Uma Musume: To The Top!!

The commentator's roar pierced through the clamor of human voices, and the entire racecourse was instantly swallowed by tsunami-like cheers.

Hundreds of thousands of spectators stood from their seats all at once.

Every single one of them clenched their fists, their eyes locked on the two crossing figures of light and shadow at the very front of the track.

Triptych's red-gold radiance blazed fiercely in the gale of the final phase.

Her scorching breath spilled into the wind, and only the striking marker of the finish line remained in her eyes.

"Mejiro McQueen!!!"

She suddenly roared.

The immense fighting spirit contained within her voice made the girl ahead of her turn her head slightly.

Triptych lowered her posture. Her entire body seemed to dance wildly across the track, her face filled with a ferocious will to fight.

"Come on!"

"I know you can!"

"Now is the final showdown! Keep looking back at the wall, and this race will become your defeat!"

"…You."

McQueen frowned tightly and was just about to say something.

Then an abnormal [feeling] crashed out from Triptych's body, making her entire body tremble.

After a momentary daze, a wild curve gradually rose across the usually cool face of the Mejiro girl.

"You want to do it now?"

"Of course!"

The flowing light wrapped around Triptych became even more violent, surging outward in every direction at the same time.

"Then come on!!!"

White light burst forth.

"They've reached the final straight!!!"

Along with the commentator's voice, at the instant they stepped onto the final straight, the two runners at the very front finally unleashed their strongest trump cards without holding anything back.

Bzzzz—

A sound too vast to hear, as if dimensions themselves were trembling.

In the next instant, in the eyes of the Umamusume, the sky above the entire Leopardstown Racecourse was forcibly torn into two halves!

Two colossal wills and beliefs beyond description, carrying the inner worlds of their hearts, spilled madly outward in every direction like a tsunami!

Dancing clouds.

Rending gales.

And the boundless horizon that carried all things.

The radiant white brilliance guided forth an ancient, endless vault of heaven!

A turbid white stage.

Dim black light and shadow.

And boiling lava that drowned everything.

The brilliant red-gold radiance churned into a volcanic purgatory that could burn through all things!

Half the sky was clear night and pure white. Half the world was red-gold flames scorching the heavens.

[Domain] Sky's End—World!

[Domain] End of Light and Shadow—World!

Two [Worlds] descended thunderously upon this race.

In this racecourse, and across the entire world where the race was being broadcast live, every Umamusume who had mastered [Domain] fell silent under the pressure of this will that spanned heaven and earth.

Only the whimper of the gale sweeping across the turf remained in the entire racecourse.

And the sound of those two sets of footsteps, growing faster and faster, as if they were about to shatter space-time beneath them.

The endless pure-white firmament and the red-gold dancing purgatory collided with a thunderous crash!

Two terrifying wills clashed and tore at each other in midair.

In the end, between the two of them, they formed a brilliant aura hundreds of meters long with a razor-clear divide.

One side pure white as snow, the other red-gold as the sun!

"Boom—!"

"Boom—!"

The earth beneath their feet trembled.

Those were the footsteps of two bodies that had pushed every last bit of their potential to the limit, each step carrying power enough to crush everything in its path.

The protagonists of two eras.

For the first time.

They charged toward the finish line with everything they had!

And behind them—

Under the absolute pressure of these two [Worlds], the second group, which had still been struggling to hold on, suffered a devastating blow.

The [Domain] light that had just risen around Elmaamul, along with the "True Self State" trails of the other Umamusume, were like candle flames in a gale, mercilessly crushed in an instant.

The trails of light in their pupils vanished outright, and the power that had been surging through their limbs and bones abruptly disappeared.

Their legs became as heavy as if they had been filled with lead.

Even Elmaamul, the strongest among them, had the deep flowing light around her body forcibly driven back inside her!

This former ruler of the Eclipse Stakes could only grit her teeth, clench her fists, and give everything she had.

Relying on the last of her willpower, she barely maintained that faint trail of light deep in her pupils.

She had completely fallen into the role of a spectator in this battle of eras.

…

At the very front of the track, two terrifying figures, as if wrapped head to toe in pillars of light, were madly chasing and being chased.

"Hraaaaaahhhhhhh—!!!"

Triptych released a beastlike roar.

Her thoroughly tempered final kick, empowered by the red-gold [World] of her Domain, erupted with a terrifying roar that tore through the air!

And McQueen ahead of her was just as filled with fighting spirit.

Since her debut, there had never been an opponent qualified to force her to use her full strength.

But now, that bone-piercing pressure from behind was telling McQueen one thing.

This opponent had to be faced with everything she had!

Her heart sang. Her blood boiled.

McQueen felt that at this very moment, she was almost giddy.

Her body grew lighter and lighter. With a single leap, it felt as though she could fly toward the far shore that had always been beyond reach.

"Keep entertaining me to your heart's content, Triptych!"

The elegant noble girl of ordinary days was now filled, body and soul, with battle intent swollen to its absolute limit.

And behind her—

"Catch her! Catch her already!!!"

