The venue was a 2000-meter, mid-distance turf track.
The competitors were Team Sirius's Oguri Cap and Mejiro McQueen.
The stands were filled with students and trainers. Almost everyone from Chuuou Tracen Academy had gathered. The horse girls who arrived late and couldn't find a spot could only return to their dorms with sad faces to watch the race via live stream.
Even though it was just an impromptu, unofficial race, the number of online viewers on the streaming platform quickly jumped from dozens to hundreds of thousands, and the number was still soaring. Because a horse girl had taken a picture and uploaded it to her personal account, her followers saw it, immediately started spreading the word, and the stream address was quickly found.
"Oh my god, look what I found!"
"This is insane! A match of this level with no public announcement? Do the officials think this kind of surprise is funny?"
"What a clash of titans!"
"I can't even imagine who's going to win this."
"The Young Lady is definitely the strongest! She'll win for sure!"
"Bullshit! How dare you underestimate our horse girl from Kasamatsu! Oguri Cap will win, no doubt!"
As the viewer count rose, the internet quickly erupted in arguments. The stream chat was disabled, so they started a new thread on a forum to argue while they watched.
In front of the gates, the two competitors finished their warm-ups.
Mejiro McQueen and Oguri Cap glanced at each other, then walked straight into their respective gates. Neither had a habit of trash-talking before a race. The race hadn't even started, but the audience could already feel the tense atmosphere between them.
Seeing the runners enter the gates, P held up a megaphone and shouted: "Runners, to your marks! Countdown starts: Three, two, one, start!"
As the gates opened, two figures burst out simultaneously.
In the lead was Mejiro McQueen.
Her start was, as always, dream-like.
Although Oguri Cap's start was fierce, like a cannonball, it still wasn't enough to stop Mejiro McQueen from taking the lead.
On the screen, it looked like Oguri Cap's start had more explosive power, but Mejiro McQueen's start was like she was flying, so fast it was a blur.
Oguri Cap: "..." She had actually lost in explosive power. Although she rarely ran in the lead, she was very confident in her start.
Due to her constitution, Oguri Cap was the type of horse girl who rarely managed to achieve a full burst right at the start. Even though this was just a practice match, since they had agreed to go all out, she would naturally do just that.
Oguri Cap's (original) trainer had given her an idea before the match: use her explosive power to block Mejiro McQueen at the start, not giving her a chance to get into her rhythm. But unexpectedly, even going all out, she still lost.
After taking the lead, Mejiro McQueen had no intention of holding back. A blue light flashed in her eyes, and a surging shockwave scattered the wind resistance. Her speed continued to rise!
Although it was the same opening as McQueen's previous races, the visual effect was just as stunning. In the stands, a horse girl with blue pigtails watched Mejiro McQueen's figure, her eyes sparkling.
The horse girls who specialized in "Lead" tactics felt like they were watching some kind of demon. Precisely because they specialized in this style, they knew just how unbelievable McQueen's running was. That style couldn't even be imitated. No matter how many times they saw it, it just seemed absurd.
"Oguri Cap-senpai is being left behind by McQueen!"
Tokai Teio watched this scene in shock. She originally thought the race would be fierce from the start, but she didn't expect that even Oguri Cap-senpai couldn't stop McQueen at the start. And after McQueen entered her "Escape" form, Oguri Cap-senpai began to fall behind. She couldn't imagine how Oguri Cap-senpai was going to stop McQueen now. After all, McQueen wasn't the type of "Escape" runner who gasses out at the end.
Oguri Cap naturally thought of this too. In fact, for Oguri Cap and her trainer, using explosive power to stop Mejiro McQueen's start was just a small experiment. They hadn't considered this the key to the race from the beginning. Mejiro McQueen's track record was the real deal. If such a simple trick actually worked, she wouldn't have kept winning until now.
Reaching the first corner, Mejiro McQueen was five horse lengths ahead of Oguri Cap. Although this was incredible in the eyes of the audience, Mejiro McQueen herself felt something was off. How was Oguri Cap managing to keep the gap locked at exactly five lengths? She'd just felt a moment where she could have completely shaken her, but Oguri Cap had stubbornly clung to this distance. It was incredible.
Behind Mejiro McQueen, Oguri Cap had, at some point, moved into McQueen's lane. Meaning they were now on the same track.
'Is it a special skill, like Gold Ship's, or...?'
