With the pounding of feet against the ground, Fujiwara Chiya shot forward like a cannonball.
In less than two seconds, he erased the two-length gap and pulled up beside Orfevre.
Wha…t!?
Orfevre's eyes flew wide as she stared at the man who had surged up next to her.
How was this possible!?
How was he this fast!?
According to Orfevre's calculations, by the late stage of the race, Fujiwara Chiya should have burned through most of his stamina. Even if he could briefly close the distance between them, once they hit the final straight, she could still rely on her terrifying finishing kick to seize victory.
And Orfevre was not bragging.
Her late kick was absolutely among the best in Tracen. Even the Empress herself could not beat her in a finishing sprint.
And yet Fujiwara Chiya's ability had blown straight past her expectations.
This acceleration was even faster than during that previous test!
The Empress's Scepter…
Don't tell me you've been hiding your true strength this whole time!
Orfevre clenched her teeth.
"Beautiful…"
Narita Brian, who had come to watch the race, could not help but praise him.
Beside her, Air Groove's ears stood upright. The moment she heard that the Empress's Scepter was racing, she had abandoned her work and come straight to the training grounds.
"What is?"
"Trainer Chiya's movement. It's wild. Unrestrained." Admiration flashed in Narita Brian's eyes. "He's running with pure power. It's incredible."
In terms of raw ability, Chiya might not be Shirayuki's equal.
But compared to Shirayuki's wildness, Narita Brian found Chiya even more fascinating.
She rarely saw an uma musume accelerate through sheer brute force.
Strictly speaking, an uma man.
From Chiya, Narita Brian caught a scent similar to her own.
She liked accelerating through power too.
I want to race him.
That trainer's body looks even tougher than Shirayuki's. Crashing into him would probably feel amazing.
Narita Brian folded her arms, her eyes locked firmly on him.
"Trainer Chiya has caught up!"
Orfevre clicked her tongue. She drove her legs harder, trying to pull away from him.
"Chiya! Go for it! Show them the power of the strongest trainer on Earth!" Katsumura Yota shouted at the top of his lungs.
"You'd better not embarrass us trainers!" Nishizaki Ryu yelled beside him.
"I feel like Trainer Chiya should probably be counted among the uma musume…" Silence Suzuka murmured cautiously.
Seeing Nishizaki Ryu and the others projecting themselves onto Fujiwara Chiya, she decided not to say anything more.
She just hoped these trainers would not get stupid ideas and try racing uma musume like Chiya did.
That was an easy way to get seriously hurt.
"Orfevre is accelerating again! She's trying to open up the gap from Trainer Chiya!"
Orfevre gritted her teeth.
No matter how much she quickened her stride, she could not shake Fujiwara Chiya off.
Her pitch had already hit its limit.
Am I going to lose here?
Before I've even debuted, am I going to lose to a trainer?
Don't make me laugh!
There's no way I can fall here!
Orfevre's eyes snapped open.
Her blue-violet pupils shrank to pinpoints.
The finish line ahead of her began to stretch farther away, gradually narrowing into a single point of light.
Slowly, the sounds around her grew quieter and quieter.
Then, all at once, Orfevre could no longer feel her body.
It was as if she were floating in an endless darkness, drifting through the sky.
But before she could properly savor that sensation, her vision blurred.
A dull pain slammed into her shoulder.
Thud!
Fujiwara Chiya leaned into Orfevre's body, their arms crashing together.
"Guh…"
A pained sound escaped Orfevre's throat.
That strange feeling vanished.
Like someone breaking the surface after being dragged underwater, Orfevre gasped for breath in great heaving lungfuls. She turned and glared at the man beside her.
The Empress's Scepter! You bastard!
Orfevre's condition dropped sharply.
Her highly focused state had been forcibly shattered, and her concentration scattered with it.
Unlike Orfevre's fury, Fujiwara Chiya was genuinely stunned.
Just now, he had clearly felt Orfevre's aura change.
That feeling of becoming one with the racetrack…
A Domain!
Orfevre opened a Domain!
The instant he realized it, Fujiwara Chiya took action.
He smashed Orfevre straight out of that Domain state by force.
Who could have imagined that an uma musume who had not even run her debut race yet could comprehend a Domain?
This was beyond simple talent.
She was a prodigy blessed by heaven itself.
What he did was a little inhumane.
But Fujiwara Chiya could not allow her to enter her Domain.
He could not give up Shirayuki.
He absolutely could not become Orfevre's vassal.
He wanted to train this child seriously and make her into a world-famous uma musume.
So he had to win this race!
After knocking Orfevre out of her Domain state, Fujiwara Chiya began piling pressure onto her.
This was how races were run on European tracks.
When your physical strength exceeded your opponent's, you could use bodily contact to forcibly drain their stamina and expand your own advantage.
Clearly, Orfevre had never learned how to deal with body contact.
Under Fujiwara Chiya's pressure, she was forced back step by step.
Orfevre was so furious she wanted to curse.
That brief exchange had made one thing painfully clear.
Right now, she was no match for Fujiwara Chiya.
Humiliation.
What utter humiliation!
Ever since Orfevre started racing, she had never been this passive.
Her elder sister had said Fujiwara Chiya might be the strongest opponent she would ever face.
Those words were not wrong.
Not just now.
He might very well become the strongest enemy she would encounter over the next year.
Her stamina drained rapidly.
Orfevre's speed dropped lower and lower.
Even the finishing kick she took such pride in could not be unleashed after being worn down like this.
Seeing exhaustion show on Orfevre's face, Fujiwara Chiya stopped lingering beside her.
In an instant, he pulled away.
Body contact drained both sides.
While Orfevre had been obstructed, Fujiwara Chiya had not exactly had an easy time either.
But as long as he found the right posture for taking and applying force, he could reduce the toll on himself.
The gap between them gradually widened.
"It's Trainer Chiya! He has overtaken Orfevre and continues forward! One length, two lengths… Orfevre is chasing! Can she close the gap? Can she close the gap!?"
Her Domain had been broken.
Her stamina had bottomed out.
Even though Orfevre forced herself to keep from falling farther behind through sheer willpower, she could no longer take even half a step forward.
"Across the line!!"
As the announcer's voice rang out, Fujiwara Chiya crossed the finish line first.
Breathing hard, Fujiwara Chiya slowed to a stop and looked back.
Behind him, Orfevre wiped the sweat from her forehead. She bit her lip in frustration and slammed a fist against her own knee.
The arrogance she had shown before the race was nowhere to be seen.
But Fujiwara Chiya knew.
Even after losing, she had every right to be arrogant.
Because Orfevre was an extraordinary uma musume.
He walked over and stopped in front of her.
Then Fujiwara Chiya held out his hand and said,
"I won."
Orfevre turned her face away.
"As promised, you're going to become my uma musume."