The downpour showed no sign of letting up.
The girls in the race all had to divide their attention to cope with the muddy, slick turf. Orfevre, the first to enter the gate, carried herself with easy composure, as though declaring her complete command of the track conditions. It was almost as if the storm were nothing more than a stage curtain meant to heighten the drama.
"Being the number-one favorite really does mean something. That calm alone is proof of her strength. If you ask me, this race is already decided."
At the very front of the stands, a tall, skinny man in glasses spoke in a confident tone beneath his umbrella.
The slightly heavier man beside him shook his head. "No. When Orfevre spoke to that chestnut-haired girl earlier, didn't you notice that flicker of gravity on her face? We both know what it means when one horse girl looks at another like that."
He paused, then continued, "The fourteenth favorite—Shining Dyna—is putting quite a bit of pressure on Orfevre."
"Hah? You actually remembered the name of that horse girl who got added to the entry list at the last minute?"
"Wait, you mean you watch races with me and still never bother memorizing all the runners' names?! Fine then, we're done being friends! Friendship over!"
The two men stared coldly at each other.
Then, after a few seconds, they spoke in unison.
"All right. Friendship restored."
The thin man pushed up his glasses and narrowed his eyes at the track.
With all his years of watching races, he genuinely could not find a single basis for Shining Dyna to win this one.
But still...
They had only just entered the gates. Nothing had been decided yet.
No race was ever truly predetermined.
You never knew... right?
"Haa... the gate, the gate... I only have to stay in there for a few seconds... haa..."
Standing in front of the stall, Shining Dyna kept taking deep breaths. For someone like her, a claustrophobic trapped in a narrow, dark enclosure, it was practically hell.
The only thing that gave her even a little comfort was that if she tilted her head, she could still see the faces of the horse girls on either side.
Rain ran down the ends of her hair and mixed with the cold sweat on her skin, sending a chill through her body.
[Shining Dyna still hasn't entered the gate! Looks like this horse girl has some resistance to the starting stall!]
Suddenly, Dyna felt herself being supported from behind.
Only then did she remember that if a horse girl took too long to enter on her own, the staff would force the issue.
She had meant to use the staff's push to go in smoothly, but her arms acted on their own, bracing against the frame of the gate as her body instinctively resisted entering that cramped space.
Inside the dim stall, Dyna endured her inexplicable fear with gritted teeth, her heartbeat pounding like a drum.
Then light burst before her eyes.
Only then did she realize the gate had opened.
It was time to start!
[And they're off! The girls break from the gate—overall, not a bad start!]
Every Uma Musume in this field was running her first official race, and each had her own issue. Some hesitated at the break, others overexerted themselves right away. Compared to that, Dyna's start was not especially strange at all.
She broke from the gate fairly normally and was carried along by the pack into a mid-group position.
Holding Triumphal Ballet's ability card and looking at Orfevre's imposing aura, half of Dyna's confidence had already leaked away.
If she could just avoid suffering Orfevre's "ultimate humiliation," that alone would count as success.
If she could steadily make use of Triumphal Ballet's support, then even if beating Orfevre was impossible, finishing in the money should at least be secure.
But Triumphal Ballet's fate was deeply tangled with Orfevre's.
And now Dyna was about to experience firsthand what a rival's bond really meant—
Ever since seeing Dyna, Orfevre had been inexplicably irritated. The greeting she had offered earlier had already been a strained gesture of goodwill, made only to calm that agitation.
By now, that tiny bit of goodwill had long since been used up.
When Orfevre burst from the gate, she found herself near the back of the pack. In front of her stood a wall of horse girls.
Her trainer's original plan had been simple: wait until the field's poor technique caused the pack to split apart in the turn, then pierce through the opening in one decisive move.
But now Orfevre's eyes locked instead onto a red-haired horse girl in the group ahead of her.
That red hair was unnaturally vivid—blindingly bright.
Wait...
Was there even a red-haired girl in this race?
The more Orfevre thought about it, the less sense it made. Yet as she drew closer to the pack, that short red hair only seemed more and more glaring.
That blazing red stabbed at her eyes like steel needles. The intense visual irritation made her horse ears flatten involuntarily.
That red head was the perfect target.
Something born to be hammered down.
A voice deep in her heart seemed to tell Orfevre that this redhead was fated to belong behind her.
[Orfevre! Is she accelerating already?!]
She couldn't take it anymore!
That hair was too eye-catching. She had to get in there and see just who was that annoying.
And once she found her, she'd send her flying!
With that, Orfevre plunged straight into the stalking pack.
[The field enters the turn! The formation still hasn't opened up!]
Dyna, still flowing along with the stalking group, kept her focus on the movement of the pack as they entered the corner, trying to find a gap she could break through.
Staying boxed in wasn't impossible, but if she could escape now and take a more threatening position, wouldn't that be even better?
That was what Dyna was thinking—
When suddenly the harsh sound of horseshoes came shrieking from behind her, like death in pursuit, or an enemy finally in sight.
She fought to maintain her rhythm and resisted the urge to look back, but the heavy pressure only grew sharper, stabbing into her spine.
Is this Orfevre's domain? No, that can't be right—how could a debut-year horse girl already have a domain? Then there's only one answer...
Orfevre's targeting me!
"Why?!" The thought had only just flashed through Dyna's mind when the wind howled behind her.
[Orfevre forces her way into the pack! She's closing in on Shining Dyna in mid-group! The field ahead still hasn't split!]
Dyna only had time to brace herself for the impact.
Before she could even gather strength to resist, a tall body slammed hard into her from the rear left, sending a burst of pain through her side.
Was Orfevre's racing style really this violent?!
The moment they made contact, Dyna immediately found herself at a disadvantage.
Her body was nowhere near as developed as Orfevre's. Every shove felt like being struck with a steel rod. Her left arm throbbed with pain from the collision, her posture wavered, and she nearly lost her balance entirely.
"You—what's with that punchable, obnoxious red hair?! You're just begging to get hit, aren't you?!"
Orfevre's threat—or perhaps her declaration of war—rang loud and clear in Dyna's ears.
But my hair is chestnut, not red!
Dyna choked on her frustration, too angry and aggrieved to even know what to say—but she didn't have time to shout back.
With her superior strength, Orfevre only had to drive slightly to the right in the turn to force Dyna completely out of the inner lane and shove her all the way to the very outside of the pack.
The surrounding girls, stunned by such a rare display of open aggression, instinctively gave way. In front of Orfevre, the field suddenly opened up as though a crowd had been split apart.
[Orfevre forces her way inside! She's shoved Shining Dyna out! The others are giving way—this move... is that really allowed?!]
Of course it's not allowed!
Even for rookie horse girls, this had to count as a foul!
Grinding her teeth, Shining Dyna glared resentfully at that orange figure.
Now pushed all the way to the outside of the group, Dyna finally gained a brief moment to breathe.
With the ability she had borrowed from Triumphal Ballet, getting through a mile race should not have been a problem. But resisting Orfevre's impact and holding her posture had already burned through a massive amount of energy. It felt like she had already run an entire Arima Kinen.
After taking stock of her condition, Dyna's anger only deepened.
"Orfevre! Pulling a foul like this now? Just wait until they put you under review!"
"No-name nobody, you'd better remember my name just like this!"
Hearing the accusation, Orfevre shot right back without hesitation.
"You're the one who annoyed me today with that glaring red hair! That red hair of yours is the perfect target!"
At the same time, Orfevre's violet eyes had already filled with a wild, blood-red frenzy, making her look like a madwoman on the verge of losing all reason.
"If you show up with that red hair again, I'll treat you like a punching bag that'll never get back up! Pray we never meet again!"
After barking out that last line, Orfevre seemed to lose interest. She stopped squeezing Dyna and kicked forward, intent on ending the race herself.
[Coming out of the turn! Orfevre and Shining Dyna have both been pushed all the way to the outside of the field—but they've already surged to the front!]
[The rest of the pack has saved far more ground than they have! In the final straight, who will come out on top?!]
Only after the crushing pressure disappeared did Dyna fully realize what had happened.
Orfevre had pinned her to the far outside of the pack. The whole ordeal had not only wasted a huge amount of stamina, it had also forced her to run a great deal of extra ground.
She was almost the last one to catch sight of the finish marker, but somehow, during that struggle with Orfevre, her position had been dragged steadily forward.
Ahead of the finish marker lay a flat, open straight.
That was true for Dyna.
It was true for Orfevre.
And it was true for the whole field.
This was a race of complete beginners, and by now its rhythm had utterly fallen apart into chaos.
Yet in the middle of that total mess, every single horse girl stumbled and surged into the final straight.
And now, almost unbelievably, nearly the entire field entered the last five hundred meters at roughly the same time, launching into a pure contest of finishing speed.
Dyna still felt she had some reserves left. If she could sprint cleanly, her placing should not turn out too badly.
After being tormented for almost the entire race, now was finally the time for Triumphal Ballet's power to show itself!
The one most desperate to launch into a sprint was Dyna.
The situation had already turned sharply against her. She had no choice but to bet everything on the extra strength Triumphal Ballet had given her.
