Rebirth: The Universe's Hidden Heiress-Chapter 49: Exposed

On the field, Yuka stood with a whip in hand, confronting Lory.

But waiting was not her style. After several seconds, Yuka was the first to raise her whip and swing it towards the opponent.

The tip of the long whip hooked onto Lory’s mechanical arm. Lory immediately raised his hand, grabbed the whip with his mechanical hand, and yanked it backward, trying to pull the pink mecha towards him.

At the moment of Lory’s exertion, Yuka’s lips curled into a smirk, and she casually released her grip.

Unexpectedly, her sudden letting go caused Lory to lose balance, falling backward heavily onto the sandy ground.

Fortunately, the soft sand cushioned the fall, and the mecha was not significantly damaged.

Seizing the opportunity, Yuka sprinted forward, transforming her left arm into a sharp sword, and thrust it at the blue mecha.

Lory rolled away, kicking out as he did so. Though his kicking missed, he narrowly avoided Yuka’s attack.

Roukujou sipped tea, "Dear audience, this battle is between the fifty-sixth and ninety-eighth ranked competitors. Pinky... Lady... let’s just stick with Pinky, shall we? It’s hard for Pinky to beat the blue mecha."

"I’ve seen the opponent’s previous fights. He’s also a close-range fighter, very fierce and decisive. His combat attacks are no less than Pinky’s," Roukujou observed. "But have you noticed? Since her return, Pinky seems to carry a more lethal intent in her movements."

Roukujou stroked his chin, "How to put it... she used to target her opponent’s mechanical arms or other parts to disable them before attacking the cockpit. But this time, every attack seems aimed at eliminating her opponent from the match."

["Now that you mention it, it does seem like that."]

["Are you saying Pinky is more aggressive today? I think she’s fine."]

["Can I... I’ve always thought Pinky is trained, the kind who has really killed before."]

["Don’t say that, it’s too scary. Stop spreading rumors!"]

On the field, Lory rolled to his feet, having thrown the opponent’s whip far away, only to find something else being thrown at him.

Instinctively, he raised his arm to block and retreated—only to be entangled in a fishing net.

The white, hook-laden net entangled his arms and mechanical legs, and with every movement, Lory felt the increasing hindrance.

Yuka tossed aside the torn net on the ground, and before Lory could completely tear the net apart with his long sword, she swiftly attacked, thrusting her sword at the blue mecha.

Lory decided to first use the flat side of his longsword to block Yuka’s thrusting sword, then swiftly flipped his wrist, slicing through the fishing net that bound him, and freed himself.

As Yuka’s sword blade grazed his sword, the sound of metal clashing was slightly piercing but was quickly drowned out by the sound of the waves.

Lory only saw a streak of black flash before his eyes, followed by a crisp sound from his cockpit.

His heart skipped a beat as he rapidly retreated.

The remnants of the fishing net on the blue mecha tangled with his mechanical arm, and the iron hooks of the net got stuck in the gaps of the joints, causing a momentary stiffness in Lory’s left arm.

Seeing the pink mecha rapidly approaching, he clenched his teeth, plunged his sword into the sandy ground, drawing an arc while raising the flat of his blade—

Wet sand flew up, striking Yuka’s mecha and smearing her cockpit.

"Good heavens!" Roukujou exclaimed, "Using such a tactic to block the opponent’s vision! But this is indeed allowed in the competition. Let’s see how Pinky responds."

On the field, Yuka’s vision was obstructed by the wet sand, forcing her to stop and wipe her protective barrier with her mechanical hand.

However, a thin layer of wet sand remained on the barrier, making everything look like it had a frost glass effect.

Yuka frowned and then unleashed several sword strikes towards the blue silhouette in her vision, leaving deep sword marks on the opponent’s mechanical arm.

Lory, clutching his nearly falling mechanical arm, decided to temporarily retreat. He turned and ran.

Yuka, seeing him flee, bent down to wash her protective barrier and the head of her mecha with seawater from a sandpit, clearing her vision significantly.

Lory had already reached the edge of the coconut grove.

