The Great Escape wasn't some reckless charge.
Chizuru Haibara's teachings and the experience she'd gained from Great Escapes at the Kasamatsu local circuit were far from useless.
Unlike during the first script where she relied purely on her early-game stat advantages, she now had her own understanding of the Great Escape.
She didn't possess overwhelming strength to crush everyone. Even without the usual restrictions in this script world, she couldn't surpass everyone just by employing a Great Escape. But the world on the racetrack was never just a cold comparison of data.
An Uma Musume's speed wasn't always a fixed number. Influenced by mentality and will, miracles where the weaker defeated the stronger were not uncommon on the track.
And conversely, there were even more examples of performances faltering due to a collapse of mentality and will. Merci Stage of this generation was the perfect example.
What Dream Weaver had to do was use her own form to stir the emotions of the Uma Musume behind her. That was why she deployed her zone right at the start of the race.
Unlike the Japanese Derby, where she used it to drain Orfevre's stamina, this time Dream Weaver's zone was primarily aimed at affecting her opponents' mental state, so she didn't unleash it at full power.
In Dream Weaver's view, the decisive moment of the three-thousand-meter Kikuka Sho wasn't the final stretch, but the midpoint, right here on this uphill straight.
Whoever could control their rhythm here would have more stamina left for the final sprint.
The deployment of her demonic blade domain wasn't to drain stamina, but to make every one of them focus their attention squarely on her.
When the eyes of the entire racecourse converged on this point, Dream Weaver began her acceleration, simultaneously deactivating her zone.
And her acceleration was bound to affect the mentality of every single Uma Musume.
"She's still accelerating? But this isn't the final stretch!"
Star Man, who had been gritting her teeth and clinging on behind Dream Weaver, stared in shock, her eyes wide as she watched the dazzling red streak ahead somehow find another gear in the curtain of rain.
She hadn't managed to close the gap much on the bend, and now with Dream Weaver's acceleration, the distance between them stretched even further.
Six lengths, seven lengths... Watching that red streak threaten to vanish from sight, Star Man, her mind already addled by Narita Brian's oppressive aura and Dream Weaver's zone, couldn't think straight.
And for some reason, the stinging pain she'd felt before had suddenly vanished. Seeing the gap between her and Dream Weaver grow wider, she threw caution to the wind and surged forward.
'The hell with it! If you're accelerating, then I will too!'
Her acceleration, in turn, sent ripples through the minds of the other Uma Musume. The leading Dream Weaver was pulling further away, and now even Star Man right in front of them was speeding up.
That sense of danger from ahead had vanished at some point. And although Narita Brian beside them had reined in her aura, she still exerted a palpable pressure on the nerves of the nearby Uma Musume.
Even though their fighting spirit had long been lost in this sweltering rain, the desire to compete and win was etched into the very instincts of every Uma Musume.
If the threat ahead was gone, but the pressure at their sides remained, why shouldn't they accelerate and charge forward too?
Maybe this one push would bring them victory.
Unable to think rationally, the Uma Musume yielded to their innate instincts, squeezing out the last dregs of their strength and began to accelerate. In their dazed eyes, this uphill straight suddenly transformed into the final homestretch.
If they just charged, if they overtook the ones beside them, they might have a chance to catch that blazing red light.
The disappearance of that stinging pain was the best signal. Even a Uma Musume like that couldn't sustain a three-thousand-meter breakaway! Their chance for victory had arrived!
Driven by a frantic competitive urge, the last of the Uma Musume cast aside reason, heeding the call for victory in their hearts and charged forward with relentless acceleration.
"What's... what is this situation?! Why are the Uma Musume accelerating here? This isn't the final stretch!"
His commentary partner let out a cry of disbelief, but Sugimoto Kentaro didn't have time to tell him to get away from the microphone, because he himself was stunned by the scene unfolding before him.
"Has the rain obscured their vision of the distance? No... that's impossible. Uma Musume who stand on a G1 stage would never make such a mistake. Then what else could it be?"
Frowning in deep thought, Sugimoto Kentaro watched the Uma Musume racing across the track, his eyes fixed on the leading red streak. Suddenly, inspiration flashed through his mind.
"Could it be...?"
"Is it you? Have you bewitched their minds?!"
Stammering from shock, Sugimoto Kentaro could only stare dumbfounded at the racecourse, completely forgetting his identity as a professional commentator.
On the track, the only one not bewitched, Narita Brian, tightened her brow.
With all the other Uma Musume accelerating, she, who had been conserving her stamina, found herself falling to last place.
She knew those who sprinted early would only face exhaustion, but could she, staying at the very back, secure victory?
The race's tempo had been seized by that Northern Dreams. With all the contestants accelerating, even she, who wanted to bide her time and seize the perfect opportunity, had no choice but to follow this tide.
"I see."
"So you want this slaughter to begin sooner, is that it?"
"Then bring it on. A fight between our kind can only end with the blood and flesh left in its wake!"
Even knowing that Dream Weaver had taken the initiative, not a shred of hesitation remained in Narita Brian's heart.
On the contrary, when she realized this was Dream Weaver's strategy, her already wildly excited heart could no longer contain its thrill.
The craving to battle her own kind, to compete with a powerful rival, nearly burst from her chest.
Since Northern Dreams had declared war first, there was no more need for her to hold back.
That aura, like a primeval beast, once again enveloped the racecourse, causing all the Uma Musume, their minds clouded by competitiveness, to shiver in unison.
A familiar terror seized their hearts once more.
Their stamina, already rapidly depleting from the early sprint, nearly bottomed out as their spirits broke. Several Uma Musume already found their steps faltering in the rain-soaked, muddy turf.
But none of these fear-induced reactions from the other Uma Musume registered in Narita Brian's eyes. Those beast-like eyes, shimmering with golden light, pierced through the rain and the crowd, locked intently on the red streak at the very front.
This was the slaughter she had long awaited, the racetrack she had craved for so long. In the Kikuka Sho, Narita Brian had finally found what she had been searching for.
And she, naturally, had to respond in kind to this fellow who had given her such a gift.
Even if we cannot escape being covered in wounds, bare your fangs and draw your blades!
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.