Inside the WMA Olympic Village, in the largest tactical analysis room rented by the Tracen Academy representative team.
The atmosphere was solemn yet deadly.
On the enormous electronic tactical board, videos of all of Zenyatta's previous races played on a loop.
Her photos, physiological data, and analysis graphs of her racing habits covered an entire wall.
Kaito, dressed in an elegant trainer's uniform and holding a laser pointer, stood before the whiteboard.
His expression was unusually serious.
He looked like the Supreme Allied Commander delivering the final motivational speech before the D-Day landings.
Before him, gathered in full for the first time, was the luxuriously extravagant Harem Legion, composed of nine members.
They sat in an orderly fashion below the podium.
Even Gold City and TM Opera O, who were usually the loudest, held their breath, waiting with eyes full of absolute trust and expectation for their only "King" to give the final order.
Kaito pressed the pause button.
The image froze on Zenyatta's proud and expressionless face after crossing the finish line with an absolute lead.
With the laser pointer in his hand, he circled the most striking phrase on Zenyatta's personal profile on the tactical board with an intense red laser: [Professional Record: 19 races, 19 wins, 0 losses]
"Everyone"
He spoke with a firm and powerful voice.
"Zenyatta's strength is undeniable"
Her power, speed, and technique present practically no obvious flaws.
She is like the most perfect war machine, armed to the teeth.
"However—"
"She has a single fatal weakness"
"Which is..."
"She has never lost"
Kaito's gaze swept across everyone present.
"The strength of an absolute victor who has never known defeat is built on an absolute and unquestionable confidence: the belief that 'I am always stronger than all of you'"
"Her spirit is like a violin string tightened to its absolute limit"
Although it can produce the most magnificent and impressive notes of victory, it is precisely because of this...
"It is the most fragile"
"What we must do in this semifinal is not compete with her to see who can perform the most magnificent melody"
"Instead, it is to..."
His gaze became incredibly piercing.
"Use eight of the hardest pliers, applying force simultaneously from eight different directions!"
"Forcefully break that proud string of her violin!"
He turned around and began organizing his forces on the massive electronic board, assigning each of his queens their specific hunting mission!
Phase one: [Pace Setting - Suicidal Consumption Group]
"Taiki Shuttle, Justify"
"You two have the fastest speeds in short-distance sprints"
"When the race begins, you will have only one mission: Forget about victory, forget about stamina management, and take turns leading the race frantically at a suicidal pace that breaks world records"
"Our goal is not to pull away from her, but to accelerate the pace of the entire race to its most frantic and unrestrained rhythm!"
"Make sure she enters a state of high-intensity consumption from the very first second of the race"
Phase two: [Flank - Steel Cage Confinement Group]
"Gold City, Air Groove"
"Your mission during the middle phase of the race is to act as two moving steel walls!"
"Hold her tightly from both sides!"
"Constantly harass her, wear her down, and make her feel irritated using your best physical contact and excessive pressure!"
"Prevent her from running at her most comfortable pace!"
Phase three: [Group Following: Rhythmic Deception and Mental Contamination]
"TM Opera O, Manhattan Cafe"
"You must be her shadows"
"Stay very close to her, using your best, most deceptive, and artistic running styles to constantly create the illusion of: 'I am going to overtake you on the inside!' 'No, now I am attacking from the outside!'"
"Make her frantically waste her valuable mental energy on these useless and highly stressful defensive preparations!"
Phase four: [Final - Double King Finishing Group]
Kaito's gaze finally landed on the two "kings" who possessed equally exceptional strength.
El Emperador, Symboli Rudolf
And the Wolf King, Narita Taishin
"Symboli Rudolf, you will be our visible 'False King'"
"Before entering the final stretch, you will face Zenyatta in a direct and absolute duel of momentum!"
"Use your Emperor's aura to capture all her remaining attention!"
"And Narita Taishin..."
He looked at the lone wolf, whose eyes were already burning with fire.
"You will be our ultimate assassin, hidden in the darkness"
"At the moment when both are fighting with the greatest ferocity and selflessness, at the moment when Zenyatta believes victory is assured..."
