"All runners for the first round have entered the gates."
"On your marks!!"
Barbatos held the volleyball for this Summer Dream Cup in her hands; its weight felt similar to a standard ball.
Rumor had it, however, that these were specially reinforced so they wouldn't explode under the sheer force of an Uma Musume.
Since she and Seiun Sky were the juniors, Narita Brian and Hishi Amazon hadn't fought them for the opening serve, letting their side take the lead.
Even though Barbatos had plenty of confidence in herself and Sky, this was their first time playing volleyball against other Uma Musume. She had zero intel on Amazon's proficiency, techniques, or quirks.
This wasn't like a race where you could pore over tapes, analyze running styles, and deconstruct strategies.
All she could do was guess their playstyle based on their usual running habits and adapt her tactics on the fly as the match progressed.
"Amazon-sis!" Barbatos called out across the net, settling into her serving stance. "You'd better be ready for this first one!"
In a flash, her hand struck the ball.
Driven by the immense power of an Uma Musume, the volleyball blurred into a streak of light, hurtling toward the space beside Narita Brian—the furthest point on the court from Hishi Amazon.
Amazon-senpai has been working on her starts lately, but her initial acceleration is still a bit sluggish, Barbatos thought.
The plan is to bait her into a duel right at the whistle. I'll make it look like I'm serving to her to distract Brian-senpai, then rip it to the opposite side!
If the bait took and Brian's focus wavered, even she would struggle to dig a ball moving that fast. Meanwhile, Amazon's slow start would likely keep her from reaching the point of impact in time.
CRACK!
The sound of the impact echoed across the beach, followed immediately by the whistle of the ball cutting through the air.
Standing right at the net, Narita Brian intercepted the shot and hammered it back instantly, giving Amazon behind her no reason to even move.
"So fast!"
Barbatos dug her heels in, launching herself forward like she was coming out of the starting blocks to receive the return.
But she checked her momentum the moment she felt the power behind it. The ball streaked past her in a sharp diagonal line—THUD!
Behind her, Seiun Sky smoothly received the ball and sent it back over the net.
This Summer Dream Cup wasn't a solo race anymore; it was a beach volleyball doubles match! She had Sky there to back her up.
"Not bad at all, considering it's their first time in the Summer Dream Cup," Okino remarked from the judges' stand.
He reached up to adjust his safety helmet but stopped quickly—the thing felt awkward, and the texture wasn't exactly pleasant to the touch.
"Indeed. To display that kind of coordination in their debut is impressive," Toujou Hana added, unable to hide her praise.
It was different from Team Rigil. Because that team was packed with legends, the members were notorious for being fiercely independent in the beginning.
The Uma Musume in the front would try to take every single ball, while the one in the back was treated as little more than a safety net—a "tool-mate" whose only job was to catch what the leader missed.
Determining who got to stand at the net used to be the biggest point of contention in the Summer Dream Cup.
It had taken years for those groups to finally develop a sense of teamwork and divide their labor.
If Barbatos knew what Toujou Hana was thinking, she'd probably have pointed out that while the other teams were "bachelor duos," "parent-child duos," or "unrequited crushes," her team was the "couple duo." Their level of chemistry was naturally on a different level.
However...
Barbatos's expression grew grim. Ever since she'd crossed over and become an Uma Musume, she'd found a certain "cheat code" in everything she did.
For instance, when playing League of Legends, her inhuman reaction speed allowed her to pull off mechanics that would make pro players weep. Being an Uma Musume was a natural advantage over humans.
But in the Summer Dream Cup, that advantage evaporated. When your opponents are also Uma Musume, "fast" is the baseline. If Barbatos was quick, her opponents were just as quick, if not faster.
Worse yet, they had decades of experience and technique on her.
Every time she or Sky sent the ball back, it was shut down by Narita Brian's defense at the net. It felt as if no ball could possibly pierce her wall.
As Sky sent another return over, Barbatos flashed a quick hand signal behind her back, her focus narrowing to a sharp point. "Leave the next one to me!" she shouted.
"Since Amazon-sis isn't stepping up, let's see how I do one-on-one against Brian-senpai!"
After a few volleys to warm up, Barbatos began covering the entire net against Brian's returns.
With her explosive leg strength and reflexes, she could read the ball's trajectory the millisecond it left Brian's hand and dash to the exact spot needed.
"Fine by me!" Brian countered. "Let's see what you've got!"
The two of them were a perfect showcase of top-tier Japanese Uma Musume. They blurred across the front of the court, digging every shot the other threw.
The court was small; while an Uma Musume needs room to reach top speed, this distance was just enough for them to explode into a sprint and reach any corner in an instant.
As she tracked Brian's every move, Barbatos caught Hishi Amazon in her peripheral vision.
The senior was currently yawning, apparently bored from not having touched the ball once. She looked completely distracted.
Now!!!
In a match, every word spoken is part of the gambit. The "one-on-one" was just a setup to find an opening. Brian was returning every sharp angle perfectly—so what about a lob?
The moment Barbatos received the ball from Brian, she prepared for the return. But this time, something changed.
It looked as if Barbatos hadn't adjusted to the beach terrain. Her foot slipped on the soft sand, she stumbled, and the volleyball grazed past her fingertips.
She missed.
"B-chan!"
The spectators, who had expected the duel to go on forever, gasped.
They weren't worried about her getting hurt—Uma Musume were sturdy enough that a tumble in the sand was nothing—but they couldn't believe the showdown ended like this.
Even Narita Brian blinked in surprise. Then, almost imperceptibly, the corner of her mouth quirked up.
Barbatos had missed, but this wasn't a true one-on-one. At the exact spot where the ball was plummeting, Seiun Sky was already waiting.
POW!
The sound of hand meeting leather rang out. The ball soared high into the air, arcing deep toward the opponents' backcourt.
That height... it was well beyond what even Narita Brian could reach with a jump.
With Amazon's guard down and Brian distracted by Barbatos's "mistake," the point was as good as theirs!
The moment Brian saw the ball go up, she dug in and leaped high.
"No way..." Barbatos's jaw dropped. Sky froze. She's not actually going to reach that, is she?!
Uma Musume don't have high-jump competitions, and while they weigh much more than humans, their leg power—which makes them faster than cars—allows them to leap incredible distances.
They can jump from the sidewalk to a second-story balcony without needing stairs.
Even so, that ball was too high for Brian. Normally, the front player would yield to the back-row teammate or scramble back to find the landing point.
"It's Amazon!!!" Sky realized, her attention snapping away from Brian. She scanned the court. Where is she?!
Hishi Amazon was nowhere to be seen where she had been yawning moments ago. Brian, having reached the apex of her jump, began to fall back to the sand, the ball sailing over her head. But as Brian descended, the figure she had been masking—the one everyone ignored—revealed itself.
Hishi Amazon was already high in the air.
"Heh!" Amazon grinned. "B-chan, this first point is ours!"
Amazon had jumped even higher than Brian.
Known for her legendary "final leg" kick, her jumping power was among the best of all Uma Musume. The moment her hand connected, the volleyball actually deformed under the pressure.
Traveling faster than any shot before it and coming out of the direct glare of the sun, neither Barbatos nor Sky could track the trajectory. But the real problem was the sheer velocity.
BOOM!
The ball slammed into the court, kicking up a cloud of sand as it ricocheted away.
A deep crater smoked where the ball had hit, the sand radiating heat from the friction.
Don't lob the ball. That was Barbatos's first thought.
She knew her raw strength wasn't inferior to Amazon's—it might even be higher—but if she had tried to dig that with her bare hands, her bones would have snapped like dry twigs. If a normal human had been standing there, they'd be meeting their maker.
This wasn't beach volleyball; this was lethal volleyball. This was the terrifying "Hyper Jump Smash" only an Uma Musume could pull off.
She looked at the two legends across the net. She couldn't let those two practice wins go to her head.
These legends had eaten more carrots than she'd had meals. Trash talk didn't faze them; they saw through verbal "traps" instantly and exploited the opening.
"To think Amazon-sis would see through that... darn..." Barbatos muttered, loud enough for the court to hear.
"Dammit!" Amazon rolled up the non-existent sleeves of her swimsuit, looking like she was ready for a brawl.
"B-chan, you brat!!! I know that's just more trash talk! But I'm gonna show you exactly how tough your big sis is!!"
"Then come at me, Amazon-sis! One-on-one!!"
"You're on!!"
At the judges' table, Toujou Hana officially announced the first point for the '94 Group.
Beside her, Okino's lollipop hit the dirt. His eyes were glazed over. He suddenly felt very glad he'd followed his gut and listened to Minamizaka's advice to wear the helmet.
Getting kicked around by his own trainees on a daily basis felt like a massage compared to this.
If that ball had hit him, his soul would be halfway to the afterlife having a chat with the Three Goddesses. I wonder what their legs are like? Are they soft?
He shook off the thought and looked at his two colleagues, finding a perfectly valid reason to move that definitely didn't sound like he was terrified.
"I think our presence here might be... distracting them. Should we move back a bit?"
Minamizaka: "..."
Toujou Hana: "..."
The three of them locked eyes and silently began scooting their table further away from the court.
"Actually, isn't it a bit dangerous for Rigil to hold this every year?" Minamizaka asked. He was genuinely worried about the girls getting injured—and honestly, it was a miracle Toujou Hana still had all her limbs.
Hana understood what he meant. Even with "controlled force," a smash like that was devastating. And they had been sitting right there.
"It's not usually like this..." she admitted.
Today, it felt like the seniors were playing to reclaim their dignity.
After Barbatos had beaten them twice in the mock races, even if she'd lost two as well, her top-three average was a threat.
The moment Barbatos confirmed she was entering the Summer Dream Cup, these veterans must have been secretly training like demons.
While they were talking—THUD!
"Another point for the '94 Group!"
"This is ridiculous!" Barbatos stared at the ball behind her. She had clearly predicted the landing spot, but the ball had "curved" in mid-air. It was a tiny shift, but enough to make it graze her hand and hit the sand.
"With tech like that, why are you even racing? You should be pro volleyball players..." Barbatos complained, her expression turning dead serious.
They were down two points already.
She took a deep breath. I was saving this for the President, but if I don't use it now, I'm losing the very first match.
There was no outward explosion of aura, but white lightning began to interweave with a green breeze.
Her reaction speed, explosive power, and perception reached a new dimension. To her eyes, the world slowed down to 0.8x speed.
"Dual Zone!"
"Full power!"
--+--
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.