Red waves swept across the entire field one circle after another.
That terrifying gravity ruled over every participant present.
Kitasan Black's skill was interrupted. She could not even maintain her Flow state. With an incomparably ugly expression, she turned back and glanced behind her. The source of the red light was still releasing its pulse, and she instantly felt awful.
"This is... Demon King-senpai's move!"
[Demon King's Domain: Mood drops to absolute bad condition!]
[Demon King's Aura: Speed and stamina greatly decrease!]
[All-Style Restraint: Speed and stamina decrease!]
[All-Style Wounds: Speed and mood decrease!]
That crimson field was the symbol of the Demon King's descent.
Forget the runners who were hit. Even Nice Nature, who was lagging behind in last place and had not taken the full brunt of all the blocking skills, was frightened by this combo. Before, she had only known that the Demon King was an umamusume with absurdly abnormal burst power and terrifying strength. She had not noticed that the Demon King was an even more terrifying blocking specialist than herself.
"This is bad. Thank goodness not all of it hit, or I might not even be able to continue the race. Can a skill like this really exist? In terms of blocking skills, I, Nice Nature, admit complete defeat."
Skill effects that covered the entire field.
And with such terrifying accuracy, close to 100 percent. This was the Demon King's performance in the blocking category.
Too strong.
Even Nice Nature, who had entered the final through blocking skills, had knelt.
Tokai Teio could not help clicking her tongue.
"That girl finally made her move."
She glanced at Rice Shower beside her, who was wreathed in pitch-black mist, and felt somewhat uneasy. Rice Shower's Fusion could passively devour blocking skill effects. Damn Demon King, always doing unnecessary things. Did she think Rice Shower was such an easy opponent to deal with?
"Teio-oneesama and Kita both held back."
"No need to rush. The ones who should be anxious now are them."
Rice Shower and the Conqueror calmly controlled their rhythm.
If she had needed to consider consumption under her divine skill state before, then after the Demon King's field detonation, with the speed and stamina of others greatly consumed, her situation had instead improved. After all, Fusion's passive effect was not affected by the divine skill. In other words, the passive consumption remained at its original cost.
Oguri Cap was silent.
She was forced to activate her ZONE effect to oppose the Demon King's blocking skills. Although she could not completely immunize herself against them, at least she could reduce the interference effects. For example, the mood-decreasing effect of Demon King's Domain changed, under the influence of domain opposition, from lowering her to absolute bad condition to lowering her to normal. Although the Demon King's domain interference effect was still terrifying, and combined with the influence of the other blocking skills, Oguri Cap's mood was still lowered to poor condition, at least it had not been lowered to the minimum.
"I'm hungry..."
Black flames of aura searched for prey. Oguri Cap's Devour had an effect similar to Fusion, but her instincts told her that the runners ahead were not easy to deal with. She might not be able to eat their power, so she could only temporarily hold back her killing intent.
Blue starlight flickered.
Oguri Cap chose to use a recovery skill here.
Mejiro McQueen also entered ZONE and subconsciously used a recovery skill, but it was meaningless. Her ZONE only had a purification effect. It was not true invincible resistance. In addition, her resistance to blocking skills was not as high as Oguri Cap's. At this moment, her suffering index could be said to be maxed out.
"This is so painful..."
Mejiro McQueen watched her speed fall.
Facing Demon King Gold Ship's blocking skills, Mejiro McQueen's Flow state did not waver in the slightest. If Kitasan Black's Flow was entering a berserk state and bringing her own power to the limit, then Mejiro McQueen's Flow was the ultimate calm. Therefore, she was not affected by mood interference. Her mood was locked at the state it had been in when the race began. As for the interference effects on speed and stamina, she merely used multiple skill combinations to complete this round of resistance.
Behind her were Secretariat and Dancing Brave.
Although both of them were shaken by the Demon King's chain bombs, their moods were likewise not affected much. As world legends, perhaps in this event their stat panels and skill levels were inferior to Demon King Gold Ship and the others, but in terms of umamusume realm and will, they stood at the peak just like Mejiro McQueen. Although their Flow states were not as targeted as Mejiro McQueen's, they could still reduce mood interference to the lower limit.
Mejiro McQueen's position was still falling.
Next came Treve and Montjeu.
Although their states had also been significantly affected, as Betweener runners, their condition was still stable, much better than
Mejiro McQueen, who was running as a Runner. They had also prepared multiple recovery skills.
Behind Treve and Montjeu were King Halo and Deep Impact, with Equinox and Duramente slightly behind. Then came Orfevre. Symboli Rudolf trailed Orfevre by three lengths, almost level with Demon King Gold Ship's position. Last was Nice Nature.
After Demon King Gold Ship's attack,
the participants' strength tiers had been exposed.
Mejiro McQueen and Nice Nature showed the poorest performances.
The second straight was passed smoothly.
The race reached the third turn at 1,600 meters.
"Kitasan Black is still leading."
"Number 2, Rice Shower, and number 7, Tokai Teio, are following closely."
"Number 18, Oguri Cap, is in somewhat poor condition."
"The first favorite, Mejiro McQueen, is still holding back her strength."
"..."
The race soon reached 2,000 meters.
They entered the third straight.
One lap was about to end.
The runners passed in front of the stands. The spectators could clearly see that many runners were already panting, yet there was still another lap to run. During the first lap, almost every umamusume had consciously controlled the release of their skills and had not used too many skills to increase their own burden. Even so, this mixed-terrain 4,800-meter course was clearly not something an ordinary umamusume could run.
"The first lap's results are out!"
A list of results flashed across the big screen.
The race immediately entered the second lap!
Although it was the same course as the first lap, compared with the first lap, the trampled track had instead become even harder to run. If certain sections had originally been good going, then after the first lap, they had already become bad going.
The folds of the runners' outfits were now covered in mud and rainwater. The weather changing every so often was simply torture. Forget the participants at the bottom in strength. Even Kitasan Black and the others, whose strength broke the usual scale, felt awful at this moment.
"Damn it. If I'd known, I wouldn't have run as a Runner!"
Kitasan Black thought through clenched teeth.
She really had not expected this course to be so disgusting. But she was already riding a tiger she could not dismount. If she changed her running style now, all her previous persistence would become useless effort.
This was already the second lap.
If she handed her position to her seniors now,
it would be very difficult to chase back later.
After all, Teio-senpai and Rice Shower-senpai looked as if they still had strength left. And that Oguri Cap seemed very eager to target her. Was it because, in the current state, she was the easiest to target? But she really did not dare enter ZONE casually now!
"Ugh, Rice Shower-senpai, please spare me."
Kitasan Black knew very well that Rice Shower-senpai was now waiting for a chance to open Fusion. Among the nearby runners, only her own ZONE and McQueen-senpai's ZONE were Rice Shower-senpai's targets. As for Teio-senpai? Teio-senpai's ZONE could not be eaten. After all, Teio-senpai could rewind her own time. Even if Super Fusion hit her, it would merely rewind time once.
"Damn it. Should I use Fusion too and gamble?"
No, no, no.
Kitasan Black cowardly abandoned that risky thought.
Although she could imitate Fusion,
the current Rice Shower-senpai had her divine skill active. That was an upgraded Super Fusion. Even if it did not reach the strength of true Super Fusion, it was still not something normal Fusion could deal with.
"Crap. Isn't this checkmate?"
"McQueen-senpai, what are you waiting for?"
Kitasan Black was anxiously waiting for a variable to appear. Before Rice Shower used Fusion's active effect, she truly did not dare act recklessly. The strongest blocking skill was no joke.
"They have smoothly passed the first straight of the second lap. We can see that quite a few runners' stamina is already in trouble."
At this moment, one could see that many runners' speeds were falling. This was not because they had some tactic left. They simply lacked stamina. Oguri Cap's position was also falling rapidly. Although she very much wanted to eat Kitasan Black in first place, Devour had an attack range, and that range was very narrow. Under Kitasan Black's control, Oguri Cap had been unable to activate Devour, and without stamina replenishment, she had also fallen into a desperate situation.
She instinctively released Devour toward the runner currently at the front. But Mejiro McQueen seemed to have predicted her idea long ago. Before Devour activated, she used a skill to accelerate and escape the attack range. Secretariat and Dancing Brave behind her seemed to sense something as well, and imitated Mejiro McQueen by blocking Oguri Cap. In the end, Oguri Cap's Devour hit
Mejiro McQueen.
But
Mejiro McQueen's stamina was already nearly bottomed out, so both of them ended up in a bad situation.
Oguri Cap: "Crap."
The two began falling back.
Their speed had completely fallen behind the main group.
Treve and Montjeu behind them were also slowly falling back. Among the rear-positioned runners, the only ones still able to hold on were King Halo, Deep Impact, Equinox, and Demon King Gold Ship. Orfevre and the others, who had originally planned to release blocking skills, had all of their skill panels sealed after Demon King Gold Ship caught up.
Symboli Rudolf had originally pinned hope on her ZONE, but she had not expected Demon King Gold Ship to still have such a trump card.
Nice Nature, in the back, watched the figures falling back one after another in horror. She truly had not expected her current condition to be better than theirs. But she was no fool. Rather, she was the same type of runner as Demon King Gold Ship, so she understood even more clearly what these runners had encountered. She looked at Demon King Gold Ship's back in terror. Although the race had not ended yet, she had already lost.
"Too terrifying. So this is the Demon King?"
Demon King Gold Ship watched the runners ahead, the corners of her mouth lifting into a cruel smile. Strange Experience activated, and a random Flash blocking skill activated again. At this point, even McQueen was not in good condition. The effect of this blocking skill was much greater than the previous influence.
At this moment, almost everyone thought the same thing.
"Damn Demon King!"
Tokai Teio could not help rewinding time by one second, immunizing herself against Demon King Gold Ship's blocking skill. Although her stats had broken through the 1,200-point ceiling, they had not surpassed it by much. Now, after nearly 3,000 meters of mixed course, she did not have much stamina left.
Purple flames emerged in Kitasan Black's eyes.
"I can't take this anymore! This race isn't satisfying at all!"
"Demon King-senpai, you damned blocking freak!"
At the same time,
many people's eyes lit up.
Kitasan Black had just entered her domain and had not even had time to switch templates when, in the next instant, a terrifying black-hole gravity descended onto her. That heated emotion instantly turned ice cold.
"..."
Fusion?
Rice Shower-senpai-
The Conqueror seized the timing and devoured Kita's stats and ZONE.
As she watched Kitasan Black's speed fall and her figure drop back, Rice Shower and the Conqueror felt that powerful strength. Surging pitch-black domineering aura shook space, and they began to burst at that instant!
[Perfect Imitation], activate!
McQueen's aura appeared around Rice Shower, but in the next instant, it was covered by that abyss-like domineering aura.
Watching that figure fly out in an instant,
Tokai Teio's face became incomparably tense.
Crap. Nice job, Kita!
With the support of sun divine power, Rice Shower's imitation was clearly much stronger than Kitasan Black's. And Rice Shower also had Fusion's passive enhancement. Now Rice Shower had become even trickier than McQueen.
And...
Tokai Teio felt the faint breeze coming from behind.
That was McQueen's aura.
This was a huge problem.
Now McQueen's seal had also been released.
At the rear, King Halo watched Kitasan Black's falling figure and revealed an expression that said everything was going according to plan. When Demon King Gold Ship had released her blocking skill just now, King Halo had also released a blocking skill at Kitasan Black. Her goal had been to force Kitasan Black to release her domain, making Rice Shower use Fusion's effect. Otherwise, if Rice Shower kept holding Fusion's effect, then later she would be a bomb capable of trading one-for-one with any of them at any moment. King Halo could not tolerate that.
Divine skill, activate!
The second stamina bar that appeared out of thin air stabilized King Halo's aura again. Everything in the race was exactly as she had predicted. According to her calculations, even someone as strong as Mejiro McQueen could not support herself until the final straight, because Mejiro McQueen had taken considerable interference from blocking skills in this race.
As for Tokai Teio?
Her burst power was insufficient to become a threat.
Demon King Gold Ship?
The same as Mejiro McQueen.
Stamina limits were also her big problem.
"I have already seen-"
"The road to victory!"
Golden arcs of electricity flew. King Halo began to charge.
Demon King Gold Ship also began advancing.
At this moment, Secretariat and Dancing Brave, who were still on the field, both felt their own limits. They had originally thought that by the second lap, everyone's condition should more or less be near the limit. But these monsters were only beginning to exert themselves now. It left them unable to understand. Was the gap really this large?
King Halo crossed past them without mercy.
Dancing Brave looked at that figure and was slightly dazed.
But in the next instant,
the Demon King's terrifying pressure caught up from behind them.
"Trash, get out of the way!"
She did not choose to hold back.
Demon King Gold Ship decisively charged forward and sealed both their states.
Unless they possessed an ability like Tokai Teio's, it was absolutely impossible to dodge Demon King Gold Ship's domain seal.
And now, the runners still remaining on the field were:
First place: Rice Shower.
Second place: Tokai Teio.
Third place: Mejiro McQueen.
Fourth place: King Halo.
Fifth place: Demon King Gold Ship.
The race had now entered the second straight of the second lap, with less than 1,500 meters remaining to the finish.
This would be the final clash.
...
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