"You will launch that fatal final blow from the most unexpected, complicated, and impossible route!"
The tactics were completely defined.
However, an eerie silence remained in the room.
"Huh?!"
The queen of Gold City was the first to slam the table, expressing her strong discontent!
"You want me to be that dirty 'wall'? Are you joking?!"
"I am here to win the championship! I am not here to be anyone else's cannon fodder!"
"Oh ho ho ho~~" TM Opera O also fanned herself, expressing her distaste.
"For this protagonist to act as a simple fraud who only performs feints seems like a terrible waste of talent, doesn't it?"
"Countless fans are still waiting for my victory concert"
Taiki Shuttle also raised her hand and asked innocently.
"Ehm... I can lead the race... but seriously, I can't win the championship?"
"Doesn't the champion get a special double cheeseburger?"
Everyone wanted to be the "finalist" enjoying the flowers and applause at the end.
But no one was willing to be the anonymous "bait" paving the way for others.
The thin team atmosphere that had just been created was instantly filled with the thick smell of gunpowder.
Faced with this imminent "internal struggle"
Kaito did not get angry; he simply smiled.
"All of you, do you think being 'Bait' and 'the Wall' is easy?"
"You are mistaken"
His expression instantly became extremely serious.
"The most crucial and difficult part of this strategy is the execution of the first three phases!"
"You will face Zenyatta directly in her strongest, most physically capable, and mentally focused state!"
"It is precisely because I have absolute faith in your abilities that I entrust this difficult mission, which will determine the outcome of the entire battle, to you"
These words instantly provided immense satisfaction to Gold City and the cursed vanities of the others!
"Furthermore—"
Kaito decided to fan the flames even further!
"I hereby announce a new temporary reward mechanism"
"After this race, in addition to the eventual winner..."
"The person whose 'tactical execution' I value most positively, and who causes Zenyatta the most instances of 'effective harassment' during the race..."
"Will also receive an additional, private, and individual 'tactical review' session"
He deliberately pronounced the words "private tactical review" with an ambiguous and suggestive tone.
Everyone present understood instantly!
This was another reward disguised as "alone time" that bypassed the Fundamental Law!
Burning flames reignited in everyone's eyes!
"Hmph! Since you put it that way...!" Gold City was the first to stand up, clenching her fists.
"Then I will make that so-called Queen see for herself what the hardest and most insurmountable wall of sighs in Tracen Academy is!"
"Oh ho ho ho~" TM Opera O also stood up.
"The art of deception? That also sounds quite interesting, let this protagonist present her with the most magnificent drama, titled 'The True and False Monkey King'!"
Under Kaito's skillful application of the "carrot and stick" strategy.
This is the strongest and most difficult-to-handle "hunting dream team" in history.
For the first time, we have achieved a truly meaningful, goal-oriented, and impactful unity!
...
The WGP semifinal circuit.
When the athletes entered, an extremely peculiar scene appeared.
The eight athletes from Tracen Academy were no longer competing individually.
Instead, they moved in a tactical formation, like a wolf pack.
They slowly entered the track, surrounding their central position, where the "False King" Symboli Rudolf and the "Ultimate Assassin" Narita Taishin were hidden.
The gaze of each and every one of them was fixed on the prey: a trapped animal about to be butchered and consumed.
Their eyes were fixed on the distant purple figure who stood upright, proud, and solitary.
Zenyatta
Zenyatta also felt this immense and unprecedented pressure, directed exclusively toward her.
Not only did she show no fear.
Instead, she excitedly ran the tip of her tongue over her dry lips.
In her opinion... these targets, previously boring... had finally become interesting.
...
In the VIP box.
Catherine observed the extremely strange entry formation of Tracen Academy, a formation she had never seen before, and frowned deeply.
She couldn't understand what on earth Kaito, that cursed mystic, was trying to do.
However, she remained blindly confident in the "absolute strength" of her most powerful ace: Zenyatta
When the horn signaling the start of the race was about to sound...
A textbook "encirclement hunt," outnumbered, calculated, and artistic... was about to officially begin under the gaze of the entire world!