Chapter 486: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: The Crimson Flower of Derlis II

The Mass Alchemy ignited fast.

The blood that had been falling toward the ground suddenly stopped behaving like ordinary liquid. Under the influence of the Cognis flowing out from the Blood Alchemy Circle, it gathered together beneath Willow.

The crimson liquid moved across the stone platform, drawn toward a single point beneath her legs.

Then the blood compressed together.

The mass became denser before flowing around Willow beneath her legs, circling her position for a brief moment before separating into hundreds of blood balls.

Willow poured more Cognis into her walking stick.

The Cognis traveled from her hands into the weapon, feeding the Blood Alchemy Circle beneath her feet and strengthening the Mass Alchemy that had already been activated.

Immediately...

The hundreds of blood balls shot outward.

Each one released a laser-like, compressed beam of blood toward the incoming bullets surrounding Willow.

All of this happened far below a millisecond.

To the ordinary spectators, there was barely any time to understand what they were seeing.

The center of the fight platform suddenly lit up with a crimson glow.

It looked as though hundreds of thin crimson lines had appeared around Willow at the same time, but those lines were not merely light.

They were compressed blood beams.

They shot through the air in different directions, slicing through the bullets Nina had fired at Willow.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Metal projectiles collided with the blood beams.

Some bullets were cut apart.

Others were knocked from their paths.

The gunfire that had filled the Arena only moments earlier was swallowed by the rapid exchange between the bullets and the crimson beams.

Nina saw the incoming barrage.

Her eyes widened slightly.

She wanted to react immediately.

But what could she do when almost every corner of the fight platform was filled with blood beams moving toward her from almost every angle?

The beams weren’t coming from a single direction that she could simply dodge.

They spread across the platform, crossing the paths she could have used to escape.

Nina immediately changed her approach.

She placed her right hand on the coat she wore and removed it in one movement while simultaneously passing Cognis into the Alchemy Coat.

The Alchemy systems imprinted into the coat ignited.

Lines of Alchemy Circles appeared faintly across the fabric as Cognis traveled through them.

The loose cloth hardened.

What had been an ordinary piece of clothing a moment ago became a solid defensive barrier in Nina’s hands.

She slammed the hardened coat against the ground.

The coat spread across her front, giving her a surface to hide behind as the blood beams approached.

Nina also planted her right boot firmly against the ground before placing both arms against the hardened coat.

Then...

Boom!

A metallic-like sound echoed throughout the hall as the blood beam moving toward Nina’s side collided with the body of the hardened coat.

The impact traveled through the coat and into Nina’s arms.

Her shoulders shook and the bone of her arms cracked slightly from the impact of the clash.

The ground beneath her right boot cracked slightly as the force behind the blood beam pushed her backward.

"AHHHH!!"

Nina shouted as she held her ground with all the enhanced strength she had.

Her teeth clenched.

Her boots scraped against the stone as she fought against the pressure.

The veins along her arms and neck became more visible from the amount of force she was putting into resisting the attack.

She refused to let herself be pushed away.

The hardened coat continued taking the impact.

Dents appeared across its surface as the continuous blood beam struck it again and again.

The coat bent slightly under the pressure before Nina forced it back into position.

Around her, other blood beams continued passing across the platform.

The Arena audience could see the crimson attacks striking the defensive coat, but the speed of the exchange was still too great for most people to understand every movement.

Then...

Clap!

Nina froze completely.

Her arms remained pressed against the hardened coat, but her breathing stopped for a moment and her eyes widened as another huge fluctuation of Cognis erupted from Willow’s position.

Another Mass Alchemy?

She thought to herself.

Nina couldn’t understand it.

How could Willow perform another Mass Alchemy when she was only an Adept Alchemist?

Nina’s eyebrows tightened slightly.

Then her mind shifted to the Crimson Gem attached to Willow’s walking stick.

Her eyes widened again with realization hitting clearly.

Suddenly...

The blood beam attacking her stopped.

It happened in less than a millisecond during the transition between the first Mass Alchemy’s attack of blood beams stopping and whatever Willow was about to do next.

Silence followed.

The entire stage became silent.

Even the crowd that had been shouting moments earlier seemed to lose its voice for an instant.

Every Non-Alchemist looked completely stunned.

The low-ranking Alchemists were no different.

They couldn’t even perceive the timing behind how Willow’s first Mass Alchemy had stopped and her second Mass Alchemy had ignited.

From their perspective, they had only seen a tornado-like gust of wind caused by Nina’s movement, followed by the flashes of bullets.

Then came the crimson glow from the center of that tornado.

After that, blood beams had appeared, spearing through almost every angle of the platform.

And now the entire attack had stopped.

There was no easy explanation for what they had just witnessed.

The higher-ranking Alchemists, however, already understood that Willow Derlis had done something far beyond what most spectators could perceive.

And that...

Willow Derlis had done something, that a normal Adept Alchemist shouldn’t be able to do, even though she used an Alchemy Weapon of a High-Grade.

To control two Mass Alchemies and execute them perfectly.

Was just something they could never see just any Genius Alchemist doing randomly.

Just from this act...

