In that instant, it was like thunder exploding from a clear sky.
Boom!
Heavy footfalls detonated right beside her ears.
A small, light figure that was somehow outrageously fast swept up to her side like a demon breaking through empty space, soundless and yet violently overwhelming.
The girl's ponytail traced a graceful arc through the wind.
Looking at the shock and pain written all over Blizzard's face, she gave a playful blink and said in a bright, crisp voice:
"When you're racing, you need to pay more attention to your condition. Don't let yourself get led around, okay~?"
Before the last note had even faded, Tokai Teio shot forward like a fighter jet with its engines fully ignited, leaving behind only a cool afterimage as she charged after the prey at the very front.
"..."
Blizzard froze completely.
Led around...?
What did that mean?
Had someone manipulated me?
But before Blizzard could fully process those words, a second set of steady, razor-sharp footsteps was already closing in.
Thud!
It was an unyielding reddish-brown figure.
As Nice Nature passed by Blizzard, her steps slowed for just a moment and she turned her head slightly.
She looked at the horse girl who had once been seen as a major threat, but who had now been utterly defeated after falling behind in speed.
A complicated glimmer rose in her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Nice Nature murmured it softly.
The next instant, she stopped looking at Blizzard. The strength she had been storing up for so long erupted from beneath her feet, and her reddish-brown figure blasted forward.
Following the current Teio had torn open in the wind, she drove straight toward the final stage that would decide victory.
As Sakolin Field, Blizzard, and the other horse girls began losing speed one after another, the lead pack quickly dwindled until only Ibuki Mai Kagura, still clinging to first, and the rapidly charging Tokai Teio and Nice Nature remained.
"Sakolin Field and Blizzard are dropping off! Why?!"
"Tokai Teio is here! Tokai Teio is here! Tokai Teio has finally started accelerating!"
"Nice Nature is coming up too, but..."
The commentator paused for a beat, then shouted, "The gap between her and Tokai Teio is just too obvious!"
"What incredible speed! Seven lengths! Six lengths! Five lengths! Four lengths! She's passed Sakolin Field!"
"Ibuki Mai Kagura is fleeing, but can she get away?!"
There were still two runners left with enough strength for one final burst.
But Nice Nature and Tokai Teio's finishing speed was on a completely different level.
On the track, that small figure was nearly pulling an afterimage behind her.
Every push off the ground seemed to gather the force of thunder itself, and the distance between her and Ibuki Mai Kagura shrank at terrifying speed.
It was like opposite poles of a magnet, crazily pulling toward each other.
"Teio?!"
Ibuki Mai Kagura felt the scorching presence behind her. It was a will so fierce it seemed capable of setting the air itself ablaze.
"How is she this fast?!"
She did not even need to look back. Those footsteps, clearer and heavier with every passing second, seemed to spell out the ending for her: she would be caught, and then mercilessly crushed.
I already gave it everything.
I already did my best.
And I'm going to lose before we've even reached the homestretch?
Crunch.
Her teeth ground together so hard it felt like her jaw might shatter.
Thud!
That heavy footfall sounded again, and the shock of it made Ibuki Mai Kagura's pupils go slack.
"Kagura~"
At this very moment, Tokai Teio had already drawn even with her, flashing her a cheerful grin as if she wanted to say something.
But Ibuki Mai Kagura, dazed as she was, did not hear a word.
Her mind was flashing through fragments of memory.
The longing and admiration she had felt the first time she saw a horse girl race on television.
The excitement of becoming a student at Tracen Academy.
The countless days and nights after her True Blooming, sweating it out on the training grounds and refusing to give up.
The warmth of her trainer patting her shoulder and telling her, "You're a one-of-a-kind horse girl. Believe in your own strength," when she had been at her lowest.
And the firm vow she had whispered to herself in the mirror before the race:
I have to win.
Those images flashed through her mind like shattered glass.
Yet in the very next second, they were smashed apart by that shadowing pressure right at her back.
She could feel it with perfect clarity. Tokai Teio's presence was already right on top of her.
That overwhelming force, brimming with vitality and confidence, was slowly breaking down the last line of her mental defense.
Her breathing turned harsher. The pain in her limbs came crashing in wave after wave, almost enough to make her give up resisting.
But...
Do you submit?
No!
"Aaaaaaah!"
Suddenly, Ibuki Mai Kagura let out a savage roar. In her eyes, a flickering trail of pinkish-white light burst forth like a signal breaking in and out.
Hum...
A formless power was born out of nowhere and poured into every inch of her body, giving her the strength for one final struggle.
"Teio, let's fight!"
Ibuki Mai Kagura barked out, her face filled with resolve and sharpened intent.
"..."
Beside her, Tokai Teio stared for a moment at the flickering light of her opponent's "True Self State," and at the unwavering conviction in her words.
She understood this rival's faith.
After a brief silence, she laughed brightly.
"Okay!"
The power she had originally not wanted to use came surging out along with her resolve.
Her friend had chosen to push past her limits and finish this race.
Then she, too, would naturally give everything she had.
In the next instant, it was as if a phoenix cried out.
As Tokai Teio's answer fell, streaks of crimson light like phoenix feathers suddenly whirled up from the void.
They circled and gathered, until a world of flames rose around the girl.
Domain.
(End of Chapter)
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