Chapter 521: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: Copy Genius vs Unbreakable Steel IV

My father told me to only see those who can rival me with their own level of Alchemy talent as true rivals.

Because a person who can’t walk in the same lane, side by side with me, would only become a distraction to my growth.

And I strongly believe his words.

Ravenor had grown up hearing those words.

To him, they were more than advice from his father.

They had become the way he viewed the people around him.

Of course...

After growing up and seeing how people developed, Ravenor had also come to realize that there were different kinds of people who could stand alongside talents like himself, Vera, and Diane.

His scarlet eyes sharpened as he looked at Veda.

The Young Lord of Ash had brought his hands together and was now executing his Alchemy.

Ravenor didn’t see Veda as someone who had always possessed the same natural talent as himself.

And was now showing it finally after all the suffering he must have experienced.

No...

That wasn’t what had caught his attention.

It was the will Veda had shown.

The resilience that had allowed him to keep moving forward despite everything that had happened to him.

The boy Ravenor had once known as a cheerful child had changed.

He had been treated as the less talented twin.

He had been looked down upon.

Yet he had continued.

And now, after everything he had endured, Veda was standing in front of Ravenor and forcing him to fight seriously.

Veda Ashenlocke...

You are truly a kind of your own.

Ravenor threw the lighter upward.

SNAP!

His fingers snapped as the lighter rose through the air.

At the same time, Ravenor placed the sword back into his Space Bag.

When the lighter reached its highest point.

BOOM!

It exploded in front of him.

The burst of flame spread outward, and the fire immediately became part of Ravenor’s next attack.

A bit earlier...

Veda’s Gun Alchemy Circle had formed completely.

He slammed his hands onto the ground.

The large Gun Alchemy Circle expanded rapidly across the platform, its lines spreading over the cracked stone beneath his boots.

It grew large enough to cover a good portion of the fight platform.

The Gun Alchemy materials that had remained suspended in the air were instantly pulled downward.

Black steel and Orichalcum bars descended toward the center of the Circle.

They began to melt.

Hundreds of portions of metal compressed together as Veda controlled the process through his Cognis.

The molten material twisted, stretched, and gradually took shape.

Then the modeling was complete.

The result was...

Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk I.

Not one.

Not ten.

One hundred and five Lee-Enfield No. 4 Rifles formed from the large Gun Alchemy Circle.

They emerged from the Circle and rose into the air, their metal bodies reflecting the light from the surrounding flames.

Veda continued utilizing Alchemy Levitation on all of them.

His eyes remained on Ravenor.

Then his Cognis moved.

One hundred and five rifles turned together.

Their muzzles pointed toward Ravenor.

For a moment, the sight was almost unreal.

A single First Year stood beneath more than a hundred rifles, controlling every firearm at once.

At the same time the firearms were created...

The large flame created by the explosion of the lighter Ravenor had thrown upward continued burning above him.

The fire spread.

More flames from the previous explosions still remained around the platform.

Ravenor’s Flame Alchemy Circle began forming beneath his boot.

It expanded rapidly.

The Circle became even larger than Veda’s Gun Alchemy Circle.

The flames floating in front of Ravenor flowed into it.

Then the other small flames still burning around the damaged platform were drawn toward the Circle as well.

The scattered fire moved across the ground and through the air.

It gathered.

Compressed.

Separated into different portions.

Then compressed again.

Ravenor’s control over Flame Alchemy allowed the flames to be shaped with incredible speed.

Finally...

One hundred and twenty red Scarlet Balls erupted from the Flame Alchemy Circle.

They floated around Ravenor.

Their heat spread through the nearby air.

The two crowds watching from the different sections stared at the fight platform.

The anticipation continued building.

Some spectators had already begun sweating.

But it wasn’t only because they were nervous.

The temperature around the fight platform had risen because of Ravenor’s Scarlet Flame Balls.

People farther away could still feel the warmth reaching their seats.

Those closer to the Arena’s edge had to wipe sweat from their foreheads.

The two Mass Alchemies were ready.

Ravenor’s Mass Alchemy had been completed slightly faster than Veda’s.

That small difference in speed was the reason Ravenor had been able to catch up, since Veda was the first to perform Mass Alchemy first.

Now, however, neither side had any unfinished preparation.

Both Young Lords had completed their attacks.

Veda moved his hand forward.

Ravenor did the same calmly.

Their black eyes and scarlet eyes remained fixed on each other.

Neither looked away.

Neither hesitated.

For a moment, the enormous Arena seemed to become strangely quiet.

Even the spectators who had been shouting moments earlier were now watching the two attacks gathering on opposite sides of the platform.

Veda knew what was coming.

Ravenor knew what was coming.

Their thoughts reached the same conclusion.

This is the end.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Lee-Enfield rifles opened fire.

One after another.

Then several at once.

The sound of gunfire echoed through the entire Arena.

At the same time...

VZZZAP!

VZZZAP!

VZZZAP!

VZZZAP!

The Scarlet Balls moved with speed in the air.

Gunshots and laser-like sounds echoed across the Arena as the two barrages moved toward each other.

