Chapter 596: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: The Sun vs The Gun VIII

The Sun Vortex expanded rapidly, completely devouring the Barrett M107 Rifle as its golden spiral continued spreading toward Ezra.

Ezra immediately released the rifle.

There was no point trying to hold onto a weapon that was already being swallowed by Maxwell’s Alchemy.

The moment his fingers left the Barrett M107, the golden light filled his vision.

BOOM!

The Sun Vortex exploded wildly.

Golden light spread across the air as the attack consumed Ezra’s position, swallowing his body within the blinding glow. The force of the explosion pushed the surrounding smoke and hot air outward, causing the Force Field around the platform to ripple as it absorbed the pressure.

Maxwell stood with both hands stretched forward and close together, his golden eyes fixed on the place where Ezra had disappeared.

The golden light was so bright that even Maxwell could not clearly see Ezra’s body within it.

He simply waited.

His fingers remained extended.

His breathing was steady.

He was watching for any movement inside the fading light.

At the First-Year seating section, the atmosphere had completely changed.

The earlier cheers had disappeared.

Even the students who had been loudly supporting Ezra were now staring at the platform without speaking.

"Ezra..."

Selena muttered his name under her breath.

Her fingers had tightened around the edge of her seat, and her eyes remained fixed on the golden light covering the battlefield.

She looked genuinely worried.

"No one told me he could perform something close to the Instant Flame Burst like Ravenor."

Cyrus spoke with bewilderment as he leaned forward slightly.

His eyes followed the fading golden glow.

"If that sniper gunshot from Ezra had hit Maxwell, then this battle might have been entering its ending stages in Ezra’s favor, but now..."

Willow’s crimson eyes remained focused on the battlefield.

She had her hands folded, one leg crossed over the other, but her posture was more rigid than before.

"...everything seems to have changed in Maxwell’s favor."

The others understood what she meant.

Ezra had created an opening.

Then Maxwell had completely erased it.

The difference between those two moments had happened so quickly that even the spectators who had been following the fight carefully were still trying to understand what they had just witnessed.

"Can Ezra even survive this?"

Sasha leaned back in her chair while taking another sip from the glass cup of orange fruit juice in her hand.

Several ice cubes shifted inside the cup as she tilted it.

Her usual playful expression was nowhere to be seen.

"I don’t know, honestly."

Fatima answered while continuing to watch the fight platform.

"Even I don’t think I can survive an attack of this power, but for some reason..."

She stopped.

Her eyes remained on the golden light.

She wanted to see the answer before she finished the thought.

The same uncertainty had spread through the entire arena.

The Combat Festival had been noisy only moments ago, but the explosion had changed that.

Many spectators were now talking at once, their voices mixing together as they tried to understand how Maxwell had suddenly created a Sun Vortex that seemed to appear directly around Ezra.

Some immediately compared it to Ravenor’s Instant Flame Burst.

To them, the two attacks looked similar.

Both could appear suddenly.

Both could swallow an opponent before they had much time to react.

And both created a violent burst of flames.

But those spectators were mostly the ones who did not understand much about Alchemy.

The Low-ranking Alchemists watching from the audience noticed the difference.

The High-ranking Alchemists noticed even more.

Scholars who had spent years studying different Alchemy Paths also understood that what Maxwell had just done was not the same as Ravenor’s Instant Flame Burst.

The small Sun Vortex appearing around the bullet had not felt like Flame Alchemy.

Its structure was different.

Its energy behaved differently.

Its way of consuming the target was also different.

Yet very few people bothered to discuss that difference at the moment.

There was a much simpler question occupying almost everyone’s mind.

Is Ezra still standing?

Back on the fight platform...

Patrick’s excited voice echoed through the arena.

"Can Mr. Ezra Ashenlocke survive this amazing display of power from Mr. Maxwell?!"

The question only made the anticipation inside the arena grow stronger.

Every eye was focused on the fading golden light.

Maxwell also remained focused on it.

"Come on, Ezra Ashenlocke. You can’t be down from this."

He muttered the words under his breath.

He waited.

The golden light continued fading.

The heat remained suspended around the platform, and steam drifted through the air in thin layers.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Four Repeater Sword Rifles suddenly shot out from the area covered by the fading golden light and hot steam.

Maxwell’s golden eyes immediately sharpened.

His body reacted before he had time to think.

He shifted to the left.

The first rifle passed directly beside him.

The blade attached to its muzzle cut through the air where his body had been only an instant earlier.

Maxwell twisted his upper body and reached out.

The second Repeater Sword Rifle came toward him.

He caught it with his bare hand.

KLANG!

The third rifle arrived.

Maxwell swung the rifle he had caught and blocked it.

KLANG!

The fourth followed immediately.

KLANG!

The metal blades struck against each other, sending sparks into the hot air.

Maxwell used the momentum of the block to turn his body toward the cleared side of the battlefield.

