If she could, Mtoto would have loved to take the corner at full speed.
As long as she invoked the power of her domain, it was at least worth trying—especially with Xingyun Liuge glued to her tail.
How should she put it? It felt as though some indescribable monster had locked onto her completely. A shiver like electric current shot up from the base of her spine and drove straight into her brain.
If they had not been in the middle of a race, she would probably have been drenched in sweat by now.
As things stood, though, it hardly mattered. She was already soaked through, so a little more sweat changed nothing.
No—if simply sweating could free her from that suffocating pressure clinging to her like a shadow, Mtoto would gladly have sweated out a whole river.
That intangible pressure hung over the petite horse girl's heart, making her want to unleash all her strength right there on the bend, shake Xingyun Liuge off completely, and reclaim a sense of safety.
But in the end, Mtoto gave up on that idea.
She had no choice. If she did that, she would almost certainly lose steam on the uphill stretch. Even if she wanted to push herself, this was not the time to explode in mid-race. Doing so would only lead to the humiliating outcome of running out of strength too soon.
At the same time, she realized she had already fallen into Xingyun Liuge's trap.
Normally, it was the front-runner who disrupted the pace of the field, throwing the chasing horse girls into confusion and forcing them into bad decisions. Since when did a front-runner have her own rhythm ruined by the horse girl in second place?
Fine—yes, that did happen sometimes. Quite often, even. But that kind of mistake had no business appearing in a first-rate senior horse girl, not even against someone like Xingyun Liuge.
So Mtoto forced down her rising panic. She told herself the most important thing now was to endure the pressure, show Xingyun Liuge a composed face, and pin her hopes on the final showdown on the uphill stretch.
Once they cleared this sharp bend, a long climb awaited them—one that would test a horse girl's endurance to the limit.
But just as Mtoto thought that, Xingyun Liuge made a move that turned her face pale.
"Unbelievable—?!" The commentator's voice warped with sheer shock. He faltered, almost thinking he had imagined it, rubbed his eyes, and then shouted, "Xingyun Liuge!"
"Xingyun Liuge has caught up!" the host took over at once when the commentator froze. "In the face of Sandown Park's treacherous sharp turn, Xingyun Liuge ignored the terrain's difficulty, overpowered the effect of centrifugal force with sheer strength, cut in from the outside lane, and pulled level with Mtoto! What astonishing courage!"
If she had been even the slightest bit careless here, Xingyun Liuge would either have slammed into the rail, knocking herself out of the race and perhaps into mortal danger—or she would have collided with Mtoto, leaving them both seriously injured, out of the race, perhaps even forced into retirement.
And yet Xingyun Liuge had mastered both the terrain and the centrifugal force, and caught Mtoto cleanly.
Could it be that this had all been deliberate? That she had never truly been unable to catch up, but had chosen this exact moment to stun everyone?
The commentator nearly frightened himself with that thought. Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, he hurriedly cleared his mind and focused on the Xingyun Liuge who had burst into view.
"Were you startled?" Xingyun Liuge asked lightly.
Then, without the slightest hesitation, she accelerated out of the turn.
That flippant question, paired with her clean, decisive movement, landed on Mtoto's heart like a mountain.
Why did Xingyun Liuge not say anything more?
Because all of her attention had already gone back to running.
Her silent action was the perfect answer:
You want to know my resolve? My plan? Then show me your full strength.
"Tch!" Mtoto clicked her tongue hard, nearly drenched hair flying through the air. She lowered her center of gravity even more, trying to reclaim the inside lane.
But the disadvantage of her smaller frame revealed itself at once. This "big horse" right beside her simply gave her no opening.
The commentator cried out in alarm, "Xingyun Liuge and Mtoto are running side by side! But Mtoto moved outward to resist the centrifugal force, and Xingyun Liuge seized the inside lane! Good heavens, what happened in that split second? Has Xingyun Liuge mastered teleportation?!"
The two remained neck and neck, neither one clearly ahead. Even so, the sight made the audience's hearts seize.
They had entered the final uphill stretch, the long finishing straight, side by side—but Mtoto had been pushed to the outside, and everyone knew the outside carried a natural disadvantage...
Well, not really—not anymore. This was the final straight, and both would be running the same distance. What they had to conquer now was the extra stamina drain of the climb, and the pressure of the headwind.
Lightning flashed.
Mtoto felt as if she could hear her teeth grinding. Clearly, she was clenching her jaw to the limit.
And what about Xingyun Liuge, right beside her?
She, too, had her teeth set—but she wore a nearly feral grin, as though savoring this duel, as though saying: Still haven't made up your mind? If so, I won't hold back.
Crackle.
A spark flashed at Xingyun Liuge's hair.
The air instantly filled with the sharp scent of ozone.
Xingyun Liuge had studied Mtoto's race footage. She knew Mtoto's domain was tied to lightning, so this time she had deliberately chosen to use that same "element."
She extended a silent invitation:
Come. Let's compare them. Let's see whose lightning—whose spirit—is stronger. Weren't you looking forward to this too?
Xingyun Liuge gave Mtoto no time at all to think.
Almost in the very next instant, a deafening explosion rang out beneath the endless blue sky. Tremendous sound waves came crashing down.
The horse girls all reflexively pricked up their ears, trying to figure out what had happened. They were about to exit the turn, about to launch their final charge toward the two leaders—this was no time for an accident to ruin everything.
Tiny arcs danced along Xingyun Liuge's hair, skin, and racing outfit, like dangerous lightning serpents flicking their tongues, nearly transforming this beautiful girl into something eerie and terrifying.
And really, that was only natural.
This was an ancient terror buried deep in the soul of every living thing since time immemorial:
lightning that split the heavens.
After all, humanity had only entered the electrical age a little over a century ago. Even now, in many places—indeed, in entire countries—people still feared the might of thunder and lightning, seeing it as divine punishment.
And this was lightning under a clear sky.
Those tiny arcs quickly swelled into brilliant lightning glow. Crackling violently, they delivered their declaration of war to Mtoto, who stood mere steps away and also wielded the power of thunder:
"Boom!"
With the roar of thunder, Xingyun Liuge slammed her right foot down so hard it seemed as though the track itself might explode beneath her.
The raging current poured into the ground, yet raced across the poor conductor with terrifying speed. It climbed the rails, seeming to twist and warp them in an instant. It snaked across the course, swallowing the entire track in a heartbeat and bathing the grass in a layer of dreadful lightning.
Then a vast, tree-shaped pillar of lightning erupted skyward.
This overwhelming force stood above all opposition and pointed straight toward victory.
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 165)
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 (Chapter220)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter125)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (This matter is completely finished.)
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 220
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 185
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 248
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 230
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 125
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 145
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 115
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 110
My Harem Is Indescribable 100
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 105
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
Still playing traditional Honk 80
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 85
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 78
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 80
Checking In in Demon Slayer 85
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 100
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 85
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 80
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 90
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 75
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 85
Why did they assign me to Uma 75
MYGO Beauties 70
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 75
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 80
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 100
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 60
The Uma Musume Who Became 60
I'm Definitely Not the King of 80
After Maxing Out Every Class 80
Naruto: I'm Konoha's Local Men 44
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 57
I, the Elden Sword Saint 50
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 43
No One Knows Pokémon Better 50
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 45
From Trilobites to Titans 45
Chainsaw Man: Contracted with 55
DanMachi: My Party Members Are 60
An Anime Heroine Darkened 55
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