Uma Musume: From Being Knocked Ten Meters Away

Chapter 404 The Horror of the Runaway Horse

This is also one of the most spectacular sights at the Tokyo Games.

During the 2400-meter race, the large beech trees at the final bend will block the view for a period of time, allowing the teams to present two completely different race conditions within a mere 10-second interval.

The final straight section after the curve is over 500 meters long, requiring a sustained long-distance sprint.

A race that is close to 2000 meters long will consume a lot of energy. If there is even a slight obstacle from the opponent ahead, slowing down, changing lanes, and speeding up again will all result in losses, making it even more difficult to win the race.

Because of these factors, in the race after the big beech tree, regardless of the specific decisions made, the female racehorses almost always form a rather spectacular line like this.

If there are still escaped horses ahead, the spectacle will be several times more thrilling.

That is the situation right now.

Few spectators remained calm; most, like the Golden Ship, stared at the competing teams and gasped in astonishment. Even Yi Lu Tong couldn't help but exclaim:
"So, is this match... a pure pursuit? A pursuit of Kita Genko...?"

Unlike the Golden Ship, Yilutong has heard of the Northern Black Horse since the start of the Classic Battlefront last year, and knows that it is a very strong newcomer.

But we only really started to have contact with each other from this special training.

Putting aside the praise she heard from the Golden Ship and Zhongshan Festival, judging from her impression alone, this junior is extremely hardworking and down-to-earth, one could even say frighteningly so.

In regular training, the workload is about 20% more than others, and in many projects it can be as much as 30% more, and in a few cases it can even reach the exaggerated proportion of 40%.

The training intensity is also much higher. Tasks such as weightlifting and resistance training are usually special training tasks and are often carried out as a separate special training.

The Northern Black Horse, however, does not follow this pattern. Instead, it incorporates extra weight and resistance into every regular training session as supplementary exercises.

Not only did Beifang Xuanju endure this astonishing training, he also seemed to enjoy it, quickly recovering his energetic appearance after each training session.

Through observation, he discovered these things, and even though the other party was his junior, Yi Lutong couldn't help but admire and respect him.

That's why she was so concerned when she saw the Great Escape at the start of the competition.

At this point, it seems that the Northern Black Steed's escape was not disturbed from the beginning, and the rear team only started to chase before entering the final bend. It seems to be a conventional escape and pursuit battle.

Lost in thought, her gaze followed the approaching teams in the race, and she muttered to herself again:
"A long, straight-line pursuit? That does resemble the Arc de Triomphe Award, so... this is probably the plan of our predecessors..."

"I wonder if the Northern Black Horses... no, they can understand this kind of thinking?"

Meanwhile, on the runway.

Staring intently at the finish line hundreds of meters ahead, Northern Black Horse's eyelashes trembled violently. Like an antelope sensing the approaching hunter, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end.

The tips of my ears, bent over in the strong wind, trembled incessantly, clearly picking up the increasingly rapid footsteps behind me amidst the crackling and splashing of mud:

Ten or twenty seconds ago, in any case, what was originally a loose following of the rhythm suddenly underwent a fatal transformation in unison under the shade of the big beech tree.

This deadly edge was pointed with exceptional clarity, precisely at her seemingly overwhelming lead of over ten horse lengths. Running on the final straight with this unprecedented gap in distance, she didn't feel the exhilaration of running freely; instead, she felt a heart-stopping sense of impending doom, as if she were about to crash into an invisible black iron curtain.

This unusual anxiety made her temples throb like her heart, and she knew very well that it was because everything she was experiencing at this moment was so far removed from the "scenario simulation" plan she had envisioned.

According to the plan, if the opponent adopts conventional tactics, by now, a forward player should have already cut in to disrupt her rhythm or directly entered into competition on the final straight line.

No, perhaps we should have noticed this was wrong much earlier.

She rarely uses the long run, which is not a primary training method and she has only used it once in an official competition.

In preparation for this competition, the original intention was to use this running style as a prerequisite for the ultimate goal. The aim was to take the competition by surprise, so as to completely control the situation and recreate the fierce competition of the past, thereby seizing the opportunity in the field.

However, as if it were all predicted, the opponents in this race were patient for more than 70% of the race, and only now, like a pack of wolves waiting for the best moment to pounce, have they revealed their fangs.

At that moment, she suddenly realized something she had never experienced before.

That is to say, for a runaway horse, the most terrifying thing is not being chased, but not knowing when it will be chased.

This is the situation right now. She had been running too smoothly, and the pursuit from behind was too clever. Just when she wanted to easily take the lead and win in one fell swoop, it suddenly arrived.

As she gained experience and her arm swings increased unconsciously, she could feel her thigh muscles drawing hot tracks in the mud, and her already depleted energy was constantly decreasing.

When she caught the first breath that cut through the air, she almost instinctively adjusted her pace and turned her head to look.

Just as my right shoulder slumped down, I caught a glimpse of gold out of the corner of my eye... It was the legendary goldsmith!

Although they were still more than ten meters apart, it was clear to the naked eye that the familiar golden hair was swaying at an astonishing frequency, exuding an aura that could catch up at any moment.

Following closely behind were the knitted hats from the Zhongshan celebration. The light gray hats, which usually looked plain and ordinary, were now partially obscured by the splashing mud, giving the illusion of a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, ready to pounce.

At that very moment, a series of booming sounds also came from the outer path.

The massive, black figure, like an armored train moving at full speed, carved a deep brown ravine through the muddy outer track.

Her signature low-slung running posture was almost flush with the ground, and the whistling sound of her ear tips cutting through the air even drowned out the sound of the horseshoes hitting the ground.

Her chosen route of pursuit was aggressive, each step sending the mud roaring with resentment beneath her feet.

Behind Da Zhenhan, Dongbao Lone Wolf followed closely, precisely stepping in Da Zhenhan's footprints and using the path plowed by her predecessor to reduce resistance. In just a few dozen meters, she narrowed the gap to two horse lengths.

Not only the four opponents and seniors on the inner and outer sides, but also the opponents who were almost nowhere to be seen before, are now approaching with an air of ease.

In that instant, the planned mishaps, the stark contrast between the unexpected success and the sudden pursuit, and the intense physical exertion of the challenging terrain...

As various senses and thoughts converged in his mind and nerves, the Northern Black Steed, unable to control his gaze, suddenly realized that a strange panic was slowly creeping up his spine like a vine.

(End of this chapter)