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...
Facing Gray Castle's vicious kick, Imperial Scale showed no intention of dodging.
She raised both arms to guard. A tremendous force slammed into her wrists, forcing her three steps back.
Gray Castle's momentum did not drop at all. She leaped up again and brought her leg down in a fierce axe kick.
Imperial Scale crossed her arms to block, but the power in Gray Castle's legs was terrifying.
And this time, she had built up momentum.
Imperial Scale was forced to bend forward to disperse the force, dropping to one knee.
With a boom, spiderweb cracks spread across the ring around her knee.
Seeing this, Gray Castle sprang forward with a front kick, her right foot chopping toward Imperial Scale's neck like a battleaxe.
Imperial Scale rolled aside to dodge, then sprang back up with a kip up. She thought the two of them had opened some distance, but the moment she turned around, a vicious gust of wind was already coming at her.
Whoosh!
Gray Castle's shuffle side kick was right in front of her.
But Imperial Scale was a top tier Mecha Girl after all. Her reaction speed was beyond question. With a slight turn of her body, she dodged the side kick, then avoided the follow up spinning side kick aimed at her chest.
Before the ring match, she had wrapped cloth around her chest. It was not very comfortable, but for the battle at hand, it made her movements lighter and faster.
Gray Castle tried to step in for another kick, but Imperial Scale seized the opening and slipped aside.
Like a phantom cheetah, she closed into Gray Castle's guard and drove her elbow forward.
Bang!
Gray Castle failed to retract her leg in time and was forced back dozens of steps. Her eyes were full of shock as she stared at Imperial Scale.
After exchanging blows with Imperial Scale, she was certain that Imperial Scale did not know any real fighting techniques. Her reactions came purely from instinct, and her ability to withstand Gray Castle's attacks relied entirely on reaction speed and absurd physical strength.
But that strength was ridiculous.
Gray Castle weighed more than two hundred pounds. When Imperial Scale got in close, she had almost no room to generate power, and her sudden strike had barely any buildup behind it. Yet with sheer brute force alone, she had nearly sent Gray Castle flying.
Five meters away, Imperial Scale shook out her wrist expressionlessly, then took up an attacking stance again.
What made Gray Castle's hair stand on end was that this time, Imperial Scale scraped her left foot against the floor twice, bent her right knee, and lowered her body.
It was exactly the same opening stance Gray Castle had used earlier.
What did that mean?
Had she already learned her fighting technique?
Gray Castle refused to believe it.
"Hmph. Just putting on an act!"
A flash of brutality crossed Gray Castle's eyes. She stepped forward, pivoted, and launched a side kick, her whipping leg so fast only an afterimage remained.
Imperial Scale copied Gray Castle and threw a side kick of her own.
The two Mecha Girls' kicks collided.
Boom!
The spectators felt a blast of wind rush over them, leaving them shaken.
On the ring, Imperial Scale's expression did not change.
Gray Castle, however, had gone pale.
Just now, she felt as if she had kicked a solid lump of iron. It would not budge, and sharp pain shot through her ankle.
This Mecha Girl… was she made of iron?
Was she this hard even in human form?
Imperial Scale withdrew her leg, tapped her toes against the floor, and rolled her ankle.
She did not look like she was in pain. Rather, she seemed to be adjusting to the leg technique she had just learned.
"Again!" Gray Castle gritted her teeth and launched another flying kick.
Her combat techniques had been taught by a martial arts master specially hired by Richard Cheng. Since she was tall, with especially long legs and terrifying leg strength, that master had tailored her training around kicking techniques. A full power kick from her could easily smash through a load bearing wall one meter thick.
When fighting the other Mecha Girls earlier, she had not used any kicking techniques at all. She was afraid one kick would cripple them outright and cause trouble for her Master.
Even when fighting Imperial Scale just now, she still had not used her full strength.
But now, she had no choice but to go all out.
