The sound of horseshoes pounding the turf echoed, "Bang! Bang!" The moment she accelerated, it felt as if she had broken free from all restraints. An unparalleled sense of exhilaration welled up in her heart. The track before her seemed to glitter. No matter how many times she experienced this magical field of vision, she seemed to get addicted. Perhaps this was why she felt so elated to be a horse girl.
I want to run faster. I want to escape more of gravity's shackles. I want to become an existence like light!
"Mejiro McQueen has passed the corner and is on the final 200-meter straight! What a dazzling running form! We are seeing a truly stunning burst of speed! Narita Brian's charge doesn't seem to be closing the distance on McQueen! We can see Gold Ship's dash being blocked by the former in the corner. I can't believe these two runners are holding each other back..."
In the corner, Gold Ship looked at Narita Brian blocking her path, her face a mask of pain. Not only did Gorshi capsize like a clown, but now I can't even break past this nuisance in front of me? No way! I refuse to suffer this humiliation!
I'm going to struggle with all my might—
For the first time, Gold Ship's usually sleazy grin was replaced by the ferocious expression of a man-eating horse!
But in the face of absolute strength, Gold Ship's repeated attempts failed to break through Narita Brian's blockade. Her strained expression made people worry she might shatter her teeth.
"Get out of my way!!!"
If this keeps up, I, Gorshi, am really going to lose to McQueen!
Gold Ship suddenly charged forward violently, stretching her neck to glare fiercely at Narita Brian.
This girl!
Narita Brian felt the impact from behind and also grew annoyed.
"You're the one who should back off!"
Facing Gold Ship's murderous glare, Narita Brian stared back, unyielding.
"Hah?!"
Their shoulders were pressed tightly together, looking as if they were about to start a fight.
But it seemed Gold Ship still couldn't win. Narita Brian stubbornly held her lane. This was the final weakness of Gold Ship's special skill. Because this was, after all, power she had forcibly plundered, she couldn't control it as freely as its original owner. It might be fine on a straight, but in a corner, she could be pinned just like this. And Gold Ship, having sacrificed agility for explosive power, simply couldn't break free.
Gold Ship herself hadn't even mastered the first-stage 'Wave'. Even if she synchronized with Narita Brian's status via her skill, this accelerating force was like an uncontrollable, runaway engine for her. It was perfectly normal for her body to lack coordination.
Amidst the collision, both runners' speeds decreased instead of increasing. They began to lose speed.
From this moment, they had completely lost their right to fight for victory. This was also the advantage of the "Great Escape" running style: as long as you run far enough ahead, you won't get into physical collisions like this with your opponents.
Mejiro McQueen ran alone on the wide-open track, crossing the finish line without any pressure. This was, without a doubt, another overwhelming victory. Even the revival of the "Ogre God" and the miraculous burst from Gold Ship had failed to pose even a slight threat to this supernova horse girl.
"Across the line! The horse girl who has successfully conquered the Japan Cup is this one—"
"The number one favorite, Mejiro McQueen!"
In second place, Narita Brian was eight horse lengths behind Mejiro McQueen.
In third place, Gold Ship was half a length behind Narita Brian.
The horse girls after them all failed to cross the finish line in time. Their results weren't even recorded.
The stadium erupted in thunderous applause!
Mejiro McQueen once again lived up to her fans' expectations, taking home another G1 race medal.
In the stands, the young Aemushi said to the middle-aged Aemushi with a relaxed expression, "See? The former Triple Crown horse girl is nothing special. It's still Lady McQueen's crushing victory."
"..." The middle-aged Aemushi was still in shock over the result. Hearing the young man's words, he wanted to object but couldn't. "Indeed, Mejiro McQueen's strength is terrifying. But this wasn't the 'Ogre God's' full power. You simply don't know how strong this Triple Crown horse girl was in her prime!"
"Whatever. In my heart, Lady McQueen is the strongest horse girl!" The young Aemushi had an expression that said "say whatever you want." The result was that Lady McQueen won. As for the opponent's past prime? Who cares how strong you used to be.
"Huu..."
Narita Brian wiped her sweat, looking at Mejiro McQueen, who was gazing at the stands. Her feelings were complex. She hadn't expected that even after regaining some of her form, she would still be left so far behind. And McQueen had only used her first-stage ability in this race, not even using the 'Aura' she had unleashed in the Satsuki Sho. It was her complete defeat.
