The golden streams of light around Generous surged and rolled like molten lava.
Her gallant figure leaned forward to an extreme degree. In a stance that was almost terrifying, she split the air ahead of her and charged toward the purple-haired girl in white not far ahead.
But...
Generous's expression slowly began to twist.
The fighting spirit boiling in her blood had completely overwhelmed her original gentle nature.
Why?
Why couldn't she catch up?
The ruler of Europe no longer had the room to think about why, when she had clearly activated her Domain, and when even the two top-tier rivals behind her had been thrown far into the distance, she still could not close the gap with Mejiro McQueen.
Now, the answer was visible to the naked eye.
Generous and McQueen at the very front seemed like two points on parallel lines that would never intersect.
Both of them were constantly widening the distance from Victory Glow and the others behind them.
Yet the distance between those two points never shrank.
Golden ghostlight surged in Generous's pupils. Her sharpened intuition made her feel it with absolute clarity.
Now that she had activated the second step of Domain, her speed truly was the fastest of any Uma Musume on this course.
But that "fastest" still had a limit.
At the very least, it was nowhere near enough for her to erase that hopeless four-length gap with only 600 meters remaining.
I'm going to lose?
The thought suddenly appeared in the blonde girl's mind, but in the next instant, she violently drove it out.
Impossible! Impossible! Impossible!
How could I possibly lose?
"Clack."
Her teeth slammed together. Generous could even taste the faint tang of blood rising from the depths of her throat.
The wind beside her ears seemed to grow louder, slamming the terrifying force kicked up by the gray-haired Uma Musume ahead against her face.
As if telling her: you can't win.
But Generous had no intention of giving up.
Her back went taut like a fully drawn bowstring. Muscles writhed madly beneath her skin, squeezing out every last drop of strength and converting it into power for her run.
The golden streams of light grew even more intense, nearly swallowing her entire outline.
And within her dark heart-lake, the blonde girl's soul was racing forward just as wildly as her body pushed against its limits.
"Hah... haah..."
"There's still a chance. There's still one more way!"
Ripple after ripple spread across the surface of her heart-lake.
"I have to touch that feeling from back then again... This pressure, heavy enough to crush a person, is my chance to go one step further!"
The girl's soul screamed again and again within the abyss.
Every stride she took in reality deepened the harmony between soul and body by another degree.
Her surging fighting spirit spread from her heart-lake through her entire body, forcibly pushing her speed slightly higher at the very edge of her limit.
"She can't catch up! Generous can't catch up to Mejiro McQueen at all!"
In the stands, the commentator clenched the microphone in his hand, practically throwing himself over the commentary desk.
"Even though Generous has already begun her full-speed final spurt, she still can't catch Mejiro McQueen! Is this the end?"
The broadcast camera locked tightly onto the two figures at the front.
Mejiro McQueen, purple-haired and dressed in white, was like a monarch stepping through the air. Every stride made the earth tremble, and her long purple hair flew wildly in the wind.
Behind her, Generous was like a golden flame burning to its absolute peak. Every step carried the resolve of someone ready to break the cauldrons and sink the boats.
Gold and violet streams of light streaked across the track, weaving together into a scene that made the heart seize.
"They're about to enter the final straight! Mejiro McQueen is still in first! She is still maintaining an absolute lead!"
"Will Mejiro McQueen overturn the throne and lead all the way to the finish, or can Generous create a miracle at this very moment?! Let's see it through!"
The atmosphere of the entire racecourse was pushed to its peak in an instant.
"Ooooooooooh!"
The spectators' roars nearly tore the dome off the venue. Countless flags waved madly in the stands as the crowd screamed itself hoarse, cheering for these two top Uma Musume who represented the highest level in the world.
At the very front of the track, only two figures remained, one chasing and one fleeing.
As one of Europe's greatest Uma Musume, Generous understood the limits of her own body better than anyone.
She also knew that if she kept running like this, even if she fought with everything she had and managed to recover one or two lengths by the end, she would never touch victory.
But who said this was everything she had?
For an instant, the blonde girl's thoughts seemed to return to several months ago.
At that time, she had only just stepped from her Classic Year into her Senior Year, and her strength had been nowhere near as powerful as it was now.
So in a certain race, she had encountered the same kind of despair she faced today.
And what had helped her tear through that hopeless situation back then was a new sensation she had felt:
the roar of an Uma Musume's soul.
At this very moment, this dead end where victory could not be seen, this uncompromising fighting spirit, was just like the despair from several months ago.
