"She's coming!"
"Number 9!"
"The Overlord has broken through from behind and begun the chase!"
"700 meters remain. Can the Overlord reverse the situation?"
One could see that, as a series of skills activated, the pitch-black aura around the Overlord became increasingly terrifying.
Although [Fusion] could not remove the limit on activating multiple skills the way divine skills could, with less than half the course remaining, the Overlord's body could fully withstand the side effects.
As long as she could win, a little burden was nothing important.
"The race has entered the final phase!"
"The fourth corner!"
"Tokai Teio is in the lead!"
"The Overlord is still seven lengths behind!"
"Next..."
The commentator rapidly summarized the situation in the race.
By the time the commentator finished speaking, Tokai Teio had just completed the fourth corner and entered the final straight.
And in that instant, time across the entire venue froze.
[Overspeed]
The power of time acceleration was used for the first time in this race.
Tokai Teio had staked everything.
Seeing this, many spectators could not help standing up.
Just a little more!
The finish line was right before her eyes!
Although the commentator was startled by Tokai Teio's skill, she quickly adjusted and spoke in an excited tone:
"Only 200 meters remain! Victory and defeat will be decided in one breath! Will this be Tokai Teio's overwhelming victory?"
No matter how one looked at it, the situation seemed decided.
Tokai Teio was too strong.
She still had another move left at a time like this.
Now the gap had returned to where it had been at the beginning.
But there were still questions in the commentator's heart.
No... why wasn't the gap completely shaken off?
The skill Tokai Teio used just now should have been impossible to answer. Why could the Overlord still maintain a gap of only a few lengths?
"..."
The gap was seven lengths.
200 meters remained.
This was unquestionably a huge disadvantage.
If any ordinary umamusume had been in this position, she could only accept her defeat with a face full of unwillingness.
But the Overlord was no ordinary person.
The pitch-black aura did not weaken in the slightest.
Rather, it rose even higher.
Dark-red light erupted.
The instant Tokai Teio released [Overspeed], the Overlord's attack reached its maximum. Every blocking skill was released at once.
Those countless blocking skills forcibly controlled Tokai Teio for several seconds. The remaining 200 meters became incomparably difficult.
Tokai Teio's expression changed.
She gritted her teeth and chose to endure it.
Although she could use [Rewind] to turn time back to before she was hit, the number of the Overlord's blocking skills was unknown.
And the Overlord could move inside the frozen world.
Although there would be major restrictions, she was not helpless like other umamusume. Using [Rewind] could instead cause Tokai Teio to lose her current enormous advantage. Now, the only option was to fight through.
Mere blocking skills!
Watch me step over them with conviction!
Her foot stamped heavily into the turf.
Her soles scraped with a creaking sound.
Ignoring the screams of her bones and the gravity on her body, Tokai Teio's body lit up once more with the radiance of colored skills.
Although her head was covered in sweat, that step was taken in the end.
Seeing this, the spectators shouted with excitement.
Closer. She was even closer to the finish line. It was almost within reach!
"Heh."
The Overlord looked at Tokai Teio, whose speed had slowed ahead of her.
That burning fighting spirit was certainly praiseworthy.
But you grew anxious, Tokai Teio.
You were too fixated on this race, and that made you make the wrong decision. You seem to have forgotten that for people like us, a gap like this is nothing. Even if there were only 100 meters left, much less 200, we could easily catch up.
If you had used Rewind and maintained your earlier speed, this race might have been more challenging instead.
But you no longer have the composure left to think calmly.
200 meters. 150 meters. 100 meters...
Everyone watched with their own eyes as the situation went from Tokai Teio's massive advantage to the Overlord arriving almost unstoppably behind her.
Tokai Teio's light began to fade.
Darkness was devouring everything.
At that moment, feeling the chill from behind, Tokai Teio also calmed down.
"Not good!"
She had already entered that range!
The Overlord's lips curved slightly upward.
"Fusion..."
!!!
A black-hole-like gravity instantly latched onto Tokai Teio.
Tokai Teio felt powerless and despairing.
But at the very end, she still refused to give up and used [Rewind].
