Rebirth: The Universe's Hidden Heiress-Chapter 98: Martial Town (2)

Bang!

Shiro abruptly halted his run, swiftly ducking into a nearby building on the street. He glanced at the slight crack on his cockpit and then cautiously peeked out, trying to locate the source of the gunfire.

"I’ve encountered their sharpshooter," Shiro communicated through the team’s voice chat. "They’re on a building’s upper floor."

Outside the game, Roukujou set down his water cup, commenting, "The match has started off intensely! Four players from both teams have already encountered each other. Pinky ran into the blue team’s player who was descending the mountain, and Brownie laid in wait, with the enemy running right into her attack range. Both teams have had their first round of engagement, with no clear winner yet, as they are still in the stage of sizing up their opponents."

[Saltyfish, can you tell us more about team Swordsmen?]

[I want to know too, what makes them so strong to be the top team in the team competition?]

[Why isn’t there a commentator for the other side? It’s a bit unusual to only hear Saltyfish commentating.]

Roukujou glanced at the comments and explained, "Swordsmen only participates in team competitions, so they don’t have their own commentator."

"This team’s three players are said to be brothers, all using black mechas, and their distinct swordsmanship clearly indicates they are from Confucius Academy," Roukujou continued. "Everyone probably knows about Confucius Academy, right? It’s one of the top five mecha academies. It’s the opposite of Heraclitus Academy, which exclusively uses heavy firearms and artillery, while Confucius Academy specializes in melee weapons, mainly long swords."

[Melee weapons? Then doesn’t that mean Pinky will easily win?]

[Calm down, we don’t know that. This is a team match.]

[Yes, never underestimate your opponent. And since they’ve maintained the top position for so long, they’re definitely not weak.]

"Let’s focus on the match for now," Roukujou said, "Pinky and her opponent are starting their second round of attack."

Yuka had also recognized her current opponent.

The top player from team Swordsmen.

Their swordsmanship was indeed strong, reminding her of a warrior she challenged in her last life.

"I’ve run into an opponent at the foot of the mountain," Yuka reported in the team’s voice chat.

Ayoi’s voice followed, "I’ve also met one on the upper floor. I fired a shot at him, but he’s hidden himself now."

Yuka adjusted the blade of her weapon.

Ichiro, sensing a movement from ’Lady’s’ mecha, gripped his long sword tightly, ready to counterattack. In his focused gaze, ’Lady’ slowly switched her blade to her left hand and then quickly tossed it aside.

Ichiro was puzzled by ’Lady’s’ move and before he could react, he saw a spherical object flying towards him.

Instinctively, he dodged to the side, but the sphere circled around his mecha, a long chain trailing behind it, wrapping around his mecha.

Startled, Ichiro spun in the opposite direction, trying to unwind the encircling chain. He drew his sword with his free arm, aiming to cut the chain.

Just as his sword was about to hit the chain, Yuka rapidly wound the chain around her arm, wrapping it tightly around her wrist, and then yanked it fiercely to the side.

Ichiro, who was only entwined twice by the chain, was suddenly flung in the opposite direction.

Ichiro’s only thought as he was sent flying was the immense strength of ’Lady’.

Before he could regain his footing, Yuka had already closed the distance. She retracted the chain, leaving only a short segment with the spiked ball attached, and swung it as a melee weapon directly at him.

Ichiro blocked the incoming iron ball with his sword, the force of the impact pushing him back several steps. The spikes scraped against the sword, emitting a grating sound.

Seizing the moment, Yuka kicked out towards her opponent, but to her surprise, Ichiro had anticipated her move and kicked back.

Their mechanical legs collided mid-air, forcing both to retreat several steps and once again creating distance between them.

Yuka pondered thoughtfully. Ever since the beginning of the battle, she had felt that her opponent was familiar with her moves, likely having studied her match recordings.

This intrigued her. ’Will he be able to counter my chained hammer, a weapon I rarely use in matches?’

Meanwhile, Ayoi touched her firing button, closely watching the opponent’s position in the building across. It seemed like the enemy had hidden behind a large wooden cabinet in a cluttered shop, making it hard for her to pinpoint their exact location. She was eager to use her artillery, but remembering Yuka’s warning about the risk of setting the whole street ablaze, she resisted the urge to fire.

Suddenly, a wooden box was thrown out. Ayoi instinctively shot at it, realizing only afterwards that it was a decoy – they were in an ancient town where explosive weapons were unlikely.

Ayoi raised her gun, ready to aim at the black mecha inside the building, but then heard a cracking sound of wood breaking from behind the house.

She quickly stood up from her position, only to find that the opponent had broken open the back door of the building and escaped.

Rapidly, Ayoi informed her team through the voice chat, "The opponent has escaped, I’m using the artillery now."

A loud boom followed, and her artillery shell exploded near the black mecha, enveloping the area in a burst of flames.

The black mecha immediately plunged forward, rolling into another building for cover.

Shiro, clutching the half of his cockpit that had been damaged by the explosion, let out a quiet sigh of relief. Fortunately, the other half of his body wasn’t affected, and he could still move. Escaping shouldn’t be a problem.

The artillery fire ignited the wood, and flames rapidly engulfed all the buildings within the blast radius. The fire quickly spread to the area near Shiro. He hurriedly got up and continued to flee, escaping Ayoi’s firing range.

With a puffed face, Ayoi spoke into the team channel, "Yuka, the opponent dodged my artillery and is heading your way. Be careful."

Alex asked, "Do you need support?"

Yuka responded, "Not for now." She was already quite familiar with opponents using swords.