"Out of the way, little bug!"
"Inari-sama is coming through!!"
That cold voice, steeped in a tyrannical certainty, shattered every shred of Through Odina's will in an instant.
It was as if an invisible hand seized her whole body and wrung it dry—everything she'd just summoned up, gone like smoke.
Her launch step for the sprint locked rigid mid-stride.
She could only watch as that red streak screamed past, tearing a seam in the air and leaving a scorching wake that nearly stole her breath.
W-What… is that?!
Odina's pupils pin-needled; her mind blanked.
That force—that presence—wasn't something horse girls could interpret, let alone resist.
It had already blown past what "strong" could hold.
Her prized "bewitching" talent, before that absolute power, crumbled like a sandcastle under a wave.
One hit, total collapse.
Shine on the world?
Stand beside Tamamo Cross and Oguri Cap?
All those pre-race vows felt laughable now.
"It's over…"
Odina's lips parted, then trembled shut.
At the corners of her eyes, droplets slid down—sweat or tears, she couldn't tell.
"She's coming—after lying in wait all race, Inari One finally explodes—she's accelerating!"
The announcer's voice broke with excitement.
"So fast—too fast! She's slicing up from the back in one go!"
On the course, that red flare unleashed a miracle of overtakes.
Like a white-hot blade, she sheared through the block of "Pace Chasers" as if it were butter.
Eleventh! Ninth! Sixth!
Each girl she passed had no time to do anything but feel the shockwave tear by—
watching that small back vanish with crushing, uncompromising speed.
Inari was drowned in the ecstasy of unleashing everything.
Every cell sang, leapt.
The fury and fighting spirit she'd banked all race transmuted into fuel, driving her legs to a speed beyond limits.
There was no one else left in her eyes.
Up ahead, inside the front group—
Super Creek, who'd planned to open her drive midway through the last turn and pry the margin apart, felt a pressure like a collapsing mountain rushing up behind.
Her deep blue eyes twitched.
Her breathing, steady all race, snagged for a heartbeat; her pulse hammered like never before.
Fast.
Faster than projected.
Beyond the model entirely.
Creek's design had been to drain Inari's stamina through the midrace and blunt her finishing kick in the endgame.
But Inari—unreasonably—had barged right into her tempo and was tearing it apart.
In the corner of Creek's eye, the red figure was an arrow off the string, knifing at her with terrifying speed.
The hoof-thunder struck like a thunder god's hammer, right at her ear.
There was no "common sense" left to explain this.
I won't let you take me that easily!
Creek's gentle smile burned away, replaced by a steel she'd never shown.
Beneath the layers of calculations and tactics, pure fighting spirit ignited.
"Inari's late kick was always in my plan. It's just… early, that's all."
"I still have plenty of stamina—and there's still distance between us."
"At this range, in a pure final-kick duel… I won't lose!"
Deep in her pupils, ice-blue lightning bloomed.
[Domain]—Step One: True Self State.
In the unknown depth of mind, Super Creek ran through unending darkness.
Ahead of her, a mirror-wall shadowed her stride.
Cracks webbed the glass; threads of ice-blue light seeped out and networked into capacity.
This is the same force Oguri and Tamamo command…
Her mind cleared; strength welled up; the techniques and sense she controlled sharpened to a diamond edge.
A silent urge pressed at her—
Shatter the mirror. Let everything surge out at once—
Release?
Creek's answer was wordless.
Abandon all craft, all art, for a wild sprint?
"—That isn't me."
The mirror vanished. The dark snapped into clarity.
Tak—!
Long, powerful legs bit deep into the turf—then exploded.
She stopped holding back. No more reserve—only forward.
Her cadence snapped higher; her body pitched ahead like lightning.
In a blink she surged past the faltering Free Run and seized the lead.
Behind, the red storm that was Inari slammed into the head of the pack the very next heartbeat.
The two who would one day be called the "Eternal Big Three"—
met for their first true head-to-head on the last turn.
Creek's eruption didn't escape Inari's eye.
Feeling that sudden blue surge in front, she only thrilled harder.
"Good. Now we're talking, Super Creek!"
The next instant, Inari blew past Free Run as well—second place—and arrowed for the wire.
Shua! Shua!
Blue and red light trails—one before, one behind—shot through the fourth corner and hurled themselves onto the final 470-meter straight.
"OOOOOOOOH—!"
"Go, Inari! Show 'em how Ōi runs!"
"Come on, Super Creek!!!"
The stands became a tsunami.
Every gaze locked on those two, hearts pounding in time with their strides.
From a god's-eye view, it was plain:
that blazing red was reeling in blue at a speed you could see shrinking by the second.
At this rate—never mind 470 meters—
in less than 200, Creek would be caught… and overrun.
On the track, Creek felt strength beginning to slip.
Every muscle screamed like torn cloth; her lungs were blast furnaces—each breath burned.
She clenched her teeth, poured all will into her legs, but no effort could widen the gap.
Why?!
I did everything I could!
A heavy footfall cracked at her ear—death's knife sliding close—
Tak—!
The figure rimmed in rainbow-hot light ghosted to her flank, step for step.
"Inari One! Inari One has drawn even with Creek!" the announcer howled, voice ragged.
Inari's mouth curled into a feral smile.
Wind ripped past her ears; she tilted her head a hair and cut a cold glance at the girl beside her—Super Creek, straining at the limit.
Then she spoke, voice slicing the air—no mockery, only a shard of baffled judgment.
"At first I thought you were the same type as Obey Your Master…
didn't expect you'd be someone who… binds her own hands."
Creek blinked, thrown.
Bind my own hands…?
Then understanding flashed—too late.
She tried to dig again, but her body had reached its wall; it wouldn't answer.
Every step was lead, too heavy to lift.
Inari watched her struggle, eyes cool, and turned forward again.
In those pupils, a volcano devoured the red tracer-light—
and then erupted.
"Let me show you…"
Her voice reached Creek's ear, strange and distant.
BOOOOM—!!!
A furnace-hot, feral aura detonated like a volcano breaking the earth.
"I'll show you what it means to be—the strongest!!!"
With Inari's roar, the tracer-light in her eyes poured into endless streaming flame.
Fox-fire phantoms seemed to surge and circle her, howling, blasting outward from her as the center—
—and then, underfoot, a sigil blazed to life.
Domain — Foxfire Wail!
(End of Chapter)
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