Before the race began, quite a few participants looked troubled by the race conditions before them.
Many among them had no aptitude for dirt tracks. Moreover, even those who could run on dirt would not find heavy going under heavy rain easy. Although this was only a mile race, the stamina required was almost no less than a long-distance race.
Not to mention...
Their opponent was fourth on the points leaderboard.
That pure-white, magnificent figure remained elegant even beneath the rain curtain, and her body revealed an aura of considerable confidence and composure.
The commentator began introducing the popular runners of this race.
"Third in popularity, Mejiro Ramonu. Her current record is two races and two wins. In her previous race, she even took victory by a huge margin of twelve lengths. Unfortunately, this runner does not seem to have experience running on dirt. We do not know whether she can overcome this difficulty today."
Standing inside the gate with elegance and cold beauty, Mejiro Ramonu smiled somewhat bitterly. It seemed her good luck ended here.
In the previous two races, Mejiro Ramonu had randomly matched with opponents weaker than herself, so she had no defeats.
After all, although each race generally had around fifteen participants, because there were so many participants overall, the level of the runners varied greatly. As long as one was lucky, one could still match with opponents of similar strength, or weaker opponents.
Luck truly was extremely important in this tournament.
But in today's race, Mejiro Ramonu truly had no confidence at all. Leaving aside the fact that she had randomly matched with an opponent who possessed a divine skill, this harsh race field was one she truly could not run.
"No choice. Even if it is not beautiful, I still have to struggle a little."
Mejiro Ramonu patted her cheeks and recovered her fighting spirit.
It was impossible for her to give up before the race.
In the spectator seats, many of the younger sisters of the Mejiro family were watching her race. There were even other versions of herself from different worlds. She had to display her will.
"Second in popularity, Smart Falcon. Although this is her first time participating, this runner is extremely powerful. She has also randomly drawn a field she specializes in. We can see that her condition is quite confident. We hope she can run a good result and live up to her fans' expectations!"
Smart Falcon, wearing a golden performance outfit, had eyes filled with fighting spirit. She prepared to start inside the gate.
Although in her very first race, she had randomly drawn a powerhouse with a title and divine skill, as well as a legendary umamusume like Mejiro Ramonu, whom she had only heard rumors about in her original world, she possessed confidence that she absolutely would not lose this race.
If one asked why...
Because this was her field.
Having completed the Flash Series in her original world, and being called the Silence Suzuka of dirt, she had never encountered much opposition on dirt. Her confidence had been forged by victory after victory.
The her standing here now was no longer the rookie idol who had just debuted, but a top idol who had already graduated.
Her radiance would lose to no one.
"I won't lose. I absolutely have to win!"
Holding such firm conviction, Smart Falcon's entire body seemed to shine. Her figure was so moving that, in the spectator seats, some Smart Falcons who still lacked confidence were shocked by this version of themselves.
So people like them could also become this dazzling? And she was second in popularity in her first race?
But very quickly, the screen suddenly cut to black.
Along with the background music exclusive to holders of divine skills, that terrifying pressure immediately made every participant and every spectator watching this race feel a chill.
"A holder of divine power!"
Countless spectators revealed expectant looks.
That was an emotion drawn in by power.
It was only human nature to like powerful and beautiful umamusume.
Not to mention, the three umamusume who held divine power were so beautiful. That overwhelming strength was something no one could refuse. Once one personally witnessed it, there was no going back.
The Demon King's aesthetic of violence.
The Conqueror's invincible execution.
Although King Halo's current race performances were not as stunning as those of the other two, if placed among all races from these two days, she was still powerful in a way different from other runners.
If at first some people had thought the holders of divine skills had obtained that power through luck, then now, two days after the tournament began, the holders of divine skills had already shattered everyone's illusions with absolute strength.
They had not been chosen because of luck. They had been chosen because they were strong enough.
The strength of these three runners belonged to a different dimension. Among all participants, only a very small handful had performances that could match them.
"Runners, take your positions!"
As the BGM ended, the venue's sound began to vanish. The audience also politely made no noise. In that oppressive silence, every runner concentrated her mind.
Until the sound symbolizing the signal rang out.
"The race begins!"
The instant the gates opened, every participant rushed onto the track together.
"All runners have successfully left the gates."
The commentator Kojiro said, "However, we can see that quite a few runners are being bound by the gravity of the dirt. Unlike firm turf, this heavy dirt track is truly hell!"
"Damn it!"
Many runners had ugly expressions.
Although they had long known this field would be difficult to run, only once they actually began their starts did they understand that it was truly different. Each step felt like stepping into a marsh. There was no feeling of solid footing. Every step required more effort.
Even an umamusume like Mejiro Ramonu was not performing well at this moment, unable to display even half her strength.
And some umamusume from Europe and America felt pleasantly surprised after seeing their poor performances.
One had to know that in previous turf races, these umamusume from different worlds had broadened their horizons.
Because in many worlds, Japan's umamusume did not have much status internationally. But after this tournament began, many people discovered that Japan's umamusume had truly been underestimated.
However, Japan's umamusume also had a major weakness: their performances on dirt tracks were unusually weak. Only a small number of runners could perform decently on dirt. The vast majority of Japanese umamusume, after encountering a dirt track, would become weaklings below third-rate.
Just like now.
