"BANG—!!!"
With a thunderous boom, all fourteen steel starting gates burst open at once.
"A gorgeous break—!" the announcer's voice rang out right on cue. "All fourteen Uma Musume reacted instantly—no hesitation at all. They came out almost perfectly level!"
"And now the battle for the lead is on! Who's going to seize the very front first?!"
On the innermost rail—
The instant the gates opened, Chiduo Bao dropped her center of gravity.
Racing at home, she knew this course down to her bones. As long as she was running on this track, no matter how ugly things got, she had the confidence to respond with the perfect adjustment.
Even knowing full well the gap between her and the other powerhouses, the moment she stepped onto this stage, she left nothing in reserve.
The black-haired girl clenched her teeth. Using the natural advantage of the inside draw, her short black hair streamed behind her. Like an arrow loosed from a bowstring, she fought without hesitation against the other Front Runners and Pace Chasers beside her for the foremost position, snapping the tempo of the race sharply upward in an instant.
And at the very outer edge of the lineup—
Gate 14.
In a 1600-meter Mile, the far outside post meant a longer cut-in path after the break—easily one of the most disadvantageous draws in the entire field.
But Oguri Cap's expression was calm as still water.
Facing the pack stretching away ahead, the ash-gray girl merely sank her ankles a fraction lower—and in her eyes, a pure-white trailing glow, tightly shackled deep within her pupils, surged up all at once!
"THUD—!"
Her specially made crystal racing shoes slammed into Sha Tin's slightly firm turf with a crisp, ringing impact. (Zaelum: Saw pictures of the racecourse, it is amazing, a racecourse just beside the river and the lights make it look really cool, check it, it is worth the effort)
This course—so similar to Central—perfectly brought out Oguri Cap's strengths.
Even from the worst possible position in the early phase, she showed not the slightest trace of panic.
This "gray-furred monster," tempered by Europe's graded races, simply used a touch more force.
And then—amid the flutter of the pure-white tassels on her new race outfit—her body slipped forward with effortless lightness.
She was like a white battleship cleaving the waves, gliding in from the far outside as if it were nothing. She ignored the crowding of the pack and the chaotic turbulence of the fast early tempo.
By the time they'd cleared the first straight—
Oguri Cap had already passed more than half the field, locking herself firmly onto the leading group.
The announcer glanced at the "rapid live feed." "The pace is extremely fast right now! On Sha Tin's excellent ground, everyone's legs are completely unleashed!"
"Currently in front is No. 4, Chiduo Bao! In second is France's representative, Anastada!"
"And in third… No. 14—the Far East representative—Oguri Cap!"
"Despite the disadvantageous start, she's already taken a commanding third position in the early phase!"
"…And Perilous Steed sits in eighth. Looks like she has no intention of joining the early scramble."
The wind screamed.
Running third, Oguri Cap's breathing stayed even. Her gaze cut past the French Uma Musume ahead and fixed on Chiduo Bao at the very front.
A Mile is a high-intensity race to begin with—an international G1 even more so.
But after being forged through Central's battles, then further tempered by Europe's campaign—
This level of intensity didn't even qualify as a warm-up for her anymore.
Meanwhile, in the middle of the pack, Perilous Steed—wearing a golden race outfit—didn't rush to close the gap.
Just like Elmaamul back at the Irish Champion Stakes, another runner who possessed a Domain—
She was using a Late Surger strategy.
Right now, she was lying in wait at eighth in the center of the field. Her deep-blue eyes were locked onto that unhurried white back up ahead, gathering strength, quietly waiting for the decisive moment.
…
"DA-DA-DA—!"
As the race progressed—
The fierce early jostling ended quickly. At a blistering cadence, the Uma Musume carved through the first turn; the 600-meter marker flashed through their vision, and the race entered the middle phase.
It had only been a few hundred meters, but for Chiduo Bao in the lead, the pressure in the air was multiplying by the second.
Right now, she was trying to leverage her home-course advantage to push the tempo even harder—using it to scramble the others' sensitivity to race rhythm.
That was the basic discipline every elite pace-setting runner possessed.
Even if—
Tempo interference was a double-edged blade.
It could drag rivals down… but it also burned through her own reserves at terrifying speed.
"Haa… haa…" Chiduo Bao adjusted her breathing slightly, feeling heat begin to flare in her lungs.
Not just her lungs—right now, it felt like her blood itself was boiling!
"So this is the pressure a world-class top Uma Musume brings…?!"
This was nothing like the races back in Hong Kong.
This icy suffocation crawling up her spine like a parasite, this sense of the unknown that felt like it might swallow her whole in the next instant—it made the black-haired girl both frantic… and exhilarated.
"Where is that monster…?"
In the gaps between strides, Chiduo Bao couldn't help flicking a glance back.
Clamped half a length behind her was the French powerhouse—Anastada.
And just off Anastada's flank, slightly back—
That ash-gray figure was there, glued to her like a bone-deep affliction.
Too steady.
So steady it made your heart seize.
After forcing a cut-in from the far outside, after matching the insane stride frequency she'd dragged the race into—Oguri Cap still showed no flush of red in her face, no disturbance in her breathing, not even half a beat.
Their eyes met.
Oguri Cap's gaze shimmered as she looked calmly toward Chiduo Bao.
In that instant, the Uma Musume who had led from the start felt a pressure so vast it was almost unimaginable slam into her head-on.
Those eyes—so flat and unremarkable at first glance—seemed to hide something she simply couldn't perceive.
And in the next moment, it felt like it would lunge out and devour her alive.
"Damn it… is this what world-class strength looks like?" Chiduo Bao snapped her head forward and clenched her jaw.
Unable to see a Domain at all, she could only force down the chill in her chest—and surge her pace yet again.
…
At the same time, in the back half of the pack—
Perilous Steed, running eighth, swept her eyes across the field, pulling the entire race into her view.
As the executor of a Late Surger plan, her vision was the widest—and she was the one most able to see how treacherous the situation truly was.
"As expected… terrifyingly strong…"
Watching the leading cluster—watching Oguri Cap, tight behind Chiduo Bao yet still perfectly stable—Perilous Steed lowered her gaze slightly, but urgency still spilled across her face.
"I'll have to move even earlier than I planned…"
"Come on… show yourself already!"
…
On the track—
The wind at her ears softened.
Oguri Cap didn't know what anyone else was thinking. She only knew… it felt good.
The hem of her new race outfit streamed back with the airflow, as if it had become part of her body, combing and taming the wild wind for her.
The sensation underfoot was clear and forceful. With every step, the earth returned a light, buoyant push.
The third turn was coming…
The ash-gray girl lifted her eyes slightly. In the calm depths of her gaze, a glint belonging to a predator began to gather, quietly, tightly.
After stepping beyond her country and onto the world stage, maybe in front of Kuroha and the others, she was still that innocent, pure girl.
But in a race—
She was the real thing: the "gray-furred monster."
"Hmm?"
Just then, Oguri Cap tilted her head with a soft sound of surprise.
"Behind me… there's the presence of a Domain. But it's clearly unrefined—it needs buildup and timing. Just like me when I first awakened…"
The trailing light in her eyes flared. The absolute concentration brought by the first step of Domain let her grasp every inch of this course.
Unfortunately—
Oguri Cap's focus snapped forward again.
Right now, on this track—
No one can beat me.
(End of Chapter)
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