The air around them felt different, and even the other uma musume nearby sensed it, the intense pressure of three powerful runners pushing beyond every limit, refusing to stop.
A Uma Musume with purple trim stumbled, feeling overwhelmed. "I… I can't… how are they…" Another girl, tears streaming without understanding why, pushed herself harder simply from witnessing it, feeling both inspired and frightened at the same time, making her legs move faster even as her body protested. Behind them, the pack fell into disorder, some runners felt their determination weaken under the intensity, while others, driven by admiration and concern alike, found themselves pushing forward harder than they thought possible.
But none could keep up. This was a battle between three competitors who had sacrificed everything else.
"WHAT IS HAPPENING?! IN ALL MY YEARS OF COMMENTARY, I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYONE RACE LIKE THIS! THE SPEED! THE INTENSITY! IT'S AS IF THEY'RE PUTTING THEIR LIVES ON THE LINE JUST TO REACH THAT FINISH LINE! EVERYONE ELSE… STRUGGLING TO KEEP UP! THIS… THIS IS BEYOND ANY RACE I'VE EVER WITNESSED!"
The stadium erupted in excitement, the noise extremely loud, raw, thousands of voices combining into a single sustained roar that made the ground shake beneath them.
Hayato stood frozen, gripping the railing until his fingers ached, while before him, Sakura Laurel surged forward, cherry blossoms blazing, beautiful and determined, blooming after the harshest winter; Narita Brian followed, her shadow visible like a fading fire suddenly reignited one last time; and Seiun Sky streaked ahead, her endless blue vast and unstoppable, refusing to be ignored any longer.
"This is it," Maruzensky whispered, her voice shaking despite the chaos around them, "the finish line. The winner will take everything for crossing first!"
The straight stretched ahead.
Two hundred meters left.
Three runners, all going beyond their limits, all refusing to stop. Their Zones creating this incredible, intense display of determination made visible.
"WHO'S GOING TO TAKE IT?! WHO WANTS IT MORE?! TWO HUNDRED METERS! THAT'S ALL THAT'S LEFT! EVERYTHING COMES DOWN TO THIS!"
The crowd was on its feet, every single person screaming their names, incoherent shouts, just screaming. Up in the stands, Hayato's brain stopped processing, and even Maruzensky beside him fell silent.
Their zones overlapped in a striking display of the pitch-black shadow, blossoms of pink sakura, and blue sky mixing with each other, competing for space yet somehow reinforcing one another, three intense dreams made visible in a single breathtaking moment.
"INCREDIBLE! NARITA BRIAN, SAKURA LAUREL, AND SEIUN SKY—NECK AND NECK IN A PERFECT LINE! THEY'RE MOVING IN SYNC LIKE THEIR LIVES DEPEND ON IT! THIS IS HISTORY IN THE MAKING HERE AT THE TENNO SHO SPRING!"
Hosoe Junko slammed her hands on the desk. The microphone jumped.
One hundred meters left.
The three Zones intensified into full competition.
A girl running six lengths back felt it hit her chest. Her next breath came out choked. "What—"
Her legs locked up for half a stride before she forced them to keep moving, heart hammering for reasons she couldn't explain.
Sakura Laurel's cherry blossoms flared intensely, pink light so fierce it burned afterimages into vision, petals scattering rapidly, each trailing glowing streaks that lingered impossibly in the air.
Narita Brian's shadow surged into it, blackness coiling and twisting, colliding with the blossoms with a force that reverberated through bones, teeth, the center of the chest, an impact that could be felt but not heard.
Above it all, Seiun Sky's zone rose, clouds forming from nothing, stretching across a hidden sky only the gifted could perceive, the air around her dropping to a biting cold, frost flickering on the grass for a heartbeat before vanishing, as if the environment itself was responding to the three of them. pink, shadow, and blue, collided and intertwined, intense and unyielding, three remarkable dreams made tangible, roaring forward in a single, unstoppable surge.
"THE PRESSURE! CAN YOU FEEL IT?! EVEN FROM THE COMMENTARY BOX I CAN FEEL SOMETHING! THE AIR ITSELF FEELS DIFFERENT! LOOK AT THE RUNNERS BEHIND THEM—THEY'RE STRUGGLING JUST TO KEEP THEIR PACE!"
Maruzensky's breath caught. "They're not holding anything back...."
