What an amazing debut race—!
It looked like there was nothing on the mind of these two Umamusume but their duel! However they had only run two-thirds of the distance. They hadn't even passed the final corner yet. Would they really still have the stamina to sprint at the end? Surely they'd run out of steam... Or maybe the pack behind would surge and swallow them both.
That was the question haunting everyone.
Because the final straight of this track... was an uphill.
The universally despised uphill sprint.
A brutal, stamina-devouring uphill sprint.
But Garden Gale and Narita Top Road...
They weren't thinking about those frivolous details.
They weren't thinking about slowing down.
They weren't thinking about their stamina.
They simply accelerated, ran, and pushed their limits—eyes locked wholly onto the front.
Some spectators wondered whether other Umamusume might overtake the two of them.
But that was absolutely impossible.
This race was destined to be a two-person waltz.
...
After Narita Top Road accelerated once more, Garden Gale refused to fall behind. She had only one thought: to sink her teeth into her opponent and tear past her, claiming the lead for herself.
No matter how many times she was overtaken, she'd lunge for that future where she was the one in front—never letting go!
Back and forth they fought for the lead.
Sometimes Narita Top Road pulled ahead.
Sometimes Garden Gale surged past her again.
Neither was yielding an inch!
"Narita Top Road has passed Garden Gale again! Is she building a lead? No—Garden Gale overtakes immediately! Neither wants to lose! They aren't slowing down at all!"
"But—the final corner is coming up!"
"And right after that, the brutal uphill straight!"
"The pack behind them is starting to close in as well! Who will take this race—Garden Gale, Narita Top Road, or someone charging up from behind!?"
The decisive factor—the most critical moment—was coming.
The fourth corner.
The final corner.
What came next would be the true climax: the final corner, and beyond it, the moment everyone had repeated again and again—the final sprint.
The sprint that would decide everything.
No matter how fast they'd flown earlier, like meteors flashing across the track—only the one who crossed the finish line first would matter.
That single instant would decide it all.
But this track's final straight was uphill.
A brutal drain on stamina.
Garden Gale and Narita Top Road would surely slow… surely start to fade…
They'd have to ease up for the corner anyway...
...or so many believed.
Narita Top Road thought the same.
Hold steady through the corner, save just enough for the uphill, then unleash everything on the final straight.
Then she would face Garden Gale head-on.
But the moment she began to ease her speed—a black shadow ripped past her.
Fast, precise, and without the slightest hesitation—like the wind itself had taken shape.
Huh!?
Narita Top Road froze.
Garden Gale…...in the corner... actually—did not slow down!?
What kind of running was that!?
It was insanely dangerous. Holding that impossibly low center of gravity—was her core really that strong!?
One misstep would send her crashing to the ground—a decisive end to the their duel.
Especially with the light rain slicking the dirt, making every foothold treacherous.
In this awful weather, in this reckless pace... she was daring enough to take the corner at full speed!?
She's a monster.
An absolute monster.
Narita Top Road was shaken to her core.
…She's really taking the corner without slowing.
For a moment Narita Top Road didn't even know what to feel.
Should she wish her opponent luck in making it through?
Or should she curse her cruelly—hoping she slipped, so she could never catch up again?
So that Narita Top Road might win this debut race for herself?
Narita Top Road didn't know what to think.
Garden Gale did.
To her, there was never any question; she wouldn't fall.
And if she wanted to win—this was the moment to gamble everything.
During her time in the Solitary Chamber, she'd run those drills alone, over and over—
falling, rising, repeating—until her control over her own body was absolute.
Until she could command every muscle with perfect precision.
The results of that training were obvious.
She tore through the rain like black lightning, cutting open the night sky and shined as the brightest star—running ahead of the field, she an unmistakable shining rough gem.
"She has potential."
That was the Emperor's quiet verdict.
Symboli Rudolf watched her again, now certain the girl before her was an unpolished gem with the potential to become something far greater.
Thunderous cheers erupted at her impossibly smooth, fearless running. Even the commentator felt a surge of awe.
Uphill, in the rain, with a center of gravity low enough to scrape the ground—
Every DEBUFF imaginable was stacked on her, yet the girl everyone expected to falter instead pulled away from Narita Top Road—dancing a lone waltz on the cliff's edge.
Not falling—but leaving everyone else far behind.
She entered the final straight first, carrying a decisive lead.
...Narita Top Road was stunned.
She didn't know what to say—should she hate her own timidity, or respect her opponent's courage?
Could she even dare try to take a corner at full speed?
No—she would definitely fall...
Her nails dug into her palms deeply enough to draw blood, the pain stopping her thoughts, forcing her lungs into a ragged gulp of air. Her fading speed began to climb again.
Sweat streamed endlessly down her forehead, mixing with the rain, fighting to blind her vision. Her heartbeat had become a scream, her breaths burning her throat raw.
She questioned herself—
Why continue to run through this much pain?
Why force these heavy legs to keep moving again and again?
No. She had to stop doubting herself!
When she finally refocused, the powerful shadow she chased was already far ahead.
—She would never forgive herself for hesitating.
—Nor for giving up.
This was the only road to tomorrow—toward becoming a protagonist!
I will—absolutely—defeat you!
I will defeat that brightest star shining right before my eyes!
Narita Top Road's immense willpower and refusal to retreat wrung out every last drop of strength. Anything she could use—anything she could burn—she burned. Even her sense of self was set ablaze!
Narita Top Road became... a sight that stunned everyone!
ROAD TO GLORY!
The duel wasn't over—not yet!
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T/N: GUYS THEY USED MONSTER SO MANY TIMES :SOB: I HAD TO STEP IN NOT TO MENTION WHY WAS RUDOLF SO SHOOK??? SHE DEFINITELY SAW MUCH HIGHER PLAYS!!! UR AN OLD EXPERIENCED BAT RUDOLF!!! so this chapter underwent someee revisions :) and i made rudolf see Garden instead of a MONSTER but a rough GEM full of so much POTENTIAL!!!!