Uma Musume: To The Top!!

Time slipped by, swift and silent.

Under the gaze of countless spectators, Rice and Bourbon's debut races began one after the other.

With McQueen and Teio having already set such brilliant precedents, both Central Tracen's spectators and the outside media poured an unprecedented level of attention into these two debuts, treating them as the opening battles of a new era.

Even spectators who normally only cared about graded races and had no interest in maiden races came to watch with the mindset of "witnessing a future legend's arrival."

On race day, the area around the track was packed until not even water could get through.

A spectacle like this was practically an unprecedented feat for any Uma Musume debut race!

And naturally, Rice and Bourbon did not disappoint.

After being polished by Kuroha, the two of them displayed terrifyingly overwhelming dominance on the track.

With crushing momentum, they mercilessly shattered every opponent in the same race and stormed onto the stage of the Twinkle Series.

In the original course of history, these two girls' strongest rivals throughout their racing careers had been each other.

But now, after Kuroha's planning separated their debut schedules and prevented them from tangling with each other in needless internal attrition, there was naturally no one in all of Central who could stand against them.

At the same time these two new stars were rising, Kuroha and Fumino's wedding also came to a close.

After that, once Kuroha had devoted nearly a full month to spending his honeymoon with Fumino, time drifted onward with the early autumn breeze and slowly arrived in September.

...

September 5.

Narita International Airport.

As a passenger plane let out a deafening roar and shot into the clouds, the members of Chasing Light stood before the glass curtain wall of the terminal, waving goodbye toward the sky.

Beside the airplane window, Kuroha looked back at the airport with a faint smile on his face.

The many matters at Central Tracen had temporarily reached a stopping point.

The newcomers had also gotten onto the right track.

Now, it was time to shift all of his attention back to the European battlefield.

Once the plane had fully stabilized, Kuroha took out his tablet and opened a race video.

It was from more than ten days ago.

Without Kuroha personally accompanying her, McQueen had once again challenged an international G1 overseas.

York Racecourse in Great Britain. Turf, 2,040 meters—the G1 York International Stakes!

And the runner-up of that race was none other than Terimon, the fourth-place finisher McQueen had left behind in the previous King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

This heavy-cannon type Uma Musume, her whole body packed with muscle, seemed completely unwilling to accept defeat.

Even after being abused so badly in the previous race, she had still come running over this time to take another shot.

Although the result was no surprise and she was once again mercilessly crushed by McQueen, she at least managed to eat a second-place finish.

"Mmm... Trainer, what are you watching?"

A faint fragrance drifted over. Silky black hair fell beside his shoulder, and a small head poked in from the side.

Sunday Silence rested her chin on Kuroha's shoulder and looked curiously at the image on the screen.

For this return to Europe, Kuroha had still chosen to bring her along.

After all, he could not actually leave this girl behind in Japan and simply watch her remain hidden away for months.

"A European race. The York International Stakes. I'm reviewing the one she just won."

Without turning his head, Kuroha casually pinched the girl's smooth cheek.

Sunday Silence showed no reaction at all and simply let him pinch her, her gaze focused on the Uma Musume in the video who was holding the lead.

"Oh? Is that McQueen? She runs so beautifully!"

Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she praised her excitedly.

"Yeah."

Kuroha glanced sideways at her, then released his hand and said, "Shizu, since you're coming to Europe with me this time, your main task afterward will be assisting McQueen's practical race training together with Queen."

"You only retired about half a year ago, so your physical condition should still be at its peak. The effect should be pretty good."

Back then, Sunday Silence had not chosen to retire because her prime had passed and she could no longer handle high-intensity races.

She had suffered a foot-bone injury, and after a top Uma Musume hospital declared that it would be "difficult to fully heal," she had been forced to retire with regret.

But for Kuroha, that sort of leg injury was only a matter of one bottle of [Panacea].

Therefore, the current Sunday Silence was actually in the strongest, absolute peak period of her life. The activity of her Uma Musume cells remained incredibly vigorous.

"If it's to help McQueen, then sure."

