At last, the day of the Japan Cup had arrived.
Tokyo Racecourse was already a sea of people.
The sky was a clear, flawless blue. The late-autumn wind carried a crisp chill, but it could do nothing to disperse the heat and noise boiling up from the stands.
Colorful flags flew between the grandstands. Waves of voices in different languages mixed together, then fused into a single roar whenever the broadcast rang out.
The massive screens rolled through footage and records of the participating Umamusume, and every close-up drew shrieks from the crowd.
On both sides of the passageways, fans were already holding up their support boards and banners. The names "Tamamo Cross" and "Oguri Cap" clashed in every imaginable color and font, like a silent declaration of war.
The air smelled of sweet popcorn, fresh turf, and that kind of burning anticipation that felt ready to erupt at the slightest touch.
This was the showdown between the strongest gray-haired Umamusume of the age.
Who wouldn't want to see that?
This was not just the peak battle within Japan. It was the focal point of the world's attention.
The overseas powerhouses had also arrived, each carrying her own aura and tactics. They were like stones dropped into still water, sending out dangerous ripples.
Standing before the glass of the VIP box, Sakuraba Ryo looked down over the boiling green below.
He could not make out the individual shouts, yet somehow he could still feel that deafening pulse.
This really does feel even bigger than the Derby.
His phone buzzed lightly in his pocket. A message from Principal Nishikino, most likely Tamamo Cross's team making their final confirmation.
He turned off the screen without replying.
He simply looked out through the glass, at that stretch of turf that was about to become a battlefield, and let out a quiet breath.
"What's coming... is coming."
A professional investor needed to stay calm at a time like this. Whether Oguri and the others won or not, I had to keep my face steady. As for whether this turned into a struggle not to laugh or a struggle not to cry... that was another matter.
...
At trackside, in the shadow of the runners' tunnel, Tamamo Cross finished her last set of stretches and raised her head toward the sunlit turf beyond the entrance.
She thought of the thumbs-up Sakuraba had given her.
Then she grinned and swept her white bangs back with one hand.
"The world, huh..."
"I'm here."
...
Elsewhere, inside one of the waiting rooms at Tokyo Racecourse, Kitahara Jo and Belno Light were going over Oguri Cap's final condition.
After that loss in the Tenno Sho (Autumn), all of them wanted payback against Tamamo Cross.
"Oguri, in the race ahead, you don't need to get tense, and you don't need to go head-on with Tamamo Cross all the way like you did in the Tenno Sho Autumn."
"We came here to win."
"Overpowering your opponent on sheer momentum might feel great, sure. But if it costs you the race in the end, then none of it means anything."
Kitahara spoke with complete seriousness as he gave Oguri Cap those instructions.
In his eyes, the gap between Oguri Cap and Tamamo Cross was not large at all.
They were both Umamusume Sakuraba had invested in. Did that somehow mean Oguri had to be weaker than Tamamo?
As if.
Tamamo had the Zone. Oguri had the Zone.
Tamamo had Sakuraba's backing. There was no way Oguri fell short there either.
And in terms of talent, both of them were absolute prodigies of the Japanese circuit. Who was supposed to be afraid of whom?
They were both Umamusume running the same track on the same two legs. There was no such thing as backing down before the race had even begun.
At the Japan Cup, if you had something to prove, you proved it by running.
"Oguri, just relax. Sakuraba-san is here too! He's definitely waiting to see you shine!"
Belno Light said this with both fists clasped before her chest, speaking to Oguri Cap in earnest.
Judging by how wildly the little tail behind her was swishing, though, this short-haired girl was probably even more nervous than Oguri Cap herself.
Faced with the concern from her trainer and teammate, Oguri Cap only nodded.
She looked at the Japan Cup poster hanging on the wall of the waiting room, drew in a deep breath, and closed her eyes.
Ryo is watching me.
I can't disappoint him again.
Tamamo.
It's true that I couldn't beat you in the Tenno Sho Autumn...
But this time, the result will be different.
At Tokyo Racecourse, in front of Ryo, I'll beat you.
...I won't let you take that place beside Ryo from me!
Her eyes opened.
All that remained in Oguri Cap's blue gaze now was unwavering resolve.
She rose, pushed open the door to the waiting room, then turned back with a smile.
"I'm heading out first."
Kitahara Jo and Belno Light exchanged a look, then smiled together and called out to her:
"We'll be waiting for your victorious return!"
The lights in the tunnel had been deliberately softened, but the tide-like cheers from outside still came surging in wave after wave.
The shoes on Oguri Cap's racing shoes struck the carpeted floor with steady, even sounds.
Her breathing was calm. Her eyes looked straight ahead toward the brightly lit exit.
That led to the boiling racecourse beyond.
And to the battlefield she had to win.
Then her steps paused, just slightly.
A tall figure was leaning diagonally against the wall to one side of the tunnel.
She was an unfamiliar Umamusume. A dark uniform jacket hung loosely off her shoulders, her long yellow hair spilling down her back, with a streak of blue dyed into one section near the end.
At the moment, this unknown runner was looking at Oguri Cap with a half-smile.
Her posture was relaxed, as if she were just loitering there, but her eyes had clearly fixed on Oguri Cap the instant she appeared.
Those star-shaped pupils turned on Oguri Cap. The other girl had not actually done anything, yet Oguri still felt faintly uncomfortable.
Some weird stranger I don't know.
That was what Oguri Cap thought, and after no more than a flat glance, she kept walking toward the exit without stopping.
"Hey."
The voice came from beside her, light and familiar.
Obey Your Master straightened up and walked a few quick steps into the middle of the tunnel, neatly blocking Oguri Cap's path while still keeping a distance that stopped just short of being openly rude.
Both hands tucked into her jacket pockets, she tilted her head and beamed as brightly as if greeting an old friend.
"I've been waiting for you for a while, Oguri Cap."
Oguri Cap stopped and looked at her calmly with those blue eyes.
She did not remember that face, nor did she understand why someone would go out of her way to wait here for her.
But she did not ask any of that.
She only stood there quietly and said, with mild confusion plain on her face,
"Did you need something from me?"
"Don't be so cold~"
Obey Your Master acted as if she had not noticed the unspoken distance at all, still smiling sweetly.
"I was just taking a little break here, and then you happened to walk by... so I figured I ought to say hello."
Her eyes lingered on Oguri Cap for a moment, from the tension in her shoulder line to the calm stillness in her gaze, as if she were sizing her up—or perhaps confirming something.
Then she let out a little laugh.
"Looks like you're completely ready."
Oguri Cap still did not respond.
She shifted slightly, preparing to go around Obey Your Master.
"Hey, hey. In that much of a hurry to go see her?"
Obey Your Master suddenly spoke again, a trace of unreadable amusement slipping into her voice.
"Tamamo Cross."
"—That name's all you can think about right now, isn't it?"
Oguri Cap's steps stopped.
At last, she turned fully and looked at Obey Your Master head-on.