[Rewind], maximum output!
Time began to flow backward.
Tokai Teio could feel most of the interference effects on her body disappearing. But just as the rewind ended, a cold laugh suddenly sounded beside her.
Tokai Teio's face filled with disbelief.
She turned back.
And met the Overlord's cold golden eyes.
At that moment, in the stands, the expressions of Demon King Gold Ship and Kitasan Black also changed, because even they could not understand this scene.
"What is going on? Did that girl's ZONE fail?"
"Why didn't Overlord-senpai's position change?"
Time had indeed been rewound.
But the length gap between the Overlord and Tokai Teio had not changed.
It looked as if the Overlord had entered that realm beyond time together with Tokai Teio and maintained her own existence.
But how was that possible?
[Rewind]'s priority should have been the highest level. Even holders of divine skills could not do something like this.
And the previous Rice Shower had been unable to do this either.
Demon King Gold Ship calmly thought it through.
"No..."
"So that's it!"
She remembered the earlier situation.
Before Tokai Teio used [Rewind], the Overlord's [Fusion] had already activated. In other words...
There was only one possibility.
That girl had evolved before [Rewind] activated!
Unlike Rice Shower's [Fusion], the Overlord's [Fusion] was more aggressive.
Not only was there no limit on quantity.
The amount of power it could plunder was also much greater.
Demon King Gold Ship did not doubt that, in that single instant just now, the Overlord had already successfully taken Tokai Teio's power.
[Overspeed]
[Rewind]
These skills involving time were indeed powerful.
But if the Overlord had already obtained the same power, then the current situation could be explained.
The same conclusion Demon King Gold Ship reached also occurred to Tokai Teio in the race. Her heart trembled as she looked into those golden eyes.
"Damn it. I was one step too slow?"
The next instant, Tokai Teio's breathing grew rapid.
Not because of the blow to her heart.
But because [Fusion] was indeed still in effect.
The Overlord's eyes did not waver.
Even facing Tokai Teio, who was like "family," her feelings did not change. Since Tokai Teio had chosen to enter this battlefield and face her, then at this moment they were only enemies.
Besides...
On the road to the strongest, she did not need companions.
What she needed was absolute power and victory.
[Overspeed]
The sensation of time standing still unfolded again.
But this time, the sun did not shine.
What came with it was terrifying darkness and cold.
The Overlord's figure transformed into a streak of black light and arrived before the finish line.
Before even the commentator could react, the Overlord crossed the finish line. The exchange between time ability users left most people unable to come back to their senses. Only a small number of umamusume standing at the peak of the world, or beyond it, could calmly analyze this race.
One move short.
Tokai Teio's desire to win had instead become the final obstacle.
If she had not been so fixated on defeating the Overlord.
If she had been able to stay calm at the end.
If she had activated [Rewind] before [Fusion] took effect, then the result might have changed.
It was truly regrettable.
There had originally been no gap in strength.
But she had lost in will.
While Tokai Teio was still thinking about how to defeat her opponent, the Overlord had already been certain that she would be the victor.
"The... the result is out!"
"The winner is..."
"Overlord!"
The big screen flashed a close-up of the Overlord. Looking at that figure, many timid umamusume could not help shrinking their heads.
Terrifying!
Was there truly no one who could stop this villain?
Tokai Teio was carried off the field.
Her body had burned out.
Originally, if her power had not been taken, her strength would have allowed her to forcefully endure the consumption of this race.
But after her power was taken by the Overlord, she returned to the novice stage overnight.
Under such circumstances, her body could not endure it.
If she had not still kept the items she had bought during that earlier tournament event, she might have needed surgery.
After seeing Tokai Teio's condition, everyone more deeply realized how terrifying the Overlord was.
So this was a dark umamusume?!
There was only the Overlord on the award podium afterward.
Although everyone thought the Overlord was a great villain, during the final performance segment, they could not control themselves. They could not refuse the Overlord's performance. The entire performance venue was packed with spectators.
Rice Shower and Kitasan Black came to the hospital at that time.
Demon King Gold Ship also arrived from the other side.
