Like a chain that had been pulled taut for years, for her entire life, finally giving way. Like a dam that had been holding back a flood since her first loss, since the first time someone had called her weak, finally cracking under the pressure that had built and built and built.
If the world won't acknowledge me no matter what I do, no matter how much I sacrifice...
Then I'll force them to acknowledge me! I'll tear their recognition from their hands if I have to!
The shadow around her shoulders exploded outward like a detonation, like a bomb going off.
Something shifted in the air around her when she hit 600m.
Crack!
Reality seemed to crack, like looking at the world through glass that was starting to spider-web with fractures, like existence itself was breaking.
The sky above the track seemed to tear apart like wet paper, ragged edges revealing something beyond. And the solid ground beneath her hooves felt like it was crumbling away into nothing, into a void, into an absence.
King Halo's consciousness stepped through that break, fell through that crack in reality, entering her own unique zone for the first time.
King Halo looked around at the empty void that was hers to shape, hers to command.
It was a world of complete darkness. Nothing existed here yet. Just an empty void stretching in all directions forever, infinite and waiting. Waiting to be shaped by will alone. Waiting for her to make it into something.
Trainer told me all races in this world are already destined... So what about me? What's my destiny? Is this emptiness without anything my true destiny?
To be the stepping stone? To be the one who makes others look good by losing?
Anger rose, hot and fierce, burning away any remaining doubt like acid eating through metal. The void pulsed around her, responding to her emotions, feeding off them.
Why should Uma Musume need to be acknowledged? Why should winning make someone the villain in the eyes of everyone else? If Uma Musume dared to dream, don't they deserve the chance to chase it? What makes one dream more worthy, more valid, more deserving than another? Who decides? Who has that right?
Among uma musume, there'd always been stories circulating. Legends whispered in locker rooms and training facilities after dark, passed down from generation to generation like fairy tale. Uma musume who broke free from the shackles of predetermined fate would be called villains or heels. Uma musume who stood in the way of others' dreams, blocking other uma musume's glory path like immovable obstacles, because their own dreams demanded it, because they refused to step aside.
If someone compared Winning Ticket as the protagonist of the Japan Derby, the luckiest uma musume chosen by destiny, blessed by fate itself, the embodiment of justice and virtue, and everything good...
Then, King Halo right now is the Demon King, defying her own fate. The embodiment of selfish ambition from the world's perspective. The villain in someone else's story. The obstacle that must be overcome.
This type of uma musume wasn't favored by the world's narrative. They were seen as antagonists, fate-obstacles, villains who needed to be defeated so the hero could triumph, so the story could have its happy ending.
They won through their own desperate efforts just to be acknowledged, too. Clawed their way to victory through sheer determination as villains in others' stories, as the darkness that made the light shine brighter.
It's like Rice Shower became the heel, standing in the way of Mejiro McQueen's journey to greatness. Like Obey Your Master obstructed Tamamo Cross from achieving her destiny.
The sacrifices they made as a heel were a thousand times, ten thousand times greater than those who were born lucky, those chosen by destiny from birth, those who never had to struggle.
"Ha!" Her voice echoed in the void, sharp and mocking, carrying an edge of something dangerous, something unhinged.
"If the world itself is pitch black like that, why should I illuminate others? Why should I be the light that gets consumed?"
The darkness seemed to pulse in response, growing denser, heavier, more real with each heartbeat.
"Being a heel like everyone said, sounds pretty good for me..."
King Halo spread her arms wide, embracing the void, accepting what she was becoming, welcoming it like an old friend who'd been waiting for her all along.
"Since I was young, I've had one ambition burning in my chest, to challenge as many G1 races as I could, just like my mother did. To stand where she stood. To prove I was worthy of that legacy."
Her voice carried across the void, steady at first, then edged with something bitter.
"But unfortunately, the world's destiny was never on my side. I wasn't born with natural talent like the other uma musume. Wasn't the chosen one. Wasn't blessed I needed it most. I was just given the dream itself, burning in my chest, mocking me with its impossibility to achieve that dream..."
The darkness pulsed around her, feeding on those words, growing denser with each admission, each truth she'd never spoken aloud.
"If I hadn't met Trainer..."
Her voice softened for just a moment, genuine gratitude breaking through the bitterness.
"I'd probably still be in that pitiful state. Struggling, failing, forgotten by the world. Another name no one remembers, another uma musume who tried and wasn't enough."
Hayato had seen something in her when no one else did. Had believed in her when the world had already written her off. Had given her the tools and knowledge to reach this far.
The gratitude was real, burning bright and true in her chest. But it couldn't erase the truth that had been eating at her for years, couldn't fill the void that recognition should have filled.
Even with Trainer's help, even with all that effort and sacrifice, the world still looked past her. She'd reached the same race as them. Was running in the same Japan Derby. Had earned her place through sheer effort and perfect technique.
And the world still didn't see her. Still treated her like she didn't exist. Because she didn't have what they had. Because her story wasn't the kind the world wanted to celebrate.
Then her smile returned, sharp and dangerous and beautiful in its cruelty, nothing warm about it anymore.
"Then I'll force them to acknowledge me! I'll stand in the way of their dreams, block their glory paths, tear their recognition from their hands even if they're screaming and crying and begging!"
The void responded to her declaration, shadows writhing and coiling like living things, like they were celebrating with her, dancing to the rhythm of her rage.
"If that's how it is, if this is the only way they'll see me, then being the heel of this era doesn't sound so bad after all! Hahaha!"
Her laugh echoed through the emptiness, saying something that would make people shudder if they could hear it, if they could see inside her head right now, if they could witness this transformation.
"This world has its destined stories, doesn't it? Like Trainer always says… every race has its chosen protagonists. Its heroes who were always meant to win."
King Halo reached out into the void with trembling fingers, and a crown materialized in her hands, forming from the darkness itself, coalescing from pure obsession, hunger and desperate need.
Not gold. Not silver. Not the shining crown of heroes blessed by destiny.
Pitch-black.
The crown of an uma musume who must prove herself against doubt, against constant dismissal. Against the narrative that said their victory was pure luck, an accident, it was anything but earned through blood, sweat, and tears. Against a world that refused to acknowledge their glory, no matter how hard they work, no matter what they sacrifice.
Fierce and determined and slightly unhinged, balanced on the edge of madness, teetering on the knife's edge between brilliance and destruction. King Halo placed that black crown on her head with trembling but resolute hands, felt its weight settle like destiny itself, like the culmination of every sacrifice she'd ever made, every loss she'd endured, every humiliation she'd swallowed.
"I am a king! And wherever I stand, that place becomes my throne!"
In that exact moment, King Halo's zone transformed completely and underwent a fundamental change.
(Fragment) The Winding Road to Ideals: When there's less than 600 m remaining, if you're in the middle of the pack and overtake someone from the outside, then during the Last Spurt, your speed will increase (King Halo Ultimate from Wedding Dress)