The Zone.
This was the Zone of someone who had forgotten what it felt like, forcing it back through sheer willpower, using her own body's energy to restart something that had been dormant for years.
The darkness spread around her in a wide radius, thick and heavy, covering the area and blocking the light.
Beside her, Sakura Laurel's zones, pink energy waves expanded outward in rippling circles, her eyes changing to a deep red color as her fighting spirit became visible in the air around her like flower petals scattering in strong wind, beautiful and powerful.
The shaking in her hands that had bothered her for months finally stopped, her body becoming steady at last, every muscle and nerve and fiber coordinated, moving together with clear intention and strength.
Sakura Laurel registered it as a physical feeling, a tingling sensation spreading across her skin, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up, because this was exactly what she had been waiting for.
This... This is what I wanted... Brian!
And then the two Zones made contact, pink meeting black, flower petals mixing with shadow, two different types of power combining and pushing through the surrounding air in a collision of energy that made the space around them feel charged and unstable.
"WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THEM?! SAKURA LAUREL AND NARITA BRIAN—THEIR RUNNING SPEED JUST INCREASED BY A HUGE MARGIN! LOOK AT THEIR EXPRESSIONS! THAT LEVEL OF CONCENTRATION! I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT!"
Uma Musume who had the ability to perceive these phenomena felt it as a strong physical sensation. Two massive energy signatures radiating far beyond what should be physically possible. Both runners are pushing themselves to destruction for this single moment.
In the spectator stands, those gifted few made sounds of shock.
A white-uniformed runner positioned close enough to sense the energy collision almost lost her balance, her legs starting to buckle as the pressure wave reached her. "What... what is that..."
Another girl running just behind the leaders felt tears forming in her eyes without understanding the reason. The intense emotion is emanating from that overwhelming energy field.
Sakura Laurel looked like cherry blossoms blooming after a brutal winter, genuinely beautiful to witness. But Narita Brian's shadow expanding upward to meet them, that reaching, searching darkness, was equally mesmerizing to see.
"Another tragedy," Maruzensky said in a casual tone, but her eyes were completely serious.
"Tragedy?"
Hayato's voice became sharp.
"Why are cherry blossoms after winter considered tragic? Is that not beautiful?"
Hayato did not agree with that assessment at all. This was Sakura Laurel's moment of glory. How could that possibly be tragic? Was it not far more tragic that she had never competed on a G1 stage until this point?
"Oh? You possess the ability to see that phenomenon, too?"
"I am a trainer. Having that ability to see it is normal, is it not?"
"You consider that normal?" Maruzensky shook her head with a smile that looked bitter.
Not far away, Sakura Chiyono O's voice cracked with emotion.
"I did not expect Laurel... you would finally reach this level too."
Her hands pressed together, knuckles turning white from pressure.
"For her dream... for Narita Brian... Laurel, have faith in yourself. You are capable of this! Keep going, Laurel!"
Calling out words of encouragement while crying, her voice breaking apart.
Narita Brian and Sakura Laurel ran parallel to each other, their Zones overlapping as black shadow and pink flower energy created a swirling disturbance that made the racing track itself appear to grow darker.
Narita Brian registered it, an intense heat building inside her chest, drawing power from her own life energy, sharp and constant, burning its way through her body like an impact she could not avoid.
It caused pain, but she felt alive, and for the first time in multiple years, she moved and breathed and existed like her true self again, complete and unstoppable.
A genuinely strong opponent, no, something more than that. Someone who brought back the memory of why she had started running in the first place, why every single stride and every push forward had ever held meaning.
"Thanks... Laurel...."
"TWO EXTREMELY STRONG COMPETITORS RUNNING SIDE BY SIDE! LOOK AT THEM! NARITA BRIAN AND SAKURA LAUREL, THEY ARE RUNNING AS IF THEIR ENTIRE LIVES DEPEND ON IT! THIS LEVEL OF SPEED SHOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE THIS LATE IN THE RACE! WHAT ARE WE WITNESSING?!"
But at this time....
The air temperature dropped suddenly on the racing field, like opening a freezer door. Narita Brian noticed it first, cold air hitting the back of her neck, changing her sweat into something ice-cold, her exhaled breath turning visible for one heartbeat before her physical exertion burned it away.
"Hey, hey, hey… what, you two really think you're the only main characters today, huh?"
"Did I miss something, or are you two already writing the ending of today's race without me!?"
"TRIPLE CROWN UMA MUSUME?! MAYANO TOP GUN?! SAKURA LAUREL OPENING A DOMAIN?!"
"WHAT IS A DOMAIN SUPPOSED TO BE?! I AM ALSO AN UMA MUSUME TOO!"
"DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU'RE DIFFERENT FROM US JUST BECAUSE WE'RE CALLED 'BACKGROUND' AS UMA MUSUME IN TODAY'S RACE?!"
Her voice cut through the stadium, piercing through even the roaring crowd noise.
"REMEMBER MY NAME! I AM SEIUN SKY! WHAT I WANT IS NOT FLOATING CLOUDS, IT IS THE ENTIRE SKY AS MY DREAM!!!"
Seiun Sky released all her pent-up intensity.
She had been holding this feeling inside for way too long. Training by herself alone while everyone else received the attention and spotlight. Watching trainers select other runners first, every single time without exception. Fourth in the popularity rankings, fourth place like she did not even deserve to be included in the discussion.
King Halo and Silence Suzuka both achieved first place. Mayano Top Gun had her established legacy. Sakura Laurel finally received her moment.
And what did Seiun Sky have? Absolutely nothing. Just people looking past her like she was part of the background scenery.
Every single midnight, she ran until her legs were shaking. Pushed herself past her physical limits while everyone else was still sleeping, because that was the only method someone like her, someone without a famous family bloodline, without a dramatic backstory, without anything special about her, could even hope to compete on the same racing track as them.
She had pushed herself to exhaustion for this. Abandoned everything else in her life just for one opportunity at proving she had a place here.
Not as someone's second-choice backup. Not as a decent runner who tried hard as part of the background.
Seiun Sky came to this Tenno Sho race as Uma Musume, who had the capability to win.
This race was it. Her single chance to make people remember her name permanently, to prove all those dismissive looks and passed-over moments were completely wrong. If she did not accomplish it now, if she allowed this to slip away from her, she would just be another forgotten face who almost made it but never actually did.
Bzzt!
Blue-sky-colored energy burst outward from her body, brilliant and vast in scope, while white, cloud-like mist spiraled upward like rising smoke. Thin wisps of power drifted away from the corners of her eyes, and her running form became incredibly light as her running speed surged forward, faster and faster and faster, unstoppable.
This was her secret trump card. Her personal Zone. Even Hayato had zero idea she could do this. Had zero idea she had been pushing herself to the absolute breaking point in secret, completely alone, desperate to awaken something, anything at all that would allow her to compete with elite runners like them.
She had finally accomplished it. And she was not going to waste it.
Then the sound of hoofbeats arrived.
Moving faster than the two of them. Much louder. Closing the distance with frightening speed.
Sakura Laurel registered it first, a change in the air pressure coming from behind her, cold and massive, like storm clouds moving in at excessive speed. Her eyes went wide as the temperature dropped another degree lower, frost forming across the grass in delicate patterns only to immediately melt from the heat of their running.
The presence was not like Narita Brian's desperate shadow or her own trembling flower petals. This was something else completely. Endless in scope. Oppressive in weight. The atmosphere felt heavy and pressing, weighing down on them.
Wind rushed past as the approaching figure closed the distance, and Laurel's hair got blown forward from the sheer force of someone moving that fast behind her. The sound of hoofbeats became deafening, drowning out even the roaring crowd noise, each strike against the track surface like thunder getting closer and closer.
Narita Brian caught movement in her peripheral vision, and her breathing hitched. Someone was there, moving impossibly fast, far faster than even Sakura Laurel's surging speed, closing the gap between them in heartbeats that felt like mere seconds.
The cold grew more intense. Not the biting chill from before, but something heavier in weight, thicker in density, like running through a solid wall of frozen air that stuck to her skin and lungs. Blue light flared at the edge of Brian's vision, brilliant and blinding in intensity, growing brighter as the gap closed.
Five body lengths back. Four lengths. Three lengths.
The hoofbeats thundered louder, closer, relentless, and unstoppable.
Two lengths. One length.
Then Seiun Sky was beside them, her Zone blazing into full visibility as she drew level with their position. The blue sky and white clouds wrapped around her body in a visual display of immense power, vast and beautiful and absolutely relentless.
Her eyes showed an intensity of focus that was almost overwhelming to witness. No hesitation visible. No doubt showing. Just pure, desperate determination.
"SEIUN SKY!!! HER SPEED—HER RUNNING SPEED JUST INCREASED DRAMATICALLY! THREE OF THEM! ALL THREE RUNNING WITH COMPLETE ABANDON! WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"
Hosoe Junko's voice broke completely apart, her professionalism shattered, as three different Zones, black shadow, pink cherry blossoms, and blue sky converged on the racing track in a spectacular collision, each one burning with impossible, desperate intensity.
--
*As usual, the illustration is commented on.