After thinking of Eternal Meteor, Tokai Teio felt uneasy.
She still hadn't seen her.
Was she… at the back?
Based on Meteor's previous races, her style was usually either a massive breakaway from the front or an outrageous late charge from the rear. But in rain, both were risky to the point of insanity.
So what was she planning?
At the tail of the pack, Eternal Meteor glanced at the runner beside her—Blue Flowing Memory—with open curiosity.
A redhead with a name like that?
"You're really not worried at all," X muttered, exasperated. "You're still running with the pack and you've got spare brain to observe other runners."
"What's there to worry about?" Eternal Meteor replied casually. "How does that saying go again… the formula for victory is already decided."
"Yeah, sure," X snorted. "Just don't get elbowed into the turf later, eyes rolled back."
Eternal Meteor kept bantering with X while watching the runners ahead. They were fast, sure—yet compared to her, they were still just a little short.
"Fine," she said. "Since you're so impatient—let's start the experiment!"
"I… never mind," X sighed. "Do whatever makes you happy."
Eternal Meteor—fresh off planting a flag—stopped following Blue Flowing Memory's inner-line route and drifted outward instead.
Then, under Blue Flowing Memory's shocked stare, she detonated into motion.
A gale rose behind her. The thickening rain curtain was torn open as if someone had sliced a seam through it.
With every footfall, her speed climbed again.
On the far outside—where she was alone—she sprinted like a bullet, passing one runner after another who had been forced to huddle on the inside.
"Has she lost her mind…?"
One of the passed runners stared at her back in disbelief, wincing at the violent spray kicked up by those steps.
"Eternal Meteor is accelerating! She's practically flying! She's overtaking on the outside—the worst ground in these conditions! She's ninth—seventh—no, she's already sixth! My commentary can't keep up with how fast her position is rising—this is Eternal Meteor!!!"
The announcer actually sprang to her feet, microphone in hand. The commentator beside her tried to pull her back down, but couldn't. Like the crowd, she was locked onto the track, calling out Meteor's ranking nonstop.
Teio heard the eruption of cheers too—so loud it pierced the rain and slammed into her mind.
What…?
Because of the rain, Teio didn't dare glance back. But she could guess: for the stands to roar like that, it was probably Eternal Meteor closing in.
Even if she came up the inside, carving through traffic…
She would still break here.
That was what Teio told herself.
Teio increased her cadence again, pushing her speed as close to the limit as her stamina allowed. The goal was simple: build as much advantage as possible before Meteor arrived.
Slowing down and forcing the runners behind to bunch up—blocking the back half of the field—was another option.
But the Eternal Meteor in Teio's mind would never be stopped by that kind of thing.
So better to widen the gap while Meteor was still dealing with traffic.
Except—
Reality didn't follow Teio's plan.
Before Teio had fully seized control of the race rhythm, she heard footsteps at her side—nothing like Sen'aki Memory behind her.
These were denser, faster, and closing hard.
Teio's earlier composure vanished.
Her teeth clenched without her noticing.
She couldn't believe it—Eternal Meteor had actually dared to accelerate from the outside. Was she not afraid of slipping and crashing?
Pressure flooded her chest.
Teio had seen the data Nishizaki Ryu compiled on Eternal Meteor, so she knew one thing with certainty:
Eternal Meteor didn't have "stamina problems."
Meteor could hold that speed on the outside without fading. Hoping for her to tire out was a fantasy.
And if Teio let herself get gapped—
there would be no comeback.
"Teio's starting to panic," Rudolf said, watching from trackside.
It was obvious: the instant Eternal Meteor drew near, Teio's steps hesitated for a fraction of a second. Her rhythm almost broke.
"Well, that's unavoidable," Maruzensky replied. "Her opponent is Eternal Meteor."
"And an evolved Eternal Meteor."
Maruzensky emphasized the word "evolved," careful not to use the other term in a place with so many eyes and ears.
When she first heard Eternal Meteor had entered the Yayoi Sho, she'd been ready to scold Rudolf for allowing it—
until Rudolf held her head in her hands, wearing a kind of pain Maruzensky had never seen, and told her Eternal Meteor had already "fully developed."
At that point, Maruzensky could only sympathize with anyone racing against her.
Even before, when she hadn't fully developed, she was already crushing people.
So what was this now?
Maruzensky couldn't even find a word for it.
She honestly felt that the current Eternal Meteor could open a massive gap without even entering her Zone.
The only thing that puzzled her was Rudolf.
Rudolf was still staring at the track with the same tense expression as always, like she was terrified something would happen.
Had Eternal Meteor's previous races traumatized her that badly?
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 138)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter155)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter98)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter172)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 158
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 144
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 100
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 165
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 140
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 120
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 69
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 90
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 95
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 70
Uma Musume: I Want All 80
I Can Copy Unique Skills 65
Summoning an Evil God, but the 52
Supernatural Multiverse 65
My Harem Is Indescribable 50
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 55
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 40
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 50
Still playing traditional Honk 30
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