After running the race, [Tokai Teio], covered in sweat and gasping for breath, couldn't help looking up.
Under the shine of the brilliant red sunset, that figure raised her finger to the sky.
Tokai Teio radiated an indescribably powerful aura.
At that moment, [Tokai Teio] only felt that person seemed to be standing in a very high place.
Just like she felt at the final moment of the race.
The gap between them seemed so large that the distance couldn't be seen clearly at all.
That feeling was like—
Usually, people looking up at the sun feel the sun seems very close.
But in reality, it is incomparably far away.
Under the influence of that aura, everyone subconsciously held their breath.
Only when Tokai Teio retracted that gesture did they gradually come back to their senses.
Everyone looked at Tokai Teio's figure with faces full of disbelief.
For a moment, the brain completely couldn't understand what just happened.
Why did they mistake Tokai Teio for the sun in that instant just now?
In that moment, they even felt the sunlight was emanating from Tokai Teio.
"You've awakened the Zone. How does it feel now?"
Tokai Teio came before the 'self' of this world.
This race wasn't that easy for her either.
Wanting to hold back strength but not completely fail to give the opponent any pressure.
The degree of force involved wasn't easy to control.
If not for the Demon King's shouted reminder.
The 'self' of this world probably wouldn't have been able to enter the world of the Zone now.
Plus she had to correct [Teio]'s mindset.
This caused this mock race to waste a lot of her energy.
But this feeling of being a mentor was quite nice.
At the moment all goals were achieved, there was a sense of satisfaction from the bottom of her heart.
"..."
[Tokai Teio] didn't answer this question.
Because she couldn't possibly answer that she felt very bad right now, could she?
After no longer feeling that divine aura, her mood also began to return to normal.
Tokai Teio in that state just now felt simply too terrifying, as if the Three Goddesses had appeared before her. Although thinking this way was a bit disrespectful.
But she felt that spiritual outlook just now might be this guy's true face.
But Tokai Teio obviously couldn't be a Goddess.
"Is that your true strength?"
The power the other party burst out with at the final moment was something she couldn't understand.
It was as if time had been stopped, but is such a thing really possible?
Tokai Teio said, "You could say that."
Although she actually only used [Ultimate Teio Step] and [Hyper-Acceleration], [Hyper-Acceleration] was indeed her strongest move right now, so it could be said to be her true strength. But it wasn't her full strength... better not say this to strike a blow to the other party.
Just awakened the Zone and immediately suffered a beating.
If she continued to strike blows, the intensity would be a bit too much.
She wanted [Tokai Teio] not to be so conceited.
But she didn't want to truly destroy [Tokai Teio]'s self-confidence.
It's just that [Tokai Teio] didn't know the other party's thoughts.
Otherwise, she would definitely not be able to resist complaining that she was about to be struck into mental derangement now.
Using [Hyper-Acceleration] against her—this is simply too frenzied, right?
And if it were truly time stop, it would be fine; that way she would at most feel it was incredible, but wouldn't actually feel much, because if it were true time stop, others wouldn't know what happened then. But [Hyper-Acceleration] isn't true time stop.
In that state, other people's spirits can also enter that accelerated world.
So [Tokai Teio] watched helplessly as she was pulled open by a 100m gap in that instant. This experience was simply too terrifying, a hundred times scarier than watching a horror movie!
"Race over. The result of this race is the Teio of this side won. Among you, no one should disagree with this result, right?" Trainer Okino walked over at this time to announce the result to them.
"Mn, no objection."
"Me neither. This race was my complete defeat."
Facing such a huge strength gap, if she still couldn't admit her failure, she would be unqualified. [Tokai Teio]'s mood at this moment was somewhat complicated. Although the 'self' of another world was surprisingly strong, with strength completely not losing to the other McQueen and Demon King Ship.
But she was also crushed just now.
And although called 'self'.
It was another person, having not much to do with her in reality.
She couldn't feel the slightest honor, only huge frustration and pressure.
Is this what [McQueen] and [Gold Ship] felt before?
Amazing that they could accept reality so easily and bear this pressure.
"Hey, [Teio], are you okay?"
[Gold Ship] asked worriedly.
Because [Tokai Teio] looked a bit dazed right now; it didn't look normal at all.
"I'm fine."
Just a bit tired.
[Tokai Teio] thought.
Facing this kind of opponent, do we really still have a chance to chase back?
She looked curiously at [Mejiro McQueen], whose tail was swaying over there.
She really wanted to get some experience from someone who had been through it.
However...
[McQueen]'s state is a bit wrong.*
This was her first thought after seeing [Mejiro McQueen]'s current appearance.
Then she looked along [Mejiro McQueen]'s line of sight and saw those two people standing not far away.
One of them was the Demon King.
But who was the other person?
Mejiro McQueen?!
Although wearing a hat, as long as one noticed, one could easily recognize the other party's identity.
I see.
[Tokai Teio] knew why [Mejiro McQueen]'s state became wrong.
After all, unlike her and [Gold Ship]'s situation, the relationship between the two McQueens appeared more complicated, as they were once in a relationship of sharing the same body.
But she hadn't expected those two to appear suddenly.
Is it because...
[Tokai Teio] looked at her other self.
Is it because of her?
She remembered when the Demon King came to this world before, Mejiro McQueen seemed to have appeared too.
And looking at it now, the Demon King and Mejiro McQueen seemed to have become friends at some point?
"You are very strong."
[Gold Ship] came to Tokai Teio's side.
"Can you quietly tell Gold Ship what that final killer move of yours was?"
Tokai Teio blinked.
"It's a skill~"
"For real? Don't lie to me."
[Gold Ship] didn't quite believe it.
How could that kind of move be a skill?
She felt the intensity of that move was stronger than all the skills of Mejiro McQueen and Demon King Ship!
Although those two might also have hidden moves, surely they didn't really save some big killer moves in the previous race, right? If not, then Tokai Teio is stronger now!
[Gold Ship] genuinely thought so.
After all, judging by current appearances, the intensity of that move was completely off the charts.
She didn't know that Tokai Teio actually couldn't fully control this move at all.
Don't look at how Tokai Teio successfully outran the opponent by 100m in one second in the race just now; that was actually almost the limit effect of this move. Although she could also use skills in the [Hyper-Acceleration] state, the consumption of all abilities multiplied in that state.
Even with Tokai Teio's physical strength of all stats SS, she couldn't use multiple skills to increase speed under the [Hyper-Acceleration] state. If she used no skills, she could maintain it for about 1.2 seconds, but if she used skills, even just one, she could at most maintain it for less than 1 second. This is Tokai Teio's current limit!
If the opponents were Mejiro McQueen and Demon King Ship, Tokai Teio really dared not say she could steadily beat those two. After all, a gap of just 100m couldn't completely end the race.
And don't forget.
The level of the Demon King's debuff skills was not on the same level as ordinary debuff horses.
Tokai Teio strongly suspected that if she raced against these two, under the condition of eating the Demon King's debuffs, the time she could maintain [Hyper-Acceleration] would only become shorter.
In a 1v1 situation, Tokai Teio felt the three of them should be 50-50.
But if it were a battle royale.
Currently, the strongest among them is undoubtedly McQueen!
That concentration capable of entering Flow state for the whole race, plus the effect of that Zone.
This combination is simply...
Tokai Teio could only say, as expected of that Mejiro McQueen who was obsessed only with victory.
The combination of the opponent's abilities was simply too strong.
Before awakening a stronger Zone herself, she would likely find it very hard to outrun Mejiro McQueen.
As for 1v1?
Leaving aside that even 1v1 is at most 50-50.
Where are there 1v1s in official races?
One must know that even if she luckily won a 1v1.
But as long as it's in a race, Mejiro McQueen's winning rate is still ninety percent or even a hundred percent.
So 1v1 with Mejiro McQueen is meaningless!
That guy is a competitor who absolutely will not lose as long as she is in a race.
The more Tokai Teio thought about it, the more she felt Mejiro McQueen was unreasonably strong.
As Unit 0, how can you be stronger than me, the ultimate fusion?
However, if asked whether Tokai Teio wanted to run a race with Mejiro McQueen?
Of course she wanted to.
After all, she was also a Horse Girl with extreme competitiveness.
That was her nature; she knew this.
She wasn't that awkward guy like the Demon King who wouldn't even accept her own heart.
While Tokai Teio was thinking about these things.
The two who finished watching this mock race actually felt a little pressure too.
This guy!
Gold Ship felt her status was severely threatened.
It was one thing that she couldn't outrun Mejiro McQueen now.
But Tokai Teio, this latecomer, also threatened her.
Is that Hyper-Acceleration?
Although it felt just okay when sharing.
But Gold Ship hadn't expected that seeing it with her own eyes would feel so incredible.
Fortunately, this guy can't be immune to debuffs like McQueen.
[Hyper-Acceleration] was indeed very strong.
But this move wasn't a move that could be used in a normal state.
It was a killer move in the true sense.
And things like killer moves, although strong, have obvious weaknesses. Once restricted by targeted measures, a killer move is equivalent to nothing, completely less useful than ordinary skills.
After all, only the weak need so-called killer moves and trump cards.
For the truly strong, every move should be equivalent to a killer move, achieving the state of being the strongest under normal conditions. And now, the only one among the three who could do this was McQueen.
Gold Ship knew very well that her Overload Mode was, to put it bluntly, the same type as [Hyper-Acceleration].
She had now completely accepted that she was actually in the position of a challenger.
But Tokai Teio—you are the same!
And unlike Ore-sama, you don't have the ability to dominate the race at this level!
Thinking of this, Gold Ship couldn't help laughing.
McQueen's Great Escape could dominate the race, and she also had the ability to control the whole field.
So what did Tokai Teio have?
Seemingly inheriting parts of their power, a perfect Horse Girl who was all-round and without weakness.
But that so-called perfection was only relative to those third-rate idiots!
Tokai Teio was indeed not those third-rate idiots, but at most just a second-rate character!
The Demon King was still that Demon King; arrogance and conceit were still deep in her bones.
Mejiro McQueen didn't think that much.
She simply felt that the move [Hyper-Acceleration] was very strong.
Strong enough to make her feel a little pressure!
As for other thoughts, she had none.
Because she really couldn't understand why anyone would want to decide a winner with 'themselves'.
However, the conditions are all gathered.
Me, Gold Ship, Tokai Teio—we have met the minimum standard number of participants.
Mejiro McQueen was thinking about the system's Grand Prix mode.
After all, leaving aside that she seemed likely to encounter decent opponents, the system's Grand Prix also had rewards.
Although the rewards would only be known after winning, this setting indeed piqued her curiosity.
And since the system was so powerful, the rewards given shouldn't be useless things.
It's time to have a talk with those two.
Mejiro McQueen thought to herself.
Although the other two who completed the sharing should be able to know her thoughts, she couldn't know what those two were thinking at all times, so things that needed to be said should be said.
But she didn't think Gold Ship and Tokai Teio would refuse this matter.
After all, for them who had no opponents, the system's Grand Prix must also be worth looking forward to.
...
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