After breaking free from the control of Starlight's Red skills, Silence Suzuka locked her gaze onto the petite figure ahead of her.
Her brow furrowed as a golden light flared up once more, followed by a green ring that swirled around her.
Gold Skill: [Professor of Curviture]
In a cornering situation, this specialized corner acceleration skill was most effective. Her speed surged, and Suzuka overtook Starlight once again.
Having reclaimed the lead, Suzuka wasted no more time.
A brilliant iridescent-gold light flickered in her eyes, and a vortex resembling a spatial portal appeared before her.
As she stepped into the vortex, a wind-breaking spiral began to generate around her body.
Gold Skill: [Unrestrained]
Unique Skill: [The View from the Lead is Mine!]
From behind Suzuka, a wind field unique to her surged forward. Propelled by this powerful gale, Suzuka's speed received a massive boost.
On the final straight, Suzuka decisively activated all her remaining skills, pulling away from Starlight by about five lengths.
However, just as she sought to accelerate further, her surroundings were gradually shrouded in a dim gray.
Her pupils shrank instantly, and she tilted her head slightly to look back.
Amidst the gray gloom behind her, only Starlight's dazzling golden eyes shimmered.
The pattern of a hexagram flickered, reflected in Silence Suzuka's cyan eyes.
'It's.. It's Starlight's Unique Skill!'
Watching Divine Starlight accelerate as if through thin air, her figure closing in until she overtook her, Suzuka's heart began to race.
"No, Starlight-chan—!"
Suddenly, the scenery Suzuka longed for appeared in front of her again.
Color flooded back into her surroundings and her speed recovered.
Seeing Starlight's figure getting further and further away, she steeled her resolve and pushed herself to the limit.
With a sound like lightning traveling through the air, she chased after her.
At this moment, Starlight and Suzuka turned into two afterimages— one gold, one cyan.
Clatter-clatter-clatter—
Thump-thump-thump—
The sound of footsteps echoed throughout the training grounds.
Every spectator held their breath, their eyes fixed unblinkingly on the two figures charging toward the finish line.
Whoosh.
As the finish line loomed ahead, Suzuka's expression froze.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Starlight's silver figure overtake her as if a turbo button had been pressed.
Ultimately, Starlight seized victory in this match by two lengths.
Slowly coming to a stop, Silence Suzuka's expression was complex as sweat dripped from her forehead.
Her cyan eyes reflected Starlight's smiling figure, bathed in the glow of the setting sun.
"Phew... Not bad, Suzuka-chan. This time, I'll take the scenery before your eyes for a little while~"
Walking slowly up to Suzuka, Starlight smiled and reached out to brush away a stray lock of hair stuck to Suzuka's face.
Stunned by the sudden gesture, Silence Suzuka's face flushed slightly, and she lowered her head shyly.
"Star... Starlight-chan... I will definitely take it back next time."
'And you, too...'
"I believe in you, Suzuka-chan. Good luck at the Takarazuka Kinen... I'll be there to watch your race."
"Mhm, thank you, Starlight-chan. I've learned a lot from this match. I will definitely win."
Nodding, Starlight turned and walked toward the edge of the field.
"Alright~ I can't train any more today, otherwise the President will just pick me up and carry me off again. Ah, just thinking about it is embarrassing..."
Watching her depart while grumbling, Suzuka's eyes clouded with unreadable emotions.
"Starlight-senpai is so amazing! Especially that final overtake, it made me so nervous just watching!"
Tokai Teio was the first to crowd around Starlight, her voice buzzing with excitement.
Patting her head, Starlight said with a laugh, "Hehe... thanks for the praise, Teio. You'll definitely be stronger than me in the future."
Ryo Nishizaki looked at Silence Suzuka, who was still standing dazed on the track, while the conversations of Special Week and the others drifted into his ears.
A somewhat helpless smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
...
"Welcome everyone to the site of the Takarazuka Kinen! I am your commentator for today, Takean."
A middle-aged man looked at the script in his hand, speaking at a steady pace.