He knew he was not far from the opponent’s defense point, but he had no intention of capturing their Oniyon.

He was aware that the red team still had a player alive, likely guarding the point. His reason for not returning to his defense point was simple: Link couldn’t defeat the pink mecha, and his job was to drag out the remaining twenty-something minutes. This game would be a even match.

He admitted that his opponent was strong, but to defeat them was still a bit out of reach...

Boom—

The blue mecha was suddenly hit by a cannonball. Even after he had run a distance to evade, the explosion upon his head caused severe damage to both mechanical arms.

"Hit him!" Ayoi exclaimed excitedly, "Yuka, I’m pulling out now."

"Okay," Yuka nodded and continued towards the edge of the coconut grove.

Yuka had informed Ayoi to come over the moment she saw the blue mecha head towards the coconut grove.

With Ayoi’s incredibly high accuracy, the opponent would be heavily damaged if not killed.

Lory, having lost his head vision, relied on the protective barrier of the cockpit to observe his surroundings.

Amid the shattered coconut shells, he spotted a black object. Looking at the map, he realized he was standing on the red team’s defense point now. Lory immediately figured out what it was.

It was the Oniyon!

Lory immediately bent down, picked up the Oniyon, which was about the size of a coconut, swung his mechanical arm, and hurled it away. If he could throw it into the sea, the red side would fail in defense and not receive the additional points for the Oniyon.

Yuka saw the blue mecha throw a black object and immediately realized what it was—The firepower’s range was so extensive that the coconut trees at the defense point couldn’t escape damage. Due to the intense vibrations, the Oniyon had fallen, and the blue mecha had picked it up and thrown it away.

Roukujou slapped the table in frustration, "Oh no, how could this be? That piece of Oniyon is worth five points!"

["Oh my, the opponent is so sneaky!"]

["It’s part of the strategy, I guess. For victory, there’s probably nothing you wouldn’t do."]

["That’s how competitions are, even if you’re uncomfortable with his tactics, there’s nothing you can do."]

["Right, ultimately, it’s the results that matter in a competition, not the process."]

On the field, Yuka paused briefly but, realizing the Oniyon had already sunk into the shallow beach, continued running forward and spoke into her headset, "Ayoi, our Oniyon has been thrown out, near the second fishing boat on the shallow beach."

"I’m on it!" Ayoi immediately responded.

Yuka reached the coconut grove and swiftly drew her sword.

Lory, facing her, hastily dodged to the side, protecting his severely damaged arms.

"Snap!" Yuka’s sword tip plunged an inch into the cockpit, and cracks immediately appeared on the protective barrier of the blue mecha.

Lory continued to retreat, swinging his sword at Yuka while stepping back.

As Yuka withdrew her sword, Lory blocked his cockpit with a horizontal strike and kicked towards her waist.

Yuka was hit in the waist and stumbled backward, but quickly regained her balance and engaged in a sword fight with Lory.

Roukujou, clutching his cup, watched the screen intently. "Folks, Pinky and her opponent are evenly matched. Even though the opponent has lost its head, looking a bit eerie, his skills and strength are on par with Pinky, blocking every one of her attacks..."

"Pinky’s making a move!" Roukujou suddenly stood up, shouting excitedly, "Pinky has knocked away the opponent’s longsword! But her opponent hasn’t given up, and they continue to fight!"

On the field, Yuka’s patience was running thin. She had exerted her strength to knock away Lory’s longsword and then pushed him into the sand, delivering a sword strike. But Lory reacted quickly, blocking Yuka’s descending sword with his mechanical arm and then counterattacking with a palm strike.

Yuka and he collided head-on with their mechanical arms, the sound of the impact echoing, and wet sand flying everywhere.

The two fought fiercely, inseparable.

Yuka glanced at the countdown timer for the match, then delivered a hard punch to the blue mecha, worsening the cracks on its cockpit.

Lory struggled even more fiercely, but Yuka, with less than fifteen minutes left in the match, lost interest in continuing the fight. She rolled to her feet, stepped hard to break the blue mecha’s mechanical leg, and said to Ayoi, "Ayoi, I’m going to their defense point to deal with the other mecha. Finish off this blue one with your artillery."

