Every horse girl lining up for this Belmont Stakes was, in one way or another, an old acquaintance of Xingyun Liuge's.
They all understood one thing very clearly: gate skills were basically useless against her. In theory, the sensible move at a time like this would have been to target someone else instead—fight for second or third place, secure a better purse, and call it a day.
But that kind of overly practical thinking was never going to appear in a horse girl's heart.
The moment they stepped onto the track, only one thought remained:
Win the championship!
Otherwise, they could just have withdrawn and gone to race in events they were actually confident they could win.
So once they entered the gates, every horse girl's attention fell on Xingyun Liuge. They quietly drew a breath, loosened their wrists and ankles, and prepared to show her the strongest version of themselves.
They would pile on pressure, time their gate skills perfectly, and fight with everything they had for even the faintest chance at victory.
The instant the gates flew open, dazzling colors reflected in the horse girls' eyes. They could see it clearly—
Xingyun Liuge's stall was completely swallowed by the flashing radiance of gate skills!
If it had been an ordinary horse girl, her legs would probably have gone weak right there and then, leaving her stranded at the very back.
But they were all old rivals of Xingyun Liuge's by now. Even if the gray-haired girl really did get trapped into a poor start, none of them intended to relax their guard.
Besides...
Would Xingyun Liuge really be held back by something like this?
A pale blue light flashed through the riot of colors.
A crisp crack rang out.
The multicolored brilliance shattered like a frozen lake buckling under a weight it was never meant to bear, splitting into fractures before dissolving into countless motes of light.
Xingyun Liuge had used Cleanse, removing every restrictive effect the others had piled onto her, and burst from the gate almost untouched.
"Honestly, I expected it, but it's still terrifying to see it in person..." Brian's Time gritted her teeth and fought hard for position.
Her gaze flicked toward Winning Colors, and she surged forward with all her strength, overtaking her in one breath.
On the final stage of the American Triple Crown, Brian's Time wanted a one-on-one duel with Xingyun Liuge. She wanted every spectator to remember her as a Don Quixote who had dared to charge a windmill.
After all, she had quite a few juniors back in Japan. She had to set an example for them.
When roads narrow, the brave prevail.
Daring to draw your sword was what really mattered.
An overwhelming gap in strength was not the problem. Losing the courage to challenge the strong—that was what invited defeat.
At the same time, far away in Tokyo, Brian's Time's junior horse girls had gathered together, sitting in front of the television and cheering for their predecessor.
They did not really believe their senior could beat the blazing-hot Xingyun Liuge, but they were true horse girls. All they could do was feel deeply inspired by that spirit of daring struggle and joyful defiance.
Vodka was so fired up that tears sprang to her eyes as she shouted, "Go, Senior Brian! Go!"
The awkward part was that Rudolf Symboli had expanded this viewing session into an official extracurricular activity for Central Tracen, so her yelling was technically disturbing her classmates.
But really—what horse girl could resist the urge to cheer for a senior or a comrade?
The girls around her cast Vodka encouraging looks and forgave her little bit of roughness almost instantly.
Oguri Cap, who had already returned to Central Tracen, was meanwhile hemmed in on all sides by Yaeno Muteki, Super Creek, Mejiro Ardan, and the rest of her generation. They wanted to know what she had gained from her trip to America, and whether that absurdly powerful Xingyun Liuge would be returning to Japan this year.
Everyone thought the same thing:
If she did come back, the heat of the crowd would probably burn Central's tracks to the ground.
Because that was Xingyun Liuge—the girl who had crushed the American horse girls and taken two crowns in succession. The pride of all Japan, the summit of Japanese horse girls.
At this point, people were starting to think that no one would ever be able to shake her place in Japanese racing history. She was already in utterly unprecedented territory—and most likely in a realm no one would ever reach again.
Seeing Brian's Time's sudden "ambush," the host jumped and burst out, "Brian's Time! The race has only just begun, and she's already challenged Xingyun Liuge! What courage!"
Of course, the host and Brian's Time's fans dearly wanted to cheer her on, to make the moment sound more heroic, more glorious, more uplifting.
But Xingyun Liuge's real rivals were clearly Rising Star first, then Winning Colors and Goodbye Halo. As for Brian's Time...
It was not that she was unworthy, exactly. It was just that no ordinary spectator would ever have expected her to go after Xingyun Liuge this aggressively.
Even Rising Star found herself curious.
But after receiving Secretariat's complete personal guidance and undergoing yet another tremendous leap in strength, she had no intention of observing what was happening behind her. Her only goal was to seize the lead—and hold it all the way to the finish.
That was what a horse girl was: a being born to run, existing to run. Glory and prize money meant far less than throwing herself into the act of running with every ounce of her strength.
Xingyun Liuge, for her part, had originally intended to turn this into a one-on-one duel with Rising Star. She had seen Secretariat's shadow in Rising Star's start. She might not yet be able to beat Secretariat's peak phantom, but surely she could beat Rising Star. She meant to get her revenge through the girl.
Instead, Brian's Time had suddenly burst forward—
and she was using an oppressive racing style.
What exactly was an oppressive racing style?
Take the outer lane. Creep closer and closer to the horse girl running on the inside. Maintain a threateningly perfect distance, steadily applying pressure to the one trapped against the rail.
Under those conditions, the horse girl on the inside would instinctively keep her distance, afraid of being elbowed by the outer runner. Her room to maneuver would shrink with every stride. She would fear crashing into the rail to her left, fear colliding with the horse girl on her right, fear catching an elbow—
and under that constant pressure, she would naturally feel boxed in, unable to bring out her full strength.
It was a very crafty way to run, and one that skirted dangerously close to the edge of the rules.
Xingyun Liuge did not know whether this was some sort of American tradition or not, but she had seen the style before in Reincarnation's End. The horse girl who used it there was named Sunday Silence—a girl from the next generation.
Sunday Silence definitely had not come up with it after watching Xingyun's races. Otherwise, there would be a time paradox on their hands.
So yes—this really was probably an American racing tradition.
Xingyun had also noticed that the little girl named Sunday Silence was currently standing in the stands, waving a sign and cheering. The support board in her hands had a chibi version of Xingyun drawn on it, and while the name written there was only abbreviated, it was obvious enough who she was cheering for.
The corner of Xingyun's mouth curled upward.
"For the sake of that little girl being my fan, I'll forgive this once."
That said, when she turned toward Brian's Time at close range, she shot her a sharp glare.
Trying to bluff, pretending you're about to throw an elbow?
She'd better be careful.
Because Xingyun just might elbow back for real.
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 150)
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 (Chapter190)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter105)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter225)
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 195
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 Volume2/5
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 225
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 210
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/30
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 115
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 130
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 100
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 85
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 90
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 100
Still playing traditional Honk 69
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 75
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 60
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 71
Checking In in Demon Slayer 75
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 80
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 66
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 58
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 65
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 63
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 59
Why did they assign me to Uma 55
MYGO Beauties 56
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 45
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 49
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 36
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 35
The Uma Musume Who Became 30
I'm Definitely Not the King of 35
After Maxing Out Every Class 35
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