Chapter 453: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: Ezra Ashenlocke Vs Fatima Drakes III

"WOOAAHHHHHH!!"

The crowd cheered excitedly as Fatima spun through the air, weaving past the numerous gunshots fired from Ezra’s handguns.

Her body twisted as bullets cut past her one after another.

She moved her shoulders.

Turned her waist.

Pulled one of her legs closer to her body.

Every movement was small, but it was enough to change the position of her body in the air and allow another bullet to pass by her.

Then...

She finally landed on the ground.

The moment her feet touched the fighting platform, Fatima drove the Heavy Sword into the ground in front of her, using the massive weapon as a shield between herself and Ezra.

Clap!

Fatima’s hands suddenly came together.

Fatima Drakes had entered the fight believing that she could overpower Ezra through her advantage in close combat.

However, she hadn’t expected him to be this difficult to break down.

Even though it was obvious that she possessed greater physical strength than Ezra, that advantage hadn’t allowed her to completely suppress him.

Whenever her Heavy Sword came down toward him from different directions...

Ezra always found a way to deal with it.

He redirected her attacks.

Changed the angle of her strikes.

Used his handguns in ways that made her attacks miss.

Then, before she could properly regain her balance...

He would counterattack.

Fatima was the one who was slowly beginning to receive visible injuries as the exchange continued in close range.

Her Academy training uniform was already torn in several places by the bullets that grazed her body.

Small lines of blood ran down her arms and legs.

The wounds weren’t deep enough to affect her movement yet.

But if the fight continued like this...

Ezra would slowly continue adding more injuries to her body until one mistake eventually became enough to decide the match.

That was why Fatima decided that it was finally time.

Time to truly go all out.

Because if she continued fighting Ezra like this...

She might actually lose.

A massive fluctuation of Cognis flowed within her body.

The change was immediate around her.

And Ezra noticed it.

His plain black eyes shifted toward Fatima’s hands.

However, he was already too far away to stop her from performing the next Alchemy Ignition.

Fatima had deliberately widened the gap between them during the earlier exchange.

Now...

That distance had become useful.

Ezra immediately placed the Kel-Tec PMR-30 and Glock 20 back into his Space Bag.

His hands moved again.

This time...

He took out his Desert Eagle and Glock 40.

At that same time...

Fatima’s hand came down at almost the same moment.

SLAM!

The Earth Alchemy Circle she had formed expanded across the ground with a powerful glow.

Brown Cognis flowed out from her body.

It spread violently through the fighting platform, rushing across the surface like branching lightning.

The flow continued.

Further.

Further.

Until it almost covered the entire fighting platform.

The people watching widened their eyes.

The crowd could clearly see that this Alchemy was different from the smaller attacks Fatima had used earlier.

The amount of Cognis being released was on another level.

"Mass Alchemy!"

Patrick, who had been quiet for some time, suddenly shouted into the microphone.

His voice immediately spread through the entire Arena.

"The first display of Mass Alchemy by Lady Fatima Drakes in this Combat Festival!"

Patrick said as he rose slightly from his seat, his eyes fixed on the fighting platform.

The whole fighting area began to shake.

The vibration spread through the ground under the influence of Fatima’s Mass Alchemy.

Ezra’s plain black eyes moved around him.

He had now stopped running towards Fatima.

He could already feel the difference.

With the amount of earth material Fatima currently had within her grasp...

This was no longer going to be a simple close-range exchange.

"This is about to get more interesting!"

Patrick said, still unable to hide his excitement.

The ground answered Fatima’s Earth Mass Alchemy.

Large sections of the platform began to move.

Pieces of earth rose from different areas.

They came out from the ground like pillars.

But unlike ordinary pillars...

Their forms twisted and extended like enormous vines made entirely from compressed rock.

The ground beneath Ezra suddenly began to rumble.

Ezra wanted to move.

But immediately...

A large section of earth rose beneath him.

The speed of the movement caught him off guard.

Ezra was carried upward by the rising pillar.

His body rapidly moved higher into the air as the massive pillar continued extending from the fighting platform.

The crowd watched the display of Fatima’s Mass Alchemy with disbelief.

One moment...

Ezra had been standing on the fighting platform.

The next...

He was already being carried high into the air.

Many of the High-Ranking Alchemists watched with impressed expressions.

Even some of them leaned slightly forward in their seats as they observed the control Fatima had over such a large amount of earth material.

The Duchess of Drakes smirked.

