Rebirth: The Universe's Hidden Heiress-Chapter 73: Decaying City (2)

Philip’s thoughts were cemented by the system’s announcement. He stood up, his expression serious, and told his teammates, "Prepare to attack."

Yuka’s team also received the system’s reminder. Alex asked, "Shall we start attacking?"

"Wait," called Ayoi, "they’re moving!"

In Ayoi’s view, the red mecha suddenly dashed from behind the statues, moving quickly towards a nearby building.

"Let’s fight," Yuka didn’t hesitate, "Ayoi, fire!"

Ayoi immediately shot a volley of bullets at the red mecha, hitting with every shot.

Philip, about to run out of the square to join his teammates and head to the opponent’s defense point, received a barrage of bullets from his opponent.

Startled for a moment, Philip swiftly maneuvered to dodge the bullets, running back to the cover of the statues. Breathing heavily, he hid behind a large stone, barely protecting his right arm that was almost severed.

"Brownie has launched the first attack!" Roukujou’s spirits lifted. "After hearing the system’s warning about a possible ban, the players have finally started moving. Hephaestus came out of cover, and Brownie took the opportunity to strike, causing severe damage to his right arm. Good job, Brownie!"

[Brownie is amazing!]

[Go Pinky! Defeat them harshly!]

"Everyone, don’t panic," Olivia, clenching her hands, tried to reassure her audience with a smile. "Hephaestus has only suffered a minor arm injury. We must believe in him; this damage won’t affect his shooting accuracy."

[Nonsense! Hephaestus’s right hand is almost useless!]

Under the commentator’s table, Olivia clenched her palms tightly, her mind in turmoil. The brown mecha’s accuracy was very high, a fact she knew but hadn’t given much attention to. She hadn’t expected the opponent’s precision to be so extraordinary, with every shot hitting Hephaestus squarely.

Olivia wondered, ’Is the opposing team really composed of UUA freshmen? Or are they seniors from other academies forming a mixed team?’

But she couldn’t reveal Hephaestus’s real condition, as it might disappoint the audience, leading them to unfollow and switch to watching "Lady."

If Hephaestus lost, she planned to use typical commentator rhetoric to assure viewers that Hephaestus had done their best, discussing the difficulty of the match and eliciting sympathy.

By deleting negative comments, she could likely retain her regular followers.

If Hephaestus won, she would definitely hype up his comeback against the odds, gaining more fans and attention for the team and herself.

Though the live chat was somewhat skeptical, out of trust for Olivia and Hephaestus, they continued to flood the screen with messages of encouragement [Go for it!].

"Hold your positions!" Philip shouted in the team voice chat. "They have a sniper on the Central Building!"

Teammate A replied, "They’re too high up for me. There’s a gazebo here; I’ll climb up and should be able to snipe that sniper."

Unaware of the color of the opposing mecha, Philip stayed close behind the statues, instructing another teammate, "Bombard their defense point!"

"Roger that!" replied Teammate B.

Positioned at the edge of the square’s forest, Teammate B stealthily crept out of the tree line and fired a long-range cannon towards the shopping street where Alex was located.

Ayoi, positioned high up, immediately noticed the opponent’s intentions and quickly contacted Alex. "Alex, get out now!"

Alex’s reaction was swift. He immediately left the commercial street, darting to the intersection with the road and throwing himself forward. A blast erupted behind him, and in the blink of an eye, the commercial street was transformed into ruins, with bricks and debris flying everywhere.

Rising amidst the charred remains and smoke, Alex announced, "I’m okay!" Under Ayoi’s cover, he swiftly moved away from the exposed road and took shelter behind a nearby building.

In the commentary room, Olivia looked anxious. "Hephaestus’s teammate hit the opponent’s defense point, but they didn’t take down the golden mecha."

Roukujou breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness... Wait, where did Pinky go?"

Olivia also noticed that "Lady" had disappeared into the park. She furrowed her brows slightly and softly asked the audience, "Did anyone see where ’Lady’ went?"

[Pinky headed towards the square.]

[Right when the long-range cannon fired, ’Lady’ ran off.]

On the map, Yuka was swiftly and silently moving through the forest. The park was connected to the square, and she quickly reached the edge of the woods, spotting the red mecha that had fired the long-range cannon.

Once emerging from the woods, Yuka caught the mecha’s attention. It immediately raised its mechanical arm, preparing to fire a short-range cannon at her. Instead of stopping, Yuka accelerated, and at the moment the enemy raised its arm, she hurled her longsword.

The sword spun through the air, slicing towards the red mecha.

Caught off guard by the thrown weapon, the mecha dodged the incoming blade, causing its arm to shift direction and misfire the cannon.

The red mecha’s pilot realizing his mistake, but he was still reassured by Philip’s claim that the opponents weren’t strong. Thus, he felt a momentary relief, thinking the slight deviation wouldn’t change the outcome.

But he was deadly wrong.

Yuka dodged the cannon shot, lunging forward. She raised her leg, bent her knee, and forcefully struck the cockpit of the red mecha.

In the half-second of hang time, she caught the falling longsword she had thrown earlier, gripping it firmly, and then brought it down with force.

The red mecha, knocked back by Yuka’s kick, had created a distance between them. However, this very distance allowed Yuka’s sword to strike precisely. The pilot of the red mecha heard the sound of his cockpit shattering.

He was eliminated from the match.

Onlookers, both Roukujou and Olivia, were left with their mouths agape, and the live chat went silent, everyone still reeling from Pinky’s swift and decisive takedown.

Two seconds later, someone finally managed to send a trembling message: [Is she even human?]

"Brilliantly done!" Roukujou shouted, her face flushed with excitement, "That’s our Pinky!"

"Let’s review that fight!" Roukujou’s eyes sparkled, "Pinky first accelerated towards her opponent while throwing her longsword. At that moment, she had already calculated the distance and the sword’s falling time, maybe even anticipating the opponent’s reaction..."

"Because of dodging her attack, the opponent shifted his firing direction. Although Heraclitus Academy’s team is excellent at firepower, any deviation is fatal on the battlefield, especially when facing a strong opponent!"

"Pinky skillfully avoided the short-range cannon, then used a knee strike, catching her thrown weapon while creating distance. Did you all notice? The distance between Pinky and her opponent was just right for using her longsword!" Roukujou couldn’t help but clap and shout, "She calculated everything!"

"This is the quality of a top melee combat expert!"

The live chat burst into excitement: [Pinky is incredible!]

[The king of close combat, worthy of the title!]

[Ahhh I’m screaming like crazy, my neighbors are going to complain!]

[I’m your upstairs neighbor, and I’m screaming too!]

[So cool, how can Pinky be so badass! I really want to know Pinky’s gender, damn it!]

Meanwhile, Olivia’s smile stiffened slightly, as she tried to maintain composure, "Don’t lose heart, everyone. We all know that Origio isn’t particularly skilled in close combat. The opponent is strong, but Hephaestus and the other teammate are strong, too. As long as they locate the enemy, they can easily deal with ’Lady’s team from a distance."

[Really?]

[But the opponent is really strong...]

[I was blown away by ’Lady’s skills...]

Olivia managed to calm the excited audience and quietly deleted some comments unfavorable to Origio, focusing back on the match.

On the field, Philip watched as a blue dot suddenly vanished from the map, his lips quivering. His teammate didn’t even get a chance to speak in the team voice chat before being silently taken down by the opponent.

Philip was forced to confront the answer he least wanted to face—The opposing team was most likely "Lady’s" team.