Chapter 286: The Final Match (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 286: The Final Match (3)
—The gates are open, and the race has begun! Amidst the massive roar from the crowd, all sixteen racers are off to a great start.
—Today’s weather is rainy. The track is wet, and the turf is in considerably poor condition. The racers will need to be more careful than ever with their footing.
Mud flew with every thunderous hoofbeat.
Sprinting was an art of rhythm, but on the rain-soaked track, that rhythm was unpredictably warped, a half-beat off.
It was less like a solid surface pushing them forward and more like a swamp pulling at their feet.
From the very first step, a mixture of mud and water squelched between their hooves.
The ground felt slick and yielding, offering less than half the rebound of a dry day.
It didn't feel like running, but like crushing resistance with every stride.
They couldn't use their full abilities.
Worse, one slip and it was all over.
It was incredibly unstable and unpleasant.
—But not even the foul weather can stop these racers! Just as predicted, Shibiogwi and Iris are fighting for the lead right from the start! Kiss is hot on their heels, with Miro a length behind!
Shibiogwi and Iris’s pace was incredibly fast. If the others fell too far behind the lead group, there would be no way to catch up.
To avoid being left behind, the entire field picked up the pace.
—Passing the straightaway in front of the spectator stands and heading into the first corner! After a fierce battle with Iris, Shibiogwi takes the lead!
The racers in this competition were broadly divided into two types.
Those who ran of their own free will.
And those who were forced to run.
Most were the former, but the latter also existed.
Shibiogwi was one, and so was Iris.
Neither was particularly pleased with this situation, running as someone else's entertainment.
If it weren't for the gumiho, if it weren't for the Saint, they wouldn't be running.
That much was certain.
But they, too, had personalities and pride.
What had begun as a reluctant obligation was slowly becoming genuine. Having come this far, they were both determined to finish with a victory.
Iris fixed her gaze on the back of Shibiogwi, who was running just ahead.
As a cleric, Iris was sensitive to evil energy. Though in the form of a horse beastkin, Shibiogwi was no person, but a monster.
A demonic beast, competing in the human world. How absurd.
Iris read the auras of the racers following her.
For beings that were neither unicorns nor demonic beasts, their skills were impressive. As expected of finalists, they were all excellent runners.
But that was the extent of it. Besides Shibiogwi, there was no one she considered a true rival.
And her opponent was a yokai.
As a cleric, she could not lose to such a creature.
In all the previous races, she had simply charged forward, looking only ahead. But this time, Iris planned to run strategically.
She held back, running one step behind without forcing a contest.
Hmph, trying to be clever.
Shibiogwi had a similar thought.
The key threat in this race was none other than Iris.
But Shibiogwi was a yokai.
She had no intention of playing mind games.
She would simply crush her foe with overwhelming power.
Ignoring the other racers, the two of them focused solely on keeping each other in check.
—It’s the unshakable two-horse race between Iris and Shibiogwi! Three lengths behind are Kiss and Miro, followed by Astrophe and Marine. The rear group is also holding their positions without competing.
—It’s likely because the track is so slippery from the rain. Trying to overtake on a corner is extremely risky.
Miro was in fourth place.
As she and Karami had planned, her running style was a front-running strategy.
It was the exact position she had run in countless times during the simulations.
However.
This is completely different from the simulation…!
Even setting aside environmental factors like her rain-soaked body and the state of the track, the palpable fighting spirit of the other racers was a source of intense psychological pressure.
Unlike the simulations, where she had infinite attempts, the weight of a real race—where one mistake meant the end—was immense.
Despite the pressure, Miro tried to find her composure. Striving to remain calm, she scanned her surroundings, assessing the situation.
It was still the early stages of the race.
The flow was similar to the simulations she had repeated dozens of times.
Things were going as planned, but she couldn't feel relieved.
She had managed to beat Lua and Scarlet, but she had never once caught the two leaders. To win, she had to defeat them.
I couldn't even catch them in the simulation. How can I do it for real?
This wasn't going to work.
She needed a variable.
A variable that didn't exist in the simulation, one that only existed in reality.
Huh?
Just as she had that thought, Kiss, who was running in front of her, began to accelerate.
—Ah, and just as I say that, Kiss, the number two favorite, picks up speed on the inside of the corner, closing the gap with Iris in second place! It’s still early in the race, is she making her spurt already?
