Chapter 586: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: The Rematch of the Flowers VIII

Diane already sensed the incoming RPG-2 grenade coming toward her, but she was already committed to her attack while in the air.

Her body was still turning through the cold air, and there was no stable position from which she could simply stop herself without losing the momentum she had built into the attack.

Yet her senses did not scream danger.

Because Diane had already found a way to deal with it.

Her grip on the slim sword tightened.

More Cognis flowed through her arm and into the weapon as she continued her horizontal spinning motion, then brought the sword vertically downward.

The condensed cold air around the blade gathered into a thin line.

For an instant, it was almost invisible.

Then...

A faint light-blue flash crossed the air.

The condensed cold air sliced directly through the RPG-2 grenade.

The grenade was cut cleanly in half.

The two halves separated while still traveling through the air, one passing beside Diane while the other moved behind her.

The condensed slash continued past the grenade.

It also moved through Vera.

The wind produced by the attack only brushed against Vera’s clothes before disappearing across the battlefield.

Then...

BOOM!

The RPG-2 grenade exploded in midair.

The explosion spread behind Diane, sending smoke and fragments outward while the shockwave moved through the cold atmosphere.

The ground below her was cut in half by the continuation of the condensed cold slash.

A clean line extended across the damaged platform toward Vera, and frost immediately appeared along the freshly sliced edges.

Small crystals of ice formed over the stone.

Diane stopped her rotation.

Her body began descending back toward the platform.

At the same time, Vera’s body faded.

Diane’s eyes followed the disappearing figure for only a moment.

Vera had moved so quickly that, for an instant, it looked as though the condensed slash had caught her.

But it hadn’t.

Diane understood it immediately.

An afterimage again.

She thought to herself, but didn’t consider it a serious problem.

Her Ice Clones were already moving.

Diane continued her attack, executing the condensed ice quick slash while the Ice Clones around her began performing their own Frost Alchemy.

The clones moved through the battlefield.

Fast.

Frost Alchemy Circles formed around several of them.

Ice spikes emerged from the circles and shot through the air toward Vera’s new position.

The other Ice Clones attacked at the same time.

They came from different directions, forcing Vera to deal with multiple attack paths at once.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Explosions and collisions erupted across the platform.

Vera moved between the ice spikes with quick changes in direction, twisting her body through the narrow spaces between the attacks.

At the same time, she continued controlling her remaining firearms.

The weapons flew through the air beside her, intercepting incoming ice spikes or crashing directly into the attacks to destroy them before they reached her.

She wasn’t even using them as firearms.

Instead...

Vera was moving them like flying swords.

One firearm rotated through the air and struck an ice spike from the side.

KLANG!

The ice spike broke apart.

Another firearm crossed in front of Vera and knocked a second spike away.

The weapon continued rotating before changing direction and striking another incoming attack.

Vera did not need to hold the weapons.

Her hands remained mostly free as her Cognis controlled the firearms around her.

The crowd remained silent, not because they had lost interest.

It was the opposite.

Everyone was watching so closely that even the constant noise of the battlefield seemed louder against the silence of the spectators.

Gunshots.

Ice breaking.

Metal striking frozen attacks.

The movement of wind.

Every sound carried across the arena.

At the First-Year seating section...

Nina, Zack, Lyra, and many of the other first-years who supported Vera remained completely still.

Their eyes stayed glued to the battlefield.

Nina’s hands were held together near her chest as she followed Vera’s movements.

Zack leaned forward without realizing it.

Lyra’s eyes moved rapidly from one position to another, trying to understand where Vera would appear next.

Of course, all of them couldn’t keep up with Vera’s movements in the slightest.

That only made the battle more frightening to watch.

An attack would appear to land on Vera.

Then her body would disappear.

A moment later, she would emerge several steps away.

Another Ice Clone would swing its weapon toward her.

Again, an afterimage would be left behind.

The same feeling affected the first-years who supported Diane.

They could see the Ice Clones moving.

They could see Diane advancing.

But when the two Flowers accelerated, their movements became difficult to follow.

Everyone could only watch and wait.

At this point, a single mistake could decide everything.

Whoever made that mistake first would give the other Flower an opening.

And neither Vera nor Diane appeared willing to give one.

Back on the platform...

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

More sparks erupted as the wind moved violently across the platform.

Vera jumped slightly.

A series of ice spikes fell toward the place where she had been standing only a moment earlier.

They struck the ground.

BOOM!

Ice spread across the damaged surface.

Vera landed and immediately bent down.

A slim sword passed over her head.

She could feel the movement of air from the blade.

Before she could fully straighten...

Bang! Bang!

Two Kalthoff Repeaters flew closer to her position.

Both weapons fired at the same time.

The bullets struck two Ice Clones that were preparing to attack Vera with their slim swords.

Their heads were destroyed instantly.

The two clones staggered before their bodies broke apart and fell back into pieces of ice.

Vera immediately stood straight.

Then...

Boom!

She dashed.

Her movement was so fast that her direction became difficult to read.

She seemed to move one way.

Then another.

Then another.

The Ice Clones surrounding her hesitated for the briefest moment.

Their heads turned as they attempted to follow her.

Vera suddenly appeared in front of one Ice Clone on the right side of the formation, directly in the center of the surrounding clones.

The clone immediately reacted.

It raised its slim sword to block.

Vera’s fist was already moving toward its face.

The Ice Clone prepared itself for the impact.

But nothing came.

Vera had changed her target.

Boom!

Her fist struck the clone’s stomach.

The force folded its body slightly.

The clone opened its mouth as the impact traveled through its frozen body.

Vera had changed her attack at the last moment and gone for its stomach instead.

