Chapter 581: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: The Rematch of the Flowers III

The sound of the BAR M1918s tore through the air like streaks of light.

At almost the same time, the ice daggers Diane had created shot toward Vera from the opposite direction.

The two attacks met in the space between the Young Alchemists.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The center of the battlefield became a mess of shattered ice, flying bullets, and bursts of frost.

Every time a bullet struck one of Diane’s ice daggers, the dagger shattered into countless pieces, sending small fragments of ice spinning through the air. Some bullets were deflected downward, striking the platform and bouncing across the ground, while others forced their way through the gaps between the ice daggers and continued toward Diane.

Diane immediately moved.

Her body dropped backward before she pushed herself off the ground, jumping into the air and spinning as the bullets passed around her.

One bullet passed beneath her waist.

Another crossed behind her shoulder.

Several more rushed past the space where her body had been only a moment before.

Her long light-blue hair followed the rotation of her body as she twisted in the air, and the slim sword remained firmly in her right hand.

She did not try to block every bullet.

Since there were simply too many.

Instead, she used her movement to escape the densest parts of the barrage, allowing the bullets to pass through the spaces she had already abandoned.

Once her feet touched the ground...

Klang!

Klang!

Klang!

Klang!

Klang!

Klang!

Diane’s slim sword moved.

Her right wrist twisted and turned with each swing, the blade cutting through the incoming bullets one after another.

The first bullet was sliced apart.

Another was deflected away.

Then another.

Her movements were smooth enough that the sword seemed to become a line of silver-blue light whenever it passed through the air.

She stepped forward while defending.

Then another step.

Her body remained balanced even as the bullets continued coming toward her.

Vera watched from across the battlefield.

Her eyes followed Diane’s movements while the four BAR M1918s continued firing.

She had no intention of letting the firing stop.

If the weapons stopped, Diane would immediately gain an opening.

So, Vera kept calculating the timing between the moment the twenty bullets inside each magazine of the automatic rifles would be emptied and the moment the next magazine would have to be inserted.

Her fingers moved slightly.

Then...

Click. Click. Click. Click.

Click. Click. Click. Click.

Using Alchemy Levitation, Vera removed the empty magazines from the four BAR M1918s.

The magazines floated away from the weapons.

At almost the same time, four loaded magazines came out and moved toward the rifles.

The empty magazines were pushed aside.

The loaded ones entered the rifles.

Click!

The magazines locked into place.

The entire process happened while Diane was still cutting through the previous barrage.

There was no wasted movement.

No pause.

Not even a noticeable gap in the firing.

The BAR M1918s continued shooting.

From Diane’s point of view, the automatic rifles simply refused to stop.

She had already dealt with one wave of bullets, but another was already coming.

She had to keep moving.

She had to keep blocking.

And she had to make sure that none of the bullets reached her body.

That was when Vera’s left hand moved.

A large number of black steel bars came out of her space bag.

They rose behind her.

One after another, the pieces of black steel climbed higher into the air, forming a large group behind Vera while she continued controlling the four BAR M1918s.

The bars did not remain in a random pile.

They spread out above and behind her, each piece floating under the control of her Cognis.

Diane’s half-closed light-blue eyes sharpened, as she sensed the sudden movement behind Vera.

Her sword continued moving.

Klang!

Another bullet was deflected.

But her eyes remained on Vera.

Is she going for a Mass Alchemy?

The thought appeared in Diane’s mind while she continued blocking the rapid gunshots from the automatic rifles.

Clap!

Vera’s hands came together.

The sound was clear even through the constant gunfire.

Cognis surged through her body.

It flowed from her upper arms, traveled through her veins into her forearms, and gathered within her hands before pouring out from her palms.

A Gun Alchemy Circle began forming.

The Alchemy Symbols appeared one after another.

The circle constructed itself rapidly in front of Vera.

Diane continued moving, as another bullet came.

Klang!

Her sword cut through it.

But her eyes still remained focused on the Gun Alchemy Circle.

The black steel bars hovering above and behind Vera suddenly moved.

All of them were pulled toward the Gun Alchemy Circle.