Hayato's knuckles went white on the rail. He could see it all, their zones pushing against each other. Drawing from their users' bodies. Draining stamina at rates that should kill them.
Narita Brian's shadow burned too hot, flickering and pulsing with a desperate intensity, not the controlled zone of a champion but the reckless blaze of someone with nothing left to lose. She was going to burn out. She had to know it, and yet… she was doing it anyway.
Fifty meters.
Narita Brian drove her shadow forward one last time, a wave of darkness surging toward both competitors. Sakura Laurel's cherry blossoms burst outward to meet it, pink light releasing in a shockwave that cracked the air. Petals and darkness collided, churning into a storm that swallowed both Zones.
Runners behind felt it hit them like a wall. One girl's rhythm broke completely, almost sending her sprawling.
"SOMETHING JUST HAPPENED! THE RUNNERS BEHIND STUMBLED! WHAT KIND OF PRESSURE ARE THESE THREE GENERATING?!"
Thirty meters.
All three Zones still blazing black shadow, pink blossoms, blue sky locked in desperate combat. The pressure radiating off them made the air itself feel thick, heavy, and suffocating.
Behind them all, Mayano Top Gun's desperate surge created its own pressure wave, but the gap was too wide now.
Twenty meters.
All three were burning everything they had left. Narita Brian's shadow flickering but holding, Sakura Laurel's cherry blossoms spinning in desperate spirals, Blue Sky's clouds condensing around her legs.
Their bodies are screaming, Zones draining their stamina and power at impossible rates, but none are willing to break.
"ALL THREE STILL NECK AND NECK! TWENTY METERS! THIS IS BEYOND INSANE!"
Ten meters.
The finish line rushed toward them, and all three lunged forward with everything they had left.
Seiun Sky's clouds compressed tighter around her legs, Sakura Laurel's blossoms released in one final burst of pink light, Narita Brian's shadow surged forward like a crashing wave. Three bodies moving as one. Three Zones releasing in brilliant chaos, blue sky, pink cherry blossoms, black shadow colliding and intertwining in a storm of color and power that made the air itself shimmer.
Five meters left, and the world narrowed to a single point ahead.
Three hooves extended. Three desperate pushes. Three dreams hurtling toward the same line.
The photo finish flash went off.
"THEY CROSSED!!!"
The stadium erupted completely.
Ten thousand voices screaming at once, a massive wave of sound so loud it felt physical, vibrating through chests and bones. People leaping to their feet, hands thrown in the air, some crying, some laughing, everyone yelling without words because words couldn't capture it. In the stands, a girl grabbed her friend's arm so hard it would bruise. An older man's hat flew off as he jumped. Someone's drink went flying with current excitement from watching the race.
Hayato couldn't breathe, his knuckles bone-white on the railing, heart slamming against his ribs. Maruzensky stood frozen beside him.
"IN TWENTY YEARS OF CALLING RACES I HAVE NEVER EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS! THREE UMA MUSUME, GIVING EVERYTHING AS IF THEIR LIVES DEPENDED ON IT! WHO WON?! WE DON'T KNOW! IT'S TOO CLOSE TO CALL, WE NEED THE PHOTO FINISH!"
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*As usual, the illustration is commented on.
Damn, this arc finally finished... I hate it, the G1 with legend uma musume.... I need to take her down using a combined three-person attack, even though she's just recovered from an injury: Mayano Top Gun at the beginning, Sakura Laurel in the middle, and adding Seiun Sky at the end. But this is fun thooo....
The reason why I depicted Narita Brian as a lonely wolf always searching for prey/chasing shadows that never exist is related to Narita Brian's personality on the racetrack. It's connected to her big sister Biwa Hayahide, who was supposed to compete against her but suddenly got injured and couldn't continue their match, which is why in the manga, she appears like a starving wolf. (Manga: Sakura Blossom.) This is also one of the reasons why I've always portrayed her as someone lonely at the top, looking for an opponent who can relieve her loneliness. Of course, in the end, all those curses are finally lifted by the steadfastness and determination of Sakura Laurel for Narita Brian, who is like an empty ghost endlessly chasing shadows with no one by his side (Rival). The manga isn't finished yet, so here I'm just guessing how the match between the two will end, maybe like this.
Unlike TM Opera O, who has a fun personality in her own world, Narita Brian is an unbeatable yet lonely figure, as if she is being chased by the past and chasing a shadow that shouldn't exist.
I hope u all enjoy it~