"The race has entered the final turn! Snow Dancer begins her sprint!"
Her long skirt fluttered in the wind. After neutralizing Danedream's collision, Shirayuki borrowed the force of her opponent's impact, erased the centrifugal pull of the turn for a split second, and dropped her body low.
Day after day, she had studied these uma musume's running styles and strategies. By now, Shirayuki could practically see the future. Even without Chiya's field of vision, she had predicted that Danedream would forcefully interfere with her acceleration.
Because Shirayuki knew Danedream was studying her too.
Danedream must have sensed where Shirayuki would accelerate.
And Shirayuki had used that expectation against her.
Kongou Yaegaki-ryuu.
It was the technique Shirayuki had learned from Yaeno Muteki.
After teaching her the art of breakfalls, Yaeno Muteki had decided to pass on an even higher-level technique.
The Shaking Body.
At the instant the opponent attacked, twist the waist, absorb the force of the collision, then vibrate the shoulders and return that power into the enemy.
It was considered one of the more complex techniques within Kongou Yaegaki-ryuu. It required flexible control of the waist and arms.
For uma musume, who were naturally born to run, those two areas were among the hardest to handle.
When Shirayuki first started training it, she felt as if she had gone back to the early days of learning martial arts under Yaeno Muteki. She was tossed around until she could not tell north from south.
But slowly, she adjusted to the sensation of external force traveling through her body.
It was similar to what the ghost had taught her back then.
One worked inward.
The other worked outward.
Shirayuki had never thought her talent for mastering techniques was especially high. If it had been someone else, Orfevre, Treve, or even Gold Ship, they might have learned it faster than she did.
But there was one thing Shirayuki could say with pride.
Her understanding of running was deeper than any of theirs.
Power gathered in her waist.
Shirayuki clenched her teeth. Her toes spread flat, gripping the muddy ground. The instant her foot left the turf, her entire lower leg snapped tight like a drawn bowstring.
A huge clump of mud was gouged up by her iron horseshoe.
Shirayuki's speed shot upward.
The instant the uma musume in front of her lifted her arm, Shirayuki's body surged past.
"She's passed her! Snow Dancer moves into fifth!"
Treve's ears flicked quickly.
She did not look back.
Because she had already sensed Shirayuki's presence.
You're even stronger than last year, Shirayuki.
Her breathing rhythm.
The swing of her arms.
The frequency of her soles striking the ground.
All of it flowed clearly into Treve's mind.
A constant Zone.
Even when her opponent was outside her field of vision, Treve could still sense Shirayuki's movements. Combined with reflexes that approached the absolute limit of humanity, that ability allowed Treve to act more than zero point two seconds ahead of time.
Zero point two seconds.
For an uma musume, that was already an extremely generous margin.
Victory and defeat were often decided in the instant acceleration began.
Shirayuki was strong.
Terrifyingly strong.
She might be the strongest opponent Treve had ever encountered.
But she still had no way to break Treve's Sen no Sen.
What a shame, Shirayuki.
Your body is holding you back.
Treve clenched her fist and stared fixedly at the runners in front of her.
The instant Shirayuki accelerated, Orfevre also made her move.
She had been waiting in position all this time, waiting for the Empress to act.
A chaotic flurry of footsteps came from behind her.
Orfevre's ears stood tall.
Two…
No, three.
Three people were moving too.
I won't let you have your way!
In a rare departure from her usual style, Orfevre did not charge straight ahead. Instead, she continued half a step to the right.
The uma musume who had already found their lines and prepared to sprint were instantly cut off. After a brief hesitation, their eyes locked onto Orfevre's inner side.
There was a path there.
Barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through.
But before they could move, the uma musume who had originally been in fifth was forced to open distance from Shirayuki's sprint. She had no intention of clashing head-on with Shirayuki, so she shifted half a step outward to keep space between them.
That simple movement blocked the path that had only just appeared.
What in the world…
What is going on?
The uma musume in the middle of the pack stared wide-eyed.
They watched the opportunity appear before their eyes, only for it to vanish in the next instant.
There was no time to seize it.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing!
Every route ahead was blocked!
The only way out was the far outside!
Taking the far outside on the final turn?
Are you kidding me?!
Why does it feel like all of them planned this together?!
The middle pack was completely jammed.
In the stands, Fujiwara Chiya touched his chin.
Trying to obstruct this many uma musume with Shirayuki alone was obviously unrealistic.
But once Orfevre was added, the race's controllability rose dramatically.
Chiya had never told Orfevre exactly when she should do what. With her temperament, she would never have listened anyway.
So what Chiya gave her was awareness.
Awareness of the race.
Awareness of position.
As long as she grasped those, even if Fujiwara Chiya said nothing, Orfevre would still act.
That was right.
This was Fujiwara Chiya's true purpose.
The reason he had made Orfevre develop that awareness was so she would perform the actions he wanted during the race.
Fujiwara Chiya was not afraid of being scouted.
He was not afraid of being analyzed.
Even if other trainers watched him train, they would not understand his goal.
Because Fujiwara Chiya had broken his tactics apart.
He had split them into fragment after fragment.
Then, when the race began, his uma musume would automatically assemble those fragments into their original form.
Right now, the lifeline of the entire pack was being choked in a merciless grip.
Every runner had become an obstacle to another.
The uma musume in the middle began to grow tense. Anxious. Irritated.
Their steps gradually became disordered, and their rhythm worsened by the second.
Psychological pressure struck far harder than physical blows.
They could not find a way out of the pack.
Seeing that they were about to clear the turn, some uma musume gritted their teeth and charged into the outside lane, burning a huge amount of stamina to begin their sprint.
Fujiwara Chiya crossed those names off his list of opponents.
They no longer had any connection to victory.
What remained were his final enemies.
Bang!
A heavy impact slammed into the turf.
A golden figure shot forward at an absurd speed.
Orfevre's eyes locked onto the front.
"Empress. I've come for you."
A wild, arrogant smile spread across Orfevre's lips.
That was right.
The strongest opponent she had personally helped cultivate.
It was time to face her radiance.
Treve's ears turned almost unconsciously.
Shirayuki knew Treve's attention was completely focused on her.
The instant Shirayuki accelerated, Treve would move even faster.
When it came to physical reaction speed, Shirayuki could never surpass her.
Constant Zone.
Extreme reflexes.
Shirayuki was destined to be one beat slower than Treve in timing.
But timing isn't what I'm betting everything on!
Her sky-blue pupils shrank sharply into pinpoints.
Then, in Shirayuki's perception, the entire world slowed down.