Mejiro McQueen didn't know how Oguri Cap was doing it, but she didn't believe she could do it without paying a price. Oguri Cap must have used a lot of stamina in that chase. And she was just leading normally, as always. Plus, she had now mastered a new ability and wouldn't lose speed in the middle leg. She refused to believe Oguri Cap could keep clinging to her slipstream!
At this thought, a deep purple aura instantly erupted from Mejiro McQueen.
Oguri Cap, seeing McQueen activate her 'Aura' on the first corner, also activated her own, not to be outdone. A deep black aura appeared around her. In an instant, the two burst into the corner with astonishing speed. The race had only just begun, but the two had already entered a state of competing with their full explosive power.
"These two..."
The audience was stunned. When had they ever seen a race run so fiercely from the start? This wasn't a short-distance race. Were these two really not afraid of burning out their stamina? They really were monsters, true to the name.
Passing the first corner, Mejiro McQueen felt the thrum and footsteps behind her. Her expression changed slightly. The gap hadn't widened? Although this was a huge advantage for a leader, she felt uneasy. Oguri Cap was using this move, risking it all just to hold this distance. She didn't believe Oguri Cap lacked a decisive finishing move. Oguri Cap must have a winning strategy to be doing this.
'Oguri Cap's stats are not weaker than mine. No, in terms of stats, I'm at the disadvantage this time. That's why even using my skill, I can only take the lead, but can't shake her. And I can't just try to wear out her stamina, because I have no idea how much stamina Oguri Cap has at this point. Oguri Cap is a horse girl with high stamina to begin with. So, if I want to win, I must widen the gap before the final straight!'
Mejiro McQueen didn't want to gamble. Even if she had a strong finishing kick, Oguri Cap still had the unknown 'ZONE'. Who knew what kind of burst ZONE was capable of? So she had no intention of competing with Oguri Cap's finishing kick. She had to shake her off before then, to secure her victory!
She did want to witness ZONE, but only on the condition that she wouldn't lose. If she had to take a loss to see it, then she'd rather not see it at all!
Mejiro McQueen's eyes were serious. Although she didn't have a mid-race acceleration skill, she could still temporarily raise her speed, even if it meant burning stamina.
This is a 2000m mid-distance track. Her stamina is more than enough. And her 'Twinkle' skill (闪光技能) has the effect of locking stamina. So if it's a battle of attrition, she isn't scared at all. Thinking this, she decisively began to sprint at full speed.
In the stands, Symboli Rudolf watched McQueen suddenly accelerate, frowning. "McQueen's mind seems to be in disarray."
It was no wonder Rudolf thought this. McQueen's running style already consumes a lot of stamina. To be able to maintain a sprint in the middle leg was already abnormal. For her to accelerate again... that could only be explained as her being impatient.
Oguri Cap, in the race, was also surprised. At first, she thought the same as Symboli Rudolf—that McQueen was being impatient. But she quickly decided that was impossible. As a teammate, she knew McQueen wasn't that fragile. This meant McQueen was only accelerating here because she was confident she could.
'I can't let her go!'
This turn of events wasn't in Oguri Cap's or her trainer's plan, but Oguri Cap was an experienced horse girl. She decisively chose to follow without hesitation. She couldn't let McQueen shake her here. This was her 'kill range'. If she let McQueen pull away here, even she wasn't confident she could catch up later.
Oguri Cap continued to follow in Mejiro McQueen's lane, using McQueen's slipstream to enter a burst mode. Mejiro McQueen felt the pressure from behind and now understood how Oguri Cap was clinging to her.
'Is she using me as a shield to block resistance? Absorbing my slipstream to reduce her own stamina drain... It's a classic tactic, but I never thought it could be used to this extent.' Mejiro McQueen was impressed. Although many people knew this trick, not everyone could use it in a race to the degree Oguri Cap was. Oguri Cap being able to do this had a lot to do with her own explosive power. A horse girl with less power would have been shaken off long ago.
This race was incredibly tense. These two were holding nothing back. If nothing else, the speed Oguri Cap was running at was enough to stun the "Escape" runners. This speed was even faster than their own. What were these two thinking? The race wasn't even halfway over, and they're bursting like this. Will they even be able to finish?
Trainer P and Trainer Kitahara watched the fierce competition and looked back at each other.
"As expected of the strongest active horse girl. She's so strong. I didn't think she'd force Oguri Cap to go all out this quickly."
"Not at all. Oguri Cap's strength is incredible too. This is the first time I've seen an opponent manage to latch onto McQueen's slipstream."
Even though they were mentor and student, they seemed to be at odds right now.
...
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