Uma Musume Pretty Derby: To The Basement Chapter 193: Uma Musume Pretty Derby: To The Basement [193]

In the center of the pitch-black room, the Cereus flower finally absorbed enough energy. After a slight quivering of its buds and leaves, it slowly blossod.

White petals gently glowed, sacred and beautiful as moonlight, dispersing the darkness around them.

At the flower's center, a yellow pistil sat like a king on a throne, surrounded by knights clad in pure white, reflected clearly in everyone's pupils.

"Wow~" Symboli Rudolf and Tokai Teio gasped in awe.

"Trainer Mizuno, quick, look! It blood!" Air Groove excitedly said, eyes fixed on the extraordinary beauty unfolding before her.

She reached out, shaking Mizuno's shoulder beside her, hoping to share this incredible mont together.

However, unexpectedly, Mizuno didn't respond at all. Instead, due to her shaking, he toppled backward, falling limply to the ground like a felled tree. Find the newest release on Novᴇl_Fire(.)net

"Trainer!"

"Sora!"

"Trainer Mizuno?" Air Groove stared down at Mizuno, her pupils violently trembling.

Her hand, which had just touched his shoulder, hovered uncertainly in midair.

Wasn't Trainer Mizuno perfectly fine a mont ago? How did he suddenly collapse just as the Cereus blood?

"Sora?" Symboli Rudolf quickly rushed to Mizuno's side, checking his condition.

After examining him, she reached a surprising conclusion:

"He's… asleep..."

"Asleep?" Hearing Rudolf's words, Air Groove beca even more confused.

Hadn't Trainer Mizuno drunk the stamina potion just like she had? Shouldn't his physical and ntal states have remained at full strength, making sleep impossible?

Why was she still perfectly energetic now—feeling as if she could easily last another hour—yet Trainer Mizuno, who drank the sa amount of potion, collapsed first?

Unable to comprehend, Air Groove picked up both empty potion bottles—hers and Mizuno's—and carefully compared them.

And then, she discovered the truth hidden within these seemingly identical bottles:

"This…!" The bottom of Mizuno's empty bottle was several milliters higher than her own!

In other words, when Mizuno had divided the potion into halves, his share was actually smaller than hers!

"How could this be..." Holding the two identical-looking but clearly unequal bottles, Air Groove's head buzzed in disbelief.

Did Trainer Mizuno accidentally pick the wrong bottle?

No! Given Trainer Mizuno's godlike observational skills—able to read her microexpressions or instantly identify various potions—such a careless mistake was impossible.

The only plausible explanation was that Mizuno had deliberately done this from the start!

"But why…?" Air Groove clutched her head, desperately trying to grasp the significance behind Mizuno's intentional action.

The differing capacities ant she had consud more stamina potion than Mizuno, allowing her to stay energized beyond the initial 36 hours, whereas Mizuno would inevitably collapse sooner.

"Which ans…" Air Groove trembled slightly, her gaze fixed in shock at Mizuno's unmoving form on the floor.

Trainer Mizuno's potion effect had actually expired a long ti ago! He had held out all this ti purely through sheer willpower until the Cereus blood!

And the reason Trainer Mizuno chose to endure the crushing exhaustion after his stamina potion wore off, forcing himself to stay awake while ticulously mixing nutrients…

Was simply so she could have enough energy to fully witness the entire bloom of the Cereus flower.

Only now did Air Groove finally understand why Mizuno collapsed precisely the mont the Cereus flower blood.

Because he had long burned himself out, leaving behind only white ashes…

"…"

Although the Cereus blooming at the center of the room was indeed incredibly beautiful, a shining pearl amidst the darkness, capable of seizing the gaze of any traveler passing by—

Right now, it was utterly incapable of capturing Air Groove and the others' attention.

Because all they could see at this mont was Trainer Mizuno, lying motionless in a dark corner of the room, his drained body having turned a lifeless white.

"I'll take Trainer Mizuno back to rest!" Symboli Rudolf declared, lifting Mizuno's arm onto her shoulder and hauling him up from the ground.

"I'll help too!" Tokai Teio rushed forward, supporting Mizuno's other arm on her shoulder, joining Rudolf as they carried him out of the room.

"…" Air Groove reached out her hand, lingering helplessly in midair, feeling a deep, dull pain as she watched Mizuno's receding figure.

And just as Mizuno's figure completely disappeared from her sight, the Cereus flower at the room's center, affected by the growth potion, prematurely ended its blooming period. The once radiant petals slowly dimd, finally wilting completely.

Touching the wrinkled remnants of the flower, Air Groove recalled its flower language.

Cultivating a Cereus required imnse ti and effort—from planting the seed to finally witnessing its bloom, it took at least three or four years.

Yet despite this enormous investnt, under natural conditions, the Cereus blood for rely four short hours at night.

Thus, the flower language of Cereus was: "A mont of beauty, an eternity within an instant."

Though fleeting, its beauty left an eternal impression in people's hearts.

Exactly like that mysterious man who suddenly appeared before the Three Goddess Statues—despite only glimpsing him for an instant, Air Groove could never forget him, his silhouette replaying endlessly in her mind day and night.

She wanted to find him again, wanted to see him once more…

So, when Trainer Mizuno ca to her while she shut herself in her dorm embroidering endlessly, asking about her deepest wish, Air Groove had answered:

I want to personally grow a Cereus flower and watch it bloom with my own eyes!

Thus, Trainer Mizuno—originally knowing nothing about flowers—self-taught himself to accurately mix plant nutrients in a short span of ti just to fulfill her wish.

He even deliberately drank less stamina potion so that she could have enough ti and strength to witness the entire bloom…

Yet, now that Air Groove had truly cultivated a Cereus herself and watched it blossom, she was startled to discover…

She actually didn't like this fleeting, epheral beauty.

Because it was simply… too brief…

Brief like leaves drifting in the wind—shattered the instant you grasped them, leaving no chance to embrace and savor properly. What it left behind wasn't eternal beauty, but deep, lasting regret…

"…" Air Groove pressed a hand to her chest, gazing quietly toward the direction Mizuno had left.

Perhaps, what she truly wished for…

Was sothing entirely different…