Chapter 39. Assasination Part 2
Mihono Bourbon was about to turn into the final bend, Rice Shower followed without hesitation.
"Stamina has returned to normal consumption levels."
Mihono Bourbon, noticing Rice Shower still hot on her heels, checked her stamina reserves. After reaching this conclusion, a brilliant idea immediately popped into her head—
"Let's accelerate once more."
Mihono Bourbon acted on her thought, immediately initiating a second acceleration.
Rice Shower hadn't expected her to do this and was caught off guard.
Dozens of meters passed.
Only then did Rice Shower adjust her rhythm, accelerating to try and close the gap that Mihono Bourbon had opened in the last few seconds.
Rice Shower's actions did not go unnoticed by Mihono Bourbon.
She didn't know why this Uma Musume, who she had left behind in the Satsuki Sho, had forgotten in just one month, but she knew she could perform another demonstration for Rice Shower at Tokyo Racecourse to help her remember.
"My stamina is enough for me to sprint to the finish while accelerating."
Mihono Bourbon made this judgment, then entered a cruising state, conserving her leg strength, preparing to give Rice Shower a big surprise after entering the final straight.
"It looks like Mihono Bourbon plans to accelerate again once she turns into the final straight."
Shuta An raised an eyebrow, not surprised by this.
"Accelerate again? Does she have enough stamina?" Tokai Teio frowned tightly. "If she can do that, then the Kikuka Sho doesn't seem like a problem either."
"Compared to the other competitors behind her, Mihono Bourbon's stamina is still sufficient, but Rice Shower's stamina capacity is even greater than hers."
The young man said confidently.
"Before, I couldn't guarantee Rice Shower could defeat Mihono Bourbon, but now, as long as Mihono Bourbon is still thinking about changing pace to break Rice Shower, she will suffer in the final straight!"
Kuronuma heard what Shuta An was saying this time, but he didn't believe it at all.
"Rice Shower was left behind by Mihono Bourbon in the Satsuki Sho. Can she really grow enough in just one month to surpass Mihono Bourbon?"
Whether others believed it or not, Kuronuma certainly didn't.
—
When they turned into the final straight, the gap between Mihono Bourbon and Rice Shower was one and a half lengths.
And after fully entering the final straight, Mihono Bourbon lowered her center of gravity and began her sprint.
In just a few strides, Rice Shower was thrown three lengths behind.
But Rice Shower was unhurried, slowly adjusting her pace, and then accelerating to catch up—at the same time, the third-place Mermaid Tavern had just entered the final straight.
Rice Shower couldn't be bothered with the competitors behind her. From the moment the Satsuki Sho ended, the Black Deer-haired Horse Girl knew her only opponent was Mihono Bourbon, who ran ahead of her.
She only needed to pay attention to Mihono Bourbon. As long as she defeated Mihono Bourbon, the other opponents could easily be dealt with.
And looking at Mihono Bourbon's back, running beside her and galloping towards the finish line together, Rice Shower felt a moment of trance.
Because this figure and this scene, she had dreamed of many times. This scene was incredibly familiar to the Black Deer-haired Horse Girl.
"Catch up, catch up, catch up!"
After passing the 400-meter marker, Rice Shower's mind was filled with this thought.
She forgot the fatigue accumulated over the previous 2000 meters.
She forgot Mihono Bourbon's strength.
She forgot the Trainer's reminder to focus on her health before the race.
Now, Rice Shower was fully immersed in chasing Mihono Bourbon.
Needless to say, at this moment, Rice Shower's spirit had touched its limit.
In the Black Deer-haired Horse Girl's conscious world, she could feel a wall blocking her way.
Rice Shower knew what it was.
Oguri Cap, Silence Suzuka, and Mejiro Dober-senpai had all talked about its existence.
When Mejiro Dober-senpai had pulled her in to help with a manuscript, she had said that working on the manuscript helped her experience this feeling.
At that time, Rice Shower believed it verbally, but not in her heart. But now, she truly believed it. Because she could feel that the sensation in her consciousness was very similar to when she stayed up late to finish a manuscript.
"Then let's break through it in one go!"
Rice Shower steeled her heart, and her consciousness crashed into this wall.
The next second, Rice Shower's conscious world instantly became vast and empty.
—
"Hahaha!"
Shuta An gripped the railing.
"Dober, you've really done something amazing!"
"Huh?"
Tokai Teio, who also caught the familiar aura emanating from Rice Shower, tilted her head, wondering how breaking through the "Zone" was related to Dober-senpai.