Triptych was already gasping hard.

Reality was like a basin of ice water, instantly pouring over her head.

When only the final 200 meters remained before the finish line, Triptych realized in despair that even though she had burned through all her fighting spirit, even though her [Domain] had been pushed past its overload limit…

She still could not close the distance between herself and McQueen!

Not only could she not catch up.

She could even keenly sense that the white figure ahead of her was widening the gap between them bit by bit, at a speed so faint it was almost imperceptible!

"Is this situation the result of my mistake in the opening…?"

Triptych's heart pounded violently, but then, through gritted teeth, she bitterly admitted it in her heart.

"No… It's not just the mistake."

"This opponent in front of me is far, far stronger than I imagined!"

Her lungs burned like fire. The muscles in her legs were screaming in agony.

Faced with that despairing gap, a thought called "giving up" began to sprout uncontrollably in Triptych's mind.

"Forget it… I can't catch her."

"At worst, I'll win it back in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe…"

As that stray thought arose, the red-gold [World] covering the sky above the racecourse suddenly shook. The once-violent inner world began to show signs that it was about to collapse.

"Ooooooh—!"

"Keep going! Keep going!"

"Run!"

The crowd's cheers were still ringing out.

She subconsciously turned her head, her vacant gaze sweeping across the stands beside the track.

And yet, at the very front of that deafening sea of people, her gaze froze.

She saw her.

It was a slightly hunched, elderly figure.

An old woman was standing with both hands on a cane.

Even amid this violently roaring environment, she was still doing everything she could to straighten her body. Those cloudy yet bright eyes were staring without blinking at Triptych on the track.

At the one who represented the hopes of France.

"Keep going, Susu."

Even though she could not hear it, Triptych still understood those words from the shape of her mouth.

Crack—!

In that instant, the string in Triptych's mind called "giving up" snapped…

How could I give up?!

How could I possibly give up here?!

I'm standing here… not just running for myself!

The red-gold [World] that had been on the verge of collapsing and breaking apart solidified once more!

"Stop right there—!!! Mejiro McQueen!!!"

Along with a roar that pierced the clouds, Triptych wrung out the very last trace of strength from the depths of her cells, and her aura once again surged to a terrifying level!

"Boom, boom, boom—!"

Under the all-out eruption and pressure of the two [Worlds], holding nothing back, the track beneath their feet instantly released a pained groan under the strain!

Fine cracks visible to the naked eye spread wildly across the turf. Broken soil and grass clippings shot outward in every direction like bullets!

"An all-out duel! The gap between them is still only one length! Who will seize victory in this great battle?!"

The commentator roared into his microphone.

But even a professional as dedicated as him could no longer restrain himself after seeing this fantasy-novel level of destructive power, and he began shouting in disbelief instead of commentating.

…

"Come on, Trip."

At the very top of the grandstand, the round-eyed girl clenched both fists tightly.

"Trip!"

Beside her, Triptych's teammates were nervously praying for her.

And on Team Chasing Light's side—

"W-What is this?"

Sunday Silence bit her lower lip. As the two-crown Umamusume of the White Eagle Nation, she was undoubtedly extremely confident.

But at this moment, looking at those two figures racing across the track, she could not see even the slightest chance of victory.

Even Maruzensky and the People's Queen, among others, had already witnessed McQueen's [World] before.

But this was the first time they had ever seen such a spectacular collision between two [Worlds].

Before the floor-to-ceiling window, Kuroha silently watched Triptych break through once more in the depths of desperation. Although there was admiration on his face, a flash of fluorescent light suddenly passed through his eyes.

So reckless…

He let out a helpless sigh in his heart.

…

One hundred meters!

The gap was still only one length!

Under Triptych's terrifying, self-exhausting burst, she had forcefully dragged their speeds level!

"That's it!"

"I can still accelerate!"

Looking at the figure that seemed almost within reach, the muscles in Triptych's right leg bulged high.

"There's still a chance! As long as I keep—"

At the instant only a few dozen meters remained before the finish line, she prepared to take another step that would surpass her body's limits!

However, at the moment her foot was about to exert force—

An extremely dangerous, ominous premonition shot through her mind like an alarm!

It was an instinctive intuition from her body.

It was also the sixth sense she possessed as a child of the era.

In that flash of lightning, Triptych's reason told her she had to immediately perform an emergency evasive motion.

In the instant before her foot landed, the girl forcibly slowed herself down.

"Crack…"

Even so, a sharp pain swept through her left foot.

A faint trace of pain still traveled along her nerves and reached her brain.

"Boom—!"

Along with a violent gale howling past—

The pure-white figure whose breathing had not wavered once from beginning to end, carrying that vast and boundless [World], crossed the finish line with overwhelming force!

"The race is over—!"

"Five consecutive G1 victories! The ruler from the Far East has claimed France's championship by two lengths!"

The commentator's voice rang through the broadcast, across the entire racecourse and even the whole world.

"Let us congratulate—Mejiro McQueen, winner of the Irish Champion Stakes!!"

(End of Chapter)

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