With a sudden burst of force, her muscles tightened in an instant. Gold Ship felt like a bowstring drawn to its limit, her entire body brimming with endless power.
She began her final sprint.
Her silver-gray hair whipped wildly in the wind, snapping like a banner.
A fierce fire burned in her pale pink eyes—the fire of her desire to win.
Her breathing grew harsher and harsher, yet the rhythm of it remained perfectly controlled.
Every breath she drew felt as though she were sucking the very air from around her and pulling it into herself, turning it into the force that drove her onward.
Her stride grew swifter and stronger still. Every time the shoe-fitted soles of her race shoes struck the ground, they stamped a deep mark into the turf.
Little by little, she closed on Kitasan Black.
At that very moment, the commentator's voice—sharpened to the point of breaking by sheer excitement—sliced through the air of the racecourse, tense enough to feel frozen:
"THE FINAL STRAIGHT! THE FINAL 310 METERS! BEFORE THE FINAL—AND MOST GLORIOUS—FINISH OF THE YEAR..."
"THE LAST CLASH!"
His voice sounded scorched raw, hoarse and ragged, yet every word still carried feverish passion, crashing straight into the hearts of the crowd:
"GOLD SHIP HAS COME UP! SHE'S MADE HER MOVE JUST AS EVERYONE HOPED SHE WOULD! THE GREAT SHIP THAT RIDES THE WIND AND WAVES IS ABOUT TO REACH PORT!"
"BUT..."
"SHE ISN'T THE ONLY ONE ON THIS FINAL STAGE!"
The commentator's volume shot up again, as though he were trying to pour every last emotion out of himself:
"KITASAN BLACK IS STILL IN FRONT! KITASAN BLACK IS STILL IN FIRST!"
"MARIALITE HAS FINALLY SURGED UP! AFTER FIGHTING ALL RACE LONG, SHE'S FINALLY BROKEN THROUGH THE LINE AHEAD AND COME CHARGING UP!"
"GOLD ACTOR, SOUNDS OF EARTH, LOVELY DAY! THEY'RE LEVEL WITH GOLD SHIP!"
"THIS IS THE FINAL MOVEMENT OF A CHAOTIC BATTLE! THEY'RE FIGHTING TO THE DEATH IN THIS FINAL SHOWDOWN! NOT ONE INCH GIVEN, NOT ONE INCH YIELDED!"
"TWO HUNDRED METERS LEFT! AND THEY'RE STILL LOCKED IN THAT DEATH STRUGGLE!"
The commentator spoke faster and faster, like a machine gun, firing every thrilling moment of the race straight into the crowd:
"G-GOLD SHIP LOOKS LIKE SHE'S STARTING TO TIRE—GOLD SHIP... HAS DROPPED BACK! BUT SHE'S STILL IN THE TOP FIVE! SHE STILL HAS A CHANCE!"
"GOLD ACTOR IS SURGING UP! SHE'S PASSED MARIALITE AND GONE FOR IT!"
"SOUNDS OF EARTH IS RIGHT BEHIND HER! SHE'S CUT OUT! SHE'S GOING AFTER KITASAN BLACK!"
"LOVELY DAY HAS BEEN OVERTAKEN! LOVELY DAY'S BEEN BOXED IN BY MARIALITE AND GOLD SHIP—LOVELY DAY IS IN REAL DANGER NOW!"
"KITASAN BLACK IS STILL IN FRONT! BUT..."
"GOLD ACTOR AND SOUNDS OF EARTH... ARE COMING ON!!"
The commentator practically roared those words.
By now, the grandstands had descended into a kind of near-surreal frenzy.
More than a hundred thousand eyes were fixed on the track. Countless people stood rigid, screaming themselves hoarse. Some had already worn out their voices, some had long since stopped making coherent sounds, and others were so tense they had forgotten how to breathe.
Gentildonna had lost every trace of her earlier languid ease. Both hands were clenched around the railing now.
That all-metal railing had actually warped under the force of her almost manic grip.
Her eyes were wide as she stared at Gold Ship on the track and bellowed at the top of her lungs:
"What the hell are you doing?! Get up there! Where's that same ferocity you had when you slammed into me?! Get up there!"
