The race was only at the middle leg.
But the crowd was already roaring. The "Mejiro City Knightly Order" fan club had even popped the champagne.
What? Popping champagne halfway is a debuff?
So what!
Look at the gap in the race right now!
She's invincible!
She's already completely invincible!
Their teammates from Sirius were also excited. Tokai Teio was waving a Mejiro McQueen support stick along with the fan club beside her.
'Here it comes!'
The moment they hit the middle straight.
The runners' eyes were all like unsheathed swords. The sound of shockwaves exploded one after another on the track.
"Go!"
Many trainers shouted in support of their horse girls.
The runners began to clash fiercely, competing. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the one in first place!
They all wanted to chase her down and snatch the crown that symbolized victory!
But at this moment, no one had noticed—the aura of another monster in the pack was changing.
Just as she was about to be dropped by the pack, a red light flashed in Narita Brian's eyes. A terrifying shockwave erupted from her. The powerful disturbance scared several runners in an instant, snapping them to their senses. Although it was the same first-stage 'Wave', the density of 'Wave' and 'Wave' were on completely different levels!
"KACHA!"
That shockwave directly dispersed the other shockwaves around her.
Narita Brian expressionlessly burst from the pack. The moment her 'Wave' collided with another's, her 'Wave' simply blasted theirs away.
The next moment after successfully breaking out of the pack, her posture sank again. Her horseshoes struck the turf with a sound like a cannonball exploding. Accompanied by the sound of ignition, black flames covered her entire body, and then, without pause, she began her second acceleration!
Her form was just like an Ogre God!
Narita Brian has started her charge!
As the air vibrated, the horse girls next to Narita Brian were all affected by this 'Aura'. Forget maintaining their own 'Wave', they were starting to tuck their tails and lose speed uncontrollably, their faces a mask of shock and "it's over."
'This feeling...'
In the lead, Mejiro McQueen also felt the chill catching up from behind. It was as if she could see an ogre (akki) chasing her.
Symboli Rudolf and the others watching were also a bit surprised.
"I didn't expect Brian to regain her form in this race," Symboli Rudolf said with a smile.
Air Groove looked incredulous.
Although she knew Narita Brian's past, she never imagined that her colleague, who had been slacking for two years, could be 'revived'! What was this feeling of suddenly being the only one left behind? Air Groove's expression became pained. She was the only one in the student council who could barely even use the first-stage 'Wave'.
'This feeling is very similar to the Satsuki Sho. As expected, the seniors have already mastered this move!'
Mejiro McQueen's expression was serious. She knew very well how strong this state was. After the Satsuki Sho, she had been trying to master this state, but she could never find that feeling again. She was somewhat disappointed by this, but she knew that sooner or later, she would be able to truly master this move.
She just hadn't expected to run into an opponent who had mastered it so soon in a race. Mejiro McQueen remained calm, not affected by that 'Aura'. She continued to maintain her 'Wave', her speed not dropping at all.
Although 'Aura' did have an intimidating effect, this move was essentially an acceleration skill, not some debuff. As long as one's will passed the check, they wouldn't be affected by the 'Aura'.
The reason the other runners looked so bad was entirely because they were ambushed by Narita Brian without any warning while already under pressure. Otherwise, the runners in this race wouldn't have made such a low-level mistake. One could only say that Mejiro McQueen had put too much pressure on the runners from the very start.
Narita Brian's speed was now even faster than Mejiro McQueen's starting speed, almost catching up to the speed of Mejiro McQueen's finishing 'Twinkle' skill. Cloaked in black flames, she dashed across the turf like an Ogre God. The distance between them was being closed, bit by bit.
The female commentator blocked the male commentator's mouth, grabbed the microphone, and shouted excitedly, "—It's the Ogre God! The Ogre God has revived!"
The audience fell silent for a moment.
At least half of the audience present had come to see Mejiro McQueen. They were used to seeing races where Mejiro McQueen suppressed all her opponents. Coupled with the fact that they had just started popping the champagne halfway, Narita Brian's sudden 'revival' caught them completely off guard.
"Wait, who is that horse girl?!" a new Aemushi (horse girl fan) who was still in middle school couldn't help but ask.
A middle-aged Aemushi next to him pushed up his glasses and explained, "Narita Brian. A veteran horse girl who debuted over two years ago. In her debut year, she won the Undefeated Triple Crown with an invincible form. She was revered as the 'Ogre God' of horse girls. But in the following two years, she hasn't had any good results. It's such a pity. I never expected to see her revival here."
