The surging black mist poured downward, greedily devouring every scrap of light.
The starlight that had blazed so brilliantly only moments before was swallowed by shadow. The cross-shaped radiance dimmed, flickering like the last flame of a candle in the wind.
One of the tendrils extending from the black fog caught up to the desperately fleeing Risen Star and coiled tightly around her right ankle.
She could feel it clearly: the tendril's coldness, its slickness, and the terrifying strength with which it clung to her. Her stamina was draining away at a frightening rate.
And it was not just that. It felt as though something else was being stolen as well. Even the star shrouded in the rolling black mist now seemed to tremble on the verge of collapse.
Risen Star desperately tried to break free of the strange appendage. Great beads of cold sweat rolled down her brow. She could already taste the strong metallic tang rising from her throat.
That alone did not matter. As long as she could tear herself free of this revolting, slippery thing, she could keep going. Her skin prickled all over. She felt awful.
At that moment, the cross-shaped starlight answered her resolve. The radiance that had been fading suddenly flared brighter than ever before.
"Ahhhhhh!"
Risen Star let out a roar that seemed strong enough to shake heaven and earth.
Driven by that desperate cry, she burst forth with unprecedented strength, tore the tendril apart, and sprinted forward.
But the instant a star shines its brightest is often the very moment it meets its end.
The very next second after Risen Star tore through the black fog's tendril, a fresh one lashed out and caught up to her.
A sharp snap echoed out.
Her right ankle was seized again.
And that was only the beginning.
A second tendril, a third, and more followed after that.
Her limbs, her waist, her neck — all of them were bound by the black fog.
She struggled inside that heavy darkness. She shouted. But it was useless. The black fog mercilessly gnawed away at the starlight clinging to her, as though savoring a sweet spring of water.
Up in the sky, the black mist encircling the cross-shaped light surged forward as well, pressing in from every side, drowning that stubborn starlight in the deepest, most absolute darkness.
In the span of only a few breaths, the starlight was completely consumed. Cracks like a spiderweb spread across its core, as if it might shatter and vanish entirely in the next instant.
Risen Star let out a pained cry, but she did not yield. She still tried to escape the darkness. She still tried to shine.
But that faint newborn glimmer was seized by an invisible hand, clenched in its palm, and crushed out of existence.
All that remained on the racetrack was the roaring, all-consuming black mist.
For a fleeting moment, droplets of sweat drifted through the air like tears, then vanished soundlessly into the blackness that seemed eternal.
Even Secretariat, who had seen more than her share of storms, could no longer remain seated. She shot to her feet, gripping the railing so tightly with both hands that the steel warped under her grasp.
A bead of sweat, full of undisguised worry, slid slowly down the side of her face.
Deep within that indescribable sea of darkness, a single enormous eye opened.
That frigid gaze pierced through space itself and settled squarely on Secretariat.
It was Xingyun Liuge's gaze, touched with a taunting sort of malicious amusement.
Secretariat had thought she already valued Xingyun Liuge highly enough.
But after seeing this scene, she had no choice but to admit that the Xingyun Liuge who commanded this black fog was far stronger than she had ever imagined.
Perhaps only a very few Triple Crown champions could truly share the stage with her.
Rudolf Symbol felt Xingyun Liuge's gaze as well.
At that instant, the darkness seemed to gain a real, crushing weight.
It felt as though that darkness could turn into a hammer of judgment at any moment, bend her back beneath it, and choke the breath from her lungs.
And that raised a question she could not ignore:
Why did someone as young as Xingyun Liuge harbor such profound darkness in her heart?
A girl who loved racing and wanted to prove herself through victory ought to shine brightly.
Like Risen Star.
At that thought, Rudolf Symbol's face turned green.
JRA! You deserve to die for this!
How had a perfectly good horse girl ended up like this?
She was no longer some adorable dream-chaser. She had become a great villain who crushed everything in her path.
Rudolf Symbol swallowed hard. She began to fear that even the emergency measures she had taken might not be enough to calm Xingyun Liuge's anger.
After all, this girl's Domain was that deep.
That dark.
Ordinary spectators could not see any of this.
All they saw was a fierce battle between two horse girls.
The announcer bellowed at the top of his lungs,
"Xingyun Liuge! Risen Star! Xingyun Liuge! Risen Star!"
Then his voice rose even higher.
"Ohhh! Xingyun Liuge! It's Xingyun Liuge!!!"
"In the midst of that furious clash, at the two-hundred-meter mark, Xingyun Liuge has brought this deadlock to an end! She's broken into the lead! Will another assassin appear? No! No!"
After a string of desperate "No, nobody! No one else!" he straightened proudly and roared with everything he had:
"Run it home, Xingyun Liuge! You are the champion of the Preakness Stakes! Claim the second jewel of the Triple Crown!"
At this point, there was nothing left to say.
The cameras needed a wide-angle lens just to fit Xingyun Liuge and Risen Star into the same frame.
And Risen Star herself was still five to six lengths ahead of the runners behind her. No one could possibly stage a shocking comeback now.
Even if there were another Xingyun Liuge, it still should have been impossible.
Xingyun Liuge raised her left index finger high.
With her right hand, she held up two fingers.
Three titles now.
Three crowns from the British and American Triple Crown series.
Her overseas campaign was already halfway complete, and the American Triple Crown lay just one step away.
Inside and outside the racecourse, countless voices shouted themselves hoarse for her, celebrating the birth of this two-crown champion, hoping and praying she would go on to complete an undefeated Triple Crown.
Risen Star finished second.
Third would be decided between Latifa and Goodbye Halo, with the officials needing a photo finish to determine the order.
Winning Colors, nearly drained dry of stamina, came in fifth.
The horse girls panted for breath as they looked from afar at Xingyun Liuge, bathed in thunderous cheers.
Envy, admiration, frustration, bitterness—
all of it mingled together to paint the truest possible picture of the racetrack.
Then, at that very moment, a ringing phone cut abruptly through the air.
Only after several moments did Rudolf Symbol realize the ringing device was the one in her own pocket.
Looking at the familiar number displayed there, she let out a helpless sigh.
"It's not enough. Nowhere near enough."
Sirius Symbol had been cheering with Oguri Cap and the others just moments earlier and had been about to come over to celebrate with Rudolf Symbol.
The instant she heard that defeated tone, she could not hold herself back any longer.
Throwing an arm around Rudolf Symbol's neck, she demanded,
"What do you mean, not enough? By now the framework for the new JRA should already be taking shape, right? This is a double victory!"
She grinned sharply.
"Rudolf, you should be happy."
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
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