There was not the slightest tremor in those blue eyes. If anything, they were heavier now, brighter now—like ice that had passed through fire.
"Move."
That was all Oguri Cap said. Her voice was not loud, but it was so clear there was no room to push back.
Obey Your Master raised both hands in a mock gesture of surrender and took half a step aside with a smile.
"Okay, okay. I won't hold you up. But..."
She watched Oguri Cap pass by, then lowered her voice and added in a near-murmur, as if speaking to herself—yet just loud enough for the other girl to hear:
"Don't get so focused on the one in front of you that you forget... there are other people on that track watching you too."
Oguri Cap did not look back.
Her steps never changed as she walked toward the light drawing steadily closer, as though the brief interruption had been nothing more than an irrelevant gust of wind in the tunnel.
Obey Your Master remained standing where she was, watching Oguri Cap's retreating back. The smile at her lips slowly faded into something more thoughtful.
"So a psychological play won't work on her...?"
"What a shame."
Then she turned as well and vanished soundlessly into the shadows on the other side of the tunnel.
...
"WOOOOOOOAHHHH—!!!"
The deafening cheers rolled through Tokyo Racecourse like a tidal wave, setting even the winter air ablaze.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"
The commentator's high, impassioned voice exploded through the speakers all around the venue, instantly overpowering the already boiling crowd.
"THE MOMENT OF ALL JAPAN—NO, THE WHOLE WORLD—HAS BEEN WAITING FOR!"
"THE JAPAN CUP... NOW OFFICIALLY BEGINS!!!"
The roar rose another level. Flags danced wildly in the stands, turning into a surging sea of color.
"FIRST, LET US TURN OUR EYES TO THE ENTRANCE TUNNEL! THE GREATEST CONTENDERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD ARE ABOUT TO STEP ONTO THIS STAGE OF DREAMS AND GLORY!"
At the mouth of the tunnel, the deliberately brightened spotlights cast a dazzling circle across the ground.
Triumphant background music swelled, interwoven with the increasingly unified chanting from the grandstands.
"THE FIRST RUNNER TO ENTER IS—THE PRIDE OF NEW ZEALAND, THE ABSOLUTE POWERHOUSE CARRYING SEVEN G1 TITLES—ELLERSLIE PRIDE!!!"
An Umamusume with pale blue hair stepped into the light with a calm, powerful stride.
The scar on her cheek stood out sharply under the lights, and her eyes were as keen as a hawk's. A single sweep of that gaze was enough to carry undeniable pressure.
Faced with the mountain-like attention crashing down on her, she only lifted her chin slightly, her expression cold as she strode straight onto the course.
Watching her, Sakuraba could not but sigh.
If he wanted star recruits for his galactic superteam, she would have been a solid choice...
But she also looked way too hard to approach.
"RIGHT BEHIND HER, FROM AMERICA, WITH A PHYSIQUE SO ASTONISHING IT LEAVES THE CROWD SPEECHLESS—MICHELLE MY BABY!!!"
"THAT MASSIVE FRAME IS THE VERY DEFINITION OF A GIANT!"
Her tall figure nearly filled the mouth of the tunnel all by itself, and her bronze skin gleamed with healthy radiance under the sun.
Michelle My Baby flashed a brilliant grin and even waved one powerful arm toward the stands, drawing an even louder burst of screams.
Every step she took landed with solid force, as if the ground itself trembled a little under her weight.
"Hello, hello~~ So this is the Japan Cup? Sure are a lot of people here~"
The American powerhouse greeted the crowd around her in cheerful American English.
And while she was waving, she seemed to spot Sakuraba in the distance, because she flashed him an especially bright and open smile.
Sakuraba immediately felt a chill run down his back.
Ack! Retreat!
"NEXT, LET US WELCOME THE ELEGANT LADY FROM FRANCE, WHO SHOWED HER GRACE ON THIS VERY STAGE LAST YEAR—MOONLIGHT LUNACY!"
A purple-haired Umamusume in ornate attire stepped out with measured elegance, a trace of languid distance in her crimson eyes.
She seemed wholly indifferent to the frenzy around her. She merely adjusted her gloves lightly and walked with perfect composure, as though she were strolling through the garden of her own estate. Even in the uproar, her elegance carved out a world of its own.
Honestly, she'd be a decent target too...
She's just a little too petty.
The moment Sakuraba saw her face, he remembered being rejected and could only shake his head inwardly.
Then the commentator's voice suddenly rose by another full register.
"AND NOW, ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED PRESENCES IN THIS RACE—ITALY'S ARC CHAMPION, HAILED AS 'THE APEX OF THE WORLD'—TONY BIANCA!!!"
The atmosphere on-site instantly surged to a new peak.
The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
The highest level turf race in the world.
Not one Umamusume from Japan had ever managed to seize that crown.
And precisely because of that, the Arc held a place all its own in the hearts of people on the Japanese circuit.
Any runner who won that race was a monarch among monarchs.
A true world-class champion.
The rightful apex of the world.
And now the Umamusume crowned with that title stepped out of the tunnel with a face devoid of emotion.
Tony Bianca, wearing a black tricorne hat, moved without a single wasted motion in her stride—precise, efficient, immaculate.
Her chestnut hair fell loosely over her shoulders, and paired with a green formal coat and well-fitted white trousers, she looked less like a racer than some noble from another age.
Her green eyes looked calmly ahead at the course, as if the cheers and attention around her had nothing to do with her, as if the finish line alone mattered.
That absolute confidence and authority was enough to make people uneasy.
"The European Champion!"
"So that's the aura of Europe's champion?!"
The moment Sakuraba saw Tony Bianca, his eyes lit up.
If he had to choose one Umamusume at the Japan Cup to recruit, it would definitely be Tony Bianca.
An Umamusume like her was exactly the kind of core member best suited to anchor a galactic superteam.
There was no salary cap on recruiting her, either. The offer could be as high as he wanted.
Sakuraba figured the liquid funds he could currently mobilize were somewhere around eight hundred million yen.
And if it was for recruiting Tony Bianca, he felt fully capable of throwing every last yen of it at her in one shot.
Sigh.
I really ought to find a chance later to approach the queen of the Arc.
Sakuraba sank into thought.
And just as Tony Bianca's glacial, overwhelming presence spread across the venue and unconsciously suppressed even the crowd noise a little, the lights at the tunnel entrance flared once more.
"NEXT TO ENTER IS..."
The commentator paused, seeming to check the materials in hand, and compared to the loud, lofty introductions given to the previous powerhouses, the tone this time was noticeably flatter and shorter.
"...AN UMAMUSUME FROM AMERICA—OBEY YOUR MASTER. DETAILED RESULTS AND RECORD INFORMATION ON THIS RUNNER... SEEM TO BE RATHER LIMITED."
That uncertain, lukewarm introduction stood in sharp contrast to the resounding titles and glittering records of the runners before her, and even caused a little confusion among part of the crowd.
How had a runner with such unclear records made it onto the stage of the Japan Cup?