"Roger that!" Ayoi responded immediately.

Yuka turned and left the coconut grove swiftly. She couldn’t let the match end in a draw.

Lory, seeing the pink mecha leave, knew her intention and immediately raised his mechanical arm, firing a long-range shell to stop her.

Simultaneously, Ayoi’s artillery fire followed, striking his cockpit.

The explosion spread outward from the coconut grove. Ayoi fired her last bullet, contentedly watching the blue mecha being removed from the field by the system.

She turned back to continue searching for the Oniyon in the sea.

Meanwhile, the long-range shell exploded behind Yuka. She quickly dove to the ground, minimizing the damage from the attack. Still, her mechanical arm and leg suffered some damage. She quickly got up from the ground and continued towards the blue team’s defense point.

Link, hiding at the defense point, heard the explosion. Seeing Lory disappear from the map at the opponent’s defense point, he cursed. He immediately turned from behind the rocks, lifting his head to see a pink figure moving towards him.

Without hesitation, Link fired a short-range cannon, and sure enough, saw the pink mecha dodge and go to behind the rocks.

The waves washed over the rocky shore, where the slippery and pointy rocks posed a risk of causing a fall. A wrong step could lead to severe damage to the mechas or even a fall into the sea.

Yuka skillfully navigated between the rocks, dodging the enemy’s gunfire.

Link had only a dozen or so bullets left, just enough for one round. As the cooldown for his cannon approached, he watched the approaching pink mecha with sweat forming on his forehead.

Gritting his teeth, he stood up and fired all his remaining bullets at the opponent’s mechanical legs.

Yuka leaped onto a rock, evading the bullets from the blue mecha. She prepared to jump again, intending to land in front of the blue mecha and finish him with a sword strike, but the opponent fired a cannon shot right after.

Yuka dodged sideways, but the slippery rocks caused her to wobble—

Seizing the moment, Link lunged at the pink mecha on the rocks, and they both plunged into the sea.

The surging waves quickly engulfed both mechas. Link pushed the pink mecha harshly, watching her sink deeper into the sea, then swam up, quickly surfacing and scrambling onto the seaside rocks, preparing to climb up.

Roukujou clenched his cup, murmuring, "It’s over, it’s over, it’s over, dear audience, Pinky has fallen into the sea."

"If Pinky hadn’t trained for this, no, even if she had, it’s over for her," he said. "Pinky’s mecha was already damaged, and now she’s been pushed into the sea. With such strong waves, how can she possibly get back up?"

Link, on the field, evidently shared Roukujou’s thoughts. The pink mecha couldn’t possibly come back up. He just needed to wait for the system to remove his opponent from the field. If there was still someone left on the opponent’s side, it would be a draw. If not, they would win.

Although this might be the toughest win they had, a win was a win.

SPLASH—

The pink mecha burst through the surface of the water.

Link stiffened. Before he could turn around, his mechanical leg was firmly grasped by a pink arm.

Yuka smirked coldly, pulling the blue mecha forcefully into the sea with a loud splash.

With seven minutes left in the match, Yuka flung the flailing blue mecha onto the sharp rocks.

The mecha trembled, and Link inside heard a crisp sound from the protective shield of the cockpit.

The cracks, already present from previous bullet strikes, widened, allowing seawater to flood in, submerging the virtual figure’s nose in the cockpit.

Link struggled desperately, flailing his mechanical arms in an attempt to fire at Yuka one more time. The sea water slowed his movements, but the pink mecha’s actions were as swift and precise in the water as on land, its cold, sharp sword piercing violently into his cockpit, pinning him against the rock he was leaning on.

Yuka retracted her sword-arm, watching the blue mecha sink into the sea. She moved her arms fluidly, swimming through the water like a real fish, circling around the map’s defense point, searching for the opponent’s Oniyon.

With five minutes left in the match, Ayoi’s excited voice came through the headset, "Yuka, I found our Oniyon!"

