Chapter 40: Tenno Sho (Autumn) – Part 2

What will the two front-runners do with the entire field chasing them down!?

Whoa—back to the two leaders up front! Both suddenly drop their pace sharply around the midpoint of the fourth corner. Is this a tactical ploy, or has the early high pace finally taken its toll? The stadium erupts in a mixture of screams and roaring cheers. No one has any idea how this is going to end.

In this Tenno Sho filled with brutal inside–outside mind games, what kind of conclusion awaits?

With the leaders slowing, the pack behind surges forward at an incredible rate. On the inside comes Farside Fake, and pushing up on the outside is Stay Gold.

Wearing green silks, Mejiro Bright also launches her challenge, beginning a long, powerful sustained drive.

Now comes Fuchu’s famously long homestretch—the final clash of power and pride.

On the inside, Silence Suzuka looks to be struggling slightly. As they straighten out, Witolum Pedes moves into the lead. But Silence Suzuka refuses to give in—she digs in and fights back, matching strides with enough force to take the lead again.

The horses behind them burst into their final sprints one after another, but the gap remains. Oh—Stay Gold breaks free and closes in on the front! Right behind her, Farside Fake shoots up along the inside. Emtei Hurricane is having a tougher time.

Four hundred meters remaining. Silence Suzuka hangs on with everything she has. Witolum Pedes is nearing her limit. Closing in is third-placed Farside Fake. Mejiro Bright pushes forward with desperate determination. Emtei Hurricane, in pink silks, unleashes her final burst of speed.

But Witolum Pedes still leads—half a length ahead of Silence Suzuka.

Two hundred meters left. Stay Gold charges in from the outside—what a terrifying late burst! Four lengths behind the front—and cutting it down in an instant. Is she going to settle it here!?

She’s coming—coming—coming! And Witolum Pedes explodes forward in a single devastating move! She had this much power left at this stage of the race!?

In an instant, she pulls away from Silence Suzuka.

This is strong—unbelievably strong. Her lead widens rapidly. Is this the winning blow?

Silence Suzuka still refuses to let go. Behind them, third-placed Stay Gold begins to fade.

With power to spare, Witolum Pedes crosses the finish line.

The winner is Witolum Pedes! With a frightening, overwhelming performance, she seizes the Autumn Shield!

Second place is a photo finish—will it be Silence Suzuka on the inside, or Stay Gold on the outside?

Witolum Pedes, despite stumbling out of the gate, dominated the field with an awe-inspiring run! Unstoppable, undeniable—the Classic champion now stands atop all Uma Musume, Seniors included!

Silence Suzuka’s POV

It had been a perfect start—so smooth that by the time we rounded the second corner, I could no longer hear the footsteps behind me. Yet as we neared the end of the backstretch, that sound grew steadily louder.

I expected her to stick close to me the way she had in the Mainichi Okan. If not that, then at least wait to settle the race in the final stretch. I never imagined she would close in here.

Still, the lead is mine. Mine alone.

But her speed… there’s no other word except unthinkable. It’s so fast that, at first glance, I could have mistaken it for a last-ditch final sprint. By the time we rounded the third corner, she was already drawing up beside me. I didn’t have the luxury of easing up—but she had even less. That’s how clearly she’d chosen this point to decide the race.

Even so, I refuse—absolutely refuse—to give up the lead.

I pull ahead, she catches up. She pulls ahead, I catch up.

Then, just as I tried to overtake her for the third time after she edged in front—

—my vision suddenly vanished.

This wasn’t my usual world. It was narrow, dark.

I tried to run, but it felt like my legs were tangled in cotton—no matter how I pushed, I couldn’t move forward.

Was I scared? No… not exactly. If anything, there was a strange, almost soothing comfort to it.

But at the same time, it felt as if a gentle hand held me in place, draining the will to leave. If I let myself sink into this place, I knew I’d never return to the world of racing again. A dark, bottomless space. No matter how hard I struggled or how desperately I tried to move my legs, nothing responded.

My breath tightened. I couldn’t even tell which direction was forward. I was scared.

The place that felt like it lasted either a single instant or an eternity finally released me.

The moment relief washed over me, a powerful wave of discomfort shot through my body.

My speed had visibly dropped compared to before entering that world. I tried to accelerate, but my legs were far heavier than usual. Even when I tried to lengthen my stride, the left corner—normally my specialty—felt unstable, as if my balance itself had become unreliable. Maybe it was the lingering influence of that world; even the act of imagining myself running now carried a faint shadow of fear. That’s how it felt.

And it seemed she experienced the same world too—her speed had dropped as well. If that place is truly her domain… just how many times has she fought that fear? How much terror has she overcome to stand here?

By the time we reached the homestretch, I had recovered some speed, but nearly all my stamina had been spent regaining it. I hadn’t been able to relax my breathing at all—of course I was running on empty. But the same should hold true for her. No, if anything, after saving her energy at the start and accelerating from there, she should have been the one to hit her limit first.

Just a little further. I force my unresponsive legs to keep turning, reaching desperately to reclaim the lead.

But everything is overturned in an instant at the remaining 200 meters.

A burst of acceleration so sudden I didn’t even have time to register it—her figure, which had been at the right edge of my vision, suddenly appeared directly in front of me.

After running at such a relentless high pace… no one would ever believe a horse could unleash a finishing kick like that. And all I could do was watch it from the closest seat imaginable.

In the end, all I could manage was barely holding off Stay’s pursuit by the narrowest margin.

Witolum Pedes’ POV

The blissful moment I had wished would last forever vanished in an instant, and my consciousness was forcibly dragged back into reality. Just like in the Derby, it felt as if my speed dipped slightly the moment I exited the domain…

When I looked sideways, Suzuka-san—who had slowed just as I had—was running with a strained, almost pained expression. Honestly, if she’s suffering that much, I feel like she could just stop the race…

But we’re still racing, so I move around her from the outside and take the lead. The cheers, the screams, the angry shouts from the stands all rush past me on both sides.

The Uma Musume behind me are getting a bit closer too, but… I’m supposed to hold back for now, right? If someone comes from behind, the plan was to wait until they get close enough, then pull away in one go… I think.

There were several “if this happens, do this” types of plans, but if I can win, it’s probably fine.

Suzuka-san is right on my tail, but something feels off about her footsteps. Maybe the crowd noise is drowning it out, but it’s not the pleasant, steady rhythm I’m used to hearing from her.

Just as I’m thinking that, at around the remaining 200 meters, Stay-senpai starts closing in from behind. Her face looks far more intense than usual, and I could almost swear I hear her shouting something—probably just my imagination.

She’s scary, so… I’ll accelerate a little harder than usual.