Yet in the next instant, the figure that sprang out of the tunnel drove away that awkward pause at once.
"Helloooo, everyone—!!"
Obey Your Master practically bounced into the spotlight, both hands raised high as she waved broadly to every side of the stands. A smile bright enough to be almost dazzling spread across her face, and her yellow hair flew behind her, the blue streak at the ends drawing lively arcs.
Those distinctive starry eyes curved into crescents, brimming with pure delight and utterly carefree warmth, as if she were not here to take part in a world-class speed duel at all, but to attend some long-awaited grand party.
"Nice to meet you, Japan—!!"
She even shouted it in accented but energetic Japanese, her voice carrying clearly through the mic set up in the entrance area.
This way of making an entrance—almost too friendly, even childish—stood completely apart from the imposing, cold, or composed styles of every runner before her.
After a brief moment of surprise, the audience was swept along by her infectious smile. Laughter broke out across the stands, followed by an even warmer burst of applause.
Some of the children and younger spectators, amused by her, even started waving back.
Seeing that bright and cheerful image of her, the only thing Sakuraba could think of was the version of her he had seen back in his shop after that massage.
...Even seeing it again, the gap still feels ridiculous...
Obey Your Master paid no attention at all to the commentator's short introduction. Nor did she seem to care whether she was being defined as "mysterious" or "poorly documented."
She simply basked happily in the crowd's attention and cheers, making her way lightly along the edge of the course toward her gate. On the way, she even flashed a cute V-sign at a few spectators holding up their phones to take pictures of her, which drew an even louder wave of screams.
That relaxed ease of hers made it seem as though she were the true owner of this stage, enjoying a joyful exchange with everyone around her.
And yet, as she passed near the already-positioned Tony Bianca, her steps seemed to pause for the faintest instant, and deep in those starry pupils a near-mischievous glint flashed by before vanishing again beneath that bright smile.
"She's... definitely an interesting one," someone in the crowd said with a low laugh.
"Doesn't look nervous at all... Is that just the American style?"
"But staying this relaxed in a race at this level... either she's unbelievably confident, or..."
The speaker trailed off there, but the scrutiny in that gaze was already unmistakable.
Before the crowd could fully absorb the sunlight that seemed to radiate from Obey Your Master, the commentator's voice suddenly shot upward again, blazing enough to pierce through the entire clamor of the racecourse.
"AND NOW—!!!"
With that long-drawn declaration, the background music shifted at once into something more majestic, more oppressive.
The spotlights at the tunnel entrance seemed to gain extra force, their beams turning denser, fiercer.
"GIVE ALL YOUR PASSION AND ALL YOUR EXPECTATION TO THE BRIGHTEST TWIN STARS THIS LAND HAS PRODUCED—!!"
"FIRST—OUT OF HOKKAIDO COMES THE WHITE COMET WHO SWEPT THE TENNO SHO IN UNMATCHED FASHION, ACHIEVING THE UNPRECEDENTED SPRING-AUTUMN DOUBLE, CONQUERING EVERY SPECTATOR WITH ABSOLUTE POWER AND FEROCITY—WHITE LIGHTNING!"
"TAMAMO CROSS——!!!"
The lights exploded.
A white figure stepped into the center of the spotlight like a blade cleaving through the air.
Tamamo Cross was not smiling.
Her gray-white hair seemed almost to ignite under the lights, and her blue eyes stared straight ahead, brimming with a nearly tangible fighting spirit and feral intensity.
She merely raised her right hand and, facing the boiling stands, facing the turf that was about to become a battlefield, clenched it tightly into a fist.
A wordless motion, yet one so full of force that it instantly drove the already blazing atmosphere to its boiling point.
"TAMAMO——!! CROSS——!!!"
A perfectly unified roar erupted from every corner of the stands. Huge support banners whipped wildly through the air, almost as if they were about to tear free of their poles.
And without the slightest pause, the commentator's voice climbed even higher, mixing with the almost-mad screaming of the audience into one united wave:
"AND WITH HER—RACING STRIDE FOR STRIDE—FROM THE REGIONAL CIRCUIT TO CENTRAL, SHAKING ALL OF JAPAN WITH HER NEVER-SATED FIGHTING SPIRIT AND HER BOTTOMLESS POTENTIAL—"
"THE GRAY MONSTER!"
"OGURI CAP——!!!"
Almost half a step behind Tamamo Cross, another dazzling figure cut into the light!
Oguri Cap's blue eyes were clear and steady. They did not carry Tamamo's wild, outward ferocity, but in them lay a heavier, firmer resolve that could not be shaken.
Her gaze locked at once onto Tamamo Cross not far away. Then she raised it slightly, as if piercing through the countless spectators and all the noise, toward some point in the VIP box.
Then she drew a deep breath and gave the entire crowd a calm smile brimming with strength.
That smile was like a spark thrown into an oil depot.
"OGURI——!! CAP——!!!"
Another roar no less fierce crashed upward, colliding with the cries supporting Tamamo Cross. The two tides of sound struck each other again and again above the racecourse like visible shockwaves.
The entire grandstand seemed to become a boiling sea divided—and yet violently blended—between two colors: Tamamo's blazing white and Oguri's icy blue.
At the same time, the other overseas powerhouses already in position on the course all turned their eyes, almost in unison, toward the two hometown stars making their entrance last.
Ellerslie Pride narrowed her sharp eyes slightly, and even the scar on her face seemed to tense.
Michelle My Baby put away her cheerful grin, folding her arms as she looked at those two almost-material surges of presence with lively interest.
Moonlight Lunacy adjusted the cuff of her sleeve with perfect elegance, a trace of appraisal and curiosity passing through her red eyes.
Even Tony Bianca—who had remained expressionless all along, as though apart from it all—shifted her emerald gaze and let it rest on those two white figures longer than she had on any runner before them.
And Obey Your Master, who had been all smiles just moments ago, also fell silent now.
Tilting her head, she watched them with complicated light flickering in her starry eyes, the usual smile on her lips now turned harder to read.
She looked at the burning ferocity in Tamamo Cross, then at the ocean-deep resolve in Oguri Cap, and in the end slowly licked her lips.
Now that...
That's the real main course.
Not bad at all.
Japan's two strongest, carrying the gaze and expectations of the entire country, bringing with them a fated rivalry and bond, had finally stepped onto this world-class starting line.
Their very presence was like a massive magnet, locking the focus of the entire stadium onto them while declaring to every overseas powerhouse that this was their battlefield.
"THE CLASH OF THE GRAYS! THE PRIDE OF JAPAN! A WORLD-CLASS STAGE!"
The commentator's voice had gone hoarse from sheer excitement.
"ALL GRUDGES, ALL DREAMS, ALL STRENGTH—WITHIN THE NEXT 2400 METERS, EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM WILL RECEIVE THEIR FINAL ANSWER!!!"
Before the gates, the final silence was about to fall.
And the boiling excitement had reached its absolute peak.
Amid that tide of emotion, Sakuraba could not help feeling his own blood stir as well.
