Suddenly, a voice filled with barely restrained rage broke through the stillness.
「So it was you.」
Suddenly, the ease at which F̸̧͍͍͆̏̂́̂̈́̈́͠o̴̢̪̖̭̺͔̩̥̾̅̏͑̍͘͜͝l̵̥͔̪͕̦͌͐ǩ̶͔͍͖̃̀̔q̸̻͇͉͇̋́ư̶̢̞͉̞̂̋̈̊é̸̪̖͙̦̫̄̾̒͜ͅě̷̢͓̩͖̯̟̭̤̽̏̅̀̚ň̷͎̝̞̌̈́̀̀ was moving through this still world vanished, and they too suddenly slowed down. It was almost as if their own D̵̢̰͙͚̯̞̱̝̽̿o̷̘̞̰̥͍̹͂̿͌̂̓̋̾̈́̓͠ͅm̷̻̤͔͎͈̞͉̾̾͋̈́̅̈́̄̕͠å̷̡̖̖̞͍̞͚͖̬̏̊̃̓ͅḯ̶͖͕͓͔̣̼͛̓͊̃̋̆̈́̍n̸̛̥͈͉̽̂͑͆̎̉̃ͅ was working against them. Time itself seemed to freeze.
F̸̧͍͍͆̏̂́̂̈́̈́͠o̴̢̪̖̭̺͔̩̥̾̅̏͑̍͘͜͝l̵̥͔̪͕̦͌͐ǩ̶͔͍͖̃̀̔q̸̻͇͉͇̋́ư̶̢̞͉̞̂̋̈̊é̸̪̖͙̦̫̄̾̒͜ͅě̷̢͓̩͖̯̟̭̤̽̏̅̀̚ň̷͎̝̞̌̈́̀̀'s mind spun. They knew that voice. They'd heard it before. Or did they? Their mind began hurting suddenly. The name remained at the tip of their tongue, but it refused to let itself be known. The pain in their head grew. The agony coiling through their chest grew.
Hurt. It hurt. Their head hurt. Their chest hurt.
It hurt. It hurt. It hurt.
It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt.
「Star warned me 'bout 'cha.」The voice continued with faux leisure. F̸̧͍͍͆̏̂́̂̈́̈́͠o̴̢̪̖̭̺͔̩̥̾̅̏͑̍͘͜͝l̵̥͔̪͕̦͌͐ǩ̶͔͍͖̃̀̔q̸̻͇͉͇̋́ư̶̢̞͉̞̂̋̈̊é̸̪̖͙̦̫̄̾̒͜ͅě̷̢͓̩͖̯̟̭̤̽̏̅̀̚ň̷͎̝̞̌̈́̀̀ could've almost believed it had they not heard the barely contained disgust.「Knew ya' were slimy from the start. Somethin' 'bout ya' just don't sit right.」
「I dunno' what the hell's goin' on with 'cha. I still don't get why Secretariat's tellin' me 'bout this race like the world's gonna end if somethin' doesn't go right.」The voice snorted.「Maybe she's got'a point. Never seen a Domain like this one before.」
Something was wrong. F̷͉̘̊̃ǒ̴̧ḽ̴͆̃k̸̝̩̅̾q̸̜͆u̴̢̯̚é̷̥̞̒e̸̢̓n̶̰̒'s Domain was losing its strength.
No-, it wasn't just that. Their Domain was outright rejecting them. Their speed remained slowed down, but they could see the color they stole slowly returning to the world. The emptiness that'd sunk onto the world was slowly being refilled. And the blessings they silenced were returning to their rightful place.
「But I don't give a shit about that.」
「Folkqueen-, no, ya' ain't Folkqueen. I dunno' what ya' are, but ya' don't belong here. 」The voice growled, and F̶o̸l̷k̵q̸u̶e̴e̶n̴ gasped as a burning pain struck their entire being.「This is a race for umamusume, and this place ain't fit for an accursed being like you!」
Domain Awakening—
{Heaven-Shattering Star}!
