Benedetti's eyes shone with excitement. Even though visibility was terrible, she felt as if she had rediscovered the sensation she'd had in the Epsom Derby.
It was the same kind of long home stretch, the same kind of ruined ground. Of course, Benedetti knew there were several dangerous rivals in the field behind her, but she had claimed the advantageous position early and could now run along what she had already identified during the course inspection as the best possible line.
The turf underfoot was soft and rotten, but Benedetti was certain this was the most comfortable path on the broad track. Her tail snapped in the raging wind, and the instant she crossed the six-hundred-meter marker, she launched forward, her figure trailing a faint afterimage.
Sekaishuu refused to be outdone. The unbeaten Arc winner was in the absolute prime of her condition, and she had complete confidence in her legs.
"The field is compressing, the field is compressing! But the three in front have already begun to accelerate, they've already begun to accelerate! Into the finishing straight, where there's still an uphill section ahead, but for the European runners that won't cost them much at all! Doremi and Country Lover are also coming up from behind, with Dream Well in between them. Is this truly going to be a showdown among the European powerhouses? Skyscraper is also beginning her move on the inside!"
El Condor Pasa and Gold Journey gritted their teeth and held on, but the speed of the runners ahead and outside of them was simply too much. Both horse girls could already feel their spirits faltering, and at this point all they could do was cling to their final breath and see how far it would carry them.
But Dream Well had no intention of allowing them even that much. She suddenly shot through a narrow gap between the two of them, the force of her move shoving both El Condor Pasa and Gold Journey aside at once. Their strides broke for an instant, and the last breath they had been hanging onto vanished with it.
Their loss of speed was obvious to the naked eye.
Leaning against the wall, Toka Hana slammed a fist into it viciously. Beside her, Nishizaki Ryu—who could do nothing but watch Special Week begin to fade backward—shut his eyes as well.
Those two had been the leading Japanese runners.
And after that impact, they completely lost the will to fight.
The Mejiro runners had already been eliminated from contention long ago.
Air Groove was still hanging on, but this ground was simply too deep, and she could see no opening at all. As for the Triple Crown horse, she was mired in the bog; after doing no more than drawing even with Mejiro Dober, she had no strength left.
The racing fans in the stands began to feel as if they were reliving all those overseas campaigns: the stars who had once dominated the domestic scene only to fade away early on foreign turf, again and again, until anguished cries began to ripple through the crowd.
This Fuchu home straight, a stretch once filled with miracles, now seemed on the verge of becoming a stage for the European elite to put on a show.
Until—
There, tight against the rail, a figure that seemed to be burning with fire suddenly appeared.
Though the sky was dim and overcast, she lit up the innermost path.
That route was unquestionably the hardest to run. The mud splashing up from it had turned even the originally white railing black. And yet the horse girl seemed utterly unaffected, her speed rising higher and higher.
In an instant, the field was torn into two parts.
One part remained in the middle of the stretch.
The other consisted of a single horse girl, who had seized the entire innermost lane for herself.
The European commentators froze for a beat, then were further fired up by the sheer audacity of her choice.
"On the inside—it's Offside Trap, it's Offside Trap! Offside Trap! Even though the bad break kept her from securing the position she's most comfortable with, she has already reached the front part of the field! What happened out there? A figure who vanished for a time in the pouring rain has suddenly reappeared just before the final straight, as if she had hidden herself within the storm clouds before unleashing a fatal strike!"
"The final six hundred meters! The final six hundred meters! Still in front are Benedetti and Skyscraper, while Sekaishuu has edged slightly inward and is now level with them. The charge from behind is fierce—Doremi and Country Lover are coming, and Dream Well is still storing up her power, Dream Well is still storing up her power—but on the inside, Offside Trap is here, Offside Trap is here!"
"What unbelievable speed! Offside Trap—does she really have a finishing kick this terrifying even on ground this heavy? She's racing toward the four-hundred-meter marker! Doremi seems to be tiring, though she's still holding on. Up front the formation is already spreading into a single line across the track, but Offside Trap on the inside is still accelerating!"
Unyielding Wings That Yearn for the Deep Sky (Unique Skill), Lv. 4
Power began erupting through Offside Trap's body.
She cast a glance toward the outside.
Dream Well had now come up and sat between her and Sekaishuu.
Doremi, relying on sheer physical strength, had forced her way back between Skyscraper and Benedetti.
Farther out, Country Lover was flying freely on the widest lane of all, and Offside Trap could also see Doremi beginning to lose ground again.
She could not see the Japanese horse girls anymore.
But she could see the spectators in the stands, hands clasped in prayer.
The grandstand, once silent, had begun to cry out a single name. The voices were swelling so powerfully that even this torrential downpour could no longer suppress them.
Offside Trap.
She heard it clearly.
They were shouting her name.
Yet no especially powerful emotion stirred in her heart.
She had once thought that if she heard those voices, perhaps her emotions would get the better of her, perhaps she would be moved after all.
