Ibuki Mai Kagura caught Rapid General drawing level with her out of the corner of her eye and couldn't help swearing internally.
Is she trying to crank the pace up again for the entire race?!
If Rapid General managed to close in on Twin Turbo, the pack behind would definitely lift the tempo yet again. And once Turbo inevitably hit the wall later and "reverse-boosted," Rapid General—who'd been saving stamina in her slipstream—would become a serious contender for the win.
So what now?
Either Ibuki latched onto Rapid General and took her slipstream too… or she'd be swallowed by the chasing group behind.
But Ibuki wasn't an escape-type runner. If she forced the pace, what if her stamina simply didn't hold?
While Ibuki hesitated inside her own head, Rapid General seized the opening—one hard stomp, and she surged straight past.
"Rapid General has overtaken Ibuki Mai Kagura! Will she hold position—?! No! She's still accelerating! Twin Turbo—Twin Turbo is in trouble!"
Ibuki had no room left to hesitate. She threw the indecision away and, guided by instinct, increased her cadence.
She couldn't just let Rapid General go without reacting. She locked onto Rapid General's stride, and under the other runners' disbelieving stares, she pushed her legs toward an even higher speed.
"Number 3, Ibuki Mai Kagura! Ibuki Mai Kagura is accelerating too! What does this mean for the runners behind them—accelerate again, or conserve stamina and keep their rhythm?!"
"Acceleration! The entire field accelerates again! Does Eternal Meteor still have enough stamina to maintain her advantage—can she lead all the way to the end?!"
As for Twin Turbo—now that Rapid General had reached her—the commentary basically treated her as eliminated. In their eyes, once an all-out front-runner gets caught, defeat is already written.
Turbo could practically feel Rapid General's breath behind her. Sweat streamed down her face only to be torn away by the wind. Her lungs burned like fire; every exhale stabbed with pain.
Am I going to lose again?
Eliminated like this—without even keeping the lead from the start?
She forced open eyes that were already blurring and stared at Eternal Meteor still running ahead. She knew her body was at the limit—so why?
Why did she feel so unwilling to accept it?
Unwilling.
Unwilling!!
UNWILLING!!!
"I WON'T ACCEPT IT—ETERNAL METEOR!!!"
Her throat released a roar like an engine re-igniting. Air flooded in like a turbocharger gulping oxygen—then exploded into fresh power.
She abandoned all thought.
Even if her body was about to break, she would big-breakaway to the very last second!
"I, TWIN TURBO, AM THE TRUE FRONTRUNNER!!!"
Behind her, Rapid General went blank. Turbo had already started slowing—yet now she was accelerating again, chasing Eternal Meteor.
"No way…"
Sure, if they kept accelerating like this, Rapid General would face the same stamina crisis. But she couldn't gamble on when Turbo would finally fade. Teeth clenched, she had no choice but to follow.
For the others—including Ibuki—this was misery.
The entire field stretched into a long single-file line, and runners without enough stamina were already being flung far behind.
"N-No… this race is insane."
Watching the two up front inexplicably accelerate again, Ibuki made the call and stopped following. Her stamina couldn't support another surge. She could only watch their backs from a distance with the others.
As for Eternal Meteor…
She didn't notice—
…Okay, fine. She noticed Twin Turbo.
Because that scream was ridiculously loud.
But it still wasn't enough.
Turbo, you're still undercooked. Let me show you what a real big breakaway looks like.
"Third turn cleared—Eternal Meteor seems to be slowing down! Twin Turbo and Rapid General are closing in!"
In the stands, the two young men couldn't sit still anymore. They stopped analyzing and simply shouted themselves hoarse.
"Go!! Eternal Meteor!!"
"Show them what you've got!"
"Twin Turbo and Rapid General keep closing! Has Eternal Meteor hit deceleration?!"
No.
She was still composed—almost leisurely.
But Meteor… what are you doing?
Rudolf, with the eyesight of a Triple Crown horse girl, could tell at a glance: Meteor wasn't tired. Her cadence and rhythm weren't breaking. So why slow down?
Rudolf frowned, eyes glued to Meteor's ankle, worry surging.
Did the old injury not recover properly?
But the next instant, Eternal Meteor crushed that theory herself.
Her large white ears flicked backward, listening to the sound behind her.
"Twin Turbo has caught Eternal Meteor! Just one length!"
Rapid General eased her pace, intending to wait for the fight ahead to finish… then pass them both in one clean sweep.
But what she didn't anticipate was this—
the moment Turbo finally entered Eternal Meteor's slipstream…
Eternal Meteor exploded forward like a late-closing runner who had only just started to unleash her kick.
"What the hell?!"
Twin Turbo felt clods of dirt and shredded grass spray up from Meteor's hooves and slap her face. She opened her mouth—
and no sound came out.
She could only force her blurred eyes wider, staring at a back that was already turning unreal.
Meteor looked like a mirage—
like moonlight on water—
like a shooting star hung high in the sky:
her existence screaming across the world, yet utterly untouchable.
"Eternal Meteor—she's accelerating!!! She's thrown off Twin Turbo!!!"
The commentator shot to their feet, hands slamming the desk as if pain didn't exist.
The entire stadium detonated into cheers again, loud enough that Rudolf and Maruzensky instinctively covered their ears.
"Eternal Meteor is still accelerating—does she have no limit to her stamina?!"
"I have no limit!"
Eternal Meteor drank in the screaming wind across her face and only wanted to step harder, faster—climbing onto the stage that belonged to her alone.
"Eternal Meteor has opened five lengths on Twin Turbo! The rest of the field is slowing due to the insane early pace—are we about to see another massive margin?!"
Accelerate until this body reaches its current limit—until the audience can see only me!
"Eternal Meteor has reached the uphill! Behind her, Ibuki Mai Kagura is eight lengths back—then Rapid General! This is their last chance!"
There won't be any chance.
Even if I can't accelerate uphill, that doesn't mean they get faster.
The weak should exit the stage.
"Eternal Meteor hasn't slowed at all—she… she's flying!!!"
And amid cheers so violent they made the whole stadium feel like it was trembling—
Eternal Meteor crossed the finish line.
"Eternal Meteor hits the line! Another enormous margin! She became a true meteor, slicing across this track!!!"
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 80)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 80)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 80)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter50)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter50)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter50)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter50)
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