Chapter 450: 562

"BOOM!"

"BOOM!"

Their footsteps thundered across the track.

Wrapped in silver-gray and gray-white currents of light, the two figures raced like streaks of radiance tearing the earth apart, pushing their speed to unprecedented limits.

The wind shattered before them as the scenery whipped past in a chaotic blur.

Empowered by the Zone, Ryan and Taisei had reached speeds that left the ten Central League racers behind them choking on their dust.

"Even Taisei..."

Wakaba's pupils contracted slightly.

In truth, she had already anticipated the outcome of this race before it began.

During the previous year's Arima Kinen, Ryan had awakened the Zone while pursuing McQueen under nearly identical circumstances.

Ryan's improvement over the past year had also been obvious to everyone.

It was only natural that she could accelerate past the rest of them.

Taisei's outburst, however, had caught Wakaba completely by surprise.

"McQueen and Ryan were one thing, but... even Taisei has surpassed me now?"

As she raced down the track, Wakaba clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

A moment later, however, she released a soft sigh.

She accepted it.

"I was never as strong as I imagined."

"I'm not the one leading this generation."

"I'm just an ordinary Central League Umamusume."

She was not alone.

Bright Rock, Ines, and the others also felt the light in their eyes dim at the sight.

At the same time, however, their hearts were screaming the same words.

Catch them!

Catch McQueen!

McQueen had used the World to sustain a Great Escape for an entire kilometer. No matter how powerful she was, her stamina should have been nearly exhausted by now!

Ryan and Taisei were not the only ones who believed that.

The World, whose overwhelming pressure had descended upon the entire field like a god, had already vanished. The purple figure ahead of them had also slowed noticeably.

This was their final opportunity!

The two girls at the front, their streams of light intertwined, poured everything they had into their pursuit.

"BOOM!"

Ryan's foot slammed into the turf.

Before the debris kicked up by her stride could fall, the air current created by Taisei surging beside her swept it all away.

Only half a length separated them.

Like twin blades, they carved their way toward the front!

But soon, the fervor in Ryan's eyes gave way to stunned disbelief.

"How... is that possible?"

She murmured under her breath.

The gap was not shrinking!

Even after burning themselves to the limit, the distance between them and the purple figure ahead had not decreased in the slightest.

If anything... McQueen seemed to be pulling even farther away.

...

In the stands, Kuroha gazed down upon the track.

"This was inevitable."

This was the insurmountable difference between McQueen and the others.

If the physical capabilities of every Umamusume on the track were judged purely by their numerical values, the Speed displayed on McQueen's system panel stood on an entirely different level.

Among the other eleven racers, Ryan possessed the greatest speed and explosive power.

Yet even her Speed was only a little over 1,300.

Even after factoring in the increase provided by the second stage of the Zone, she could only reach roughly 1,500 points.

Ryan might truly possess strength surpassing nearly every active Central League racer.

But that "nearly" did not include the world's strongest Umamusume, who was now running alone at the very front.

The disappearance of the World and the reduction in McQueen's speed had not been caused by her stamina running dry.

Just as Dancing Brave had concluded earlier, it was simply the result of McQueen voluntarily easing her pace.

Even now, McQueen possessed more than enough stamina to finish the entire race!

...

Down on the track, Ryan seemed to realize the truth as she continued sprinting.

She could no longer catch the purple figure ahead.

No matter how fiercely she burned, no matter how ruthlessly she squeezed every last ounce of strength from her body, the distance between them would never disappear.

In the end, years of frustration erupted from the short-haired girl's throat in a furious roar.

"McQueen!"

But no matter how loudly she shouted, the gap between them continued to widen little by little.

"The pack has passed the 1,600-meter marker!"

The commentator's voice echoed throughout the racecourse.

Only those who had taken the first step into the Zone could see its light.

To the commentators and spectators, Ryan and Taisei had simply accelerated away from the chasing pack and launched a desperate pursuit.

They could not see the efforts these girls were making, nor could they comprehend the true magnitude of their strength.

At that moment, there was only one legend in their eyes.

"McQueen is still leading! Ryan and Taisei have accelerated, but they haven't closed the gap at all!"

"They're entering the fourth turn! At this distance, there is no possible way to catch her!"

The commentator's voice rose into an impassioned roar.

"She's too strong! Too fast!"

"They aren't chasing an opponent! They're chasing a meteor across the sky, an absolute champion who cannot be shaken! Is this what it means to stand at the summit of the world?!"

"There is no one ahead but McQueen!"

The gloriously overdramatic commentary set the crowd's blood ablaze.

Everyone rose to their feet, cheering for the figure racing toward the finish line.

"McQueen! McQueen!"

"Go!"

"OOOOOOOOHHHH!"

...

The wind howled past McQueen's ears.

Ryan's frustrated cry drifted faintly toward her from behind, carried upon the wind.

"I'm sorry..."

McQueen tilted her head slightly.

"I'm going to win..."

"And I'm going to win by a greater margin than anyone ever has before."

McQueen whispered those words within her heart.

Despite the enormous distance she had created, her actions could still be called merciful, just as Dancing Brave had said before the race.

If McQueen had run normally, she would have unleashed the World during the middle phase of the race.

Once it appeared, every effort Ryan, Taisei, and the others had made before the race would have been crushed beneath its overwhelming pressure.

Their techniques, determination, and the power of their Zones would all have become meaningless.

Those who had reached the second stage of the Zone would have been forced back to the first.

Those who had only reached the first stage would have lost the ability to use it entirely.

As for the Umamusume who could not yet see the Zone, they would have been suppressed so completely that they could not even display their true abilities.

How could they possibly have showcased everything they possessed as perfectly as they had today?

How could their struggles have been remembered and passed down through history?

But...

"This is as far as it goes."

McQueen released a soft sigh.

The only thing left for her to do was cross the finish line in her most perfect form.

She would carry the glory of the Mejiro family and prove herself worthy of the title of world's strongest.

"Tap, tap, tap!"

Her rhythmic footsteps echoed across the track.

McQueen no longer paid any attention to what was happening behind her.

Once she entered the final stretch, it felt as though the entire track had been prepared for her alone.

Three hundred meters remained.

Two hundred meters.

One hundred meters...

...

All across Japan, hundreds of thousands of spectators in the stands, the members of Chasing Light watching from the elevated viewing area, and tens of millions of fans gathered around their televisions waited to witness a miracle.

Every one of them held their breath.

Silently, they watched the purple-haired girl in white ascend toward the summit, one step at a time.

Then, in the next instant...

"BOOM!"

Her figure transformed into an aurora that streaked across the boundary of an era.

"She crosses the finish line!"

"The race is over!"

"At the end of the Twinkle Series, McQueen has claimed the crown of the Arima Kinen!"