The golden light had almost completely disappeared.

Only hot steam continued drifting across the platform.

And standing inside that steam was Ezra.

He wiped a thin line of blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

Apart from that, he looked almost completely fine.

His training shirt had suffered the most damage.

The middle section had been burned away by the collision with the Sun Vortex, exposing the light black body armor he always wore underneath.

The armor had protected his body from most of the attack.

And because of how light and close-fitting it was, many people in the audience had mistaken it for nothing more than an inner layer of clothing.

Also the black heat stimulating bandages which were wrapped around Ezra’s arms beneath the damaged shirt showed.

Ezra looked down at himself for a moment.

Then he removed the damaged shirt completely.

The cloth fell away from his shoulders and landed on the ground.

He did not bother looking at it again.

His attention was already back on Maxwell.

Ezra adjusted the gloves on both hands.

His fingers tightened once.

Then his Space Bag opened.

Weapons began emerging.

One after another.

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! 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! Whoosh! Whoosh!

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

The sound quickly became continuous.

Firearms filled the air behind Ezra.

The weapons did not simply appear and fall.

They stopped in the air.

Their barrels shifted.

Their positions changed.

Some floated above his shoulders.

Others moved farther behind him.

Several remained closer to his sides.

The entire space behind Ezra slowly became filled with firearms.

BAR M1918s.

Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk Is.

Repeater Sword Rifles.

FAN FAL Battle Rifles.

AK-47s.

M38 SDMRs.

M79s.

M27 IARs.

These were the stock firearms Elder Ivanhoe and Uncle Rogers had sent to him.

Ezra had also used much of the Alchemy Material they had provided to create more of his own personal firearms, rather than simply relying on everything they had originally sent.

Now, all of them were floating behind him.

The sight was enough to make several spectators forget to breathe for a moment.

Maxwell looked at the hundreds of firearms gathered behind Ezra.

Ezra looked back at him calmly.

There was no obvious worried emotion in his expression.

Only the same plain look he had carried throughout the fight.

Maxwell still could not understand how Ezra had survived the Sun Vortex.

Perhaps he had used the Law of Inversion again.

Perhaps there was another method.

But Maxwell did not spend too much time thinking about it.

He did not care enough to waste the opportunity.

Right now, there was only one thing he wanted.

To defeat the strong person standing in front of him.

BOOM!

Maxwell suddenly dashed forward.

His foot struck the platform with enough force to crack the ground beneath him, and his body shot ahead.

Cognis continued surging around his body.

At the same time, two small pieces of Novarite flew out from his Space Bag.

They rose into the air beside him.

Maxwell brought his hands together.

Clap!

Ezra heard the sound.

His right hand immediately stretched forward.

The firearms behind him began moving.

Unlike Vera, Ezra did not arrange his guns into neat categories.

He did not create a clear formation where Maxwell could immediately identify which weapon would fire first.

Instead, Ezra mixed them together.

The BAR M1918s moved between the AK-47s.

The Lee-Enfields shifted past the Repeater Sword Rifles.

The M27 IARs changed places with the M38 SDMRs.

The FAN FAL Battle Rifles moved through the gaps between the other firearms.

Their positions kept changing.

One gun that had been near Ezra’s right side could suddenly move behind him.

Another could take its place.

A third might shift above Maxwell’s path.

The purpose was simple.

Ezra did not want Maxwell to know which firearm would fire next.

The weapons moved according to Ezra’s control, constantly changing their positions as Maxwell approached.

Then the first group fired.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

The Repeater Sword Rifles shot forward.

Their blades cut through the air as they moved toward Maxwell like a storm of metal arrows.

Maxwell immediately changed his movement.

He lowered his body.

One rifle passed over his head.

Another came from the side.

He twisted his shoulder and allowed it to pass.

A third came from behind.

Maxwell stepped forward instead of backward, causing the blade to miss him by a narrow distance.

The rifles crashed into the ground behind him.

KLANG!

KLANG!

Several blades remained embedded in the platform.

Others bounced across the ground before Ezra immediately recalled them.

Maxwell continued forming his Sun Alchemy.

The two Novarite stones remained near him.

Golden Cognis moved around his body as he maintained his forward momentum.

Ezra watched almost every movement.

His eyes followed Maxwell’s feet.

Then his shoulders.

Then his hands.

He was not simply watching Maxwell’s location.

He was watching how Maxwell reacted to every weapon.

The moment Maxwell shifted left, Ezra remembered it.

The moment Maxwell changed direction, Ezra remembered it.

Every dodge became information.

Ezra’s right hand moved.

The M27 IARs and M38 SDMRs changed position.

Then all of them opened fire at once.

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

The barrage continued.

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

Bullets filled the air.

Maxwell’s eyes narrowed.

He increased his speed.

His body moved left.

Then right.

He dashed forward again.

Every step cracked the already damaged ground beneath his boots.

