Back to the race.
They had passed the halfway point, and suffocating pressure filled the air.
Silence Suzuka led the third-place runner by more than thirty lengths. Her emerald figure resembled a decisive bolt of lightning preparing to enter the final turn.
The images captured by the cameras were harrowing. Most umamusume in the group behind her wore expressions filled with pain and struggle. Sweat soaked their race outfits, their breathing rasped like bellows, and their legs felt heavy as lead.
This was a runaway race rhythm.
In competition, rhythm was life. Countless gifted umamusume had exhausted themselves through blind pursuit after losing control of the pace, only to leave the course in defeat.
Today's situation was different.
The disrupted rhythm of the chasing runners did not come from their own choices. The emerald specter ahead had completely seized control of the race's tempo. Through her nearly inhuman speed, Silence Suzuka had dragged the entire field into a domain of despair.
There was only one exception inside the storm she created.
Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say—
There was only Special Week!
She remained beyond fifth position in the second group and looked extraordinarily comfortable. Compared with the sweating, distorted faces around her, she seemed completely out of place—as though she were taking an afternoon stroll rather than participating in a GI race.
Her amethyst eyes calmly followed the shrinking emerald figure ahead.
As she sensed the race's flow, she clearly recognized that every runner's speed was declining—including Silence Suzuka's, despite the enormous lead she had established.
They had reached the critical point of stamina.
The limit of willpower.
"It's time."
Special Week repeated the words inwardly.
Her body began to change. Muscles that had been relaxed a moment ago tightened instantly, like a bow pulled to its limit.
Her blood burned and boiled. In scarcely an instant, her speed began rising dramatically.
At the same time, a terrifying aura emerged from her body. It was no ordinary pressure, but the frightening presence of some ancient beast.
The "monster" opened its eyes!
----
"Huff... huff..."
The wind screamed past her ears.
Silence Suzuka's world had been reduced to its simplest form. There were no spectators, opponents, or cheers. There was not even sensation. Only the green course flying endlessly beneath her and the pile-driver rhythm of her heart striking against her chest remained.
Her breathing grew heavy. Her lungs felt filled with thick liquid, and every breath carried a burning pain. Sweat fell from the ends of her hair and was instantly scattered by the air generated through her speed. Her new race outfit had long since become soaked and clung tightly to her body.
At this moment, even running—the thing she loved most—provoked a trace of physical revulsion.
Her overloaded body screamed in pain. Every cell protested.
*Stop. Stop for only a moment. You've already done enough. You've opened a large enough gap. Even if you rest now, your opponents could never catch you.*
But—
"No!"
Silence Suzuka clenched her teeth, suppressed her body's instinctive protest, and ignored the pain that seemed ready to tear her apart.
She could not stop.
She absolutely could not stop.
And deep within herself, she understood.
Was this really enough?
No.
"Not enough! It still isn't enough... not even close!"
Suzuka roared at herself in her heart.
She could sense a presence behind her—clearly far away, yet as frightening as an abyss.
Special Week's presence.
The girl had not begun pursuing her, and that only made Suzuka more afraid.
Why wasn't she chasing?
Was she mocking Suzuka?
Or was she waiting for the moment Suzuka exhausted herself, planning to pass as easily as harvesting straw?
"I won't allow it... I won't allow that to happen!"
Suzuka gritted her teeth. Rather than dimming, the light in her eyes grew fiercer through extreme concentration. She squeezed her already screaming legs again and released every remaining trace of energy without reservation.
[Runaway!]
The skill lit up just before she entered the final turn.
"Silence Suzuka maintains astonishing dominance even as she approaches the final turn! Has the outcome already been decided? Is there truly no other umamusume capable of breaking out and stopping her?!"
The commentator rose and shouted, his hoarse voice trembling with emotion at this ultimate display of running.
"She refuses even a moment to breathe and continues enduring through sheer determination! Leading the entire race all the way to the end! What obsession! What resolve!"
The gap on the course remained extraordinary.
This was no longer a competition. It was a one-sided slaughter.
Silence Suzuka's personal performance.
But then—
A figure in the second group moved.
Special Week slowly raised her head. A faint ripple finally disturbed her perpetually calm violet eyes.
