Pegasus? Actually, I'm a doctor!

"Stumbling out of the gate, Platinum accelerates from dead last, overtaking the Mid-runners and then the Followers!"

"The only opponent standing in her way is Daiwa Scarlet, the favorite who's been leading the pack!"

"Without a doubt, this is the most significant debut race this year... perhaps even in recent years! Please watch until the very end, because you may never see such an intense debut again!"

From the beginning, it was considered a foregone conclusion, the only question being how many lengths Daiwa Scarlet would win by, but now... a surprise has finally emerged!

--Suspense!!

6. A Debut Race for the History Books! Absolute Victory!

On the fourth turn!

"Finally—!"

Daiwa Scarlet rounds the final bend, with only the home stretch ahead.

"Teio-senpai and Vodka are watching from the stands, so I have to win beautifully!"

The spirited Daiwa Scarlet always demands victory and first place from herself, and she has the potential to achieve it.

With rivals watching and this being just a simple debut race, Daiwa Scarlet is determined to win big! By at least two or three lengths!

Daiwa Scarlet wants to win the race flawlessly, to be recognized by the invincible Agnes Tachyon!

What the spirited young Daiwa Scarlet doesn't realize is—

Behind her, the Follower Uma Musume are being overtaken in an instant by Platinum, who's running wide! Daiwa Scarlet, leading in first place, is unaware of the shockwave Platinum's acceleration is sending through the entire venue!

"After I win, I'll go see Tachyon-senpai..."

"--Huh? Wait a minute!!"

The next moment, Daiwa Scarlet seems to see something unbelievable, her expression filled with astonishment.

In the corner of her eye, she sees Platinum, who stumbled at the start and looks so delicate and sweet that she doesn't seem like an Uma Musume at all!

For an Escape Horse in the lead, seeing another Uma Musume means the gap between them is extremely close.

The situation... has become more critical than expected! Daiwa Scarlet's heart leaps into her throat.

How can an Uma Musume who had a terrible start and is running on the unfavorable outside track... be so fast, catching up to her side on the home stretch?

Only someone with terrifying burst speed and excellent stamina could catch up this quickly! The only variable... has emerged!

The commentator's excited voice echoes throughout the venue!

"Daiwa Scarlet and Platinum have both entered the final stretch, with the other Uma Musume more than three lengths behind."

"This race has become a duel between them!!"

The only Uma Musume standing in Platinum's way is... Daiwa Scarlet!

This is the reality facing Platinum, and she couldn't be happier.

The home stretch is now in its final phase, with less than two hundred meters remaining, and Daiwa Scarlet, who wants to escape to the ends of the earth, is right beside her!

An unbelievable scene unfolds: the Escape Horse who led from the start and the Chaser who was in last place are now neck and neck, engaged in a final showdown!

The no-longer-lethargic Kulantta girl, in her first race since transforming, is reprising her role as an Assassin Girl.

With Daiwa Scarlet the overwhelming favorite and even Symboli Rudolf, the greatest Uma Musume in Japanese history, watching, even when most of the participating Uma Musume have lost their will to fight...

Platinum, as an uninvited guest, has suddenly burst in as the assassin! Completely changing the original battle plan!

How could the entire venue, and even Daiwa Scarlet herself, not be shocked?

And that silver light shows no signs of weakening or stopping, in fact... its incredible speed is gradually increasing!

For the Kulantta girl Platinum, participating in Uma Musume races is anything but boring.

If she were just some boring assassin on Terra, Platinum would probably just want to laze around.

If this were Terra.

Then Platinum might say, "I've never enjoyed being an assassin..."

But now it's different. Being an assassin in Uma Musume races, overtaking and hunting down those surprised opponents one by one, is much more interesting!

Moreover, a race only takes a few minutes from start to finish, she can compete with these Uma Musume, and there are large sums of prize money to be earned.

Risk-free, easy work to earn money, who wouldn't like that?

Then, after taking in the sight of Daiwa Scarlet's voluptuous figure beside her, Platinum stops looking at her opponent and shifts her gaze to the finish line ahead.

"This is a light and refreshing task, but... it's a bit boring."

"Let's make this quick—!"

The once-calm eyes of the girl Platinum are now ablaze with fiery passion.

She has developed some interest in the race, but she also wants to finish it quickly, to swiftly defeat Daiwa Scarlet.

Platinum is already considering researching her next opponent!

The lazy Assassin Girl's words, lacking any reverence for Daiwa Scarlet, quickly reached the ears of Daiwa Scarlet beside her.

Amidst the high-speed run and the howling wind, Daiwa Scarlet's ears twitched slightly, as if she had heard something unbelievable.

"Huh??"

This slow-starting Chaser Uma Musume... doesn't see me as a rival?!

Daiwa Scarlet, excellent enough to consistently place in the top two in any race, would never allow herself to lose to an unknown Uma Musume who didn't seem to have undergone any professional training!

Refusing to be defeated, Daiwa Scarlet gritted her teeth, moving her powerful legs earnestly, stomping on the somewhat rough ground, striving to maintain her momentum.

Incredibly, facing Platinum running alongside her, the Escape Horse, already having expended too much energy maintaining the lead, was struggling to even keep pace!

"No, I can't lose..."

The next second, a scene that shocked the entire stadium unfolded! The situation, where the leading Escape Horse and the late-surging Assassin were running side by side, underwent a dramatic change.

Daiwa Scarlet's view shifted from being able to clearly see Platinum's face beside her to only being able to see... her back!

Like an assassin, Platinum reversed the situation and overtook Daiwa Scarlet in one fell swoop!

Before the finish line, in those final few dozen meters of the track, the high speed she had accelerated to showed no signs of waning.

One horse length... two horse lengths... three horse lengths...

Moreover, under the astonished gaze of Tokai Teio, Vodka, and many spectators, she accelerated wantonly, expanding her advantage!

Four horse lengths!

Under countless astonished gazes, the silver brilliance finally reached the finish line with a five-horse-length lead!

As she crossed the line, the commentator exclaimed the final amazement in an extremely excited tone.

"Platinum! Platinum crosses the line first and wins!!"

"Burn it into your minds, this is a debut race destined to be recorded in Japanese racing history!"

"The silver-white assassin is as swift and dazzling as a ray of light, achieving a super victory with a full five-horse-length lead in that one-on-one battle!"

"Without a doubt, she will be a generation's queen who dominates the Triple Crown race like Agnes Tachyon. Please look forward to her future contest with her senior, Agnes Tachyon!"

Behind the second-place Daiwa Scarlet, she had already left the unknown third-place Uma Musume behind by as many as six horse lengths!

Moreover, Platinum had a slow start and fell behind quite a bit.

In other words, if it weren't for Daiwa Scarlet, this Assassin Girl could have achieved an overwhelmingly dominant victory with an extremely rare absolute difference!

In an instant, the whole place erupted!!

"Platinum! Platinum! She looks so cute, I've decided to become her fan from now on."

"How did she do it? How can someone with such powerful abilities have a slow start?"

"What an amazing genius, will she challenge the Classic Triple Crown or the Fillies' Triple Crown next year?"

"That terrifying late burst is just like the second [Agnes Tachyon]!"

"Such a cute Uma Musume, the winner's stage must be amazing!"

"Platinum!! Platinum!!"

(Preview: No escaping the winner's stage, a brief ending)

7. The Winner's Stage, Will She Go?

(PS: No escaping the winner's stage)

Even though the spectators who came to watch because of Daiwa Scarlet didn't see that honor student cross the line first and win...

...they didn't feel any regret or disappointment in their hearts. On the contrary, they were mostly deeply shocked and pleasantly surprised!

"Platinum!! Platinum!!"

"As long as she doesn't get injured, she can definitely become a GI winner in the Classic races."

"Such a cute Uma Musume, the winner's stage must be amazing?!"

As many voices of discussion rang out one after another...

On the race track, the Uma Musume behind also crossed the finish line one after another.

Compared to the regret and frustration on the faces of other Uma Musume who lost the race and failed to debut smoothly, Platinum, who crossed the line first, had the most indifferent and natural expression.

In the Assassin Girl's heart, she thought about what to do next with a slightly pleasant feeling.

(In that case, I've debuted successfully.)

(Next, I can properly prepare for the [Triple Crown of Transformation].)

Platinum also knew that the only strong opponent worth mentioning in this debut race was Daiwa Scarlet.

But in any case, no matter how excellent Daiwa Scarlet's talent is, she is currently just an extremely young Uma Musume who will challenge the Triple Crown race next year and has not fully grown.

If challenging in Classic races marks a Uma Musume as "young," and the older Grade race Uma Musume are considered to be in their "prime" or "peak," then Daiwa Scarlet, who is just hovering around her debut, is not much different from being in her "infancy."

In the Triple Crown of Transformation, the talents of her opponents may not necessarily be much stronger than Daiwa Scarlet, but their overall quality and strength will definitely be more than a little better, so she needs to deal with it more seriously.

(When the time comes, I can also try other running styles.)

Platinum, having experienced the Chaser running style, doesn't think she can only be limited to this one tactic.

In her opinion—

The "virtue" of an Assassin is just to hunt down opponents; she will never stick to one method. Whatever wins is what she will use.

(Uma Musume only need to devote themselves to the race and run hard. But Platinum, as an Assassin in the rear, has a lot more to consider...)

As Platinum continued to think about the race, Daiwa Scarlet, the red-haired girl not far from her, was trembling slightly as she walked over.

This famous honor student was biting her lip, her eyes full of disbelief.

Daiwa Scarlet's desire to win is well-known in Tracen Academy. How could she immediately accept her defeat?

What's more, it was a huge gap of five lengths! Not a narrow defeat by half a length!

"Congratulations... you won beautifully."

As an honor student, Daiwa Scarlet still maintained her manners and offered greetings to Platinum, the victor.

Faced with Daiwa Scarlet's words, Platinum nodded slightly, giving her response.

"You've already performed very well. I thoroughly enjoyed it!"

This was a sincere compliment from Platinum.