"Nani?! An Undefeated Triple Crown horse girl?!"
The audience, now knowing Narita Brian's identity, instantly understood. At first, they were thinking, "Where did this horse girl come from? Why is she so strong?" Now, their expressions were "Oh, she's a Triple Crown winner, that's not strange at all!" Then they started to feel that the money for this ticket was really worth it. They were actually able to see the Undefeated Triple Crown horse girl of the past generation versus the Undefeated Triple Crown horse girl of the present!
The people in the Sirius camp also started to get nervous.
"How did that Brian-senpai suddenly get so strong? Is McQueen going to lose?"
Trainer P said calmly, "No. Even if the 'Ogre God' has revived, McQueen is still stronger right now. And the pace of this race is still under McQueen's control. Unless Narita Brian bursts again and catches McQueen before the final corner, the victory in this race will definitely belong to McQueen."
'Interesting. It's you!'
In the pack, Gold Ship revealed a sinister smile.
Her posture suddenly dropped as she shot out of the pack.
An evil chill simultaneously hit Narita Brian up ahead.
Narita Brian, in the middle of her burst, felt this strange sensation. Gold Ship's sleazy grin instantly flashed in her mind.
'Is it that weirdo horse girl's special skill?!'
She raised her guard against Gold Ship.
Because Gold Ship's special skill was very 'unscientific'. Even though Gold Ship hadn't even entered the first stage, this weirdo horse girl had once used this skill to defeat an opponent who had truly opened the ZONE.
At this time, the leading Mejiro McQueen didn't know about the battle happening behind her. Gold Ship's special skill, at first, could only be sensed by the locked-on target. So right now, Mejiro McQueen was still wary of Narita Brian, the Ogre God.
"The Ogre God, revived in this race, is still closing in! Five horse lengths, four horse lengths, three horse lengths—!"
Suddenly, another voice cut off the announcer. The male commentator had snatched back the microphone.
"Number 2 is making her move—our old friend, Gold Ship, is charging out! Is she going to activate her magnificent special skill this time? Can she show us that terrifying dash again? Let's hope for the Gold Ship to create another miracle!"
Hearing the broadcast, Mejiro McQueen froze for a moment.
'Gold Ship?'
After a moment of surprise, Mejiro McQueen regained her calm.
'She got lucky and activated that skill? But this... is useless!'
Entering the final corner.
Mejiro McQueen's skill activated!
"Wait, what is that?!"
Seeing the colorful light ring flashing under Mejiro McQueen's feet, the horse girls and trainers in the audience stared wide-eyed. What was going on? Isn't that a finishing move that can only be used on the final straight?!
Forget them; even her Sirius teammates were shocked by Mejiro McQueen's performance.
Tokai Teio's jaw dropped in disbelief.
McQueen had never told them about this. They had all subconsciously assumed that this move of Mejiro McQueen's could only be used in the final leg. Otherwise, during the Satsuki Sho, McQueen wouldn't have been nearly caught by Tokai Teio. But now, Mejiro McQueen was telling everyone, her ability had no such restriction!
Tokai Teio's heart was in turmoil.
Didn't that McQueen say she was her rival? But McQueen had been hiding her strength from her all this time?
She didn't know that the McQueen back then was a bit too paranoid. So, you could say she made a major error in the Satsuki Sho. But over the past year, McQueen had grown. At least the current McQueen wouldn't be so easily 'guard-broken' by an opponent as she was in the Satsuki Sho.
With a sound of erupting power, Mejiro McQueen began her terrifying dash.
'Are you serious? Did I pick the wrong target?!'
Gold Ship had just activated her skill on Narita Brian. But after seeing McQueen activate her skill, the rampant smile on her face instantly looked clownish.
In the lead was the target, McQueen, who was breaking through the shockwave and leaving afterimages. In second place was Narita Brian, cloaked in black flames. Further back was Gold Ship, glowing gold from her skill. She was about to catch Narita Brian, but Mejiro McQueen was already escaping from her range.
Gold Ship's skill, [Gold Ship, Anchors Aweigh!], had the effect of locking onto a target and "synchronizing" with the target's status. The skill itself also came with a burst of acceleration. In other words, the full effect was adding a burst of acceleration on top of gaining the opponent's status. It was a very broken skill. However, this skill was obtained by sacrificing 'luck', so its activation rate was very low. It might not even activate once in ten races. And if you picked the wrong target, the skill was essentially wasted. It was a skill that was very difficult to activate and heavily reliant on timing.
Which is why Gold Ship now felt like a clown.