The stage—what a magnificent word.
Lights, applause, cheers, dazzling displays of beauty.
So many epic, classic moments, carried by the stage, seep deep into the heart.
People gaze at the lights, sighing in admiration, exclaiming:
'Look, what a beautiful stage—'
'So radiant.'
They admire the lights on the stage and lose themselves in them.
Slowly, they overlook one thing.
What fills their vision isn't that fleeting brilliance, but the intense, all-encompassing shadow wrapped around the entire stage—present everywhere, yet noticed by no one.
--+--
'Go raise hell without holding back.'
Sunday Silence had said those words to her before she left. A seemingly casual phrase, but it was her way of saying the race was entirely in her hands now.
In that case, the answer was already clear.
She would sear an indelible mark into people's memories.
If a person is born into poverty, never having known wealth or luxury, they won't feel inferior about their pitiable life.
Similarly, if someone is born above all others, enjoying limitless resources, they won't see anything unusual about it either.
It's the contrast—from extreme poverty to extreme wealth, from dazzling brilliance to desolate ruin, from overflowing joy to feeling plunged into an icy abyss—only the gap formed in between can make seemingly ordinary things burn themselves into memory forever.
That was the answer the girl had arrived at.
Thump—!
The ground of the Tokyo Racecourse seemed to sink slightly under her stomp. In an instant, her black figure shot forward like a cannonball, arriving right beside Tamamo Cross.
A thunderous explosion of sound, completely contrary to her previous sluggishness, made all 170,000 spectators fall silent at once.
Everyone stared wide-eyed, dumbfounded, at that Uma Musume.
Darkness spread outwards from her feet.
A howling gale roared behind her, its icy touch scraping past everyone's ears.
Their vision seemed to darken. An indelible shadow fell over the eyes of all thirteen competing Uma Musume.
The long-dormant Black Phantom was finally unleashing her power.
It was like an invisible hand had gripped everyone's throats. Unable to make a sound, they stared dumbly as she glided past Tamamo Cross.
The entire world narrowed down to that single black figure.
They couldn't see it... couldn't see anything.
The stage where stars had vied for brilliance was instantly blotted out by her alone.
"The Black Phantom is accelerating! The Black Phantom is accelerating!! What incredible speed! She's passed Tamamo Cross and is charging forward—!"
At that moment, a laugh cut through the deathly silent arena.
"Heh, hahaha, ha, hahaha—!!"
A clear, ringing voice echoed across the course.
She was laughing with utter joy, with pure exhilaration.
So that's how it is—
With those annoying noises gone, this place is finally a pure racetrack!
Her legs savagely pounded the ground, producing a sound that rivaled the Black Phantom's, hammering into the spectators' ears.
The ignited flame within her flickered wildly. Fierce emotion flooded her mind.
The violently racing heart she'd restrained since the start, the suffocating feeling with no outlet, the agony that had tormented Narita Brian—it was finally, here, unleashed!
Now, she could just let it pound, let it desire, let it crave, let it run wild—
Let her body burn completely, let it devour everything here...!
"Rooooar—!!!"
A deafening roar, like that of the king of beasts, erupted from Narita Brian.
Now was the time for the hunt!
With a rumble, another pitch-black beast surged up from the ground, crashing violently into the Black Phantom. The struggle between these two monsters sparked a terrifying calamity on the track.
"Narita Brian—!! Narita Brian is accelerating! Right after the Black Phantom's acceleration, Narita Brian is defiantly picking up the pace as well!!"
On the track, the two of them, one after the other, adopted the same posture, gradually lowering their bodies.
This motion, originally unique to Narita Brian, had, unnoticed, become thoroughly ingrained into the very soul of the Phantom.
"Again."
The Black Phantom's voice was low.
"Again."
Narita Brian's silent answer.
She had craved this day, so much she couldn't sleep.
For a moment, the aura of these two made every competitor on the track tremble.
Jackal and leopard, flood dragon and true dragon, monster and monster tangled together in a fierce struggle.
The ground groaned in protest, the turf utterly shredded by their footfalls.
"Narita Brian! The Black Phantom and Narita Brian are accelerating in the mid-stage! Could it be? Are we about to see a repeat of the Derby here—!?"
It wasn't as if Narita Brian was incapable of accelerating from the mid-stage all the way to the finish. The 2400-meter Japanese Derby had been practically run at her accelerated pace from start to end.
So the shorter autumn [Tenno Sho] certainly couldn't make Narita Brian feel strained.
She just needed to unleash herself, to accelerate with confidence!
She had stored power, continuously stored power. A training regimen far beyond the ordinary had yielded improvements beyond imagination.
Narita Brian's condition surpassed even what it had been during the Derby.
So... now, bare your fangs!
In this race, just who is the hunter, and who is the prey—!
"So fast! Incredible speed! Even though we're well into the mid-stage, they look as effortless as if they'd just started running! What ferocious momentum this is!!"
The veins stood out on the commentator's hands as she shouted excitedly. Admittedly, she too had been stunned speechless by the Black Phantom's sudden shift in aura, but professional instinct drove her to loudly narrate the changing situation on the track.
It was utterly unbelievable. Just seconds ago, the Black Phantom was being criticized, mocked for her sorry state.
But seconds later, the voices of all 170,000 people were stifled in their throats.
By the time the crowd recovered from their shock, they could no longer form coherent words. They could only shout Narita Brian's name with stiff voices, trying to erase the unsightly thoughts that had silently leaked from their hearts moments before.
Putting the stands out of her mind, the commentator continued her excited narration: "What about the other competitors!? Will the others maintain their original pace, without taking countermeasures!?"
Clearly, once the race's structure was shattered like this, it was impossible to remain detached amidst the struggle of these two monsters.
Faced with the almost berserk acceleration of these two Uma Musume, they either had to keep up, or lose the race completely.
"Dammit, nothing good ever happens when she shows up—"
Cursing under her breath, Dynamu Heroine and others in the back of the pack had no choice but to start accelerating to catch up.
In an instant, the stretched-out line caused by Maruzensky's pace was pulled back together.
Under the influence of their duel, the race's tempo began to skyrocket!
Yes, this was it—
Within those seemingly wild and rampaging golden eyes, a cold glint swept over the leading Maruzensky, then vanished without a trace.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, 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!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.