"Kingfisher snatches the lead and starts to accelerate. Xingyun Liuge is probably trying to contest the front as well, but Iron King and Future World are marking her heavily. The three horse girls are practically running side by side, with less than a nose between them. As expected, Xingyun Liuge's been singled out for special attention."
The guest commentator sighed, then continued describing the state of the field.
"... The second favorite, Kahyasi, has chosen a stalking strategy and is lying in wait in the rear pack, searching for her chance. Half a length behind her is Saintly Bride, then behind them is Azure ** Edge. From the front-running Kingfisher all the way to the trailing Wisps of Smoke, the horse girls are strung out across a total distance of fifteen lengths."
The guest commentator believed the turning point would come at the bend. That was the rare flat section of Epsom's course, and also the best opportunity to reshuffle positions.
Still, he did not think Xingyun Liuge would be able to do much there. Since she had been targeted from the very start and was being pressed this tightly, she would surely continue to be hounded all the way through the course, the pressure tightening again and again until she lost the ability to mount any real chase.
That was the price of fame. High popularity, high rewards, but also immense pressure. Sometimes, it even meant facing multiple opponents at once.
Break completely out of the encirclement? Very difficult. Yes, Xingyun Liuge had flown to Britain the day after the Belmont Stakes and immediately begun intense training, even finding local horse girls to act as sparring partners. But she had spent too little time running at Epsom. Even if she was monstrously gifted, she could at best be said to have only just adapted to the turf here. There was no way she could have already figured out how to deal with a relay-style war of attrition. Impossible.
A professional commentator had to dare to make blunt judgments.
He just did not dare say them out loud. The crowd would boo him off the track, because what he was really thinking was that Xingyun Liuge had already lost this race.
Fortunately for him, he restrained himself. Otherwise, he would have been slapped in the face almost immediately.
"Oh—oh!"
The guest commentator swallowed nervously.
"They've only covered two-thirds of the opening uphill, and Xingyun Liuge suddenly accelerates, instantly opening up more than a length on Future World and Iron King! She turns into an arrow loosed from the bow, shooting straight toward Kingfisher's back! Iron King is chasing with everything she has, but she can't catch her! She absolutely cannot catch her!"
Sweat as large as beans seemed to spring from his forehead as he muttered, half as if trying to excuse himself,
"The uphill isn't even over yet, and she's already accelerating? Has she really become so strong that she can ignore Epsom's demands altogether?"
If he could, he wanted to shout at the top of his lungs:
Why? What happened?
Why was Xingyun Liuge accelerating so suddenly? Shouldn't she have waited for the flatter section before looking for a way through? Why burn stamina for no reason at a moment like this?
Even if she had guessed that the others were waiting to ambush her on the flat bend, there was no reason to choose this timing.
Kingfisher could not understand it either. She only felt an overwhelmingly terrifying presence suddenly surge up behind her, and it instantly made her feel miserable.
Wasn't the agreement that as long as she held the lead and got through the bend steadily, she would have fulfilled her role? Then why was this woman choosing now to make her move?
The girl let out a startled cry and gritted her teeth, trying to hold on to her front-running position.
But then her trembling ears picked up a new piece of information.
From the left. From the outside lane, someone was charging up.
Because this was a moment when she would not affect the others, Xingyun Liuge shifted over smoothly. In no time at all, she was running shoulder to shoulder with Kingfisher.
"Eek!"
Tears flashed at the corners of the girl's eyes, making her look heartbreakingly pitiful. If Xingyun Liuge had been the kind of horse girl with gentlemanly manners—or one who knew how to cherish delicate beauty—she surely would have eased off for her.
Skill: Pursuer's AgitationSlightly reduces the stamina of one horse girl chasing her.
The uphill still was not over, and yet Xingyun Liuge, who had seemed to give up the lead, had already caught her. How was that fair?
Then she heard Xingyun Liuge say,
"Miss Kingfisher, you never intended to fight for a placing from the start, did you? You're running quite a bit faster today than in your previous races. Are you really sure it's wise to squander your stamina like this? And also... are those crocodile tears?"
In the next second, the two of them crossed.
Kingfisher clenched her fists. The tears at the corners of her eyes had been blown who knew where by the wind.
With a dark expression, she thought bitterly:
This girl really doesn't understand a maiden's heart at all!!!
But Xingyun Liuge was right. Kingfisher's role had been to disrupt her rhythm and look for a chance to sap her stamina. She had not done a particularly good job of it, but there was nothing more she could do now. From here on out, it would have to be left to the girls behind her.
As soon as they hit the flat bend, because Xingyun Liuge had already broken free of the first layer of encirclement, the horse girls assigned to the bend and the downhill section abandoned any thought of conserving their energy at a normal pace. They accelerated all at once, and the overall speed of the pack abruptly jumped.
That nearly left the guest commentator speechless.
This was the exact opposite of what he had expected. In his mind, even if Xingyun Liuge managed to break out, it would not matter much. Her stamina was not infinite. As long as the other girls stuck to their own rhythms and ran properly, they would catch up sooner or later.
Epsom Racecourse demanded an exceptionally high level of all-around ability from a horse girl. Anyone who squandered her stamina carelessly would be devoured by the course itself and made to swallow the bitter taste of defeat.
And yet what he was seeing now was that most of the horse girls had lost their minds, rushing forward in a single wave. Only three of them were still holding to their own pace: Kahyasi, Saintly Bride, and Azure ** Edge, who was clearly weaker than the first two.
How was he supposed to commentate this now?
With his head pounding, he forced himself to say,
"As expected of a legendary rising star who astonishes everyone—just a single burst from Xingyun Liuge has altered the tempo of the entire field. She is like a horse queen commanding the world, every movement of hers prompting imitation from the other horse girls. Thanks to the pace she's forced upon them, the total spread of the field has now reached an astonishing forty lengths. It's an extremely rare sight. What kind of surprise will she give us next?"
Was she about to turn the Epsom Derby into her one-woman show?
That was what it looked like. Most of the horse girls had already entered that grim, twisted state where all they wanted was to catch Xingyun Liuge at once. They were terrified of being dropped, terrified of seeing the plan to wear her down in waves collapse altogether.
It was not as though the situation were so severe that losing contact meant immediate defeat.
But what if?
What if a single missed gate skill ended up being the thing that let Xingyun Liuge lead from start to finish?
No matter how much stamina it cost them, they had to catch her. They had to create a chance for their own "commander" to win.
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 165)
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 (Chapter220)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter125)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter250)
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 220
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 185
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 248
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 230
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 125
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 145
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 115
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 110
My Harem Is Indescribable 100
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 105
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
Still playing traditional Honk 80
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 85
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 78
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 80
Checking In in Demon Slayer 85
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 100
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 85
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 80
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 90
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 75
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 80
Why did they assign me to Uma 75
MYGO Beauties 70
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 70
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 80
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 80
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 57
The Uma Musume Who Became 55
I'm Definitely Not the King of 60
After Maxing Out Every Class 45
Naruto: I'm Konoha's Local Men 35
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 34
I, the Elden Sword Saint 27
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 24
No One Knows Pokémon Better 18
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 20
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