"Tch, she managed to evade me?"
On the track, Admire Vega, who had failed to block T.M. Opera O, thought with a slight hint of annoyance, but a serious expression appeared on her face. Sure enough, just as she thought, that Trainer Wada must've taught T.M. Opera O something extra. Back then when they met, that Trainer was probably practicing these things with T.M. Opera O alone, wasn't he?
Admire Vega didn't come to the Satsuki Sho unprepared. Unlike other Uma Musume who thought they were invincible simply because they could race in a GI, she knew that she only had the ability to contend for first place and that the other strong ones also possessed this standard.
In this race, other than Narita Top Road, whom she lost to in the Yayoi Sho, she firmly believed that T.M. Opera O was a bigger threat than Meisho Doto.
—After all, Trainer Wada had gone to such lengths, even risking offending (A/N: Though not actually) Trainer Hana Toujou, to secure T.M. Opera O. Although Admire Vega didn't get along very well with T.M. Opera O, she still regarded T.M. Opera O as a rival. What's more, she had also seen Wada giving T.M. Opera O special training, which further convinced her that T.M. Opera O definitely had the potential to be valued by Wada. It was even likely that Meisho Doto was merely Wada's "alternative choice" to secure T.M. Opera O.
Therefore, Admire Vega repeatedly watched replays of T.M. Opera O in the Mainichi Hai, and after confirming that T.M. Opera O's strength was indeed worth taking seriously, she took it upon herself to choose T.M. Opera O as her opponent, rather than focusing on Meisho Doto as her Trainer had instructed.
She had only one opponent, the only Uma Musume she wanted to defeat—was T.M. Opera O!
"T.M. Opera O is running as a Pace Chaser this time. Although she had always run as a Late Surger before the Mainichi Hai, she had managed to unleash a final spurt of that magnitude in the Mainichi Hai, which means that this 2000-meter distance shouldn't be a problem for her."
"Since that's the case, I'll just copy Meisho Doto and unleash my final spurt earlier than hers. At the final corner, I'll quickly accelerate and create a gap between us. By then, even if she finds a spot to unleash her final spurt, she won't be able to catch up."
Admire Vega had already planned out her strategy in her mind. Although her initial attempt to block T.M. Opera O failed, Admire Vega, confident that she understood T.M. Opera O's tactics well enough, remained unperturbed. She still adopted her usual End Closer running style, hanging at the back of the pack, conserving her stamina until the final corner where she'll have her showdown with T.M. Opera O!
Near the front of the pack, T.M. Opera O, Meisho Doto, and Narita Top Road were all employing a Pace Chaser running style. However, the situation that was occurring had differed from one of the Uma Musume's expectations.
"How could this happen?! I couldn't gain an advantage at the start?!"
Among the Pace Chaser Uma Musume, Meisho Doto now showed a rare flicker of panic. Her current position was good, excellent even; she was steadily ahead of Narita Top Road, and even when she tried to overtake Meisho Doto, Doto managed to suppress her each time, forcing Narita Top Road to settle for third among the Pace Chasers.
But the one leading the Pace Chasers was not Meisho Doto, but T.M. Opera O—the same T.M. Opera O, who had the same training as her, was now ahead of her!
How could this be?! Meisho Doto couldn't understand. She couldn't fathom how her seemingly perfect start in this race, which should have allowed her to replicate how she won against T.M. Opera O in the Mainichi Hai—how, in just one short month, was she being suppressed by T.M. Opera O?
During this period, Meisho Doto's training had been extremely rigorous. Since her victory in the Mainichi Hai, Meisho Doto, having tasted victory, was much more confident than usual. Besides readily accepting the training arranged by Wada, she also continuously trained her speed and strength on her own.
Because in the last Mainichi Hai, she had defeated T.M. Opera O with those exact same things. The sheer gap in speed and power had left T.M. Opera O, who had no weaknesses but also no particularly outstanding points, completely helpless. This deepened Meisho Doto's resolve to specifically train her strength and speed.
Therefore, during this period of training, Meisho Doto didn't give Wada much to worry about. More often than not, even after Wada called it a day, Meisho Doto would quietly continue to train alone, hoping to defeat T.M. Opera O again in the Satsuki Sho.
