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

Chapter 292 Foolish Emperor, Hate Me!

Crossing the finish line—!!!

[The Stardust Illusion runner has crossed the finish line!!! The first runner to cross the finish line and claim victory in this Neon Derby has been born!!!]

The host's impassioned shouts echoed in Stardust Illusion's ears, and the astonishing noise returned in an instant.

Stardust Illusion, already nearing its limit and on the verge of fainting at any moment, didn't hesitate; it turned and ran towards the track from the outside of the railing.

(The Emperor... how is the Emperor?!)

Staggering forward, the victor's shouts still echoed in his ears:

[This is the ultimate escape, stretching 2400m! A miracle unparalleled in this world!!! Our overlord continued this miraculous winning streak, etching his name on the Neon Derby field!!!]

On the track, several medical personnel had arrived beside the curled-up figure and were providing emergency treatment for her injuries on the spot.

The approaching stardust illusion strained its eyes, desperately trying to ascertain the condition of the East Sea Emperor within the crowd.

[Then the time score!!! 2:23.1!!! This is an unprecedented time!!! Even such terrible weather and a challenging racecourse could not restrain this tyrant!!!]

The race record was broken by a full two seconds! Such a perfect and dazzling result brought this neon derby to a truly dreamlike close. Will any racehorse girl ever surpass her record?!

Seemingly noticing the approaching champion, the medical staff instinctively made a small opening, allowing Stardust Illusion to see what was happening inside.

Then, the horrific scene made Stardust Illusion almost forget how to speak.

His entire face was completely covered in mud, and the Emperor of the East Sea was still spitting out small mouthfuls of blood.

His right arm was bent backwards in a strange way, and a pale white bone spur could be seen protruding from his right ankle.

"Emperor...?"

"Ah... Stardust..."

Perhaps because of the anesthetic injection, the emperor's unbearable pain subsided slightly. She looked at the girl approaching her and gave a bitter smile.

"Congratulations..."

[I can say with absolute certainty! No other female racehorse of her generation can rival this champion!!! All we can do is cheer and give this dream runner a thunderous ovation!!!]

Just as she declared before the competition!!! She's already won two titles!!! Stepping into a new future, the player who will claim all glory for herself, her name is...

【Stars! Dust! Illusions!!!!】

The scene had gone completely wild. No one cared about the injuries people had sustained. A total of 18 people were cheering wildly for the achievement of the Stardust Illusion at this moment.

Even though the Stardust Illusion itself was standing helplessly before the Emperor.

"What's wrong……"

The emperor was panting heavily, seemingly because his lungs had been injured in the fall, making it difficult for him to breathe properly.

“Normally… Stardust, don’t you… say some… very domineering things…?”

"Yes, that's right!"

Stardust Illusion was at a loss for words and was in a fluster when it remembered the item in its backpack and quickly used it quietly.

[The panacea has already been used.]

"Haha... That's pretty pathetic, isn't it..."

The emperor smiled bitterly as he allowed several doctors to restrain her hands and feet and carefully transfer her onto a stretcher.

"So...we lost twice...that promise...I'm sorry I didn't keep it..."

“Enjoy the chrysanthemums.”

The Stardust Illusion suddenly spoke, interrupting the East Sea Emperor's unfinished apology.

She stepped forward and knelt down before the Emperor of the East Sea, her crimson eyes, tinged with chaos, staring directly at the girl before her:

"I'll be waiting for you at the Chrysanthemum Appreciation Ceremony; this is the emperor's last chance."

Staring at him with such an aggressive gaze, even the Emperor of the East Sea momentarily forgot his pain and injuries, and couldn't help but hold his breath.

Unable to escape the gaze of the stardust illusion, the emperor could only continue to listen in silence.

"As for your injury, will it heal later? I don't know how to comfort you. So this is all I can say—I'm sorry if it hurts you."

As always, Stardust Illusion's words were slow and lacked emotional intelligence, but the Emperor could hear the anxiety in them.

"In this competition, the final emperor hasn't shown his true strength yet, right? But I've already brought out my strongest form... If he's the emperor, he should be able to think for himself about what the outcome of the competition would have been if this unexpected event hadn't occurred."

Anyone with even a slight understanding of Uma Musume Girls racing can understand just how impressive Stardust Mirage's performance was today.

Prior to today, the record for the Neon Derby was 2:25.3, achieved by Ennis the Wind God, a senior member of the Stardust Illusion team, a year ago.

Before that, even in good weather, most players who could win the derby were between 2 minutes and 26 seconds and 2 minutes and 28 seconds.

Despite facing such unfavorable conditions of heavy rain and a challenging racecourse, Stardust Illusion still managed to achieve a time of 2:23.1, a performance that crushes all previous derby winners.

It can be said that Stardust Illusion in this match is so powerful that he is on a completely different level from everyone else.

The Emperor of the East Sea, who was most concerned about the outcome of this match, was naturally aware of this matter.

(That's impossible... even without any unexpected events.)

The emperor remained silent; she was unwilling to admit such a thing, yet she could not say that she could transcend such a stardust illusion.

It was because she had once been defeated by the girl in front of her that she realized how difficult it was to improve her grades, even by just one second.

Not to mention something like Stardust Illusion, which broke the record by more than 2 seconds in one go.

"Cough cough...that kind of thing..."

Upon hearing Stardust Illusion's declaration, the emperor smirked, wanting to shout, "I can do that too!"

His lips trembled slightly, as if he wanted to refute it like this.

But until the very end, the girl could only force herself to open her mouth in pain, unable to easily utter those words.

Ultimately, in order to counter the Stardust Illusion that had defeated him head-on at the Satsuki Sho, the Emperor of the East Sea underwent a series of special training sessions over the past month...

No, it's not just this past month.

Even before the Satsuki Sho event, the Emperor of the East Sea had already been diligently studying all possible ways to defeat the Stardust Illusion.

She let the doctors fix her hands and feet, her eyes fixed on the stardust illusion standing in front of her.

(Does an opponent who cannot be defeated even after using all one's skills really exist?)

During these two months of hellish training, the Emperor of the East Sea occasionally had such thoughts.

Witnessing the final figure of Stardust Illusion running towards the finish line today, the Emperor of the East Sea saw such perfect running form for the first time.

The emperor even felt that his own demise was precisely to highlight the true birth of the Stardust Illusion at this moment.

With the wounds on her hands, feet, and body treated, the emperor seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as she lay back, staring blankly at the sky, at the dark clouds that were gradually being dispersed by the sunlight.

Then, he whispered to the champion in front of him:

"The Emperor will probably have to stop here...retirement due to injuries...so Stardust...could you please take the Emperor's share...no, never mind..."

"What, you don't want to compete with me a third time?"

"How could this be... The reason is obvious, isn't it?!"

The East Sea Emperor struggled to move her right leg, which had been fixed in place by a special material, to show the other party the terrible state of her fracture.

"The injury assessment results haven't come out yet, have they? Or has the emperor secretly learned about injury treatment and assessment?"

Knowing that the panacea's healing effect was absolute, the stardust illusion asked decisively:

"The emperor wants to give up before the results are even out—so he really doesn't want to run with me anymore?"

"How could that be—of course the Emperor wants to keep running... He wants to compete with Stardust on the track, and he wants to exact revenge on Stardust!"

"really?"

"real!"

Is it really true?

"It's really true! Stop asking the emperor!!!"

The emperor's emotions began to spiral out of control; she couldn't understand why Stardust Illusion was being so harsh on herself.

As the victor of the competition, if one truly wanted to care about her feelings, shouldn't the emperor have been left alone to quietly lick his wounds in a corner?

After venting his anger at being misunderstood, the pain from his wounds brought the emperor back to his senses.

"Stardust...you are so pure, so powerful...and you can understand the Emperor, forever shining brightly, the best nemesis the Emperor has always dreamed of..."

With his eyes slightly closed, the emperor murmured to himself, as if speaking to himself:

"So why decide to retire now?"

"That's because...! The Emperor couldn't possibly dislike you, Stardust, could he?!"

The stardust illusion prompted the emperor to continue: "And then?"

The girl lying on the ground in front of him began to sob, while the emperor, who had endured the pain until now and had not shed a tear even when witnessing his own miserable state, was now crying.

It was precisely because of this that tears began to slide down her cheeks.

"It's impossible for her to hate him...! Stardust is so sincere to everyone, and has always tried to make the Emperor feel ashamed. And unlike the Emperor, she never feels arrogant or conceited!"

"We've always been the Emperor's closest friend and most sincere rival! Running on the track, we understand each other's hearts without even saying a word, so... the Emperor really likes Stardust!!!"

"But I really liked it... and then the emperor was defeated. It wasn't just the Satsuki Prize; today's Japan Derby was an even more crushing defeat...!"

"Then... the emperor became jealous."

Her voice choked with emotion, and she closed her eyes tightly, unable to look at the stardust illusion before her.

The Emperor of the East Sea clearly wanted to bury this despicable thought deep in his heart and pretend that nothing had happened.

However, the Stardust Illusion came as it is now, mercilessly stripping away the emperor's disguise.

Faced with such a powerful woman, the emperor felt as if he were completely naked, and had no choice but to reveal his most shameful and unacceptable dark side: