Swift General was on the verge of tears now. No matter how she ran, the footsteps behind her only drew closer and closer.
"This isn't even a race anymore!!! I'm an innocent Uma Musume!!!"
Screaming, Swift General cursed the version of herself from a few days ago with every ounce of her soul.
Why didn't I check the entry list again after registration closed?!
At this rate I'm literally going to die!
But Eternal Meteor wasn't going to stop because she screamed.
The moment they hit the home straight, Eternal Meteor was already right behind her.
Seeing Swift General's ears completely puffed up in alarm, Eternal Meteor—out of pure, wicked amusement—deliberately stayed tucked in behind her, enjoying every rising note of her panicked yelling.
"This kid's got a strong high register," she commented casually to X in her head. "She'd probably sing pretty well."
"…I genuinely don't even know what to say anymore," X replied. "You are so damn vile."
"What did I do now?" Eternal Meteor sounded offended. "I'm helping her break her limits! Look—she slowed down earlier, but now she's even faster. I'm basically a saint."
That was because Swift General had seen points of light drift from behind her into her field of view—
and then vanish, right in front of her eyes.
Like a life extinguished, leaving not a trace behind.
The fear inside her peaked. Swift General had never felt this slow in her life.
Her expression twisted harsher and harsher as she squeezed out the last scraps of stamina. For someone who'd never seen a Domain before, she wasn't running to win anymore.
She was running because she didn't want to die.
"So fast—she's too fast!!! Eternal Meteor has reached Swift General's back!"
The commentator was the first to lift the stadium off mute again, voice surging with excitement as he followed the chase.
The crowd snapped back to life as well.
As for the Uma Musume behind them?
They were already swallowed by Meteor's radiance. No one even spared them a glance anymore.
Hearing the crowd roar, Swift General wanted to swear at all of them.
Are you people rooting for my death?! Are you blind—can't you see these glittering effects?!
"All right," Eternal Meteor said. "I'll stop messing with her. I don't want her coming out of this with trauma."
Seeing that not only Swift General's ears but even her tail had fully bristled, Eternal Meteor finally put her playfulness away and began accelerating again.
One: she didn't want to scare her anymore.
Two: she still had to pull a huge gap.
With the control she'd hammered into herself through all-night practice, she began making the light around her gradually ignite.
It's over.
Swift General heard the footsteps reach her flank and finally gave up struggling. Her stride weakened. She even shut her eyes tightly—
praying that being "swallowed" wouldn't hurt too much.
But even when the footsteps moved past her—
the pain she expected never came.
Why…?
Why was it warm?
Warm like a heater in winter.
Warm like sunlight in autumn.
A steady, gentle heat flowed over her body, the kind that made you want to stretch out and sigh.
Confused, Swift General cracked her eyes open, trying to see what was happening—
And then she froze.
She couldn't look away.
Red points of light were peeling off Eternal Meteor's body.
Each one flared with incomparable brilliance just before separating—burning itself completely… before collapsing into nothingness.
And the mass of light still draped over Eternal Meteor was stretched long by her speed, leaving countless crimson trails behind her—
like a meteor tearing through the atmosphere.
Like the fireworks Swift General once watched rising into the night sky with her mother—
beautiful, dazzling—
and heartbreakingly brief.
Swift General opened her eyes as wide as they would go, desperate to memorize even one more detail of that sight.
But Meteor's feet would not stop for her.
Only the finish line could stop her.
As Eternal Meteor's back receded farther and farther, Swift General's legs sped up again—
Not to fight for first.
Just to keep that scenery alive in her eyes for one more second.
But her body was already spent. No matter how hard she drove herself, she only fell farther behind.
She opened her hand toward the red lights ahead—
as if trying to catch them—
then clenched her fist tight, watching that scarlet silhouette through the thunder of the crowd.
"Eternal Meteor has passed her!!! She's cleared Swift General—and she's still widening the gap!"
The whole stadium began chanting Eternal Meteor's name, driven wild by the commentator's fervor.
But a few people noticed something strange near the finish line.
"Why is an ambulance driving onto the track?"
"What happened? I didn't see anyone get injured…"
"Why is it stopping right at the finish?!"
The ambulance, siren lights flashing, stopped just beyond the line. More spectators noticed, but their murmurs were drowned instantly by the roaring chants for Eternal Meteor—no more than a ripple swallowed by a tidal wave.
"Eternal Meteor—across the line!!! Another massive victory margin!!!"
"OOOOOOOOOOH!!!"
Like a bomb had detonated, the cheers slammed into everyone's eardrums until it hurt—yet people still screamed until their throats bled sound.
Tokai Teio cheered too—
and immediately got bonked on the head by the cup she'd thrown at the ceiling.
Well… not a cup anymore. A crumpled ball.
As for Rudolf and Maruzensky—
After Rudolf finished her phone call, the two of them bolted out of the student council room while Air Groove was still sitting there in shock at Eternal Meteor's "explosive" output.
Air Groove was left alone with a mountain of paperwork on the desk… and the still-swaying door.
She stared for a long moment in silence.
Then sighed.
She already knew what it meant.
This time, I'm the only one cleaning up the mess again.
Meanwhile, after crossing the finish line, Eternal Meteor proudly wiped under her nose, smug with herself.
"Looks like those practice runs weren't wasted. I can control it now—my acceleration doesn't spike all at once. I can ramp it up gradually."
And then her smile collapsed.
"Huh? Hey—what are you doing?!"
Under the confused gaze of the entire stadium—
three nurses lifted her up with gentle efficiency, carried her straight into the ambulance, and drove her off to the hospital.
Swift General, arriving at the finish line a moment later, collapsed on the ground like her bones had been pulled out. She lay limp, utterly drained.
She forced herself to turn her head toward her right hand. Slowly, she opened the fist she'd been clenching the whole time—
And could only stare blankly at her empty palm.
There wasn't even a trace of ash.
Nothing remained.
As if it had all been a fantasy—
returned completely… to nothingness.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( Ending )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter108)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 99
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 95
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 99
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 92
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 47
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 44
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 43
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