But Meisho Doto had forgotten that while she might not actively trouble Wada, T.M. Opera O, on the other hand, was almost inseparable from Wada. During this time, T.M. Opera O's training schedule, which had already been personally prepared by Wada long ago, was finally being put into use. Following Wada's plan, T.M. Opera O underwent a month of specialized training, and her growth in strength was simply incomparable to Meisho Doto.
After their training, T.M. Opera O was now closer to "peak T.M. Opera O" than she isn't. Advancing in strength at an astonishing speed!
"H-how...? How could T.M. Opera O suddenly become so strong?" Meisho Doto's heart was filled with questions, but her panic allowed Narita Top Road behind her to see an opportunity!
"Bang!"
"Oh! Number two, Narita Top Road, has managed to pass Meisho Doto! She has managed to break through Meisho Doto's blockage and is now second among the Pace Chaser Uma Musume!"
"Currently in first place is number eight, Running Go! Number seven, T.M. Opera O, is right behind! Can Narita Top Road overtake T.M. Opera O? —It seems she can't! The Uma Musume has now passed the second corner and is heading towards the third corner!"
"Ah!" Meisho Doto, who only reacted after hearing the commentator's voice, instinctively looked ahead and realized that Narita Top Road, who was now ahead of her by about half a body length, had turned the situation around and was now suppressing her instead.
'This won't do. Now is not the time to zone out.'
'I have to try and replicate the feeling from the Mainichi Hai, and use that Aura to turn this race around...' Meisho Doto's eyes closed slightly, then quickly opened again! At this moment, the phantom of her own "Aura" slowly coalesced on Meisho Doto's body once more!
And with the appearance of the phantom, Meisho Doto's Aura also sharply increased by a huge margin! Her worries and timidness were completely swept away, her legs powerfully pushed off, and she once again passed Narita Top Road, charging towards T.M. Opera O!
"WHAT?!" Narita Top Road was completely startled by the change in Meisho Doto's Aura—she had never felt Meisho Doto so terrifying before!
"Oh?! HAHAHAHA! So you've finally come, Meisho Doto! It seems you're quite eager to have a showdown with the Overlord!"
T.M. Opera O, without a doubt, felt the pressure from Meisho Doto behind her, and yet, she showed no panic at all. She neither clashed with Meisho Doto head-on, nor did she try to maintain the current distance between them. Instead, she proactively yielded the position, moving to the outer lane, and willingly gave the inner lane—the perfect position to overtake her—to Meisho Doto.
'What in the hell is she doing?!' Meisho Doto was also confused at this moment, but with the inner lane right in front of her, Meisho Doto naturally had no reason to let it go. She charged forward directly, overtaking T.M. Opera O!
"OH! MEISHO DOTO HAS DONE IT! SHE HAS OVERTAKEN T.M. OPERA O! Number eight, Running Go, has also begun to fall back! Meisho Doto is now in the lead!"
"S- so strong…" In the stands, Narita Top Road's Trainer swallowed slightly and muttered, "As expected of Meisho Doto. Although she barely qualified for the race, her strength is truly undeniable."
"It was probably too much to ask Narita Top Road to keep an eye on Meisho Doto. If things continue like this, Narita Top Road probably won't win…"
As he spoke, Narita Top Road's Trainer didn't forget to look at Wada, who had a somewhat serious expression, and said with emotion, "As expected of the person who defeated Trainer Hana. I'm afraid we've truly lost this time."
Beside him, Admire Vega's Trainer remained silent. Although Admire Vega's initial strategy was different from what she had told her to do, Admire Vega was still conserving her stamina. So far, Admire Vega had been running as normal.
But… she was also a bit worried now. The gap between Meisho Doto and Admire Vega was very large, and she was concerned whether Admire Vega could even close the distance and overtake Meisho Doto.
As for Wada… his view of the situation was completely different from the other two. He saw a major flaw in how Meisho Doto was running.
"Running with your all this early… Meisho Doto, this is only the third corner. Even if you can maintain that speed until the final straight, will you still have the stamina to even sprint?"
"The current T.M. Opera O is no longer the same, Doto..."
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We have now completely caught up with the previous translation!
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If you spot any errors, feel free to comment about it and I will fix it as soon as I can.