Laurel had executed a flawless start, but right before her eyes, Flora began to accelerate with terrifying momentum.
In the past, Flora only ever took the lead when she was chasing me, or during the Japan Cup when I was absent. During her overseas campaigns, she hadn't utilized "Front-Running" tactics at all. Naturally, everyone watching assumed she'd simply lost her cool—that she was "caught" in the heat of the moment. But to those who knew her, her stride evoked the image of a different girl entirely: the world's fastest and strongest, the Absolute Tyrant, Mejiro Rampage.
The memory of that legendary run—the one that conquered the "worst Longchamp in history"—clung to the back of everyone's minds like an inescapable shadow. Laurel was the first to sense the shift.
(The flow… it's getting faster. She's pulling the field along… No, that's not it. Everyone is being led astray by the ghost of Rampage-san that they see in Flora-san's back.)
Laurel could see it too. She had spent countless days running simulated races against me as part of her Derby training. To her, this version of the Arc was a holy land, and she had watched the footage of my victory until her eyes nearly bled. She could see my phantom stride perfectly. Flora was tracing it with surgical precision, fueled by a stubborn obsession to finally "catch" me.
However…
『She's fast! She's too fast! Agnes Flora continues to lead, but isn't this pace suicidal?!』
『She might be overwhelmed by the pressure of the Arc… Let's hope she can regain her composure.』
I almost laughed at the announcers' cluelessness. More than that, the visible panic of the other girls on screen was doing wonders for my ego. They were being rattled by an opponent who wasn't even there, losing sight of the girl they should have been watching because they were haunted by a phantom.
The "Rampage Ghost."
It was a strategy born solely from Flora's desire to beat a single person, but when a mindset becomes that focused, it develops the power to warp the entire environment around it.
『Beadledophe and Outrage are closing the gap on Agnes Flora—no, the whole pack is surging forward! This is an extraordinary sight! It's as if one girl's over-eagerness has become contagious; the entire field's pace is skyrocketing! Agnes Flora is still in front—a brutal pace, yet she hasn't faltered once. Her form is magnificent. Wait… is it possible she isn't "caught" at all?』
『Perhaps…』 the commentator whispered, their voice heavy with realization. 『To be honest, I don't know much about her personal life—but it seems the only thing she sees out there is the Absolute Tyrant.』
The room went silent at those words. As the runners approached the legendary Longchamp hill, every eye was glued to the screen.
『Agnes Flora was Mejiro Rampage's greatest rival, the girl who traded blows with her throughout their entire careers. She isn't racing the Arc today… she is chasing the ghost of the Tyrant who conquered it!』
『If that's the case, this isn't a Front-Run! It's a challenge! She's hunting the Tyrant's shadow across the Longchamp turf!』
A "challenge." Everyone understood the weight of that word. It was only natural to want to challenge the Japanese girl who had shattered the world record. Many came here boasting that only by surpassing that record could they truly call themselves an Arc winner. But those were just numbers. No one else was mad enough to project a "ghost" and position themselves specifically to overtake a memory. Especially not in the middle of the world's most prestigious race.
"The whole pack looks really panicked, Trainer," Turbo said, sipping her carrot juice. To Turbo, who had witnessed Flora's anti-Rampage tactics time and time again, this wasn't strange. In fact, it seemed perfectly logical to try and beat the version of me that was the fastest and strongest. "Is what Flora's doing really that weird?"
"Well," Minamisaka replied, "generally, you never know what will happen in a race. There are stories of long-shots suddenly running record times to beat the favorites. Usually, you focus on the opponents physically running next to you rather than chasing a record."
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