Time slips by in the blink of an eye.
Days always pass quietly between intense training and carefree play.
Since late May, when Mejiro McQueen seized the Japanese Derby with overwhelming superiority, and then on June 10—along with the curtain falling on the Takarazuka Kinen—Mejiro Ardan also lived up to expectations and claimed the final graded trophy of the spring season.
She completed her own "Spring Triple Crown" feat.
By this point, Chasing Light's dominance in the first half of the year could no longer be described by the word "terrifying" alone.
And with that, the goals for the rest of the year were clear.
All that remained were the decisive G1 battles of the autumn season—the Tenno Sho (Autumn), the Mile Championship, the Kikuka Sho, and the year-end Arima Kinen.
And during this time, the "Little Yellow Caps" trained by Central Tracen Academy finally couldn't hold back anymore.
After all, something as major as a transfer might be hidden for a while, but it can't be hidden forever.
Especially with a pack of nimble paparazzi lying in wait outside Central Tracen Academy year-round—people who make their living by "climbing walls and crawling through holes."
To them, a bombshell of this magnitude was like blood in the water. They circled with predatory focus.
So when the news was finally confirmed after countless infiltrations, the entire country erupted into an uproar.
"What? Oguri Cap transferred teams?!"
"Where did she go?"
"...Chasing Light?!"
"That's weird. Why would she go to Chasing Light?"
Some of Oguri's fans argued heatedly, confused and unable to understand.
Now that Super Creek had retired due to injury, and Oguri had also defected to the "enemy camp," the entire Central landscape instantly became stark and brutal.
This really was Chasing Light standing alone at the top.
Even in the eyes of professional commentators, looking across all of Central Tracen, there was no longer any dark horse who could contend with Fujimasa March and Ardan.
"I didn't think the year wouldn't even be halfway over, and the rest of the races would already be completely without suspense."
A paparazzo ground his teeth, nearly smashing the camera in his hand, his heart bleeding as he snarled, "I want to see blood in the streets! I want to see an underdog uprising!"
A race without suspense—
How were they supposed to build hype?
How were they supposed to scam clicks?
How were they supposed to manufacture those earthshaking "explosive moments"?
In their eyes, the best years were the ones where heroes carved up the era and fought for dominance.
First came Tamamo Cross's time.
Then Oguri burst onto the scene, and it became a clash of two titans.
In the second year, Oguri's era wasn't even halfway through when Super Creek appeared—then Fujimasa March, Inari One, and Obey Your Master, the three vanguards of Chasing Light, also rose up together.
It became an even fiercer five-way stalemate.
Those two years of racing were tense and blazing hot, filled with uncertainty.
No matter who won or lost, they could write stirring epics about it—ideas pouring out endlessly.
Those two years of racing were tense and blazing hot, filled with uncertainty.
No matter who won or lost, they could write stirring epics about it—ideas pouring out endlessly.
But this year...
The era of Chasing Light had fully arrived, yet no other challengers dared to step onto the stage ruled by them.
That left the paparazzi with nothing to do but shake their empty wallets and sigh in regret.
However, ordinary Uma Musume fans reacted completely differently.
"Chasing Light is invincible? Isn't that perfect?"
"I just want to watch a king ascend the throne."
"March, charge for me! The glory Inari stole from you last year—take it back today!"
"Aren't those two on the same team...?"
"I don't care. I only support March!"
Sometimes, audiences really are that simple.
Looking back, they supported and believed in Vales and Eagle Symbol.
Looking forward, they also hoped Tokai Teio and Mihono Bourbon would achieve an undefeated Triple Crown, and they longed for T.M. Opera O—the "King of the End of the Century"—to truly go undefeated across an entire year and conquer Central!
People now craved absolute domination!
Whether they got tired of it later was a later problem!
After all, ever since Symboli Rudolf, they hadn't seen such a classic, such an invincible, such a straight-down-the-middle "king's path" journey in a very long time.
How could they not support it?
Therefore, after Oguri's transfer was confirmed, some fans were confused and even regretful—but far more people embraced it with the mindset of "witnessing the birth of a dynasty."
As a result, the Shining Series didn't cool down due to the lack of suspense.
Instead, the hype only grew hotter and hotter—rising without end.
...
Meanwhile, at the Mejiro training grounds.
As the eye of the public-opinion storm, the central figure here seemed to have completely shut out the noise, focusing only on every inch of ground beneath her feet.
"Thud-thud-thud—!"
Heavy, rhythmic footsteps echoed through the empty, enclosed dirt track.
"Whoosh!"
A swift gray-white figure lowered her posture to the absolute limit, like an arrow loosed from a bow, sprinting freely on a course that simulated the heavy mud of overseas tracks.
With every step, she left a deep print in the thick sand, kicking up dust.
"Beep!"
The instant she crossed the finish line, Berno Light—waiting nearby—hit the stopwatch with perfect timing.
After glancing at the number, Berno's face immediately brightened with a delighted smile.
"So fast! Oguri, you got faster again! Your recent times have been really stable, and you're even 0.2 seconds quicker than yesterday!"
Not far away, Oguri clenched her fists.
Don't crash into the one in front.
Hearing Berno's voice, she slowed to a stop and turned around. On her usually calm, slightly airheaded face, a faint smile flickered.
Ever since a while ago, after she finally adjusted her breathing rhythm completely, Kuroha began teaching her targeted adaptation techniques for dirt and turf.
How to adjust the landing point of her center of gravity?
How to lift her legs more efficiently in heavy mud?
How to use core strength to fight the resistance of the ground?
These were all pieces of knowledge tied to the Dirt Aptitude and Turf Aptitude skills.
Kuroha broke down those complicated theories into the simplest movements, guiding her step by step, teaching her how to integrate them into her own running rhythm.
And under this completely different teaching style from anything she'd experienced before—
In less than ten days, Oguri's performance had already improved visibly.
And these were times she achieved on this specially made, extremely difficult track.
Oguri had absolute confidence that if she returned now to Central's "light and floaty" standard track, her speed would become even more frightening than before.
"So this is... what March and the others have been feeling all this time?"
Walking on this dirt track, Oguri felt her body was exhausted, yet every cell seemed to be cheering. Her body felt inexplicably lighter.
"My training right now probably isn't even one percent of what March and the others have been learning..."
As the gray-haired girl walked, she eased her heaving chest and thought silently.
Since coming to Chasing Light and receiving Kuroha's systematic, highly targeted formal training, she finally understood how ridiculous her past thoughts had been.
What did it mean that her body was already at its limit?
What did it mean that her strength couldn't improve even a fraction?
It hadn't even been half a month, and she was already confident she could easily defeat the version of herself from half a month ago.
If she kept training like this...
"Oguri~"
In front of her, Berno smiled brightly, trotting up in quick little steps.
"How does it feel?"
"Yeah, I can keep going!"
"Hehe. According to what Kuroha said, even if you say you're tired, you still can't rest. Though with your personality, Oguri, you probably wouldn't say it anyway."
After hearing Oguri's reply, Berno took out a small notebook packed with dense notes and carefully compared it to the schedule.
"According to today's training plan, that lap was great, but you still haven't hit your total volume."
"Next, you need to immediately do ten sets of 200-meter full-speed sprints, and your rest intervals can't exceed thirty seconds..."
"Mm. I understand."
Oguri nodded without the slightest complaint.
She looked around and didn't see that familiar figure, so she asked in confusion, "Berno, where is everyone?"
"Mm. I understand."
Oguri nodded without the slightest complaint.
She looked around and didn't see that familiar figure, so she asked in confusion, "Berno, where's she?"
Berno froze for a moment, tilting her head as she thought. Then she suddenly clapped her hands.
"Ah, I think he went over to Teio's turf track."
"It seems like Teio is about to start her debut race soon."
"Even though it's a rookie race, it's still her first match, so lately he's been working on soothing her mindset."
"Mm... a debut race..."
Oguri let out a small "umamu," then clenched her fist and turned toward the start line with determined eyes.
"Let's keep training!"
"Mm! Okay!"
Hearing that, Berno smiled and returned to the outer edge of the track.
Over this period, watching Oguri steadily improve—her spirit growing more energized, even looking happier than before—
This friend who had always supported her quietly from behind felt genuinely happy from the bottom of her heart.
...
On the other side of the training grounds, the turf track.
Humm—!
The air seemed to distort from heat. An invisible yet immense aura surged violently, as if it might spear into the sky at any moment!
Boom—!
A blazing red Domain image—like crimson fire-feathers—erupted wildly within the track.
Wrapped in that raging phoenix-like radiance, a petite figure was sprinting at an unbelievable speed across the field.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thunderous footfalls echoed without end.
Each time the girl surrounded by the fire-phoenix planted her foot, the enormous recoil launched her forward as if she were blinking through space—leaping dozens of meters in an instant.
She became a crimson afterimage, ripping through the air as she ran.
The finish line was right ahead.
No slowing down—only an even more frenzied sprint!
Bang—!!
With a tearing wind roar, that red lightning easily blasted through the pre-set finish line.
As her speed finally began to drop, the feather-bright radiance around her suddenly dispersed, dissolving into nothing and fading in midair.
Then—
That figure that had seemed to step into a realm of godlike speed staggered for an instant, stumbling forward in a few small steps before barely stabilizing.
"Hah... hah... haaah..."
Tokai Teio stopped more than ten meters past the finish line, hands braced on her knees, gasping in huge breaths, her chest rising and falling violently.
Fine beads of sweat rolled off her forehead like rain and dripped into the grass.
"Hah... hah... haaah..."
Teio stopped more than ten meters past the finish line, hands braced on her knees, gasping in huge breaths, her chest rising and falling violently.
Fine beads of sweat rolled off her forehead like rain and dripped into the grass.
"How does it feel?"
Before she could fully recover, a gentle voice sounded beside her.
Then a clean, soft towel was placed lightly over the girl's head, shading her from the harsh sunlight.
Immediately after, a familiar warm hand—through the towel—gently wiped away the sweat covering her head.
"So... so tired, Trainer..."
Teio forced herself to lift her eyes. The girl looked utterly exhausted, like she'd just been fished out of water, but in those sparkling eyes was a smile of pure relief and excitement.
"But... so fast!"
"Just now, in that instant, it felt like the wind disappeared. The whole world stopped moving except for me—only I was flying!"
She looked up, eyes shining, at Kuroha.
"Is this the realm the senpai, and McQueen, stepped into?"
"Yes. This is Domain."
Kuroha nodded firmly, his gaze full of praise.
That's right.
Since the beginning of the year, after Teio formally entered True Blooming, only five months had passed.
Relying on astonishing talent and relentless training, Teio pushed open the gate leading to the top tier.
She stepped into the second stage of Domain!
An Uma Musume capable of creating an era had taken shape.
And what was most frightening of all—
She still hadn't even raced yet.
Taking advantage of a moment while wiping Teio's sweat, Kuroha casually opened her status panel.
[Tokai Teio]
[Track Aptitude: Turf A, Dirt B]
[Distance Aptitude: Short F, Mile A, Medium S, Long S]
[Running Style Aptitude: Front Runner A, Pace Chaser S, Late Surger D, End Closer F]
[Unique Skill: Sky-High Teio Step Lv. 4]
[Domain: Dream Throne Beneath Crimson Feathers]
[Skills: Prudent Positioning, Thunderbolt Step, Shrewd Step, Technician, Prudent Positioning, Concentration, Wet Conditions ◯, Corner Adept, Keeping the Lead, Highlander, Long-Distance Straightaways ◯...]
[Speed: 763, Stamina: 651, Power: 784, Gut: 734, Wit: 682]
(End of Chapter)
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