Why had Oguri Cap appeared here?
Of course, it was to see Xingyun Liuge.
Fujimasa March had been bragging over the phone, saying they'd ridden from Kasamatsu Tracen to Nagoya Airport, then flown all the way to America to watch Xingyun Liuge race. They'd eaten loads of local food, and they were even planning to stay on to watch the second race, then the third…
Oguri Cap had panicked on the spot.
Since she couldn't run in the Japanese Derby anyway, and there weren't any races nearby she could enter for the moment, she might as well take a proper break, come to Baltimore to watch Xingyun Liuge race, then head back in time for that event called the New Zealand Stakes… or maybe the New Zealand Cup.
Even Shinzan Glory had teased her over it.
"It really feels like you and Miss Xingyun are incredibly close, Oguri. Every time you're on the phone, you're basically talking about Miss Xingyun."
Whenever that happened, Oguri Cap would instantly overheat. She could never think of a response and had to flee with a muttered, "I'm going to train."
It couldn't be helped. Shinzan Glory wasn't wrong.
By now, though, Oguri Cap finally knew what to say.
"Xingyun's about to run in the second leg of the American Triple Crown. As her friend, and with no race of my own to run, of course I should come cheer her on in person."
That was exactly what she told Rudolf Symbol. She had even given a thumbs-up as she added,
"This is what they call bringing a gift from afar—the gift may be light, but the sentiment is heavy."
The corner of Rudolf Symbol's eye twitched.
"…It's 'A goose feather sent from a thousand miles away,'" she corrected.
Still, the line fit Oguri Cap perfectly. This horse girl had nothing in her head except a longing to run and a hunger to win. In some matters, she gave people the distinct impression that she was missing a screw.
That said, Oguri Cap's arrival did give Rudolf Symbol another lever she could use against the JRA.
If even Oguri Cap had run off overseas too, what did they think the fans would do? Tear them apart alive?
"Since you're here, make yourself at home," Rudolf said at last. "Let's go have a buffet tonight."
At that, Oguri Cap's listless ears sprang upright.
Anyone who was willing to treat her to a meal couldn't possibly be a bad person—so if someone tried telling her Rudolf Symbol was awful, she would absolutely refuse to believe it.
Though she quietly amended that in her own heart:
Xingyun is the exception.
"Oh, right, and Xingyun, and everyone else too." Oguri Cap was a good girl. There was no way she'd eat alone. "Where is everybody, anyway?"
The others were still in Louisville arranging shipping.
Since they had finally made it all the way here, and had a bit of money they could spend freely, they naturally weren't content with mailing only the gifts Xingyun Liuge had prepared. They wanted to add even more things to the packages. The whole effort had gotten so involved that even Latifah, who had stayed behind to keep an eye on them, was starting to look helpless.
"As for Xingyun… she's over there. She's with—"
"Ah, I know," Oguri Cap said confidently. "That's Winni Kala."
She even gave a thumbs-up, pleased with herself for recognizing the name at a glance.
Rudolf Symbol corrected her pronunciation.
"…The one one length behind Xingyun is Winning Colors. A neck behind Winning Colors is Goodbye Halo. The two farther back are the so-called support runners—just interference pieces."
As far as those two horse girls were concerned, whatever methods the Triple Crown winners might use to try to recruit Xingyun Liuge, their own intentions were the same:
They wanted to run beside her in the Preakness and find a way to beat her.
For that, training races were essential. The more, the better.
If possible, they wanted to run training races with Xingyun Liuge every single day, all the way until they collapsed from exhaustion. That way, even if Xingyun tried to hide her true hand, they'd still be able to notice the tiny cracks in her act and see through it.
Take the situation right now, for example.
They had come to suspect that Xingyun Liuge was much stronger on dirt tracks in heavy or bad going. On firm ground, her performance didn't look nearly as outrageous. After all, she wasn't blowing them away by twenty or thirty lengths here—only one or two.
To the point that even the "support runners" could stay on their tails without seeming strained.
Though that also had a lot to do with the fact that Xingyun Liuge wasn't using her Domain and wasn't displaying those tidal-wave finishing kicks of hers.
Maybe, because they themselves weren't using any skills and were simply trying to wear her down with raw stamina and endurance, Xingyun Liuge felt no need to go all out?
If that was the case, then it simply wouldn't do.
If Xingyun Liuge refused to show her full strength, how were they supposed to gauge the depth of her power?
Goodbye Halo and Winning Colors exchanged a look. No words passed between them, but a plan immediately took shape.
The two horse girls burst forward at the same time. One shot out from the inside lane, while the other surged wide to the far outside, launching a last attack on Xingyun Liuge from both sides.
A long straight lay ahead, and the track was officially firm—but because firm ground threw up so much dust, it was actually harder to apply force cleanly while running normally. That made this the perfect chance for an upset.
Both of them—and their two support runners—had preserved a fair amount of stamina. If they used skills while unleashing their strongest closing speed, the odds of victory would rise dramatically.
What they didn't know was that Xingyun Liuge had been waiting precisely for this moment.
The corner of her mouth curled.
"Then I suppose I'll have to show you a little of the real thing."
The words had barely left her lips when a cold, sinister black mist rose soundlessly from the earth itself, carrying a sense of wrongness that made the hairs on one's neck stand on end. If it had been coming from behind rather than in front, it might have been mistaken for the dust horse girls kicked up while running.
The mist wove itself into a massive claw, palm facing upward, flashing with eerie green light as it came tearing at them.
It covered the entire track.
There was nowhere to evade.
All four horse girls clenched their teeth.
The giant claw didn't inflict any actual physical injury—but the impact it delivered, and the pain it carried, were terrifyingly real.
They felt as though their legs had been raked open by it, cut so deep the bone was showing, until they almost wanted to roll on the ground screaming. Their faces turned an unhealthy pale.
And that was only the beginning.
The moment their feet came down again, their expressions changed completely.
The sensation feeding back through their footing wasn't that of a firm track anymore.
It was the feel of a soaked heavy track, so wet it seemed ready to squeeze out water at any second.
The nature of the course itself had changed.
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 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 138)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter160)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter98)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter175)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 163
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 150
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 100
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 170
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 145
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 125
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 69
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 90
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 100
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 70
Uma Musume: I Want All 90
I Can Copy Unique Skills 65
Summoning an Evil God, but the 52
Supernatural Multiverse 65
My Harem Is Indescribable 55
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 55
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 66
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 55
Still playing traditional Honk 35
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 35
What Should I Do After Switchi 24
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 35
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 27
Transmigrated as Sukuna 27
Checking In in Demon Slayer 32
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 44
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