"Let us congratulate Gold Ship for being the first runner to reach 100 points and enter the final!"
After a race ended, the commentator offered congratulations to the winner. On the total points leaderboard, Demon King Gold Ship's points had reached 100, and her entire name was shining.
Demon King Gold Ship looked somewhat regretfully at the two names behind her on the leaderboard. This was different from her original plan.
But there was nothing she could do. She simply could not match with King Halo or Rice Shower. She did not know whether the matching system had some hidden mechanism or whether her luck really was that bad. In short, across ten races, she had not matched against Rice Shower or King Halo even once. As for deliberately throwing races to lower her score, she, the great Demon King, truly disdained doing such a thing.
"As expected of the Demon King. She really is the first to charge into the final. I think the champion of this tournament should be the Demon King unless something unexpected happens. What a pity that Mejiro McQueen didn't obtain a divine skill."
Some spectators were extremely optimistic about the Demon King's chances of winning.
"The Demon King is strong, sure, but isn't the Conqueror strong too? I don't think the Conqueror would lose to the Demon King."
"King Halo is strong too."
"Why are you all arguing back and forth as if those three are guaranteed to win? Just because they have divine skills? I don't think so. I think Mejiro McQueen is stronger. You have to remember, even the Demon King herself said in an interview that she was only a challenger."
"Agreed. Though I support Tokai Teio!"
"You're all still too young. The strength of divine skills is obviously on the level of cheating. Besides, divine skills are one of the final rewards released by the tournament organizers. What does that mean? It means the Three Goddesses already decided the winner of this tournament from the start. The champion of the final will definitely come from among the holders of the three divine skills!"
Although the top eighteen had not yet all appeared,
many people had already begun discussing the outcome of the final. There were many voices supporting the three divine skill holders, because the power of the three divine skills was too strong. It was practically telling everyone outright that they were symbols of the strongest. But there were also many who believed that although divine skills were powerful, they could not possibly be unbeatable. Otherwise, what meaning would the tournament have?
After Demon King Gold Ship was the first to enter the final,
the second to enter was Rice Shower.
Next was Kitasan Black.
The fourth to enter the final was Dancing Brave at her peak.
Dancing Brave was able to enter the final so quickly for two reasons. First, her luck was good. The opponents she matched against were all within a range she could handle. She had not matched with those runners publicly acknowledged as rule-breaking monsters. Second, Dancing Brave was a battle-hardened runner. She spent most of each day soaking in the race venue, forcing her way up through sheer number of races. Of course, her own strength was indeed not weak.
The fifth to enter the final was Symboli Rudolf.
Although Symboli Rudolf's strength was honestly not impressive among experts, her ZONE and skill setup were truly suited for instantly killing opponents weaker than herself. Even if she encountered one or two opponents slightly stronger than her in a race, she could use her plundering mechanics to obtain power boosts from weaker runners and defeat the strong from a weaker position. Add enough desperation and effort, and her charging into the final circle was not really something surprising.
"Congratulations."
Air Groove, who had unfortunately been eliminated long ago, looked enviously at her friend.
There was joy in Symboli Rudolf's eyes as well, but after seeing those names, she said with some distress, "Thank you. But I feel like this is probably as far as I go. The intensity of the final and the intensity now definitely aren't on the same level. Those girls..."
Thinking of those absurdly strong little ones,
Symboli Rudolf seemed to foresee her own defeat.
This was not cowardice, but self-knowledge. She did not believe blind confidence would let her challenge those little monsters.
"True. But even so, at least you were lucky enough to make it into the final circle, unlike us," Mr. C.B. said, somewhat downcast. Her strength was actually about the same as Luna's. It was only because of luck that she had run into those monsters early and been eliminated.
At that moment,
the next strong runner entered the final.
Sixth place: Duramente.
At the very beginning of this event, Duramente's strength had not ranked at all among all participants. But her mentality was simply too suited to this tournament. With the help of shop items and the effects of the training grounds, Duramente successfully rode the momentum upward. Add a little luck, and she broke through her potential again and again.
The current Duramente had undoubtedly reached a legendary level of strength. At this moment, her gaze was fixed firmly on the runners at the top of the leaderboard. Her eyes stopped on Kitasan Black's name for only an instant before quickly turning, burning hot, toward the Demon King's name.
In Duramente's heart, Kitasan Black, who had failed to maintain an undefeated record in this tournament, was no longer the strongest. Her goal had never changed. She wanted to become the strongest.
"Demon King..."
Duramente clenched her fist.
The strong runner who had defeated Kitasan Black
was also the strong runner she would challenge next.
On the second day,
Tokai Teio entered the final in seventh place.
Although her rank was somewhat low,
she was one of the rare undefeated umamusume in this tournament.
On the current leaderboard, only Demon King Gold Ship, Rice Shower, and Tokai Teio had been selected with perfect records.
Even if her points rank was a little low, no one dared look down on her.
After Tokai Teio,
King Halo entered the final in eighth place.
She, too, had an undefeated record.
Ninth place was Secretariat.
Tenth place was Mejiro McQueen.
Over the next two days,
no eleventh place appeared.
Until the third day,
Mejiro McQueen successfully entered the final in eleventh place.
Another two days passed.
Nice Nature and Treve entered the final in twelfth and thirteenth place respectively. The way the former entered the final opened everyone's eyes. Nice Nature had not won a single race. At a glance, more than half of her record was bronze medals. Among all finalists, she was currently the only runner without a win. It could be called a miracle.
After that, Montjeu entered the final in fourteenth place.
Fifteenth: Deep Impact.
Sixteenth: Orfevre.
