The commentator's forehead bulged with veins. Not daring to lose focus for even an instant, he shouted excitedly,
"Final two hundred meters! Xingyun Liuge and Winning Colors are running neck and neck—who will come out on top—"
A professional commentator, he believed, ought to have the courage to make a call. At a moment like this, how could there possibly be another twist? The winner was obviously going to be decided between Xingyun Liuge and Winning Colors.
But before the words had even left his mouth, everyone saw the horse girl in third place suddenly accelerate. In one burst, she charged straight up beside the other two!
In that instant, the three of them were running abreast.
Though he'd been slapped in the face almost immediately, the commentator was not the slightest bit upset. On the contrary, he felt as though all the blood in his body was boiling.
After a brief moment of shock, he craned his neck and yelled at the top of his lungs,
"Risen Star! It's Risen Star! Secretariat's masterpiece hasn't gone down yet! After that brief burst earlier, she maintained her speed, suppressed her rivals, and conserved her stamina all at once—she was waiting for this very moment!"
"The final two hundred meters—this is a merciless death match between these three horse girls!"
Even after being proven wrong moments ago, the commentator was still fearless. Once more, he delivered a firm conclusion.
What if he got slapped in the face again? Wouldn't that be embarrassing?
He certainly didn't think so.
He was convinced every single spectator felt the same as he did: they were all hoping for the arrival of a brand-new assassin, because that would let them scream their hearts out without restraint—
"Gah! To witness a clash of monsters like this—totally worth dying for!"
"Hahaha, yes! This is it, this is exactly what I came to see!"
"I'm so fired up I can't take it!"
The roar of the crowd showed no sign of fading. Instead, it surged even higher, crashing into a brand-new peak.
In their eyes, a one-sided crushing victory was certainly thrilling—but if the race turned into a brutal struggle among top horse girls, that was even more blood-pumping.
The three runners had already opened a five-length gap over the rest of the field, and it was still growing. This was unquestionably the very definition of a showdown at the summit.
What the spectators did not know was that the scene the horse girls were witnessing was completely different from what ordinary eyes could see.
Out on the track, a star was rising.
Seeing it, Rudolf Symbol's pupils widened slightly. She nearly crushed the teacup in her hand. She had originally thought that the power Risen Star had displayed in the practice race was already her limit.
Who could have guessed that it had only been a smokescreen?
Risen Star wasn't merely someone who had brushed against the threshold of a Domain. She had already fully mastered that power.
Should she have expected any less from "Secretariat's masterpiece"?
Sirius Symbol was nowhere near as composed as Rudolf. She shattered her teacup outright. Fragrant black tea splashed across her skirt, quickly staining it dark, but she had no mind to care about her clothes. All she could do was stare at the strange phenomenon on the track and murmur,
"What in the world... is that?"
What she saw—what every horse girl present saw—was this:
A star blazing with cross-shaped radiance lit up the darkening sky, becoming the only source of light in the world.
At first, it was not particularly bright—just a faint flicker. But as Risen Star ran, it expanded rapidly.
At first it might have been no bigger than a ping-pong ball. Yet after rising into the air, it swelled to the size of a basketball, and the cross-shaped rays grew correspondingly more eye-catching.
Even then, it did not stop expanding.
People could not help but imagine: given enough time, might it blot out the whole night sky and illuminate the entire world?
But such speculation was meaningless. It was better to focus on the strange phenomenon born from that cross-shaped starlight.
Its brilliance seemed to warp space itself, creating dark violet whirlpools that swept across heaven and earth.
Was this really something a Classic-year horse girl should be capable of?
Even among older horse girls, plenty could not even glimpse the threshold of a Domain. So how had she become this powerful?
Even if Secretariat had personally coached her hand in hand, she shouldn't have been able to display strength on this level.
More importantly, with a monster like Risen Star already in American Central Tracen, why were they still coveting their Xingyun Liuge?
There was no reason for it!
Watching the strange phenomenon brought forth by Risen Star, Secretariat herself remained perfectly calm, saying nothing at all, as if everything was fully under control.
It was enough to make one seriously wonder whether the president of American Central Tracen could play the accordion and then confidently declare, No one understands Risen Star's greatness better than I do.
Would something like that really happen?
Of course not.
Because even Secretariat herself had not expected Risen Star to reach this level.
Risen Star had indeed held something back during the practice race—but not very much.
As Risen Star's trainer, Secretariat could state with absolute confidence that before today, the girl had never developed her Domain to this extent.
So it really was a breakthrough in the face of a worthy rival.
Thinking that, Secretariat curled her lips into a smile. She found herself even more pleased with both Risen Star and Xingyun Liuge.
Talent like this—if it could not be kept in America—what a heartbreaking loss that would be.
Beneath that shining starlight, Winning Colors felt all four of her limbs grow heavy.
She bit her lip, hard enough to feel sharp pain.
But the finish line was right there ahead of her. How could she possibly yield to Risen Star's suppression now?
At a time like this, she had to grit her teeth. She had to push through by sheer will.
Wasn't Xingyun Liuge herself still enduring the double pressure of Winning Colors' flames and Risen Star's starlight?
If that girl hadn't buckled, how could Winning Colors bow her head and admit defeat?
Bright blood bloomed on the soft petals of her lips.
And then Xingyun Liuge struck without mercy.
Xingyun Liuge let out a soft sigh.
"Looks like waiting a little longer really was the right choice."
As she spoke, she spread her lips into a slightly unrestrained smile.
There came a faint whoosh as a streak of blue light flashed past her body—
And in the next instant, both the azure flames and the warped force descending from the star vanished without a trace.
"—!"
"—!"
Winning Colors and Risen Star both jolted in shock.
At a moment like this, Xingyun Liuge still had reserves left? She had hidden another trump card?
That was simply absurd.
Cleanse: For the next three seconds, Xingyun Liuge became immune to all crowd control and debuffs; if she was already affected by any limiting or debuffing effects, they were all removed at once.
The next second, heaven and earth changed!
Massive pillars of pure emerald energy, like enormous beams of ghostly green flame, shot straight into the sky.
They looked intangible, unreal—but at the same time, every last one of them radiated a bone-chilling cold and a suffocating sense of despair that made one's scalp crawl.
An invisible, powerful field of retardation spread outward from Xingyun Liuge as its center.
Almost simultaneously, a viscous emerald wall of energy unfolded in an instant, linking those great energy pillars together.
Green light swallowed the world whole.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 132)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter140)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter95)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter165)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 145
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 135
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 95
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 155
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 125
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 105
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 62
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 80
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 80
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 62
Uma Musume: I Want All 65
I Can Copy Unique Skills 53
Summoning an Evil God, but the 41
Supernatural Multiverse 45
My Harem Is Indescribable 35
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 46
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