Several participants from Europe and America revealed confident smiles. Although bullying people who could not display their strength was not interesting, these were the race rules. They would take this race.
But in the next instant, a streak of starlight flashed by, and a golden flash left everyone behind.
"Smart Falcon has begun bursting from the early phase!"
"How could that be? That girl!"
Without seeming to spend much effort, she rushed out of the encirclement and arrived at second position.
"Let's use this."
No Entry Ahead Order (Flash): Inflicts major anxiety and movement delay on opponents ahead. Has a certain probability of interrupting the opponent's current skill state.
Red ripples swept forward.
Smart Falcon was hit by the blocking skill, and her expression immediately changed.
No way.
She was using an interference skill at this level this early?
Smart Falcon felt extremely uncomfortable.
Even for a graduated umamusume like her, the number of blocking-type opponents she had encountered in her life was limited. Opponents with Flash-level blocking skills were even rarer. They were incomparably torturous opponents.
"King Halo has rushed to the front ranks at this time and used a powerful interference skill against Smart Falcon. As expected, she cannot possibly let Smart Falcon escape so easily!"
Many Runners in the spectator seats had dramatic changes in expression.
This was what most Runners feared.
After all, what Runners liked most was wildly pushing speed. But once they encountered a major blocker, they truly had to put on the mask of pain.
However, Smart Falcon did not sit still and wait for death.
"Don't underestimate the perseverance of an idol umamusume!"
A Flash Skill activated.
Although she could not ignore the influence of the blocking skill, she only needed to endure it with even greater speed.
In this performance, I have no intention of giving up center position.
To the Top Stage (Flash)
I Absolutely Have to Be Center (Flash)
"This is my performance!"
Smart Falcon's speed began rising again.
Seeing this, King Halo's expression did not change.
Of course she knew that blocking skill could only disgust Smart Falcon a little. But something like victory was accumulated through small advantages. Being able to force out two of the opponent's Flash Skills this early was already a huge profit for her.
And besides, far too naive.
Among the participants of this race, I am the strongest one. Is brainlessly using Great Runner in front of me really all right?
Your strength is decent.
But this is not the kind of race you ran in the past.
King Halo's speed rose steadily. Merely by continuously using general advanced acceleration skills, she kept up with Smart Falcon, who was advancing at full speed. The gap between the two remained within four lengths, and the pack behind them stretched longer and longer.
A certain alternate-space counterpart young lady of King Halo had now fallen to the very back of the pack with an ugly expression. When first and second place entered the middle phase, she was still slowly crawling through the early phase. The gap was already over a hundred meters.
"Impossible. I am KING!"
The incomparably miserable girl was so anxious she was about to cry.
Because of their special relationship, the original King Halo in the stands also paid slight attention to that apparent debut-era version of herself in this race. After seeing that performance, she immediately felt unable to keep watching.
It could only be said that it truly did not exceed her expectations.
"That's why, why did you make such a confident victory declaration before the race began?!"
At this moment, the original King Halo suddenly understood Mother's feelings when she had looked at her old self. It really was a complicated feeling, so complicated that it even felt a little pitiful.
But fortunately, there was another self in this race.
That was the true her.
The original King Halo looked toward King Halo at this moment.
So beautiful, me.
To think she could run so elegantly even on such a harsh field. As expected of my ideal self.
At the rear of the spectator seats, Goodby Halos from different worlds gathered together. One of them proudly held her head high and said, "My Little Halo is amazing!"
Don't come bragging at every race, damn it.
The race soon reached the final phase.
Smart Falcon also began to run somewhat short on stamina.
Because King Halo kept releasing blocking skills from time to time, Smart Falcon felt as if she were running a marathon right now.
"Damn it, who is being this disgusting?"
Smart Falcon did not have the habit of turning back during races. Because she had run turf races during her debut period, there had been a long time when she failed to achieve good results. This led her to develop the habit of giving every race her all. Even after she later achieved good results on dirt, she did not become complacent because of those results.
Added to that, Wit was indeed her weak point. In order to maintain her strength output, her perception was indeed inferior to that of other first-rate umamusume. Therefore, she had no idea who was attacking her.
"Ahead is the final straight! Victory and defeat will be decided!"
King Halo's gaze was deep.
"Your stamina has reached its limit too, hasn't it?"
You really have no guard up at all, Falcon.
But she was already used to it.
Because she had discovered that these runners who liked Great Runner all had defects in the Wit department. Someone like McQueen was the exception instead.
After all, Mejiro McQueen chose Great Runner because she ran fast. Mejiro McQueen's running style should have been more suited to Leader.
Skill activated.
King Halo launched a charge forward with a terrifying posture. Although Smart Falcon did not react, the participants behind them and the spectators with a third-person view all noticed it.
"Victory and defeat are decided."
"Their strength simply isn't in the same league."
"Should we say this is as expected of a divine skill holder? Though we still haven't seen this one's divine skill this time either. That really is an incomparably regrettable thing. It makes people care all the more."
Only after King Halo caught up did Smart Falcon discover she had been caught. Her face immediately filled with disbelief.
"How is that possible? How could I be caught so quickly?"
One had to know that she had been bursting the entire time. Even if she had now fallen into decline, an opponent should not have been able to catch her this quickly, right?
Could it be that this opponent had already successfully caught up to her earlier?
"So strong..."
Smart Falcon's pupils trembled.
...
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