Reaching the Summit!
As the commentator's voice boomed with effusive praise, it ignited an explosion of agreement from the countless spectators packed into the massive stands.
"So powerful, so dazzling! I've never seen an Uma Musume like this in any race before!"
"No wonder she's called a Pegasus. She's exactly like the mythical Pegasus Uma Musume I've always imagined… no, even more radiant!"
"The Strongest! The World's Strongest!"
"Wow, Miss Platinum's taken on the whole world all by herself and won!"
"Platinum totally humbled Sea of Stars! Platinum's invincible!"
"Yes, this is what the world's number one, the world's strongest, should look like!"
Right now, countless viewers were brimming with astonished delight as they gazed at the silver-haired girl beyond the finish line.
That Silver Pegasus Knight, rain from the downpour continuously streaming down her shoulders and over her armored racing outfit, showed no trace of victory's joy on her exquisitely beautiful face.
It seemed that to Platinum, even when her opponent was that most famous, most perfect European runner, Sea of Stars—victory was simply a given!
Because—a legend? She'd already *been* one!
"The world number ones from previous years… not just the second-place Sea of Stars, but even Harbinger falls far short. It's just that this year's competition is insanely intense. The most terrifying year in half a century!"
"Who could've imagined that nearly all of Europe's top-tier famous Uma Musume would fall, one after another, to the Pegasus Platinum!"
"The strongest turf sovereign in half a century has descended upon the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe!"
In the front rows, Uma Musume from the Coolmore group and other European elite families were utterly stunned, unable to hold back their discussions.
"You have to understand, both Sea of Stars and Harbinger could easily have been world number one in any of the past ten years, with a very high probability. And yet… they both lost to Platinum!"
"And those like Montjeu and Galileo, they're no weaklings either, yet they were casually brushed aside by a still-youthful, not-even-at-her-peak Platinum."
"The title of [World's Strongest Turf Uma Musume], that top ranking, has finally been taken by a Japanese Uma Musume."
"For a Japanese Uma Musume to achieve this ranking so decisively in what is arguably the most competitive, golden year in half a century, if not a full century… the difficulty is just unbelievable, incredible!"
Even Fame and Glory from the Coolmore group couldn't help but voice her admiration.
She had completely let go of her failure to box Platinum in, along with those complex and complicated, hard-to-define feelings.
On one side was herself, questioned over whether she even counted as a world-class Uma Musume. On the other was the legendary Platinum, who had surpassed Sea of Stars and torn through the surrounding net.
The gap between them now was wider than heaven and earth.
After all, judging by Platinum's last two races, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and then the Arc, so-called world-class Uma Musume didn't even qualify to enter the Pegasus Hall as the second-place finisher, the closest loser to the Pegasus.
From Harbinger to Sea of Stars, those two latest entrants to the Pegasus Hall of Fame were actually among the top, legendary-hopeful super elites even within the [Historic] class that appears only once a decade.
But in comparison, as a Coolmore Uma Musume, Fame and Glory might not even be considered world-class anymore, still serving her [suspension] for that illegal blocking.
Faced with such a vast gap, feelings like envy of the Pegasus's strength or regret at not surpassing Platinum simply couldn't exist anymore. All that remained now was… the reverence the weak holds for the strongest.
On the world Uma Musume rankings, before the Arc, Platinum was already renowned, sitting near the very top.
It's worth noting that whether on the turf-only rankings or the all-encompassing, most prestigious world rankings, Platinum was always second or third.
But then again, in terms of the most prestigious overseas G1 wins, especially those in Europe and America, she hadn't accumulated as many as Secretariat or Sea of Stars.
Furthermore, the rating and voting agencies were predominantly Euro-American, inevitably harboring some bias. Platinum, as the first Uma Musume to venture out from Japan onto the world stage, was essentially "fighting alone."
So previously, Platinum was ranked TOP2 on the turf rankings, and TOP3 on the world rankings which included both turf and dirt.
Before Platinum, no Asian Uma Musume had ever reached the top of the turf rankings; you could barely find any in the top three or five.
The original number one was Secretariat, with Sea of Stars in second. But after this Arc, those rankings were destined for a massive shake-up.
"Not only is Sea of Stars' world number two and turf number one spot about to be lost."
"But even Secretariat, that dirt monster who reached legendary status first and became world number one, is probably going to be overtaken by the Pegasus Platinum, right?"
