!!!
Oguri Cap's pupils snapped tight as she glanced to her side.
At some point, that silver-white stream was no longer a storm wrapped around Fujimasa March.
It had become the space itself—omnipresent, heavy like liquid mercury—crashing down!
The gray flame she prided herself on, a blaze fierce enough to tear anything apart—
In the face of this suddenly descended "World," it was pressed back into her body like a candle in the wind, leaving not even a sliver of room to resist!
Every muscle contraction, every tug of breath turned unnaturally difficult, as if countless invisible chains were twined around her limbs and bones.
The edges of her vision began to blur. The crowd's roars and the announcer's shouts warped away, far and thin. Only the silver figure at her flank stayed razor-sharp.
Fujimasa March!
Her speed did not spike in any way the naked eye could catch—but her form stepped into a wordless, consummate state.
Every footfall landed to the millimeter; every arm swing drew along the vast silver-white flow around her.
She was no longer merely a rider of storms—she herself was the extension of this "World's" will!
That gate glimpsed atop Mount Tai—the one Kuroha named "World"—was now shoved ajar by three slits under a will without equal!
Though it was only a crack, the force pouring out beyond the [Domain] already overflowed the frame!
"I won't… lose here!"
A beastlike growl rasped out of Oguri Cap's throat.
Her gray irises diffused under the crushing pressure; instinct wrung out every last drop of her potential, trying to break this despairing shackle.
But Fujimasa March had stepped to another plane.
"I've surpassed you, Cap!"
A voiceless warning detonated in her heart, and the silver-white world resonated with it—its glow flaring bright!
It wasn't mere speed; it was as if the entire racetrack space parted to make way.
The silver storm that had been clashing and tangling with Oguri Cap suddenly folded inward, refining into a near-invisible, hyper-condensed silver filament coiled around her.
Air was no longer being torn—it flowed at her toes like obedient vassals, gathering where she stepped.
The silver filament flashed—hard bright!
Fujimasa March's figure seemed to shed its last fetter, turning into a silver flare that split reality—
At a speed beyond anyone's grasp—
Forward—
Toward the finish—
Toward the dream and promise she had chased for twenty-one whole months—
—she exploded out!
"—!"
Not even a sound came from Oguri Cap's throat.
Before that silver flare, her proud gray Domain was run clean through, ripped apart; its last shelter vanished in an instant.
All she could do was watch as that figure—like a miracle—left her behind.
Half a length, a length, two lengths…
In a blink, the gap stretched to a depth that crushed hope.
The final 100 meters became Fujimasa March's solo.
Time itself seemed to slow.
Inside and out, the tens of thousands watching—announcer and all—unconsciously held their breath. Their minds went blank before a sight they could not understand.
What did they see?
A light.
A pure silver light that ripped space—and looked ready to swallow the finish line whole.
"Finish———!"
Half a beat late, the announcer's voice detonated like thunder, brimmed with shock and awe!
"She's in! It's Fujimasa March! The winner is Fujimasa March! In the very, very end she found another gear, and with absolute poise, wins this match of the century!"
At the instant the silver figure cut the tape—
The silver-white vastness that seemed to fill the entire "World" ebbed like a tide, folding back into her body.
After the ultimate burst—came the ultimate emptiness.
Fujimasa March gulped for air, drenched in sweat. She staggered a few steps; her knees nearly buckled.
But she forced herself upright, slowly turned, and looked to the gray figure crossing the line behind her.
Then she lifted her right hand high, a smile breaking across her face—relief and joy overflowing.
She'd done it.
She answered her trainer's expectations—and her own—achieving a dream that once felt untouchable.
"Hah… hah… hah…"
Behind her, Oguri Cap crossed the line and stopped, bracing hands to knees, sweat falling like rain.
She had lost.
On that final stretch she'd spent everything—had even seen a flash of hope to re-pass—but that last scene told her the truth: she'd lost, completely.
This wasn't a gap of technique or physique anymore. It was a crushing difference of realm.
Yet there was not a trace of dejection on her face—only a breathless, refreshed smile.
"So… you can run like that…"
She raised her head to the silver figure ahead—still swaying, yet standing straight—and her eyes brimmed with complex light.
Right then, Bamboo Memory came howling over the line, and collapsed straight onto the turf. She lay staring at the sky, heaving for breath—and burst out laughing.
In the end, she trailed Oguri Cap by six lengths, and Fujimasa March had put nearly a full chasm on her again.
"Ha… haha—cough—haha… what a gloriously thorough loss!"
She hadn't even truly touched the backs of the front two—but she burned everything, held nothing back, and had no regrets.
This mile championship that would be written into history—
—fell its curtain in a way none had foreseen.
In the stands, deathlike silence held for a full three seconds.
Then thunder—cheers and applause rolling on without end—for every Uma Musume who burned herself out on that track!
"OOOOOO—!!!"
"That run was insane!"
"Cap, you lost—but you're still the best!"
"Fujimasa March—too strong!!!"
"So. Freaking. Good!"
And in that tsunami of acclaim, Kuroha slowly rose to his feet.
At his side, the tiny Silence Suzuka still sat frozen.
In those clear blue eyes, the silver flare that split heaven and earth in March's final sprint remained—refusing to fade.
That light had become a seed—and in her heart, it had already taken root and begun to sprout.
(End of Chapter)
[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 500 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]