"Black Ship, you trained at an American track. Don't let yourself down when you face Platinum!"
Meanwhile, on the turf...
Having just reached the front of the pack, Platinum easily overtook more than half of the leaders.
And so, the Transcendence Effect appeared once more.
The divine and imposing phantom of a girl drew her bow toward several Uma Musume and loosed her arrows.
"W-what is that...?"
"Eek!!"
"Is that... a goddess?!"
Amid their shocked cries, several more Uma Musume racing at full speed were overtaken and shot down by Platinum!
The path ahead of Platinum was completely clear! Even the Escape Horses had been caught and passed before anyone noticed.
At Miss Heavenly Horse's side, only Black Ship and Jungle Pocket remained, forming a Three Strong Contend.
There had been more than one three-way showdown in Japanese Uma Musume racing history. The three most popular Uma Musume had battled at the front, etching their names into the history books with thrilling, unforgettable races.
In the eyes of countless spectators, this was unmistakably another historic Three Strong Contend!
But they didn't know...
Black Ship and Jungle Pocket were both drenched in sweat!
These two "members of the three" were so nervous because of the Silver-white Figure on the inside lane that they didn't dare hold back any stamina. They poured everything into their sprints, their pace continually driven faster.
"The home straight... Hasn't it come yet?!"
"Why am I using up so much more stamina than I expected?"
"Even my Aura is being completely suppressed."
Black Ship, whose stamina was beginning to falter, stared at the final bend up ahead.
If she ran out of steam and got easily passed before even reaching the final straight, that would be humiliating...
Jungle Pocket was the same. She gritted her teeth, hoping to make one last stand against Platinum on the home straight.
But...
A fast turn meant a truly fast run!
Platinum glanced at the final bend now before her. The white sleeves of her Winning Live Costume fluttered freely as she surged onto the final turn.
On the inside bend, where strength was supposed to be tested to the limit and stamina burned away!
Of the so-called three strongest, the silver-white girl in white stockings was the first to take the turn—and she completely revealed herself to be in a class above the other two geniuses!
The Silver-white Heavenly Horse seized the lead on the bend, reached the final straight, and unleashed a terrifying Final Burst!
Slightly behind Platinum...
Black Ship and Jungle Pocket were both left behind. Their reactions were uncannily alike: they stared, dumbfounded, at Platinum opening up such a huge lead even on the turn!
They didn't even have time to react before they witnessed the pure, holy phantom of the Goddess appear behind Platinum!
Jungle Pocket and Black Ship, the two well-traveled geniuses considered most likely to defeat Platinum, had never seen anything like it!
But unlike the previous appearance, this time there was more than one Uma Musume in her sights. In that instant, nearly a dozen girls from the mid-runner pack became her prey.
The phantom of the Goddess, whose body was almost identical to Platinum's, loosed another radiant golden arrow in the next instant!
"Ugh..."
"Did I come all the way to Japan... just to broaden my horizons?"
"I was wrong. Platinum isn't just some hunter. She's practically the Hunting Goddess herself!"
In Jungle Pocket's view, after the phantom of the Goddess vanished, the Silver-white Figure of Heavenly Horse Platinum continued to pull farther away as she charged onto the home straight!
What was going on?
Her own stride hadn't slowed. She could still just about maintain her momentum. So how could Platinum... still get even faster?
"Is this... the Heavenly Horse's true full power?!"
Filled with frustration and unwillingness to give up, Jungle Pocket kept trying to catch up, but all she could do was watch the gap between them grow.
Two lengths!
Three lengths!
Four lengths!
Before they had even reached the halfway point of the home straight, the distance between them was expanding like a thunderclap.
A memory abruptly came back to Jungle Pocket: before the race, she had confidently told Agnes Tachyon:
"If the opponent is Platinum, it could be tricky..."
"I'll win!"
Urgh...
It's over now!!
On the big screen in the stands...
The view switched in an instant, locking onto the Silver-white Heavenly Horse in the lead.
As the runners approached the halfway point of the home straight, Platinum had opened up a massive six- or seven-length lead! The screen showed only Jungle Pocket's figure, desperately fighting not to be left behind. Black Ship, in third, had already been pushed completely offscreen.
The entire crowd fell silent, as if they had witnessed something utterly unbelievable.
When they passed the halfway point!
There was no doubt about it—she was flying!!
Eight lengths! Nine lengths! Ten lengths!
Come on, this wasn't a Three Strong Contend at all. It was the Heavenly Horse's solo performance! Platinum was declaring that no one was worthy of being her dance partner!
With only a short distance left to the finish, she was still widening the gap!
Twelve lengths! Thirteen lengths! At last...
Even after the enormous screen zoomed out, they still couldn't make out the runner in second place.
At the Derby, the race all of Japan had been waiting for, the Silver-white Figure reached the finish line first, all alone, with the bearing of an absolute queen!
With her arrow quiver empty, Platinum crossed the finish line first!
She won by fourteen lengths! An absolute Dominant Victory! Platinum crossed the line and claimed the championship!
She had shattered the impossible amid the doubters and become the queen of her era!
The supreme dance of the Japanese Derby—she had delivered the greatest performance of all! She was the Heavenly Horse! This was Platinum!
In the stands, the pitch-black girl Manhattan Cafe sat up straight, her expression solemn, like a well-behaved student.
"Cafe, you're next... You'll be facing Platinum."
Manhattan Cafe blinked and pointed at herself.
"Huh? Me?"
"Are you serious? I'm facing Platinum?"
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58. The Dominant Champion of the Triple Crown of Transformation! Platinum's Astonishing Statement Shocks the Emperor for a Hundred Years!
There was no time to mourn Jungle Pocket's defeat. Next up to face Platinum was—Manhattan Cafe!
"Are you serious? I'm facing Platinum?"
Even the usually calm, composed, and taciturn Manhattan Cafe was having trouble keeping it together.
From her perspective, Japan's opinion of Platinum had probably changed something like this...
—An arrogant rookie tries to challenge the authority of the Classic races before her time!
—Powerful Platinum wins an overwhelming victory over Mejiro Dober with Looking Back at the Moon!
—Reckless Platinum takes on the premier Classic race, the Japanese Derby, after a string of Experienced Battles!
—The great Heavenly Horse dominates the track and claims the Undefeated Two Crowns. The Emperor of the Classic races is welcomed to reign supreme at the final Kikuka Sho!
And now, it was Manhattan Cafe's turn to make her move at the Kikuka Sho.
But this Little Heavenly Horse was a monstrous runner who could race twice over 2,400 meters in a single week!
What's more, that second race—the Japanese Derby—was the toughest and most fiercely contested of all six GI races in the Japanese Triple Crown and the Fillies' Triple Crown. It was run on a Heavy Track, too. Calling Platinum a "super endurance queen" wouldn't be an exaggeration!
She had won every race she'd entered so far, undefeated even under the brutal conditions of Experienced Battles, and claimed the Undefeated Two Crowns. She was now just one step away from the legendary, supposedly impossible Triple Crown of Transformation!
Manhattan Cafe was well and truly humbled.
When an Uma Musume was talented and powerful enough, with an impressive record to match, people forgot how young she was. Doubts and contempt from the past gradually disappeared, replaced by... anticipation!
Take the first emperor to win the Undefeated Triple Crown, Symboli Rudolf. At the time, she competed in the Japan Cup, one of the few international GIs open to foreign competitors in Japan. It drew top Uma Musume from overseas.
As a newcomer, Symboli Rudolf was already hugely popular. She and Chimei Representative drew the attention of spectators both at home and abroad, who wanted to see how the two Japanese Triple Crown Uma Musume would fare against foreign champions!
Platinum was the same. When she entered, people saw her as an overly young super rookie who should come back next year.
But after winning the Oaks, she was already being hailed as a Classic Year talent with a chance at winning a GI.
Now, after claiming a Dominant Victory in the Japanese Derby, this Heavenly Horse had earned the right to be compared with seasoned older runners. Despite having debuted just over a month ago, she was now worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Tokai Teio, the Undefeated Two Crowns champion!
The thought of this unprecedented monster entering the Kikuka Sho to face her in the final showdown left Manhattan Cafe in disbelief.
"Black Ship will definitely avoid the Kikuka Sho."
"And Jungle Pocket isn't all that good at long distances. She may switch to the Japan Cup."
"That means you're the only one who might be able to defeat Platinum."
Agnes Tachyon wore a nearly crazed smile as she looked with interest at her friend, Manhattan Cafe.
To many people, Manhattan Cafe was just an ordinary Uma Musume. She had suffered heavy defeats in her previous races and had even avoided the Japanese Derby...
So right now, no one considered Manhattan Cafe a genius or a monster.
But Agnes Tachyon knew the truth: Manhattan Cafe's real talent lay in long-distance races. She was a prodigy with the potential to challenge the strongest Long-Distance King of the era, Mejiro McQueen.
Give Manhattan Cafe enough time, and she'd have a real chance against Platinum! There was plenty of time for her to grow between the Japanese Derby and the Kikuka Sho!
If she couldn't beat her at middle distance, why not compete at long distance instead?
"I..."
"I understand."
Manhattan Cafe didn't say anything about how tricky it would be or that she would win.
The taciturn girl simply clenched her fist and rekindled her fighting spirit. She wouldn't let Platinum scare her so easily.
"The Kikuka Sho. The final leg of the Classic Triple Crown, the Triple Crown of Transformation."
"There have been other two-crown Uma Musume who fell here!"
Would Platinum become one of them?
"Platinum!! Platinum!! Platinum!!"
"Strongest! Strongest! Strongest!"
Before you continue