"You can just feel it, the coming battle for world number one is likely to be a back-and-forth war between Secretariat and Platinum!"
"And for now… Platinum's going to take it!"
Fame and Glory couldn't hold back her exclamation.
Forget just surpassing number two; she's even replacing number one, all on the strength of this one Arc!!
After all, Secretariat, after surpassing Sham in the final leg of the Triple Crown, hasn't yet had her next stunning victory. Whereas the Pegasus Platinum, has consecutively achieved not one, but two!
If this doesn't get her to world number one, then the fix is well and truly in, right?
"Right now, within the European turf scene, the Uma Musume with both the potential and strength to impact the World Horse of the Year level, and who haven't yet entered the Pegasus Hall of Fame, there are only the last two or three left, right?"
"Two or three? You mean Lammtarra, Dahlia, and… that mile specialist from the Sea family, the lurking Frankel?"
"Yes, it has to be them! Let's hope they can defend Europe's honor, or at least win *one* race against Platinum! Or… maybe Sea of Stars can improve, grow stronger, and get her revenge?"
"Well, Frankel probably can't, right? Her stamina isn't her strong suit; she can only go all out in mile races. And Platinum has no reason to race at a mile, to go to Frankel's preferred distance, her home turf, to face a monster of such terrifying talent."
"So the heavy responsibility of defeating Platinum falls to Dahlia, Sea of Stars, and Lammtarra, those three, right?"
Other European Uma Musume thought of other talented, powerful runners, hoping to see Platinum defeated someday.
But up to now, Platinum remained undefeated! Rightfully ascending to the top of the world!
—The legend continues, the unbeaten streak lives on!
--+--
Beyond the finish line.
The chestnut-haired girl who had crossed the line a moment later stood utterly stunned.
In her mind, like a stuttering cinema screen, one crucial scene played on an infinite loop.
The scene was from the Pegasus Hall of Fame, crystallizing into an image of herself, silver teeth gritted, charging forward filled with bitter reluctance.
Sea of Stars, hailed as perfection itself, Europe's finest middle-distance dominator of the new century, had been utterly defeated, becoming just another one of Platinum's "Hall of Fame collectible figures"?!!
Humiliation, immense humiliation!
If it had been a normal loss, a narrow defeat… well, maybe Sea of Stars could have accepted that.
After all, it wasn't like she'd never lost before.
Way back in her very first debut race, trouble at the start gate had left her unluckily "boxed in," trapped with no way out, finishing a dismal fourth.
Because of this, both Sea of Stars' and Secretariat's debut races ended in defeat due to unfortunate circumstances, both coincidentally finishing fourth.
This was why a certain unscrupulous young doctor had early on dismissed both these dirt and turf monsters as talentless minnows with no future, choosing to leave for Japan.
And until this Arc, Sea of Stars had only lost that one debut race; aside from that, she'd fought her way through countless victories, sweeping all before her.
But this time, she wasn't boxed in. This was on her preferred going, the heavy ground that flowed in her bloodline, was etched into her DNA, her home turf! And at her absolute best, she'd been beaten by a massive margin?!
To give her all and suffer such a crushing defeat, even making it into the Hall of Fame only to be placed behind Japanese Uma Musume like Mejiro Dober, who'd lost by ten, eleven lengths… and still lagging behind Daiwa Scarlet's five-length margin…
How could Sea of Stars not feel utterly humiliated?
But even more, much more unacceptable was…
Up in those stands, Dr. Lin was definitely there, watching her get completely demolished by the Pegasus!!
Facing an ultimate Pegasus in the race, whose hill acceleration was monstrous, giving her all but still unable to win!
Damn it!
With a loss like this, she could never become any kind of GOAT. She couldn't retire in disgrace like this.
Revenge, she must have revenge!!
The petite chestnut-haired girl was nearly overheating, her cheeks flushing red.
Behind her, other Uma Musume were crossing the line.
These elite European young ladies also wore dazed expressions, like they'd just pulled a max-potential Weedy in a rogue-like, only to find themselves on a map with no raised tiles for ranged operators.
Suffering such a devastating, high-profile defeat in the Arc… how could they not be utterly crushed?
"Sniff… my record of consecutive second places in the Arc… it's broken."
"Lost… lost? And I wasn't just beaten by the second-place Sea of Stars; she was miles ahead of me. And Sea of Stars was miles behind the first-place Pegasus?"
