The sky above the race venue was bright and sunny.
Below, there was not a single empty seat.
Today's race was the Autumn Tenno Sho.
GI. 2000 meters. Middle distance.
There was no need to say much about the strength of the participating runners.
Even setting aside the true outliers, any runner who could participate in a grand race like this could not possibly be weak. On top of that, this race had two heavyweight runners appearing. To this world, those two were visitors from beyond the heavens, like deus ex machina. Before the race had even begun, everyone already assumed that first place would be one of them.
"This is rough."
Mr. C.B. stood in the back rows of the spectator stands, looking at the runners on the stage for the presentation ceremony. She could not help sighing.
These children knew full well that victory had nothing to do with them, yet to satisfy the expectations of their fans, they still had to force themselves to stand on this grand stage as supporting characters in this show.
As a senior, Mr. C.B. felt somewhat saddened.
But helplessly, she had no ability to influence anything.
Even Luna, the Student Council President, could not do anything now. As someone already retired, Mr. C.B. should not think too much.
"Powerhouses beyond our understanding, huh."
An umamusume from another country sighed with emotion.
In truth, they could not truly understand the gap.
Although they had participated in that dimensional tournament, honestly, from a spectator's perspective, they could only see that the runners' results were terrifying.
Those results made them feel that they could never catch up in their entire lives. Yet even after understanding that, most people still could not fully comprehend that gap without personally experiencing such power on the track.
That kind of strength exceeded the dimension they could currently recognize.
If it had not truly appeared before them, if they had not witnessed such terrifying races with their own eyes, then if they had merely heard these rumors, the overwhelming majority of people would definitely not believe them. They would not feel as complicated as they did now, while also longing to gain some inspiration.
The spectators for this race came from all over the world. Some young umamusume even saw the idols of their childhood in the stands. The entire race venue was incomparably lively. Even some of the originally extremely self-centered people could not help coming here of their own initiative.
Because this was the direction in which they were moving.
It was like the first race they had seen as children, or the first star umamusume they had encountered. Now, they were merely feeling that first emotion all over again.
However, the local umamusume had more complicated feelings. After all, what appeared this time were not only strong runners, but strong runners of a dark style. What they brought was not only emotion, but terror.
The presentation ceremony ended.
Next, they moved to the place where the actual race would be held.
"The earlier interaction segment has ended."
"Next, we enter the official race stage!"
"Then first, allow me, as the commentator, to greet everyone..."
After the commentator and host introduced themselves, runners wearing race outfits began entering the racecourse one after another. Unlike any race that had occurred before today, the atmosphere of this race was incomparably serious. Every participant's face carried a heavy emotion, and none seemed confident that they could run a good result.
"We can see that the runners have begun entering one after another."
"Then let us use this time to briefly introduce each runner's situation..."
The commentator began briefly introducing each runner's name and past achievements. As she did, it became clear that even the weakest participant in this race was currently a first-rate professional runner in this country.
One could call them the strongest active group.
Only at the very end did the Overlord and Demon King Gold Ship walk out from the tunnel.
They had encountered each other in the tunnel.
Before the race even began, they first erupted with pressure and began clashing.
Facing such powerful pressure, many participants felt uncomfortable.
But no one dared to protest at this moment.
And no one chose to retreat now.
"The last to appear are indeed these two."
"The heavyweight runners of today's race!"
"The Overlord, undefeated since her debut!"
"And the Demon King, who only recently became active!"
"Today's race can also be called a battle between two kings!"
"..."
Although this race did not need anyone to stir the audience's emotions, the commentator still had professionalism.
"Hmph. There is only one champion today, and that is me. This fact cannot possibly be shaken."
Demon King Gold Ship did not like the commentator's wording.
What did she mean, battle between two kings?
What a joke.
This was only an older sister teaching a rebellious little sister a lesson.
Demon King Gold Ship's eyes swept toward the silent Overlord.
She thought, I am different from that Teio. Do not think you can deal with me the same way you dealt with Teio.
"The preparation whistle has sounded."
"It is time to begin preparing for battle."
"The runners are entering the gates!"
"Number 4, Demon King, is the most popular runner this time. We hope she can run a race worthy of that popularity!"
While the commentator was still speaking, the countdown ended.
The gates opened.
"The race has begun."
The opening section of this course was a fairly flat track.
Therefore, no runner had a late start.
Number 4, Demon King Gold Ship, chose a position at the very rear.
Number 7, Overlord, also chose a rear position.
"The competition for position has temporarily ended."
"Currently in the lead is number 1."
"Following her are numbers 6 and 11..."
The commentator introduced the runners one by one.
The first and second sections of the opening phase were completed smoothly.
Only when they reached the third section did the course finally begin to show a steep slope.
For runners skilled at climbing and descending slopes, this was a very good timing point for a comeback.
Although the participants had been nervous at the start of the race, as the race continued, their feelings gradually calmed.
Because no matter what, they only had to run their own race. As long as they gave it everything, they surely would have no regrets.
Accompanied by a roar, the race reached the third corner.
Some runners tried to begin their sprints.
From Demon King Gold Ship's perspective, she could see that these people had actually completely ignored the presence of her, the great Demon King, and begun enjoying this race.
Demon King Gold Ship's lips curved in a wicked smile.
She stared for a while at that unmoving figure.
"How greedy."
She knew what that girl was waiting for.
Compared with victory in this race, the Overlord's purpose for participating was to devour her.
Therefore, as long as Demon King Gold Ship did not go forward, the Overlord would not use the power of [Fusion]. Though the Overlord had used [Fusion] so recklessly before, in truth, she disdained using her trump card against a group of weaklings. Earlier, she had simply had no choice.
After all, the Overlord herself had been weak back then.
But now, the Overlord had more than enough leeway.