Although their chosen paths differed, after seeing Tokai Teio injured and hospitalized, all of them had chosen to visit her immediately.
When Kitasan Black saw Demon King Gold Ship, she could not help questioning her.
"Demon King-senpai, what exactly are you all doing? Isn't this going too far? And what is going on with Overlord-senpai?"
"Hmph!"
Demon King Gold Ship arrogantly showed that she could not be bothered to explain.
Besides, what was there to explain? Tokai Teio had only lost and been injured. It was not as if she had actually died.
"Please don't continue this anymore."
Rice Shower also pleaded with Demon King Gold Ship.
Demon King Gold Ship gave no response.
She simply walked into the hospital on her own.
However, when she saw Tokai Teio's current state, a trace of unnatural change still flashed across her face. In the next instant, she controlled it. She would never admit her mistake.
"Teio-senpai!"
"Teio-oneechan!"
Kitasan Black and Rice Shower were both extremely worried. It was their first time seeing Tokai Teio so weakened.
Although Tokai Teio's face was frail, she still comforted them calmly.
"I'm fine. After all, I'm Tokai Teio. Something at this level can't defeat me."
Her injuries had recovered with [items].
There were no lingering aftereffects from fractures.
But...
Now was not the time to care about that.
Her expression turned serious as she looked at Demon King Gold Ship.
"Can you still keep the situation under control now?"
Tokai Teio's tone was colder than it had ever been.
This time, she was truly angry.
Not because her own power had been taken by the Overlord.
But because after considering the power the Overlord had now obtained, the girl had already become unfathomable. At the end, Tokai Teio had seen profound darkness in the Overlord's eyes. That child would not stop.
That child had the resolve to climb to [the strongest] by any means necessary. For that, even if she had to break with "family," even if she had to become a great villain hated by everyone, she did not care.
"Heh. You still have the mood to consider that?"
Demon King Gold Ship froze at Tokai Teio's question. She carefully observed the other girl and found that this person truly had not suffered too serious a mental blow. Only then did she lose control and laugh.
She had underestimated this person.
"You had better really be confident."
"That girl is serious. You had better not support her while thinking this is only fun and games!"
Tokai Teio could not grasp what Demon King Gold Ship was thinking.
But right now, she could only choose to believe.
After all, she had already been forced out of the field.
Although her body could be restored with [items], the aftereffects of having her power taken were not as simple as she had thought. Especially for umamusume like them who had awakened deeper powers, those powers contained an indispensable part of themselves.
Once that part was taken, returning to their peak condition would not be easy.
The system could not help her in this regard.
"..."
Demon King Gold Ship did not say anything.
After seeing that Tokai Teio's condition was all right, she no longer lingered. Rice Shower and Kitasan Black were there to take care of her anyway.
She left the hospital and returned to the hotel.
She went to the top floor.
Looking at the Overlord, who was standing before the floor-to-ceiling window and gazing at the scenery outside, Demon King Gold Ship spoke:
"Tell me your next plan, sister. This world is no longer necessary for you, is it?"
"Is she all right?"
The Overlord did not answer the question.
Instead, she asked Demon King Gold Ship about Tokai Teio's condition.
"Heh. That girl is fine."
"But... I was the one who asked first."
Demon King Gold Ship's tone was somewhat unfriendly.
She was not in a good mood right now.
After seeing Tokai Teio's condition, she discovered that she actually did not feel especially satisfied.
The Overlord turned around. Her golden eyes stared at Demon King Gold Ship's ugly expression, and she gave a mocking cold smile.
"It seems you are still running from yourself, Gold Ship. How long do you intend to keep playing house as a Demon King?"
"!"
Gold Ship's expression instantly turned cold as frost.
A dark-red aura erupted in an instant.
But the next moment, a black aura blocked her attack.
"It seems that after defeating that girl, your confidence has inflated so much that you no longer place this Demon King in your eyes."
The Demon King's dignity allowed no provocation.
Seeing this, the Overlord's golden eyes shone.
She said calmly, "Our cooperative relationship ends here."
"Next, choose the stage of your end, Demon King."
...
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