Dream Weaver sometimes found it hard to remember the last time she had faced an opponent who felt truly, utterly unbeatable.
Was it Shinzan? The one who stood at the very pinnacle of the world, anchoring the European pantheon by her strength alone?
But by the time she faced Shinzan, Dream Weaver had already forged her Speed and Guts to SS-rank.
With a mountain of items and skill synergies at her disposal, she had felt a surge of confidence welling up within her before the challenge even began.
Then, what about Narita Brian? The Wolf King who had shattered the shackles of fate and reconciled with her shadow to reach her most powerful form in history?
Narita Brian had already tasted defeat twice before that. If Dream Weaver hadn't been forced to break through the Northern family curse, she surely would have won with far more ease.
The fact that she didn't have to break a single attribute limit during that scripted world battle was the best proof of that.
What about the "Hope of the Arc," the golden prodigy Orfevre, who stood in the spotlight like a sun born of a noble lineage?
That time, Dream Weaver had simply been making things difficult for herself.
If she had ignored the hesitation in Orfevre's heart, that Japanese Derby would never have been such a grueling, tragic struggle.
Tokai Teio, then? Though she had long since surpassed her, Tokai Teio was the genius everyone pinned their hopes on back during their debut.
At that time, Teio was the prodigy aiming for the Triple Crown, while Dream Weaver was just a mediocre Uma Musume trying to use her debut prize money to pay for medical bills.
No, that's not right either. Although that debut was Dream Weaver's first time on a real track, the System had captured it as a temporary dungeon instance.
She had infinite chances to overcome Tokai Teio.
With the rewards waiting for her upon completion, Dream Weaver had been able to see herself moving toward victory from start to finish.
Since those didn't count, there was only one answer left.
The first opponent who truly made Dream Weaver feel the weight of "unbeatable" was the one whose words had inspired her in the first place:
The Conqueror of the Century's End.
T.M. Opera O.
Back then, Dream Weaver's attributes were capped at B-rank, and her skills were pitifully few.
Only "Tokyo Swift" was worth mentioning, and even though it was raining on race day, the Satsuki Sho wasn't held at Tokyo Racecourse. The skill couldn't even trigger.
As for items, she only had two pieces of equipment to boost training efficiency, and they were useless because of her attribute caps.
In those days, Dream Weaver truly couldn't see a single ray of hope. But she couldn't retreat, so she put herself through agonizing, torturous training sessions, trying to break through.
It was all in vain.
Even when her hidden injuries reached life-threatening levels, Dream Weaver didn't improve by a single point.
That was the state she was in when she stepped onto Nakayama Racecourse to face T.M. Opera O.
She couldn't catch up. She couldn't even reach her.
With her stats completely crushed, Dream Weaver could only stare at the back of her rival.
Just like right now.
The blue-and-white mechanical Uma Musume galloped across the turf, bathed in sunlight. A fluorescent green light flickered at her chest, trailing behind her in a gorgeous ribbon of light due to her sheer speed.
Dream Weaver was right behind her, yet she couldn't touch her no matter how hard she tried.
The mechanical Uma Musume, ST-2, was modeled after Dream Weaver herself during her absolute peak in this world.
Dream Weaver had seen the data; its speed was even higher than her own in the real world.
A rational estimate put its Speed at least at SSS-rank.
Naturally, its Guts and Stamina—also limit-broken—were SSS-rank as well.
Even Dream Weaver's sole weakness, her Power, which she usually had to patch up with items, was compensated for by the machine's powerful motor.
At this moment, if you were to translate the mechanical Uma Musume's stats into numbers, you'd get a figure that would plunge any Uma Musume into despair.
This was a total disadvantage.
Speed, Explosive Power—Dream Weaver couldn't surpass the machine in any category, let alone its Stamina, which wouldn't waver a bit until its energy was completely spent.
Even the Dream Weaver who had first arrived in this scripted world wouldn't have been fully confident in defeating such a machine, let alone the version of her a year later, whose attributes had begun to fade.
It didn't really matter. If she lost, she lost. Dream Weaver had never expected to beat the machine anyway.
Besides, no Uma Musume can win forever.
Even the "peak" version of herself in this world had suffered defeat after defeat at the Arc, hadn't she?
But for some reason—maybe because she was too used to the taste of victory to let go, or maybe because she remembered Sugar Lights' wish to experience a Zone—Dream Weaver silently summoned the blade that had become the Divine Blade.
The Zone.
Excluding all those stat-boosting skills and items, the Zone was the real key to Dream Weaver's undefeated streak.
She viewed the racecourse as a battlefield where only the living could claim victory.
Thus, the blade in her hand had stayed by her side, cutting down one opponent after another who tried to "kill" her.
"Divine Blade..."
"No, let's call you Murasame."
Dream Weaver whispered the blade's name.
She didn't say anything like "Stand by my side once more" or "Win me another victory." She simply gripped it tightly in silence.
The moment before she swung, Dream Weaver suddenly recalled a story she had heard.
In the world, there was a legend of a Legendary Uma Musume.
Her name was Eclipse—the Shadowless.
They said that when she ran, both light and time were left in her dust. Countless Uma Musume in that country had taken to the track because of that legend.
But the first time Dream Weaver heard it, she knew it was a myth. Even setting aside why the name Eclipse sounded so familiar, how could an Uma Musume who outran time itself possibly exist?
Shinzan was the strongest Uma Musume Dream Weaver had ever met, but even she couldn't outrun time.
Compared to her peak, no matter how much she was blessed by the gods, the version Dream Weaver faced could never have been the Shinzan of her youth.
Some things are destined to be unreachable.
Some things cannot be cut, even by the one who once struck down a god.
A familiar shudder rippled through the air. The surrounding Uma Musume let out wave after wave of startled cries. Hishi Miracle stood frozen in place, unable to say a word.
Perhaps the pressure was dispersed because she was standing in a crowd, or perhaps because she was further away than she had been that night, but while Hishi Miracle could feel the sharp edge grazing her neck, she could no longer connect this power to that night.
The power of the Zone had weakened. Maybe only by a fraction, but Hishi Miracle could feel it clearly.
She had simulated races against Dream Weaver in the virtual pods countless times; she had long since memorized the other woman's aura.
Having felt the true Zone in reality, Hishi Miracle was better than anyone at judging Dream Weaver's condition.
Actually, it didn't matter if she had that ability or not.
Because the situation on the track was simple—so simple that even someone who knew nothing about racing could understand it.
The red streak of light trailed behind the green glow.
The trainer Hishi Miracle so deeply admired had failed to seize her moment in time.
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T/N: THAT'S MY GOAT TM OPERA O (Also, what was written was Cao Cao's horse from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but Eclipse fit better and made more sense here.)
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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.