"Yep, that's Platinum for you. Bottomless stamina, a powerhouse built for heavy ground. She's got a zone, she can suppress others, she's immune to zone suppression herself, and she can maintain her zone the entire race like it costs nothing. Once she overtakes you… ahhh, the arrow! Next time I'm avoiding any race with her!"
Even Agnes Tachyon and Manhattan Cafe were deeply shaken.
In this Arc run on ultra-heavy ground, Manhattan Cafe's placing was… somewhere beyond tenth!
Agnes Tachyon, renowned in Japan for her explosive speed and dubbed 'Tachyon' by her fans, barely managed ninth, just squeezing into the single digits.
But both of them were an astronomically long way behind the second-place Sea of Stars, easily left in the dust.
And that monstrously fearsome Sea of Stars had been beaten by a massive margin by the Pegasus?
The dark-haired girl, Manhattan Cafe, stared blankly.
Her mind seemed to short-circuit as she recalled that both she and her friend Agnes Tachyon had statues in the Pegasus Hall commemorating their second-place finishes…
And here in the Arc, all these European monsters, far superior to them, couldn't even make it into the Hall?
Platinum's performance in Japan versus Europe was like night and day!
Had Platinum just been playing around, never serious in her previous races in Japan?
Or was she continuously improving, getting this strong through progress?
If it was the former… well, that was just too kind of her.
Manhattan Cafe's expression turned complex. She suddenly felt that her 31-length defeat in the Kikuka Sho wasn't so bad after all.
Amid the chorus of lamentations from the defeated Uma Musume—
Suddenly, the collective cries of the defeated European fillies cut off in unison.
Because they all noticed!
The Pegasus, Platinum, was looking back at Sea of Stars.
Instead of immediately leaving towards the winner's circle as the sole victor who'd dominated by a huge margin,
She was… turning around, and walking towards Sea of Stars?
Under the watchful, curious eyes of many, Platinum walked towards Sea of Stars.
Within seconds, the Silver Maiden stood before Sea of Stars.
Miss Platinum was somewhat satisfied with this victory in the Arc's ultra-heavy track.
After all, her opponent was one of the "minnows" she'd long had her eye on, one of the little foreign fillies she'd interacted with most, Sea of Stars.
It was a good win; she hadn't embarrassed herself!
But since she'd won, maybe she should offer some comfort…
In the Pegasus's view, she'd comforted so many young foals before. Wouldn't it be unfair not to comfort the more familiar Sea Stars?
So, Platinum walked up to Sea of Stars.
But the moment she stopped and opened her mouth to speak, something completely unexpected happened.
The chestnut-haired girl in front of her reacted lightning-fast, as if she'd thought of something.
A look of extreme wariness covered Sea of Stars' delicate features. She crossed her arms into a large 'X', her face full of wariness.
"Your next line is…"
"'That was a magnificent race. I don't think I'll ever forget you'?"
Hearing this, the young Platinum's expression froze solid.
Even when she'd been ruthlessly boxed in by the Coolmore group in the previous Eclipse Stakes, or when she'd achieved great victories in the recent King George and the Arc, Platinum's expression had remained calm as still water.
This had often earned her praise from the outside world: ['One whose heart harbors thunder yet face is like a calm lake—such a one may be made a great general!']
But this time, before she could even utter her post-race words of comfort, Sea of Stars had predicted and cut her off, leaving Platinum silent for a long moment.
What a clever little foreign filly!
"I heard from my sister. You said it to her, you said it to others, and you even said it to Harbinger."
"You… you player! No, that's not right… two-faced? Ugh, anyway… just forget about me!"
Sea of Stars puffed out her cheeks in anger, glaring at the silver-haired girl before her.
"Next time, next time I'll definitely get my revenge, just you wait!"
"This showdown won't be our last!"
With those words, Sea of Stars turned first and hurriedly strode off, leaving the turf course.
And in her heart, besides the burning flames of revenge…
Another figure occupied Sea of Stars' thoughts—that black-haired young doctor.
'Since I lost, I just need to keep training, get stronger.'
'But before that… I need to go meet Dr. Lin!'
'This is his first time in Europe, right? I can't miss him!!!'
--+--
Outside the spectator stands.
Lin Anran was walking away alongside Galileo.
"Dr. Lin, would you like me to arrange accommodation for you?"
A certain young lady from the Sea family, the moment her little sister had just lost, went straight for the goal!
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
There should be... around 70+ advanced chapters?
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.