'Even if I entered the ZONE, could I really beat her?'
Narita Brian thought, lacking confidence. All along, ZONE had been the hidden trump card in the horse girl world. According to Symboli Rudolf, a horse girl who hasn't entered ZONE doesn't even have the right to compete with one who has. It was the ultimate power. But Narita Brian really wanted to tell Symboli Rudolf right now, Open your eyes and take a good look at that girl!
What is that rainbow-colored 'Twinkle' special skill?
'Is it really not a variation of ZONE? Why can't I feel anything from it?'
Although Mejiro McQueen's power didn't seem as all-encompassing as ZONE, it also didn't have ZONE's side effects. What if it's a realm one can master, just like ZONE?
Narita Brian clenched her fists, unwilling to accept it. If that was one of McQueen's special skills, it made no sense that she could master so many. Whether it was a rare talent like Gold Ship or a genius valued by the Emperor like Tokai Teio, they had only mastered one special skill. But the number of special skills Mejiro McQueen used in a race was just too many.
This was something only horse girls who had raced against McQueen could sense. That girl was using special skills from the very start. Even if she was a child favored by the Three Goddesses, it couldn't be this ridiculous.
Narita Brian was more inclined to believe it was another realm, just as Symboli Rudolf had discovered the realm of ZONE. Mejiro McQueen had probably discovered another, brand-new realm.
On the other side, Gold Ship was lying flat on the turf, flailing her limbs and shouting, "Damn it! I totally lost!" She had always thought her special skill was the strongest. As long as she could activate it, there was no opponent she couldn't beat. But in this race, the appearance of Mejiro McQueen and Narita Brian had completely shattered her arrogance. Now she was going to be utterly humiliated!
"Hmph. Scared now, are you? If you're scared, don't ever appear in front of me again, loser." Mejiro McQueen walked up to Gold Ship, looking down on her.
"...It doesn't count! This time doesn't count! I, Gorshi, wasn't in top form today, so it doesn't count!"
Gold Ship started to act like a sore loser.
"You!" Mejiro McQueen glared at her.
But Gold Ship's personality was just that lawless. She wasn't scared at all.
Helpless, Mejiro McQueen could only warn her: "You'd better not let me see you at Team Sirius, or you're dead."
Gold Ship's eyes darted, and her sleazy grin returned.
Heh. I, Gorshi, refuse to believe it.
Mejiro McQueen walked away, annoyed. She knew verbal threats were useless against Gold Ship. But the problem was, no one could handle a weirdo horse girl like her. And she couldn't really do anything to Gold Ship. After all, they were relatives.
But if Gold Ship really dared to come to Sirius, she would absolutely humiliate her in their future training. She would do as she said. This was the only counter-attack she had.
Just as she returned to the door of the competitors' locker room, Mejiro McQueen saw Tokai Teio, her face dark.
"Teio?"
"..."
Something was off about Tokai Teio. Even the dense Mejiro McQueen noticed it. What was with that heavy aura? When did this coward master an aura like that?
"Hey, McQueen. Do you really see me as your rival?"
A dangerous red light glinted in Tokai Teio's eyes.
"Why? Why wouldn't you take our race seriously back in the Satsuki Sho? Was it because I was too weak, so you weren't willing to go all out? Then why did you agree to race me? Was it pity? Sympathy? McQueen, answer my question directly!"
"...I never hold back in a race." Mejiro McQueen answered seriously.
This was her creed. She went all out in every single race.
"But you didn't use that move at all back then, did you!"
Why, in the final corner, didn't you use that move like you did today?
Mejiro McQueen frowned, feeling angry.
Is Tokai Teio accusing me of not taking the race seriously?!
Although she generally understood why Teio was angry, she still felt very annoyed. She had made a mistake back then, that was true. Activating the skill required her to concentrate, and in that race, she had been affected by the 'Aura' that Tokai Teio unleashed. It was the first time she had encountered 'Aura's' intimidation, which caused her to fail to activate the skill in time to save the situation. But that absolutely did not mean she wasn't taking the race seriously.
"That's just what happened. You don't need to get hung up on such a small thing. If you have time to think about this nonsense, you'd be better off getting back into form. I won't wait for you forever."
"..."
Tokai Teio said nothing. Her expression struggled for a moment, and then she ran off without a word.
Mejiro McQueen stood there, watching Tokai Teio's retreating back, and didn't move.