This power did not quite look like a domain.
And yet if it was not a domain, then it did not feel as though it could be anything else.
Even top-tier horse girls should not have been able to produce wind pressure like this. This was starting to feel almost like a plane taking off.
Could it be a wind-type domain?
But according to what Trainer Rokuhira had relayed, what Oguri Cap saw was a pillar of ghostly green light shooting into the sky, followed by the sensation of something like chains locking around her arms and legs, her strength draining away so quickly that she felt as though she could no longer run.
Judging from that, the power Xingyun Liuge had mastered ought to be what they colloquially called a gate skill—the kind of special technique that unleashed pressure and prevented opponents from performing at full capacity.
But then what was this now?
It felt different.
A horse girl ought to be able to awaken only one kind of domain power, and only under conditions of extreme mental concentration.
That was how it should work.
Symboli Rudolf rested her fingers against her chin and murmured,
"It feels a bit like the embryonic form of a domain… or perhaps…"
Maruzensky picked up the thought at exactly the right moment.
"She's compressing the power of her domain and searching for a different way to use it."
If that was the case, then both the abnormal wind pressure and the as-yet-unmanifested domain made sense.
It was not that Xingyun Liuge couldn't use it—
she was actively experimenting.
Once that thought occurred to her, Symboli Rudolf let out a soft laugh.
"What a restless little thing."
Still, it was exactly girls like that who were needed. Only then could the Twinkle Series keep its vitality—or even rise to a greater height.
After all, horse girls were beings who ran while carrying the hopes and dreams of countless people on their backs.
But the truth was that this wind pressure was simply the outward form taken by Tailwind.
Never underestimate the power of a goddess.
Swinging her arms, Xingyun Liuge felt as though she had stepped into an entirely new world.
In this place, resistance seemed not to exist at all. The rushing, roaring gale was her finest servant, driving her forward with all its might.
More than that—if she stopped moving entirely, this gale would probably carry her onward anyway.
Of course, if she pulled something like that in full view of everyone, that would be a real problem. What was she supposed to be, a fully automatic horse girl of the new age? The kind that did not even need to run?
Xingyun Liuge ran with effortless ease, casually catching up to the stalking group.
The other horse girls, however, were not having such a pleasant time. It felt to them as though the air around them was being violently chopped apart—cut, shredded, pulverized.
Invisible eddies coiled around their limbs. The unseen wind itself had become the greatest obstacle on their path forward.
They panted as they tried to adjust their movements and regulate their breathing, but it was useless. Their bodies felt as heavy as if filled with molten lead. Even with all their strength, they could not maintain their speed. Beyond pouring sweat, they could do nothing.
At last, one horse girl cried out that she could not go on and lost speed.
The others felt Xingyun Liuge's presence was simply too terrifying.
All they wanted was to escape this monster radiating such dreadful pressure.
Only Oguri Cap was different.
She expended a little more effort and successfully shook off Xingyun Liuge's interference. Breathing hard, she thought:
It took a lot more effort, but that was within expectations! No—this is actually much better than I expected!
Her eyes burned brightly.
She let Xingyun Liuge pass her, planning to seize the chance to catch her breath—then make her move again.
Compared to the sensation of being tightly bound by chains the last time they faced each other, the pressure this time was far, far lighter.
Was it because Xingyun Liuge was not used to turf?
Oguri Cap did not know.
But she felt she could see a path to turning the tables, so she chose patience.
As long as she kept her own rhythm and endured for a bit, that would be enough. It was only 1200 meters, after all. If she could just take a couple more breaths, then in the final 400 meters she would absolutely be able to launch a charge and break through in one go.
"Even though Xingyun Liuge got away slowly, she has now proven herself through sheer overwhelming strength! This is what it means to be the Demon King of the racetrack!"
the commentator shouted.
"Six hundred meters—just six hundred meters! In one breath, she has transformed the race from last place to first! Xingyun Liuge is now in the lead! And the gap is starting to grow!"
"One length, two lengths! Incredible! This is absolute superiority! Is there really any horse girl in the Tokai region who can even chase her shadow? They probably can't even eat her dust! Is she about to open up another massive gap? She—"
"Buuuut—right! at! this! very! moment!"
The commentator dragged out every syllable so hard that her face flushed red and veins stood out on her forehead. Then, returning to normal speed, she shouted,
"Oguri Cap! It's Oguri Cap! In the final 400 meters, Oguri Cap launches her attack! The distance between the two horse girls is shrinking at an astonishing rate!"
"Three lengths! Two lengths! Oguri Cap is displaying an overwhelming determination to avenge her previous defeat—can she do it? Oguri Cap!"
Until now, Oguri Cap had already produced Xingyun Liuge's worst result on the local circuit: Xingyun Liuge had won by only seven lengths.
Which, admittedly, still sounded more like praise for Xingyun Liuge's absurd strength.
But compared to margins of ten lengths or even twenty, seven lengths really did count as the least overwhelming of her victories.
So when Oguri Cap surged forward and cut the gap down to only two lengths, the stands exploded.
The crowd was witnessing the birth of another new star.
Even if Oguri Cap lost today, many of them would still become her loyal fans from this day onward.
The final 200 meters!
Oguri Cap bit down hard enough that her teeth felt as though they were crying out in protest, pain shooting into her brain.
But that did not matter.
Because the cries coming from her body were far clearer and far more intense than the ache in her teeth.
Her heart pounded madly in her chest, its heavy, frantic rhythm almost drowning out her hearing. She could no longer hear the cheers and encouragement from the crowd.
All she could hear was the beating of her own heart.
From her windpipe deep into her lungs, a scorching pain tore through her senses, as though her entire body were being ripped apart from the inside.
But that did not matter.
In her eyes there was only Xingyun Liuge's back—
No.
There was only victory.
If she just pushed a little harder—just a little harder—then she could wrench victory out of Xingyun Liuge's grasp!
That was why—
she was grateful for Xingyun Liuge's tireless teaching these past days, which had almost remade her from the ground up. But this was the racetrack. And on the racetrack, the greatest repayment she could offer Xingyun Liuge was to defeat her!
I don't want to lose, don't want to lose, don't want to lose!
I want to win, want to win, want to win!
"Ahhhh!"
Oguri Cap let out a soul-shaking roar.
A strange black aura stirred between her brows and in her eyes—still faint, still fleeting, gone in an instant, but…
Symboli Rudolf shot to her feet in the high spectator stands.
She had come here only because of the horse girl Trainer Rokuhira had described as perhaps having awakened a domain.
Yet here, she had discovered another horse girl of astonishing quality.
Perhaps…
perhaps this horse girl called Oguri Cap might also awaken a domain one day.
She seemed to have already brushed against the edge of that power.
How could this tiny Kasamatsu possibly contain so many formidable horse girls?
And all of them gray-haired, at that.
Symboli Rudolf suddenly felt she might have some special affinity with gray horse girls.
Slowly, she sat back down.
She wanted to invite both of them to Central, and let them shine there to their hearts' content.
And just then, the commentator shouted at full volume:
"Has she caught up?!"
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
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