Echoes of Dimensions

Chris's gaze remained calm, even excessively sharp.

She did not answer immediately. Her eyes slowly swept across the opponents in the corridor—some dejected, some deep in thought, some forcing themselves to remain composed—before finally settling on Kitasan Black.

"Diamond."

She spoke, her calm voice steady. "Remember today's race. This was not a victory of tactics, not an accidental burst of form, and not even a simple gap in ability."

She paused and looked at Satono Diamond. "This was a difference in dimensions. Kitasan Black is using her running to redefine long-distance racing."

She was turning this field into a stage reserved for her alone.

Satono Diamond's pupils contracted slightly.

"This means," Chris continued, her tone turning firm beyond dispute, "that the upcoming Tenno Sho Spring will no longer be an ordinary G1 race for us. It will be a war called a challenge."

She looked into Diamond's eyes. "But precisely because of that, surpassing her has value. From this moment on, our preparations must be more thorough, more—without holding anything back."

Satono Diamond closed her eyes.

She drew in a deep breath, her chest rising and falling, then slowly exhaled.

When she opened her eyes again, the trace of confusion in them had been suppressed, replaced by a resolve tempered as if in fire.

"Yes!" She nodded forcefully, her voice not loud but utterly resolute. "I understand, Trainer!"

A little farther away, Mikki Rocket was practically hanging off Trainer A Tian's arm, even her chestnut ponytail drooping.

She was breathing hard, and her legs trembled faintly, but her eyes shone with startling brightness as she stared straight in Kitasan Black's direction.

"Trainer! I saw it!"

Her voice was hoarse from running herself breathless, yet brimming with excitement. "The place Senior Little Kita is at—it's so high, so far away! I—I'm