"They cross the line!"
With the announcer's shout, Shirayuki collapsed onto the ground.
A dull pain spread through her arms, chest, and shoulders. Even after being trained through Byerley's hell mode, compared with those European uma musume who had grown up experiencing fierce races since childhood, her body had still not reached the level where she could force herself between two uma musume and come out unharmed.
To the old Shirayuki, that would have been practically suicidal.
When an uma musume was running, her arms could easily become deadly weapons.
Even so, she had to do it.
That had been the only way to win.
From the very start of the race, Shirayuki had been passive. Although she relied on methods she came up with mid-race and climbed step by step toward the front, mistakes had still appeared.
For example, the uma musume who refused to accept having her position stolen and fought back for it.
For example, the trap originally prepared for Trêve, which Shirayuki ended up falling into after coming from behind.
And finally, the uma musume who were thrown outward by the sharp bend, blocking Shirayuki's only escape route.
All of these were things outside Shirayuki's expectations.
Even if she had the ability to observe the whole field, she still could not judge every opponent's thoughts.
Physical exhaustion, mental fatigue, muscle pain, all kinds of stimulation pressed down on Shirayuki as she lay on the ground, unable to lift even a single finger. Her vision was dark. The negative effects of insufficient blood flow, lack of oxygen, and overusing her brain came rushing in one after another.
Thinking also required oxygen.
Even though she had tried to slow down this body's thinking as much as possible and turn herself into a machine that simply followed Chiya's orders, she still had to constantly judge the positions of the surrounding uma musume. That had placed a heavy burden on Shirayuki.
Her senses were now unbelievably dull.
She could not see clearly.
She could not hear clearly.
Even the thunderous sounds around her were muffled in her ears, as if she were dreaming.
Every cell in her body hurt.
So sleepy.
I want to sleep…
That was Shirayuki's only thought.
I'm really so tired…
Along with a soft sensation, someone embraced Shirayuki's body.
An orange figure appeared vaguely in the dim world.
She was helped up.
Only after a long while did Shirayuki finally see who had come.
It was Trêve.
Trêve placed Shirayuki's arm over her shoulder and helped her stand.
"How do you feel?"
"Trêve…"
Shirayuki's voice was hoarse.
"Did I win…?"
Hearing those words, Trêve flicked her ears.
"No, Shirayuki."
She said, "I won."
As Trêve's voice fell, the announcer's voice rang through the racecourse.
"The winner of this year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is—Trêve!"
The world erupted into wave-like cheers.
A terrible position.
Collisions with other uma musume.
Stamina being rapidly consumed.
Even gambling everything at the end could not fully make up for the disadvantage from the early stage.
Listening to the sounds around her, Shirayuki felt her nose sting.
She had prepared for this race for so long.
In the end, she had still missed victory by the narrowest of margins.
"Trêve… does that mean I'm weak?"
She had played every card she had.
But in the end, she still could not win.
"Weak?"
Trêve tilted her head.
"Why would Shirayuki think that? You were so strong that you scared me."
Trêve's expression turned serious.
"To run like that under such unfavourable conditions, Shirayuki is truly amazing. At least, if I had been placed in your position, I definitely wouldn't have run a better race than you. So, Shirayuki, you are an incredible uma musume. I hope you can be proud of that."
Hearing Trêve's words, sadness, joy, relief, and all kinds of complicated emotions surged up inside her.
Shirayuki did not understand what kind of feeling she had right now.
But there was one thing she did understand.
The feeling this race left deepest in her heart was regret.
The distance between her and Trêve had been right there, within reach.
But she simply could not take one more step.
Her legs had already become so heavy she could not lift them.
She could no longer see anything clearly.
The wall standing between effort and talent had been there, on that final step.
Enduring the pain in her body, Shirayuki lowered her arm.
"Go accept your cheers, Trêve."
Trêve shook her head.
She took Shirayuki's hand.
"They're our cheers."
"OOOOOOOOH!"
At the same time, at Japan's Tracen Academy, the students felt deeply regretful that Shirayuki had brushed past the championship. The gap between her and Trêve had only been a head. One more step, and she would have reached the summit of the world.
But none of them could blame Shirayuki.
Everyone could see that Her Majesty had already given everything she had.
She had run a result far beyond imagination.
From such a terrible position, she had relied on outstanding experience and technique to weave through the crowd and reach the very front. In the end, she had almost taken the championship through pure willpower.
That was already a run that could be called a miracle.
Looking across all of Tracen, there was absolutely no second person who could have done it.
Watching the white-haired girl whose hand was held high by Trêve, the students offered their blessings one after another.
"Her Majesty will always be number one!"
"Shirayuki-senpai is the best!"
"Banzai!"
Standing in front of the television and listening to the students' cheers, Air Groove felt complicated.
If Shirayuki's gate had been within the first ten, then she definitely would have been able to take that final step.
But thinking about that now was already too late.
The ending had been decided.
Besides, the gate draw was not something they could control.
All they could say was that Shirayuki's luck in this race had been bad, and she had narrowly missed victory.
However, there was still another chance.
The Arc project was designed for the uma musume to participate twice.
The first attempt was a test, meant to examine an uma musume's adaptability to European racecourses, accumulate experience, then return to improve training methods and strengthen countermeasures for the next race.
From the very beginning, Central had never expected to win the championship in one attempt.
Japanese uma musume had never even entered the top five of the Arc, let alone been expected to swallow the whole thing in one bite. Shirayuki's result had already far exceeded their expectations.
Moreover, although this race had been extremely intense, Shirayuki still had a card she had not played.
In the final straight-line acceleration, Shirayuki had not activated her Zone.
That was also related to the two uma musume who blocked her. They had forcibly smothered Shirayuki's Zone before it could emerge.
With the experience accumulated from this race, surely Shirayuki would be able to display one hundred percent of her ability in the next race.
Just as everyone was passionately discussing Shirayuki's race, the living room door was suddenly kicked open.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Crisp footsteps sounded.
An uma musume walked in.
Her long golden hair shone beneath the lights. Two silver streaks of bangs drifted over her forehead with the wind. Her clear blue-purple eyes looked at everyone present, and in the end, her gaze fell on the television.
"The Empress lost."
That uma musume snorted lightly.
"As expected, with the Empress's strength, challenging the Arc was still too much for her."
Hearing those words, Air Groove turned her head in displeasure.
But after seeing that person's face, her pupils suddenly contracted.
"You are…"
The golden-haired girl showed a mocking smile, her expression proud and arrogant.
"When she comes back, tell the Empress to step aside. Reaching the summit of the world is something that should be left to me. I will show the whole world what it means to be the king of the running world!"
After Shirayuki had left, Tracen had received a new, overwhelmingly powerful uma musume.
Even Rudolf had been amazed by her.
Air Groove spoke her name.
"Orfevre."