At the same time, another Ice Clone swung its slim sword vertically downward.

The blade descended toward Vera.

Vera faded.

The sword passed through the afterimage.

The Ice Clone’s eyes shifted.

The next thing it saw was Vera already beside it, one hand holding a Kalthoff Repeater.

She swung the weapon.

BAM!

The normal rifle smashed into the head of the Ice Clone.

The impact sent cracks through its frozen body.

The same swing continued into the Ice Clone Vera had punched in the stomach.

The rifle struck it as well.

Both clones were thrown aside.

Before Vera could reposition herself...

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A new barrage of ice spikes pierced through the air.

The sound immediately caught Vera’s attention.

Her eyes shifted toward the incoming attacks.

She immediately controlled all of her E-V 26 MK.IIs and the remaining Kalthoff Repeaters.

The firearms rose around her.

Then they began rotating rapidly.

Their movements formed a moving barrier around Vera, like the blades of a giant fan.

Ice spikes slammed into the rotating firearms.

KLANG!

KLANG!

Several spikes shattered.

Others were knocked away.

The firearms continued rotating, changing their angles as they intercepted the attacks from different directions.

At the same time, Vera controlled her remaining RPG-2s.

They floated above her.

Their barrels turned downward and toward the Ice Clones surrounding her.

Vera’s left hand moved slightly.

The weapons adjusted their aim.

Then...

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

The RPG-2s launched their grenades.

The projectiles moved quickly through the battlefield.

The nearby Ice Clones barely had time to react.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Explosions erupted around Vera.

Smoke rolled across the platform.

Pieces of ice were thrown through the air.

Vera immediately stopped several of her firearms from rotating.

She turned them toward her left.

Her left hand pointed in that direction.

The E-V 26 MK.IIs followed the movement.

Their barrels aligned.

Then...

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The firearms fired toward the approaching movement.

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

Sparks erupted from within the smoke.

At first, they were distant.

Then they came closer.

And closer.

The distance between Vera and the approaching group closed rapidly.

From the smoke that now surrounded Vera...

Diane jumped out.

Her remaining Ice Clones followed her.

Diane moved her slim sword rapidly, blocking the incoming attacks as she advanced.

KLANG!

One attack struck her sword.

She shifted her wrist.

Another shot passed beside her.

A third struck one of the Ice Clones.

The clone’s body cracked, but it continued moving.

Diane did not stop her advancement.

Neither did her Ice Clones.

They continued pushing through the gunfire.

Several pellets broke through the bodies of the Ice Clones.

Fragments of frozen material scattered from their shoulders and sides.

Diane herself sustained several cuts from the barrage of gunshots.

A thin line of blood appeared against her skin.

She ignored it.

Then, in the middle of the exchange...

The E-V 26 MK.IIs ran out of ammunition.

The Kalthoff Repeaters did as well.

The weapons stopped firing.

And Diane was already close.

Vera immediately moved backward.

Diane followed.

She did not allow Vera to create distance.

Vera stretched her right hand forward.

The empty Kalthoff Repeaters moved through the air.

She controlled them like spears, sending them directly toward Diane.

Diane’s slim sword moved.

KLANG!

She sliced through the first firearm.

The second came from another angle.

She turned and cut through it as well.

The remaining Ice Clones ran beside her.

They moved as a group, keeping pressure on Vera while Diane continued advancing.

"Ahhhhh."

Diane exhaled.

Cold air flowed from her mouth.

At once, the temperature around Vera dropped.

The change was fast enough that frost began spreading across the ground beneath Vera’s feet.

The surface turned white with a shade of light-blue.

Thin layers of ice climbed over the cracks in the platform.

Vera continued moving backward.

An Ice Clone suddenly jumped toward her from the right.

Vera shifted her body.

Before the clone could reach her, Vera jumped and turned in midair.

Her leg swung outward.

BAM!

Her kick struck one Ice Clone.

The momentum carried the same movement into another.

Both clones were knocked away.

At that moment...

Diane’s fist closed.

She stepped forward and punched toward Vera.

Vera raised both arms.

The punch struck her guard.

BOOM!

Vera gritted her teeth faintly as the force pushed her backward.

Her boots left the ground.

Her body became upside down in the air as she was sent backward.

But Vera did not lose control.

She twisted her body while flying backward.

Her legs turned downward.

She extended one boot.

Two RPG-2s were now floating beneath her.

Both had already been loaded and the same was for the other launchers flying above her.

Vera landed on them.

Her boots settled against the weapons as they hovered above the platform.

BOOM!

The impact sent a short shock through the air.

Vera remained balanced on the two RPG-2s.

The air in front of her suddenly moved violently.

Diane now glowed light blue.

More of her Cognis flowed from her body like thin streaks of lightning, running around her arms and shoulders before entering her slim sword.

The remaining Ice Clones were now only in the tens.

They stood around Diane.

Their bodies also began glowing light blue as Cognis flowed through them.

The battlefield had become much quieter for a moment.

Broken ice covered the platform, spent firearms were scattered across the ground, and cold fog moved between the two Flowers.

Vera looked at Diane.

Then a faint smile appeared on her face.

White Cognis began flowing visibly into her remaining firearms.

The weapons responded to the increased flow of Cognis.

Their bodies trembled slightly in the air as the Cognis passed through them.

Vera stood on the two RPG-2s.

She folded her arms.

Her black, dull eyes remained fixed on Diane.

There was no fear in them.

Only that familiar, almost bored expression remained on her face.

Diane stood opposite her, surrounded by the remaining Ice Clones.

The light-blue glow around her became stronger.

Vera’s white Cognis continued gathering around her weapons.

Neither Flower moved.

For the moment, they simply looked at each other across the ruined platform.