Hanshin Racecourse.
Barbatos, having activated—the "Crimson Lightning"—was unaware of the anomaly behind her involving Mejiro Bright.
Beneath that crimson hue, she began closing the distance to Silence Suzuka.
Silence Suzuka had always been fast out of the gate, quickly establishing a lead. Even after two bursts of acceleration, she was still outpacing Barbatos, who had activated her own [Ghost].
But under the blessing of "Crimson Lightning," Barbatos's speed now surpassed even Suzuka's!
The initial eight-length gap began to shrink. About eight hundred meters remained to the finish.
"This distance should be about right," Barbatos guessed.
And at that precise moment—
Mejiro Dober, who had just been edged back slightly, erupted with an indescribable force, leaving King Halo and Grass Wonder in her dust!
A power befitting a legendary Uma Musume burst forth from Mejiro Dober. The pupils behind her eyes shattered, and a pristine white Zone expanded, launching her in pursuit of Silence Suzuka!
"Another Zone!"
"The warrior maiden of the Mejiro family, Mejiro Dober, is also giving it her all!"
"King Halo! Grass Wonder! The position they held, neck-and-neck with Mejiro Dober, is being pulled apart again!"
"And this?"
"Is the Empress also beginning her acceleration?"
"Before we've even reached the final straight! All the Uma Musume are unleashing their full power, vying for the champion's throne in this first-half decider!"
"Will Silence Suzuka run away with it all the way, or can the other three powerhouses hunt her down?!"
In Akasaka Misato's commentary, King Halo and Grass Wonder were no longer mentioned among the contenders.
They were monsters in their own right, G1-class talents. But in this race, under these circumstances, even someone with Akasaka's keen eye could see they'd lost their chance at the crown.
Even among Uma Musume who had unleashed their Zones, a considerable gap remained!
In Grass Wonder's vision, Mejiro Dober's figure pulled away! Not far behind, she could clearly hear the hoofbeats of her senior, Air Groove, as she closed in.
Having recently recovered from an injury and undergone rehabilitation, Grass Wonder had mastered the ability to unleash her Zone at will.
But the earlier activation had already drained most of her stamina.
Not having raced for over six months, her body felt slightly out of sync, completely unable to cope with the super-high intensity of a race like the Takarazuka Kinen. Her legs had grown unbearably heavy.
The Zone she had managed to sustain now dissipated.
Her form slipped back from beside King Halo, the distance between them rapidly growing.
Though she had mentally prepared for defeat in the Takarazuka Kinen, hoping only to gauge the gap between herself and the others to better prepare for future training...
Now, at this moment, in the heat of the race, the bitter pain of powerlessness still surged within her.
King Halo, her eyes fixed on Barbatos and Mejiro Dober ahead, noted Grass Wonder's drop in pace without much surprise.
Having unleashed her Zone so early in a race for the first time, she felt her stamina draining fast. But her rigorous conditioning allowed her to maintain it, to hold on.
Unlike the Japanese Derby.
Having opened her Zone earlier, King Halo wasn't going all out just yet; she was saving a final kick for the end.
"I'd planned to wait until the final straight to accelerate."
A touch of bitterness tinged King Halo's thoughts.
She'd thought the gap between herself and Barbatos had narrowed considerably after the Satsuki Sho and the Derby, but it seemed a significant divide remained.
But even so, she unleashed her "final kick" now, her legs suddenly pounding the turf with renewed force.
Even if logic told her victory was impossible, how could she surrender without fighting to the very last moment?!
The instant King Halo's speed surged, a piercing, agonizing pain shot through her leg. Her entire brain recoiled against it, screaming for her body to stop right there.
More than any other Uma Musume, King Halo pushed herself beyond normal limits in training.
That was how she'd claimed victory in the Japanese Derby, how she kept pace with her generation.
But the toll of such intense training revealed itself now, under this pressure.
The accumulated burden of immense training, combined with the strain the Zone placed on her body, caused a latent leg injury to flare up at the worst possible moment—the Takarazuka Kinen!
"This little pain..."
"...How could it ever defeat a King!"
King Halo gritted her teeth, enduring the agony, striving to push forward. How could the King's pride crumble before mere injury?
Then, unbidden, a teacher's words from a Tracen Academy lecture echoed in her mind.
If she pushed through, she could finish the Takarazuka Kinen. But what then?
She could endure this terrible pain, but what condition would her leg be in after the race?
That leg, already carrying an injury that might even be a hairline fracture. If she ran the entire distance, how much worse would the damage become?
How much longer would recovery take? Would she even be able to run again?
Caught in this agonizing conflict...
King Halo raised a hand behind her, signaling distress, and veered towards the outer edge of the track.
It was infuriating, deeply so, but this might be where her race ended.
Within seconds, Air Groove, her Zone active, thundered past her. Then came Matikanefukukitaru, then Grass Wonder, then Mejiro Bright.
--+--
In the VIP stands.
Fine Motion, Ines Fujin, and the others had vanished, hurrying towards the trackside.
Over at the Canopus group, Haru Urara, who hadn't initially understood the hand signal King Halo made, instantly grasped the situation when she saw her move to the track's edge.
She vaulted over the railing, hugging the barrier, and ran towards King Halo's position.
--+--
"King Halo is signaling distress behind her!"
"Has King Halo sustained an injury?"
Akasaka Misato reported the situation over the live broadcast moments after it happened.
When an Uma Musume suffers a fracture or break, they must signal the runners behind immediately and move to the track's edge to stop and rest until officials arrive.
This warns the trailing runners, preventing pile-ups or collisions.
"Let's shift our focus back to the front of the pack."
"Silence Suzuka, setting the pace at the very front, has six hundred meters left to the finish. Six or seven lengths behind her is Barbatos."
"Mejiro Dober and the Empress, Air Groove, are both in pursuit of the leader, Silence Suzuka."
"The field is incredibly strung out!"
Even the central screen at Hanshin Racecourse had been split into three feeds, allowing the entire crowd to see the developing drama across the track.
One screen showed Silence Suzuka at the front.
Another showed Barbatos, Mejiro Dober, and Air Groove.
The third showed Matikanetannhauser, Grass Wonder, and Mejiro Bright far behind.
--+--
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.