There was clear satisfaction on her face.

In another section of the Arena...

Vera, Veda, Cyrus, and the other First-Years who had chosen to watch the fights sat in the section assigned to the first-years.

Their attention was focused upward.

Ezra was now almost near the opened roof of the Arena.

The huge pillar had carried him that high, and Fatima wasn’t done yet.

This was only the beginning of her Earth Alchemy attacks.

Because right here...

Right now...

She was finally going to give it her all.

***

Before Ezra and Fatima’s fight began...

Inside the waiting room where Fatima had been staying...

Ring!

Ring!

Fatima took out her Zphone 14.

She tapped the holographic image of the call logo.

The image immediately changed.

A Holographic Screen appeared in front of her.

"Fatima."

An elderly woman’s voice came from the Holographic Screen.

"Mother."

Fatima slightly bowed her head as she politely greeted her mother...

The Duchess of Drakes.

"Your next fight is against the child of Ash, right?"

The Duchess asked calmly.

"Y-yes, ma’am."

Fatima answered hesitantly.

She already had a bad feeling about where the conversation was going.

"Okay."

The Duchess replied simply.

"I want you to make sure you humiliate him during your fight."

Her words were spoken casually.

However, Fatima’s expression immediately changed further.

"But, Mother..."

Fatima tried to reason with her.

She was clearly reluctant to do something like that.

"Fatima."

The Duchess’ voice became firmer when she called her daughter’s name.

Fatima’s mouth slowly closed.

She couldn’t look directly into her mother’s eyes.

"I’m not requesting."

The Duchess paused slightly.

"It’s an order."

Her tone left no room for argument.

Fatima remained silent.

"How could we allow the shame of letting those trash children from the Duke House Ashenlocke beat our own children that badly? And what were you all doing during this entire semester? Weren’t you and the Evergrey’s supposed to push the Children of Ashenlocke down morally?"

The Duchess spoke quickly.

Her anger became clearer with every sentence.

"Why are they all doing so well in this Combat Festival?"

She stared at Fatima.

But Fatima still couldn’t meet her gaze.

"Ahhh..."

A helpless sigh escaped from the Duchess’ mouth.

"Fatima..."

Her voice became softer.

Fatima remained quiet.

"You know your father has already told you why this happened, even though he only gave you small details about why we Drakes are working against the fall of the Ashenlockes. And I know it can be annoying, going through something that comes from blindness."

The Duchess spoke calmly.

"But remember what your father said."

Her expression became more serious.

"The Gun Alchemists of Ashenlocke have lost their worthiness to be called Dukes of Britannia. They need to be put down so that a family worthy enough to take Britannia into a new age of firearms can rise."

Her eyes narrowed.

"Even though the Ashenlockes have somehow begun showing better growth, you can never trust them."

Her voice lowered.

"Not after what they have done..."

The Duchess gritted her teeth.

There was anger in her expression.

But before she could say anything more...

She stopped herself.

"Fatima, dear..."

She spoke again, this time more softly.

Fatima finally raised her head and looked at her mother.

"I will leave this to you."

The Duchess smiled softly.

Then...

The call ended.

The Holographic Screen disappeared.

Fatima stared at the empty space where it had been.

Her expression slowly changed.

"What did the Ashenlockes really do to make my father this angry?"

She looked downward.

Her fist tightened.

"I don’t like this..."

Fatima gritted her teeth.

"I don’t like this at all."

***

Clap!

Fatima’s hands came together.

She looked upward at Ezra, who was high above her on the massive pillar that had carried him into the air.

Her brown eyes remained fixed on him.

Mum...

The thought passed through her mind.

I’m going to fight with all my might, but not because of your instructions.

Her hands remained together.

Cognis continued flowing through her body.

I will fight...

Her eyes didn’t leave Ezra.

Because right now...

Fatima tightened her expression.

At first...

She had thought of just beating Ezra in a calm fashion, but also quickly.

That’s the major reason why she went for the close combat where she felt Ezra would struggle, but...

None of that went well.

And now during the fight...

She realized just how strong Ezra really is, and her Alchemist mentality began kicking in.

Fatima wanted to know who truly was strong between her.

That earlier plain reply.

Was it just plain bravado?

Or truly a plain natural reply?

That’s why...

I don’t want to lose to him.

Fatima’s brown eyes glowed with energy and determination.

Her Cognis, coming out from her palms, began forming another Earth Alchemy Circle as she prepared to perform her next attack.