The girl's lithe figure flew across the emerald turf, her chestnut tail streaming into a straight line in the wind.
What should have been a fierce contest had, at this point, turned into a jaw-dropping one-woman show.
The entire Chukyo Racecourse seemed to transform, in that instant, into a stage meant for her alone.
"Tokai Teio leads! Still Tokai Teio!"
The commentator's voice grew increasingly heated. Even after calling countless rookie debuts, she had never seen a sight like this.
Her excited voice soared over the venue, ringing in the ears of several thousand spectators wearing stunned expressions.
"The gap is still widening! Five lengths! Seven lengths!!"
"She isn't slowing down to adjust at all! Don't tell me she's planning to maintain this pace and run the full 1800 meters in one go?!"
Mid-course.
Teio's movement became smoother and smoother. Every push-off, every arm swing, was flawless—like it had been calculated to perfection.
Bathed in thousands of shocked and admiring stares, tasting this scale of spotlight for the first time, she was strangely calm inside.
"Still not enough…"
Feeling the wind howl beside her ears, the girl's lips curled into a faintly arrogant arc.
"I'm a Uma Musume who's going to surpass the President… and even dominate the world!"
"This level of brilliance… isn't anywhere near enough!"
As her will surged, her movements tightened further.
The body and technique that had been hammered and tempered in Kuroha's hellish special training were, on a real racecourse, being refined to an even sharper point.
And deep within those vivid blue eyes, that phoenix-feather-red trail of light was boiling violently beneath her fierce desire to win.
As if it would spill out of her pupils the next moment, carving a gorgeous arc across the air.
This was a slaughter from a different dimension.
Under a suffocating gap in power, the Uma Musume behind went through a progression—from anger, to shock, to numbness.
They chased with everything they had. Their lungs felt like they were burning, their legs heavy as lead.
But every time they lifted their heads, they could only discover in despair—
That chestnut silhouette wasn't growing larger.
It was getting farther away.
Smaller and smaller…
Until it became a vague, unreachable point of light.
"It's over…"
No one knew who thought it first, but the words surfaced in someone's mind—then spread rapidly through the hearts of every Uma Musume behind.
There was no tearing despair, no teeth-grinding resentment.
What remained was only deep bitterness and a sense of absurdity.
They had only just stepped into the world, still unable to clearly see the future they longed for on the track—
And yet, within a few dozen seconds, they'd glimpsed a finish line they might never reach in their entire lives.
That cruel reality shattered any suspense long before the race ever reached its final phase.
Final straight.
When Tokai Teio crossed the finish line carrying an air of effortless ease, the number on the timing board—and what everyone had just witnessed—dragged the entire venue into a prolonged silence.
A decisive margin.
Without activating [Domain], without deliberately unleashing a final-kick burst.
While maintaining nothing more than ordinary cruising speed from start to finish—
Tokai Teio had beaten second place by a full twenty-three lengths.
…
"It's over…"
When the glaring words "decisive margin" lit up on the board, the same phrase surfaced again in the minds of the several thousand spectators, and the handful of Uma Musume up in the stands.
Only this time, it no longer referred to this utterly suspense-free race.
On the very day this generation's struggle for supremacy had only just begun, it felt as though the ending had already been written in advance by that chestnut silhouette.
Winning a debut by twenty-three lengths.
That kind of gap could no longer be described with something as simple as "terrifying."
This was a calamity-level arrival.
And as long as you weren't blind, you could tell one thing clearly.
Tokai Teio hadn't even used her full strength.
…
Beyond the finish line.
The one who had caused all of this shock slowly eased to a stop.
There was no harsh panting, no drenched, messy sweat.
Not even a single bead of perspiration seeped out.
"Phew~"
She settled her stance, adjusted her breathing, then suddenly clenched her right fist and thrust it high toward the blue sky!
McQueen had used this pose before, but she wanted to use it too!
Teio's grin was bold and unrestrained. Under the brilliant sunlight, she shone brighter than the sun itself.
…
The venue fell into a single second of deathly, stunned silence.
Then—
"WAAAH—!!!"
"Clapclapclapclap—!"
Thunderous applause and cheers erupted like a volcanic explosion, almost threatening to lift Chukyo Racecourse's roof!
"Tokai Teio! Tokai Teio!!"
"Too strong! She's a monster!!"
"Calling in sick to come watch was the right choice! I just witnessed history!"
The spectators offered their most sincere congratulations.
Congratulating the birth of a new generation's strongest.
…
But joy and sorrow were never shared equally.
In one corner of the stands, the mood among the girls with Kuroha was bitter and heavy.
Kuroha watched the figure below—receiving the roar of the crowd—with a smile.
But the five Uma Musume sitting beside him, though they were clapping too, did so with motions so stiff and mechanical they looked like puppets that hadn't been oiled yet.
"Clap… clap… clap…"
Twin Turbo still hadn't closed her mouth, her eyes spinning in circles.
Nice Nature, K.S. Miracle, and Yamanin Zephyr—Teio's classmates—looked even worse, wearing expressions that hovered somewhere between laughing and crying.
This isn't right…
Why does it feel like we haven't even debuted yet, and our careers are already over?
What are we even supposed to run for now?
Being born in the same era as a monster like that—are we supposed to fight for a second place where all we ever see is her back?
And on the far outside, Daiichi Ruby—an upperclassman—reacted even more intensely.
Right now, her hand was unconsciously gripping her skirt so hard her fingers went white.
In truth, she'd never really had an opportunity to face Chasing Light Uma Musume head-on before.
Her Classic Year schedule was completely different from McQueen's.
McQueen's target was the "Classic Triple Crown."
Ruby's target—like Mejiro Ramonu back then—was the "Triple Tiara."
So after being tempered through the Oka Sho and the Oaks, she was no longer one of those ignorant rookie girls.
Born to the "Gorgeous Clan," her eye was sharp and precise. Because of that, she could see details ordinary people missed, and pull real information from them.
But now, that ability—once her pride—wasn't comforting her at all.
Instead, it filled her with a chill that went straight into the bone marrow.
An outrageous judgment surfaced in her mind, unbidden.
As a Classic Year Uma Musume who had already run the Oaks and survived the baptism of high-intensity G1 racing…
She… might…
Maybe…
Possibly…
Not be able to outrun this newly debuted Tokai Teio.
(End of Chapter)
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