At Japan's Tracen Academy, inside the Ritto dormitory, Air Groove stood before the television with her arms folded.
Around her were the students of the Ritto dormitory. Although their relationship with Shirayuki was not as close as the students from the Miho dormitory, they were still juniors who had received plenty of care from Her Majesty. Their admiration for her was in no way inferior to those little fangirls from the same dorm.
Clenching their fists, they stared fixedly at the television.
Eleventh place.
Middle pack.
It was neither good nor bad.
But the problem was that Shirayuki was currently on the outside. If she could not move into the inside lane, it would be difficult for her to preserve stamina for the coming sprint. She had already wasted stamina once to adjust her position. If she had to waste it again…
Air Groove frowned.
As Shirayuki's senior, and the previous Empress, she did not want to place too much pressure on her. Clearly, Shirayuki had walked a path completely different from hers. She was gentler, softer, and more approachable.
Even so, under these circumstances, Air Groove could not stop herself from placing her hopes on Shirayuki.
Right now, Shirayuki was so close to the world.
Only one final step remained.
It was clear that Shirayuki's strength had risen sharply. Compared with the time she had spent at Tracen, the Shirayuki now had already become a towering powerhouse.
But…
Luck was not on her side.
In order to avoid the momentum of those uma musume, Shirayuki had chosen to settle toward the back. From there, she had remained passive the entire time. Finding a chance to reverse the situation would be extremely difficult. Even with Air Groove's experience, she could not find an opening at all.
It was no exaggeration to say that this race had already surpassed Air Groove's limits.
Even if she were the one running there, the result would only be worse than Shirayuki's.
The Shirayuki of now had already surpassed her.
If only Shirayuki had been given an inside gate…
"Do not waste time lamenting that."
Narita Brian spoke from beside her.
"No matter where they stand, the strong remain strong. They do not complain about their environment. The same applies to Shirayuki. If there is a difficulty, then she should conquer it with her own strength."
Her yellow eyes were fixed tightly on that white figure.
"After all, a wolf is the beast least likely to submit."
At Longchamp Racecourse, the race reached the middle stage.
As positions shifted, the voices of the spectators surged like waves. The uma musume currently leading began to slow her steps slightly. The three behind her also started adjusting their positions.
Trêve silently observed them without moving.
Her attention was on Shirayuki behind her.
She had also watched Shirayuki's races before. The other girl's running style could be called stunning. But at the same time, Trêve had also seen Shirayuki's weakness.
That was, while she ran, she thought.
A person's energy was limited.
In a two-thousand-four-hundred-metre race, running at full strength placed an enormous burden on the muscles. On top of that, if one constantly thought through strategies, it would greatly reduce an uma musume's mental strength.
Excessive exertion would already cause an uma musume's cognitive ability to drop. Add all that thinking on top, and the final result would likely be that her concentration weakened, her field of vision narrowed, and her judgment dulled.
So if Shirayuki could not establish an advantage early and reduce the burden on her mind, her decision-making ability would worsen, and in the end, she would lose the race.
Trêve had wanted to tell Shirayuki this.
But after thinking about it, she closed her mouth.
This was Shirayuki's weakness.
At the same time, it was also Shirayuki's strength.
Trêve felt that what made Shirayuki different was precisely that extraordinary calmness, as well as her determination to never give up. Even in a desperate situation like this, Shirayuki could still find a way forward.
I'm right, aren't I, Snow Dancer?
In the middle of the pack, Shirayuki took a deep breath.
Looking at the marker board along the rail, she waited until she passed the red sign.
Then Shirayuki kicked sharply to the left.
With her movement, the cheering racecourse seemed to pause for a moment.
In front of the television, Air Groove, Narita Brian, Hishi Amazon, and all the spectators froze at the same time.
Then they saw it.
Shirayuki had rushed into the inside lane.
No.
She had gone even farther inside than the inside lane itself!
That was…
The crossing point between two racecourses.
The track at Longchamp Racecourse intersected. Different race distances used different courses. This was also true in Japan. Because of that, at the point where the tracks crossed, there was no rail blocking the way.
So, if she wanted to continue overtaking opponents while avoiding a massive waste of stamina, this place was the most suitable, wasn't it?
Thud!
Shirayuki gritted her teeth.
The instant she entered the inside, she twisted her waist and kicked out with her feet. Her soft ankles carved an arc into the turf. Like a spring, the moment Shirayuki lowered her body, her thighs snapped straight.
Immediately after that, the sideways momentum of her charge suddenly shifted, turning into a forward-leaning drive.
The entire motion flowed like water.
It was completed in a single breath.
By the time the spectators noticed, Shirayuki had already rushed into ninth place.
Wha…?
A blonde uma musume running on the inside widened her eyes.
It was the first time she had ever seen an uma musume burst out from inside the course itself.
After a brief pause, the entire venue erupted into passionate cheers.
The announcer shouted excitedly, "It's Snow Dancer! After entering the inside lane, she has overtaken two opponents in succession! She has now moved up to ninth place!"
"Don't get so arrogant!"
The uma musume beside her shouted fiercely.
Immediately, she moved closer to Shirayuki.
Their shoulders collided.
At this moment, Shirayuki had firmly occupied the inside position. She could not give way, and she had no way to give way. The final turn was made up of two bends, one wide curve and one sharp turn, so she absolutely could not be squeezed out.
Then come on!
After coming to the European racecourse, Shirayuki had already prepared herself to collide with these uma musume!
When she had been running through muddy ground, she had fallen plenty of times!
Thud!
With a violent collision, Shirayuki felt pain flash through her shoulder, and her stamina dropped instantly.
The uma musume beside her was not having an easy time either. She had not expected this uma musume from Japan to have such a solid body!
Seeing Shirayuki's azure eyes, which refused to yield no matter what, she gritted her teeth and did not continue attacking.
If this went on, they would only both suffer. Even if she ruined Shirayuki's race, she could forget about winning too.
With no other choice, she gave up the position Shirayuki had taken.
"Beautiful!"
Cheers rang through the dormitories at Japan's Tracen.
Everyone had seen Shirayuki's astonishing overtake just now.
Relying on the section of track without a rail, grasping that single instant of opportunity, and successfully overtaking from the inside. Forget the Arc, even in an ordinary race, such a move would be difficult to pull off.
Their admiration for Her Majesty rose to an even higher level.
However, the race was not over yet.
Because the final and strongest opponent was still waiting for her.
Running near the front of the group, Trêve flicked her ears.
She heard the announcer's voice and the spectators' shouts. Although she could not see it, she could already infer from the voices around her just how brilliant Shirayuki's move had been.
In that case, I should show my true ability too!
Seeing the movements of the uma musume ahead of her, a smile appeared on Trêve's lips.
"The race has entered the final turn!"
Along with the announcer's cry, the uma musume began to move.
Fujiwara Chiya held his shoulder.
The pain from being hit by an uma musume earlier was still there. It might affect the final acceleration, but the impact would not be large.
He thanked Byerley's Spartan training.
Under that high-pressure environment, his body had suffered tearing pain every day. Because of that, his pain tolerance had increased greatly.
Currently, Shirayuki was in ninth place.
She had already reached the front half of the group.
She could now see Trêve's figure.
The uma musume who had been leading in first place began to lose speed from exhaustion and was soon overtaken by second place. Since she had failed to bait the others into chasing her, continuing to accelerate would only waste her own stamina meaninglessly.
Not yet.
Shirayuki warned herself.
She could already see the finish line ahead.
But the closer she came to this moment, the calmer she had to be. She could not let the finish line steal her gaze!
That's right.
That person has not moved yet!
Shirayuki's eyes were fixed on that orange figure.
Trêve seemed to be waiting for something. She did not rush into action, continuing to hold fifth place.
The uma musume behind began accelerating one after another.
On the observation deck, Fujiwara Chiya clenched his fist.
After wiping the nosebleed from Fujiwara Chiya's face, Rice Shower looked worriedly at the man before her, who stood like a sculpture.
Since earlier, his eyes had not blinked even once.
The final turn.
One gentle bend, then one sharp bend.
At the current speed, even though every runner present was a world-class uma musume, when they rounded the sharp bend, they would inevitably drift outward.
And that would be her chance!
"Snow Dancer!"
The spectators at the racecourse began calling Shirayuki's name, anxiously urging her forward.
No!
Although Shirayuki's maximum acceleration distance was nearly five hundred metres, this was still a curve, and there was no intersecting track section here. If she accelerated now, she would easily burn through all her stamina.
"Snow Dancer!"
The cheers seemed to become a death sentence urging Shirayuki onward.
She suppressed the restlessness in her heart.
Hurry.
Hurry!
Is it still not time yet?
For the first time, Shirayuki felt that a distance of only a few hundred metres could be so long, as if she would never reach it.
Trêve flicked her ears.
She glanced toward the white figure behind her on the curve, then looked toward the finish line.
Her eyes were as calm and lively as ever.
Finally, the race entered the sharp bend.