It was neither fear nor anxiety, but the excitement of a hunter finally seeing its prey reveal an opening.
"You're remarkable, Suzuka. You can still endure at this point. But..." Special Week murmured, her voice inaudible beneath the roaring wind.
Her lips rose into a cold curve.
"The game is over."
Special Week's breathing changed in an instant.
Golden light blazed within her violet eyes. As that power erupted, every living thing around her seemed to fall silent. Her concentration reached such an extreme that nothing remained in her mind except the objective.
The strength distributed across her body began to resonate, crossing its limits.
Her previously calm, lazy breathing became deep and powerful, as though a colossal beast buried in slumber had opened its eyes and begun devouring the world. Every relaxed muscle tightened, every fiber filling with explosive strength.
"Here I come."
There were no unnecessary words and no preparation.
With the crack of an airburst, Special Week vanished from the pack.
No—she had not vanished.
She had erupted!
"Boom!"
An invisible detonation shook the course.
The turf beneath Special Week collapsed and dirt scattered. Her body became a brown cannonball, accelerating in defiance of physical common sense and tearing through the resistance of the air.
Sea of Blue Skies, running at the head of the second group, saw a figure flash past her. Her pupils contracted to pinpoints.
For a single instant, terrifying wind pressure swept along her side. It was not wind, but a storm of pure power!
"Special Week?! When did she—?"
Sea of Blue Skies looked back in terror and saw only a blurred afterimage.
The figure wrapped in gradually steaming air devoured the distance ahead at a speed the naked eye could scarcely capture.
"Impossible! That speed... no person can run like that!"
The commentator's voice rose to its limit and cracked into a shriek.
"Wait! Special Week has moved! She's moving! My word, what is this speed?! She's drifting across the course! She has already passed the runners ahead! She's overtaking them—she's overtaking everyone!"
The noise in the stands stopped abruptly.
Every spectator stared open-mouthed at the ghostlike brown figure on the screen.
One runner.
Two.
Three.
Special Week resembled a precision harvesting machine, mercilessly cutting through every opponent ahead. Crimson Blaze, Gale Wings, Iron Will... the umamusume who had been fighting desperately moments ago felt only a violent gust pass them before her figure vanished farther up the course.
"Too fast... she's too fast!" Crimson Blaze stared helplessly after her.
The runners were not alone. Deathly silence seized the spectators before shocked cries erupted.
"A monster... she really is a monster!"
"She's only getting serious now?!"
"Damn it! Suzuka, run!"
In the VIP section, Symboli Rudolf slowly lowered the arms she had folded across her chest. She leaned forward without realizing it, joy filling her majestic eyes.
Yes. This was it.
This was how it should be.
"Release your talent to your heart's content."
Only then...
Would Special Week have a chance to open the door to that realm.
Rudolf could sense that she stood only one step away.
Unfortunately, that one step still remained.
Special Week did not advance any farther during the race.
However astonishing her performance, the excitement in Rudolf's eyes gradually faded back into calm. She shook her head with a sigh.
"What a shame..."
Even a genius like Silence Suzuka could not push Special Week to her true limit.
El Condor Pasa was dumbfounded.
"Is this real?"
A fierce sense of danger rose inside her.
She had believed that she and Special Week were opponents on the same level.
After witnessing this, her confidence wavered.
Could she genuinely remain confident that she would defeat Spe?
El fell silent.
In the end, she merely raised her head with renewed determination and continued watching.
No!
Beside her, Grass Wonder's eyes widened in disbelief.
"That acceleration..."
Was this Special Week's strength?
----
On the course, Silence Suzuka finally heard the sound behind her.
It was the wind.
Not the same heavy wind as before.
This was a gale approaching at tremendous speed, carrying the scent of blood.
"You've come..."
Suzuka did not look back.
She did not need to.
That physical pressure, that presence threatening to swallow the entire world, could only belong to the girl pursuing her. No one else in this race possessed such an aura.
Special Week!
Was Suzuka afraid?
No.
At that moment, what rose in her heart was not fear but an almost manic delight.
Even her exhausted body seemed to grow lighter.
"Finally."
A smile touched Suzuka's lips.
"I've been waiting."
According to the team's tactical plan, if she executed everything perfectly, Special Week should never catch her.