She lengthened her stride, pumped her arms with all her might, and resolved to conquer every inch of turf beneath her feet.
In an instant, she felt the gale rushing against her face, the scenery around her flying backward, the finish marker racing closer and closer.
Triumphal Ballet's finishing kick was this sharp?
Then perhaps victory wasn't completely out of reach after all!
But before that joy could even last a few seconds, that haunting voice rang out again.
"Who said you could sprint?"
A golden figure flashed like lightning and leapt straight in front of Dyna.
Perhaps it was the lingering shadow of the earlier collision, but Dyna instinctively faltered for a split second.
The momentum she had built up vanished by more than half.
[Dyna is making her move! She's breaking out of the group! But Orfevre is moving too—and she's extremely close! Orfevre cuts directly into Dyna's line!]
Looking at that cursed golden figure blocking her path yet again, Dyna flushed red with rage.
Orfevre, are you really trying to fight me to the death today?! You're not even thinking anymore, you're just here to make my life miserable?!
Even a clay Buddha had limits to its temper.
She wasn't going to endure this any longer!
Just because Triumphal Ballet never beat Orfevre didn't mean she couldn't!
Today, she would blow this so-called "Tyrant" apart!
Fired up by righteous fury, Dyna no longer cared about the difference in their physical ability. She drove forward directly into Orfevre, determined to make one final stand.
A tremendous force kept slamming into the left side of her body, shoving her little by little to the right.
In a contest of pure strength, Dyna was still no match for Orfevre.
But at this point, Dyna's brain had already issued the order to fight for her life. Adrenaline surged through her, suppressing all sense of pain.
She clenched her teeth and shoved back with everything she had.
Then, almost at the same instant, Orfevre and Dyna both exploded into another burst of speed, pressing tight against each other, shoulders lowered, bodies grinding together as each fought for the lead in front of the other.
By now they had left the rest of the field far behind.
In the final struggle before the finish, there were only the two of them—locked together, jostling, battling.
And yet Dyna had the faint sense that Orfevre was somehow using her body as a pivot, almost like a rolling wheel, slipping forward off her.
[Orfevre! Shining Dyna! They're almost perfectly level!]
Dyna was already burning with fury. Lacking the experience and technique to compete with a trained Tracen student, all she could do was pour her anger into the sharpness of her gaze.
Orfevre! You are going to pay for what you did today! There are no soft targets in this world for you to crush at will!
And from Orfevre's perspective, the ordinary chestnut-haired horse girl from before had now turned into this hateful redhead right in front of her.
That had to be deliberate provocation.
Which meant Orfevre had no choice but to beat the spirit out of her.
Violet eyes and green eyes met in the midst of their violent clash.
Then the flames of hatred between them only blazed hotter.
Their legs pounded faster.
Their arms drove harder.
Dyna held on for more than ten seconds, but at the finish marker, a sudden loss of strength finally cost her just enough. Her angle slipped by a hair, and Orfevre edged forward by the width of a shoulder.
[They hit the line—! Orfevre and Shining Dyna cross almost side by side! It looks like Orfevre carried slightly stronger momentum! The final result will have to wait for the photo review!]
After dragging herself over the line through that wave of weakness, Dyna immediately felt a bone-deep scream of pain erupt through her arm.
That earlier sense of numb collapse had only been the brief suppression of pain caused by Triumphal Ballet's power fading from her frail body.
She could not help glaring at the culprit behind all of it—
Only to be met by a face on Orfevre that still held traces of confusion and disdain.
Before Dyna could even speak, Orfevre arrogantly said, as though it were the most natural thing in the world:
"This time, I only mistook your chestnut hair for red hair, so I honored you by taking you seriously. Next time, you'd better dye it darker, or you'll have much more suffering ahead of you."
After all, as a rival written into fate itself, the power reflected onto Dyna naturally filled Orfevre with intense discomfort and rejection.
"Order me around? Don't even dream about it!" Dyna snapped, blazing with anger. "What you should be worrying about is whether you're about to get suspended and miss the major races of your debut season!"
"I was the victim the whole way through, and I stayed within the rules. You're the one who fouled!"
"Even if I only get second place here, the prize money will still be enough for me to retire on the spot—and then mock you from the stands to my heart's content!"
"I could even put the reason for my retirement directly on your illegal conduct during the race and ruin your reputation!"
On the big screen at Niigata Racecourse, the numbers for the top five finishers still did not appear.
Instead, only three glaring red lights shone there—
The signal that the stewards had entered a full-field review.
The final result, and the ruling, would be announced soon.
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 175)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 126)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter134)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 87
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 79
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 64
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 73
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 45
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 49
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 45
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 45
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 31
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 27
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 26
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin