Chapter 449: 561

"Whoosh!"

The raging wind tore violently past McQueen's ears.

After entering the World, she had cast aside every last concern.

The pack behind her had already fallen completely out of reach. Despite the race having only just begun, the terrifying pressure radiating from her World had left the Central racers struggling to breathe.

Only Taisei and Ryan could barely withstand its oppressive force and take the first step into the Zone.

Every other runner had already suffered a noticeable drop in speed.

Yet even with such an overwhelming advantage, McQueen continued charging forward with reckless intensity.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

The earth trembled beneath her feet.

Streams of light surged wildly around her, tearing through every obstacle in her path and driving her speed higher with every step.

Until she suddenly crossed a critical threshold.

Bzzzz...

In that instant, it felt as though she were the only person left on the entire track.

Never before had her spirits soared so high.

An unrestrained smile began spreading across McQueen's lips.

This was entirely different from the feeling she had experienced while trading the lead with Dancing Brave.

Back then, her blood had burned with excitement, and her chest had tightened until she could barely breathe.

Now, however, her heart was filled with a weightless serenity unlike anything she had ever known.

It was the majestic exhilaration of standing at the summit and looking down upon every lesser peak.

As her state of mind transformed, the distance between McQueen and the chasing pack began widening at a visible rate.

Five lengths. Seven lengths. Ten lengths...

Her purple-and-white figure streaked across the track like lightning splitting the sky.

"A Great Escape! She's going for a Great Escape!"

"McQueen has unleashed the Great Escape once again, right here in the Arima Kinen!"

After their brief shock, the commentators began roaring with even greater excitement.

"Ten lengths! Thirteen lengths! She's still accelerating?!"

"She's unbelievably fast! The runners behind her simply cannot keep up! The gap is growing wider by the second!"

They had called hundreds of races and possessed a wealth of experience.

A Great Escape was hardly an unfamiliar strategy to them.

But they had never witnessed anyone build such an enormous lead during the opening phase of a race.

Meanwhile, silent despair began spreading through the hearts of the racers behind her.

The spectators in the stands, however, only grew more excited.

"OOOOOOOOHHHH!"

"She's invincible!"

"Go! Keep going!"

"That's it!"

Nearly ninety-nine percent of them had come here today for one reason alone: to witness McQueen's absolute dominance.

The crushing spectacle unfolding before them was exactly what they had hoped to see.

...

Time passed slowly as the race continued.

By the time the World enveloping the entire track finally collapsed, the race had already entered its middle phase.

The gap between the purple-haired runner at the front and the chasing pack had settled at a staggering number.

Thirty-seven lengths.

Expressed in more familiar terms, that was nearly a hundred meters.

It was a hopeless distance.

It was also the insurmountable gulf separating the strongest Umamusume at the pinnacle of the world from those merely considered the finest racers in the Central League.

Even Dancing Brave, seated in the stands, could not help clicking her tongue in amazement.

She knew perfectly well that if she had been running in McQueen's place, she could never have created such an absurd gap.

This was a miracle only McQueen, whose reserves of stamina were unparalleled anywhere in the world, could possibly achieve.

"If it were me... twenty-something lengths would probably be my limit."

Dancing Brave tilted her head.

It was not that she could not pull farther ahead.

If she pushed herself beyond that point, however, her remaining stamina might not be enough to carry her through the rest of the race.

The Great Escape was not her specialty, after all.

"Though I'd still win..."

...

Down on the track, the runners in the chasing pack finally raised their heads as the suffocating pressure disappeared.

Far ahead of them, McQueen had become little more than a tiny speck.

Despite the overwhelming gap, the same flame ignited in all their eyes.

"She's slowing down!"

"She's been sprinting at full speed for so long! There's no way she has anything left!"

"This is our final chance!"

Voices rang out through the pack as they encouraged one another.

In truth, every one of them understood the situation.

Even if McQueen stopped running and began strolling down the track, they still would not be able to close a gap of more than thirty lengths.

But they had never entered this race expecting to win.

They had come to prove themselves.

After spending half the race suppressed beneath the World, the Central racers finally began their counterattack.

During the opening and middle phases, the pressure had prevented them from exerting their full strength. Even their most basic racing techniques had been riddled with mistakes.

Yet that misfortune had also spared them from consuming as much stamina as expected.

At the front of the pack, Ryan slowly exhaled.

"Phew..."

Her expression suddenly twisted with ferocious determination, and a blinding silver light erupted from her pupils.

"Then... let's do this!"

The roar of blood surging through her veins seemed to thunder in her ears.

Her heart began pounding.

Her blood began boiling.

Once again, Ryan stepped into the lake within her heart and struck the pitch-black mirror blocking the power sealed beyond it.

Crack!

A sharp sound of shattering glass rang out.

Bzzzt!

In the next instant, hundreds of silver-gray streams of light erupted around her.

The racers beside her, the roaring spectators, the towering buildings...

Everything lost its color and faded into the background.

Only one thing remained at the center of her vision.

That solitary purple-and-white figure far ahead.

The Zone.

The veins in Ryan's right leg bulged as she slammed her foot down hard enough to shatter the ground beneath it.

A wild grin spread across the short-haired girl's face.

But before she could fully unleash her power, a gray-white mass of light suddenly burst into that monotonous silver world.

Ryan froze for an instant and glanced sideways.

A gray-haired Umamusume was running beside her, determination blazing in her eyes. Despite already being drenched in sweat, she clenched her teeth and erupted with an astonishing aura.

"Taisei?"

Taisei paid her no attention. Her gaze remained locked firmly on the distant figure ahead.

"...Ha! Now that's more like it!"

Ryan stared for a moment before bursting into a hearty laugh.

"Then let's go together!"

In the next instant, two pairs of legs, honed through countless hours of training, struck the earth.

"RRAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Two very different faces twisted with the same fury as they unleashed an indomitable roar.

"Zone!" they shouted together.

Hundredfold-Tempered Steel, Ever Forward!

Azure Thunder, Formation Breaker!

Silver-gray and gray-white currents of light intertwined and resonated, completely enveloping their bodies.

Then they transformed into two dazzling meteors.

Wakaba, Ines, Bright Rock, and the other rivals who had once stood in their way were all left behind.

Together, Ryan and Taisei raced madly toward the lone figure at the very front.