Inside the narrow gate.
Super Creek drew a long breath, shutting out the mountain-roar of the crowd. Her heartbeat was steady and strong. In her mind, the plans and tactics she'd built with Fumino flipped by like slides.
Then another image intruded—those looks the other runners shot her as she stepped onto the course, eyes sharp beneath battle-hard auras.
Did none of them notice Inari?
Half a month ago—those domineering eyes, blazing like fire—she remembered them perfectly. I can't run like before. If I want to win…
The blue of Super Creek's eyes shifted—something firmer, even a touch keen, quietly gathered in the warmth behind them.
"Woooo—!"
As if answering the fighting spirit that had peaked across the field, the rousing pre-race music thundered over Kyoto Racecourse. The announcer's fiery voice filled every corner:
"All runners have loaded!"
"Then—"
"Kyoto Racecourse, G1, Tenno Sho (Spring)! Turf 3200m!!"
The signal above the gates flipped—
Bang!
Metal rang; the doors snapped wide!
"They're off!"
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Fourteen figures launched like fourteen loosed arrows, the ground drumming beneath them.
"A beautiful break! They're almost all out together!"
"Free Run secures the lead! She's out first, charging ahead!"
"Right behind—Super Creek! The Kikuka Sho champion and top favorite locks down a perfect second!"
Wind scissored past, tugging at her hair. Super Creek's face was calm water. She kept breath and cadence even while the corner of her eye swept the dense pack behind and beside her. At the break she'd clearly felt several fierce presences surge forward like sharks scenting blood. Had her start been even a hair slower, she'd be trapped mid-pack right now—no room to move.
So… this decision was right.
Even if it meant spending precious stamina early, she had to seize position. She understood perfectly: if she were forced to come from deep and trade pure late kicks with Inari in the stretch—she would lose.
Tap—!
Behind, a petite shadow lay in wait. Inari One's stride was rock-steady; the pre-race playfulness was gone. Like a predator selecting prey, deep crimson ripples rolled in her pupils.
"Good… now let Inari-sama tear you all apart."
Her lips curled. A fearsome pressure brewed on her small frame.
They were about to hit the first turn when a grating, needling whisper pricked Inari's ear:
"Don't rush~"
It slipped in like a ghost. Anger surged up her spine. Cords rose on her steel-honed thighs—power ready to blow.
In that instant, the red tracers in Inari's eyes boiled, and with irresistible force, she expelled the interference from her mind.
"Damn it!"
She snapped back, teeth clenched, scanning the runners around her. A phantom fire-fox flared at her back, silent-screaming, its heat-haze sweep making nearby girls feel a chill race up the tailbone—they hunched instinctively.
Ahead of Inari, a green-haired runner quickly looked away, lips pressed tight, sweat beading at her brow.
Through Audina had noticed, ever since True Blooming, that she was unlike others of her cohort. Her mental force was beyond the norm; with certain words or gestures, she could influence opponents' emotions and situational reads during a race.
Her trainer had consulted seasoned mentors—even the "Emperor," Symboli Rudolf. The verdict: a mesmeric talent—the kind a whole generation might never see twice.
At first, Audina had been thrilled. Used well, surely this power would win her glory.
But slowly she found the truth: without it, she was just ordinary graded class. And she could only meaningfully disrupt one or two rivals per race. The rest of the time, her path to victory was brutally narrow.
Second. Third. Fourth…
Every time, at the end, she watched others blaze past to the line—and bask in the crowd's roar.
Content?
Of course not.
So she came to the Tenno Sho (Spring). At 3200m, the distance would shred most runners' decision-making before the final sprint. Perhaps the mind she could sway from one or two would become three or four…
This, she believed, could be the brightest moment of her career.
But that same overwhelming sensitivity let her notice something else: while warming up, a seemingly ordinary girl had carried within her a power as deep as the abyss—far beyond even the top favorite, Super Creek. Comparable to the foreign monsters Audina had watched in last year's Japan Cup.
If she strolls into the stretch untouched, I lose—no matter what I do!
So she struck early, on the first turn—aiming to skew Inari's reads with a whisper.
And in a heartbeat, that meddling was shattered—only stoking the tiny girl's boundless fury and wary focus.
She's… not in our dimension at all…
The green-haired girl bit down hard and clung to mid-pack, thoughts racing.
"Huh?"
Up front, Super Creek felt it—the sudden flare, then the forced suppression, of something dangerous behind her. She pegged the rough source at once—the middle-rear, where Inari lurked.
She didn't know what had happened, but… thanks for the assist.
A flicker of a smile cut through the wind. Creek's ice-blue eyes hawk-locked on the leader, Free Run. Heart pumping steadily, she kept that second slot and stretched her breathing even longer and smoother.
Dudududu—
Hooves hammered; the turf reeled backward; the gale shredded loose strands.
Save as much as possible early. Probe in mid-race. Don't let Inari walk into the endgame.
Otherwise…
She recalled last year's unstoppable finishing bursts—Tamamo Cross and Oguri Cap—and her face hardened.
"Into the first turn, Free Run still leads. Super Creek sits right behind—no intention to pass yet. Third is…"
The announcer's cadence smoothed into steady play-by-play.
Mid-pack, Through Audina bit her lip. The wind dried the sweat at her brow to a knife-cold sting. Failure still circled like a vulture, but she forced herself to focus.
Don't give up… The stretch is my battlefield.
Panting, she clung to the middle group—yet her gaze kept dragging forward, to the line of Super Creek's back.
"Two… I can't waste energy on more than two!"
(End of Chapter)
[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 500 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]