So the thing those small fry feared would not happen at all. That power would only target her, the Demon King.
Thinking this, the smile on Demon King Gold Ship's face became even more unrestrained.
"Heh. Hahaha..."
"Interesting!"
Although her lips were smiling, the Demon King's gaze grew increasingly dangerous.
The race had now passed the halfway point of the third corner.
There was not much distance left to the finish line.
In that instant, the Demon King began exerting her power.
[Demon King's Aura (Flash)]
[ZERO (Demon)]
[Total Suppression (Flash)]
...
A chain of Flash-level blocking skills was released.
The runners ahead were caught off guard. Their next step nearly failed to land properly, and their following movements became abnormally difficult. Every step required several times more stamina than usual.
With absolutely no resistance or recovery methods, they could not endure a blocking-skill combo at Demon King Gold Ship's current level. Their previous efforts had all been meaningless.
And this was merely collateral damage.
Demon King Gold Ship's true target was only the Overlord.
This time, quite rarely, she had chosen to restrict the power of her blocking skills to a single target. The reason these runners were accidentally hurt was only that Demon King Gold Ship's current power was too strong, and these supporting characters' strength was too unpresentable.
At least the Overlord's performance was extremely calm.
Facing Demon King Gold Ship's fierce blocking-skill assault, the Overlord only calmly unfolded [Fusion]'s passive effect.
She consumed a certain amount of stamina and accepted all those attacks.
She believed Demon King Gold Ship's action was meaningless.
Rice Shower had already used this ability in a previous race.
Demon King Gold Ship's probe this time was nothing but unnecessary.
Moreover, at their current realm, did anyone truly still think blocking skills were useful? Perhaps they would be useful on a longer-distance course. Unfortunately, under the current rules, even the longest course was useless.
Because their strength had already surpassed the norm by far.
"As expected. Overlord-senpai doesn't take blocking!"
Kitasan Black saw this scene from the stands.
Demon King-senpai's blocking skills were indeed powerful.
They were extremely strong AoE for clearing small fry.
But against a boss unit like the Overlord, they were useless.
The damage was practically negligible.
Kitasan Black looked at the current race and felt miserable about Demon King-senpai's position.
"How is she supposed to win? Blocking skills are useless, the path ahead is sealed by her opponent, and even worse, her opponent has an unsolvable move. Once she enters the range of that move, it will be judged as defeat. This... this is completely unplayable!"
In any case, she could not figure out how to win.
She also did not understand why Demon King-senpai was still running as a Chaser in this race. Against an opponent like the Overlord, the only useful thing was reaching the finish line faster than her. If you fell behind, it was truly over.
Yet Demon King-senpai had deliberately done this.
Kitasan Black did not think Demon King-senpai was simply reckless.
Although Demon King-senpai certainly was reckless.
Demon King-senpai was not a brainless brute!
"..."
Tokai Teio was also thinking at this moment.
Honestly, her thoughts were the same as Kitasan's.
Even she could not imagine Demon King Gold Ship's method right now.
At that moment, the race entered the fourth corner.
This was the final corner.
Most spectators were still shocked by Demon King Gold Ship's blocking skills.
After all, both that intensity and attack range were far too absurd.
But only a small number of people had focused on the essence of the situation.
Symboli Rudolf and the others wore serious expressions.
"Very powerful, but..."
"It has no effect on that child at all."
Maruzensky continued Symboli Rudolf's words.
Air Groove frowned and asked, "Can even this one not do anything? Fortunately, as long as she is careful, in the current situation, she should be able to avoid having her power taken."
"No."
Symboli Rudolf shook her head.
Air Groove was puzzled.
But when she saw Symboli Rudolf's unreadable expression, she immediately realized what Symboli Rudolf wanted to say.
No way.
Air Groove could not help clenching her fists.
That Gold Ship codenamed Demon King would not...
She would not truly be that stubborn, would she?
Yet just as Air Groove reacted, in the race, Demon King Gold Ship began accelerating.
Blocking skills were useless.
Domains were useless.
Heh heh heh.
Hahaha!
Everything was exactly as I predicted from the start!
The power you possess is indeed strong.
But...
You think that means victory is already in your hands?
No!
Power is not that shallow.
Abilities are not the entirety of power!
Let me make you, my rebellious little sister, and those ignorant fools understand what true power is.
Not skills.
Not domains.
But something purer, something stronger.
"Hmph. If you can take it, then come and try!"
Power, full open!
[Overload mode]
This was my strongest power!
[Overload mode]: This was a power Demon King Gold Ship had mastered very early on. Back then, however, she had treated this power merely as a skill for breaking limits. Later, after witnessing the strength of divine power, she had felt that this ability was too weak by comparison.
Because this skill could not even be considered a complete skill.
But during the previous tournament, Demon King Gold Ship had discovered the most important thing.
No matter how powerful an ability was, it would always have a limit. The truly strongest power should be something without limits, or rather, something that could always break through limits.
Thus Demon King Gold Ship picked this power up again.
Of course, she had never truly abandoned it.
After all, whenever she reached a desperate situation, her subconscious would use this move.
Compared to the ZONE she had mastered, this move was instead more like the symbol of her power.
And the principle behind this move was actually so simple.
It was to burn everything she had.
To simply run desperately onward.
From the bottom of her heart, Demon King Gold Ship did not believe the Overlord's [Fusion] could devour this move.
Come on.
Little sister.
As you wished.
I am coming now.
Under many shocked and confused gazes, Demon King Gold Ship launched a charge toward the Overlord ahead.
Maintain the distance, accept defeat, and refuse to let the Overlord activate Fusion?
Don't joke around.
That was the way of the weak.
But...
I!
This Demon King am an absolute powerhouse!
An existence born standing at the summit!
...
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