"Man... the two of them really do look cool out there."
"I didn't realize they'd grown this influential already~ Not bad at all~"
Looking at the two girls on the course, the corners of Sakuraba's mouth lifted a little in spite of himself.
Sure, seeing Oguri Cap and Tamamo Cross win races made his heart hurt.
But that was only because of the loss-making side of things.
When he really saw them go from complete obscurity to worldwide fame—honestly, he was still happy for them.
Man, that influence really is huge~ Hahaha~
Then—a thought flashed through Sakuraba's mind.
The more influence they had, the stronger their ability to make money would be, wouldn't it?!
Not just from racing, either...
If you wanted to cash in on an Umamusume's influence, there were all kinds of ways to do it.
At their current level of nationwide fame, if they wanted to make money, wouldn't they be able to rake it in absurdly easily?
Oh, no.
How did I forget that?
The realization hit Sakuraba so hard cold sweat nearly poured off him on the spot.
This is bad.
The boiling uproar, at its absolute peak, was suddenly strangled into silence by an invisible hand.
In an instant, the enormous Tokyo Racecourse fell into that last, most suffocating stillness before the start.
The wind.
The rustle of grass.
Even the pounding of one's own heart against one's chest.
Everything became sharply audible.
Hundreds of thousands of eyes focused on the dozen or so starting gates gleaming with cold metallic light.
On the course, every Umamusume lowered herself into position.
Tamamo Cross stared straight ahead, her blue pupils narrowed to pinpoints. Every muscle in her body was drawn taut like a full-strung bow, each strand of white hair seeming frozen in the air, waiting only for the signal to release.
The air around her warped faintly. It was the sign of her Zone on the verge of erupting.
Oguri Cap lowered her eyelids slightly, took in a deep breath, then slowly let it out.
Deep in those blue eyes, a frozen fire burned in silence. She could feel the scorching gaze from Tamamo not far to one side, and could also feel the eyes of the powerful rivals from around the world on both sides and behind her.
Ryo is watching.
She clenched her fist lightly, nails biting into her palm hard enough to bring a sharp sting that only made her clearer still.
Ellerslie Pride remained expressionless, her gaze like that of a hawk fixing on prey.
Michelle My Baby bared her teeth in something close to a ferocious grin, her huge frame lowering slightly like a volcano on the verge of erupting.
Moonlight Lunacy adjusted her breathing with perfect elegance, the last trace of languor fading from her crimson eyes until only icy focus remained.
Tony Bianca looked straight ahead through the narrow slit of the gate, as if she had already seen the entire path of the race through to the end. Her body was relaxed, stable—perfect as sculpture.
And standing in her own gate, Obey Your Master's bright smile had disappeared at some unnoticed point.
Her head was slightly lowered, yellow bangs covering part of her eyes, leaving only the straight line of her lips visible.
All the sunlight and easygoing warmth were gone. In their place was a stillness and focus that felt almost predatory.
The air around her seemed to twist faintly as well, but so quickly that it was easy to dismiss it as imagination.
"TAKE YOUR MARKS——"
The starter's low, forceful voice rang through the broadcast, entering every corner of the racecourse with perfect clarity and striking every heart that heard it.
The silence deepened by another layer.
It felt as if even breathing had stopped.
Time stretched endlessly in that moment.
And then—
THOOM——!!!
Not a gunshot, but the louder, more thunderous roar of the gates bursting open like the bellow of a steel giant!
That sound tore apart absolute silence—and lit the long-suppressed volcano beneath it.
CRACK!!!
A dozen and more figures exploded forward together, like springs released with violent force, like magma that had lain pressed beneath the earth for millions of years suddenly blasting through the surface!
Color, strength, speed, will—all of it detonated at the starting line into a dazzling flood.
The long 2400-meter journey had officially begun.
"THE RACE IS ON——!!!"
Only then did the commentator's voice and the roar of the crowd arrive like a delayed tsunami, crashing after those figures already surging away and sweeping across the entire racecourse.
The echo of the gates opening had not yet faded from the air when the field had already become a rushing torrent spreading across the broad turf of Tokyo Racecourse.
"A VERY CLEAN START! ALL RUNNERS ARE OUT OF THE GATES SAFELY!"
The commentator tracked every change on the course without pause.
"BUT WITH A FIELD THIS LARGE, THE BATTLE FOR POSITION BEGINS IMMEDIATELY!"
Just as predicted before the race, the sheer size of the field made its presence known at once.
All the runners eager to claim favorable ground plunged into a fierce battle for position before they had even reached the first bend.
Speed, strength, and split-second judgment collided all at once.
"LOOK UP FRONT! TAMAMO CROSS! HER START WAS FEROCIOUS, BUT IT SEEMS... SHE'S BEEN BOXED IN!"
Tamamo Cross's trademark lightning-fast launch did not let her simply run away with it this time.
The moment she tried to blast straight to the front on pure explosive power, Michelle My Baby, with cheerful yet irresistible brute force, and another overseas runner with precise positioning, formed an invisible wall and nudged her slightly outward.
A sharp light flashed in Tamamo Cross's eyes, but she chose not to waste stamina in a head-on clash here. Instead, she went with the pressure, canted her body slightly, and slipped like a fish into a crowded but workable spot in the middle-rear pack.
The air around her twisted faintly. Her Zone had not fully opened yet, lying dormant like a volcano waiting to erupt.
Her gaze, like an arrow threading through the pack, stayed fixed on the front.
"IN CONTRAST, OGURI CAP HAS CHOSEN HER POSITION VERY INTELLIGENTLY! HUGGING THE RAIL, SHE DIDN'T CHARGE BLINDLY AFTER THE BREAK—SHE USED PRECISE FOOTWORK AND RHYTHM CONTROL TO SETTLE SECURELY INTO A STRONG INNER POSITION NEAR THE FRONT!"
Oguri Cap's start was steady and efficient.
She did not have Tamamo's extreme burst off the mark, but she possessed an almost instinctive feel for space and rhythm on the course.
The instant the field swelled and crowded around her, she set herself like a boulder embedded in a riverbed, locking into an ideal inside lane among the forward group.
From there, she could clearly read the movement of the leaders while keeping every option open—accelerate when needed, or conserve.
Her blue eyes swept the runners beside her and ahead with icy calm. She could feel Tamamo's burning gaze from diagonally behind, and she could also see several overseas Umamusume already contesting the lead up front.
"AT THE REAR OF THE FIELD, WE SEE NEW ZEALAND'S ELLERSLIE PRIDE AND FRANCE'S MOONLIGHT LUNACY! NEITHER SEEMS EAGER TO GET DRAGGED INTO THE EARLY CHAOS—THEY'VE CHOSEN A COMPOSED STALKING STRATEGY!"
The rear of the pack moved at a noticeably calmer rhythm than the front.
Ellerslie Pride's expression was cold, her stride steady, pale blue hair swinging in a measured rhythm behind her.
She seemed utterly indifferent to the violent fight up front, focused only on her breathing and step count, like a top predator patiently tracking prey through the jungle and saving her burst for the killing blow.