Seventeenth: Equinox.
Eighteenth: Oguri Cap.
Although there were not no stronger participants behind them, once eighteen participants had reached 100 points, the event entered the final phase. All one could say was that the others had not grinded hard enough.
If one could not maintain a perfect win record,
the ranking rewards above and below were the same as those for ordinary top-100 leaderboard members.
After the top eighteen appeared,
everyone received two days of rest.
Together with the effects of shop items, this was completely enough for every participant to recover to peak condition.
Finally-
that day arrived.
The final venue.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the final of this Strongest Dimensional Tournament. This race will use the tournament's classic format. The course is a rare 4,800 meters, and as everyone can see, it is a mixed course made of both turf and dirt. And that's not all. During the race, the weather will randomly change every 400 meters. This is a course that will truly test the runners' strength!"
Hearing the commentator's introduction,
the entire venue immediately erupted.
This racecourse was far too difficult.
"What the hell? Is the middle lane fake? There are so many slopes, and it's half turf and half dirt. Isn't this basically attempted murder? After running this course, half the umamusume would be finished. Does it have to be this hard?"
"I originally thought the final would be like the previous races, just with stronger runners. But now it looks like this final isn't simply about making the runners compete with each other. Ordinary umamusume probably couldn't even finish the whole race."
At the same time, the participants who saw the course information also had grave expressions. Even White McQueen and the others were no exception. After all, this distance plus mixed terrain placed extremely high demands on stamina.
They could not run according to ordinary race experience.
"All right, that concludes the racecourse introduction. Next, let us look at the popular runners in this final."
"How should we describe this one? Third in popularity: Rice Shower. In the previous phase, she suffered no defeats, winning ten out of ten races. She is also a holder of a divine skill. Although her support rate is only third, Rice Shower's strength loses to no one. We look forward to her performance in this race. Let us cheer for her!"
In an instant, everyone looked toward Rice Shower.
While the audience cheered for Rice Shower,
the participants present all sensed the pitch-black domineering aura around her. Whether they had raced against Rice Shower before or not, every umamusume could feel that threat. This was Rice Shower's force.
"Rice Shower, you understand, don't you?"
[The Conqueror] asked in her heart.
Rice Shower nodded.
"Mm. I know. I'll be serious."
This was no longer the simulated races from before.
This was a real race.
And right now, she was carrying the expectations of countless fans.
In this race, she would bring out her true strength.
Rice Shower's resolve turned into a domineering aura that intimidated the entire venue.
Demon King Gold Ship lifted her head and looked over.
Mejiro McQueen also glanced sideways at her.
They both knew Rice Shower had always been holding back.
In today's race, perhaps they would finally see what Rice Shower looked like when she became truly serious. On top of that, Rice Shower now possessed a divine skill. Who knew how strong she currently was?
"Next is second in popularity: Gold Ship. This is truly surprising. The Demon King, who has stood alone in the spotlight throughout this event, has actually lost in support rate. But even if she is only second in popularity, the Demon King who was the first to claim first place on the leaderboard with a perfect win record is absolutely one of the strongest in this race. The first to display a divine skill in this tournament, the first to enter the final, her fame is known to all. I truly look forward to her next performance!"
Demon King Gold Ship was not especially bothered when she heard this.
She had long since grown tired of being first in popularity.
She could not even remember how many times she had taken first in popularity.
But she did want to see who had stolen her number one popularity. If it was not someone she recognized, then once the race began, she would absolutely make that person suffer.
In the spectator seats,
Agnes Tachyon and Manhattan Cafe were watching.
With their strength, they were originally capable of charging into the final. But Agnes Tachyon did not want to force herself and pressure herself just to enter the final. She had never been a qualified subordinate or worker. As for Manhattan Cafe, there was even less to say. She only felt that taking care of these two problem children was far too exhausting, and she had no mental energy to participate in races.
As for Demon King Gold Ship's anger afterward?
Actually, Demon King Gold Ship was still very nice.
"I hope our Demon King can have her wish fulfilled."
"...Will she win?"
"Who knows?"
Agnes Tachyon did not give a definite answer.
The Demon King was very strong. Divine skills were very strong.
But the opponents this time were terrifyingly strong as well.
This was not a battlefield Agnes Tachyon could predict.
"Finally, first in popularity is this runner: Mejiro McQueen! Her vote rate is far ahead. This really is hard to believe. She is clearly not a holder of a divine skill, and her rank on the leaderboard is not high. Yet her support rate has crushed even the Demon King in second place. Is this the weight of the runner currently called the strongest? Without question, Mejiro McQueen is the protagonist of this race!"
As everyone's horizons widened and their strength grew, more and more people now understood how powerful Mejiro McQueen was. Therefore, there was no surprise in the final's voting count. Mejiro McQueen claimed first in popularity.
This seemed to be the first time in an event tournament that Mejiro McQueen's popularity had crushed Demon King Gold Ship's. In the past, spectators could not see through runners of their level. They could only analyze strength through force and records, so it was easy for them to mistakenly believe Demon King Gold Ship was stronger.
But now, everyone had already seen it.
Mejiro McQueen, whose lower and upper limits could not be seen, was the most terrifying of all the runners. Even without being a divine skill holder, the strength Mejiro McQueen displayed made people feel as if they were seeing a god or demon.
Just as the popular runner introductions ended,
Mejiro McQueen and the others walked into the gates. Including King Halo, none of them intended to speak with their opponents.
Because they were all existences in tiers of their own.
The other participants could not help frowning.
They looked each other over.
They knew very well that their strength could not compare with those monsters.
...
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