Her vision was obstructed?
Her perception had declined?
None of that mattered!
The beastly instinct inside her body roared. Through intuition alone, she understood—
Victory lay directly ahead!
There was no need to see or think. She only had to follow her wild instincts to obtain everything!
That was—
[Wildness]
Her hidden trump card!
All she had to do was become a beast and pursue victory in its purest form!
Wildness did not grant the power of a particular animal.
Some manifestations of Wildness might ultimately resemble beasts, but that was merely the impression created by their aura. The actual power of Wildness greatly amplified the strength already possessed by its user and fully awakened intuition as a sixth sense.
In concrete terms, it increased power and speed while allowing the user to disregard mental interference.
Strictly speaking, Wildness did not make someone immune to blocking effects. It simply let her ignore most of them. The majority of blocking skills disrupted the mind or obstructed vision, so Wildness could disregard their influence. A skill that directly reduced numerical stats, however, could not be nullified this way.
Even with that limitation, the strength of Wildness was beyond question.
ZONE represented the blossoming of talent and spirit, and its upper limit was clearly higher. Wildness, by contrast, was a pure stat-based ability with an exceptionally high lower limit. Even an umamusume who had awakened ZONE would still collapse if her stats could not match a Wildness user's.
That was why Special Week had previously possessed the confidence to face Symboli Rudolf.
The moment she revealed Wildness, the outcome of this duel was decided.
Air Groove was not weak. In fact, she was unexpectedly powerful. At her peak, she had been capable of defeating even the runners known as "monsters."
After all, those so-called monsters merely possessed talent that resembled a "cheat." That did not truly give them power beyond biological limits. When umamusume spoke of surpassing their limits, they meant surpassing the limits they had previously believed impossible to exceed.
Therefore, if her stats were high enough, an ordinary umamusume could still defeat a "monster." There simply were not many runners capable of doing so.
An umamusume who qualified as a monster could never have weak stats to begin with.
And anyone capable of surpassing such a monster, even without the same extraordinary gift, could never be ordinary. Air Groove at her peak had belonged to that group.
But just as gaps existed among geniuses, gaps also existed among monsters.
Special Week's "talent" clearly could not be compared with that of Air Groove's former opponents.
And Air Groove was no longer at her peak.
The way an umamusume's strength rose and fell had always been one of this world's great mysteries. Some became stronger after a period of poor form. Others gradually declined after their peak, eventually losing their power as umamusume altogether.
Yet such things undeniably happened.
Even so, an umamusume capable of maintaining Air Groove's current strength after entering a period of decline was rare. Many could no longer compete at all by this stage, whereas Air Groove remained active in league races.
She truly lived up to her position as Tracen Academy's Vice President.
Special Week did not know how strong the "umamusume" of her previous world had truly been. But in this world of living umamusume, Air Groove's strength was beyond doubt.
Even a powerhouse like her, however—
"Will still be defeated before me!"
That was Special Week's conviction.
She would surpass so-called destiny, become the genuine strongest, and write a legend that belonged to her alone.
In the blink of an eye, Special Week passed Air Groove.
Air Groove had barely begun to believe she had secured victory when she was forced to confront her impending defeat. The smile froze on her face, and her pupils trembled involuntarily.
"Are you serious?"
Special Week still had this much strength in reserve?
*You...*
Powerlessness.
Profound powerlessness.
It was like spending every resource in a game to finally empty the Demon King's health bar, only for the music to start again. The Demon King reappeared with a brand-new health bar and an even stronger, more magnificent form, then looked down at your character and said, "Let's begin round two."
It was the kind of despair that made someone laugh from sheer anger.
What the hell?!
In a game, you could at least curse the developers. When the same thing happened in reality, there was nothing entertaining about it. The despair made a person feel as though she were turning to ash.
Even the resolute Air Groove felt powerless.
What could she possibly do to change the outcome?
Her current physical condition could not support another burst. Even if she ignored her body for the sake of victory, one glance at her opponent's more terrifying form forced her to confront the cruel truth.
Even if she risked everything, she could never produce that kind of strength.
Hahahahaha...
When helplessness reached its extreme, all that remained was laughter.
A self-mocking smile appeared on Air Groove's face.
That monstrous finishing kick actually concealed an even higher level of power?
She could not stop it.
No one could stop a runner like this.
No matter how Air Groove considered the situation, her strength could never defeat this "monster."
She even suspected this was not Special Week's limit.
Symboli Rudolf had once said that Special Week possessed an aura similar to hers.
In other words, besides [Wildness], Special Week might already have found the switch to [ZONE].
Hahaha.
What else could anyone do in this situation but laugh?
"Luna, you were right."
Air Groove closed her eyes.
She had given up resisting.
This duel no longer mattered.
She remembered what Symboli Rudolf had told her at noon.
"The course, a strategy designed specifically against her, and Special Week's personality—we have arranged everything as well as we possibly can. Ordinarily, when an umamusume has been studied to this degree, only one result awaits her unless she breaks through her limits during the race: defeat."
"But there are still things we do not understand about Special Week's strength. I once sensed the presence of ZONE from her. It might have been my imagination, but do not lower your guard, Air Groove. Our preparations are flawless, and your strength is the greatest assurance we have in this duel. By every reasonable assessment, we have no grounds to lose. But in a real race, the result remains unknowable until the very end."
She really had called it.
Air Groove thought bitterly.
"Did you foresee this, Symboli Rudolf?"
Had she known Special Week possessed such power?
Or had even the Emperor failed to anticipate it?
Symboli Rudolf silently watched Special Week approach the finish line, while Air Groove was left almost ten lengths behind after being mercilessly passed on the final straight.
All Rudolf could do was remain silent.
Who could have imagined this result?
Only moments ago, Air Groove had held an absolute advantage. In the blink of an eye, the situation had transformed. Special Week's finishing kick had turned Air Groove's lead into a huge margin.
An ordinary umamusume who suffered such a reversal might need psychological counseling after the race before she could recover.
That strength. That pressure...
It resembled the Emperor who had once stood above an entire generation!
And Symboli Rudolf was no longer certain.
Was this genuinely Special Week's full strength?
Her body trembled faintly.
The instincts of the long-dormant Emperor seemed ready to awaken.
This girl might be even stronger than that lightning bolt from the past—or that Cinderella.
"So this is the umamusume of the new era?"
Symboli Rudolf smiled.
If this marked the opening of a new age, why not allow Special Week to cut through her reputation to open it?
She had long passed the stage when such a thing would anger her.
"Special Week actually won?"
Beside her, Hana Tojo clutched her aching head.
She had already planned Special Week's future career. Now, because of their prior agreement, did she truly have to release this umamusume from her team?
Symboli Rudolf spoke slowly.
"There's nothing we can do, Trainer. According to our agreement, I must approve Special Week's withdrawal request. Once I do, she will no longer be a member of Rigil."
Hana fell silent.
She did not want to admit that her thinking had been wrong.
Yet no matter how she examined it, her reasoning still seemed correct.
With Special Week's current strength, why did she need more intensive training? She could already win almost at will. Her true weaknesses were obvious: poor adaptability to unfamiliar tracks and insufficient racing experience.
Hana's program would have addressed those weaknesses. It also would have required Special Week to change, at least where her health was concerned. Umamusume were prone to letting their blood run hot, and Hana believed Special Week had the potential to match or even surpass Symboli Rudolf's records.
But Special Week clearly could not accept that approach.
Special Week possessed an almost obsessive conviction about becoming stronger.
Simply winning races in her current state would never satisfy her expectations.
That was the conflict between Hana Tojo and Special Week.
It also touched the heart of Hana's philosophy as a Trainer. She had to take proper care of these girls and prevent them from being left with genuine regrets. Even if they could not win, she wanted her umamusume to preserve their health.
As a Trainer, Hana Tojo was arguably too responsible.
She was deeply conflicted.
Giving up Special Week now was impossible to accept. A runner like her was every Trainer's dream. More importantly, she had already belonged to Hana's team. How could Hana simply let her go?
From the beginning, Hana had never intended to surrender Special Week.
Otherwise, she would not have gone to Symboli Rudolf to discuss the situation.
Was she worried about the controversy?
Absolutely not.
Umamusume were not merely celebrities or idols. They might participate in those activities, but they were athletes at heart, and their popularity came primarily from their strength!
As long as Rigil remained Rigil, it had no reason to fear what fans might say.
Symboli Rudolf had always known that the Trainer was unwilling to let go. Whether as Student Council President or as a member of Rigil, Rudolf felt the same way. An umamusume with Special Week's talent deserved careful treatment, and keeping her in Rigil appeared to be the best choice.
But Rudolf also understood that if an umamusume and her Trainer could not reconcile their views, their partnership could never continue. Even the Student Council President had no right to interfere indefinitely.
She had now done everything within her power.
The rest—
"Is up to you, Trainer."
Only Hana could decide whether and how to keep Special Week.
Symboli Rudolf said nothing more. She merely watched the result become official and prepared to tell Special Week that she would honor their agreement.
Rudolf genuinely hoped Special Week would remain in Rigil. From both a personal standpoint and that of the Student Council President, she believed it would be the best result.
After witnessing Special Week's strength, however, she no longer felt it necessary to force her.
Special Week was no longer merely a "child." She had demonstrated her qualifications. Now that she stood before them as a true umamusume, Rudolf, as a fellow umamusume, had no grounds to interfere further.
"Spe, that was incredible!"
The moment the duel ended, El Condor Pasa rushed over excitedly.
Just when the seniors had said Spe would lose and El herself had begun to grow nervous, Special Week had reversed the entire race in an instant.
For a "fan," nothing could have been more wonderful.
Hishi Amazon looked dazed.
"She broke through Air Groove's blockade under those conditions and won by a huge margin..."
What kind of divine umamusume was this?
Hishi Amazon looked at El, who was cheering happily for Special Week.
*You little fool. Don't forget that you're rivals from the same generation.*
The happier El was now, the more despair she would feel when they met in an official race.
"How are you feeling, Vice President?"
"You certainly enjoyed watching, President. Don't tell me you predicted this?"
"How could I? I don't possess Wildness. It is no less rare than ZONE. If I had known Special Week had Wildness, I would never have advised you to keep that blocking skill as your secret weapon."
Symboli Rudolf shook her head.
She had proposed deciding the duel with a blocking skill because she wanted to exploit Special Week's weaknesses. Rudolf knew that ZONE rarely developed an effect capable of nullifying interference skills.
Wildness was different.
Its sixth sense could essentially disregard most blocking skills. Had Rudolf known Special Week possessed Wildness, she would never have placed their hopes on that final interference skill.
Regardless—
By revealing Wildness, Special Week had already proven herself a powerhouse among umamusume. Even against senior-grade runners, she possessed the strength to win.
And Special Week had not even debuted yet.
Rigil's senior members could only fall silent.
Umamusume of the future, stay strong.
...
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