The frantic rain lashed against the gates with a relentless clatter.
Dream Weaver stared straight ahead, her heart drumming a heavy rhythm against her ribs.
Her blood, already simmering with anticipation, surged through her veins to every limb, and in that heartbeat, a power uniquely her own flooded her entire being.
She had been ready for this from the moment she stepped into the gate.
Though she didn't view Sea the Stars as one of her usual rivals, the girl remained an opponent one could never afford to underestimate.
Even with the massive stat boosts from her various items, Dream Weaver could only manage to stand on equal footing in three categories.
To win, she had to address the one weakness so glaring it required no second thought: her lack of raw power.
Of course, with her items active, Dream Weaver's power had soared far beyond a mere B-rank, reaching a level comparable to an S. In almost any other race, that wouldn't be considered a weakness at all.
But not today.
Not when she was facing Sea the Stars, a world-class Uma Musume whose every attribute was guaranteed to be SSS-rank.
With a two-tier gap in power, it was impossible for Dream Weaver to outmatch Sea the Stars in a pure burst of explosive strength.
If she allowed the race to be decided by a typical final sprint on the home stretch, her relative lack of acceleration would leave her with almost no chance of victory.
At this stage, her strategy was crystal clear.
The Great Escape.
It was her only path.
Her SSS-rank Speed, Guts, and Stamina gave her the capability to maintain a Great Escape across the entirety of Longchamp's muddy, grueling course.
To seize the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, she had to use her speed to slice through this torrential curtain of rain.
The path to victory took shape in her mind. Her intuition—honed to a razor's edge—transformed the track into a series of precise coordinates, becoming more perfect with every mental rehearsal.
During her days in Paris, Dream Weaver had trained at Longchamp daily. While she hadn't reached the soul-deep familiarity she felt for the Tokyo Racecourse, she knew these grounds well enough.
Preparation was complete. All that remained was the wait.
In that agonizingly long stretch where time seemed to blur, Dream Weaver's mind went blank.
Her will, her reasons for standing at the gates of the Arc, her plan for victory—it was all settled, leaving no room for stray thoughts.
Right now, she had only one urge.
To run.
To be the fastest Uma Musume on this field the very instant the gates swung wide.
Click.
In her state of absolute focus, Dream Weaver thought she heard the mechanical trip of the primary lever over the roar of the wind and rain.
As that click echoed, the secondary swing rods at each gate made a faint, simultaneous sound.
The locking bars slid through the steel with a noise so subtle it was nearly imperceptible. The rings securing the front of the gates lifted, and the compressed springs released their energy in a sudden—
Bang!
Bang!
Two sounds rang out across the field in near-perfect unison!
Dream Weaver shot onto the track the exact microsecond the gates began to part.
If a typical Uma Musume's start—bolting the moment they see the gates open—is like a martial arts master striking the moment they spot an opening, then Dream Weaver's start was "Sen no Sen."
She had prepared herself even before the gates moved, initiating her dash the instant the sound triggered.
She had anticipated the anticipation, moving one step ahead of everyone else.
A more perfect start was impossible. Even Sea the Stars, at the very peak of her powers, couldn't have timed it with such divine precision.
It was a miracle achievable only by Dream Weaver, who had weathered countless races and accumulated more experience than anyone could imagine.
Before the other Uma Musume could even react to the sound of the gates, Dream Weaver was already claiming the turf.
It was only a single step's difference, yet in the horrified eyes of her competitors, it felt like an unbridgeable chasm.
As she lunged ahead of the pack, the muffled thud of her hooves hitting the grass was accompanied by a sound that resonated across the field like a blade being drawn from its sheath.
SCHHING!
The Divine Blade was unsheathed. A flash of light, sharp enough to split the curtain of rain into two mirrored halves, flickered across the eyes of every racer.
A skin-crawling sting of pressure manifested as a physical wall, stalling their momentum.
They couldn't move forward. Their bodies were actively resisting the climb!
Why?!
The Uma Musume roared inwardly, teeth gritted in frustration. They knew the reason for their hesitation, but they refused to admit it.
They refused to admit their very instincts were screaming in terror.
Are you kidding me?! No matter how much of a monster she is, she's still an Uma Musume! Why should we be afraid of her?!
Their pride as elites wouldn't allow them to acknowledge this fear, but no matter how much they looked away, the bone-chilling cold was real. In the face of the Divine Blade, everyone had to yield to its edge.
Through the December rain of Paris, a streak of crimson light sliced through the field like a scalpel.
She surpassed every racer, shattered every expectation, and with a staggering lead, drew the eyes of the entire world toward her.
"It's a Great Escape! Aaaaaah!"
In the VIP lounge, Panthalassa jumped up in excitement. She gripped the shoulders of the girl next to her, shaking her wildly while pointing at the red flash on the screen.
"That's how it's done! No, that's how it has to be! Only a Great Escape that magnificent is worthy of Dream Weaver-senpai!"
To Panthalassa, the Great Escape was more important than victory itself. Her adoration for the style had begun the moment she saw that crimson light pierce through a race on a television screen years ago.
Sometimes she even thought that she, more than Liberty Island or Equinox, deserved to be the successor to that legacy. After all, those two only had victories, while she shared the soul of the Great Escape with Dream Weaver.
But none of that mattered now. The moment she saw that red light fly before her eyes again, everything else faded away.
Just being here in Paris, at Longchamp, witnessing her childhood idol run with the same spirit as the old days—that was enough for Panthalassa.
"Go! Dream Weaver of the World!"
Panthalassa cheered through the glass.
Not a single Uma Musume in the room complained about the noise; every one of them was just as breathless, their hearts racing in sync with that peerless, legendary escape.
Vela Azul's lips trembled slightly.
While the sight of the Great Escape was stirring, there was something else radiating from that crimson light—something even more moving, something that shook her to her core.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 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!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.