The Demon King Ship's shadow laughed loudly.
The terrifying aura was strong enough to cover the entire race venue!
The interference skill that had once suppressed an entire world appeared in this world for the first time!
A Flash-tier interference skill!
And with an effect that targeted all opponents!
Everyone was stunned by such a powerful area-effect ability.
Especially the competitors who had just used interference skills on Kitasan Black—their expressions now looked like they had seen a ghost.
They had only used basic-level interference skills!
How could anyone master a Flash-tier skill at the newcomer level, and an interference skill at that—the hardest type to learn?!
(What the hell?! This kind of—)
(This kind of monster!)
And a Flash-tier interference skill... was this something a front-runner could even learn?
They had never seen a front-runner specialize in interference skills!
But if she didn't specialize in interference skills, how could she have mastered a Flash-tier one?!
Gravity of nine or ten times normal pressed down on all the competitors.
This interference skill wasn't just wide-ranging—its effect was terrifyingly powerful too.
And it was the kind where the weaker your willpower, the greater the effect.
After all, this was a trial the Demon King imposed upon the world.
If your willpower was firm enough, the skill's effect would only be minimal.
But if your willpower wavered...
Then the skill's interference effect would escalate from minimum to maximum!
In that instant, all the competitors felt like they were doing strength training, their bodies dragging massive tires behind them.
Power! They couldn't exert any power!
This enormous suppression twisted all the competitors' expressions.
The red glow in Kitasan Black's eyes faded as she charged forward, tearing through the wall the competitors had built.
That so-called blocking formation was now as fragile as tofu!
Suppressed by the Demon King Aura, the competitors couldn't stop Kitasan Black's advance at all!
It happened in an instant!
From the competitors' intentional surrounding at the gate to Kitasan Black breaking through—all of it took just an instant!
The spectators who had come specifically to watch Kitasan Black dominate fell silent as well.
Because they really didn't know how to evaluate this.
They knew Kitasan Black was strong—off-the-charts strong.
But this strength still exceeded their expectations too much.
After a moment.
Only one young man exclaimed two words in amazement.
"Holy shit!"
This exclamation was truly fitting.
Watching Kitasan Black use a Flash-tier interference skill to smash through the encirclement, everyone's feelings could only be described by those two words.
Was she like a Pegasus?
No—Pegasus was a symbol of dreams.
This thing was more like some prehistoric mega-dinosaur!
Even the commentator zoned out for a moment.
Because he'd never seen anything like this in his professional career.
Using even greater power to crush through when being surrounded by other competitors... Girl, the Tyrant should hand over that title to you.
"Unexpected! Truly unexpected!"
"Kitasan Black has broken through so easily!"
Thinking of how he'd thought Kitasan Black would have a tough fight at the start...
His face was really stinging now.
The instant Kitasan Black had activated that skill, he'd even felt the illusion of her rushing up and slapping him across the face.
A tough fight?
Who did he think he was looking down on!
Having inherited the senpais' power, if she couldn't crush all opponents, what right did she have to call herself a cheater?
All-terrain aptitude, full-range skill panel!
This was Kitasan Black!
She feared no targeting strategies whatsoever.
Or rather, opponents who hadn't entered ZONE didn't even have the qualification for her to take them slightly seriously.
They wanted to use gang-up tactics against her?
How laughable!
The Demon King-senpai was the boss of the dark world. They had no idea what kind of might they were facing!
She had said it long ago—having inherited the senpais' power, she was invincible!
Kitasan Black charged to where no one else stood.
Though she hadn't used a second skill, the black light around her was undoubtedly the power of the Supreme Domain.
[Surge]: Speed slightly increased, stamina consumption slightly reduced!
[Momentum]: Speed further increased, stamina consumption further reduced, small chance of intimidating opponents into an anxious state!
And this state was undoubtedly a permanent passive effect.
On this track, she was the only runner!
With just one skill, Kitasan Black had plunged all the other competitors into dire straits.
This performance was simply too shocking.
What an insanely strong and solid uma musume!
Many spectators now felt their brains getting high.
This was it!
Being able to watch Kitasan Black's race was worth dying for!
A certain young man who had skipped work to watch the race was so excited his face was flushed!
This was the uma musume he wanted to support.
In the boiling hot arena, Kitasan Black herself remained perfectly calm.