Not far from her, Moonlight Lunacy looked even more at ease.
Her dress traced elegant arcs as she ran, and she still had the leisure to straighten a hair ornament that had shifted at the break.
A faintly appraising look passed through her red eyes as she glanced at the runners ahead, as though she were watching a play that had nothing to do with her.
She was not slow, but she kept a delicate distance from the pack—never falling away, never spending too much too soon.
"AND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD, ATTENTION REMAINS FIXED! ITALY'S SOVEREIGN TONY BIANCA, AND THE MYSTERIOUS AMERICAN ENTRY OBEY YOUR MASTER, HAVE BOTH CHOSEN THAT IDEAL POSITION FROM WHICH THEY CAN OBSERVE THE WHOLE RACE WHILE STILL HAVING ROOM TO LAUNCH AT ANY MOMENT!"
Competition was no less intense in the middle ranks.
Tony Bianca moved like an exquisitely tuned clock. The length of every stride, every breath, was so steady it bordered on terrifying.
Her green eyes looked calmly ahead, taking in the shape of the entire race.
She was neither too far forward to become a target nor too far back to make catching up difficult—perfectly embodying her mastery of race position.
And not far off her back shoulder, Obey Your Master moved like a quiet ghost.
The smile was gone from her face. Her focused expression made those starry eyes seem especially deep.
Her running form was strange. Her steps were light to the point of eeriness, almost as though she were gliding weightlessly across the turf.
She cleverly used the runners ahead as cover, hiding in the shadows of the pack, yet her eyes moved like searchlights, repeatedly sweeping toward Oguri Cap up front and Tony Bianca nearby.
The field reached the first bend, and although the leaders slightly adjusted their pace going in, the battle did not ease.
Michelle My Baby, relying on sheer explosive power and her massive build, claimed command coming out of the turn, yet she looked anything but satisfied.
"MICHELLE MY BABY CONTINUES TO LEAD! HER STRIDE IS STILL BURSTING WITH FORCE! BUT—WAIT! IT LOOKS LIKE SHE'S FOUND A NEW TARGET!"
The commentator's voice sharpened in surprise.
The tall bronze figure at the front tilted her head slightly as she led, shooting a sharp glance to one side. In the end, her gaze settled on Oguri Cap, who was holding that excellent inside position.
That pure white figure was unnaturally steady in the chaotic forward group, standing out like a reef in rushing water.
"IT'S OGURI CAP ON THE RAIL! MICHELLE MY BABY SEEMS TO WANT THE MORE FAVORABLE INSIDE ROUTE—SHE'S PRESSING TOWARD OGURI CAP'S POSITION!"
Michelle My Baby grinned. In motion, that grin looked almost feral.
Without a second's hesitation, her huge body drove inward with absolute, unquestionable force, like a moving mountain shouldering into Oguri Cap's lane.
Her intention was obvious.
Use her physical advantage to shove this troublesome little runner aside and clear a smoother path for herself.
A collective gasp rippled through the stands.
The hearts of countless Japanese fans leapt straight into their throats.
That was the "giant" from America, famous for her overwhelming physical gifts.
Oguri Cap was renowned in Japan for her power and potential, yes—but the difference in size between them was plain to see.
In a head-on collision, could she really stand up to her?
And just before Michelle My Baby's shoulder slammed into Oguri Cap's side—Oguri Cap's blue eyes sharpened in an instant.
She did not give way.
She did not panic.
In the split second before the impact landed, she adjusted her center of gravity with a movement so slight—and yet so perfectly precise—that it bordered on the unbelievable.
Her right shoulder dropped just a fraction. Her left leg drove harder into the turf.
Her whole body became like a wedge driven into the ground—not retreating at all, but instead meeting that massive force head-on and steadily pushing back against it.
Thud!
The dull sound of flesh striking flesh was not loud amid the wind and hoofbeats, but the nearby runners still felt the jolt of it.
The stumble everyone expected never came.
Nor was Oguri Cap forced off her line.
Her body swayed only slightly, and even the rhythm of her steps remained completely undisturbed. She still held that perfect inside position as firmly as ever, as though what had hit her had not been a small mountain, but only a slightly stronger crosswind.
"SHE HELD IT! OGURI CAP HELD AGAINST MICHELLE MY BABY'S PRESSURE!"
The commentator's voice rose in disbelief.
"INCREDIBLE! AGAINST PHYSICAL CONTACT AT MICHELLE MY BABY'S LEVEL, OGURI CAP DIDN'T GIVE UP A SINGLE STEP! HER BASE IS AS STABLE AS BEDROCK!"
A clear flicker of surprise passed through Michelle My Baby's eyes.
She could feel the unexpected solidity and strength coming back through the other girl's body.
This was not just a contest of weight and muscle.
There was also exquisitely refined control of balance and impact.
Just like... just like those veteran North American dirt runners forged in brutal close-contact races.
Oguri Cap's expression did not change in the slightest. In fact, the instant Michelle My Baby's force loosened in surprise, Oguri quietly quickened her step by half a beat and secured her position even more firmly.
Her breathing remained steady.
Her eyes were frighteningly calm.
Only the fine sheen of sweat at her temple showed that the clash had been anything but easy.
"Th... this really is a Japanese runner?"
In the stands, one spectator familiar with overseas racing widened his eyes.
"The way she adjusted her center and generated force in that collision... she looked exactly like an experienced North American dirt runner!"
"And more than that—look at her rhythm now!"
Another pointed at the screen.
"After absorbing a body check like that, most runners would have their breathing and stride thrown off. They'd need to reset. But she looks like she wasn't affected at all! She's still tracking when she should track, still observing when she should observe... that stamina management and recovery speed is abnormal!"
"It's like she has two stamina bars," someone muttered.
Out on the course, after her momentary surprise, Michelle My Baby's eyes lit with even more battle lust than before.
She let out a rough laugh and stopped trying to force the squeeze, but her gaze toward Oguri Cap only grew more frequent.
This opponent was far more interesting than she had expected.
And in the middle group, a knowing light flickered through the starry eyes of the quietly observing Obey Your Master.
Tony Bianca's emerald gaze flickered too, as though she had just reassessed the "hardness" of this Japanese rising star.
Oguri Cap paid no attention to the looks and whispers around her.
She only exhaled softly and smoothed away the last trace of turbulence from that collision.
The real test still lay ahead.
Time on the racecourse seemed to compress, stretch, and then suddenly accelerate again.
Within only a few dozen breaths, the long 2400-meter journey was already more than halfway done. The giant display above Tokyo Racecourse ticked off the distance and time, turning invisible tension into brutal numbers.
The field passed the long straight before the second bend, and their positions kept shifting through constant tugging and adjustment.
Michelle My Baby, after her forceful early work, had lost a little speed but still stubbornly held onto a forward placing.
Oguri Cap, Tony Bianca, Ellerslie Pride, and the others remained close. The field had not broken open yet.