"Well done," Yuka replied.

In the sea, Link struggled to surface, but Yuka, having located their Oniyon, did the same as the blue mecha earlier—swinging her arm, she threw the black Oniyon into the distant sea, watching it quickly swallowed by the water.

Yuka climbed onto the rocks, returned to shore, and ran swiftly towards her defense point. With one minute left in the match, Link’s struggle ceased. His cockpit filled with water, the system declared him dead and removed him from the match.

The system announced:

[Congratulations to the Red Team for winning.

Remaining players on the field: Red Team, 2; Blue Team, 0.

Status of Oniyon at the defense points: Red Team, Oniyon intact; Blue Team, Oniyon lost.]

[This match is concluded.]

Yuka barely had time to wave at Ayoi before being transported out of the map by the system.

Back at the starting interface, in the team chat box, Ayoi was excitedly describing the thrilling match process to Alex. The exhilaration was palpable even in the text.

They were not only receiving the basic ten points per person but also five points for successful defense and another five for causing the opponent’s defense failure.

Yuka watched her ranking jump significantly, reaching number eighty-four.

Min suddenly asked: [Would you like to view the team ranking?]

Yuka nodded. "Sure."

Min pulled up a new interface, showing the team’s name, [Yeah, Whatever], with its ranking alongside her personal ranking.

They were at the fifth.

Yuka raised her eyebrows and asked Min, "How is this team ranking decided?"

[Similar to the top hundred individual matches, in team competitions, if a team defeats a top hundred ranked permanent team, they can replace their ranking.]

’So, we’ve just defeated against the fifth-ranked team?’

Yuka shared the exciting news about their team’s rise to the fifth rank with Ayoi and Alex.

Ayoi was thrilled, exclaiming, "We are badass!"

Alex, though happy, asked more calmly, "Shall we continue playing?"

"Of course," Yuka replied.

Throughout the weekend, the trio practically lived in the underground arena. However, they never encountered another team ranked higher than fifth again.

Most of their opponents were temporary teams with loose coordination, some even comically fighting amongst themselves, allowing Yuka and her team to win matches often in less than twenty minutes.

Due to the sheer number of matches they played, they aggressively climbed the leaderboard to third place in the team competition. This rise in team ranking also significantly boosted their individual rankings. Alex and Ayoi broke into the top two hundred, while Yuka entered the top fifty.

Roukujou, thoroughly enjoying narrating the entire weekend’s events, saw his streaming channel’s viewership soar. His audience frequently exceeded a million viewers, catapulting him from a small to a big-time broadcaster.

Mr. Bald made a good sum betting on the rising star player "Lady"—Yuka’s alias in the arena. However, every time he counted his winnings, he felt Yuka and her team gave him strange looks, almost as if the money he won was somehow theirs.

The butler, after learning Yuka’s underground arena nickname Lady, became exceptionally supportive of her participating in the competitions.

Sometimes, when Yuka and her friends wanted to relax at school, the butler would appear, whispering, "Go to the underground arena, go compete, go on, go." It seemed eager to hear more people address its master as a lady!

Yuka’s rapid rise in the rankings inevitably drew attention, especially from those ranked above them.

Morris, observing the pink mecha on the leaderboard, smiled to himself.

Shawn, seeing the continual ascent of Yuka’s ranking, clenched his teeth and told his friend, "I want to form a permanent team."

He knew that he couldn’t keep running from the competition.

Facing the taunts of his rival, Philip, Lory had a complex expression, "Wait until you face ’Lady.’ If she doesn’t pin you to the ground, then come back and brag."

Philip just shrugged, "We’ll see. Our Heraclitus Academy will definitely win. By the way, are these guys definitely from UUA?"

Lory replied, "Most likely. They’re not from the Confucius Academy, those guys only use swords."

Philip, smiling, patted Lory’s shoulder. "That’s what makes it interesting. I’ll message the Confucius Academy guys to come and watch, let’s all play in the team competition. Sooner or later, some of us will meet them. Let’s see just how good they really are."