The Emperor's Team vs. the Dream Girls.
It was the ultimate showdown: Symboli Rudolf against Maruzensky.
Tokai Teio's flashy trick shots and Taiki Shuttle's relentless energy were formidable in their own right, but in a lineup like this, every eye in the stadium was naturally glued to the two titans, Rudolf and Maruzensky.
This was the highest-stakes clash of the Summer Dream Cup.
The Dream Cup followed a different format than traditional races; there was no "grand final" in the usual sense.
Instead, victory was determined simply by which duo racked up the most wins. Both of these teams had been absolute juggernauts, steamrolling every other pair they faced.
This match wasn't just the highlight of the tournament—it was the only one that truly mattered.
Even though the "Emperor" carried the title of the absolute pinnacle of Uma Musume, the symbol of invincibility, the crowd held a secret, collective hope.
No one said it aloud, but they were all rooting for Maruzensky and Taiki Shuttle to pull off the upset.
They all wanted to see how the unflappable Symboli Rudolf would react to a glass of that dreaded vegetable juice.
After all, Grass Wonder was currently the only soul alive immune to its leafy devastation. Surely Rudolf possessed the normal taste buds of a mortal girl?
"Match start!"
Rudolf took her usual command of the net, while Tokai Teio held the backcourt, her trick shots providing a massive safety net for any stray balls.
Maruzensky and Taiki Shuttle, however, had shifted their tactics. Taiki guarded the net, leaving Maruzensky in the back to anchor the play.
Barbatos watched with rapt attention. Having already won a match herself, the initial shock of the vegetable juice on her palate had finally mellowed.
As long as she didn't have to down a second glass, she was in the clear—though her breath still tasted faintly of blended kale.
"They aren't using their Zones?" Barbatos muttered, surprised.
She had expected the match to devolve into a supernatural tug-of-war, where the ball would be caught in the competing gravitational pulls of Maruzensky's and Rudolf's respective Zones, turning the game into a high-level duel of wills.
Instead, both remained in their base forms, trading blows with raw, unadulterated skill.
Is Maruzensky trying to conserve stamina? Barbatos wondered.
Balls played from the backcourt are generally easier to intercept, allowing a player to read the movements of all three other girls on the court.
Even if Taiki Shuttle missed a stray shot, Maruzensky was positioned perfectly to recover.
Tokai Teio, despite looking composed in the back, had the unenviable task of defending the rear against the heavy artillery being traded between the Emperor and the Supercar.
Rudolf couldn't risk swapping Teio to the net.
The physical toll at the front was brutal, and Teio had already shown cracks in her stamina during the latter half of their previous match.
Without a refreshing (if soul-crushing) gulp of vegetable juice to restore her energy, Teio would likely collapse before the final whistle if she moved up.
In that regard, Taiki Shuttle—while lacking "trick shots"—was a seasoned pro compared to the un-debuted Teio. Her conditioning was on another level.
Time slipped away. Half the match was gone, yet the scoreboard remained a stubborn vacuum.
Neither side had gained an inch. Maruzensky and Rudolf eschewed flashy techniques, yet every strike was aimed with surgical precision at the most awkward, unreachable angles.
Barbatos felt that if she were out there, she'd already be trailing by at least five lengths. Maruzensky was playing with a ferocity far beyond what she had shown against Barbatos earlier.
With Maruzensky anchoring the back, Taiki Shuttle looked completely at ease, leaving the impossible shots to the legend behind her.
This allowed Maruzensky more reaction time and the ability to return balls with minimal wasted movement.
"The pressure on Teio is immense," Barbatos noted. "Even if she isn't hitting many balls, the psychological weight is crushing. Her mental fatigue must be through the roof."
No matter how much talent she had, Teio was still a girl who hadn't officially debuted.
She hadn't been forged in the fire of high-stakes competition or faced off against the legends of the turf.
She didn't have the nerves for this kind of tension yet—especially when the person staring her down was Maruzensky. The pressure was a rising tide.
If this keeps up and goes into overtime... Teio will be the first to break.
Then it becomes a two-on-one for Maruzensky's side. The Emperor won't let it get to that.
"Hmm?"
As the stadium held its breath, and the only sounds were the rhythmic thwack of the ball and the scuff of racing flats on the court, Barbatos's ears twitched.
She heard a faint, frantic muttering. Turning toward the source, she spotted the Spica crew.
The members of Team Spica were gathered like they were trying to fire off a collective Kamehameha, directing all their willpower and spirit toward Teio. And then...
"If Teio wins this, we're making the Trainer treat us to yakiniku!"
Barbatos glanced at Okino, the Spica trainer. He was so far away that, without the enhanced hearing of an Uma Musume, there was no way he'd heard that.
But whether he heard it or not didn't matter—if Teio won, that man's wallet was doomed.
Not that Barbatos cared much; considering a Central Trainer's salary and the prize money Silence Suzuka was raking in, Okino could certainly afford a celebratory dinner.
She refocused on the court. The deadlock remained unbroken.
"Ten minutes remaining!"
"Five minutes!"
"Both sides are neck-and-neck as we enter the home stretch!"
"Who will claim the Dream Cup?!"
"Wait, is that—?!"
Barbatos's pupils dilated. From her vantage point, she could see a subtle shift in Rudolf's form that Maruzensky and Taiki couldn't see from their angle.
That hidden wind-up... was she going for a Snake Shot?
With only a minute left, the Emperor was finally pulling out the stops. Barbatos had used that move plenty of times, but it never worked on Maruzensky.
Even if Maruzensky wasn't using her Zone now, she certainly had the reflexes to counter a curveball. If the game went to overtime, the pressure on Teio would double, handing the advantage to Maruzensky.
WHAM!
Rudolf's hand slammed into the ball. It looked like a power shot aimed deep into the backcourt, right where Taiki Shuttle couldn't reach. If it was a Snake Shot, which way would it bite?
The answer came in an instant.
The moment the ball cleared the net, it didn't curve—it plummeted. It spiraled downward with a vicious backspin.
Thump!
The sheer rotational force caused the ball to hit the ground and immediately hop backward, rolling right back toward the net and settling at Symboli Rudolf's feet. It was a drop shot of impossible finesse.
"Time up!"
"The Emperor's Team! A narrow victory, 1–0!"
--+--
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.