She wasn't surprised by the current situation at all.
From the start, she had never intended to have a fair and just competition.
She was a destroyer. She had stepped onto the track from the very beginning with the resolve to become the enemy of the entire world.
Being able to do this much was only natural for her.
If she couldn't even do this much, she might as well pack up and go home now.
If being a cheater meant she couldn't completely conquer everything, what face did she have to continue appearing on the track as a despicable person?
That's right.
Even if she had nothing, she was the one and only—and the strongest!
Powerful footsteps echoed across the track. The turf was being pierced through by her horseshoes.
Kitasan Black began her breakaway just like in her last race.
The gap between her and her opponents was visibly growing in an instant.
One length!
Three lengths!
That terrifying explosive power didn't seem like a front-runner at all—it was more like a closer sprinting for the final stretch.
And unlike ordinary front-runners...
The running style Kitasan Black displayed was just too powerful-looking—as if she could even crush the earth beneath her.
This was different from all previous front-runners. Previous front-runners had been speed-type competitors, but Kitasan Black gave off the feeling of a power-type competitor.
And this running style gave the spectators a sensation of blood rushing to their heads—utterly intoxicating.
"Damn!"
"This ticket was worth every yen!"
"I hereby unilaterally declare that from now on, Kitasan Black is the strongest front-runner in my heart!"
The spectators stood up as one.
Thunderous cheering instantly engulfed the entire arena.
Though the race had only just begun, almost everyone now felt the outcome was already decided.
Could she possibly lose even with this much of a lead?
How could she lose?
There was simply no way she could lose!
Kitasan Black would absolutely not lose!
"The spectators' cheers have filled the entire venue! Kitasan Black—the running style she's displayed has completely conquered everyone here!"
As the race entered the middle stage...
The gap between the other competitors and Kitasan Black had already reached half a track.
The commentator had a premonition that Kitasan Black would achieve another overwhelming outside-placing victory, just like in her debut race.
Even though this was only a 1200-meter short-distance race.
After all, a Flash-tier interference skill was no joke. For newcomer-level competitors, its power was equivalent to a nuclear bomb.
"Damn it!"
The fallen-behind competitors gritted their teeth and chased, bearing the gravity of the Demon King Aura.
Though they could barely even see the figure ahead of them now, they still persisted. Even if no spectators were watching them anymore.
And how could they possibly accept this? They had already given up their pride, already joined forces to deal with this monster!
But even so, they still couldn't reach that monster's level?
Various skills' lights flashed across the other competitors.
There was no time for holding back now!
If they couldn't knock this monster down, any hope of victory was nothing but a delusion among delusions.
Forget victory—they might end up being lapped by a super-humiliating margin like this monster's opponents in the last race.
Please, not that!
If they were lapped by such a margin, their professional careers would be over, wouldn't they?
That kind of humiliation—absolutely not!
Even while suppressed by the Demon King Aura, the other competitors refused to give up.
After all, Kitasan Black wasn't actually the Demon King Ship.
She wouldn't deliberately mess with her opponents' mentality. All she displayed was pure strength.
The other competitors were now giving it everything they had.
Some even entered a state of extraordinary performance because of it.
That was undoubtedly breakthrough growth—progress worthy of praise!
But—
It was useless!
Everything was meaningless!
The distance wasn't shrinking.
The air was as heavy as an iron wall.
The wind resistance was so strong that power simply couldn't be exerted.
No.
They simply couldn't generate that kind of power.
Speed, power, skills—they were behind in every aspect. And not by just a little.
If this were a battle anime, they would be like ants who couldn't leave even a scratch on the final boss no matter how hard they tried.
They literally couldn't even tickle her!
This wasn't a gap of just one or two levels. It was like the gap between level 1 and level 99.
It was the gap between a world-class senior champion and Japanese newcomer-level uma musume!
This wasn't a gap that could be closed by a momentary burst of potential or burning through one's future!
This was a gap that countless uma musume could never close in their entire lives!
(It's no use!)
(We don't even have the qualification to be her opponents...)
Now came true despair.
After burning out, all that remained was emptiness and cold silence.
No matter how unwilling they were, after seeing this gap, they could only be forced to give up.
Because all their methods couldn't even get them one bit closer to that figure.
In the spectator stands, Satono Diamond clutched her hands tightly against her chest.
Was this Kitasan-san's true strength?
Even more terrifying than she had imagined.
Satono Diamond had only witnessed a glimpse of Kitasan Black's abilities before her Maturity, so she had only imagined how strong Kitasan Black might be.
But now what she saw was a Kitasan Black even more powerful than the shadow in her nightmares.
So dazzling!
Did she really still have hope of getting close to someone like Kitasan-san?
Satono Diamond felt heartache.
Her current self wasn't good enough. To get closer to Kitasan-san, she had to become stronger.
Beside her, Satono Crown stared slack-jawed at the figure on the track. She had long since recognized that Kitasan-san was strong.
But wasn't this level of strength a bit too much?
Was this the opponent she was supposed to face?
(Me, challenge Kitasan-san?)
Though that's what she had been thinking before returning to Japan... but no one had told her Kitasan-san would be this terrifyingly strong.
She wasn't even a GI uma musume yet. How could she possibly challenge this level of monster?
The guidance of fate?
Was it actually trying to get her killed?
Even now, Satono Crown could clearly feel that gravitational pull.
But at the same time, intense fear rose in her heart.
It's no use. I can't win. That kind of opponent—one look is enough to know I can't win.
This wasn't a matter of trying hard or not.
This was a more fundamental gap.
Takao Shuneichi, who had originally just come to scout the enemy, now trembled as she gripped the front of her cap.
(This is Kitasan Black?)
Her eyes were full of shock and fear.
Could she still take back what she'd said earlier?
No seriously, how could this person get even stronger?
She had thought Kitasan Black's strength in the debut race was already her peak, but it turned out that was just Kitasan Black's starting point?
If that monster was already that strong to begin with and could still get stronger, how was anyone supposed to challenge her?
"See that? That's my junior martial sister! She's so strong! Master, are you watching?"
A man claiming to be Kitasan Black's senior martial brother was crying tears of joy. Anyone who didn't know better would think his master had passed away.
The scene was so comical that the cameras deliberately captured this moment.
Watching TV at home, Kitasan Black's old man's excited expression instantly darkened. What was this idiot crying about?
"Is that really Kita-chan?"
Kitasan Black's mom still couldn't quite believe what she was seeing.
Having been an uma musume herself, she knew exactly how incredible the strength Kitasan Black was displaying really was.
She simply couldn't imagine that child of hers being capable of such a performance.
Especially since Kita-chan's usual image at home was of being lazy as a puddle of mud.
She simply couldn't see the Kitasan Black on TV right now as the same person as her precious daughter.
Her old man said excitedly: "That's right, that's our daughter."
Having come from a fishing family's son to become a world-class singer, the old man wasn't shaken at all.
In his view, no matter how strong his precious daughter became, it was only natural.
After all, no one had believed a fisherman's son could reach the heights he had today either.
Background?
Bloodline?
True strength was born strong!
He was already thinking about how to brag to that Satomi guy next.
"Honey, I think we can start preparing Kita-chan's racing outfit."
Though excited, the old man remained calm.
He figured at the rate his precious daughter was going, she might be running GI by her next race. It was time to start preparing her racing outfit.
"Mm. I never thought this day would really come."
Kitasan Black's mom still looked dazed.
Though she had very much looked forward to seeing Kita-chan wear her racing outfit, in her original imagination, that day wasn't supposed to come this quickly.
Remembering how she herself had run for five years without making it to GI races and never even worn a racing outfit, she felt like what was happening now was dreamlike.
Back in the race.
"The final straightaway is just ahead!"
This race was only a 1200-meter short distance. From start to final straight, it felt like just an instant.
Short-distance tracks were supposed to be the hardest to create large gaps on.
But what was displayed before everyone now completely defied common sense.
Kitasan Black was first into the final straightaway with her solo run, while the other competitors looked like they had run a marathon, drenched in sweat.
In the spectator stands, Gold Ship stared blankly at this scene.
She thought back to those two races of hers.
Yes, this was exactly that feeling.
Against those kinds of monsters, rather than physical fatigue, it was mental exhaustion that was worst.
And because of mental exhaustion, stamina and strength would leak away like water from a bucket, quickly leading to severe fatigue.
She completely understood why those competitors looked like they were about to collapse.
In a Tracen Academy dormitory.
A certain uma musume with her legs crossed was watching the live broadcast on TV, her lips curved in an enchanting arc.
"Interesting."
She had originally planned to stop running Flash series races after this year.
But now she wanted to change her mind.
Because after watching this race, she simply couldn't suppress this feeling in her heart.
She wanted to race against this newcomer called Kitasan Black!
Thinking this, she thought of her own rival.
"Hehe, that one is probably thinking the same thing as me right now."
In a certain classroom decorated like a royal palace, a golden-haired girl sitting on a throne silently watched the livestream on her phone.
"A ruffian who dares challenge Us? Then come."
As this era's champion, she would never run away.
Though she had originally lost interest in Japanese races, now she supposed she would enjoy herself a little longer.
This race ended without surprise—Kitasan Black claimed victory with another overwhelming outside-placing margin.
Second place didn't even make it to the finish line, because many competitors had collapsed from exhaustion before reaching it.
The intimidation of the Demon King Aura, combined with mental damage, had nearly made them cough blood.
They looked at the figure standing behind the finish line, their eyes filled with deep fear.
They didn't want to run anymore.
They never wanted to race against this monster again.
This race had completely crushed their fighting spirit.
"Congratulations to Kitasan Black for winning this race! This was undoubtedly another overwhelming victory!"
"We truly look forward to seeing how far this competitor can go!"
As the commentator and host praised Kitasan Black...
The trainers in the spectator stands were grimly silent.
Hey hey, was this some kind of nightmare?
If so, please let them wake up soon.
Looking at Kitasan Black on the podium, they thought of a legend.
The Eclipse...
One horse leads, all others dim!
Was that invincible legend going to be reenacted?
Kitasan Black's running style had no weaknesses whatsoever.
Because her running style could be summed up in one phrase: pure strength.
And yet sometimes, the purer something was, the more unsolvable it became.
If Kitasan Black's strength came from skills or ZONE, countermeasures could be devised.
But that simply wasn't the case.
That person's most fundamental weapon was simply being strong.
And they seriously suspected Kitasan Black was terrifyingly powerful in skills as well.
After all, in just these two races, she had already displayed two ultra-high-grade Flash-tier skills.
In this situation, even competitors who had entered ZONE might not be her match.
Unless...
Several ZONE-awakened competitors teamed up against her.
But how could something like that possibly happen?
Uma musume who could awaken ZONE were all proud. Convincing them to team up against one opponent was simply impossible.
"Hey, Ryu, I heard you once tried to recruit her to your team? What a shame."
Hearing his colleague's teasing, Okino fell silent.
He had indeed been optimistic about Kitasan Black early on. When Gold Ship went to recruit her, he had approved it.
But back then, he had only thought Kitasan Black was a genius.
He had never imagined Kitasan Black would be this strong.
If he'd known earlier, he would have thrown away his pride and gone with Gold Ship to desperately beg her to join their team.
After all, for an uma musume of this caliber, never mind persistent begging—even if they had to kneel, they might not have hesitated.
This was an uma musume who could potentially become a world champion.
Many trainers looked at that young woman whose face was flushed with excitement and couldn't help clicking their tongues.
This woman's luck was too good. Did she save the Earth in a past life or something?
How could a third-rate trainer like her possibly sign an uma musume of this caliber?
The race ended. Everyone left the arena with lingering excitement.
Duramente sat in her seat, eyes unmoving as she stared at the track.
Air Groove stayed silent beside her.
Because she knew very well what kind of blow this child had just received.
After all, if she were facing an opponent of this level, her reaction wouldn't be any better than Duramente's.
After everyone had left.
It took Duramente a long time to come back to herself, quietly murmuring something: "..."
Air Groove asked curiously: "What?"
"If I can defeat her, that would prove I'm the strongest, right?"
Duramente laughed freely.
A spark appeared in her eyes at that moment, and her aura instantly rose a level.
Air Groove was too shocked to speak.
Because she realized she had been wrong. Duramente wasn't afraid—she was excited.
And more than that—
Duramente had, in this very moment, successfully pushed open that door.
The flames of ZONE burned fiercely in her eyes!
The strongest!
That was Duramente's sole pursuit!
And now she had found a more direct rival.
Though Kitasan Black's strength was indeed monstrous, so what?
What she had to do had never changed—simply to keep charging toward that title of the strongest.
If anything, seeing an opponent like this only made her more excited!
...
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