Chapter 501: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: Gun vs Blood Rematch III

Desmond dashed forward again.

His boots struck the snowy surface of the fight platform with enough force to scatter a thin layer of snow behind him as his body accelerated toward Ezra.

Ezra’s dull black eyes remained focused on the incoming Desmond.

He didn’t move immediately.

Instead, his attention stayed on Desmond’s shoulders, hips, legs, and hands, watching for the smallest change that could reveal which attack he intended to use.

Desmond smirked as he closed the remaining distance.

He was almost within striking range.

Then, just before reaching Ezra, he suddenly changed his direction.

His body shifted toward Ezra’s side.

Desmond planted one foot firmly against the ground, allowing his lower body to turn while his upper body followed the movement.

His waist twisted.

His shoulder rotated.

And his right fist came around toward Ezra.

The change in direction was smooth enough that a normal opponent might have been caught by surprise.

Ezra didn’t panic.

His feet shifted across the ground with a fluid movement, allowing his body to turn together with the attack.

His left arm rose.

Bam!

Ezra’s forearm caught Desmond’s punch.

The impact pushed against his arm, but Ezra didn’t try to stop the force directly.

Instead, he absorbed the movement through his stance while his body turned slightly.

Then his right leg moved.

The motion flowed directly from his defensive movement into an attack.

Ezra swung his right leg toward Desmond.

Desmond immediately bent down.

The kick passed over his head, close enough for the movement of Ezra’s boot to disturb his crimson hair.

Desmond didn’t remain low.

While his body was still bent, he shifted his weight onto one leg and moved his other leg around.

His right leg swept toward Ezra’s standing leg.

The attack came low and fast.

Desmond was trying to remove Ezra’s balance before he could recover from the kick.

Ezra reacted instantly.

His standing leg pushed against the ground.

His body rose.

He used the movement of his right leg to spin through the air, allowing the sweeping attack to pass beneath him.

For a brief moment, both of Ezra’s feet left the ground.

His body rotated.

His coat and clothing moved with the spin while the snow beneath him scattered from the force of his takeoff.

He landed smoothly.

His boots touched the ground one after another, and his body twisted at the same time so that he was already facing Desmond.

Desmond also followed through with the motion of his leg sweep.

He planted his foot.

His body turned.

Then he rose back into a standing position and faced Ezra again.

Neither of them wasted time.

Desmond immediately charged.

He pushed off the ground and launched himself into a jumping kick.

His body rose as his leg extended toward Ezra.

Ezra shifted to the side.

The kick passed beside him.

Desmond’s boot touched the ground.

And before Desmond could fully recover his stance, Ezra moved.

His leg traveled toward the back of Desmond’s knee.

He didn’t even need to look directly at the target.

His body already understood the position.

Desmond sensed the incoming kick.

His eyes moved down.

He turned his body sharply while bending his knee forward.

Ezra’s kick struck against the side of Desmond’s knee instead of reaching the back of his leg.

Bam!

The impact knocked Ezra’s leg away.

But that wasn’t the end of the movement.

Ezra allowed his body to continue rotating with the force.

His waist twisted.

His upper body followed.

His left leg rose.

The motion became a Hook Kick.

His heel curved toward Desmond’s face.

Desmond’s expression changed immediately.

He raised his right arm.

Bam!

Ezra’s leg slammed against Desmond’s arm.

The force of the kick pushed Desmond’s arm inward, and Ezra’s boot nearly reached his cheek before being stopped.

Desmond reacted quickly.

He moved his right arm around Ezra’s leg and attempted to grip it.

The moment his hand closed around Ezra’s leg...

Ezra’s other leg was already in the air.

Desmond’s eyes widened slightly.

Déjà vu.

The thought appeared in his mind.

The sole of Ezra’s other boot came toward him.

Desmond quickly raised his other arm to block.

Bam!

The strike landed against his arm.

The force sent Desmond backward.

His boots scraped across the snow-covered platform as he took several steps to regain his balance.

Ezra landed on both feet.

He immediately returned to his fighting stance.

His arms remained relaxed.