A gap instantly appeared between the uma musume passing through the turn and the rail.
That width…
After judging it in an instant, Shirayuki lowered her body and rushed straight through.
"It's Snow Dancer! The race has entered the final turn, and Snow Dancer has begun to accelerate! After fighting her way up from the rear, Snow Dancer once again begins breaking through the waves!"
And at the very instant Shirayuki charged forward, Trêve also began to move.
She lowered her body into a starting-sprint posture.
The two uma musume ahead, who had been watching the movements behind them the entire time, reacted quickly. At the same time, they moved closer toward the inside rail.
Their goal in this race was simple.
Block Trêve behind them.
To them, as long as Trêve was trapped behind, their chances of winning this race would become much greater. Only Trêve was the greatest threat.
But at the very instant they moved toward the rail, Trêve's body suddenly swayed.
Her steps tapped the ground as lightly as a butterfly.
Immediately afterward, at a speed almost impossible to catch with the naked eye, she tapped once to each side.
Seeing her movement, the two uma musume in front each made different reactions.
The one on the inside moved inward.
The one on the outside moved outward.
And in that single instant of deviation, the space between them opened.
"Snow Dancer has moved up to sixth place!"
Hearing the voice, Trêve swept her gaze across the field.
She saw the white figure that had already rushed up behind her.
Yet she did not pause.
The instant the gap in the middle appeared, Trêve's body quickly straightened.
With a speed that gave no time to cover one's ears against thunder, she transformed into a bolt of orange lightning and rushed out between the two of them.
From the moment her toes touched the ground to the moment she sprinted, the entire process took less than zero point five seconds.
It was completed in the blink of an eye.
Fast…
So fast…
Shirayuki watched with her own eyes as Trêve slipped between the two runners.
The fragment of memory in her mind was still frozen on the moment before Trêve's sprint.
Keep up!
I have to keep up!
Move!
Shirayuki shouted inside herself.
But her body gave no response.
She could not do it.
Her movements could not keep up with her thoughts.
Even though she knew what she should do, her nerves could not send the command to her legs.
In that moment, Shirayuki clearly saw it.
The wall standing before an uma musume.
The wall called talent.
Boom!
The door leading to victory closed before her.
The two uma musume blocked her path completely.
To the side were the uma musume who had been thrown outward by the curve.
Ahead were more uma musume.
The tactic that had originally been meant to block Trêve had become Shirayuki's cage.
Having escaped the encirclement, Trêve moved straight ahead.
She did not look back.
Because she was the hope of all France.
She had to bring victory to France.
Facing Shirayuki, she showed no mercy.
No…
No…!
Shirayuki gritted her teeth.
She had overcome countless difficulties and walked step by step until this place.
At this moment, the world was right before her eyes.
How could she possibly give up?
Even if luck does not stand on my side, I will tear victory from the hands of fate!
This is my resolve as an uma musume!
"Trêve!"
A roar came from behind.
Trêve's heart suddenly pounded.
Unable to believe it, she turned her head.
And then she saw—
The white wolf's claws tore through the wall.
Shirayuki had forced herself between the two uma musume ahead of her.
Arms collided with arms.
The dull impact was so heavy that even the spectators in the stands could hear it.
The two uma musume in front widened their eyes.
Even on Europe's top racecourse, they had never seen someone this insane!
With the violent contact between the three of them, Shirayuki felt her stamina drop rapidly. Her head felt as if it were burning. Pain and exhaustion swept through her mind like a blender.
But there was no time to think about that now.
The finish line was right before her!
She gritted her teeth.
Thud!
She forcibly broke out from between the two uma musume.
Seeing Shirayuki like that, Trêve's heart, which had remained calm for the entire race, finally began beating uncontrollably fast.
From Shirayuki, she felt the fear of being hunted.
This was the first time Trêve had ever felt a race become this thrilling.
"As expected, in the end, it comes down to these two! Trêve leads! In second, Snow Dancer!"
Her steps were so heavy.
Her heart was beating so fast it felt like it might explode.
Her lungs felt as if they were burning.
That forceful breakthrough just now had already drained her stamina to the bottom. Now, every step was agonising. She desperately wanted to collapse on the grass and sleep. She desperately wanted to roll around freely without a care in the world.
But she could not.
She was only one step away from standing at the summit of the world!
Looking at the orange figure so close before her, and the finish line that was almost within reach, Shirayuki squeezed out the last trace of strength in her body.
She forced herself to take one final step forward.
The two figures pressed close together, one ahead and one behind, and flashed past.
"They cross the line!"