"So those are the girls who fought Sister on the world stage..."
As a member of the Mejiro family, Mejiro Dober had studied every single one of Rampage's races. From her debut to her final run, Dober had watched the tapes so many times it was practically foolish to count. Even after enrolling, she spent every spare moment reviewing the footage. Her roommate, Taiki Shuttle, used to watch with her, but eventually gave up and went to bed out of sheer exhaustion from the repetition. Dober thought she knew everything there was to know—but seeing them in the flesh was a different kind of shock. These were the titans of the international circuit.
"Still a sentimental one, aren't you, El?" Rampage smirked. "Trying for 'third time's the charm' by chasing my records instead of challenging me directly? You should have just settled the score at the Arc. You're such a pain."
"H-Hey! It's better than nothing!" Elguts shot back.
"Even if you break them," Rampage countered, "everyone's just going to say, 'Sure, she won, but compared to the nightmare track Rampage conquered at the Arc, it's not really a contest...' You're setting yourself up for a snub."
"A win is a win!"
Elguts. The Arc de Triomphe winner who had clashed with Rampage twice. The champion who had stayed neck-and-neck with the "Tyrant" through the mud of Longchamp.
"Silver, you're aiming for the Queen Elizabeth II Cup? That's going to be a rough ride," Rampage noted.
"I'll be fine," Silverstone replied confidently. "I can handle anything up to 2600 meters."
"I wasn't talking about the distance. I'm talking about the competition. There's a monster in that race who just pulled off a three-peat at the Yasuda Kinen."
"—A three-peat?!"
Silverstone. The international "Great Escape" specialist who had engaged Rampage in a legendary front-running duel at the Irish Champion Stakes.
"I'm going for the Champions Cup," Stahl Armekor grunted. "Lady and Dyna are running, right? I'm just going to blow past them."
"Good luck with that. Those two have been trading blows with me for years. They won't go down easy."
"Neither will I!!"
Stahl Armekor. A master of both turf and dirt, and the Umamusume who had come closer to handing Rampage a defeat than anyone else in history.
"And that is my comprehensive analysis of our guests," Dober concluded, her eyes sparkling with an intensity that bordered on the obsessive.
The Pleiades girls were silent.
"U-Um... why is everyone backing away?" Dober asked, blinking.
"Because you're being a total nerd, Dober-chan!" Taiki laughed.
Dober's "analysis" had started with professional racing statistics and ended with a passionate, twenty-minute monologue about Rampage's greatness. Taiki, who lived with her, was used to it—Dober often stayed up late watching Rampage's BC Classic run until Taiki had to literally drag her to bed so she wouldn't be late for class.
"T-Taiki! You promised not to tell anyone!" Dober squeaked, her face turning crimson.
"Rampage-san told me: true friends offer painful truths," Taiki teased.
"She's right," Air Groove added, nodding solemnly.
Dober had no rebuttal for the "Empress," but she could see the faint glint of envy in Air Groove's eyes. Dober possessed a complete collection of Rampage's race footage—archived from exclusive Mejiro family angles. Air Groove clearly wanted a copy.
"So that's Silverstone-san..." Suzuka murmured.
"You can't help but look, right?" Sunny Brian added. "She's a Great Escape specialist, just like Rampage-san."
"Exactly. She's... she's what we're aiming for."
The two front-runners watched Silver with rapt attention. Silverstone's top speed was said to be on par with Rampage's, and in last year's Japan Cup, she had fought a three-way battle with Tokai Teio and Twin Turbo that ended in a photo finish of 1.7 centimeters. To any "Escape" runner, she was a living textbook.
Meanwhile, Air Groove's gaze was fixed on Stahl Armekor. Her eyes were sharp, her posture rigid. The woman who pushed the person I admire most to the brink... Air Groove felt a swirl of respect and fierce, protective rivalry.
Beside her, Stay Gold was grinning, her tail twitching with a raw, primal hunger.
(I want to try... I know I can't win yet, but I want to run... I want to feel that speed...!!)
"Man, you girls really are obsessed with me," Rampage sighed, waving a dismissive hand. "You're not kids anymore, stop hovering. Everyone, take a break. We're pausing the drills for a bit."
"Huh?!" Stay Gold barked, her disappointment immediate. She had been hyped for the "Inferno" and now she was being told to sit out?
"Relax," Rampage smirked. "I, El, Silver, and Al are going to run a mock race. Use the break to watch and rest your legs."
"—WHAT?!"
The energy on the beach shifted instantly. A race featuring international Arc winners and world-class specialists was a once-in-a-decade event. The Pleiades members wouldn't have looked away if the beach was on fire.
"Just a heads-up," Silverstone said, stretching her legs. "This might be 'training,' but I'm going for the throat. Don't tell me you've gotten soft since you started coaching!"
"Please," Rampage snorted. "Do you have any idea how much weight I carry on my hooves every day? I'm not getting rusty that easily."
"Wait," Elguts blinked. "Are you seriously still wearing those heavy iron shoes as a trainer? Are you crazy?"
"I wear them too," Stahl Armekor chimed in. "It's excellent resistance training."
"I'm wearing mine right now," Silver added.
"...Am I... am I the only normal one here?!" Elguts cried out.
"You're just not a Tyrant. Stay calm," Katsuragi Ace joked from the sidelines.
"Ace-san, that's cold!" Rampage laughed.
The mock race was set. Ace declined to join, preferring to act as the official timer. Rampage slipped out of her trainer's suit and into her racing silks.
"There she is... the Tyrant in her silks!" Dober gasped.
"Why are you so excited? You see her every day," Stay Gold muttered.
"It's different! Seeing her in person right before a race... the atmosphere is completely different!"
Usually, Rampage wore her silks all day if she was too lazy to change, but today, as she stood before her world-class rivals, her aura shifted. The relaxed trainer vanished, replaced by the apex predator of the turf.
The results were... sobering.
"Hah... hah... Are you... are you actually faster than when you were active?!" Silverstone panted, leaning against the rail.
"Probably not," Rampage replied, barely out of breath. "My mental drive isn't at peak levels, but my physical specs have actually gone up since I started training with the iron shoes. So it probably evens out."
"You monster..." Elguts muttered.
"It's incredible," Silver whispered, her eyes wide. "To still be aiming for the top, even after retirement..."
Rampage had won by five lengths.
The members of Pleiades stood in stunned silence. They had known their trainer was strong, but seeing her dismantle world-class champions with such nonchalance forced them to realize the true height of the mountain they were climbing. They weren't just being trained by a coach; they were being led by a goddess of speed who refused to slow down.
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