His feet were positioned naturally beneath him, ready to move in any direction.

Desmond flexed the hand that had blocked Ezra’s last kick.

A faint smile remained on his face.

"You always have a quick counter for every attack I use on you."

His voice carried across the nearby area.

Minewhile...

The crowd couldn’t stop cheering.

The hand-to-hand combat between the two Young Alchemists had been moving too quickly for many people to follow properly, and every exchange seemed to produce another reaction from the stands.

Some spectators shouted Ezra’s name.

Others shouted for Desmond.

The Holographic Screens immediately displayed the fight from several angles, slowing down certain moments so the audience could understand what had happened.

On the screens, the movements that had seemed almost impossible to follow became clearer.

The changes in stance.

The turns of the waist.

The shifting of their feet.

The way one attack immediately became the beginning of another.

It felt almost like watching a carefully prepared choreography performed live.

But there was nothing harmless about it.

Every movement carried intent.

Every block was meant to prevent injury.

Every strike was meant to create an opening.

And every opening could become the beginning of a finishing attack.

Patrick couldn’t help himself.

"What the hell am I seeing?"

His voice came through the Arena’s speakers.

He stared at the Holographic Screen while the replay continued.

The exchange between the two Alchemists wasn’t something normal people could properly follow.

Even many Low-rank Alchemists struggled to keep track of the movements when they happened at full speed.

But when the screens slowed down the battle, they could finally see what had happened.

The skill of both young men became much clearer.

"Is this even a fight between two Alchemists, or are we watching Martial Artists from another nation or something?"

Patrick West said, completely amazed.

The crowd cheered even louder after hearing his words.

Back on the fight platform...

Desmond cracked his hand.

His fingers moved once before closing into a fist again.

His expression remained calm, but the excitement in his crimson eyes had become more obvious.

"You heard what the host said."

He rolled his shoulder slightly.

"Then let’s amp this fight."

Cognis began flowing through Desmond’s entire body.

The change was immediate.

The Cognis moving through his veins became denser and sharper, spreading through his arms, legs, torso, and shoulders.

His posture changed.

The relaxed feeling he had carried earlier disappeared.

His muscles tightened beneath his training clothes.

His feet adjusted against the snow.

"Let me show you the true Martial Art the Derlis adopted from the Zenith."

Desmond’s voice became colder.

His crimson eyes brightened as more Cognis gathered throughout his body.

Ezra felt the presence around Desmond suddenly change.

It wasn’t simply an increase in power.

The way Desmond stood had changed.

His breathing had changed.

Even the way he distributed his weight across his feet was different.

Ezra noticed all of it.

Yet his expression didn’t change in the slightest.

Instead, he slowly moved his right hand forward.

His fingers remained open.

His palm faced Desmond.

Then he made a simple gesture.

Come.

Desmond’s smile widened.

"Ha."

His body lowered.

Boom!

The ground beneath Desmond’s boot cracked heavily.

His body flashed forward.

He crossed the distance between them within milliseconds.

For many spectators, Desmond seemed to disappear from one position and appear in another.

Ezra’s black dull eyes, however, immediately caught the movement.

His attention followed Desmond’s body.

The first attack came from above.

Desmond’s elbow moved toward Ezra’s cheek.

Hard.

His body twisted as he delivered the strike, and Cognis flowed into his arm, strengthening the muscles around the elbow.

The force disturbed the air.

A sharp gust passed beside Ezra’s face.

The attack was stronger than the normal physical strength expected from an Adept Alchemist.

Ezra stepped backward.

The elbow passed only inches from his face.

Desmond continued.

He rotated his body immediately after the missed strike and launched another elbow.

Ezra moved back again.

The attack followed.

Another step.

Another elbow.

Ezra continued retreating.

His eyes remained fixed on Desmond while his feet moved across the platform.

One step.

Then another.

Then another.

He didn’t turn his back.

He didn’t lose his balance.

He simply gave Desmond the space he needed to continue attacking while waiting for the right moment to respond.

After six more steps backward, Ezra finally stopped retreating.

Desmond’s elbow came forward again.

This time, Ezra raised his right palm.