Suddenly, a shooting star pierced through the veil of stillness that'd cloaked the entire track, and the wails of a thousand spirits echoed into the air as the false reality was shattered. Color abruptly returned to the world, the winds roared once more, and the blessings of the Three Goddesses returned to the world once as the three extinguished Domains suddenly roared back to life.
"Ah-, what was…?"
"Wait-, all runners are accelerating again! Only Folkqueen has slowed down! She's falling back!"
"And Sunday Silence—she's surging ahead! Her speed-, so fast! SO FAST!!"
The crowd roared in excitement as the race seemed to begin anew. That momentary weakness had struck everyone, but no one dared to slow down. Everyone sped up as quickly as they could, knowing that if they didn't, Sunday Silence's overwhelming acceleration would tear them apart.
But in the midst of that commotion, Folkqueen was weakly gasping as she fell behind. Her whole body was aching, and her head felt like it was splitting apart. She couldn't even focus as more and more runners passed her by.
Then, she suddenly felt a gentle warmth surrounding her.
"I'm sorry." Oguri Cap said, her eyes soft with regret. "I didn't realize the truth."
"Realize what?" Folkqueen wanted to ask, but she couldn't even form words. Her throat felt like it was burning.
Oguri shook her head. "It's okay." Her eyes suddenly burnt bright blue. "It'll be over soon."
"We're entering the fourth corn…er…?"
"Am I…seeing that right? The sky…"
"Huh? What is…" The rest of Dicta Striker's words trailed off into silence as she looked up. "You're joking." She then said, barely able to stop herself from cursing.
Because instead of the late-autumn sun, it was the moon that now hung high in the sky. The blue skies had been painted black, colored by the rainbow of distant galaxies.
In the back of the pack, Folkqueen's eyes trembled with fear and awe as she saw the brilliant white of the moon. She was sure this was a Domain of some kind, but she had never seen a Domain of this scale or strength before. Nothing in her research could've prepared her for this near-biblical sight.
And then,
"Here I come, Star." Oguri whispered, her hair now glowing like the pale moonlight—the patch of darker grey completely eliminated. And with eyes that sparkled like the moonlit ocean, Oguri's foot stomped down onto the ground.
Domain Awakening—
{Umbral Sonata}!
The next moment, she turned to blur as she moved.
"It's Oguri Cap! She's finally accelerating! She's now 9th-, no 8th-, 7th–!"
The announcer couldn't keep up. Oguri had started at nearly the very back of the pack, and in just the span of 200 meters, she was suddenly closing in on 6th place. Inari, Tamamo, and Obey tried speeding up as much as they could, but even the combined pressure of their three Domains paled in comparison to the incomprehensible gravity of a natural satellite.
The only one who could keep up was Sunday Silence, who remained just 2 lengths ahead of Oguri.
5th place, 4th place, 3rd place—
Then, before Oguri knew it, she was in 2nd place.
And Blossom Star could only watch as Oguri and Sunday surged ahead. Even after she'd activated all her Skills, even after activating {Starlit Crown} for a second time—it still wasn't enough.
Their lead over her grew. One length, two lengths, three lengths–
"The 500-meter mark has been passed! Sunday Silence is in the lead, but Oguri Cap is quickly closing the gap!"
Slowly, Star let herself smile.
This was it. The main Mission she'd received from the Goddess was done; it was either Sunday Silence or Oguri Cap who would take the crown. Folkqueen had fallen completely behind. Destiny had lost.
Yet-
Yet–!
She grit her teeth as tears fell from her eyes. She extended her hand forward, as if to try and catch the shrinking backs of the two runners in the lead. It didn't work of course; the only thing she could grasp was the empty air, turned slightly cold by the illusory moon that hung high in the sky.
And at that moment, her heart beat with a single desire.