Willow Derlis odds to win the Combat Festival rose straight to the top ranks.

"Winner!"

Patrick’s voice echoed loudly with excitement.

"Lady Willow Derlis!!!"

He said while looking at the stage, completely amazed just like the audience watching the fight.

"A second Mass Alchemy?"

A nobleman who was an Alchemist in the Binder Alchemist rank said in bewilderment.

His eyes remained fixed on Willow.

He was clearly trying to understand what he had just witnessed.

"Wow... this Young Alchemist of the Royal Academy is on a serious level of power."

Another nobleman said, completely impressed.

"Amazing Alchemy display, Lady Willow Derlis!!"

"As expected of the Crimson Flower!!"

The crowd responded with energetic cheers for Willow.

The noise that had disappeared for that brief moment returned all at once.

Cheers rolled through the Arena from different sections, with Willow’s supporters raising their voices as they celebrated her victory.

The praises came from different sections of the Arena.

"Ahhh..."

Willow Derlis sighed.

The strain from performing two Mass Alchemies was finally catching up with her.

A small amount of blood dripped from her nose.

She calmly reached into her Space Bag and took out a white handkerchief.

She unfolded it and gently wiped the blood from beneath her nose.

There was another small trace of blood near her mouth, and she cleaned that as well.

Her movements remained elegant despite the fatigue beginning to show in her breathing.

Her crimson-red eyes then moved toward Nina.

Nina was still struggling against the blood webs that had wrapped around her body.

The webs held her in the air, restricting her arms and legs and making it difficult for her to move freely.

The whole stage was now filled with blood webs.

Some had spread across the platform, while others stretched outward and stuck against the force field protecting the audience.

The thin crimson strands trembled slightly whenever Nina struggled against them.

Willow’s second Mass Alchemy had gathered the blood that had spilled onto the ground after the bullets and blood beam attacks had reached their targets.

The scattered blood hadn’t simply remained where it fell.

It had been gathered again.

Then, as the blood compressed together, it formed into a huge ball.

The mass of blood rose above Nina.

Then it exploded directly on top of her.

The blood spread outward in an instant, transforming into more blood webs that wrapped around Nina’s body.

One strand crossed around her arm.

Another wrapped around her waist.

More caught her legs and torso.

The number of webs made it impossible for Nina to move properly.

She struggled.

She tried several times to free herself.

Each attempt only caused the webs to tighten around her body.

If this fight had been a battle to the death, Nina’s current position would have made it very easy for Willow to kill her.

She was completely vulnerable.

She couldn’t move properly.

She couldn’t escape.

And Willow still had control over the blood surrounding the platform.

Seeing that Nina was vulnerable and couldn’t free herself despite the number of times she tried, Patrick announced Willow as the winner with all of these factors taken into consideration.

The crowd continued cheering for Willow.

The Crimson Flower had defeated another Ashenlocke.

Yet the match wasn’t completely finished from a practical standpoint.

Willow first performed another Blood Alchemy ignition, using Blood Alchemy Reversal on the blood webs wrapped around Nina’s body.

The crimson Cognis moved through the webs like lightning conducting visibly on a metal rod.

The blood began to change.

The webs loosened and started returning to their original blood form, releasing Nina from their hold.

More blood dripped from Willow’s nose and mouth as she performed the Blood Alchemy Reversal.

Her breathing became slightly heavier, but she remained standing.

The Medic Staff arrived on the stage together with the Craft-Based Academy staff.

The Craft-Based Academy staff immediately began cleaning the platform while also fixing the broken sections of the fight stage.

Pieces of damaged stone were moved aside, and the areas cracked during the fight were inspected and repaired so the next match could take place safely.

At the same time, the Medic Staff attended to Nina.

When Willow reversed the blood webs back into their original blood form, Nina fell flat toward the ground.

The Blood webs had not just tied her in place, but it had also sent weaking dose into her blood system, making her weak.

Plus the strain of using her Cognis to the max, now ignited visibly on her body.

The medics quickly moved toward her and checked her condition.

Willow watched for only a moment before collecting a healing elixir from one of the Medic Staff.

She took the elixir and then turned toward the crowd.

The spectators were still cheering for her.

Willow raised one hand and waved toward them.

The response became even louder.

She then began walking off the stage, still holding her walking stick as she left the center of the Arena.

Minutes passed.

The fight platform was now clean and ready for the next fight.

The damaged areas had been repaired, the blood had been removed, and the staff had cleared the remaining equipment from the previous battle.

The crowd settled again, although the excitement from Willow’s victory was still clearly present.

Patrick returned to his position.

"Welcoming the next fighters!!"

Patrick shouted excitedly as he prepared to call the next fighter’s name.

The crowd already knew the names of the fighters and began cheering for them.

Another fight was about to begin.

"Princess Stella Aethelmont!!!"

He shouted her name loudly.

The whole Arena erupted with cheers for the Princess of Britannia.

"Vs. Lady Selena Galehart!!!"

He shouted the second fighter’s name brightly.

The crowd responded loudly.

Now two names echoed through the Arena at the same time, each side answering the other like a clash between opposing waves.

The Seventh Round of the Grand First Year Combat Festival continued.