A bullet passed beside his cheek.

Another struck the platform behind him.

Several more crossed the space he had occupied only moments earlier.

Maxwell did not slow down.

He controlled the two small Novarite stones.

Both moved toward several incoming bullets.

Then...

BOOMMM!

The two stones exploded almost simultaneously.

Golden flames erupted from them and spread outward, destroying several bullets before they could reach Maxwell.

The explosion also disturbed the trajectory of other incoming rounds.

Maxwell continued moving through the opening.

Then he sensed something ahead.

Several M79s were already positioned in front of him.

His eyes moved toward them.

A grin appeared.

His Sun Alchemy Circle formed.

The golden Circle spread from between his palms, rapidly expanding outward until it began covering a large portion of the fight platform.

Ezra saw the change.

His hand moved.

The M79s fired at the same time.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

The grenades flew toward Maxwell.

At the same moment, the golden flames created by the two Novarite stones rapidly flowed into the Mass Sun Alchemy Circle.

The flames twisted through the air.

They were pulled toward the enormous Circle as though something inside it had begun drawing them in.

Within milliseconds, all the golden flames that had spread above the fight platform were sucked into the large Alchemy Circle.

The M79 grenades continued approaching.

Maxwell raised his right hand.

He swiped it to the side.

A Sun Vortex appeared directly in the path of the incoming grenades.

The small golden vortex spun.

The M79 grenades disappeared into it.

They were devoured instantly.

At the same time, golden flames flowed outward from the large Sun Alchemy Circle.

They gathered around Maxwell’s head and formed a Golden halo ring.

His brown hair began glowing with a faint golden shade.

His golden eyes became even brighter, almost like he was standing beneath the sun itself.

Within the enormous Mass Sun Alchemy Circle, golden flames continued burning.

The heat level rapidly increased.

The air above the platform began to distort.

Steam rose from the ground.

The remaining snow around the edges of the battlefield melted faster, leaving wet patches that quickly turned into steam beneath the increasing heat.

Even the spectators could see that the platform had become dangerously hot.

Yet something strange happened.

None of Ezra’s firearms turned red.

The metal remained intact.

And Maxwell noticed something else.

Ezra was not disturbed by the heat.

He stood inside the same battlefield without showing any obvious discomfort.

The Force Field surrounding the platform prevented the heat from spreading into the audience, but even so, Maxwell could see the steam and heat moving around Ezra.

Ezra simply stood there.

His black eyes remained fixed on Maxwell.

"You seem accustomed to the heat."

Maxwell spoke as he positioned himself.

Ezra gave him a small look.

"I’m just lucky, I guess."

He replied plainly.

His right hand moved toward his Space Bag.

He reached inside and pulled out the Twin Vipers.

One firearm settled into each hand.

Ezra’s fingers wrapped around the grips.

Behind him, the hundreds of rifles began moving again.

The firearms that had spread across the battlefield slowly returned toward him.

Their barrels turned.

One after another, they pointed toward Maxwell.

The sight of hundreds of guns changing position at the same time created a strange metallic sound that spread across the platform.

Maxwell watched them.

Ezra’s eyes remained fixed on him.

I have never seen a Mass Alchemy like that.

Ezra thought to himself.

His gaze moved toward the enormous Sun Alchemy Circle surrounding them.

Then toward the residue of the golden vortex that had already consumed his bullets and grenade.

And the Sun Vortex is really a problem.

His feet shifted into his fighting stance.

Ezra’s black eyes sharpened.

The heat continued to rise around them.

Golden flames moved through the Mass Sun Alchemy Circle.

Hundreds of firearms floated behind Ezra.

The entire battlefield had become a strange balance between golden flames and black metal.

But whether the Sun Vortex is a problem or not...

I will solve it here and break through it.

Ezra raised the Twin Vipers slightly.

"Come, Sun Alchemist."

His voice remained calm.

His grip tightened around the two firearms.

Maxwell’s eyes widened slightly.

"This Gun Alchemist... how did he know about my Path?"

His gaze sharpened.

"Just like Ravenor, huh? Well, he did use the Law of Inversion against me."

Maxwell took one step forward.

The golden flames around his body followed the movement.

"You have a nice excited look in your eyes, Ezra, even though you always look plain."

By the time Maxwell finished speaking, he was already in front of Ezra.

His right fist was glowing golden.

Flames flowed from his shoulder, down his upper arm, across his forearm, and gathered around his hand.

The heat rushed forward.

Ezra did not retreat.

He calmly looked at Maxwell.

The wind and hot steam blew across his face as Maxwell’s fist moved toward him.

The distance between the fist and Ezra’s face disappeared rapidly.

Yet Ezra’s expression did not change.

His Twin Vipers remained in both hands.

Behind him, hundreds of firearms stayed suspended in the air.

And Maxwell’s golden fist continued toward his face.