Sunday Silence casually brushed aside the long bangs blocking her vision and agreed softly.

As with Oguri and March, she was very gentle toward refined, foreign-blooded Uma Musume like McQueen.

After saying that, she pulled herself back, comfortably curled up in her first-class recliner, and hugged an Oguri plushie while idly squeezing it back and forth.

Seeing this, Kuroha shook his head with a soft laugh, then returned his attention to the video.

On the screen, the race had reached the final straight.

Terimon's muscles bulged all over her body. Like an enraged lioness, she roared and charged madly toward McQueen ahead of her.

Even though her legs were already as heavy as if they had been filled with lead, even though the white-clad, violet-haired figure in her vision remained hopelessly out of reach, that pure, tenacious willpower still crushed everyone else, as well as her own limits.

But the one Kuroha was focused on this time was not that musclebound butch.

It was the Uma Musume biting down hard on third place.

In the video, that red-haired girl, even after using every tool at her disposal, still failed to recover even the slightest bit of distance from McQueen and Terimon ahead of her.

Around her body, apart from the same [Domain] radiance as the two Uma Musume in front of her, there was also an additional eerie dark-red glow rising from her.

The representative who had crossed the ocean from America—Red Desire!

At the same time, she was also one of the few who cultivated both [Domain] and [Demonic Talent]!

In Kuroha's eyes, this Uma Musume was absolutely a powerhouse on the same level as Symboli Rudolf at her peak.

But during the race, this red-haired girl had also made the easiest mistake for an Uma Musume with [Demonic Talent] to make.

She had targeted the wrong person.

Just as Nice Nature could exhaust every last method she had and wring herself dry, yet still find it difficult to shake Teio's steps, Red Desire had poured ninety percent of her red skills and mental strength into McQueen.

The result was obvious.

After all that frantic consumption, McQueen's breathing did not even falter.

Instead, Red Desire's futile expenditure caused Terimon, who had already been hard to catch, to become even more unrestrained.

That musclebound butch immediately made her stance clear.

If I can't outrun McQueen in perfect condition, are you telling me I can't outrun you?

Then she pulled out a despairing three-length gap from Red Desire...

Therefore, Kuroha was not reviewing this race because he doubted Red Desire's strength.

Rather, it was because if this freak of an Uma Musume who had mastered both [Domain] and [red skills] were the only one in the world, that would be one thing.

But...

With a slightly odd expression, Kuroha swiped across the screen and opened another video.

It was a recent race recording of Dancing Brave.

And the Uma Musume biting down on Dancing Brave throughout that race—In the Groove.

She, too, was unmistakably a top-class lockdown runner who had cultivated both [Domain] and [red skills]!

"There are actually two world-class lockdown runners..."

Kuroha rubbed his chin, his expression becoming exceptionally colorful.

A thing like a lockdown runner did not stand out much when there were only one or two.

But if the number started increasing...

Then this race would probably become a true chaotic dance of demons.

As the timeline drew closer and closer to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, more and more dark horses and monsters that had been lurking in the shadows began gradually revealing their sharp fangs.

Kuroha made a rough calculation in his mind.

If no one withdrew before the race, then based on the current situation...

Assuming the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe had twenty participating Uma Musume, there were already at least twelve confirmed super-monsters who had stepped into the second stage of [Domain]!

A sixty-percent dark-horse rate!

That was truly absurd.

One had to know that if any one of these twelve were singled out and placed into either of the past two years, she would absolutely have had the qualifications to call herself the overlord of her racing region.

If he also counted the possibility of certain sandbaggers still hiding their strength even now, that number might increase further.

And among them, there were even two [Domain]-level lockdown runners serving as spoilers...

"So this is the generation ruled by the legendary Uma Musume carved into history—Dancing Brave?"

"That's a ridiculously heavy weight of competition."

Although Kuroha thought this, a smile rose on his face.

"But the more monsters, the better!"

Only when enough monsters gathered together, only when stars and moons ran rampant in clusters, would they be qualified to set off the true sun of the new era!

(End of Chapter)

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