Hishi Miracle sat slumped on the grass, her heart hammering against her ribs with no sign of slowing down.
Even though she had long since averted her eyes from the training track, the suffocating pressure radiating from that figure still clung to her like a physical weight.
Even without looking, she could feel the chilling, awe-inspiring aura of the other girl.
"So this... this is a Zone?"
Only a minute ago, Hishi Miracle had been feeling a bit moped and dejected. After all, she hadn't been chosen to step onto the track with Dream Weaver like Liberty Island had.
That kind of selective treatment made her feel, inevitably, like she was being left behind.
But now, Hishi Miracle was incredibly grateful for being "abandoned."
Just standing outside the rails, the sheer intensity of that Zone had turned her legs to jelly.
If she were actually standing right next to Dream Weaver like Liberty Island was, Hishi Miracle doubted she'd even be able to walk out of the training grounds on her own two feet.
Thinking of this, she actually felt a flicker of pity for Liberty Island.
However, the impact on Hishi Miracle wasn't actually that severe.
Although she'd been scared senseless enough to collapse, the fact that she still had the mental bandwidth to let her mind wander proved that the pressure on her was nothing compared to what Liberty Island was enduring.
On the track, standing right beside Dream Weaver, Liberty Island didn't have a shred of mental energy left for thought. She could only let her body be driven by pure instinct.
No, that wasn't quite right. It wasn't so much that she was being driven by instinct as she was being herded by a blade.
A terrifyingly sharp point was pressed right against the nape of Liberty Island's neck, forcing her to defy her body's primal urge to flee.
Step by step, she was herded toward the starting gate like someone being pushed into an abyss.
Yesterday, she was the genius the whole world was watching—the record-breaker for the fastest closing speed in a debut race, the successor walking the path Dream Weaver once blazed, and the victor of the Oka Sho, the first leg of the Triple Tiara.
In the eyes of many, Liberty Island was already a powerhouse.
An Uma Musume like her would usually be the antagonist in some sports manga, crushing the protagonist's spirit with one despairing victory after another.
But now, she was the one being hunted.
Those pitch-black eyes, belonging to a Demon King, flashed with a crimson light behind her.
Enveloped in a thick scent of blood as if standing in the middle of a Shura's battlefield, Liberty Island moved forward as if at sword-point.
That blade, named the Divine Blade, used its razor-sharp edge to sever her instinctual fear and convey one simple, crystalline fact:
Advance, or die.
In truth, this was Dream Weaver's way of being kind.
She had seen many Uma Musume whose wills were shattered by the sheer majesty of the Divine Blade. If Liberty Island turned tail and ran now, the training would be worthless.
So, she deliberately held the edge of the Divine Blade against Liberty Island's neck, forcing her forward, letting her gradually recall the muscle memory that had been etched into her soul long ago.
It was just that this "help" was a bit much for Liberty Island to stomach.
It was as if Satan had suddenly decided to grow a conscience and forge a hero, so he tossed a mortal into the fires of hell, casually mentioning that the heat would build character and make them an invincible demigod once they finished.
He simply forgot that being thrown into hellfire is, in itself, a form of torture.
Of course, Dream Weaver wasn't actually the King of Demons, and she had no intention of genuinely agonizing Liberty Island.
She simply controlled the sharp intent of the Divine Blade, letting it hover precariously over Liberty Island's neck, silently waiting for the gates to fly open.
A few breaths later, the black iron bars obstructing their view let out a sudden mechanical clatter.
In the next heartbeat, the gates snapped open with a resonant bang.
The time has come, Dream Weaver thought.
Then, she swung the Divine Blade down ruthlessly toward Liberty Island!
A sensation like a thousand needles pricking her skin surged into Liberty Island's brain, jolting her dazed consciousness wide awake.
Her instincts screamed; a danger capable of ending her life was tearing toward her.
In that split-second emergency, her mind and body reached a singular consensus.
Run!
CRACK!
Her spikes tore into the turf. Under the impact of staggering power, the once-level grass was instantly shredded into a mess.
The sound of her departure expanded into a white wave of pressure, roaring down the track with every stride.
But it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough!
The danger was still right behind her. It hadn't left. It hadn't left. It hadn't left!
So she had to be faster, faster, faster!
The survival instinct hardwired into every living creature shrieked in Liberty Island's heart.
Every stride had to be longer than the last; every second had to be faster than the one before. Only then could she hope to outrun the blade that was mere inches from cleaving her in two.
"That's it! Run!"
Dream Weaver kept her position just a third of a horse-length behind Liberty Island's flank, ensuring the "blade" remained locked onto the girl's neck.
More than her raw power, it was this meticulous, surgical control over her Zone that made Dream Weaver truly terrifying.
Once, the weapon in her hand was the Cursed Blade Murasame, a sword that drew blood from both user and foe with every swing. But through countless battles, Dream Weaver had tamed that unruly edge until it was as natural as her own limbs.
Later, in her duel with Shinzan, she had evolved it further into a blade capable of slaying the divine.
From resistance to submission to total unity—the trials Dream Weaver had endured granted her an unparalleled mastery over her Zone.
To project a threat that forced Liberty Island forward without actually snapping the girl's spirit was a feat far more difficult than simply running at full strength.
Yet, Dream Weaver did it with effortless grace.
If she wanted to, she could even adjust her Zone in real-time based on Liberty Island's performance, ensuring the girl finished the race in one piece.
But Dream Weaver's goal wasn't just to get Liberty Island to finish a mock race.
By staying a third of a length behind, she could perfectly observe Liberty Island's form.
Seeing that the girl's running style was beginning to shift from pure reflexive muscle memory back toward a glimmer of conscious control, Dream Weaver struck while the iron was hot.
"A Zone is the manifestation of an Uma Musume's will! The stronger the will, the more the Zone responds to her desires!"
"You'll never awaken your Zone if you're just running away!"
This was the realization Dream Weaver had gained on her long journey.
Just as Agnes Tachyon had said, the Zone is a world of infinite possibilities. As long as an Uma Musume pours her will into it like fuel, the Zone will answer again and again, manifesting miracles.
Dream Weaver didn't want Liberty Island to finish this race like a terrified animal.
She wanted to wake the girl's spirit—to make her remember exactly why she had come to the training grounds in the dead of night.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.