His Cognis flowed into his hand.

Bam!

His palm caught Desmond’s elbow.

The impact pressed into Ezra’s arm.

But once again, he didn’t resist the force head-on.

His fingers remained relaxed, as his wrist turned.

His shoulder followed.

Ezra changed the direction of the momentum he had caught.

His right hand moved toward the right, guiding Desmond’s elbow in the same direction.

Desmond’s body followed his arm.

His balance shifted.

Then Ezra’s right leg moved.

The motion was fluid.

There was no sudden pause between the redirection and the next movement.

Desmond felt it.

He felt how naturally Ezra’s body connected one motion to another.

There was no wasted movement.

There was no unnecessary force.

And before Desmond could correct his balance, Ezra’s movement continued.

The world suddenly turned upside down.

Desmond’s body was thrown through the motion.

His head moved toward the ground.

Yet he didn’t panic.

This was already something he expected would happen many times when fighting against Ezra.

His eyes remained focused.

His instincts took over.

Desmond dropped his hand toward the ground.

Cognis rushed into his palm and fingers.

His hand opened just before reaching the surface.

Then his fingers closed around the ground.

His grip strengthened.

His arm locked.

Instead of allowing his entire body to crash onto the platform, Desmond caught himself with his hands.

His body stopped inches above the ground.

The position looked almost unnatural.

His legs were above him.

His torso was angled downward.

But Desmond had prevented the fall.

Then he attacked from that position.

His legs moved.

One kick came first.

Bam!

Then another.

Bam!

Then another.

Bam!

The exchange became fast again.

Ezra raised his arms and blocked each incoming kick.

Desmond’s legs moved from different angles, trying to force Ezra backward while he remained supported by his hands.

Ezra blocked one kick with his forearm.

Then another with his opposite arm.

A third kick came toward his side, and Ezra shifted his body before raising his arm to intercept it.

The force of each impact moved through his arms, but his stance remained stable.

Desmond continued.

His legs moved with the flexibility of someone who had trained this movement repeatedly.

Bam!

Bam!

Bam!

Ezra blocked them all.

The crowd erupted again.

Several spectators stood from their seats just to get a better view of the Holographic Screens.

Even with the screens slowing down parts of the exchange, the fight still looked almost unreal.

Desmond’s body spun.

He used the momentum of his legs to recover from the hand-supported position.

His hips rotated.

His legs swept through the air.

Then his feet came back toward the ground.

Ezra jumped a small step backward as Desmond completed the rotation.

Desmond landed on his feet.

His knees bent slightly to absorb the impact.

He raised his head.

Ezra was already in front of him.

This time, Ezra wasn’t waiting for Desmond to take the initiative.

He was going to attack.

Desmond quickly raised his knee.

His body jumped upward.

Then he prepared to follow with his other knee, turning the movement into a second strike.

Ezra dashed forward.

The moment Desmond’s first knee came toward him, Ezra shifted to his side.

The attack passed beside him.

Desmond’s boots touched the ground.

He immediately moved his elbow.

Ezra caught it.

His hand closed around Desmond’s arm.

Instead of pulling against the elbow, Ezra bent low beneath it.

His body slipped underneath the attack.

His shoulder passed under Desmond’s arm while his hand maintained control of the elbow.

Ezra twisted.

The movement forced Desmond’s arm into a new angle.

There was no wasted motion.

Ezra was now directly in front of Desmond while still holding his elbow.

Desmond reacted immediately.

Instead of trying to punch with the arm Ezra had trapped, he raised his knee.

The strike came toward Ezra’s body.

Ezra used his other hand.

His palm touched the incoming knee and redirected it to the side.

The knee passed away from his body.

For a brief moment, both of Ezra’s hands were occupied.

Desmond noticed.

His eyes sharpened.

He saw the opening.

Using the space he had created, Desmond moved his free arm forward.

His fist shot toward Ezra’s face.

Ezra’s hands were both busy.

The punch was already coming.

But...

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This is for readers who are yet to join the Discord server of LGA.

The Piano Piece of Ezra is now out on the LGA Youtube Page.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkmFggVuYzA