Uma Musume: From Being Knocked Ten Meters Away

Chapter 344 Fight to the Death
The moment the commentator began his roar, the noise in the stands fell silent for a moment, and on the large screen on the opposite side, the camera instantly locked onto the front of the line.

The black and gold figures intertwined and distorted, and California Shining, which had been following the Northern Black Steed like a shadow, showed subtle and continuous sluggishness.

Her flowing blonde hair and ponytail were no longer straight as a sword, and her gait became slightly disordered.

Her footsteps still kicked up grass clippings, but the clippings were no longer dense like rain; instead, they floated lightly like willow catkins in spring.

Tens of thousands of spectators held their breath for this moment, and as they opened their mouths to shout, the commentary once again drowned out everything:
"Shuangjiang also showed some abnormalities. The two mud warriors from the United States still couldn't break through the shackles of the grass, and Shuangjiang's speed seemed to have slowed down!"
"Her offensive route was blocked. The defense of the Unyielding Steel and the Decision of the End was impenetrable. She was unable to break through due to insufficient strength!"
"The thunderous roar was also affected, and her approach route was disrupted by the frost, which caused fatal interference to her, forcing her to choose a different route!"

"But... we're already on the final straight line, and the chances of a thunderous roar are numbered!"

The commentator's pace quickened, and at this point it sounded less like a live broadcast and more like a rap performance, making one worry that he might bite his tongue.
"California Shining gradually lost speed and fell behind Northern Black Steed, pulling away from it and crashing into Unyielding Steel!"

"A beautiful evasion! Unyielding Steel has demonstrated a beautiful evasion!"

"But she was also led astray, creating a parallel confrontation with California Shining!"
"And at this very moment..."

"We'll decide later... Let's start!"

"The Queen from Europe has launched the pursuit. Her advantage as the last runner is becoming apparent. She has taken over from her American counterparts and is chasing the Black Horse in the north!"
"Northern Black Steed... Are you ready to face the final challenge?!"

The moment the commentary burst into a thunderous roar, the entire stands fell into an eerie silence once again.

Tens of thousands of eyes, as if drawn by invisible threads, focused unanimously on the black-haired figure at the very front of the group and the light brown figure rushing out from behind.

The light brown figure was like a sharp arrow shot from a longbow, its arrowhead aimed directly at the vest of the black-haired figure.

On the big screen, the arrowhead gleamed with a cold, icy blue light. Her meticulously styled curly hair flew wildly, and the silver ornaments on her hair and ears reflected a sharp light.

The courtly dance steps were long gone; every step she took now had nothing to do with elegance. Instead, it was like a desperate charge, accompanied by the cries of battle, fueled by Celtic bagpipes and highland horns.

As they watched this scene unfold, the European audience raised their flags bearing the words "We'll decide later," and their unified shouts of "Long live the Queen!" soared into the sky.

The Japanese audience also seemed to dislike the cheering. At first, the cheers were mixed with encouragement for Shinko Fushimi, but in an instant, the name "Kita Genko" swept across the entire stadium like a tsunami.

The composure she had shown earlier was gone. She had taken off her sunglasses at some point and was clutching them in her hand. Her pupils contracted sharply as she stared intently at the race situation at the front of the track.

Her mouth opened and closed slightly, and the tips of her ears trembled uncontrollably.

Every time she saw the two figures at the front getting closer, her toes would unconsciously move forward a little, as if she wanted to break through the barrier and throw herself into this extremely fierce battle.

Yasui Makoto didn't say anything. He just gripped the binoculars tightly, watching the black figure leave a long, blinding afterimage in the sunlight, and the light brown phantom behind it, visibly encroaching on the distance in front of him.

"Hurry up... Xiao Bei..."

Finally, he couldn't hold back and murmured something from his throat.

The next instant, he abruptly took off his binoculars and roared like a commentator, "Charge! Xiao Bei!!"

His shout couldn't drown out the commentary:

"Everyone, pay attention! The speed of the pursuit by 'Rest Later' is increasing wildly, and her pace is breaking through the limit!"
"The Northern Black Steed is still on the run, and her escape is pushing the limits, but!"
"The distance is getting closer and closer, now only 3 horse lengths... 2 horse lengths!"

"One horse's length's distance!"
"We'll decide later; we've already closed the distance to one horse length!"
"While the Northern Black Steed is still in the lead, but..."

"She seems to be reaching her limit!"
"Can you keep going?!"

"Can you hold out until the end, Northern Black Steed?!"

On the track, in his icy blue eyes that seemed to decide later, there was only the back view of the black-haired girl ahead.

She could see clearly that every step she took created a crater in the grass, sending up large amounts of broken grass stems and flying dirt.

But the opponent was already tired.

This is not surprising.

After all, in her eyes, or rather in the eyes of horse racing girls in Europe and America, the races between Japanese horse racing girls are... far too gentle.

There was very little physical contact; positioning, cornering, and overtaking were all done with extreme caution, for fear of bumping into each other.

It seems there's also a rule that if a collision is particularly intense, it will be treated as a foul.

The top-level competitions are alright, those are quite intense, but there aren't many matches that can compare to the intensity of those in Europe and America.

In comparison, those gentle and mild competitions... what's the difference between them and playing house?

How could a race between horse girls be considered child's play?

Every match is... a battle.

This black-haired racehorse girl from Japan is probably experiencing this kind of race for the first time, or she doesn't have much experience.

They were giving it their all from the start, and their opponents were formidable rivals like the California Shining, especially since they came from the even more intense clay courts.

To be able to hold out against such an opponent until now and still maintain speed is truly worthy of being one of the strongest active players in Japan.

But that’s as far as it goes.

The Northern Black Horse is definitely exhausted.

His short black hair and black ponytail were already soaked with sweat, the hair almost sticking to his face. The exposed side of his face and the back of his neck showed that his skin was no longer fair, but pale.

The air blowing from ahead was full of saltiness, not just the fishy saltiness of the sea breeze, but also the bitter saltiness of sweat.

You can hear their breathing, their arm swings, and their footsteps. The rhythm of these sounds isn't out of control yet, but each breath clearly carries a trembling sound of impending collapse.

In fact, it's not just the Northern Black Steed that's like this. I'll decide later. It's very clear that the Unyielding True Steel and the Thunderous Roar are also the ones that absolutely cannot catch up right now.

She felt a little sympathy and understanding for this disadvantage caused by unfamiliarity with the game, but only a little.

Aside from sympathy and understanding, all that remained in her heart, though somewhat cruel, was a single, unwavering thought…

Kill them all.

She had long since abandoned all her fancy skills, and her sights were now fixed solely on the Northern Black Steed.

What she wanted was to rely solely on her powerful final kick to transform herself into a precise killing machine, relentlessly and painstakingly cutting down those who were lagging behind, until finally…

Win this game!

She was subtle, yet resolute and clear, and accelerated once again.

"The last 100 meters!"

Although the commentator's voice once again drowned out the noise of the arena, it had already begun to tremble:
"We'll decide later... We've already caught up to half a horse's length!"

"The Queen of Europe's steps are like the relentless drumbeats of war, each step drawing ever closer, and she is almost in sync with the Northern Black Steed!"
"The Northern Black Steed is still trying, the Northern Black Steed is still desperately trying to escape, but she and Empress Rong are now side by side again!"
"The black-haired war god from Japan..."

"Can the glory of the escaped horse be upheld?!"

On the track, the Northern Black Horse didn't hear a word the commentator was saying.

The commotion from the stands had long since disappeared without anyone noticing.

Her consciousness was already blurred; she felt every part of her body screaming, and she felt exhausted as her legs mechanically alternated.

She could also feel a scorching and sharp aura lingering on the side of her neck.

She had never felt that kind of aura before, or rather, she had never felt it before this match.

Once out of the gate, he immediately began to exert all his strength to deal with California Shining, a friend and extremely powerful opponent who had previously displayed a similar terrifying aura behind him.

The difference is that the aura brought by California Shine is like an avalanche rushing down from the top of a mountain.

Or, to put it another way, it's like a sudden mudslide that completely contradicts the other person's dazzling and beautiful image.

Faced with this kind of situation, she still had the ability to think, to think about how to accelerate, how to allocate her energy, and how to take turns and block the way.

But faced with this atmosphere, she felt as if her brain was frozen, completely unable to function.

Scorching and sharp, what she instinctively thought of was a huge two-handed sword.

The two-handed sword had been swung at extremely high speed in the air, the blade and the air rubbing together to generate high temperatures and red heat.

Then, at that moment, it slashed towards her neck.

She couldn't think of anything, or rather, her mind was frozen; she wanted to escape.

However, she instantly realized that she was on the run.

But then it dawned on me that I couldn't escape; instead...

Come on...

Come……

Fight to the death!
She roared silently, a kind of primal wildness awakening within her.

She felt her crimson eyes suddenly burst with an unprecedented heat, and a low growl, almost like that of a wild beast, escaped her throat as she poured her last bit of strength into her legs.

In that instant, she could no longer feel her trembling legs, hear the deafening shouts, or sense the scorching and sharp aura around her.

All she could see was the blurry finish line ahead.

In the next instant, the finish line disappeared.

She was suddenly stunned, and in an instant, it felt as if all the bones in her body had been removed, leaving her completely limp.

She staggered uncontrollably a few steps, knelt on the ground, and then the sensation of everything disappearing rushed back to her in an instant.

The clearest sound was a piercing scream:

"Charge! Cross the finish line!!"

"An extremely, extremely narrow advantage, but! Holding onto this extremely, extremely narrow advantage and the glory of the escaped horse, the winner of this race—"

"Northern Black Horse!!!"

(End of this chapter)