Only the final turn and the home straight remained before the finish line.
The winner was about to be decided.
The crowd stared at the track—no one even dared to blink, bodies unconsciously leaning forward.
Would it be Admire Vega? Or Garden Gale?
Garden Gale's signature weapon—taking turns without slowing—was a first-rate killer. Let your guard down for even a second and you might really lose. But Admire Vega wasn't anyone's easy mark either. As the graded-stakes queen, she had that kind of nose.
The more they thought about it, the more their heads spun—yet no one could crown a winner in advance. All they could do was watch.
...
I should have the right to run beside you.
Admire Vega thought it, and without meaning to, felt a flicker of relief.
Catching Garden Gale was brutally hard—because she really was that strong. No joke: Admire Vega had nearly burned through all her trump cards. Yet with each long breath, she could only be grateful she'd managed to draw level, shoulder to shoulder, without being crushed...
And besides—she still had one last card she hadn't played.
The move that would decide it all!!!
Of course, Admire Vega was on guard against that "no-slowdown turn."
Narita Top Road had lost here by a single step. She absolutely couldn't lose to a move her opponent was showing face-up!
If Garden Gale knew what Admire Vega was thinking, she'd probably laugh, too—because she also had a move she hadn't played yet. Funny how that worked out. It was a full-on beam clash now: whoever's burst was bigger would win. They were already at the very end!!!
After that thought flashed by—the fourth corner arrived.
Garden Gale... pulled the same old trick.
With an unbelievably stable center of gravity, she swayed left and right, kept picking up speed, and slipped through the turn like a phantom. If you had to describe it, it was like one of those roly-poly toys—always about to topple, never once falling over, and somehow accelerating the whole time!!
Because she'd honed this technique through countless intimate collisions with the ground. Because she'd fallen countless times before, she wouldn't fall now.
She'd only get faster and faster.
This was the biggest payoff from looping Tokai Teio.
"It's here! Garden Gale's trademark—taking the turn without slowing! My god, that center-of-gravity control!! Is this really something an Umamusume can achieve!? She's too strong!!!!"
The commentator's hype exploded.
Just as I thought.
Admire Vega's eyes lit up.
Her speed, which had dipped for the corner, jumped back up in an instant—she'd been ready for this.
The moment she'd eased off, she slammed it right back on. She couldn't raise it to the same peak as her opponent, but she could keep from being shaken off—and once they hit the final straight, the gap would still be something she could make up.
After the straight... would be Admire Vega's usual final spurt time.
Even if that white meteor wasn't pretty to look at, its spurt and fighting spirit were something no one could match.
The challenger takes the lead!
Garden Gale has to admit something.
Without the qualification to unlock Sky-High Teio Step, her own finishing spurt wasn't anything dazzling. She couldn't outrun Admire Vega there—she'd get passed. All she had was decent technique—
But.
What if I play this card?
How do you answer, then?
[Template]: Air Shakur!
[Color Change]: Successful!
...In a single breath.
Garden Gale's speed suddenly dropped. Her presence stuttered, then began to draw itself in, inch by inch. In an instant, Admire Vega could no longer feel that pressure from her at all. She didn't understand what Garden Gale was doing—but her feet didn't stop. In that heartbeat, she completed the overtake, and her beast instinct spilled out!
A chance this good...
Admire Vega would never let it go! Her final spurt was about to blow past everyone—about to carry her, faster than anyone, into the champion's spot.
"ADMIRE VEGA TAKES THE LEAD!"
"IS ADMIRE VEGA GOING TO WIN? IS SHE GOING TO WIN? THAT FINISHING SPURT—THIS IS THE OVERLORD'S RESOLVE!"
"EVEN GETTING THROWN OFF RHYTHM AND SWALLOWED BY THE PACK DIDN'T STOP ADMIRE VEGA! ADMIRE VEGA PASSES THE 200-METER MARKER—FINAL TWO HUNDRED! CAN THE OTHERS CATCH UP? WHAT ABOUT GARDEN GALE? RASHOMON WARRIOR IS SPRINTING LIKE HER LIFE DEPENDS ON IT! IS THERE A CHANCE? IS THERE A CHANCE?!"
"ADMIRE VEGA LOOKS LIKE SHE'S GOING TO WIN!"
...
Off the track, Air Shakur and Tokai Teio instantly started to panic.
Even the Emperor...
Even the Emperor started to panic.
What kind of slowdown was that? That's way too severe! She looked like she'd frozen for a full second! Why would that happen? That mistake is too basic—too serious! She could've won by battling it out with a finishing spurt!
Narita Top Road's expression went blank, too...
What happened?
She couldn't help but worry for Garden Gale.
...
But the truth was...
Air Shakur's acceleration was strong... insanely strong... strong to a ridiculous extent. From a god's-eye view, Air Shakur had taken two crowns with her late-kick—regardless of what came after, at that time, that kick was absolutely, absolutely something no one could stand against!!
In Garden Gale's training these past days—she'd immediately seized on Air Shakur's defining trait: terrifying acceleration.
Tokai Teio's defining trait: freakish flexibility... and center-of-gravity control.
She couldn't fully juggle two running styles and push both advantages to their absolute limit...
But if Garden Gale wanted a finishing kick, she could run with Air Shakur's kick. And in these past half a month, the thing she'd trained hardest was cracking the method—how to use that kick.
Now...
It was time for her to erupt!
Her gaze hardened.
...Her calves tensed.
...Accelerate!
Accelerate!!!!!!
ACCELERATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Garden Gale burst out of the shadows again.
I'm coming, Admire Vega. Don't think you can get away!
...
SCRK!
In the stands, Air Shakur shot to her feet at once and shouted, "That's my running style!"
"Garden Gale... actually used my running style! She can copy my running style!" She looked half dazed... She hadn't expected it—hadn't believed her style could really be learned, and now that acceleration was being brought out at a hundred percent! And in this moment, Garden Gale's kick was brilliant as a meteor!
[BLACK FLASH]
The Emperor was completely, utterly shaken.
...She could tell, too—Garden Gale had used someone else's running style. She no longer looked like Tokai Teio at all. That acceleration... so the earlier slowdown was her switching styles?
...
Garden Gale's momentum, which had been reined in bit by bit...
Had spilled out in full.
A burst of speed... crushing the entire field!
Garden Gale ran.
---
T/N: hmm okay a bit of a translators note here, in the original it was Black Lightning, which to ME would not make sense since Air Shakur does not have that skill or is related to lightning at all if i remember correctly, she aint tama however theres a full skills that can work here
of course i ignore the conditions like it has to be medium or end closer style
those two skills are gained from her SSR wit card
now air shakur explicitly mentions that she is copying her running style, and not skill/weapon like teios step, so i went for unyielding which makes sense since vega did just pass her
while typing this maybe black lightning is gg's original skill however i don't know how to feel about her gaining/using an original skill because she was able to copy air shakur's running style exactly so it doesn't make sense to me
let me know, if there's enough uproar ill change it to black lightning
...
FUTURE ME HERE HEH, I CHANGED IT TO BLACK FLASH FUCK OFF! basically while running shakur's style she was able to create her own skill yeah
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FUTURE FUTURE ME HERE, UHHH I THINK IS IS WHERE I FUCKED UP THE UPDATES!