierce competition!"
"One of these Umamusumes is enough."
Cattleya and Bonnie desperately increased their speed, their lungs straining under immense pressure.
Finally, they began to overtake Tokai Teio by a narrow margin.
"At least this one can't win anymore; she can't keep up with us..."
Cattleya and Bonnie shared the same thought. Seeing Tokai Teio slowly falling behind them, both Umamusumes slowly began to smile.
But their smiles froze halfway up.
Because they saw Tokai Teio, who was sandwiched between them and slightly behind them, bend down once again.