And just then, with the final bend—the one that would decide the race—drawing near—
"THEY'RE APPROACHING THE LAST BEND! THE RUNNERS ARE BEGINNING TO ADJUST FOR THE FINAL SPRINT—WAIT! WHAT'S THIS?!"
The commentator's voice suddenly cracked, then was swallowed by a roar of astonishment.
BOOM——!!!
A bolt of white thunder exploded out of the middle-rear group.
Tamamo Cross broke free as if every restraint on her had just been torn away.
All the frustration of being pinned down, all the battle lust she had been stacking up—everything erupted in that instant like a volcano.
Deep in her blue eyes, a red glow blazed so intensely it almost seemed real. White currents of air sparked into being like crackling lightning, instantly wrapping around her whole body.
THE ZONE—FULLY UNLEASHED!
This was not simple acceleration.
It was a brief elevation of her entire being.
Wrapped in white lightning, her figure hammered the turf step after step, each footfall leaving scorched traces in the grass as the air itself screamed apart around her.
Like a comet, she carved a vicious arc around the outside at an unreasonable speed and with equally unreasonable force, instantly devouring several positions and charging straight at the core of the lead group.
The shockwave of wind and crackling force left in her wake was enough to rock nearby runners and throw their rhythm into disorder.
"TAMAMO CROSS! IT'S TAMAMO CROSS! SHE'S FINALLY EXPLODED! UNBELIEVABLE SPEED! SHE'S ABOUT TO REWRITE THE ENTIRE SHAPE OF THIS RACE!"
The commentator was practically screaming himself hoarse.
That white lightning was about to cut into the most crucial line entering the bend. It looked as though she was about to seize an absolute advantage in one decisive stroke.
And yet—
"HUH?!"
At the very instant Tamamo Cross's Zone reached its peak, another presence—utterly different, but no less dangerous—rose without warning from an unremarkable position in the middle of the pack.
Obey Your Master.
The smile she always wore vanished without a trace, replaced by a focus so absolute it felt almost hollow.
The shine in her starry eyes had collapsed into a chaotic vortex. An indescribable field of disorder—something that seemed to twist even light and perception themselves—spread outward from her like an invisible hand.
The Zone—!
It did not possess Tamamo Cross's violent, spectacular force.
But it carried a strange, eerie power.
It spread soundlessly and draped itself directly across Tamamo Cross's lightning path.
And when that raging white lightning made contact with the swirling chaos—
Bzzzt... CRACKLE!
A shrieking burst of stray current tore through the air.
Tamamo Cross's white lightning—normally able to slice through anything in its path—seemed to slam into a sticky, invisible wall, her speed catching for the briefest instant.
It did not stop her completely.
But the sharpness and smoothness of her surge had been violently interrupted.
And in that opening, Obey Your Master moved too.
Her steps were no longer that eerie, light glide from before.
They had become something like a flicker—half real, half unreal—as though she could briefly deceive space itself.
Wrapped in that chaotic Zone, she ignored part of the air resistance and the pressure of Tamamo Cross's lightning field, then burst through a seam on the inside with astonishing acceleration. In a flash, she was nearly running abreast of Tamamo as the two of them hurled themselves together toward the final bend.
"OBEY YOUR MASTER! SHE'S MADE HER MOVE TOO! WH-WHAT KIND OF ZONE IS THIS?! IT CAN ACTUALLY INTERFERE WITH TAMAMO CROSS'S LIGHTNING?! THE TWO OF THEM HAVE BURST OUT OF THE PACK TOGETHER! THE FINAL BEND HAS BECOME A DANGEROUS HEAD-TO-HEAD STRUGGLE BETWEEN TWO TITANS!"
The commentator's voice broke with overexcitement.
The stands exploded.
No one had expected that the smiling, poorly documented American runner would be hiding a Zone this eerie and this powerful—or that, at the most critical moment of all, she would launch it head-on against Japan's strongest "White Lightning."
Tamamo Cross was furious at having her Zone interfered with.
More than that, she was enraged at being challenged.
She let out a low snarl. The white lightning around her blazed hotter and fiercer, trying to brute-force its way through that layer of chaos.
And Obey Your Master, with no emotion visible at all in the vortex of her eyes, responded only with cold calculation and stubbornness.
Her Zone kept releasing its disruptive effect while her body clung ghostlike to the inside of the bend, fighting Tamamo Cross for every inch without yielding.
The final bend, lit by the sudden eruption and violent collision of those two Zones, became more dangerous than ever—and more brilliant than ever.
The true showdown had begun ahead of schedule.
And just when everyone's eyes had been completely seized by the violent clash between that white lightning and the swirling chaos—when every mind was hanging on the outcome of who would emerge stronger from the bend—another presence erupted.
It was entirely different.
But deeper.
Heavier.
More unquestionable.
Like some ancient beast that had slumbered for ages suddenly opening its eyes, it burst forth from Tony Bianca's position in the middle group.
No shriek of torn air like Tamamo Cross's.
No eerie distortion of perception like Obey Your Master's.
Tony Bianca's Zone was silent.
Yet heavy as towering mountains.
Brilliant as aurora burning in the deep sea.
A pure emerald glow, like the sudden ignition of the finest green jewel, solidified into a flowing halo almost liquid in texture and wrapped around her entire body.
Tony Bianca's emerald eyes remained perfectly calm, as though opening her Zone were nothing more than the most natural thing in the world.
Her gaze cut through the two battling ahead and locked straight onto the final straight beyond the bend.
She had no intention of joining Tamamo Cross and Obey Your Master in their infighting through the corner.
Instead, with an air of effortless superiority, as if looking down on it all, she cut into the ideal route—one that let her avoid the chaos up front while still taking the shortest path out of the bend—steady, immovable, unstoppable.
"TONY BIANCA!!!"
The commentator sounded as though his throat might tear.
"IT'S TONY BIANCA! SHE'S FINALLY—NO, NOT FINALLY! SHE'S BEEN IN CONTROL ALL ALONG! ONLY NOW IS SHE SHOWING HER TRUE POWER! THE QUEEN OF THE ARC! WHAT INCREDIBLE COMPOSURE—WHAT TERRIFYING COMMAND!!"
The cries from the stands surged hard enough to feel as though they might tear the roof off the racecourse.
What everyone had thought was already the limit of a two-way clash instantly became a three-way deadlock.
And the momentum of the late-arriving third seemed, if anything, on the verge of surpassing the others and taking control of the entire race.
And just as Tony Bianca's emerald heavens entered the battle with steady, domineering pressure, pushing the bend into an even more tangled three-way struggle—
Hummmmm——!!!
A completely different pressure spread without warning from the white figure who had been hidden beneath the light of those three Zones all along, yet had never once left the rail.
A pressure so oppressive it seemed to make the air itself congeal.
To make time itself slow.
There was none of Tamamo Cross's thunderous lightning.
None of Obey Your Master's chaotic distortion.
None of Tony Bianca's silent immensity.
Oguri Cap's Zone was sheer presence swollen to its absolute limit.
