"The Otherworldly Front-Runner! Silence Suzuka is accelerating AGAIN! Is she about to leave every single competitor in her dust?!"
"Silence Suzuka! Is Silence Suzuka going to maintain this kind of front-running lead all the way to the finish line?!"
Akasaka Misato's words were almost unnecessary. The moment Silence Suzuka accelerated again, the entire Hanshin Racecourse erupted. Wave after wave of shocked gasps and cries flooded the stands.
On the related live stream, a torrent of "Holy shit!" and "No way!" comments filled the screen, plastering over the video player.
Front-runners aren't uncommon in Japanese racing.
Especially after races like the Oka Sho, Satsuki Sho, and the Japanese Derby, the fans had already witnessed the pinnacle of front-running rivalries in this generation!
But Silence Suzuka was once again redefining everyone's understanding of what it meant to run at the front.
It wasn't that the crowd had never seen a lead like this before; Silence Suzuka's previous races—the Oka Sho, the Satsuki Sho, and the Derby—had all shown similar tactics.
But before, her brilliant, Great Escapes were in G2 races, against G2-level Uma Musume.
In the Oka Sho, Satsuki Sho, and Derby, it was because El Condor Pasa, Barbatos, Seiun Sky, and King Halo were simply a cut above the other G1 Uma Musume!
But here, in this Takarazuka Kinen...
Facing the monsters of other G1 races, facing Uma Musume like Barbatos and King Halo who had demonstrated their own front-running prowess in previous competitions...
Silence Suzuka was once again executing a magnificent, Great Escape, stretching the already impressive seven-length gap even wider.
It was as if she was truly trying to escape, to run all the way to the edge of the world.
As if she didn't want anyone else to share the view from the very front.
The title of Prodigy of the Age!
Well and truly deserved!
At that moment, no one was thinking about how Silence Suzuka, without a single G1 victory to her name, could possibly be called the Prodigy of the Age. Their entire focus was captured by this Takarazuka race.
Air Groove? Barbatos? King Halo?
The top three most popular runners all seemed to fade into insignificance under the force of that front-running charge.
Everyone was glued to the action, desperate to see if Silence Suzuka could lead all the way to the finish in this Takarazuka, to defeat these powerful opponents, to conquer the monsters of the G1 races!
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Barbatos watched Silence Suzuka accelerate again far ahead, and a single phrase instantly popped into her mind: "The wolf in sheep's clothing."
Before the race, she had already marked Silence Suzuka as a formidable opponent.
She and Seiun Sky had studied all of Silence Suzuka's previous races, understanding her pattern of taking a brief moment to recover around the third corner after her initial explosive start.
Then she'd pull away again and secure victory by a massive margin!
But now, Silence Suzuka was like a runaway horse, completely unshackled, impossible to restrain!
This was an unexpected development. Barbatos was only startled for a moment before formulating her response.
She couldn't let this continue. If the gap widened any further, even she, with her powerful closing speed, wouldn't be able to catch up to Silence Suzuka.
The ground beneath her feet suddenly cratered.
A crimson tide engulfed the white lightning that crackled around her. The aura she had been holding back exploded outwards with terrifying force, sweeping through the surroundings.
With the remaining boost from her [Ghost]...
A bolt of crimson lightning shot forward from beside Mejiro Dober, just as Grass Wonder and King Halo were closing in. It was like an arrow shot from its string!
Vermin!!!
Under that terrifying pressure, even Mejiro Dober and Air Groove, even Grass Wonder and King Halo who had already activated their Zones, felt a moment of suffocating tension.
Further back, cold sweat beaded on Tagano Fiorei's forehead. Even she, a Uma Musume who had run in last year's Kikuka Sho, felt a faint tremor in her limbs. Her steps involuntarily slowed under the pressure of three Zones!
This feeling... was this Barbatos's Zone?
Compared to last year's classic-level races and the Takarazuka Kinen, the intensity of this year's competition seemed to have been cranked up a notch.
Even Matikanefukukitaru, who could vaguely perceive Zones, who was called "the Fortune Teller," still hadn't managed to successfully activate her own!
But in this Takarazuka, there were already four runners who had activated their Zones, and at least six capable of doing so!
At the very back of the pack.
Even with the training she'd received from Mejiro Dober, Mejiro Bright still hadn't quite adapted to the 2000-meter distance.
For her, it still felt too short, barely a warm-up, and she was still able to increase her speed!
Gritting her teeth, she pushed her pace while simultaneously resisting the oppressive pressure from the Zones of Grass Wonder and King Halo ahead as she entered the corner.
But then, an even more powerful wave of pressure washed over her.
It was a suffocating sensation, like staring down a monster. Mejiro Bright suddenly felt a tremendous weight.
Under the assault of three Zones, the immense pressure threatened to slow her down, but she fought to maintain her stride.
Clang!
In the middle of the turn, she slammed into the rail beside her!
"What's this?! Has something happened to Mejiro Bright?!"
Akasaka Misato at the commentary desk was the first to notice. An accident during a race was a serious matter.
Even though the race was at a critical juncture, her attention was solely on Mejiro Bright. Track staff were also on high alert, ready to intervene.
Fortunately, Mejiro Bright, after hitting the rail, seemed to recover.
She kept running, her pace slowed, but she was clearly okay.
"Thank goodness. But... what exactly happened?"
Akasaka Misato breathed a sigh of relief that Mejiro Bright was alright, but she was puzzled as to why a top-tier G1 runner like her would hit the rail.
Take Yutaka's response was somewhat indirect. "Unlike the Uma Musume themselves, we judge whether they've activated a Zone by the aura and pressure it generates."
"That aura and pressure, even we here in the commentary booth, and everyone in the stands, can feel it clearly."
"It's often described as 'the pressure from that Zone is so strong.'"
"But if we in the stands and the booth can feel it, imagine how much more intensely the runners on the track feel it. The aura and pressure they have to withstand is dozens of times what we experience!"
"Right now, with multiple Zones active, even G1 Uma Musume would struggle to adapt instantly!"
Take Yutaka's explanation was simple, but outside of Dream Cups, you rarely saw so many runners with activated Zones competing together.
And the legends in Dream Cups were all experienced with Zones, possessing a certain resistance to their oppressive force.
That explained Akasaka Misato's confusion over Mejiro Bright's state.
But just within this generation, there were four runners on the track who had already activated their Zones, not to mention El Condor Pasa in France, and the two-time classic winner Seiun Sky.
Truly a gathering of stars. You could honestly call them a Golden Generation!
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A/N: Not picking on Mejiro Bright specifically. This is just a slight adaptation of the 1998 Takarazuka Kinen.
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T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.