Uma Musume, do I have to tell you that I know how to use the Santa Hat special move?

"Next, the Stardust Illusion will walk with me to the strongest throne! Hahahahaha!"

"That girl below... is her name Dong Shang Bian Jin? You should think about how to comfort this child. After all, she will probably cry after losing the game~"

"—"

The biting cold once again swept through Toyama's flushed body.

Ikeda suddenly turned around with a sharp look in his eyes, completely different from the good-natured guy he had just been.

She spoke in a serious tone, word by word:

“East Business Change will not lose, she is a proud runner – not some little kid!”

"Hey... That's true. How could anyone be so stupid as to treat such a strong player as a child?"

Toyama Feihong simply confirmed what Ikeda said and cursed herself for what she had just said.

However, facing the imposing Ikeda, she did not retreat either. Instead, she looked at Ikeda's serious face with an expression of "as expected":

"But don't you have a strong fighting spirit? Stop pretending to be so unmotivated, you silly and cute cat-eared woman."

"...You are really annoying, you don't know social etiquette."

--------------

【Finally! It’s finally about to start! In this clear blue sky at Zhongshan Racecourse, the 2000m grass track will be turned right! The ticket to the Classic Triple Crown will be decided by these runners today! 】

[Now that all the runners have entered the gate, the race is about to begin! All the spectators on the scene, let us finally give a cheer to these runners competing for glory! ]

"Oooo!!!"

Accompanied by earth-shaking cheers, the contestants in the gate have made final preparations.

All the horse racing ladies took up their starting stances, their momentum gathering as they waited for the signal to start the race.

Stardust Illusion also took her exaggerated tilted start posture, adjusted her breathing rate, and prepared for the upcoming race.

beep--!

With the sound of the whistle, the gates in front of everyone opened instantly, and all the contestants rushed out and headed directly to the inside of the track.

The first one to rush out and try to grab the lead was the runner who had just provoked the Stardust Illusion: Macrocosm.

The girl stomped on the grass suddenly, causing dust to fly.

(If you want to win this game, you must suppress the Stardust Illusion's escape...)

The macrocosmic tactics in running had already been determined. This was the running method she and her trainer had decided on when studying the opponent's video before the game.

She must try her best from the very beginning and suppress the escape with a great escape. Only in this way can she grasp the only possibility of winning!

The girl's eyes were fixed on the track ahead, and the empty scenery was intoxicating.

(There is only one thing I have to do...speed up! Keep speeding up!)

[The race has begun! All the contestants have entered the race smoothly, so who will be able to seize the first opportunity in the race... It's the Great Universe contestant! The Great Universe contestant No. 11 rushed out of the crowd first and rushed to the front in one breath——]

[Then it was Stardust Illusion! Stardust Illusion was just as fast and decisive. Almost at the same time, she also began to accelerate without hesitation and headed to the front of the team - this race was going to be a contest between the two leading runners from the very beginning! ]

[Stardust Illusion! Stardust Illusion is faster! This escape king has taken the lead, and the contest between the two ended with Stardust Illusion's victory... Eh? ]

The surprised voice interrupted the host's passionate commentary.

On the field, there were originally two people competing for the lead, but suddenly a third person appeared.

The runner was petite and wore a witch's hat on her head.

She had a confident smile on her face, and her body leaned forward as she ran, maintaining an unimaginable angle with the ground.

【——East Business Reform?! 】

The host couldn't believe his eyes and couldn't even organize his words for a moment. He could only temporarily hand the microphone to his partner beside him.

She has been commentating on Uma Musume competitions for some time and is no stranger to the Tosho Revolution players.

However, she was very sure that the runner had always been running in a chasing style, and she had never seen her reach such a forward position in the early stages.

That’s because this little witch is accustomed to making mistakes when starting out of the gate...wait!

The host was suddenly startled and immediately remembered a very unusual situation.

On weekdays, the average time it takes to enter the gate is several minutes, and Dongshang Bianjiu would miss the gate in almost every race, but today, it had already completed the start without any abnormality? !

Only then did she realize.

Dongshang Change, this runner is not good at chasing after running on weekdays.

But there were loopholes in every race and because of her petite body, she had to keep running at the end of the team, and only burst into speed and catch up when the race was near the end, just like the Stardust Illusion in the last game.

Dong Shang Bianzhi stared directly at the two people in front of him, and his steps were relentless.

"I'm in great shape today... As expected, the [prepared magic] is working!"

Now that the magic has taken effect, let's start from the very beginning... and start defeating the opponent.

The girl suddenly stepped back, like a huge siege crossbow arrow, and pierced directly into the grass.

At this moment, the whole body formed a straight line with the legs and feet. The muscles in the whole body began to exert force from the arms and torso, superimposing the explosion and transmitting it downwards.

Palms, wrists, arms, shoulders, torso, waist, thighs, calves, ankles, soles of feet——

Dong Shang's body turned into a huge crossbow at this moment, completely tensed, and all the strength bursting out of his muscles gathered at the soles of his feet...

Incredible posture, incredible way of running!

(Stardust illusion, I'll let you see it.)

(My strongest explosive footsteps...Great Magic: [Magic of Running]!)

No one could have predicted this would happen. It came without any warning, like an inexplicable magic that befell this arena.

The air above the entire stadium seemed to stagnate for a moment, and in the blink of an eye, it was completely different.

That's the wind, that's the flash!

While the other runners were still in shock, not knowing what was going on.

Dongshang’s transformation has already penetrated the entire track with a bang!!!

----------

"Varied--"

The sudden surge of pressure from behind almost made Da Yuzhou stagger, but she didn't even have time to think about what was happening.

The hurried footsteps were approaching her, and the shrill scream that broke through the wind was right behind her.

“I’m going to…I’m going to hit—!”

She didn't even have time to dodge left or right. Da Yuzhou felt in disbelief that the aura was approaching, as if it was going to smash her to pieces in the next moment!

"—?"

"what?"

Something happened at this moment.

But the macrocosm cannot understand.

When did the figure running forward in front of me appear?

This runner named Dong Shang Bian Jihan seemed to be in a different world line from her. Even his running skills were incomprehensible to Da Yu Zhou.

But at least she knew one thing...

The Dongshang Revolution had already passed her and was approaching the Stardust Illusion in the front!

The Stardust Illusion, which had already begun to prepare for its escape, also saw what had just happened with the help of the current curvature of the runway.

That amazing way of running was incomparable to anyone she knew, just as Sweepy had taught her.

Focus all of your body's strength on one point and push into the ground to propel the runner forward.

(Is this... the running method you mastered, the [Magic of Running]?)

So strong, so strong!

The Stardust Illusion's eyes widened, and its body seemed to emanate an invisible wave of air that enveloped her.

That was a sign that her fighting spirit had burned to the limit.

boom!

Completely different from the Dongshang reform, another approach was taken.

The Stardust Illusion suddenly kicked forward in a marching step, pressing forward with all his strength, and shifting the center of gravity of his entire body completely forward.

Her figure blurred at this moment, and then suddenly appeared on the track ahead.

[Skill: Shrinking the Earth, activated.]

Since you have challenged me... then, I, Stardust Illusion, will respond with all my strength!

On this stage called Yayoi-sho, let us push the atmosphere to its climax and flaunt our presence——

Take the brilliance into your own hands!

Chapter 186: An Unexpected Start

[Beyond everyone's expectations! Dongshang Reform, known for its strong pursuit, actually took a lead running method that no one expected in this game! ]

[Her last-minute acceleration, which was originally intended for the second half of the race, was now fully demonstrated. In the blink of an eye, she surpassed the second-placed Great Universe—and it wasn’t over yet! She was still accelerating! Was her target the Stardust Illusion in front of her?!]

[Isn't it... isn't it just about taking the lead? Is the purpose of Dongshang's transformation to use a great escape to fight against the great escape?! ]

……

"Eh, no way? Dongshang Reform has actually reached the second place?!"

The man with glasses was also invited by his friend today, and he shouted in surprise at this moment.

Not only her, but the entire audience was also talking:

"No way?!"

“Wouldn’t that be too forward?”

"Is he anxious? But everything went smoothly when he entered the gate..."

"It's not even just the lead, she wants a great escape?!"

The man with the telescope listened to these sounds and felt as if something extraordinary had happened.

But he had only been paying attention to the Stardust Illusion for a month, so he couldn't understand it at all.

So the telescope man quickly nudged his friend beside him and asked anxiously:

"What on earth is going on! Is there something wrong with the Stardust Illusion?"

"No, it's not the Stardust Illusion. You know what I mean by that, right? What everyone is lamenting is that Dongshang Reform has actually taken the lead this time."

The man with glasses shook his head and stared at the situation on the field.

"Is there any problem with going from chasing behind to leading? I see that Stardust Illusion also has both escape and chase?" The man with the telescope scratched his head, not understanding what his friend meant.

"Don't take that abnormality as normal, you guy!"

The man with glasses rolled his eyes and expressed contempt for his attitude.

"Stardust Illusion... Rather than saying she was escaping, it's more like she was just sprinting the entire race, accelerating from the beginning to the end."

"In the last competition, I was blocked by Qingzhu's memories, so I had to enter the second half before I could start to exert my strength. This is not a matter of escaping or chasing."

"But for most horse girls, the runners are good at bursts at the start and the ability to maintain a stable speed in the second half, while the chasers are good at endurance in the race and a strong explosive power at the end of the second half - just like Oguruma, she is actually somewhat similar to Stardust Illusion."

"Oguruma herself is also mainly a central runner, but because her running speed is much faster than the other runners, she naturally moves into the lead position, which makes people mistakenly think that she is good at the lead run."

At this point, the man with glasses frowned.

He also couldn't figure out why Dongshang's transformation would cause such a big change in this game.