"Admire Vega and T.M. Opera O are currently neck and neck! Neither of them is willing to back down! They have now reached the final stretch of the final straightaway!"
"Who will be the winner?! Will it be Admire Vega, who had a brilliant performance in the Yayoi Sho, or T.M. Opera O, the dark horse in this race as the seventh favorite?!"
All the spectators at the Racecourse were now in an uproar; the final showdown had begun. Undoubtedly, the support for Admire Vega, the top favorite, was stronger since she had previously raced in the Yayoi Sho. In fact, over half of the cheers throughout the venue were for Admire Vega.
As for T.M. Opera O, though she called herself the Overlord and was now neck and neck with Admire Vega, there was still only a small number of people cheering for her. After all, she was the seventh favorite.
But this did not affect the white-hot battle between her and Admire Vega at all. The back and forth between the two Uma Musume was now nigh impossible to interrupt. And as T.M. Opera O fought with increasing ferocity, Admire Vega had begun to fall behind.
"This is impossible—HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!"
"HowcouldIlosehowcouldIlose?! THERE IS NO WAY I AM LOSING TO SOMEONE LIKE YOU— T.M. OPERA O!!!!!"
Admire Vega's mind screamed inside of her. She wanted to move her legs faster, even if her muscles were to be torn to shreds, even if her bones were to be fractured into a million little pieces. She wanted to win and ONLY win!
She had to carry the burden, the dream her sister gave her! Why should she lose to her? Why should she lose to this—arrogant, ignorant, narcissistic little girl who had no burden at all!
'I can lose to anyone else... BUT I ABSOLUTELY REFUSE TO LOSE TO YOU! T.M. OPERA O!!!!!'
"Vega…" In the stands, Admire Vega's Trainer seemed to sense something, feeling vaguely uneasy. She felt that Admire Vega's mind was clearly under immense distress… The burden she had taken onto herself was crushing her mind and now her body.
On the other side, Wada sighed faintly at the sight, muttering to himself: "This has gone on for long enough… T.M. Opera O, end this."
And as if Wada and T.M. Opera O had some kind of telepathic connection, the arrogant smile on T.M. Opera O's face, which had been goading Admire Vega to continue fighting, paused slightly, then immediately receded to a smirk.
"Alright, the first act of the Overlord's play shall now draw its curtains."
As soon as she finished speaking, T.M. Opera O's eyes sharpened into a serious expression as her Aura surged again, rising rapidly! Instantly breaking the standoff and leaving Admire Vega behind!
"UNBELIEVABLE! SHE HAS PASSED HER! T.M. OPERA O HAS PASSED ADMIRE VEGA! THE FINAL FIFTY METERS!!!!!!!"
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"
However, before the commentator's voice had even faded, Admire Vega, who had been overtaken by T.M. Opera O, let out a guttural roar of pure rage. Like the final roar of a beast, Admire Vega completely disregarded her own condition, desperately trying to catch up to T.M. Opera O.
Suddenly, the fading phantom around Admire Vega once again solidified. Her spirit had transcended her physical flesh, driving Admire Vega to push herself beyond what was considered safe to try and catch up.
"T.M. OPERA OOOOOOO!!!!!"
"YOU! I DON'T WANT TO LOSE TO YOU! AND ONLY TO YOU!!!!"
Admire Vega's final desperado heavily pressured Narita Top Road and Meisho Doto, who were behind her. They felt as if Admire Vega was no longer herself. Her nigh-infinite hatred and competitiveness were something even Narita Top Road, who had defeated Admire Vega, had never witnessed.
"Vega… do you really have to push yourself to this extent?" Narita Top Road murmured to herself. She had never seen… such a stubborn Admire Vega.
She knew Admire Vega had a life mission, but she had never seen Admire Vega so unwilling to lose, as if… T.M. Opera O was her lifelong nemesis, and that losing to T.M. Opera O would be the greatest insult to her whole life.
But according to what Narita Top Road knew, even though T.M. Opera O had always bothered Admire Vega, she shouldn't dislike T.M. Opera O to this extent… Regardless, Admire Vega, who had a second wind and accelerated a second time, was indeed closing the gap. For a moment, even T.M. Opera O, who had been confident of victory, looked back at Admire Vega in surprise.
"You truly are… a tenacious hero."
T.M. Opera O murmured to herself. She, too, was startled by Admire Vega's outburst. She didn't know what she had done to provoke Admire Vega to unleash such fierce resistance.
Yet, it doesn't matter. Admire Vega could not win against her now (T/N: Yuji: It doesn't matter.).
If the path of an Overlord is destined to have countless enemies… then I should, together with my beloved Trainer, overcome all of them and sing to the entire world the lofty ode of the Overlord!
"Hmph!"
At this moment, Admire Vega, who was just a step away from the finish line, had trembling eyes as she saw T.M. Opera O clearly crossing the line before her—T.M. Opera O then turned her head towards her, her lips forming words.
'What did she say?' Admire Vega thought as she quickly deciphered the contents of T.M. Opera O's words, and those words were: "How regrettable."
"AND THEY CROSS THE FINISH LINE! THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE! Number seven, T.M. Opera O has defeated Admire Vega! I repeat, she defeated Admire Vega by half a body length! Displaying her superiority over every other competitor! She has now claimed victory over the Satsuki Sho!"
"In second place is Admire Vega, following closely in third place is Meisho Doto, and in fourth place is Narita Top Road. They will all be receiving priority entry for the Japanese Derby—but there is only one winner and it belongs to T.M. OPERA OOOOOOOOO!!!!!"
"Let us congratulate T.M. Opera O for winning the Satsuki Sho! Claiming the first of the Classic Triple Crowns! Taking a solid first step towards becoming a Triple Crown Uma Musume!"
The commentator's words made the entire Racecourse erupt in cheers. For a moment, whether they supported T.M. Opera O or not, everyone stood up from their seats, applauding and cheering wildly for T.M. Opera O.
T.M. Opera O, drenched in sweat, watched the cheering crowd in the stands and Wada, who was applauding her, felt immense satisfaction starting to well up in her chest. She then raised her arm high, placed her hand on her cheek, proudly puffed out her chest, and laughed aloud. Under the sunlight, she truly looked like an overlord.
"As the Overlord, it is only natural that victory belongs to me!"
At this moment, the highly anticipated T.M. Opera O had proven herself with her strength. Behind her, Narita Top Road and Meisho Doto were both on their knees, panting heavily. Narita Top Road said with extreme reluctance:
"Damn it—I lost! T.M. Opera O, you truly are strong!"
"But next time... I will definitely win next time! Get ready for the Japanese Derby!"
"Ha… ha…" Meisho Doto, however, was not in such a good state of mind. Her failure to win the Satsuki Sho instantly shattered her recently built-up confidence. She struggled to lift her head and looked at T.M. Opera O getting applauded, her expression somewhat bewildered.
Where exactly was she inferior? They had been training together almost constantly for the past month… How had T.M. Opera O improved so much? She didn't understand why she had lost. She had clearly won the Mainichi Hai just a month ago!
And she wasn't even in second place. How was this happening? Meisho Doto didn't understand, but her failure was now a certainty. Yet, there was someone on the Racecourse who needed comfort even more than she did…
"Oh? It looks like Admire Vega's mind is a bit shaken. She has turned around and is walking towards the screen. Is she checking her ranking?"
"…"
Indeed, Admire Vega was walking towards the screen displaying the results. She stared blankly at the clear display of her defeat, still unable to snap out of the stupor she was in.
She lost. She had actually lost… lost to someone with no burdens. Someone she should never have lost to.
Just then, T.M. Opera O quietly walked behind Admire Vega, watching Admire Vega's incredulous, dazed expression. She slightly parted her lips, as if wanting to say something.
But just as she was about to speak, suddenly, a hand from behind quickly covered T.M. Opera O's loud mouth—from the moment Wada and Admire Vega's Trainer noticed Admire Vega's abnormal condition, they had rushed over immediately.
"Mmph mmph mmph! (A/N: Ryuji, why are you covering my mouth?)"
"Shhh... T.M. Opera O, it's a skill to know when and where things should be said. It's better if you stay quiet for now."
Wada dared not let T.M. Opera O speak right now. If she were to open her big mouth and say her usual shenanigans like, "Hahahaha! It's not shameful to lose to me at all! Try harder to compete against me next time," then T.M. Opera O and Admire Vega would surely become sworn enemies.
Wada was planning for T.M. Opera O's future. He didn't want T.M. Opera O to offend too many people or Uma Musume, especially rival Uma Musume of the same generation. Wada felt that she should maintain good relationships with all of them.
He also didn't want a repeat of the encirclement incident of that year to happen again in this world. Therefore, Wada had to start working now to build good relationships with the Trainers of Uma Musume from T.M. Opera O's generation, as well as the Uma Musume themselves.
This way, perhaps in the future, that hatred-filled encirclement would not happen a second time in this world.
Wada wanted to prevent certain events from happening. Which, of course, included needing to improve the social relations of his little miss Overlord. She needed more friends and supporters, not just spectators, but also fellow Uma Musume who could compete and support each other. A solitary Overlord is certainly strong and very cool, but Wada hoped to see… an Overlord with a fulfilling life.
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T.M. Opera O: It doesn't matter.
Admire Vega: What doesn't?
T.M. Opera O: It doesn't matter.
Admire Vega: What are you... talking about?
T.M. Opera O: It doesn't matter. (x6)
Admire Vega: I won't forget you! And I won't forgive you either!
T.M. Opera O: It doesn't matter. (x2)
(If you can't tell, it's a Jjk Modulo reference)
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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.