The air shook.

The wind blew violently across the fight area.

Shock waves spread outward and collided with the Force Field surrounding the platform.

The Force Field shook under the pressure.

Yet it held.

The two barrages continued moving.

Hundreds of attacks were now traveling toward one another at high speed.

From the spectators’ perspective, the fight platform had almost disappeared beneath the sheer number of attacks.

The sound alone was enough to make several people cover their ears.

Ravenor watched calmly.

Like I thought earlier...

His eyes remained on Veda.

Veda Ashenlocke, you are truly a kind of your own.

Ravenor’s expression remained serious.

You truly deserve the word Unbreakable Steel.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

You and Cyrus are the only people who I have seen, truly embody why hard work can allow a person to break past his limits.

There was respect in the thought.

Not the kind of respect Ravenor gave to someone because he considered them equal in natural talent.

It was different.

Veda had reached this point through his own path.

He had taken what he had and pushed it farther to be able to reach this level of Alchemy power without giving up.

But...

It’s only to a certain point.

The two barrages finally collided.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!!!

The explosion swallowed the entire fight platform.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

The whole fight platform and surrounding fight area were destroyed by the massive impact.

Hundreds of Gun Alchemy creations and Flame Alchemy attacks collided at almost the same time, creating a force far beyond what the already damaged platform could handle.

Stone shattered.

Cracks raced across the remaining ground.

Snow was thrown into the air.

The shock wave expanded outward and slammed against the Force Field.

The Force Field shook violently.

The smoke cloud mixed with the falling snow and the snow that had been scattered across the platform.

At the center of it all, the light produced by the collision became so bright that many spectators instinctively raised their arms to shield their eyes.

The entire Arena had become filled with noise.

It was only the first match.

And this was the level of destruction the platform had already suffered.

Nobody could clearly see what had happened.

Many spectators didn’t even know which side had won.

Patrick remained standing in the commentator’s section, staring at the destroyed fight platform with an amazed expression.

Natasha, however, simply sat down comfortably.

She had no reason to rush.

The smoke would clear eventually.

The spectators could only wait.

A few minutes passed.

Slowly, the smoke began to thin.

The falling snow became visible again.

The broken pieces of the platform appeared through the haze.

Then the spectators finally began to see the two remaining areas of the platform.

The entire platform had been destroyed by the clash.

But the destruction wasn’t actually caused equally across the entire battlefield.

Two spots had been left untouched.

Ravenor’s side.

And Veda’s side.

Ravenor had never canceled his Flame shield.

The shield had protected his body from the worst of the collision.

The rock beneath his feet had also remained protected.

Veda had survived in his own way.

But the condition of his side was very different.

"Ah... Ah... Ah..."

Veda panted heavily.

His breathing was rough.

Sweat dripped relentlessly from his body, mixing with the blood running down his face.

He had quickly controlled thirty of the Lee-Enfield No. 4 Rifles during the collision.

He had used them as a shield.

The rifles had blocked the shock waves and some of the hot air produced by Ravenor’s Mass Alchemy attack.

They had taken the damage instead of him.

But the cost was obvious.

Veda was now on one knee.

The thirty rifles surrounding him had turned completely red from the heat.

Some were already melting.

Metal dripped from the damaged firearms.

The rifles that had remained floating in the air were no better.

They had all melted.

Veda looked at the ruined firearms around him.

His breathing became heavier.

His body refused to respond the way he wanted.

"I can’t move."

He muttered weakly to himself while remaining on one knee.

Across from him, Ravenor looked at him calmly.

Then Patrick raised his microphone.

"Winner!!"

His voice echoed loudly through the commentator’s section.

"No... Argh!"

Veda tried to force himself upward.

His hand pressed against the remaining piece of platform.

His arm trembled.

He tried to push his body up.

He didn’t want to end things here.

Not after coming this far.

"Why can’t I move... damn it."

He tried again.

His muscles tightened.

Cognis moved through his body.

But his body still refused to obey.

Professor Natasha had already told Patrick to announce the winner.

From the condition of Veda’s body, it was clear that he was no longer in a state where he could continue fighting.

Patrick raised his microphone.

"Sir Ravenor Burnwick!!!"

His voice echoed loudly throughout the Arena.

Veda’s eyes widened.

Only then did he finally notice it.

Blood was dripping from his mouth.

More blood had gathered beneath his nose.

There were traces around his eyes.

His ears were bleeding as well.

Veda’s breathing stopped for a moment.

Ah...

He finally understood.

I really pushed myself beyond my limits.

His body began to fall toward the small remaining piece of platform beneath him.

The strength holding him upright was almost gone.

Before he could fall...

Ravenor caught Veda.

He reached out and supported the Young Lord of Ash before his body could drop from the remaining platform.

Ravenor also looked like a mess, although his injuries were lighter.

Part of his training cloth had been damaged.

Blood dripped from several cuts caused by the shock waves that had passed through his weakened Flame shield.

The two Young Lords stood amid the remains of the destroyed platform.

The first battle of the Eighth Round had ended.