A demon king?
Hearing that title, Xingyun Liuge could only feel that the commentator was being far too chuuni. Really, this was nowhere near that level yet, so how had she suddenly become a demon king? It was ridiculous.
Did she really look like some terrifyingly dangerous horse girl?
Her aura was not that frightening, was it?
Though, to be fair, she did think the horse girls crying out "I can't do this anymore!" were very cute.
But obviously, Cinderella sounded much cuter than Demon King, so she was not a demon king.
At least, not yet.
After all, she was being "considerate" enough to stay at the very back of the pack. She had not taken the opportunity to overtake the horse girls affected by Flay at all, which made her positively friendly.
Up in the commentary booth, the announcer declared,
"Xingyun Liuge has unleashed a powerful aura, and the horse girls are unable to resist—but!"
The commentator, with excellent instincts, seized the cue at once. Clutching the microphone, she continued in the same over-the-top dramatic style:
"But Xingyun Liuge has not chosen to overtake them. Instead, she remains hanging at the tail of the pack. Could this… could this be absolute confidence in her own strength, so overwhelming that she is deliberately doing this?"
"She's practically driving the entire field forward! Is this the confidence of the Demon King herself? No! This should be called arrogance! It is as if she is saying: No matter what style I use, no matter who my opponents are, I can still claim victory with ease!"
"Xingyun Liuge! What unbelievable confidence! Truly worthy of the title Demon King!"
The announcer followed up by saying,
"Xingyun Liuge's choice really is fascinating. But when you think about it carefully, she does have the right to act this way."
Ever since her debut, Xingyun Liuge had done nothing but win, often by enormous margins. Even Fujimasa March and Oguri Cap were not her equals. A little pride was only natural.
"From the loneliness born of absolute strength, she learned to love…"
the commentator murmured to herself before continuing,
"When will the Demon King launch her overwhelming comeback? Just imagining it is enough to make one blush and set one's heart pounding!"
Listening to the commentator's increasingly wild rambling, Xingyun Liuge herself was getting so embarrassed that she almost wanted to use Thresh's skill set to give this inexplicably chuuni woman a little taste of chain-warden terror.
Really, all she was doing was keeping an eye on Oguri Cap.
Was it horse-girl intuition? Or was she simply influenced by the image of peak-form Oguri Cap from the simulations?
Xingyun Liuge believed Oguri Cap would grow rapidly after crossing paths with her, and so she decided to turn up the pressure.
If one wanted to become a legend of an era, then naturally one had to endure pressure far beyond what ordinary people could imagine.
Of course, even this "special favor" had its limits.
From time to time, Xingyun Liuge's attention would "appropriately" shift elsewhere.
For example—
After suffering defeat in the debut race, Minami Kaku had gone home, reflected deeply, and trained herself brutally, focusing hard on improving her stamina. It had given her the ability to carry a frontrunning strategy all the way to the end.
She had originally assumed Xingyun Liuge would crush her easily by using the same frontrunning tactic as in the debut race. Instead, Xingyun Liuge had chosen a closer-style approach, which made Minami Kaku feel rather looked down upon.
But at the same time, she could not help feeling relieved.
If Xingyun Liuge had shattered her rhythm the way she had in the debut race, then she absolutely would have faded halfway through.
But now, Minami Kaku firmly believed she could hold the lead all the way to the finish.
She wanted Xingyun Liuge to see how much she had grown.
Before Xingyun Liuge had time to be impressed, however, the one who first noticed it was Fujimasa March.
She's improved a lot since the debut race... but!
The gray-blue-haired girl's eyes sharpened. Her pupils narrowed suddenly, and a powerful aura poured out from within, almost stunning the minds of the horse girls running around her.
Fujimasa March adjusted her balance and drove her right foot hard into the ground.
A fierce surge of power erupted beneath her foot, traveling instantly through her ankle, calf muscles, thigh muscles, and taut waist and abdomen, transmitting upward through her entire body.
With a fierce cry, Fujimasa March decisively accelerated, intending to exploit the moment Xingyun Liuge was focused on Oguri Cap and steal victory from right under both their noses.
The force of her movement was so violent it looked as though her arms could split the air itself!
The commentator shouted immediately,
"March! It's Fujimasa March! Seven hundred meters from the finish, and she's making her move early! Is she trying to seize victory while the Demon King hasn't made her move yet?!"
A proud smile bloomed at the corner of Fujimasa March's lips.
That's right. Exactly like this!
Unlike Cinderella, Fujimasa March had been an honors student since childhood, because she had devoted every second of her life to running and practice.
When children her age played, she practiced.
When children her age rested, she practiced.
When children her age practiced, she still practiced.
Her whole life seemed filled to the brim with that single word:
practice.
It was so dry, so monotonous.
And yet, her effort and sweat had never betrayed her. She had always won her races.
Until she met Oguri Cap and Xingyun Liuge.
It was the first time in her life that she had tasted defeat in the very thing she trusted most—running.
Frustration. Pain. Sorrow.
All of those emotions had erupted the moment she lost her debut race.
But!
Fujimasa March had never once considered giving up. She had turned every one of those emotions into fuel. All she wanted was to train twice as hard, then defeat both Oguri Cap and Xingyun Liuge!
Even if there was a vast gap between herself and Xingyun Liuge, she would devote everything she had to narrowing it until the day she finally won.
That day might come far, far in the future—
or it might be today, right here, right now!
Fujimasa March drew in a deep breath.
She could feel it clearly: never before had the desire for victory within her surged so fiercely as it did today.
Was it because Xingyun Liuge only had eyes for Oguri Cap, and had subconsciously overlooked her?
Yes.
That was exactly it.
Fujimasa March wanted to tell Xingyun Liuge this:
Kasamatsu has more than just Oguri Cap. It also has me, Fujimasa March! I'll show you my victory with my own hands!
With that resolve, Fujimasa March accelerated with everything she had. All the sweat she had shed in training and all the thoughts she carried were transformed, in this moment, into the perfect fuel to drive her forward.
After a brief stretch running alongside her, Fujimasa March cleanly overtook Minami Kaku and seized the burden of frontrunning.
And then—
Whoosh!
Fujimasa March's ears snapped upright.
She had heard it—a strange sound, rushing toward her back.
Could it be—?!
Instantly, she recalled that training race with Oguri Cap and Xingyun Liuge.
Back then, she had heard a similar sound, and immediately afterward, the muscles throughout her body had stopped responding properly, slowing her down.
And now—
was she about to suffer the same thing again?
Fujimasa March clenched her teeth, trying to force herself through it with sheer willpower.
But—
Clang!
A merciless, ghostly green scythe attached to a chain wrapped around her waist and locked her in place.
No matter how hard Fujimasa March pushed, her steps still grew sluggish.
Seeing that, Xingyun Liuge smiled faintly.
Without a second burst of acceleration, the path of a horse girl sprinting at full speed was absurdly easy to predict.
Who said a Thresh player couldn't do a little prediction?
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 172)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 116)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter69)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter119)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 60
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 66
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 50
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 52
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 55
The Way the Umamusume Look at 42
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 40
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 36
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