The pieces of black steel entered the circle one after another.

The Alchemy Circle itself was not large.

It did not spread across the battlefield.

It was nowhere near the scale required for a Mass Alchemy.

But Diane’s instincts still warned her that something troublesome was coming.

The black steel bars began to melt.

Their solid forms softened under the heat of the Alchemy process before the material was compressed and drawn together.

The molten metal moved through the circle.

It twisted.

It compressed.

Then the shape began to change.

The creation process started from the inside.

The internal parts of the heavy artillery gun formed first.

The pieces locked into place one after another, followed by the larger exterior components.

The barrel took shape.

The body followed.

The carriage and supporting structure formed around it.

Then...

Boom!

The QF 13-pounder artillery gun dropped onto the ground.

Its weight caused the platform beneath it to crack slightly.

The weapon settled heavily into place.

Vera immediately used Alchemy Levitation to control it.

The artillery gun shifted.

Its barrel turned toward Diane.

The heavy weapon moved across the ground under Vera’s control until its muzzle was aimed directly at her opponent.

Above Vera’s back, twenty 13-pound shells now floated in the air.

They remained suspended in a neat formation, ready to be used.

The BAR M1918s stopped firing.

The four automatic rifles immediately flew backward and disappeared into Vera’s space bag.

Since she could not afford to maintain everything at once.

The QF 13-pounder was a low-tier artillery weapon, but it was still heavy.

Controlling the artillery through Alchemy Levitation while also keeping twenty shells suspended in the air for faster reloading was already consuming a large amount of her Cognis.

And she had been controlling four automatic rifles before this.

Maintaining all of them simultaneously would drain her Cognis reserves far too quickly.

And against an opponent like Diane, that was dangerous.

Diane also possessed a Cognis pool equal to Vera’s.

If Vera wasted her Cognis now, she would eventually lose the ability to maintain her weapons and control the battlefield.

So, she had to be smart about it.

Even then...

The battlefield was already in her hands.

Vera stretched her right hand toward Diane.

Her fingers pointed in Diane’s direction.

BOOM!

The 13-pound shell disappeared from Vera’s position.

It flew through the air toward Diane.

The shell moved quickly across the distance between them.

Diane reacted immediately.

Thud!

Her left hand struck the ground.

She had already been preparing for this moment.

The instant Vera stopped firing the BAR M1918s, Diane had begun constructing another Frost Alchemy Circle without using a clap to start the process.

Her Cognis had already gathered.

The circle had already been taking shape.

And when Vera fired the QF 13-pounder...

Diane’s Frost Alchemy Circle was complete.

A glass water bottle flew out from her space bag.

The bottle was pulled toward the circle.

The water inside began flowing into it.

Diane’s left palm pressed against the ground.

The surface beneath her hand glowed light-blue.

The Frost Alchemy Circle ignited.

The symbols shone across the ground.

Ice erupted from beneath Diane.

A large group of ice spikes grew from the platform.

They began small before rapidly increasing in size as they rose toward the incoming artillery shell.

The spikes formed a wall directly between Diane and the 13-pound shell.

The shell struck.

BOOM!

A heavy explosion erupted.

The force of the blast spread across the battlefield.

Wind tore through the space between the two girls, carrying smoke, broken rock, fallen snow, fragments of ice, and the remaining residues from both Frost Alchemy and Gun Alchemy in every direction.

Some of the wind slammed against the Force Field surrounding the battlefield.

The barrier shook under the pressure.

The smoke expanded across the center of the platform, hiding Diane’s position for a brief moment.

The ground around the explosion was damaged further.

Broken stone rolled across the platform.

Snow that had already fallen was lifted back into the air.

Pieces of frozen material scattered through the smoke.

Vera did not wait.

She knew Diane would use the smoke to create another opportunity.

Clap!

The sound of Diane’s hands coming together reached Vera’s ears.

At almost the same time, Vera had already placed another 13-pound shell into the QF 13-pounder.

The shell slid into position.

Clank!

The breech slammed shut under the influence of Alchemy Levitation.

Vera immediately shifted the artillery gun.

The barrel moved toward the smoke.

Her eyes tracked the position where Diane should be.

Then...

BOOM!

Vera fired.

The recoil shook the artillery gun.

Before the smoke could fully settle, Vera had already begun loading another shell.

The 13-pound shell tore through the air.

BOOM!

Another explosion erupted.

The platform shook.

A large section of the ground was damaged by the blast.

Flames and smoke rose from the impact point.

Then Diane emerged.

She jumped out from the fire and smoke.

Her body moved upward and away from the explosion as she escaped the damaged section of the platform.

Several small Frostsilver crystals floated around her.

Between her palms, another Frost Alchemy Circle was already forming.

Her slim sword also floated nearby while she remained in the air.

Diane’s eyes stayed on Vera.

BOOM!

Another 13-pound shell came toward her.

Vera had fired again.

The artillery gun remained pointed toward Diane while the next shell was already being prepared.

Diane’s eyes widened slightly.

"Tsk."

She clicked her tongue.

The shell was already close to her body.

There was almost no space left between her and the incoming projectile.

Diane twisted her body in the air.

Her waist turned first.

Then her shoulders followed.

Her legs shifted as she passed through the narrow space beside the shell.

The 13-pound shell flew only inches away from her body.

WHOOSH!!!

The shell passed Diane.

She felt the heat and pressure of its movement against her clothes.

BOOM!

The shell struck the Force Field.

The explosion erupted against the barrier instead of the platform.

The Force Field shook violently for a moment.

Ripples spread across its surface.

But nothing more happened.

The barrier held.

Diane continued moving in the air, before she landed back on the platform.

She had barely escaped that shell, yet Vera did not give her even a moment to breathe.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

More 13-pound shells were launched toward her, and Vera continued reloading.

The movements of her hands remained controlled, while she watched Diane’s direction.

She adjusted the angle of the QF 13-pounder.

Then she fired again.

Her attacks were no longer aimed simply at Diane’s current position.

Vera was adjusting the artillery toward the direction Diane would move when avoiding the previous shell.

One shell forced Diane to move left.

The next was already waiting in that direction.

Diane changed course.

Vera adjusted again almost immediately.

The artillery barrel shifted.

Another shell launched.

Everything was happening in quick succession.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

The sounds of powerful explosions filled the fight platform.

Smoke continued spreading across the battlefield.

The ground had become almost unrecognizable.

Cracks ran across the platform.

Broken rocks were scattered everywhere.

Snow had been thrown into the air and mixed with smoke and dust.

Diane landed on one side of the damaged platform after avoiding another shell.

Her feet touched the ground.

She immediately jumped again, evading the attack.

Another 13-pound shell was already coming toward her.

It was directly in front of her this time.

Diane lowered her body.

She bent backward until her back and head were touching the ground.

The shell passed over her face.

Her light-blue eyes followed it as it flew past.

The heat from the shell brushed across her skin.

The wind pushed against her clothes and hair.

She could feel the force of its movement even though it had missed her by only a small distance.

Then Diane sensed another attack.

Another 13-pound shell was coming.

It was only inches away from touching the ground as it rushed toward her body.

Diane twisted.

Her body shifted at the last possible moment.

The shell passed beside her.

Part of her training clothes was cut slightly by the violent gust created by the passing projectile.

Diane immediately recovered her position.

Her body twisted.

Her right hand tightened into a fist.

Cognis surged through her arm.

It flowed through her upper arm and into her forearm before entering her hand.

Her muscles strengthened.

Her bones hardened.

Her tissues were reinforced.

Diane’s eyes locked onto the incoming shell, as he fist moved.

"AHHHHHHH!!!"

Her voice echoed across the battlefield.

Her right fist drove forward.

The fist struck the already closed tip of the 13-pound shell.

BOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!

A huge explosion erupted.

But it was not only one.

Another explosion followed almost immediately.

Then another.

Five more 13-pound shells had arrived in the same direction.

They reached the area almost together.

The explosions merged.

The force tore outward across the platform, swallowing the space around Diane in fire, smoke, wind, and broken fragments of the battlefield.

For a moment, the entire area where Diane stood disappeared beneath the combined blasts.