"Hey, Rudolf… does this still count as a race?"
Sirius Symboli casually brushed a hand through her bangs. At first glance, it looked like nothing more than a stylish little gesture to tidy her hair.
But if one's gaze dropped a little lower, it would become obvious:
the muscles in Sirius Symboli's calves were trembling.
It was not fear, or anything like that. Sirius Symboli had weathered plenty of storms in her time. Even though the way this Preakness Stakes was unfolding had far exceeded anything she had imagined, there was no way a spectacle on this scale would frighten her.
What she felt was excitement.
The kind of excitement that said, Even if I probably couldn't win, I'd still want to charge in there and fight them head-on.
Even a loss would leave her without regrets. She would accept it wholeheartedly from the bottom of her heart.
In that sense, her reaction was basically the same as Oguri Cap's warrior's tremor.
Rudolf Symboli folded her arms and replied in a tone that was half helpless, half matter-of-fact.
"That is simply how Xingyun Liuge is. As for the others…"
Rudolf trailed off.
If it had only been Risen Star, that would have been one thing. After all, she had been hailed since childhood as Secretariat's masterpiece. If someone like her could not grasp the power of a Domain, that would have been the real joke. But what was going on with Winning Colors?
She had shown nothing remotely like this in the Kentucky Derby. Back then, she had not even touched the threshold of a Domain. So how had she suddenly mastered it—and developed it to such a formidable degree on top of that? How was that supposed to make any sense?
Even Rudolf Symboli herself had first sensed the existence of a Domain only little by little, then gradually learned to wield it, then finally brought it to heel.
Were American horse girls really all this terrifying?
Obviously not.
Rudolf Symboli's gaze fell behind Winning Colors, and her expression cooled.
The horse girls behind her had shown nothing of the sort. They had all been swept off the track by Xingyun Liuge with absurd ease.
Rudolf murmured to herself, "Is it because she's special?"
That, at least, sounded plausible.
After all, she had already witnessed the perfect example that was Xingyun Liuge. Even if another genius appeared, she would not be shocked anymore.
Unless that person was a second Xingyun Liuge.
Oguri Cap and the others were on edge for Xingyun Liuge, shouting themselves hoarse in support, terrified she might somehow lose.
It could hardly be helped. The sheer spectacle Winning Colors had produced was enough to make anyone's heart clench.
Feeling the terrifying heat surging at her from behind, Xingyun Liuge's lips curled faintly upward.
"An undying bird? Then I'll drag you crashing back down to reality."
The moment those words fell, the surging advance of the black tidal mist froze.
No longer did it roll forward in great crashing waves. No longer did it play at being a tsunami sweeping all before it.
Instead, with Xingyun Liuge at its center, it reversed—coiling inward.
The blazing inferno suddenly writhed in visible unease, and even the starlight overhead dimmed a few shades.
The billowing darkness spun at tremendous speed, and in the blink of an eye it formed a vast, deep vortex.
At its center lay a blackness so dreadful it made the heart seize up, as though it opened straight into the underworld itself—bottomless, hopeless, utterly devoid of light.
It greedily devoured every ray of brightness, every trace of hope. Flame and starlight alike warped beneath its pull.
And yet that was not all.
As it turned, the dark mist took on a smoothness like polished black jade, radiating a dizzying, almost elegant beauty.
As though all the darkness and despair it had displayed earlier had only been a tiny jest played upon the world—and this was its true form.
But the more it looked like that, the greater the pressure on Risen Star and Winning Colors became. It gave off the unmistakable feeling of, Since when would a villain ever openly admit she was a villain?
When it had first appeared, it had brought with it such crushing oppression. And now it was suddenly behaving, suddenly refined and gentle? Was that even remotely believable?
They would rather the black mist acted like a true whirlpool—roaring as it spun, with the low, continuous growl of some abyssal beast watching from the dark, hungry and restless.
Risen Star and Winning Colors exchanged no words, yet their timing and their choice were exactly the same.
With all the grim resolve of a last stand, the giant bird spread its wings and hurled itself straight at the dark vortex.
Above them, the cross-shaped starlight shifted color, diving downward in a blood-red blaze of danger.
This was no longer a three-way balance of power.
It had become a world-shaking two-against-one collision.
In that instant, heaven and earth changed color.
And yet the impact made no sound at all.
Instead, it conveyed only a terrifying sense of suction, as though it could swallow everything whole.
Along the edges of the clash, the rolling black mist erupted with eerie green light, forming tightening spirals that shone with a miserable, ghostly green.
Not only did it wall off the fire and starlight, it advanced through them—turning defense into offense.
That ghastly green spiral radiated an utterly immovable dominance. It split the flames apart, drank them in, devoured them whole, as though anything caught in that unseen rotational force would never escape again.
The wildly burning fire lost its destructive white brilliance and dimmed back into its original azure form.
And then, helplessly, it was dragged into accelerated rotation along the slick, precipitous walls of the vortex—rolling, tumbling, churning in vain—before vanishing into that bottomless black "singularity" without leaving so much as a ripple behind.
"Ha… ha…"
Winning Colors felt as though shackles had been clamped around her legs. Every lift of her foot had become unbearably laborious.
No matter how hard she bit down, no matter how desperately she tried to wring the last drop of strength from her blood, her muscles, her bones, she could no longer continue the fight.
That vortex of black mist was like a living, greedy maw, staring skyward in cold silence as it spun and sucked and dragged everything it touched into a darkness too deep to fathom.
The vividly lifelike giant bird beat its wings with all its might, trying to break free of the vortex's pull.
But all of that struggle was futile in the end.
It could do nothing except let out one final mournful cry before disappearing into that ravenous abyss.
"Xingyun Liuge! Winning Colors' desperate charge still can't catch the utterly focused Xingyun Liuge! Xingyun Liuge wins this duel of endurance without mercy! At this point, the only one left in front of her is Risen Star! Three lengths—one length!"
"Can Risen Star escape? She can't! On the final stretch, Xingyun Liuge catches Risen Star! There's no doubt now—the champion will be decided between those two!"
To the spectators, this was a duel of endurance.
Whoever could hold this speed to the very end would be the victor.
But in Risen Star's eyes, what was bearing down on her was a Xingyun Liuge wreathed in blackness, as if she were about to charge straight through her.
That overbearing black mist split into countless tendrils, lunging for her arms, her legs, her body—even her hair.
Cold sweat poured down in sheets.
Risen Star's eyes widened as she muttered,
"This really isn't funny at all."
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 147)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter185)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter105)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter215)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 185
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 170
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/1
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 206
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 190
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/23
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 106
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 125
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 90
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 80
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 86
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 81
Still playing traditional Honk 65
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 65
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 57
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 45
Transmigrated as Sukuna 59
Checking In in Demon Slayer 59
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 73
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 45
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 36
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 40
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 60
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 30
Why did they assign me to Uma 35
MYGO Beauties 43
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 30
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 31
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin