[We've barely begun and the French exchange team has pulled out a never-before-seen Maginot Line! Using their size, they've built a wall to keep everyone behind!]
[Stardust Mirage! Stardust Mirage surges—she's going to force it?—ah! That's dangerous! Stardust Mirage nearly collided with Laurel Crown, and had to check to avoid her!]
[Everyone's in a bind—no one can get past this wall!]
[What now! Lacking the strength to body through, no one dares collide! Will the Japanese team be stonewalled all the way to the wire?!]
"This has taken a turn," Nishizaki Ryū frowned at the edge of the enclosure.
Rain beaded on his shoulders as he stared at the course.
"Even the breakaway-skilled Stardust Mirage couldn't seize a gap?"
"In that case, McQueen and Gold Ship will struggle to fight the French on power. Do they have to sit off and wait for chances—"
"…" Vodka at his side didn't agree.
She studied Stardust Mirage on the course for a moment, then spoke:
"No. Her method of breaking through is wrong."
"Method?" Nishizaki turned. "You think she can get through?"
As a Derby empress, Vodka was the same "type" as the French—size granted strength and stamina that let her sweep G1 trophies.
She was one of the few whose weight and frame could match European runners; even her old rival Daiwa admitted Vodka's strength was peerless in her time.
She best knew how to use that advantage to create margin, crushing foes just before the post.
She'd lost count of the times she'd forced through gaps—or denied them. Vodka was a breakthrough-and-blocking specialist.
She clenched her right fist; bones crackled like firecrackers, declaring the power in that hand:
"While breaking a strong block does demand strength, that's not the key."
"Not the key?"
"Yeah. Outside of strength, one thing matters most," Vodka nodded.
"Spirit! A will that refuses to yield, even if it means a collision."
"In this kind of race, even if you're weaker, just holding that speed—if you come to blows, nobody can say what happens. If Laurel Crown doesn't have the resolve to go down with Stardust Mirage, then Stardust still has a path."
"Use will—use presence—to tell the other girl: I won't yield even if we fall together."
"At that exact moment, if the other hesitates even 0.1 seconds—you've got your breakthrough!"
————————————
How would Stardust Mirage answer the Maginot Line?
She wasn't even thinking about it.
If Taiki Shuttle had eyes on the runner with her head down, she would have found that Stardust Mirage had already entered the state that had only sparked at the end last time—
Clear Mind, the heart of "bright mirror, still water."
Before the race, Stardust Mirage did have some hesitation.
But after Einis Wind God's counsel—and immersing herself in the notebook's techniques—her mind was unified. All of her was on the run.
Fighting spirit boiled off her in waves; even the rain seemed to blow off her skin under the pressure of it.
The instant her first attempt to pass was checked, Stardust Mirage changed her running.
Head down slightly, she tightened right up to the back of Laurel Crown on the outside, shadowing her step for step.
Pressed, Laurel Crown glanced back, eyes flashing with high spirits:
"Want to come through? I absolutely won't let you!"
Stardust Mirage ignored the taunt, hammering along the rail.
100m…
200m…
300m…
The opening straight flashed by, and the field was about to reach the first turn.
Now—!
The thought flashed through Stardust Mirage's mind.
[Skill: Shukuchi, activated.]
That strange high-step kick-run snapped her half a length closer.
In her beast-lit eyes, a lane of light on the curve gleamed, guiding her toward where she truly wanted to go—
"Don't even think about it!"
She wanted to take the turn to pass!
Laurel Crown, the tall French runner, felt it at once and barked.
Without a heartbeat's hesitation, she shifted her feet in the turn and threw her body across—ready to repeat the trick and use her size to force a retreat—
—Denied.
Stardust Mirage slowly lifted her head.
Laurel Crown felt her breath stop.
A chill from the marrow swallowed her whole.
What was that?
Hypothermia from the winter rain?
Impossible—only a few hundred meters—don't joke, she wasn't sickly!
Time itself seemed to slow. Thoughts raced as she hunted the source of the wrongness.
A moment later, she found it.
"Don't—get in front of me."
A voice came to her ear, flat as a blade—Stardust Mirage's voice.
Savage. Ferocious. And—murderous.
At the instant she saw those eyes, it felt like the world held nothing else.
The presence pouring from them was so strong she couldn't look away.
How to run next?
What technique for the curve?
How to keep blocking Stardust Mirage?
She couldn't think any of it.
Her brain felt like it was freezing.
It dragged up a memory—the time she'd watched Nobility race.
The pressure was the same—and even heavier than then.
Stardust Mirage—was she really just a debutante?!
Under that surging menace, pride in her size shriveled; she couldn't help curling in on herself a little, to avoid drawing the monster's eye.
Block her? No way…!
She absolutely would not retreat!!!
But how could a mere body block a mindless beast?!
A monster, a monster! Godzilla?!
You can't stop that! If you don't slip aside, you'll be crushed!
(I have to dodge!!!)
Laurel Crown, in the turn, could only watch Stardust Mirage slice past her shoulder and drive for the inside.
She even kept taking off speed to clear the way—terrified of hindering the monster's path—
And Stardust Mirage, seizing the instant, shot right into the lead pack!
She wasn't thinking about stamina allotments or end-race kicks at all.
Just as Einis Wind God had said:
If you lead with worry—if you "big escape" with fear—if your feet are tethered, how can you ever shake anyone?
So, once you understand that, it's simple.
There's only one thing to do—
Go through!
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