Chapter 210: It's Your Race Now
Faced with that terrifying presence, Ribbon Victory could do nothing but register shock.
In the blink of an eye, that aura surged outward like a roaring tide, spreading across the entire racecourse.
At the very front, Real Will's tightly wound nerves were stabbed in an instant.
She reflexively turned her head, eyes suddenly widening.
In her vision, a black figure slammed sideways into view.
The next moment, like a heavily armored war machine launching into an explosive start, it charged forward—unstoppable.
The instant she saw it, her rhythm broke uncontrollably for half a beat, and she nearly stumbled.
Running second, Red Solomon also caught sight of the "black war chariot" bursting free.
Every hair on her body seemed to stand on end. As if driven to flee, as if desperately trying to defend her position, she abruptly accelerated.
Crowned Stone felt much the same as Ribbon Victory. The moment that aura hit her, shock seized her heart and her body stiffened slightly.
In the next instant, she grit her teeth and pushed off harder, trying to open distance from Kitasan Black, while praying silently:
"Please don't come over… please don't come over…"
Tagano Café, meanwhile, had already been suffocating under the pressure of that presence beside her.
She had secretly rejoiced at the turn of events in this race—by sheer luck, using positioning to lock Kitasan Black in place, the scales of victory seemed to be tipping in her favor.
But she never could have imagined that just one moment ago, Kitasan Black had been completely boxed in—and the next, she would break free in such a staggering way.
In Tagano Café's eyes, just before exiting the turn, Kitasan Black suddenly lowered her center of gravity. Every muscle in her body bulged, exaggerated like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
At the same time, those crimson eyes burned with resolve, and the blood vessels along her neck—just as red—stood out sharply, as if ready to burst through her skin.
Then, in the instant the inner side of the track opened up, Kitasan Black shot forward, as if launched by some unseen force, or as if she had warped through space itself.
In the blink of an eye, she was out.
And before anyone could even begin to react, she "warped" again—
Kitasan Black had already surged into first place.
"How is that possible… she… how did she do that…?"
Tagano Café murmured blankly.
Behind them, the Umamusume exiting the turn in quick succession all sensed the sudden upheaval in the race.
In an instant, REAL STEEL's eyes flashed, and an excited grin bloomed across her face.
With her whole body boiling, she couldn't help letting out a low shout:
"This… this is Kitasan Black! Ha! A race like this—now this is fun!"
Satono Rasen, on the other hand, felt the pressure spike sharply.
Her earlier thinking had been much the same as Tagano Café's.
Throughout the race, the opponent who demanded the most attention was naturally Kitasan Black.
If that opponent could be worn down early on, her own chances of victory would rise dramatically.
But now, staring at that black, lightning-like figure at the very front, her breathing faltered for a beat, emotions swirling chaotically in her chest.
On one hand, she understood all too well that Kitasan Black seizing the lead meant her own path to victory had suddenly become far steeper.
On the other hand, without even realizing it, a faint, quiet sense of envy welled up within her.
Such a terrifying, audacious breakout—but still…
So free…
No family pressure, running so freely across the track…
"If only I could be like her too…"
The sigh slipped out unconsciously, yet her steps quickened all the same—as if she were trying to chase after some distant, unreachable figure.
At the same time, the commentator's voice ignited like a spark hitting fuel, instantly boiling over:
"Ladies and gentlemen! Kitasan Black—she's exploded!"
"By a method that borders on the unbelievable, she's broken through layers of encirclement and—she's surged straight into first place in an instant!"
"Ladies and gentlemen! At this very moment, the entire situation of the Kikuka Sho has been completely rewritten!"
The grandstands exploded.
Spectators leapt to their feet—some gaping with mouths agape, faces frozen in shock; some wildly waving the flags in their hands, shouting Kitasan Black's name at the top of their lungs; others so overwhelmed with emotion that tears streamed down their faces, as if they were already witnessing the birth of the Kikuka Sho champion.
Saburo Kitajima had completely lost his voice. He stared fixedly at the foremost figure on the track, the corners of his mouth stretched nearly to his ears.
Makoto was just as fired up. His fingers clenched tightly around the binoculars, knuckles whitening, his nails scraping against the casing with a harsh creak-creak sound.
The opening phase of the race was one of the scenarios they had simulated before the event—and the worst one.
After confirming the lineup of Umamusume entering the race, he had quickly concluded that with so many front runners, getting boxed in was almost inevitable.
And in his own framework of knowledge, there was a law that fit this situation all too well:
Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
That was why, among the various special training regimens he had arranged, there was one scenario that assumed the absolute worst—that Kitasan Black would be the one trapped in the encirclement.
To deal with that, he had considered everything he possibly could: past Kikuka Sho race footage, Kitasan Black's current level, her advantages in strength and stamina, her speed ceiling—
Now, all of that effort had paid off.
In the early phase, faced with more aggressive rivals, she temporarily gave up the fight for the lead, conserving stamina while observing the rhythms of the other front runners.
As the encirclement gradually tightened, she relied on her already excellent sense of pace to adjust on the fly, widening the stamina gap and deepening her read on her opponents.
A normal climb.
Into the turn.
Through the turn.
Out of the turn—
And then, at one of the very few breakthrough points available in Kyoto's long-distance course, she unleashed an explosive power unrivaled by anyone on the field, seizing the lead in one decisive burst.
As for the remaining majority of the race—
For a Kitasan Black whose front running ability had been honed through relentless training, there was only one way to describe it:
"...A vast sea for the fish to leap through, a boundless sky for the bird to soar…"
Staring intently at the black figure on the track, Makoto couldn't help but let a smile curve across his lips.
"From here on out… the race is yours, Kita."
The afternoon sunlight spilled across Kyoto Racecourse, the track resembling a ribbon of blazing silk, faintly gleaming under the sun.
At the very front ran Kitasan Black.
Like a black meteor, each step she took kicked up small bursts of dust, an overwhelming aura radiating from her that brooked no resistance.
Her black hair streamed wildly in the wind, as if proclaiming her rulership to the world.
Behind her, Real Will and Red Solomon chased closely, their eyes burning with unyielding defiance.
Ribbon Victory and Crowned Stone followed after them, expressions grim—temporarily behind, yet their gazes remained resolute.
Tagano Café looked distinctly more disheveled amid the fierce pursuit. Her earlier secret delight had long since vanished; now she dared not relax for even a moment, eyes locked tightly onto Kitasan Black's back.
REAL STEEL and Satono Rasen remained in the middle of the pack—the former brimming with excitement, the latter wearing a complicated expression.
Further back at the rear, the other Umamusume also pushed themselves desperately forward. The once tightly tangled group gradually stretched into a long, narrow line, all of them charging toward the first corner at full speed.
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Tn: I updated the story daily, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
Latest Chapter: Chapter 314: Kita, You're Truly Amazing[1]
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