Uma Musume Girl, I'll tell you about my Santa Hat special move too?

Then, the emperor suddenly took a running start and leaped out, spreading his arms and legs in mid-air, pouncing on the approaching Rudolf symbol, and then hugging her face.

"Well……!"

Rudolf, who was directly attacked in the face, only had time to groan before collapsing onto the lawn along with the Emperor of the East Sea.

"Hahaha~"

Even after falling down, the Emperor of the East Sea laughed heartily and let go of her hand.

Exhausted, she simply lay down on the spot, sprawled out in a starfish-like position alongside Rudolf.

"The Emperor did it! The Emperor finally learned what the Chairman said he had learned!!"

"In that case... the Emperors are all gathered, and the conditions for challenging Stardust Illusion in the Neon Derby are now in sight, and the Emperors' victory is within reach once again!"

"President!!!"

"It's just that we now have the means to compete with the Stardust Illusion again."

Even after being knocked to the ground, Rudolf's tone remained calm.

She knew very well that even if she had thought of this only possibility of victory and passed it on to the Emperor of the East Sea... it would only be, as she had just said, giving the Emperor a chance to compete for victory again.

However, the gap in strength still exists.

It was able to pull ahead of the Emperor by 6 lengths in the Satsuki Sho race, and even left the First Ruby a full 12 lengths behind in the Tokyo Mile.

Even the current Emperor of the East Sea is somewhat lacking in this strength.

Even Rudolf Symbol, who has access to information on all the female racehorses in Japan, cannot think of any classic runner this year that can rival Stardust Illusion.

When she debuted, she was still quite inexperienced, and her physical abilities were inferior even to those of local runners. Now, however, these qualities have become her strongest support.

Her running skills are unmatched, even by many ancient horse breeds and top-tier racehorses that have reached their peak.

More importantly, even in the awakened realm, Stardust Illusion possesses an overwhelming advantage in strength compared to other runners with similar Eye-Opening realms.

If we divide the fighting spirit and domain of Uma Musume into three states: Super Uma Musume 1, 2, and 3, then after a normal runner awakens their eyes, they are in Super Uma Musume 2.

However, Stardust Illusion and the previous East Sea Emperor are different. Their realm, which transcends the ordinary realm but is still lower than the true Shattered Star realm, can only be tentatively called Super Mario Girls 2.5.

And most importantly, what truly makes Stardust Illusion so powerful that it inspires fear is her extraordinary learning ability and evolution speed, as demonstrated during the competition.

Just like a game character that has no bottlenecks and can always evolve and upgrade by accumulating experience.

Thinking of this, Rudolf symbolically turned his head slightly to look at the East Sea Emperor, who had crawled to his side and lay down again.

Her face was covered in sweat, causing her hair to stick tightly to her face, and then it was covered with bits of grass, making her look even more disheveled.

However, no one could question the excitement that radiated from his face and the fighting spirit that followed.

The symbolism of Rudolf is also quite clear: the Emperor of the East Sea is such a runner.

As long as she could see the hope of victory, no matter how difficult the adversity, it could not stop her.

Faced with a Stardust illusion that is stronger than itself, or even one that once defeated it, the emperor in the Neon Derby can only unleash an even stronger fighting spirit, right?

It will not be lost; it is the phoenix that can return from hell even after a defeat.

(The basic conditions for victory have all been given to you.)

Rudolf, gazing up at the sky, slowly closed his eyes and then spoke:

"Good luck in tomorrow's Neon Derby, Your Majesty."

"kindness!!!"

Sensing the expectation in the president's words, the Emperor of the East Sea felt even more empowered.

Even so, even when the emperor was defeated...

The president still believes in his abilities and is confident that he can win!

In that case, the emperor has yet another reason why he cannot afford to lose.

Bearing everyone's expectations, and carrying the ideal of taking revenge on Stardust!

Thinking this, the Emperor of the East Sea gently reached out and touched his still burning ankle...

"Your Majesty, this time we will absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely not lose again."

Chapter 278 The Emperor: He's Turned Dark, Do Not Disturb

Tokyo Racecourse.

May 26th, the day of the 58th Japan Derby.

The distance is 2400m, and the track type is grass.

Weather conditions...heavy rain.

(This kind of weather somehow feels perfect for today's decisive battle.)

The Emperor of the East Sea, wearing a raincoat over his final outfit, stood at the edge of the contestant entrance on the east side of the racecourse.

She looked up at the overcast sky and reached out to catch the raindrops falling from the sky.

A whole month of dedicated practice following Rudolf's symbolic teachings... the results will be revealed today.

Just by closing my eyes, I can almost recall the scene of being thrown off six horse lengths by the Stardust Illusion during the Satsuki Sho.

Throughout the month, this scene would replay in his dreams, haunting the Emperor of the East Sea like a nightmare.

However, she was not defeated by this situation.

On the contrary, these constantly recurring memories of failure transformed into her strongest motivation over the course of the month, propelling the emperor step by step towards greater heights.

"Today will be the day of the emperor's revenge."

Clenching his right fist, crushing all the water in his hand, the Emperor of the East Sea turned around and walked inside without looking back.

--------

"Alright, alright, Xiaobairen, cheer up!"

Maru Zenki gently patted his junior's shoulder to help her relax.

Behind Maruzen, the entire Team Rigil, led by Tojo Hana, came here to cheer on Narita Shirahito, who was about to compete.

Today's Neon Derby will be an extremely fierce battle, perhaps even a match that exceeds everyone's expectations. Anyone who knows the players will understand this.

No one knows better than them how much effort Narita Shirahito put into this derby.

Therefore, they sincerely hoped that Narita Shirahito could achieve final victory in this war.

"kindness……"

Upon hearing Narita Shirahito's somewhat somber reply, Maru Zenki and Daiki Express suddenly reached out and lifted her up from both sides, pulling her into the herd of racehorse girls.

Her seniors and peers all smiled, and everyone affectionately put their arms around the shoulders of the person next to them, forming a large circle at the entrance. Even Tojo Hana was not spared.

Within this circle, everyone can observe each other.

"Little Bai Ren, you're a strong player who even defeated us in the training matches," Maru Zenki encouraged.

"It's OK! You can definitely do it!" Big Tree Express gave a thumbs up.

"May you have great success in your military endeavors," said Cao Shangfei in the most formal tone.

Each member of the team offered a word of encouragement, followed by Tojo Hana summarizing:

“Our Team Rigil is the strongest team in the entire academy, without a doubt, and everyone has to admit it. And you, Narita Shirahito, are the strongest runner in the team today.”

"So, you just need to understand this point."

Tojo Hana leaned down slightly, looking around at every smiling face, before finally fixing her gaze on Narita Shirahito:

"You are not here today to compete with your opponents... You are here to crush them with your strength!"

-------

"You seem to be in a good mood. Are you looking forward to the upcoming match?"

Sending the Stardust Illusion into the west contestant passage, Toyama Scarlet raised her umbrella and looked at the Stardust Illusion preparing to walk in, casually asking a question.

"Haha—that's one reason, isn't it? But more importantly..."

The Stardust Illusion grinned, waving goodbye to Scarlet Toyama with a radiant smile:

"What makes me happy is that... Uma Musume is a sport that will never stop or change its schedule, even in such a torrential downpour."

The moment Stardust Illusion saw the arena before him again, he felt the cold yet incredibly tense atmosphere of the competition venue quietly flowing into his body.

The Emperor of the East Sea, the Eastern Merchants Reform, Narita Shirohito, the Sky Shrine... Just how much stronger have these opponents become now that I haven't seen them for a month?

Just imagining the upcoming match made Stardust Illusion tremble uncontrollably.

Thinking back, it was raining like this when I first touched the power of the domain. I suppose the track must have been similarly soft.

In my initial battles against Zhuo Fu, the prestigious clan, and others, I was full of weaknesses and was so discouraged that I almost gave up on the competition...

"But now..."

Stardust Illusion lowered its head, looking at the firm and explosive muscles on its hands and feet, and the decisive outfit on its body that symbolized the glory of the victor.

She realized this deeply: she was no longer the weak person she used to be.

Standing on this track, I am undoubtedly the most popular runner, and also the most powerful one...

In other words, victory is a given, and no mistakes are allowed...

(Will Oguri Hat be watching this game?)

Turning his head, his gaze pierced through the thick wall of the contestants' passage, as if trying to see through it to find that familiar figure with the gossamer feathers in the entire audience.

The Neon Derby, a match that Oguri Hat desperately wanted to participate in but couldn't watch, was one of the three championships that the Tokai Emperor vowed to win, and the venue where the Tokai Corporation's reform declaration would achieve the "magic of the match".

It is precisely because of various reasons, and precisely because of regrets, that people want to win back their hands even more.

Although I once chose to give up in competitions and experienced defeat...