At that moment, Imperial Scale felt to her like a bottomless abyss. Strange, eerie, and unfathomable.
But she did not want to lose.
Whoosh!
Air tore past Gray Castle's toes.
This kick was even faster, bringing with it a string of sharp bursts through the air.
Richard Cheng broke out in a cold sweat when he heard that sound.
He knew Gray Castle was no longer holding anything back. Just as he was about to warn her not to get carried away, he saw Imperial Scale kick from the opposite side as well.
Her speed was no slower. With a sharp hiss, even the surrounding air seemed to twist and ripple.
If Gray Castle's kick was a swinging battleaxe, then Imperial Scale's kick had even greater force, like a warhammer swung in a full arc.
"Not good!" Richard Cheng's eyes widened in horror.
The instant their legs collided, the veins on Gray Castle's forehead bulged, and her body lost balance at once.
The stability she had trained for so long, her solid lower stance, her unbreakable defense, all of it collapsed.
Her body stiffened completely from the intense pain.
Imperial Scale seized that opening.
She spun up, her left leg snapping out in a flying kick.
Both feet slammed into Gray Castle's chest.
Gray Castle flew off the ring like a torn sack and crashed heavily onto the ground.
"You lost." Imperial Scale stared coldly at Gray Castle, her expression indifferent.
Gray Castle's entire right leg was twisted, making it obvious how much damage that kick had caused.
She was clutching her leg, her face full of pain, unable to speak.
The ESW club's medical team had already gathered around her, and Richard Cheng looked deeply anxious.
He glanced at Imperial Scale, who stood coldly on the ring.
In the end, he still did not say anything to blame her.
The two Mecha Girls had fought fairly on the ring. If Gray Castle could knock other Mecha Girls off, then Imperial Scale could naturally do the same. If he went up and complained now, he would look like he could not accept losing.
Besides, Gray Castle's blunt personality had already caused some misunderstandings.
What worried him most right now was her mental state.
Losing to Imperial Scale in the previous race had already hit Gray Castle hard enough. This ring match was supposed to help her relax, yet she had been beaten by Imperial Scale again. Wouldn't she become even more withdrawn after this?
...
Clap, clap, clap!
That kick had been far too satisfying.
Applause rang out from the surrounding stands.
The Mecha Girl host, who had been staring in a daze, snapped awake and nervously stepped onto the ring.
"Ahem, the champion of this ring match is Imperial Scale, contestant from Stella Club!"
She did not even ask whether any other Mecha Girls wanted to challenge her.
She could not stand this job anymore anyway.
As soon as today ended, she was quitting.
In front of everyone, Imperial Scale counted the one million prize money in the suitcase. Then, under the crowd's astonished gazes, she hugged the suitcase tightly and stepped down from the ring.
Derek Su watched Imperial Scale walk up to him with a strange expression.
When she was still on the ring, Imperial Scale's walk had already looked a little off.
After she stepped down, it became even more obvious.
She was limping slightly.
But Imperial Scale looked calm and expressionless, so Derek Su could not tell what was actually going on with her.
"Imperial Scale, are you okay?" he asked carefully. "Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"
"No." Imperial Scale said flatly, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly.
She handed the suitcase to Stella beside her, then went silent.
No matter how Tunbao cheered, chattered, acted cute, or rolled around, Imperial Scale ignored her completely.
Derek Su decided to leave the arena first, then meet up with Absolute Shadow and the others.
After that, he would have the medical team take a look at Imperial Scale.
But just as they left the arena area and stepped onto the quiet street, he felt someone tug at his sleeve.
He turned around and saw Imperial Scale biting her red lip, her pretty face pale, staring at him with tearful eyes.
Derek Su froze. "Imperial Scale, you…"
"It hurts." Imperial Scale parted her lips and said pitifully, "It hurts so much…"
Derek Su: "…"
So after all that,
her calm expression earlier had been an act.
...
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