Most people found Mototo's sudden rise thoroughly shocking.
They had assumed she still had not recovered from her defeat in the Eclipse Stakes a few weeks earlier.
Her most devoted fans insisted that this was simply Mototo returning to the running style she was best at, but when she still had not begun to accelerate before the final sharp turn, even those fans began to waver. They started to think she truly had not regained her form, that her silence throughout the race was not a deliberate conservation of stamina, but simple inability.
This was not the pacing of a closer.
She really just could not do it.
And then, in the bend, she burst forth in a single motion, overtook Glory and the others, and transformed into the brightest blade on the course, stabbing straight at Xingyun Liuge's back.
At that instant, the entire racecourse exploded.
A one-sided stomp from Xingyun Liuge had its own appeal, of course—but if given the choice, people would always rather see horse girls locked in battle until the final moment.
If things could really unfold the way they hoped, then they wanted a horse girl worthy of standing shoulder to shoulder with Xingyun Liuge, someone who could trade blows with her in a glorious, all-out duel.
The horse girls from Mototo's academy were shouting themselves hoarse.
"Go!"
"Three hundred meters left!" the host cried, clenching his fist as he cheered her on. "Mototo is biting down hard! There's only half a length between them now! Can she catch her?! Mototo, the entire stadium is chanting your name!"
The words had barely left his mouth when Xingyun Liuge's fans seemed to rise in challenge. Their deafening cries tore into the sky, teaching every person present what it really meant for an entire stadium to be calling your name.
Of course, among them were people who supported Mototo and adored Xingyun Liuge both. They shouted one name after the other until their voices broke.
"This," Xingyun Liuge said with a broad, unrestrained smile, "this is the true charm of racing, isn't it, Mototo-senpai?"
As she spoke, the rolling black mist around her surged even more violently.
She had no intention of using words to disturb Mototo's breathing—but neither did she intend to hold back in the slightest. She would take this victory. She would defend her undefeated record without compromise.
Round beads of sweat slid down the girl's face, leaving her drenched, yet there was not the slightest trace of weakness in her appearance. If anything, she looked even more daring, even more bewitching.
Perhaps the black mist added to that impression.
It billowed in all directions, thick as ink and shot through with eerie green light. It spread the way a drop of ink stains clear water, rapidly turning everything it touched into something like itself—as if it meant to swallow the whole world and force creation itself to submit to its horror.
Yes. Horror.
The mist was so dense, so heavy, that it seemed to devour all sound and light it touched, as though it wished to reduce the world to a silent land of despair.
Why would Xingyun Liuge unleash such a terrifying Domain?
No one could understand.
And yet… perhaps it was only an illusion.
Xingyun Liuge ran through that surging black fog, and with her silver hair flying about her, she looked heartbreakingly beautiful. Even with sweat pouring down her cheeks and soaking her racing outfit, not a single onlooker thought of her as disheveled.
If anything, she was mesmerizing.
Especially to Mototo, who was right on her heels.
Because she was half a length behind, she kept her gaze locked fully on Xingyun Liuge, searching for the slightest opening that might let her pass and seize victory.
To her, the fog sounded like the lamenting cry of wind blowing through shattered windows, chilling her spine, as though she were running through some ruined mountain castle being lashed by a bitter storm.
How could anyone remain calm in such a place?
Mototo felt as though her hair and tail were standing on end. More than anything, she wanted to get away from this sinister Domain as quickly as possible.
And yet the Xingyun Liuge running within that fog gave her a completely different impression.
The roiling darkness and the girl's wind-tossed silver hair formed such a sharp contrast that Liuge seemed cold, lofty—like a flower blooming alone on an inaccessible peak. Even the ominousness of the mist faded somewhat in her presence.
If Mototo had possessed some secret, unspeakable fetish, then at that moment her mind might well have been full of thoughts like, She's so cool… please step on me.
In truth, such a thought did occur to her.
But she crushed it almost at once.
Perhaps because she found it too embarrassing.
Perhaps because her hunger for victory overwhelmed everything else.
Or perhaps simply because the black mist pressed such savage agitation into her heart that she would rather run herself into the ground than lose here.
The "scorched" in Scorched Wasteland did not merely refer to the withering, corrupted turf. It also carried with it a strange power that made other horse girls restless, irritable, feverishly desperate.
Mototo and Glory were seasoned racers who had already tasted the sweetness of victory. They were still barely able to endure that violent urge to win, to interpret it as sheer determination to defeat a stronger rival.
The Classic-year girls and the more ordinary older racers were another matter altogether.
They lost themselves within that sea of black fog and let out shrill, desperate cries.
They longed for a victory they could not have. They hated their own weakness, their own helplessness. Little by little, they forgot what it even meant to run, until at last they were swallowed by the boundless black mist.
"Xingyun Liuge and Mototo have broken away from the pack! As expected, the winner will be decided between the two of them! Who will claim the crown? Will the world-famous five-crown queen add yet another glory to her name, or will the late-blooming horse girl finally wash away her past defeat? You can't blink now—not until the very end!"
A spark of electricity crackled through Mototo's hair.
The light of the lightning sharpened, brightened. It wanted to roar across the world, to become a vicious beast. It wanted to shatter Liuge's undefeated record and carve its own scar into that flawless, exalted glory.
Mototo threw back her head and screamed.
"AAAAAAHHHH!"
Boom!
A thick bolt of lightning ripped across the sky, descending upon the turf with a will that seemed bent on tearing everything apart.
"AAAAAHHHHH!"
Mototo willingly accepted that terrible strike, and the cry that burst from her throat was almost a shriek.
Sweat erupted from her all at once.
But before it could even trickle down, the overwhelming power raging through her body vaporized it instantly.
Mototo lowered her center of gravity and forced her eyes open, refusing to let herself close them and simply charge blindly ahead.
If she could not even see the road, how was she supposed to claim victory?
The rumble of thunder seemed to echo continuously beside her ears. Every swing of her arms, every lift of her legs felt crushingly heavy—and yet the electric charge in the air was growing more and more active in response.
The tiny arcs thickened, swelling as they danced across her racing suit and around her limbs. They were like silver snakes, impatient, tongues flickering, yearning for the arrival of a frenzy-born storm.
There were even faint flashes in the breath spilling from her lips.
Then she took another heavy step.
At once the terrifying energy gathered itself further. Her movements, which had begun as sluggish and burdened, suddenly turned sharp and explosive, and from her small body burst a blaze of radiant electricity so brilliant it was nearly impossible to look at directly.
A horde of golden serpents hissed and spread in all directions.
Join here to read ahead.
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 180)
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 285
"Is this chat group even serious?" 150
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (This matter is completely finished.)
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 255
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 210
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 305
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer (This matter is completely finished.)
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 130
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 155
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 120
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 155
My Harem Is Indescribable 105
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 110
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 110
Still playing traditional Honk 96
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 95
What Should I Do After Switchi 51
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 80
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 105
Checking In in Demon Slayer 95
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 105
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 95
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 80
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel (This matter is completely finished.)
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 95
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 90
Why did they assign me to Uma 80
MYGO Beauties 75
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 80
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 100
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 120
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 65
The Uma Musume Who Became 70
I'm Definitely Not the King of 105
After Maxing Out Every Class 110
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 95
I, the Elden Sword Saint 60
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 60
No One Knows Pokémon Better 60
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 69
From Trilobites to Titans 57
Chainsaw Man: Contracted with 75
DanMachi: My Party Members Are 86
An Anime Heroine Darkened 60
Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Links 70
Honkai: The Fire Devil 70
Honkai Transformation Cards Volume2/30
Age of Heroes, I'm Just a Back 45
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