To every runner on the course who could sense a Domain, the Commoner Queen had become a pillar of pure gold and crimson, ramming headlong into that endless starry sky that covered all.
This wasn't to pass.
This was a declaration of war.
This wasn't merely to win.
This was to prove herself.
"Crack—!"
She slammed a stride into the turf. In an instant—after holding herself back for so long—she flashed by Ibu Bocchi and Pirate Ravenhawk and seized the lead.
Her speed reached a peak she had never touched before.
"Good. Now this is interesting."
But the instant the Queen blew past the two Front Runners, the star-lit figure stepped forward as well, drawing level at her side.
Behind them, Ravenhawk wore the expression of someone who'd expected this all along, exhaustion etched deep.
"I told you… hah… to know when to stop… Now we're all done for."
Ibu Bocchi panted hard, a shadow crossing her face—then she rallied. "It's fine. I ran great today. Third is still good!"
"...You two…"
Before she could finish, a blue silhouette wrapped in a tidal roar surged past them both, blasting toward the two dueling deities out front at a stunning pace.
"…"
"…"
Ibu Bocchi and Ravenhawk traded looks. "...So now I'm fourth."
…
"Final four hundred! The Commoner Queen, from third, suddenly explodes—she's past Ibu Bocchi and Pirate Ravenhawk!"
"Can the New Zealand hurricane fulfill her vow at last?!"
The commentator had gone fully feral, screaming to vent his shock and exhilaration.
Not just him—two hundred thousand in the stands, and hundreds of millions outside the track—everyone had gone wild.
They couldn't see Domains collide, nor hear wills roaring.
They could only see this: on the last 400 meters of straight—
the silver figure, like a comet igniting, pouring out impossible light and heat, sprinting for the line in a death chase with last year's sovereign right behind her.
"Who is she?"
"A New Zealand runner? How is she still accelerating like that?"
"That can't be real."
"She's still speeding up?!"
Voices rose and fell in waves. All were shaken by a scene that surpassed miracles.
She had shadowed Europe's mid-distance queen and the world-record holder the whole way.
Even with those two scorching the race with suicidal Front Running—shattering the 2000 m split record—she still had surplus for a final acceleration, still had the legs to answer Obey Your Master's world-ending last kick.
This wasn't just strong. It was miraculous.
…
Far away in New Zealand.
In a quiet house, Ellerslie clenched her hands before the TV, knuckles white.
Holding her breath, she stared at the image on the final straight—that most familiar back racing like fury.
"Queen…"
She whispered, a prayer for her little sister.
Miracles don't come from nowhere.
Because the Commoner Queen was already a true top-tier genius—beyond even the "New Zealand Hero" herself.
When the Queen beat her fair and square before last year's Japan Cup, people called it luck, said Ellerslie was off her form.
But only Ellerslie knew: from that moment, she was no longer a match.
That day she had been run down and passed with almost no resistance.
Openly, absolutely, the Queen toppled the Atlantic's strongest, a five-G1 champion.
"Go on…"
Ellerslie's voice trembled.
Watching alone now, she wasn't thinking about some national vow, or revenge on Obey Your Master.
She was praying purely for her sister—the girl crushed by the world's misunderstanding and expectation.
Win it, my Queen.
For yourself.
…
Back on the course—final 300.
The black starfield all but swallowed the gold-crimson storm. Two floods of will tangled and slammed again and again along the rail.
Skrr—
The golden radiance drew exactly even with the Commoner Queen; for a beat, their silhouettes overlapped as one.
"Boom—!"
Then, another, unexpected vortex carved in.
The deep-sea leviathan who'd lain in wait finally tore a lane through Obey Your Master's star-sky Domain with unmatched stamina and surge—
and locked onto the backs of those two lights.
A three-way endgame.
At a speed too fast for the naked eye, the trio blew away the twelve world-class runners behind them—exhausted and empty—and became three rifts ripping the heavens.
The track wailed underfoot.
Air caught fire from their velocity.
The finish lay ahead.
"...Impressive."
A clear, level voice cut through the death match of breath and heartbeat.
The Queen and Creek both shot disbelieving looks at the golden-haired girl running neck-and-neck.
At this intensity—where thought itself was failing—
she still had air to speak?!
"If the one on this track today weren't me but Ardan or Chiyono O… perhaps you really would have a sliver of a chance."
Obey Your Master glanced at the two at her flanks.
One—brown hair, blue eyes, a will of steel, body mapped with pain.
One—silver hair, mismatched eyes, biting down hard, gaze full of resolve and refusal, a hint of mist passing through—trying to prove something.
Prove something?
Obey Your Master chuckled softly.
So different from who she used to be…
In the next instant, her cadence shifted, body tipping forward in a perfectly tuned posture.
That tempered form—honed to consummation—answered her final, strongest command.
"Only…"
Boom—!!!
A power purer and far more terrifying than before detonated out of her.
The endless star-sky crystallized in a heartbeat—becoming a true cosmos.
Even if that "cosmos" was still a touch unreal—half a step short—
it didn't matter. The Commoner Queen's Reversal Hurricane and Super Creek's Steel-Blue Undulation—
in the face of this "world" fallen into reality—shattered like dreams.
"This is the end!"
With the Demon Queen's final decree, the golden brilliance became the one ray that pierced the tape.
What did it feel like?
To the Queen, it was like punching through a storm to the clouds, only to slam into a sighing wall at the summit.
To Creek, it was like the streams and seas she guarded pouring into an abyss without bottom.
All struggle, all grit—meaningless before that bottomless dark.
Their Domains—broken.
The worlds of will they built with everything they had—paper before the might of one half-step into "World."
"Ghh… ah…"
Their minds hadn't even caught up to what had happened when the golden figure turned into a distant meteor, opening ten lengths in a blink.
From here on, a solo.
Inside and out, the stadium's roar hit mute.
Eyes locked, mouths open, they watched the lonely form break the tape—and the despairing gulf behind her.
One length.
Three.
Five.
In the last 200 m, what should have been a dead-even clash of the century became a foregone monologue.
Thud.
As Obey Your Master skimmed across the line, Tokyo Racecourse fell into three seconds of deathly silence.
Then—
"Uoooooooooh—!!!"
Like a volcano kept corked to bursting, the cheer exploded.
The roar seemed set to rip the roof from the sky.
"The race is over—!!!"
"The victor—Obey Your Master!!! Back-to-back! The first ever to reign twice in the Japan Cup!"
"She is the undisputed queen! The strongest runner of this era!!!"
(End of Chapter)
[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 500 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]