"Thump!"
In the next instant, a dull sound seemed to echo through the void, like a heart pumping blood.
"It's finally here!"
Generous's heart-lake suddenly churned. The once silent, pitch-black lake erupted into towering waves.
The figure of the girl's soul stood proudly atop the crest. She clenched her silver teeth, her eyes flashing with endless unwillingness and determined light.
Her hand slowly rose, then abruptly closed around the hilt of the rapier at the waist of her racing outfit.
A faint golden glow flowed along the blade. Every ray of light represented her desire to never give up and sprint to the very end.
"I can't lose!"
"I am the ruler of Europe! I am Generous! I will never allow myself to be defeated here so easily!"
All her unwillingness, all her resolve, all her fighting spirit gathered at the hilt in that instant.
The blonde girl's soul suddenly exerted all its force. With a terrifying momentum that seemed to tear the void apart, the rapier slashed viciously down toward the black heart-lake beneath her feet.
"Come out for me!"
White light flashed.
A blinding radiance burst from the blade. The pitch-black heart-lake seemed to be split open by that decisive strike, carved with a fissure that pierced heaven and earth.
And in the deepest part of that fissure, an ancient, vast gate slowly emerged.
Intricate, obscure patterns were carved into the gate. Every line radiated an ancient and inviolable majesty.
This was the third step of Domain: the gate of World.
At that moment, the corner of the gate revealed within the fissure abruptly began to tremble and hum, as if responding to Generous's summons.
Then it opened by the faintest, almost imperceptible crack...
A vast and mysterious power poured out from the gap, sweeping across the entire heart-lake in an instant.
"!"
Generous's running body jolted hard. Golden light, almost tangible, instantly overflowed through the girl's entire soul.
In reality, at the very front of the racecourse, Mejiro McQueen, who had been riding the wind at full speed, seemed to sense something keenly. Her brows drew together slightly.
The wind direction on the course changed abruptly in that instant.
At the overseas trainers' stand above, Kuroha and Godolphin looked down at the strange phenomenon below, surprise appearing on their faces.
"To think she could actually reach this step. Through talent and conviction alone, she forced World open and made it answer her."
The Blue Goddess slowly opened her narrowed eyes. A complex emotion, part admiration and part regret, flashed through them.
"Though it's very forced, the depth she's stepping into is already close to Little Inari at her peak..."
Kuroha, beside her, said nothing. He only nodded silently, his eyes filled with recognition for this former ruler of Europe.
The awakening of Domain was supposed to be the product of "heart, body, and technique" reaching their peaks and becoming perfectly unified.
Heart was the helmsman that governed power. Without it, an Uma Musume could not see the source of her own potential.
Body was the vessel that carried power. Without it, an Uma Musume could not possess the solid foundation needed to gallop across the track.
Technique was the bridge that transformed power. Without it, an Uma Musume could not convert all her potential into the decisive edge of victory.
Among his Chasing Light Uma Musume, aside from late additions like Oguri Cap, every single one of them had stepped onto this path through that orthodox method.
But some Uma Musume were different.
With unprecedented talent, or an unshakable will and resolve tempered through countless trials, they could also forcefully break through the shackles that limited them.
For a single moment, they could tear open Domain by force and directly open that gate.
All of them had relied on their already considerable talent and superhuman will under extreme pressure to force open the threshold of Domain.
And in a better case, like Haito Star, she had relied purely on her monster-like talent to step directly into the second step of Domain before True Blooming and without experiencing even the slightest professional training.
Generous on the track was the same.
Kuroha could see it clearly. This blonde Uma Musume's "heart, body, and technique" had not reached unity at all.
Her technique looked decent on the surface, but among the very highest level, it was still somewhat crude.
Right now, it was completely dragging down her terrifying physical ability and unyielding will.
Even so, through talent and the desire to win pushed to the absolute limit, she had forcibly taken a half step forward.
Unfortunately, that was all it was. Only half a step...
Back then, because Inari One's innate talent had been lacking, no matter how strong her technique and will were, she had been able to go no farther than this.
And now, despite Generous's supreme talent and unwavering will, the drag of her acquired technique likewise kept her stopped before this gate, unable to fully push it open.
Kuroha lowered his eyes slightly, looking at the racecourse below.
At this moment, the light surging like golden lava was continuously expanding, almost transforming everything within dozens of meters around Generous into her own absolute territory.
He watched that golden miracle in silence for several seconds.
Then he sighed softly.
"What a shame."
(End of Chapter)
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