BATTLE FOR STARS

But today, Julia was beginning to worry.

That earlier Phoenix Dance Across the Heavens had already consumed nearly half of her mech’s energy reserves, yet it still hadn’t achieved the desired result. And judging from Lina’s condition, she didn’t seem overly exhausted.

Even if Julia used the technique one more time, the chances of victory still wouldn’t be very high.

Time was running out.

After a brief moment of thought, Julia decided to attack again.

This time, she would no longer compete in speed.

She would compete in strength.

The mech’s neural system was directly linked to the mech fighter’s nervous system. When the pilot exerted greater physical strength, the mech’s output increased proportionally as well—perfectly synchronized, limited only by the mech’s available energy supply.

The pill didn’t just enhance Julia’s speed.

It also boosted her strength.

Although Julia normally disliked deciding battles through brute force, she had no other choice now. Besides, Lina’s mech was not a power-type machine. That gave Julia a chance to gamble on raw strength.

Of course, she wasn’t trying to overwhelm Lina completely through force alone.

She only needed a single opening.

As long as even the slightest opportunity appeared, Julia believed she would never miss it.

Julia’s mech charged forward once again.

This time, she used no engine bursts at all.

She simply swung her blade down directly.

Not the fastest strike—

But one carrying terrifying power.

Clang!

The two high-frequency blades collided again.

This time, Julia used at least twice her previous strength.

Lina’s blade was smashed aside, and Julia’s blade swept diagonally past Lina’s body.

Looks like it’s working.

Julia immediately followed with a second strike.

Then a third.

Every attack was fierce and explosive, forcing Lina backward again and again.

Julia focused herself completely and continued the assault, unleashing more than a dozen consecutive strikes. Every blow made Lina appear increasingly strained, as though she could barely withstand the pressure.

Just as everyone began worrying that Lina might fall at any moment—

Ding Yufei, sitting inside the VIP room, suddenly smiled.

He knew Lina wasn’t incapable of matching Julia’s strength.

She was using the Deflection technique from Tai Chi blade arts to redirect the force behind Julia’s attacks.

So although Lina appeared to be retreating continuously, in reality every step backward remained perfectly controlled and rhythmic.

And each time she redirected force, the amount of energy she consumed was far lower than Julia’s.

Which meant she was conserving far more energy.

Although Julia’s relentless barrage of attacks forced Lina steadily backward, she never found a true opening during the process.

At one point, she even suddenly used an engine burst to combine with her blade strike—

But it still failed.

After more than twenty continuous attacks, even with the stimulation of the pill, Julia’s body was beginning to struggle. After all, beneath the mech armor, she was still flesh and blood.

Her body needed recovery time.

Just as Julia decided to slow down temporarily and rethink her approach—

The situation suddenly changed.

Lina redirected Julia’s latest strike aside.

But this time, Lina didn’t retreat.

Instead, she borrowed the force and suddenly closed the distance.

Although both blades had been knocked away from each other, that didn’t stop Lina from attacking with the rest of her body.

Her knee slammed violently into Julia’s abdomen.

Even with the cockpit’s cushioning foam protecting her, the impact still hit Julia hard enough to cause a brief moment of sluggishness.

Lina instantly seized the opportunity.

Her high-frequency blade thrust viciously toward Julia’s mech’s head.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, Julia activated an engine burst and avoided the fatal hit.

The blade only carved a wound across her shoulder.

It was the first successful damaging strike of the entire match.

Although the two sides had exchanged countless clashes earlier, aside from occasional mech collisions, neither had landed a truly effective hit before now.

The damage itself wasn’t severe.

It wouldn’t seriously affect Julia’s remaining combat capability.

But almost everyone realized something at that moment—

Lina had begun taking control of the match.

Julia retreated to the side.

The Central Computer immediately displayed the assessment:

Overall mech performance reduced by 2.3%.

The number seemed small.

But the psychological pressure it created inside Julia was far greater than that percentage suggested.

Only now did Julia truly begin to feel genuine danger.

Up until this moment, she had always believed victory belonged to her eventually. It was only a matter of time.

Inside the VIP room, Prince Balk’s expression had become noticeably ugly, though he tried his best to remain calm.

He had never expected that even cheating would fail to secure victory.

At the current rate, Julia would no longer be able to kill Lina.

By the traditional rules of mech fighter tournaments, the victor would execute the defeated opponent to display their glory.

But now, that wish seemed increasingly impossible.

Naturally, Belina and Ding Yufei felt the exact opposite.

They were overjoyed.

Because it meant their friend was likely going to survive this match without any more “accidents.”

Inside the cockpit, Julia’s body trembled slightly.

She couldn’t believe that none of her attacks so far had produced any meaningful result.

A massive shadow of fear seemed to descend over her.

At this moment, Julia completely failed to understand how Lina could block all of her attacks—

Just like earlier, Lina couldn’t understand why Julia’s reactions had suddenly become so much faster than her own.

For the first time, Julia felt fear.

Am I really going to die here today?

A glance at the timer showed that nearly seven minutes had already passed.

Which meant she only had one or two final opportunities for all-out offensive bursts.

But Julia was not someone who surrendered easily.

She was still an elite mech fighter.

She had fought in thousands of matches.

And during the past two years, she had never lost once.

Until the very last second, she would never admit defeat.

Julia took a deep breath and adjusted her stance.

She prepared for one final gamble.

In her eyes, Lina’s condition wasn’t much better than her own. Early in the match, Lina had already shown signs of fatigue. There was no way she could be in excellent condition now.

From this point onward, the battle would depend entirely on who could perform better under pressure.

And from that perspective—

The outcome was still undecided.

Julia charged toward Lina once more.

Leap.

Slash.

This time, she gripped the blade with both hands.

As long as she could knock Lina’s weapon aside, she could force close combat. And with her superior reaction speed, she would still have a chance.

Although Lina had no idea that Julia had taken a pill with a strict time limit, she could tell from her opponent’s momentum alone—

This attack would likely become the most dangerous exchange of the entire match.

Lina showed not the slightest carelessness.

She held her blade with both hands—one gripping the hilt, the other gripping the forward section of the blade—and met Julia’s strike head-on.

Boom!

A massive collision erupted.

Even though Lina used both hands and applied Bagua-style force redirection, the impact still numbed her hands slightly from the shock.