But Suzuka had always harbored an unspoken thought: even if she ran this race perfectly, the girl called Special Week would still come. She would still become Suzuka's greatest and final opponent.
Suzuka raised her head decisively and looked toward the blue of her dreams—the goal she had always pursued.
"Come!"
[The View from the Lead Is Mine...!]
For the first time in this race, a nakedly beautiful light appeared.
It erupted with Suzuka's burning life!
Above advanced skills stood the red skill called the symbol of legends.
Her dimming eyes seemed to receive one final stimulant.
The blue aura around her expanded and became more tangible.
Silence Suzuka clenched her teeth.
Her speed rose again!
Only slightly—but for her already exhausted body, even that was a miraculous acceleration.
In the VIP section, Symboli Rudolf stared in surprise.
She had not expected Suzuka to reach this level so readily.
But...
If Suzuka had possessed even a little stamina in reserve, she might have entered a new realm and opened the door said to lead into the domain of gods—a state sought by countless runners.
Now, however, nothing remained.
Suzuka had reached her absolute limit. Forcing her body into that realm now would not be ambition, but suicide.
Yet driving herself this far demonstrated how much she valued the race.
And how terrifying Special Week's strength truly was.
----
"Suzuka! Suzuka! Suzuka!"
Moved by Suzuka's absolute determination, the spectators screamed her name.
"Special Week! Special Week!"
Other voices had already begun cheering for the rapidly approaching Special Week.
The two chants collided above the racecourse and intertwined into a vast symphony.
"They have reached the final straight! Silence Suzuka still leads, but Special Week is reducing the distance at an unbelievable rate!" The commentator's voice was completely hoarse.
Five lengths.
Three.
One.
Special Week finally appeared beside Silence Suzuka.
Her brown figure was blurred by speed, its features impossible to distinguish. Only her seemingly burning eyes remained visible.
*So fast...*
Silence Suzuka marveled inwardly.
Was this Special Week's strength?
As expected... she was so powerful.
But Suzuka was the Runner!
She was Silence Suzuka, the one who always raced at the front!
"I won't lose! I absolutely won't stop here!"
Suzuka fixed her eyes on the finish line.
Only a few meters remained.
But the rhythm of the race would not change for the sake of Suzuka's will.
She no longer controlled the contest.
Special Week now ruled the straight!
In the blink of an eye, the two were side by side.
"They're even! They're side by side!"
"Who's in front?! Who's ahead?!"
The wind stopped.
Suzuka felt as though her heartbeat would split her chest. Her vision blurred and the world turned black and white. Only the finish line shone with dazzling light.
Beside her, Special Week remained calm. She glanced expressionlessly at Suzuka's desperate struggle, while beneath that calm lay brutality capable of destroying everything.
Another astonishing force erupted beneath Special Week's feet.
It surpassed the limit beyond the limit—the fangs of a monster.
"Boom!"
Suzuka's vision blurred.
A figure vanished from before her eyes.
No.
It had passed her.
In the final instant before the finish line, Special Week overtook Silence Suzuka with an unbelievable burst of power.
"Across the line! Across the line! Special Week!"
"Special Week! Special Week! Special Week!"
"She won! Special Week wins!"
"My word! What a race! What a terrifying finishing kick!"
The commentator and host shouted themselves hoarse.
Cheers erupted through the stands like a tsunami, nearly overturning the entire venue.
Special Week crossed the finish line.
She did not slow immediately, continuing forward until the swollen, violent power inside her had been fully released. Only then did she gradually stop.
She turned and looked toward the figure behind her.
After crossing the finish line, Silence Suzuka finally exhausted every trace of strength. She staggered several steps, then slowly dropped to her knees on the turf.
Head lowered, she gulped air. Sweat and tears mingled before falling to the grass.
She had lost.
Wild cheering surrounded her, and streamers filled the sky.
Yet she seemed to exist in a different world.
Those cheers and colors did not belong to the loser she had become.
They were the victor's glory.
"The race is over! Our champion—Special Week!"
"Runner-up—Silence Suzuka!"
"They have broken the previous record!"
"This race is destined for the history books!"
The commentator's voice echoed above Nakayama Racecourse.
...
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