But now, as all those unfamiliar faces shouted her name together, her heart was as still as water.
She would win this race.
And—
Her gaze suddenly lifted.
High above, on the viewing platform, the man she loved stood shrouded behind the curtain of rain, indistinct and blurred.
We're going to win this one—
On the track, and off it.
"This is no longer a battle between Europe and Japan—this is Offside Trap against Europe! In the midst of adversity, Offside Trap has found her path to victory!"
"Offside Trap has passed the four-hundred-meter marker! On the outside Benedetti and Skyscraper, and Sekaishuu is breaking clear as well. Outside Sekaishuu is Dream Well, while Country Lover's legs haven't weakened at all! A final showdown among seven horse girls—a final showdown among seven horse girls is underway! But Offside Trap—Offside Trap is showing signs of breaking away on the inside! Offside Trap is already trying to break free!"
Duel Master (+15% to all stats)
A terrifying aura burst out of her all at once, so overwhelming that even the girls on the outside turned in shock to stare toward the innermost lane.
"Sekaishuu and Dream Well are trying to break through as well, but Offside Trap has seized the initiative! The horse girls behind are still chasing. The field has now split into three distinct sections from front to back—but the leading section looks as though it's about to be torn apart by Offside Trap's legs! What an absurd finishing kick—this is like seeing Dancing Brave return to the turf! Approaching the two-hundred-meter marker, approaching the two-hundred-meter marker—Offside Trap has already opened up half a length, nearly a full length! Sekaishuu and Dream Well are still trying desperately to chase her down!"
"On the outside, Benedetti and Skyscraper seem to be losing touch as well! In the middle, Sekaishuu can barely cling to Dream Well's tail! But on the innermost lane—one full length in front—Offside Trap crosses the two-hundred-meter line first! Offside Trap—we all said this storm had destroyed Japan's dream of reaching the world, but now Offside Trap is about to destroy the storm itself!"
"Lightning really is only born in wind and rain!"
Frustration had already crept into Sekaishuu's eyes.
She could not understand how the horse girl who had only been her equal in training—or even slightly inferior at times—was now displaying such overwhelming power in this Japan Cup.
So beneath that perpetually gentle expression there had always been such fierce, untamed passion.
"Offside Trap is still maintaining her speed! Can Sekaishuu catch her? It doesn't look possible! The unbeaten Arc winner is about to be stained at last, battered against the shore by the new tide called the Japan Cup! Dream Well and Country Lover are also still trying, but is there no chance anymore? Offside Trap is still extending the gap! Against a field this powerful, her conquest of the Autumn Tenno Sho was never due to any other excuse or circumstance—the turf world is about to welcome a new giant!"
"The final one hundred meters—the final one hundred meters! Offside Trap has gone into a solo run with a length and a half of advantage! The horse girls behind can no longer catch her—they can no longer catch her!"
The cry rang out, matching the frenzy now surging through the stands.
The crowd was on its feet.
Objects flew up into the air.
All of them shouted the same name.
At last, the atmosphere of a home-track race had fully blossomed in rain-drowned Fuchu.
A faint smile curved at the corners of the girl's lips.
Victory was already visible before her eyes.
The finish line lay just ahead, and the rivals behind her were still one or two lengths away.
"Offside Trap is still accelerating! Offside Trap is still accelerating! Her opponents have lost the will to fight, and Offside Trap is widening the gap yet again! The final fifty meters!"
"Ladies and gentlemen, let me congratulate all of us! We may be about to witness not just the greatest two-thousand-four-hundred-meter race of the Japanese horse girl season—but the greatest two-thousand-four-hundred-meter race of the world horse girl season! In this unprecedented bog, under this unprecedented storm—right now, tell me! Which Japan Cup is the most perfect one in your heart?"
Straight ahead, Offside Trap saw the marker that signified the finish.
The words Japan Cup printed on it had been blurred by the rain beyond recognition.
And then, in the next instant, she flashed past it.
The roar of the storm seemed to stop the moment she crossed the line.
The huge drops of rain suddenly softened into a thin patter, and when she turned around, the first thing she saw through her line of sight was him.
That figure, small from so far away, filled her entire vision.
"Offside Trap—crosses first! Dream Well is second! Country Lover third!"
"Offside Trap… Japan has at last found the road it has long dreamed of! They have finally found the legend they were waiting for! From here, she will challenge the world's turf—and every one of her future rivals will have to take her with the utmost seriousness!"
"Offside Trap—conquers the Japan Cup!"
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 126)
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 (Chapter130)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter89)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter157)
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 133
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 125
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 84
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 143
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 115
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 99
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 75
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 75
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 52
Uma Musume: I Want All 51
I Can Copy Unique Skills 53
A Guide to Aid in the Underwor 26
Summoning an Evil God, but the 27
Supernatural Multiverse 27
My Harem Is Indescribable 26
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin