Watching the race unfold, Stardust Mirage suddenly remembered something.
In their seventeen days of parallel-running training, she had never actually seen Oguri Cap use the Holy Night Runner she had learned from Stardust; whether she'd mastered it depended only on Oguri's own word.
Even old man Rokuhira never raised any objection to that, and Stardust, because Oguri crushed her even without using it, had simply forgotten the matter.
But now, seeing that gray-white figure erupt with destructive force as she approached that spot, Stardust Mirage couldn't help thinking:
Oguri Cap—already a monster who could crush her, a champion even in the original timeline—what would happen if you added the Christmas-cap big move on top of that?
The next moment, Oguri Cap gave Stardust Mirage an answer.
—The monster awakens here!
Thump.
From nowhere, a deep rumble entered Stardust Mirage's ears.
She instantly felt she had stepped into another space entirely; even her heartbeat was locked in by that unique, power-type footfall. Everyone in her field of view vanished without a trace.
Under a pitch-black firmament, the cheers, the commentary—even the creak of Rokuhira's tightly gripped cane at her side—were all swept away. Silence fell over everything…
Suddenly, a gray-white figure—her whole body lit by roaring flames—skimmed along the ground!
Thump.
That mysterious rumble sounded again from behind the gray-white phantom. Borrowing the blaze spilling from that body, Stardust narrowed her eyes—
In that dark space, a terrifying giant shadow that propped the heavens and trod the earth flickered into outline with the flare of the firelight.
The shadow was ponderous and immense. Even craning up, it was hard to see the very top. Yet Stardust Mirage finally realized one thing: that heavy, muffled thunder was the sound of this phantom titan taking a step and stamping the ground.
What kind of colossal creature is this? You could send it straight to an Ultraman set and it would fill at least two episodes. Is this still horse racing?!
[...............Oguri Cap. Oguri Cap begins an early chase of the leaders… the other horse girls have all suddenly grown restless!]
[What is happening?! With more than 500 meters still to go, Oguri Cap chooses to seize the moment and launches her final sprint!]
Faintly, Stardust Mirage still heard the commentator's voice crying hoarsely at her ear.
With that proclamation, the one gray-white figure in Stardust's vision was now almost beyond the naked eye's ability to track.
In just a few hundred meters, Oguri Cap—trailing that phantom beast at her back—had torn into the final straight, the last 200 meters!
No horse girl could keep up with her steps now—not Mejiro Ardan, not Chōichi George, not even Yaeno Muteki.
Even Mejiro Ryan—who, in the original world line, ran neck-and-neck with Oguri Cap to the very end—could not touch a hair of Oguri's tail. Her only remaining opponent now… was herself!
And in the last 200 meters, Oguri Cap did not simply hold station.
In Stardust's eyes, the flames shrouding Oguri suddenly surged, transmuting in an instant into a blood-red, towering wave that surged outward.
In that moment, Stardust realized something:
The Miracle Runner of the Holy Night—this unique skill originally belonged to Oguri Cap. So to what height could she take it now?
Stardust Mirage's eyes were riveted to that lone figure; she didn't want to miss a single heartbeat of what she saw before her.
Right now, Oguri Cap not only unleashed the Holy Night Runner she had learned from Stardust Mirage; she still had her own running style she hadn't used.
Two uniques that both belonged to her erupting in the same race—what would happen?
The Godzilla-like monster's skin began to faintly glow crimson from beneath the surface…
And then—an earth-shaking eruption.
—The Beat of Victory—activates!
THUMP!
Heavy footsteps rent the earth. Dark-red, searing magma geysered out. Godzilla leaned down and wrapped both arms around the gray-mane horse girl's sides.
Magma rolled in from the fissures and was wholly absorbed into the creature's body. Then the monster gradually dimmed, leaving only a dark-red phantom layer sheathing Oguri's figure.
Ablaze with heat, Oguri Cap charged on. Even this "domain" could not contain the ultimate presence that made it impossible for anyone to look away.
Just looking at such a run made Stardust Mirage's chest burn hot; her throat felt seized so she could hardly breathe.
She couldn't comprehend precisely what realm Oguri Cap had reached—but she understood that in this race…
There was absolutely something she had dreamed of.
The next instant, Stardust's vision wavered. She returned to the roar of the stadium; the commentator's impassioned shouts rushed back into her ears:
[Oguri Cap! Oguri Cap! Oguri Cap has left them all in the dust and is into the final 200 meters—has the last duel begun?!]
[What is this?! Oguri Cap is still accelerating! The thirst for victory drums in this horse girl's chest!]
[Ryan begins the chase! Ryan gives chase! But it's no use! Oguri Cap's burst exceeds them all!]
[Oguri Cap in front! Oguri Cap in front! Oguri Cap in front! Oguri Cap in front! Oguri Cap in front! Oguri Cap—]
[—Oguri Cap, first!]
[Oguri Cap takes first! Oguri Cap takes first! In this retirement race, Oguri Cap once again reminded everyone why she is called a "monster."]
[Her three final spurts fell upon the course like descending miracles. In the last 500 meters, she forcibly shook off all opponents and won by an absolute margin of five lengths—putting a perfect period on this battle!!!]
Beside Stardust Mirage, Rokuhira Ginjiro lifted a trembling hand to cover his face.
Behind them, 170,000 spectators simultaneously bellowed the victor's name:
"O! Gu! Ri—!"
"O! Gu! Ri—!"
"O! Gu! Ri—!"
The cry boiled over Nakayama Racecourse, as if the sheer force could rip up the sky.
Oguri Cap had shown everyone a perfect race. She wasn't running merely to win—she was running to break her limits.
On the final stretch, she fused all three of her running styles into one. Over just 700-plus meters, Oguri shattered the crowd's guesses of how strong her closing kick could be—again and again—and delivered this grand victory to all who supported her.
And now the crowd answered her!
Looking at the stadium gone mad, Stardust Mirage drew in a deep breath.
If the Tokai Teio she had seen before, Symboli Rudolf, or even Oguri Cap from their parallel runs—if those had still been within a scope of strength she could understand—
Then the Oguri just now—the one even a "domain" could not fully describe—had broken her cognition.
This strength was unlike anyone else's. People had always called Oguri a "monster," but at this moment Stardust felt only one word could describe her feelings:
God.
If among runners there is one who can be called a god for sheer strength—
It is unquestionably the gray-mane phantom before her—Oguri Cap.
"Was that… a Domain?"
Drawing on knowledge from her previous life, Stardust Mirage ventured a guess.
"No, that wasn't a Domain." The old man at her side denied her flatly with a trembling voice.
"This was a once-only miracle. In this race, Oguri surpassed all horse girls and reached a realm above the Domain—"
His cane had at some point slipped to the ground. Gripping the railing with both hands, he leaned forward as far as he could, as if to get a little closer—to see a little clearer—the horse girl he had handled:
"It's real after all! That realm of the 'Over-Limit Domain' truly exists—force yourself to the absolute brink and then…"
"Oguri finally did it!"
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