—
After Rice Shower broke through that wall in her conscious world, she felt like the whole world had changed. Looking at Mihono Bourbon, who was still trying to hold on and resist her, the Black Deer-haired Horse Girl felt she had become much more fragile than before.
"If I accelerate now, I can completely overtake Bourbon-san when I cross the 100-meter line."
This thought appeared in Rice Shower's mind.
And then she did it.
"Charge, charge, charge!"
Shuta An, seeing Rice Shower start to accelerate, became excited.
Mihono Bourbon was still struggling to hold on. Kuronuma gripped the railing, cheering for his beloved trainee,
"Hold on, only 150 meters left!"
Kuronuma believed that Mihono Bourbon's strong resilience, forged through Slope Road training, would surely come into play here.
He didn't believe that Rice Shower could, in just one month, forcefully match Mihono Bourbon's pace here and easily overtake her.
Shuta An knew Kuronuma disbelieved many things, but this world was not his subjective creation; it would not cease to exist because Kuronuma didn't believe in it.
At this moment, Rice Shower was like a perfectly prepared assassin, about to unfurl a painting for the king of an enemy nation. Just then, that map was about to reach its end.
But both the young man and the Black Deer-haired Horse Girl on the Racecourse knew that she would not be the failed assassin.
She would achieve the success that assassin ultimately did not.
Even more successful than those watching this race could imagine.
Because Rice Shower would, at this very moment, prevent the birth of a new Top Favorite Triple Crown Uma Musume.
"RICE SHOWER HAS CAUGHT UP TO MIHONO BOURBON! SHE'S OVERTAKEN HER!"
The live commentator shouted loudly.
It was undoubtedly an assassination moment; as the scroll unfurled to its end, as the dagger came into everyone's view, the "Black Assassin." filled with courage and anger, grasped it.
Next came the moment of all judgments.
Because He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed. —Acts 17:31
The dagger hanging from the Black Deer-haired Horse Girl's racing silks belt was not unsheathed, nor did it need to be.
Because she was the dagger itself.
"RICE CROSSES THE FINISH LINE FIRST! MIHONO BOURBON!!!! FAILS TO ACHIEVE AN UNDEFEATED TRIPLE CROWN! THE REVENGE FOR SATSUKI SHO IS RETURNED IN JUST ONE MONTH!"
The live commentator clutched his head,
"FOR THE PAST MONTH, WE'VE ALL BEEN DISCUSSING MIHONO BOURBON'S CHANCES OF CHALLENGING FOR THE TRIPLE CROWN, BUT RICE SHOWER HAS BEEN TRAINING HERSELF IN EVERYONE'S NEGLECT!"
"RICE SHOWER'S FIRST G1 VICTORY! SADALSUUD TEAM'S SECOND JAPANESE DERBY WINNING UMA MUSUME! UNBELIEVABLE, UNBELIEVABLE! ONE MINUTE BEFORE THE RACE, I BELIEVE 90% OF PEOPLE STILL THOUGHT MIHONO BOURBON WOULD EASILY WIN, BUT AN UPSET HAS APPEARED RIGHT BEFORE OUR EYES!"
The live director turned the camera to Shuta An, who was applauding by the side of the track.
The young man smiled, not exchanging pleasantries with his colleagues, but simply applauding vigorously.
"TRAINER SHUTA AN IS UNDOUBTEDLY THE DIRECTOR OF THIS WONDERFUL COMEBACK STORY! RICE SHOWER IS THE PERFECT ACTRESS! THIS DUO HAS SHATTERED THE DREAMS OF MOST PEOPLE, BUT WE MUST ALL THANK THEM."
"DO YOU REMEMBER AFTER THE SATSUKI SHO, TRAINER SHUTA AN CONFIDENTLY STATED THAT RICE SHOWER COULD DEFEAT MIHONO BOURBON? HOW MANY PEOPLE SECRETLY MOCKED THIS TOP JAPANESE TRAINER FOR BEING STUBBORN AT THE TIME? IF YOU DID THAT, NOW STAND UP WITH ME AND BOW TO HIM! FROM THE HELPLESSNESS OF THE SATSUKI SHO TO THE SUCCESSFUL ASSASSINATION IN THE JAPANESE DERBY, IT ONLY TOOK ONE MONTH! THIS IS THE STRONGEST TRAINER REPRESENTING CENTRAL TRACEN ACADEMY! AT THIS MOMENT, ANY ACTION OTHER THAN BOWING TO HIM IS SUPERFLUOUS!"