"In this race, the biggest highlights will undoubtedly be the 'Great Escape' of Silence Suzuka and the competition from the 'Empress' herself, Air Groove."
"Both racers are in excellent condition. And now for the third-favorite..."
Tojo Hana had a rare look of tension on her face. She watched Air Groove waving to the spectator stands, then glanced at the cool, aloof figure of Suzuka.
Letting out a long sigh, her gaze swept down toward Ryo Nishizaki by the fence.
"It's rare to see you so nervous, Tojo Hana-senpai."
"Haha... after all, facing a match between a former team member and one of my veterans, it's hard not to feel a bit—"
"Fair enough. Luckily, I only have Starlight as my sole Uma Musume, so I don't run into situations like that. It's quite peaceful."
Tojo Hana nodded in agreement with Kiryuu Inami's words.
"You've been busy preparing a better training plan these past few days, haven't you?"
"Yes. Even though Starlight-chan is likely strong enough already, I still want to do a little more for her."
"There's still plenty of time to prepare, no need to rush..."
"For this upcoming summer training camp, you and Starlight could take some time to really have fun and relax at the beach." Tojo Hana suggested, stroking her chin.
This was advice based on her years of experience.
"Alright, the race is starting, Senpai."
Kiryuu Inami, deep in thought, saw the Uma Musume entering the gates and spoke up quickly.
Both trainers turned their focus to the track.
Bang!
The moment the gates swung open, an orange figure shot out like a literal arrow.
Silence Suzuka's eyes shifted from calm to resolute. She stared straight ahead, fixated on a silver phantom in the distance.
With a furrowed brow, her speed exploded once more.
At the very start, she had already left the other seventeen Uma Musume far behind.
"It's here! It's here! Silence Suzuka's signature 'Great Escape'— the simplest, most direct, and most spectacular running style!"
The crowd erupted into an uproar. This was exactly what they had come to see from a Silence Suzuka race.
Air Groove watched the figure that had already opened a massive gap. She frowned, hesitating whether to push herself to give chase.
Recalling Tojo Hana's instructions, she eventually suppressed her impulse and stuck to her usual pace.
Whoosh.
A cyan-green afterimage blurred past the first corner marker.
The large timer above displayed a record-breaking split time, causing many in the audience to gasp.
"So... so fast... this tempo isn't for a 2200m middle-distance race at all. It's more like a sprint race tempo!" Ryo Nishizaki commented in shock.
Exhaling, Silence Suzuka seemed to enter a state of total selflessness.
Unique Skill: [The View from the Lead is Mine!]
Her surroundings were gradually replaced by flowing iridescent light, and the ground beneath her feet transformed into a black path extending toward a light source ahead.
Symboli Rudolf stiffened, sensing the dissipating pressure as she watched that solitary, running figure.
The phrase "leading the pack" was embodied perfectly by Silence Suzuka in this round.
The runner in second place was also a Front Runner type, but she was currently at a massive distance behind Suzuka.
And we don't even need to speak about the runners further back.
With neither her speed nor her momentum wavering, Silence Suzuka "escaped" all the way to the final corner.
By this point, many of the Uma Musume in the rear could no longer sit still.If they didn't accelerate now, they truly wouldn't be able to catch up.
Leading the charge was Air Groove.
She let out a shout, blue flames burning in her eyes as iridescent light shimmered around her.
Unique Skill: [Empress's Pride]
Unique Skill: [Blazing Pride]
Overtaking the crowd to take second place, Air Groove realized to her shock that she couldn't close the gap with the figure ahead.
"How can this be..."
Her blue eyes trembled as she watched the figure pull further and further away.
Rounding the final turn, Silence Suzuka didn't even look back. From beginning to end, she looked only forward.
She crossed the finish line with a Distance victory.
A gentle breeze brushed her cheeks, her skirt and orange hair fluttering.
A cool, distant aura radiated from her.
Looking at this figure, Tojo Hana's eyes were filled with complex emotions.
Her lips twitched as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, the words wouldn't come out.