Up ahead on the track.
Oguri Cap poured in everything she had. The gray airflow around her was boiling over.
In all her life, she had never led a race—much less run a Great Escape.
Right now she was relying purely on that monster-grade physique and a ferocious will to compete, brute-forcing a mimicry of the rival ahead.
She could feel it—her form wasn't smooth. Every push off the turf burned through far more stamina than usual.
But she didn't care!
All she wanted was to catch up, to settle it with that nemesis who once beat her—and now stood in front of her again!
She could clearly feel it: her speed, her power—by rights they should be faster, stronger than Fujimasa March.
So why…
"Why can't I break through!!!"
Oguri Cap clenched her teeth. Ever since she'd drawn almost level with Fujimasa March, the gap wouldn't budge another millimeter.
As if…
As if March had put her there on purpose…
The instant she realized it, Oguri Cap snapped her head toward the silver girl at her side.
At her side.
Fujimasa March's running form was so fluid, so natural—as if she had been born to run like this.
She was the very incarnation of a storm; every breath, every arm swing resonated perfectly with the howling wind around them.
"March!" Oguri Cap roared, a rasp of impatience in her voice.
"It's not over yet, Cap!"
Sweat traced down March's brow, yet a never-before smile lit her face.
Oguri Cap catching up to her after she'd kicked into Great Escape—in March's pre-race planning, that was a near-zero-chance branch.
But since it happened—being, at Central Tracen Academy, arguably the strongest Front Runner currently active—
Fujimasa March of course had countermeasures for a double Great Escape.
She deliberately eased her Domain's speed, letting Oguri Cap reach her—but denying her any drafting advantage.
Then she locked Oguri Cap on the outside, forcing a longer arc for a full lap, multiplying her own stamina edge.
In raw physique, she was indeed a step below Oguri Cap.
That's innate difference—talent's gap.
But running technique let her make up that gap—and even surpass it!
"Tsch…"
A flutter of steps—March slid so close to the rail her shoulder nearly kissed it, light as wind underfoot.
She controlled rhythm and position with clinical precision, pinning Oguri Cap to the longer outer curve.
Each footfall was a pinpoint calculated landing, leveraging centripetal force to minimize her own drain—
While making Oguri Cap's every surge feel like wading an invisible bog, forcing her to spend more just to hold that warped lane.
A small smile tugged March's lips.
Twenty-one months, Cap. I prepared twenty-one months for today…
Every step my trainer planned, every drop of sweat I shed—were all for this moment, to surpass you!
You were my first target—and my ultimate dream! I won't let you run away from me again!
"—Hah!"
A rough grunt tore from Oguri Cap's throat, her gaze dipping.
She felt it—the intricate pressure March was laying on her.
Not just a contest of speed, but of space, airflow, downbeat—mastery at the edge.
Gray flame luffed and bulged, trying to smash apart these unseen shackles with a more violent blast.
Yet March's figure held steady—like the calmest rock at the eye of the storm—silver streamlight carving an all-but-perfect arc on the inside.
"Don't think… you'll do this so easy…"
Blood threads crept into Oguri Cap's eyes. A monster's pride would not accept being pressed down like this.
She hurled her weight forward again, nearly abandoning balance. The gray airflow compressed—
—and then detonated under her feet!
BOOM—!
Turf flew. A gray shockwave turned tangible, brutally kicking her speed up a gear!
Originally, the Fourfold Gaze posture was the high-school coach's ideal of a perfect form.
Now, to beat Fujimasa March, she ignored what her body could take—breaking that ultra-stable form for sheer speed!
She broke free!
With the most unreasonable brute force, she tore apart March's exquisite technical shackles!
"Cap retakes—no, draws even again! She's using pure power to wipe out the outside-lane disadvantage! These two Uma Musume—are absolute monsters!"
The announcer's voice was shredded hoarse; he could only run on instinct to describe a scene beyond reason!
Final 200 meters!
Seeing the gray-flamed figure surge back up beside her, Fujimasa March's eyes only burned brighter!
That's you, Cap… always so unreasonable.
You did it at Kasamatsu too—this unreasonable last-leg…
But I'm the same…
My stamina now runs deeper, and the leg power I've stored is stronger.
I could pass you here—fourfold.
But I don't want to win in this posture alone.
Cap, this is our present gap…
Vmmm—
In her heart, the glittering lines of past "system text" ignited like fuses that split clouds atop a mountain.
Her first debut win…
The vow after a loss to meet at the Tokai Derby…
The final Golden Youth Stakes…
Across her heart-lake, Fujimasa March ran through a realm that belonged only to her. Silver streams around her blazed hotter—ready to swallow the four winds whole.
Then—a radiance appeared, lighting her inner lake completely.
It was Kuroha, her trainer.
Meeting, transferring, training, racing, victory…
Ōi… the South Kanto Triple… Central… the Osaka Hai…
Companionship on the summer isles, the sunrise of the journey to Tōkō.
…
Everything—every footprint from the past—came clear to her eyes.
"…What a… long road it's been…"
Zzz—KRAK—!!!
A boundless gate suddenly rose over the girl's heart-lake.
This was the Uma Musume's extreme—and the transmuted will born upon Mount Tai's peak.
The third step of the [Domain]—
A power Kuroha had named "World."
Rooaarrr!
Then, endless silver storms surged like a sky-blanketing tide, hurling themselves at that gate beneath March's blazing will.
The next moment, that Gate of "World" slowly—opened three slits…
…
In reality.
Oguri Cap hammered her arms with all her might.
Her figure was no longer completely bound by March's grip—it had a springing lightness to it!
"That's it—I can pass March—I will—"
BOOM—!
A wholly different pressure—like it came from the world itself—erupted at her side without warning!
(End of Chapter)
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