WGP [World's Strongest Umamusume Grand Prix] preliminary round, competitor preparation area.
The atmosphere was tense, like a bowstring stretched to its limit.
Justify sat alone, in silence, on a resting chair in a corner, her eyes tightly closed, resembling a perfect statue of the goddess Athena about to enter the battlefield.
Her exclusive team surrounded her, performing final, precise, and meticulous muscle stretches and checking her equipment.
Not a trace of expression could be seen on her face.
However, her fists, clenched tightly on her lap, revealed knuckles of a sickly pale color, almost bloodless from the excessive force.
In her customized smart wireless headphones, the cold, impassive, and mechanical instructions of her "Mistress," Catherine Underwood, repeated over and over again.
"Today the wind speed is 3.1 meters per second, the humidity is 45.7%, and the ambient temperature is 28.7 degrees Celsius, the 'Skynet' system has calculated the optimal and most perfect power distribution plan for you"
"Remember Justify, your goal is not simply to take first place"
"It is, 1 minute 58.23 seconds"
"A new world record"
"Failure..."
"Is not permitted"
It was a suffocating calm under great pressure, the stillness that precedes the storm.
"Bang!!!"
The race has officially begun!
The starting gates burst open!
Justify's initial reaction time was an astonishing, almost impossible 0.01 seconds! Perfect, just like the textbook!
Like a homing missile fired from a cannon, she instantly seized the most advantageous and indisputable lead position!
The next 1000 meters were a perfect individual performance that belonged only to her!
She was like a beautiful but ruthless Uma, controlled by the most precise program.
Every one of her breaths.
Every one of her arm movements.
The frequency of her every step.
Everything matched perfectly with the "Optimal Solution" shown by the Skynet system on the backstage screen! Not a single deviation!
She began to increase, steadily and relentlessly, second by second, the distance separating her from all her competitors!
"OH MY GOD!!!"
The commentator's voice was hoarse from excessive fervor!
"This is Justify! This is our undefeated Triple Crown Queen of America! She has demonstrated absolute and divine dominance since the beginning of the race! She is not just competing! She is proclaiming to the whole world!"
"Those records are made to be mercilessly broken by her!"
In the most luxurious VIP box, located at the highest point of the stadium.
Catherine Underwood observed the terrifying data constantly updating on the large screen, with a smile of satisfaction, that of a winner, on her face.
She raised a glass of fine Bordeaux red wine and elegantly toasted the man beside her, Kaito, whom she had "forcibly invited" to "observe and learn"
"Mr. Kaito, did you see that?"
"This is the power of 'Science'"
"That ridiculous and ethereal 'Heart' you speak of..."
"...is useless against this absolute and unshakeable force"
Kaito didn't even look at her.
He simply contemplated calmly the solitary figure running like a machine on the track.
He said weakly:
"The show has just begun"
The race reached the 1600-meter mark!
This was the most devilish segment that tested endurance and willpower!
Justify was still far ahead.
However, her terrifying lead stopped increasing.
The group of Kaito's followers, who were on the sidelines, also noticed the problem.
"Her breathing... is irregular"
Rice Shower said in a low voice, with a sharpness that only a professional could detect.
Narita Taishin added coldly: "Her center of gravity is starting to become unstable, too much energy has been wasted"
And at that moment, an internal struggle was being waged in Justify's mind.
"Faster... I need to be faster..."
"No errors... Absolutely no errors... I must execute the order..."
"But... I'm so tired... My legs are so heavy..."
"I... am about to... run out of strength..."
The immense mental pressure, comparable to a mountain, and the already extreme physical exhaustion began to cause a fatal "Command Conflict" in her brain and body.
On a high-speed curve "A small, almost insignificant stumble occurred!"
Although she immediately stabilized herself using her powerful abdominal strength.
This error was like the first crack appearing in a perfect dam!
Her perfect, almost metronomic rhythm was completely shattered!
Her lead was instantly reduced by a wide margin by the other WMA star, "the Queen Zenyatt," who was right on her heels!
And that small stumble was as if the first domino had fallen.
Justify's heart fluttered even more!
She tried to accelerate frantically to compensate for the error she had just made.
But this only caused an even greater imbalance in her energy distribution!
Her movements began to visibly lose their form!
On the last curve before entering the home stretch!
The Queen Zenyatt, who had been following like a shadow, seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
With a majestic and regal aura that seemed to dominate the world, she mercilessly overtook her from the outside!
Was she... caught?
In the moment she was overtaken, Justify's mind went blank.
"What are you doing?! Justify! Adjust yourself immediately! It's an order!"
The cold voice of Catherine Underwood, filled with monstrous rage, was heard through the headphones!
But this "order," which should have been a wake-up call.
Instead, it became the straw that broke the camel's back and shattered her already fragile mental world.
Her mental defenses... completely collapsed.
She was like a broken puppet whose strings had been cut.
Her speed became slower and slower, slower and slower... One... two... three...
She was mercilessly overtaken by more and more competitors whom she had previously left far behind.
On the track, she went from being the highly anticipated and dominant "favorite of the heavens."
To a pathetic, embarrassed figure, ruthlessly abandoned by everyone... a wretch.
The spectators who had been cheering her enthusiastically hours before.
Now let out a huge and incredulous boo!
The commentator's voice also shifted from the initial fervor to shock, confusion, and deep disappointment.
Finally, Justify "walked" across the finish line, almost literally.
Result... last place.
She stopped and stood in the center of the track.
The eyes of the whole world fell upon her like spotlights.
There was mockery, disdain, and anger.
The frantic flashes of the media cameras were like cold, sharp swords piercing fiercely into her already shattered heart.
She covered her face, her whole body trembling violently.
A suppressed and desperate sob escaped from the depths of her throat.
In the VIP box, Catherine Underwood furiously smashed the expensive red wine glass she was holding against the floor.
Fragments of glass and crimson liquid splashed everywhere.
Just like her shattered pride and her bleeding heart at that moment.
She screamed into the internal communicator with a voice that was almost a shriek:
"Useless!!!"
"Get that failure off the track! I don't want to see her again!"
Just as Justify was drowning in the world's malice, feeling as if she were about to suffocate, about to die.
He gently pushed aside the reporters and cameras, who were hounding her with malicious looks, like piranhas.
A tall figure stood in front of her.
Kaito took off his casual suit jacket.
Under the watchful gaze of tens of thousands of live spectators around the world.
Witnessed by hundreds of millions of television cameras worldwide.
Gently, he placed the jacket, which still held the warmth of his body, over her cold and violently trembling shoulders.
Protecting her from all the noise, all the malice, all the... coldness.
Justify slowly raised her head, her eyes blurred with tears.
She saw that serene and kind face, filled with a mysterious charm.
In those deep black eyes, like the starry night sky...
She saw no contempt.
She saw no disappointment.
She only saw... an anguish as deep as the ocean.
Kaito looked toward the VIP box.
Looking at the woman, he knew she must be furious.
He spoke in a low voice, with a voice only he himself could hear:
"Look, Catherine Underwood"
"This is the 'perfect' fruit born from your cold science, devoid of 'Heart'"
In the WMA monitoring room.
Catherine Underwood saw what Kaito had done through the enormous screen.
She saw that man tenderly protecting her "creation" behind him.
She saw her "creation" looking at that man with a gaze she had never seen before, a gaze full of dependence and fragility...
A flash of furious and intense jealousy instantly crossed her eyes, a feeling that even she herself had not noticed!
Immediately she took the intercom and gave a new order!
"Security! Go and stop that man from the East!"
"He is not allowed to touch Justify!!!"