Feeling the immense pressure bearing down from behind them, and watching hoof-shaped flashes of lightning flicker across the turf, the British horse girls, after their brief shock, were all seized by a powerful sense of indignation.
What exactly was this supposed to be?
Was the horse girl running dead last using some strange power to expose the traps hidden beneath this wreck of a course?
Because of the sudden downpour, the Two Thousand Guineas track had turned into something closer to a swimming pool for horse girls—or rather, a pit of sludge.
The abrupt change in the ground had not only drastically affected their performance, it also made it very easy to misstep and go down on the spot. And now that lightning was illuminating the course, marking out the patches of grass that looked solid but would crumble the instant you stepped on them.
So what was this supposed to mean? Had that foreign horse girl thoughtfully decided to guide them?
It was not that they were ungrateful.
It was just that this whole thing was far too bizarre. Since when did anyone go out of their way to point out the safest path for their opponents? Was this still a race or not?
Some of them even thought: Is she trying to make us clear the way for her? How naïve, Xingyun Liuge.
The British horse girls spread themselves out across the course, braving the risk of losing their footing. Inside, outside, even the far outside lanes—every possible route was occupied. It was not as extreme as lining up shoulder to shoulder in a perfect wall, but if Xingyun Liuge wanted to break through their encirclement in weather like this, it was not simply difficult.
It was dangerous.
There was a very high chance it would end in bodies and mud flying everywhere.
Even the commentator felt like shaking his head.
"A disastrous missed break has triggered a chain reaction. The favorite, Xingyun Liuge, has already started her move at the halfway point, trying to recover lost ground—but blocking her path is a pack that continues to charge headlong even through the driving rain! Can she break through the field and catch the leaders?"
Anyone with eyes could tell that the British horse girls' running pattern was anything but normal. Rather than racing for victory, it looked more like they were deliberately galloping this way in the rain to guard against a particular person.
But there was no way a commentator could openly say that.
The horse girls had not literally colluded or pulled some dirty trick together. If he pointed it out, he would just be dragging his own country's runners through the mud.
Some racegoers might even say: The British horse girls only want to keep the honor in Britain. What's wrong with that?
At times like this, keeping trouble to a minimum was best.
But that raised a very simple question:
Did Xingyun Liuge actually need the girls in front of her to move aside?
Of course not.
She could have used Heaven-Splitting Thunderfall to slow the pack ahead and slip through with ease.
She could also have wielded the demigod power of the Relentless Storm to forcibly alter the pressure gradients, whipping up a wild gale on flat ground and letting a storm rampage across the course.
If she wanted, she could do anything.
But none of that was necessary.
Because she possessed absolute power.
Heaven's Voice, Earth-Shattering Descent: Xingyun Liuge may blink forward ten meters, recover an additional one-fifth of her stamina, and ignore unit collision for twelve seconds. Opponents overtaken by Xingyun Liuge are slowed by 50%, with the slow decaying over two seconds; afterward, 50% of their remaining stamina is deducted.
With a sharp crackle, dazzling arcs flashed from Xingyun Liuge's eyes. Dangerous currents coiled around her, making every horse girl on the field feel the icy terror of a blade pressed to her throat.
Some instinctively clenched their teeth, certain some lethal attack was about to come slashing in from behind. The only thing they could do was run—run hard enough to escape beyond its reach.
Others were frightened straight into tears, convinced death was moments away, as though their limbs would be torn apart the next instant.
Was this really still the footrace they knew?
There was absolutely something wrong with this!
"Boom!"
As Xingyun Liuge's right foot slammed into the ground, a savage force—so violent it felt capable of twisting steel and kneading it into bullet-shaped lumps—poured into the earth below. Everyone could see it: Xingyun Liuge had lowered her body, tightened every muscle, and assumed the perfect charging posture.
At that moment, the horse girls felt as though the world had entered bullet time.
They could clearly see each raindrop falling in slow motion.
They could see the chunks of turf kicked up into the air gradually breaking apart, the mud perhaps falling first, or maybe the shredded grass flying upward before it did.
They could even distinctly feel the headwind striking their faces with enough force to sting.
And yet something even clearer than all of that seized them:
An enormous force was absorbed by the sodden ground in an instant—
and then reversed, roaring.
It surged beneath the surface, centered on Xingyun Liuge's right foot, racing outward along the turf in all directions like a shockwave.
They could hear the electric crackling.
They could see arcs blazing with near-pure-white brilliance.
And at the same time they all understood, with horrifying clarity, what would happen next:
That brutal, unreasonable force—like the shockwave of an earthquake—would sweep across the turf beneath their feet, destroy their footing, and perhaps wipe them all out in one blow.
It was like a terrible bolt of lightning had struck the Two Thousand Guineas itself—and now intended to destroy everything.
And they could do nothing.
Nothing except watch that dreadful power come rolling toward them.
"No!"
The horse girls' screams briefly pierced the rain curtain and rang across the sky.
But the spectators had no idea why they were screaming. To them, the scene before their eyes was only exhilarating, the sort of thing that made their blood boil.
Even gentlemen and ladies, no matter how refined their upbringing, could not resist the intoxicating spectacle before them.
What were they seeing?
A horse girl who had blown the start launching a desperate charge halfway through the race, radiating overwhelming pressure, forcing the runners ahead into cries of alarm, and then overtaking them one after another.
"Ohhh! Gosh!"
The commentator leapt to his feet on the spot. Gripping his microphone, he bellowed at breakneck speed:
"Xingyun Liuge! The Xingyun Liuge in whom we placed such hopes has done it! With a fearless, all-or-nothing charge, she has launched a valiant and utterly fearless assault—and passed the horse girls standing in her way!"
"One, two, three! What an utterly unique charging style! The runners scattered across the course, almost linked into a single barrier, have no way of stopping her! A slight dip of the body to slip by one, then a rapid burst of short steps, then suddenly a great stride forward! No one can tell why she runs this way, nor what posture she will use next to surpass her opponents!"
"The course of the Two Thousand Guineas has become a purgatory that devours stamina and leg strength alike. Every runner is visibly struggling, and yet! It cannot stop this horse girl from the mysterious East! Raise your voices, call her name, and witness her race through the rain! Her name is!"
"Xingyun Liuge!"
The commentator was shouting so hard he almost lost his voice.
Under normal circumstances, such passionate professionalism would have won universal approval and concern.
But not today.
Today, everyone's attention had been stolen by that small horse girl tearing through the storm.
And in countless minds, the same title rose as one:
The Demon of the Heavy Track.
After all, who else could blow the start, race through a torrential storm on a mud-soaked track, launch a furious pursuit halfway through, and then overtake the field one by one with her sights fixed directly on the leader?
Who else could possibly do that?
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 115)
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 (Chapter116)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
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 118
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 111
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 80
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 112
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 80
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 74
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 48
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 50
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 47
Uma Musume: From Beginner 42
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