Miro was just as puzzled.
Kiss was also a runaway-style racer, but in the simulations, she had never been able to catch the two leaders.
She would typically maintain a middling rank before her stamina gave out, getting caught by the chasers and falling to seventh or eighth place.
So why this sudden spurt?
Kiss had her own reasons for this unexpected move.
I have to get first place!
Thanks to horse racing, Kiss was now known as an idol in the south, but before that, she had been nothing more than a pickpocket.
She would steal things and use her fast feet to escape. It was a common survival tactic for horse beastkin, whose legs were naturally developed.
One day, while plying her trade, Kiss was caught after trying to steal from a noblewoman.
She was facing punishment, but a horse race happened to be taking place. The noblewoman took an interest, and Kiss was guaranteed her safety on the condition that she win the competition.
One of the conditions for participating in the tournament was that the racers not be abused. But she had no idea what would happen once the competition was over.
So Kiss had run with all her might to win, but she had come to a realization.
Victory was impossible.
In that case, she had to at least leave the impression that she fought well even in defeat. If she could maintain the fans' goodwill, the noblewoman might recognize her value and change her mind.
Therefore.
“Don’t you get in my way!”
The desperate survival instinct of a living creature—something a simulation could never replicate.
Kiss’s all-or-nothing sprint, with her life on the line, finally reached Iris.
She finally stood shoulder-to-shoulder with her.
—That was the first unexpected variable.
The small flap of a butterfly's wings that would stir a typhoon.
The reaction came from none other than Iris.
“Urp?!”
Gagging, she clapped a hand over her mouth mid-stride.
An unbearable nausea.
A powerful rejection from the unicorn's physiological instincts.
The smell of a filthy whore's cum…!
It was the scent of a non-virgin.
Iris's non-virgin detection radar was pointing directly at Kiss, running alongside her.
She was called an idol, but she wasn't just any non-virgin; she was on the level of a village carriage. A human who treated her body with such abandon.
She had so many male fans. Did they know about this?
Probably not.
Ah, I can't stand it.
There was still a long way to go in the race, but the stench was so foul she couldn't stay near her.
To hell with strategy. She just had to get away.
Iris made the sign of the cross.
She murmured a prayer.
“This body is a unicorn that pursues balance, this horn a divine spear that pierces chaos. Grant that I may preserve my purity and protect order.”
A chant of blessing.
Iris’s horn began to glow.
It wasn't just her unicorn bloodline, but the blessing of a god that had brought her to this stage.
Her physical abilities soaring, Iris easily shook off Kiss and even caught up to Shibiogwi.
That was the second variable.
The one affected by Iris's blessing was Shibiogwi.
“Kugh! You damn cleric!”
Shibiogwi was a yokai.
If one were to divide the world into good and evil, she was as close to evil as one could get.
The very existence of a yokai was antithetical to divinity.
To Shibiogwi, the light radiating from Iris's horn was a blinding radiance that neutralized yokai.
Shibiogwi’s power waned.
Her pace began to slow.
And ironically, another person affected by Iris's blessing was Miro.
“Ugh?!”
A sharp pain shot through her back, causing Miro to stumble.
The pain-suppressing magic Mirabelle had cast on her had been broken.
A cleric's light was a threat not only to yokai but also to witches, and so it had dispelled the spell woven from the witch Mirabelle's mana.
Why is it suddenly hurting?
Miro, a layman in such matters of magical affinity, had no way of knowing. She was simply bewildered by the sudden agony.
In the midst of her confusion, Miro’s pace faltered for a moment, and she was overtaken by the racers behind her.
—What is happening all of a sudden? The pace of Shibiogwi and Miro in the lead group has been disrupted! Seizing the opportunity, Kiss retakes second place, and while Iris has snatched the lead, she doesn't look to be in great condition either!
Miro’s rank plummeted from fourth all the way down to eighth.
It was a familiar position for Miro, who originally preferred a mid-pack strategy, but she had deliberately chosen a front-running strategy for this final.
She hadn't wanted to be in the middle of the pack.
A familiar yet alien breeze brushed against Miro’s tail.
“Oh my, Miro! Did you drop all the way back here just to see me? You’re making this senior swoon!”
It was the crazy woman who would strike up a conversation even in the middle of a race. Lua Swift greeted Miro with a bright smile.