But thinking about that now was meaningless.
Watching the small figure ahead of her, Diminuendo felt a jolt of shock.
So fast!
She had already contacted horse girls from other Tracen academies and gathered some information about Xingyun Liuge beforehand.
Taken all together, one thing was clear: whenever Xingyun Liuge ran from the front, her style was incredibly unusual—so unusual that it gave people the absurd impression that she was practically unaffected by air resistance or gravity.
But right now, Diminuendo was not getting that same feeling.
Even so, she was fully convinced of one thing: Xingyun Liuge was an exceptionally strong front-runner.
She could even see the shadows of certain senior horse girls famed for their lead-running styles in Xingyun Liuge's form.
Which made sense. The 1970s were still firmly part of the so-called golden age of European and American horse girls. Overseas horse girls admired those heaven-favored legends with all their hearts; imitating their racing styles and tactics was only natural.
"In that case, all the more reason not to hold back."
A dangerous red glint flashed through the blue depths of Diminuendo's eyes.
Front Runner Harassment (Water): On slightly heavy ground, heavy ground, or in rainy weather, slightly reduces the opponent's speed and slightly increases their stamina consumption for two seconds.
An invisible pressure seemed to transform into invisible currents of water, hindering Xingyun Liuge's stride across the slightly heavy course.
Xingyun Liuge could feel it clearly. Her horseshoes, her racing shoes—even her ankles—felt as though they had been splashed with thick mud. The transmission of force lagged noticeably. Every step grew heavy, as though she were running through a swamp. Her whole body felt awkward, and her stamina drain had visibly increased.
She clicked her tongue inwardly.
So that's how it is. So this is Diminuendo's game, huh?
A slowing effect combined with extra stamina drain—now that was a skill made for running.
If used while fighting for the lead, it would probably make it very easy to seize first position and fully commit to a front-running strategy.
But Xingyun Liuge was already in front. Even a skill like that would not be enough to steal the lead now. There were already three lengths between them.
More importantly, Xingyun Liuge was not the type to endure a hit without striking back.
At a time like this, the answer was simple: accelerate first, then—
Tiny white arcs crackled through the girl's silver hair.
Diminuendo's eyes widened in shock. Xingyun Liuge had actually accelerated straight through her gate skill's interference.
What kind of nonsense was that?
Had she really just brute-forced her way through the slowing effect with sheer endurance and explosive power—and even sped up further?
What monstrous stamina and acceleration!
Not only had the distance between them failed to shrink, it was suddenly pulled even wider in one breath.
The horse girls watching from the sidelines, all of whom had come intending to carefully observe Xingyun Liuge's running style and condition, were dumbstruck on the spot.
Diminuendo was one of the standout newcomers this year. Granted, she was probably only testing the waters and had not gone all out—but to be so effortlessly left behind like this?
That was simply absurd.
But really, this was only the beginning.
The terrifying part of Decisive Strike was this: its bonuses doubled while chasing, and it guaranteed a one-second crowd-control effect.
Leading from the front did not truly show how strong the skill really was.
Xingyun Liuge thought to herself:
Still, this is enough.
Just as the acceleration boost was about to expire, she locked onto Diminuendo in her mind.
Stun.
In that instant, Diminuendo felt as though she had seen a claw raised high overhead.
The invisible wind abandoned its usual gentleness, shrieking as it gathered around that razor-sharp claw and erupted in a terrifying flash of lightning.
"—!"
Her consciousness took a direct hit.
Her mind went blank. She could no longer even command her fingers.
She knew her body was still running normally—but her awareness, her soul, seemed to have been left behind, frozen in place, unable to move no matter what.
The single second passed in the blink of an eye, yet nameless terror clenched around Diminuendo's heart.
Sweat instantly beaded across her smooth, full brow. It rolled down her throbbing temples and slipped into the hollow of her sharply rising chest.
Salty sweat coursed rapidly down her spine, soaking through her clothes in an instant and plastering the fabric to her skin, leaving her unbearably uncomfortable.
Diminuendo gasped for breath.
"What… was that…? It was like…"
Like some kind of monster!
Because she had entered the practice race with the intent to test Xingyun Liuge, Diminuendo suffered badly.
Though she unleashed the powerful finishing kick she prided herself on in the final stretch, and even triggered her acceleration skill to chase with everything she had, Xingyun Liuge still beat her by more than five lengths.
Xingyun Liuge's burst in the middle stretch had been far too exaggerated. If Diminuendo had not gone all out in the closing stages, the result of the practice race might well have been a crushing defeat of fifteen lengths or more.
The key problem was this:
She had no idea whether that had been Xingyun Liuge's full power.
She did not even know whether Xingyun Liuge's mid-race acceleration truly could only last about four seconds, nor—
Was that disruption ability really tied to her acceleration?
Diminuendo had her doubts.
After interfering with her, Xingyun Liuge's acceleration had seemed to vanish entirely, dropping back to the speed she had shown shortly after leaving the gate. That speed was already fast, yes—but nowhere near as shocking as when she had surged.
In the student council office, Nijinsky had noticed the same thing.
"I see. So she has a special skill that combines explosive acceleration with disruption, but she can only bring out one effect at a time."
Nijinsky immediately linked it to what had happened in the UAE Derby. Essate Stream had used a gate technique on Xingyun Liuge, only to be gate-checked in return. But after that, Xingyun Liuge had not displayed any outrageously terrifying acceleration. Instead, she had quietly waited until the final stretch to make her move.
As the saying went, a professional commentator had to be bold enough to make a call.
Nijinsky firmly believed her analysis had to be correct. She was a professional horse girl—there was no way she could be wrong.
It was not as if Xingyun Liuge could possibly have been acting from the UAE Derby onward, and then still acting in pre-race training, right?
That would mean she had far too many schemes in her head.
How could there be such a "bad" horse girl? Impossible.
"So then, will any of the others notice this as well?"
Nijinsky was truly looking forward to it. She hoped some junior would discover this weakness and come down on Xingyun Liuge with full force in the Two Thousand Guineas.
Only that kind of race could truly set the blood boiling.
At the same time, another horse girl had noticed the same thing.
She had reddish-brown long hair and stood there with a hand on her chin, staring intently at Xingyun Liuge's small figure, her expression unreadable.
"Hey, Cathedral, what are you looking at so seriously? Did that new girl stir up your fighting spirit?"
Minster Son smiled and nodded.
"Something like that, yes. This year's Two Thousand Guineas is going to be very lively. I'm looking forward to it."
"In the end, it'll be Cathedral's win anyway. Straight for the Triple Crown!"
"Not necessarily."
Minster Son gently shook her head.
"What if I can't even hold onto first favoritism?"
"Hah? As if that could happen! Cathedral's amazing—way better than Diminuendo, by a lot. She's just a little too humble, that's all. Anyway, you'll win!"
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter116)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 118
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 111
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 80
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 112
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 80
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 74
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 48
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 50
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 47
Uma Musume: From Beginner 42
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