In that instant, Risen Star felt a wave of utter confusion.
It's not wind and lightning? Then what is this?
After watching Xingyun Liuge's races, Risen Star had already guessed that she had mastered the power of a Domain, so she had come prepared. But when she saw that green radiance, she was still stunned.
She had thought that Xingyun Liuge commanding both wind and thunder was already outrageous enough, a one-in-ten-thousand rarity.
So what was this supposed to be?
Was Xingyun Liuge really controlling the wind, wielding thunder, and now using a third kind of power?
Don't joke around. That was absurd.
What kind of horse girl could wield that many forces?
Even she, the one hailed as Secretariat's masterpiece, had only managed to force a breakthrough in her Domain under the pressure of a powerful rival. The power she commanded had always been light; evolving it into starlight was perfectly reasonable, wasn't it?
But what about Xingyun Liuge?
A hybrid of wind and thunder could still be explained away—after all, those two often appeared together in nature. But what in the world was this green light?
Clink. Clink.
The moment she heard the sound of chains dragging across the ground, Risen Star immediately recalled the full-field late start at the beginning of the race.
Wasn't that the exact same sound back then?
Was she trying the same trick again?
No—not just that.
The debuffs on Xingyun Liuge had already disappeared.
Which meant that Xingyun Liuge hadn't merely shattered the debuffs placed on her by Risen Star and Winning Colors through some sort of Domain expansion—she was now turning around to suppress them in return.
"Unbelievable… but!"
She might not care about Winning Colors, but she, Risen Star, would never give ground—not even half a step.
The finish line was only a hundred meters away. She just had to grit her teeth and push through. In the final phase of a race, what mattered most was willpower!
"I refuse to lose!"
A crimson light flared in Risen Star's eyes as she let out one last cry, the kind that seemed capable of shaking the soul itself.
A chain was launching a surprise attack?
She didn't care.
Wasn't her Domain right here?
It was nothing more than a direct clash head-on, and she was incredibly tenacious.
For a moment, the starlight blazed brilliantly, almost to the point of standing toe-to-toe with the green glow.
The power of a Domain was the manifestation of spiritual strength. It was profoundly metaphysical; if one's heart was strong enough, it was perfectly normal for its output to surge all at once.
But by the same logic, if there was a power capable of interfering with the mind, then shattering someone's Domain was only natural.
And more importantly—
If one's physical strength was already nearing its limit, then no matter how powerful one's spirit was, defeat would still follow.
Horse girls could not rewrite the laws of physics.
They were not gods.
"Hate me, curse me, do as you like. If the price of victory is to crush the dreams of other girls, then let me be that Demon King."
A green gleam flashed across Xingyun Liuge's eyes.
Clang!
One chain, vicious as a venomous serpent, wrapped mercilessly around Risen Star's right leg, then snapped taut.
An icy force pierced effortlessly through the girl's skin, sinking deep into flesh and bone.
Risen Star tried to tear herself free from that sinister, malevolent thing. She called upon the power of her Domain and tried to keep running forward.
What answered her was a second chain.
Clang!
This one bound her left arm and pulled tight, almost making it impossible for her to swing it at all.
Then came a third. A fourth.
Like a predator toying cruelly with its prey, the chains did not swarm in all at once and bind her from head to toe. Instead, they stole away Risen Star's ability to move little by little.
First her right leg.
Then her left arm.
Then her left leg and right arm.
Her thighs and calves, her upper arms and forearms, then her neck and waist. Even her chest and abdomen did not escape the chains' grip.
Xingyun Liuge didn't even spare Risen Star's fingers.
Then Xingyun Liuge said,
"Open your eyes and look carefully. Your star has already fallen."
Risen Star looked up at the sky in vain, only to discover that at some unknown point, her cross-shaped starlight had already been shut out beyond the barrier. Everywhere she looked, there was only that illusory emerald energy screen and the eerie green glow it cast.
It sounded as though something were cracking apart.
In the VIP stands, Rudolf Symbol and Secretariat both shot to their feet.
As horse girls who had developed Domain power themselves, they had clearly heard the sound of a star shattering and immediately understood:
Risen Star's Domain was about to collapse.
Two Domains had clashed head-on, and one had been forced into ruin. That meant Xingyun Liuge had utterly overpowered Risen Star. At least in this race, Risen Star no longer had any chance of threatening Xingyun Liuge.
She had already lost.
Victory and defeat were common in battle; losing once was no great matter.
The problem was that if a Domain was shattered head-on, the backlash would strike its owner. And Risen Star was still running at full speed—if that backlash hit her now…
The consequences would be disastrous.
Secretariat barked an order at once.
"Get the medical team up there immediately. Hurry!"
Cold sweat had broken out on Rudolf Symbol's forehead too. If anything happened to Risen Star, then even if Xingyun Liuge had not done it intentionally…
It could cause an international incident.
The spectators, of course, had no idea what the two presidents were worried about, nor did they know anything about the silent war the horse girls were waging in the mental world. All they saw was Risen Star suddenly losing speed—
and then Winning Colors following suit.
Winning Colors had tried to burn away those chains with her azure flames, but how could she possibly break through them?
Infernal Prison: Once per race, Xingyun Liuge constructs an absolute prison, reducing all opponents' speed by 99%, then gradually to 50%, for seven seconds, while drastically draining their stamina and sealing their finishing burst.
"Xingyun Liuge! Xingyun Liuge!" the commentator screamed. "Final fifty meters—Xingyun Liuge is leaving them all in the dust! She has thrown both Risen Star and Winning Colors behind her! No one can stop her victory now!"
"The winner of the Kentucky Derby is—Xingyun Liuge!"
As the commentator roared those words, the star that symbolized Risen Star came crashing down.
"Honestly, you really do know how to cause trouble."
Xingyun Liuge did not look back. She merely snapped her fingers lightly.
Heal.
As the announcement rang out—"Risen Star and Winning Colors crossed the line together; please wait a moment while the photo is reviewed"—Xingyun Liuge blinked once. Invisible chains burst up from beneath the ground, bound the two horse girls, and gently lowered them onto the turf.
"Hah… hah…"
Risen Star dropped to one knee, her vision flickering black at the edges, though surprisingly, she did not feel as awful as she might have.
At the very least, the Winning Colors beside her—who had bitten her own lip bloody—looked a great deal more miserable.
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 132)
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 (Chapter140)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter95)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter165)
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 145
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 135
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 95
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 155
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 125
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 105
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 62
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 80
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 80
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 62
Uma Musume: I Want All 65
I Can Copy Unique Skills 53
Summoning an Evil God, but the 41
Supernatural Multiverse 45
My Harem Is Indescribable 35
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 46
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 26
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 36
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