The starting gates slammed shut, and the entire racecourse instantly fell silent.
Inside the top-floor viewing box, a gentle smile curved across Godolphin's lips.
"It's beginning."
She looked at Kuroha, who had already walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window, and could not help laughing softly.
He had claimed that he was not worried at all, that McQueen was certain to win with her strength.
Yet wasn't he just as nervous as everyone else?
While Godolphin amused herself with that thought, Kuroha stood before the window with his arms folded, his gaze fixed upon the row of starting gates below.
An increasingly awe-inspiring sacred radiance flowed through his eyes.
Nervous?
Kuroha admitted that he was, just a little.
Yet just as Godolphin believed, he trusted more than anyone that McQueen would emerge victorious.
That was why he had not come to stand here because he was worried about the outcome of her race.
Instead...
Within Kuroha's vision, the moment every Umamusume entered her gate and the stirring beat of ParisLongchamp's march began to resound...
Hum!
Three vast, invisible auras erupted from the ground below!
Pure white, crimson-gold, and pale gold!
Streams of three-colored light transformed into towering tornadoes that connected heaven and earth, making the thick, pitch-black storm clouds above appear even more ominous.
Yet among them, the pale-gold tornado seemed utterly insignificant before the other two.
Not only was it several times smaller, but its presence was also weaker by far.
Crack!
The sky hung low as fierce winds howled and serpents of lightning danced wildly.
Bolts of lightning raced through the clouds, occasionally tearing through the three-colored tornadoes, as though foretelling the turmoil that awaited in the coming race.
"It looks like Godolphin and I are the only ones who can see these conceptual manifestations..."
Kuroha quietly surveyed the surrounding Umamusume as he pondered.
"The others probably only see the lightning and streams of light that appear once a [Domain] is unleashed."
"It seems this ability is another aspect of a [God's] power."
Kuroha's eyes grew profound.
At that moment, he could clearly feel the [Power of Blessing] roaring within him.
That power was undergoing an intense transformation.
Both its quality and quantity were rapidly surpassing the boundary separating mortals from gods.
And the time remaining was...
"One hour."
Expressionlessly, Kuroha calculated how much longer remained before his ascension to godhood, yet not the slightest ripple disturbed his heart.
The race below was far more important than some dispensable divine status.
"Oho~"
Secretariat rested both arms on the windowsill and glanced at Kuroha nearby, a thoughtful expression appearing on her face.
"What are you looking at?" Celebris asked curiously from beside her.
"A handsome man."
She was not lying.
For some inexplicable reason, Secretariat genuinely felt that Trainer Kuroha looked more and more handsome the longer she stared at him.
That was why she had been watching him.
"..."
Several dark lines appeared on Celebris's forehead. Too tired to entertain Secretariat's antics, she turned her attention back toward the racecourse.
Secretariat gazed lazily down below and smiled.
"They really are extraordinary. The race hasn't even begun, yet those children are already struggling to breathe."
Trempolino stood beside her, her expression equally grave.
"The spirit those two possess truly exists on an entirely different level from ours back then."
"That's precisely what makes this interesting."
Secretariat turned toward her.
"Only those who far surpass their predecessors deserve to be called the Twelve Miracles of the Era."
"But!"
Her tone abruptly turned sly.
"Those predecessors were only you girls."
"I'm the invincible Umamusume, after all. At my peak, I was far stronger than any of you could possibly imagine!"
...What a load of crap.
Celebris and Trempolino rolled their eyes at the same time.
Secretariat noticed their disbelief but paid it no mind. She merely continued with a bright smile.
"Come on, neither of you ever saw me in my prime. How can you jump to conclusions like that?"
"Just like..."
Her eyebrows rose as she turned toward a tall, imposing, chestnut-haired beauty among the European group.
"Neither of you truly understands just how powerful your senior was at her peak."
"Isn't that right, Sea-Bird?"
Since the dawn of Umamusume history, excluding legendary beings such as Eclipse and the Three Goddesses of Umamusume, she was recognized throughout the world as one of the two strongest Umamusume ever to exist.
The Sovereign of the Turf, Sea-Bird!
"..."
Having been called out for no reason, Sea-Bird turned her head slightly without changing her expression.
"You're too noisy."
She spoke coldly.
"Just worry about yourself, Secretariat."
"You haven't changed at all."
Secretariat shook her head and allowed her smile to fade before silently looking down at the course.
In the next instant, dazzling lightning abruptly blazed within her eyes!
It was as though her gaze could pierce straight through the starting gates and clearly see every Umamusume waiting inside.
"Run."
"Show this world just how far you can go."
(End of Chapter)
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