The total release of potential.
The physical combustion of will itself.
Ice-blue flames did not ignite around her from the outside.
They burst from the very core of every last cell in her body.
This was not hot fire.
It was a cold, ghostly blue radiance so extreme it felt as though it could devour energy itself.
Her hair.
Her eyes.
Even the white breath leaving her lips with every exhale.
All of it had taken on that deep ice-blue hue.
And even more chilling was the visible "heat haze" that rose around her like steam the moment that Zone opened—not actual heat, but the monstrous reserve of stamina Sakuraba had carefully fed into her all this time, far beyond anything normal, now being converted, burned, and released by her Zone at terrifying speed.
Everything she had endured up to now.
Every precise position she had taken.
Every ounce of strength she had saved through her careful running.
Even that abnormal recovery speed she had shown the instant after taking Michelle My Baby's body check...
All of it had become fuel for this eruption.
To everyone watching, Oguri Cap's presence swelled several times over in an instant.
She was no longer that "boulder" holding her ground with perfect precision.
She was a monster breaking every chain that had ever bound it, finally revealing its true form.
And yet, facing the three Zones ahead of her—those three tangled, colliding streams of force so violent that any ordinary Umamusume would have shrunk back or been torn apart by them—Oguri Cap's blue eyes, now veiled in ice-blue fire, remained terrifyingly calm.
She did not choose to go around them.
She did not try to "interfere" with them.
She did not try to "counter" them.
She simply—advanced.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The ice-blue figure moved.
Her stride was no longer the efficient, precise run from before, but something closer to trampling and leaping—raw, primal power made visible.
Each footfall seemed to hammer the turf downward with a heavy crash, ice-blue flames bursting beneath her steps and leaving fleeting traces of frost.
Like some prehistoric beast that acknowledged neither obstacles nor rules, she charged straight into the very center of the whirlpool formed by those three interwoven Zones with unapologetic, unreasonable force.
Even Tony Bianca's emerald eyes flashed with surprise.
There was a monster like this among Japan's Umamusume too?!
This Japanese rising star...
Her Zone was pushing back against the suppression of multiple Zones with sheer brute force like this?!
And looking at the way those ice-blue flames steamed off her, just how bottomless was her stamina?!
"SHE'S GONE IN! OGURI CAP HAS GONE STRAIGHT IN! SHE'S IGNORED THE OVERLAPPING PRESSURE OF ALL THREE ZONES AND JUST... JUST FORCED HER WAY THROUGH?! MY GOD! WHAT KIND OF MONSTROUS STAMINA AND ZONE TRAIT IS THIS?!"
The commentator had lost coherent speech altogether.
The stands fell into a brief dead hush—then detonated into even crazier screaming.
They had seen it with their own eyes.
Japan's own Gray Monster, ringed by the strongest powerhouses in the world, had chosen the most shocking and overbearing way possible to announce herself.
Wrapped in ice-blue fire, that white figure became a comet moving against the current, forcibly tearing open a path of her own through a forbidden zone ordinary racers could never have touched—a path born from the collision of three great Zones.
Her goal was the exit of the bend.
The final straight.
The finish line itself!!
At that moment, the battle truly became a fight among four.
The exit of the final bend was right in front of them.
The homestretch ran beneath the glaring sun like a gilded road scorched by flame.
The air groaned under the pressure generated by the Zones of the four top Umamusume.
Tony Bianca's emerald heavens briefly seized the edge at the exit of the bend. Her stride—stable, efficient, precise like a machine—combined with the mountain-heavy weight of her Zone to earn her a half-length advantage coming out.
To the Arc champion, the finish line was already in clear view.
Maintain this rhythm, and victory would be hers.
Faster... even faster!
Battle lust flared in the depths of those emerald eyes like molten lava.
She had never underestimated the two white comets beside her.
But the pride of a champion, and the absolute hunger for victory that belonged to a ruler, drove her to crush everything else here with undeniable finality.
Her breathing grew heavier in an instant. The light of her Zone flashed violently. The emerald glow compressed inward as if all her power were being poured into the next step.
She meant to detonate everything she had left right there and carve her name into this race with a finishing kick powerful enough to shake the world.
And then, in the exact instant her right foot stamped down with full force, trying to push her speed to a peak even she herself had never reached—
Crack.
A faint sound, nearly drowned out by the wind and screaming crowd, like a dry twig snapping.
Then came the pain.
A red-hot iron spike seemed to drive straight through her joint, shooting up her leg in an instant.
"Gh—!"
Tony Bianca's usually calm face twisted violently. The muffled groan never fully escaped her throat.
The perfect running form, smooth enough to resemble art, hit a fatal hitch.
The support in her right leg collapsed under the shock of pain, and there was a visible stumble when it landed.
Her speed broke.
Like a precision clock running at full force suddenly losing one of its gears, that suffocating high speed shattered in an instant.
Her emerald Zone rippled violently, the light flickering between bright and dim, its once mountain-like pressure ebbing away like a receding tide.
She clenched her teeth and tried to hold it together by force of will alone, but the sharp pain in her leg and the weakness rushing in after it were colder judges than any opponent.
All she could do was watch as her speed plummeted and the runners surging from behind swallowed her up and passed her by.
"TONY BIANCA! WHAT HAPPENED?! HER SPEED HAS SUDDENLY DROPPED! IS SHE HURT?! UNBELIEVABLE! THE QUEEN OF THE ARC HAS SUFFERED AN ACCIDENT ON THE FINAL STRAIGHT!"
The commentator's shocked, regretful voice rang across the venue.
And almost in the same instant—
"OGUUUUUUUURI——!!!"
A scream bursting with ferocity and battle lust held in reserve for far too long exploded from behind Tony Bianca's shoulder.
Tamamo Cross had been waiting.
Waiting for a chance.
Waiting for the moment she could finally shake off every distraction and settle things with Oguri Cap head-on.
Tony Bianca's sudden collapse instantly cleared the obstacle in front of them—and ignited every last flame burning inside Tamamo.
Her blue eyes were already drowned in the lightning of her Zone, the white current coiling around her now raging to the extreme, crackling and roaring like a dragon's howl.
Without a moment's hesitation, she hurled herself forward at full power, like a white thunder beast locking onto prey, straight at the figure surging ahead wrapped in ice-blue fire—
Oguri Cap.
"This time... I WON'T LET YOU ALMOST WIN AGAIN!!!"
White lightning and ice-blue flame slammed together in the middle of the straight.
This was not mere side-by-side running.
This was the most direct, the most savage collision of Zone against Zone, will against will.
Tamamo Cross's lightning lashed and stabbed wildly, trying to rip open Oguri Cap's deep, heavy ice-blue field.
Oguri Cap's ice-flame, on the other hand, was like a furnace that would never go out, meeting the sharp fury of the lightning head-on with power so overwhelming it bordered on absurd. Every step she took made the ground shudder, white arcs and blue fire interweaving, annihilating each other, and being born again in the next breath.
Their figures were almost completely swallowed by the violent light of that clash.
Only those two wills—equally stubborn, equally burning beyond their limits—still cut through the glare like twin beacons, fixed on each other and on the finish line.
And caught in the shockwaves of this suddenly intensified clash, this near-life-or-death collision between the two—
"Ugh!"
Obey Your Master let out a muffled grunt. For the first time, her ever-smiling face showed strain—and even a hint of disarray.
Her eerie, nimble chaos Zone was being crushed from both sides by Tamamo Cross's reckless lightning and Oguri Cap's swelling, tyrannical ice-flame, as if trapped inside a raging vortex.
Her Zone was being violently disrupted. Its movement slowed, and the strange acceleration she relied on was cut off at once.
Worse, the two in front of her had become completely immersed in each other. The shockwaves from their colliding Zones expanded outward like solid walls, forcibly repelling any third party who tried to approach.
Obey Your Master searched for an opening to slip through, but each attempt was driven back by even fiercer force.
Calculation flashed through her starry eyes. So did struggle. In the end, both gave way to a sharp note of resignation.
"You two lunatics..."
She made the decision at once, pulling sharply outward on the course rather than waste stamina getting swallowed into the center.
But the moment she gave that ground—the fight for the very front was over.
All she could do was watch those two figures—wrapped in tangling, sky-reaching light—leave her behind, while she herself settled firmly several lengths back in third, completely cut off from any chance at first or second.
"OBEY YOUR MASTER HAS BEEN FORCED BACK! THE CLASH BETWEEN TAMAMO CROSS AND OGURI CAP IS TOO FIERCE—IT HAS CREATED AN ABSOLUTE ZONE DEAD ZONE! THE SHAPE OF THE RACE IS SUDDENLY CLEAR: IT HAS BECOME THE FINAL DUEL BETWEEN JAPAN'S TWO STARS, TAMAMO CROSS AND OGURI CAP!!!"
The hearts of everyone in the crowd seemed to be squeezed in one invisible fist.
Breaths stopped.
Eyes locked without blinking onto the two blazing figures crashing into one another as they tore toward the finish.
Two hundred meters left!
Tamamo Cross's feral scream tangled with Oguri Cap's heavy breathing.
The white lightning grew more and more violent, as though it meant to split open the sky itself.
The ice-blue flame rose like a sea, as though even the soul within it were burning.
One hundred meters!
Blood began to gather at the corner of Tamamo Cross's mouth—the backlash of driving her Zone too hard—but the fire in her eyes only grew more terrifying.
Fine red lines had started to appear at the edges of Oguri Cap's blue eyes too, while the "heat haze" rising around her had nearly turned into visible white steam wrapping around her whole body—the sign that even her unfathomable reserve stamina was finally being drained at a horrifying rate.
Fifty meters!
Thirty meters!
The two of them were running exactly level.
The light of their Zones swallowed their figures entirely. All that could be seen was a growing, exploding sphere of white and ice-blue rolling toward the finish line.
Ten meters!
Tamamo Cross gave a cry that poured every last thing she had left into it, the last of her lightning gathering at her toes as she drove herself forward.
In Oguri Cap's blue eyes, the ice-flame burned to its absolute peak. Kitahara's warning flashed through her mind. Belno Light's encouragement flashed through too.
And at the end of it all, what remained was the calm figure of Sakuraba watching her.
I... won't lose!
The voice from the deepest part of her heart and the roar of her body became one.
She did not try to crack Tamamo's lightning.
She did not try to surpass it with technique.
Instead, in this single step, she detonated everything—every shred of will, every ounce of stamina, all the potential she had kept suppressed until now.
And in that moment, the ice-blue flames did not expand.
They collapsed inward—and then burst open.
Like a supernova.
Ultimate power.
Ultimate speed.
At the edge of that exploding white-and-blue vision, the finish tape seemed to rise slowly into the air—
The massive sphere of light tore across the line, carving a visible ripple through the air.
Time itself seemed to stop for one second.
Then the light slowly faded.
The first figure to come into view was Tamamo Cross, down on one knee, both hands braced against the turf, gasping violently, long white hair plastered to her face with sweat.
Her blue eyes were fixed on the ground before her, teeth clenched tight, her body trembling with exhaustion.
Then, about half a length in front of her, there was Oguri Cap—also bent forward, hands on her knees, sweat pouring off her body like rain. Her gray hair was soaked too, sticking in strands to her forehead and neck.
But her head slowly lifted.
Her blue eyes passed over the finish tape, over the roaring stands that somehow now felt soundless, as though she were searching for something.
Then, slowly—very slowly—she tried to straighten her back.
On the giant screen above the course, the slow-motion replay froze at the instant of the finish.
The image was clear.
Oguri Cap's nose had crossed the line first.
By a head.
Silence.
Then—
"SHE'S WON——!! IT'S OGURI CAP! OGURI CAP HAS WON!! THE CHAMPION OF THE JAPAN CUP BELONGS TO THE GRAY-HAIRED MONSTER—OGURI CAP!!!"
The commentator's scream was like a fuse thrown into a powder keg.
The entirety of Tokyo Racecourse exploded into a sea of madness.
Cheers, shouting, tears, streamers, drinks flung through the air—the roar seemed almost enough to blow the sky itself apart.
Hearing that deafening celebration, feeling her heart hammer like a drum and her lungs burn as if they were on fire, Oguri Cap finally found the direction of the VIP box.
Toward that spot, she lifted a smile.
A smile exhausted to the limit—and yet unmistakably the smile of a victor.
Tamamo Cross finally forced herself back to her feet as well.
She walked over to Oguri Cap, looked at her, and reached out—not for a handshake, but to give her a hard, solid smack on the shoulder.
"This time... you won."
Her voice was hoarse, but steady in its honesty.
"But next time... it'll be me."
Oguri Cap turned her head and looked into the fire in Tamamo Cross's eyes, a fire that had not gone out in the slightest.
Then she nodded, her own voice just as rough.
"I'll be waiting."
Behind them, Obey Your Master crossed the finish in third.
She looked toward those two white figures ahead of her, light glittering in her starry eyes while the corners of her mouth turned down.
Tony Bianca came over the line under the support of medical staff. She looked once at the scene of celebration, once at the scoreboard, and a flicker of regret passed through her emerald eyes before they settled once more into the calm of the deep sea, her gaze shifting toward some point further ahead in the future.
The smoke of the Japan Cup slowly cleared.
But in that very instant, the seeds of a new legend—and new clashes to come—had already been planted.
The cheers for the victor rang up into the sky, and inside the VIP box, Sakuraba looked at the white figure on the track now surrounded by every eye. The expression on his face shifted several times, until at last it became one long sigh.
"Now I really am going to make a killing..."
---
T/N: :sob: the prize money... 1st place AND 2nd place................
this shit was 10k WORDS
TEN THOUSAND WORDSSSSSSSSSSS
AM I GETTING AFFECTED BY THE UMAS NOT LOSING ALSO?