Just as she came out of the curve, Seiun Sky did not even need to look back. From the rising commotion alone, she knew the situation had turned against her.
She was fully aware of her own abilities.
Among her friends and rivals of the same generation, whether in speed, stamina, or power, she was never the strongest in any single category.
If there was one thing worth praising, it was that her mind worked a little sharper than most.
In many past races she had predicted the situations that might unfold, and those predictions had proven largely accurate.
What remained unpredictable was always the final result of victory or defeat.
This race was no different. She had reviewed every previous encounter with Special Week and the others, studied each of their races, thought it through for a long time, and discussed strategy with her Trainer for ages before settling on the plan she was using now.
Had it been effective? Up until the previous second, it had worked exactly as intended.
But now it felt as though it had stopped working entirely.
She had expected Special Week and Grass Wonder to struggle against that inexplicable racing state, yet she had not expected the two of them to keep charging forward while still entangled with each other.
The five-length lead she once held now felt like a lie. The moment she stepped onto the straight, she caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye of the pair behind her striking like lightning and thunder.
Their figures swelled in the blink of an eye. Their once-clear outlines blurred from the speed of their approach, becoming two rolling masses of dark cloud that threatened to swallow her at any moment.
The hurried breathing and heavy footsteps reaching her ears grew clearer with every stride.
Special Week's breathing was slightly rapid, every exhale accompanied by a low growl. She had completely shed her usual dorky air and now felt terrifying, like someone who had been starving for days.
Grass Wonder's footsteps landed heavier still. Each impact on the ground struck like a war drum, a heavy blow to the heart, as if she might swing a naginata in the next second and cut her down.
The track beneath Seiun Sky's feet had turned into a giant drumhead, vibrating with every breath and footstep from behind and transmitting the pure force of the pursuit through her entire body.
If that had been all, it might have been manageable.
Yet in the peripheral vision that never left the rear, Seiun Sky saw more than just Special Week and Grass Wonder.
Blocked earlier by the struggle between those two, El Condor Pasa had seized the fleeting opening the moment the curve met the straight. With a gaze sharp enough to pierce the air, she cut inward with sudden force.
Her entire posture lived up to her name. She looked like a majestic eagle diving from the high heavens to seize its prey, her whole body wrapped in fierce momentum.
She was also like a bow drawn taut for a long time, waiting for the exact instant the prey showed an opening before releasing a swift and peerless shot.
For a moment Seiun Sky felt as if the air behind her had been torn open by this opponent.
The wind generated by that charging entry swirled back from behind, letting her feel the rapid change in the airflow against her skin.
A chill ran up her back, yet it carried a certain fanatical heat.
Between the alternating cold and heat she could not help but shudder, and scenes from Tracen Academy flashed through her mind.
Back then they had also carried this hurried breathing, these heavy footsteps, and the salty scent of mixed sweat as they went to school, trained, and raced again and again.
Feeling all of it once more, she felt for an instant as though she had returned to the racetracks of the past.
Sigh… time and again…
I just want to run casually and leisurely. I don't want to fight for my life with you all…
As if!
The memories and sentiments vanished in an instant.
Her peripheral vision stayed locked on the approaching figures behind her. Her ears twitched at the various sounds that vibrated through her chest.
Seiun Sky felt a slight numbness in her jaw, but the corners of her mouth curled upward.
"We know each other so well. All that talk about being leisurely or not being in a hurry… you all knew I was joking long ago!"
She growled the words under her breath. The determination to hold the lead no matter what and see who would have the last laugh surged through her. She gritted her teeth again, and power flooded back into her gradually tiring arms and legs.
"She's caught up! She's caught up!"
The commentator's voice ringing over the broadcast carried the agitation of someone nearly clapping their hands.
"The final straight! Four hundred meters remaining! El Condor Pasa… has indeed caught up!"
"Seiun Sky, who once held a five-length lead, now has an advantage of less than two lengths! Behind her are El Condor Pasa, Special Week, and Grass Wonder!"
"But Seiun Sky is still fighting hard to resist the impact from behind!"
"Meanwhile! Further back!"
"Quite astonishing judgment from King Halo!"
"She was previously blocked by Phalaenopsis and Erimo Chic, but Stay Gold took an inward path and cut diagonally, forcing those two to reposition!"
"And in that gap! King Halo is catching up along the path opened by El Condor Pasa!"
"Mejiro Dober is a step slower, yet she is also following closely behind King Halo!"
"Three hundred meters! But on the outside!"
"Matikanefukukitaru's judgment is equally precise! She has taken the position Stay Gold previously held and is now chasing forward from the wide outside alongside Mejiro Bright!"
"In the lead is Seiun Sky!"
"On the inside, El Condor Pasa, Special Week, and Grass Wonder are in hot pursuit! King Halo and Mejiro Dober are following right behind!"
"On the outside are Matikanefukukitaru and Mejiro Bright, determined to stop Seiun Sky, who has been escaping since the start!"
"Only two hundred meters left! This dream-like Dream Cup is about to end, but…"
"This is the stage named the Golden Generation!"
The stands were already filled with standing spectators. Their fanatical gazes followed the figures moving like lightning, their high and impassioned voices pouring out every bit of their passion.
And on the track, the Uma Musume running at top speed gradually blocked out external perception, immersing themselves in their own speed.
Special Week's peripheral vision remained fixed on her side.
Grass Wonder was like a shadow she could not shake, as if the two of them had been closely entangled from the moment they met.
It was the same now. Their footstep rhythms were almost identical, and between breaths she could actually feel the other's presence.
Meanwhile her eyes stayed glued to the front.
Seiun Sky still had strength left. Special Week finally understood the plan of this friend and rival. It was not the same strategy from the Kikuka Sho of the past, yet it was a familiar kind of persistence.
El Condor Pasa's overtaking was too familiar. That sharpness and power gave Special Week the illusion that she herself was a sheep on the open plains, about to be snatched away in an instant by a shadow like lightning.
But the persistence and the illusions lasted only a fleeting moment.
The next instant her lips pressed into a stubborn line, and her footsteps seemed ready to stomp right through the entire track.
She exerted every last effort, squeezing out every remaining bit of strength from her body as she sprinted toward the increasingly close finish line.
King Halo looked at the opponents ahead whom she had faced so many times on the field. Past frustrations and her never-say-die stubbornness surged in her heart.
Being of the same generation, they were like stars shining in the sky, always radiating light ahead of her.
She felt as if she had always been chasing in the dark, only catching up to her own brilliance at the very end.
But at this moment she seemed to see that dawn again. She felt like an unsheathed sword, ready to cut through every obstacle ahead and return to her place of glory.
Matikanefukukitaru firmly believed the Goddess of Fate was favoring her. Stay Gold's diagonal movement had given her a precious position, and she felt this was the arrangement of fate, that the Goddess of Fate was smiling upon her.
In Mejiro Bright's perception, she was like a train speeding along its tracks, isolated from all the clamor, immersed in her own rhythm, silently exerting power as she rushed toward the finish.
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