"I want to win." She whispered to the winds, her voice immediately lost to the roar of the cheering crowd. "I want to win." She whispered again, unsure to who exactly she was speaking to.
…
Then, a voice.
"aRe yOU suRE?" A voice asked, and Star blinked her tears away when she realized that the phantom was suddenly right in front of her, her extended hand just a few inches away from its back. And though the phantom was facing away from her, its voice seemed to echo around her.
Star took a deep breath. "I want to win." She repeated one last time, gritting her teeth as she wiped away her tears.
"It wILl hUrT." It warned.
And to that, Star smiled.
"I know." Her smile deepened. "I'm prepared for it."
Or to be more exact, it was the Goddesses' gift that made her confident.
{Soul of Bravery}
When the Hero experiences great pain and suffering, significantly increases Power and Guts.
"thEN coMe." The phantom said, and though Star couldn't see its expression, she somehow knew that it was smiling. "rEclaIM yoUR biRtHriGHT."
She took a deep breath, and gritting her teeth, she activated {Starlit Crown} for a third time. She sped up in another burst of acceleration, but just a moment after, she nearly screamed when she felt a stabbing pain shoot through her legs. The distance between her and the phantom shrunk, but it wasn't quite enough.
She activated {Starlit Crown} for the fourth time. This time, the pain shot up through her torso, and it felt like her lungs were being squeezed. She masked her pain with a guttural roar as she sped up once more. The distance between her and the phantom closed once more.
Unnoticed by most, the white on her hair began growing upward. And hidden by her G1 outfit, thin golden cracks began spreading across her skin.
It still wasn't enough. Not yet. The phantom was so close, and she knew that one more {Starlit Crown} would be enough to bridge the gap.
Her mind told her to stop. She'd experienced the agony that would follow if she used her Unique Skill one more time. She'd quite literally been near-death by the time that race ended, and it was only because that world was illusory that she was ultimately fine.
But then she caught a glimpse of Oguri in the distance. She'd just taken the lead and was running ahead. But there, bathed in the moonlight of her own Domain, Oguri's figure seemed inexplicably lonely, as if one half of her remained missing.
And at that moment, she understood what she needed to do.
{Starlit Crown} activated for the last time, and she screamed as she lunged forward. This time, every part of her body burnt with agony. The golden cracks beneath her clothes had grown even more pronounced. The white of her hair had grown even further.
But she didn't notice. And if she did, she wouldn't have cared.
Because at that moment, her figure had finally overlapped with the phantom's.
Suddenly the moonlit sky was torn apart, as the sun returned to the sky, this time far larger and brighter than what should've been. The sun radiated with an overwhelming heat, and the short grass on the Turf began shriveling as the water within them dried up in a near-instant.
But the moon remained. And so did the sun. The two forces that should've opposed one another remained in the sky in perfect harmony. The moon, 400 times smaller than the sun. The sun, 400 times farther away from the Earth compared to the moon.
The two solar bodies overlapped.
And for the first time in centuries, the Eclipse was reborn.
"T-The sky again-! The sun and the moon are–!"
"They've overlapped! It's an Eclipse…!"
But something else even more wondrous occurred.
Solar plasma expanded from Star, growing outward into a pair of golden wings. Her mostly chestnut hair suddenly turned fully white. The sleeves of her shirt and the legs of her pants suddenly tore apart to reveal her pearly skin, now marred with giant cracks of gold that spread across her body like a patchwork. And most of all, her normally blue eyes had shifted to a radiant gold.
Domain Awakening—
{Solar Radiance}!
Star took a deep breath, and gritting her teeth, she bent forward. Power and agony flooded into her legs, and with a roar, she lunged forward.
"B-Blossom Star is-! She's accelerating once more! She's chasing after Sunday Silence and Oguri Cap!"
"The White Comet isn't giving up!"
She smiled through the pain as tears of gold fell from her eyes. "Here I come, Oguri!"