Orfevre was no less worked up, shouting herself hoarse:
"Golshi! Move it! What are you even thinking?! Go!"
Her face was full of urgency and expectation, veins standing out on her forehead, her voice sounding as though it meant to pierce the entire racecourse and drive straight into Gold Ship's ears.
The way she clung to the railing and leaned forward made it look as though she wanted to run the race herself—or physically shove Gold Ship toward the finish line.
Deep Impact had retained a little more reason than the others. She was not shouting, but she too stared fixedly at the field, muttering in disjointed fragments:
"Don't rush. This kind of situation is common, don't rush... there's still an edge, still a chance... if it were me, I could hold, so Kita-chan can definitely hold too... don't rush... can't rush..."
She kept murmuring as though trying to reassure herself—or someone else—while following the race closely, fine beads of sweat already standing out across her forehead as her hands clenched unconsciously.
Tokai Teio, meanwhile, had long since lost all trace of a president's dignity or composure.
Like a schoolkid sneaking out of class, she had already cleared the railing with one astonishing leap and was standing right at the edge of the trackside.
Now she paid no attention whatsoever to appearances. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she shouted at the top of her lungs:
"Golshi! Kita-chan! Come on! Come on! Kita-chan, Golshi!"
Her voice was full of passion and encouragement, and she did not blink as she stared at the course, as though her shouts alone might pour endless strength into the two Umamusume.
As for Yasui Makoto, he had once again fallen into the same bewilderment and panic as in the Kikuka Sho.
His binoculars were clenched so tightly in his trembling hands that the paint on them had chipped off, yet he did not notice at all.
His lips trembled, and his throat felt blocked by something, so that not a sound could come out.
But when his widened eyes locked on the black-haired girl on the track, and he realized that the two figures behind her were almost about to surge up side by side—he could no longer hold back. A shout of utter panic tore from him:
"Go—! Go, Kita-chan!!"
A little over a hundred meters before the finish line, the racecourse seemed like a powder keg set ablaze, erupting into the hottest, wildest clash of the entire race.
Gold Ship's face was slick with sweat, and her tensed expression clearly showed the strain she was under, but she still gave off the dangerous aura of a wounded beast that refused to yield.
The flames in her pale pink eyes had dimmed slightly, but they still burned stubbornly on.
Grinding her teeth together, she summoned another burst of effort. Her muscles tightened like steel, and every push off the ground carried the full force of her body.
Her shoe-fitted soles kicked up string after string of turf and dirt, the flying debris scattering like sparks, as though to set the final stretch itself ablaze.
Lovely Day was right beside Gold Ship. Her gaze darted frantically between Marialite ahead and Gold Ship at her side, her eyes full of struggle and unwillingness to yield, yet her stride never stopped.
Up ahead, Marialite had fallen back again, but her pursuit had never been fiercer.
Her face and eyes were both filled with resolve, and her body was pitched so far forward it looked as though she might fall at any moment.
She drove her arms with all her strength, her eyes alight with hope as she searched for some point of breakthrough.
Within that hopeful gaze, Gold Actor was like a living line, and Sounds of Earth like a howling wind.
Gold Actor cut swiftly from the inside to the outside, her movements light and fluid, every swing of her leg tracing a graceful arc through the air.
Her eyes were sharp and unwavering, fixed on Kitasan Black just ahead on the diagonal, close enough to touch.
Sounds of Earth refused to give way either. Her stride was broad and forceful, overflowing with power.
With every step, her legs, arms, and body together raised gust after gust of wind, and under the crossing rush of those sounds, it was as though a symphony for middle distance had begun to play out of nowhere.
And at the very front, Kitasan Black was feeling a pressure unlike anything she had ever known.
At the edge of her vision, two figures—one light and agile, the other swift and overwhelming—were like twin blades, driving straight at the middle of her back.
Behind them, the still-dangerous late charge, though visibly laboring, burned against her spine like blazing fire.
Her breathing had grown heavier and heavier, and her legs already felt as though they were filled with lead.
But she knew she still had one last chance.
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T/N: SLAMMED INTO YOU?????? WHAAT DID U GUYS.... BANG?!