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The four uma musume chasing from behind all shared the same thought right now:
Which of them would take first among themselves?
As for Silence Suzuka, she'd already been cast from their minds.
A ten-length runaway is now cut down to five. No way she had anything left. Impossible. Nobody could maintain that kind of pace and still have energy in reserve.
But what was with that completely unbothered attitude of hers?
Didn't she see? We've already caught up!
Aren't you scared? Aren't you trembling?
Let's see if you dare run away again!
What's with this indifferent state? Do you think you still have the same explosive power as us? Don't be ridiculous. With that level of runaway, not losing speed completely is already impressive enough.
There's no way she has any energy left.
Still smiling? Who was she looking down on?
Shining Atrium felt something ignite in her chest.
Screw it! Screw playing it safe!
The final corner was where most uma musume slowed down, where caution beat ambition every single time. One wrong step and you'd lose everything.
But Shining Atrium was at the back. Dead last among the pace-chasers. Playing it safe meant staying there. She dug deep, found reserves she didn't know she had, and accelerated.
The acceleration slammed through her legs like lightning. Her hooves pounded against the track as she swung wide to the outside lane. The others were boxing each other in, fighting for the inside position, too scared to make a move on the turn.
She didn't have that problem. The outside was her way.
Her muscles screamed. Her lungs burned. The corner blurred past, and she could feel herself sliding wider, wider, burning precious distance just to maintain speed through the corner.
The uma musume in the middle pack saw her coming, and their eyes went wide.
Was she insane? Accelerating that hard through the corner?
Shining Atrium gritted her teeth. Her vision tunneled. All she could see was Suzuka's back, that infuriatingly calm silhouette still leading as if none of this mattered.
"Let's settle this, Silence Suzuka!"
The shout tore from her throat, raw and desperate and defiant all at once.
It snapped Suzuka out of her silent zone.
"Entering the straightaway! Silence Suzuka is first to enter the straight! Shining Atrium has burst through from the far outside into second place! Is she going to catch up?!"
The announcer's voice rang across the track, but for Suzuka, the world had gone strangely quiet.
Her hooves struck the ground in a steady rhythm. Her breathing was even. Everything felt right, felt perfect, but somewhere in the back of her mind, something flickered.
A memory that wasn't hers.
The sky stayed clear and bright, but everyone's hearts had darkened.
In a bar somewhere, a jockey sat hunched over, tears streaming down his face as he raised another glass. "Suzuka, why did you do that?"
What is this?
"Your left foreleg was already broken. At that speed, how could you not have fallen?"
"Why...."
"If only you'd stopped back then..."
The memory played like footage from another life. Tears slid from those jockey eyes to his lips, mixing with alcohol as he swallowed. Then he hurled the unfinished bottle at the ground with a sound like something shattering.
Nobody stopped him. There were plenty of others who wanted to drink just like him.
Through his drunken haze, that jockey heard hoofbeats. Opening his eyes, he saw a chestnut horse flash past the window.
"Suzuka?"
He rubbed his eyes, but the chestnut horse had already disappeared.
"If that's really you.... I hope you can run freely again.... It's so wonderful to see you running freely on the field, Suzuka!"
"Keep running with all your might...."
Is that... My name?
The chestnut horse in the memory couldn't see him anymore. Couldn't see anything. Everything before her was pitch black.
In the darkness, she kept groping forward.
Where is this? It's so dark.
She kept walking, never stopping, but it felt like she'd never escape.
Her left foreleg wouldn't move.
What happened to me?
The memories flooded back harder now, relentless. Even after she had died, she still worried about them.
How's my caretaker doing? Did the owner blame him?
And Take-san, is he alright? (Yutaka Take is her jokey at Tenno Sho Autumn Tragedy)
I really let everyone down. The top favorite breaking down on the track like that.
How did this happen? I still wanted to keep running.
I really wanted to keep running.
Then, in that endless darkness—Light.
After walking for who knows how long, she finally saw it. A very bright light source shaped like a semicircle. Like an exit.
Can I get out through there?
"Come here, my child. If you still want to keep running."
Who's speaking?
The chestnut horse heard a warm and kind voice.
"We've come to meet you. Do you still want to run in another world?"
Yes. Yes, I want to. I still want to keep running, together with everyone... everyone's still waiting for me...
The memory shattered like glass.
Suzuka's vision cleared. The track stretched before her, solid and real. Her hooves struck the ground. Her muscles surged with power.
I was here. I was running. I was… alive.
Just as Shining Atrium drew infinitely close to Silence Suzuka, she doubted her own eyes.
Right before her, Silence Suzuka shot forward like she'd been fired from a cannon.
This view from the lead… It's mine!
Wrapped in colored light, Suzuka displayed speed that shouldn't have been possible. Like an arrow from a bow, she rapidly opened distance from the others.
In a blink, she'd pulled three to four lengths ahead. And that still wasn't everything. Suzuka was still accelerating, still possessed the power to sprint toward the finish.
"Just now... what was... that..."
Being honest with herself, facing a Silence Suzuka like this, Shining Atrium couldn't believe she had any chance of winning.
"Calling her a rival, how laughable. I actually thought of her as my opponent...."
Wanting first place was nothing but self-deception.
"Silence Suzuka is first to enter the straight! She's accelerating! So fast! She's rapidly opening up the gap again!"
Five lengths. Six lengths.
"This feeling is wonderful."
Tears had already blurred Suzuka's vision, though she didn't know why.
She just felt so happy suddenly. And so sad. And so blessed all at once.
What's happening to me? All of a sudden...
It feels like so many people are hoping I can keep running.
I am running. I'm so happy. I, Silence Suzuka, will keep running forever.
"Silence Suzuka has entered the final 400-meter straight!"
"Silence Suzuka showed no signs of fatigue. She was still accelerating!"
"So fast! So fast! Ten horse lengths! She's opened up a ten-horse-length gap again!"
The reopened ten-length gap filled the uma musume behind with despair.
Even so, after passing through the corner, they accelerated immediately, fighting for position. But their hearts had suffered a second blow. They couldn't run normally anymore. Their speed showed no effect. The distance to Suzuka kept increasing.
"What kind of monster is this?"
"Are all the central uma musume like this?"
"No, we might just be unlucky. The gap last time wasn't this large."
"Sorry, I'm just ignorant. This kind of thing has happened more than once?"
"If that's the case, I should just go home and sell carrots early. Hahahaha."
Silence Suzuka didn't hear the casual conversation behind her. She was giving her absolute all, charging toward the finish line. She hadn't even noticed that the uma musume behind had lost heart and given up.
In her state of complete concentration, she only needed to do one thing: Give her full effort to this race.
The race was nearing its end. The crowd cheered wildly, spectators shouting with incredible fervor.
"Go for it!"
"Go for it!!!"
"Silence Suzuka!!!"
The voices rose in waves, hoarse and strained, vocal cords distorted until the words were barely recognizable anymore.
The final 200 meters.
Suzuka showed no signs of fatigue. She'd already opened up fifteen lengths.
"Too fast, Silence Suzuka!"
The finish line was right there.
Her vision blurred further. The tears wouldn't stop. Every stride felt like a promise being kept, like something broken finally made whole again.
I'm running. I'm really running.
The crowd's roar washed over her, thousands of voices blending into one enormous wave of sound. She could feel their hope, their excitement, their joy, and somehow it felt familiar. Like she'd been searching for this feeling across lifetimes.
This is what I wanted. This is what I—
Crossing!
"Silence Suzuka dominates with a fifteen-length runaway lead, crushing the entire field! She's achieved an overwhelming victory in this race!"
"The winner of this race is Silence Suzuka!"
The words hit her like a physical force.
I won....
Suzuka gradually slowed, her body finally allowing itself to feel the exhaustion she'd been holding at bay. Her breathing came harder now, but it wasn't the breathlessness of desperation.
She stopped and steadied herself, looking up at the stands.
Hayato and King Halo were celebrating, jumping and shouting like they'd lost their minds. The sight made something warm bloom in her chest, chasing away the lingering sadness from that strange memory.
She smiled and raised her hand, waving at them.
"I won."
The words came out soft, almost wondering. Like she still couldn't quite believe it.
I won. I kept running. I'm still here.
A few seconds later, the other uma musume crossed the finish line and immediately collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath as they'd just surfaced from drowning. They saw Suzuka standing there, composed and smiling like she'd just finished a light jog, and they couldn't help but laugh.
A silent, self-deprecating laugh that said everything words couldn't.
Silent Suzuka was in a happy mood. When she saw Shining Atrium, she walked over to her and spoke softly.
"Next... Next time, I still won't give up the leading position to you."
Silence Suzuka thought she had said something respectful to her opponent, so she turned and left.
Shining Atrium scolded in her heart, "Do you still want to have a next time?!"
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As you know, the background of Uma Musume is that three goddesses reincarnated real-life horses into the Uma Musume universe.
All illustrations are matched to the mood of the scene. They are not depicting the original events directly. For example, Shining Atrium's illustration is only representational, she is treated as some random uma musume.
In chapter 49, on the other side, it is an illustration of the shining atrium, not the real one, just a 'resemblance'. I am not blurring it now.
Because I uploaded 4 at once for the race section, it means that for the next 2 days, I will only be updating 1 chapter. I hope you enjoy it... :)