Chapter 597: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: The Sun vs The Gun IX

BOOM!

The punch struck with tremendous force, but it did not hit Ezra’s face.

As Maxwell’s fist came within inches of Ezra’s face, the force behind it split the air. Wind rushed past Ezra’s cheeks while hot steam swept violently across the battlefield.

Ezra shifted his left leg backward.

At the same time, he moved his right hand toward his left, his fingers making a small adjustment as he calmly controlled one of the Repeater Sword Rifles floating nearby.

The rifle moved through the air.

Ezra did not need to throw it with force.

He only needed the body of the weapon to make contact with Maxwell’s fist at the correct angle.

The metal body of the Repeater Sword Rifle touched Maxwell’s incoming punch by the slightest amount.

That tiny change was enough.

The rifle redirected the fist by an inch.

Only an inch.

But that inch was enough to make Maxwell’s punch miss Ezra’s face.

The fist passed beside Ezra’s cheek.

And the moment it missed its target, golden flames launched from Maxwell’s hand in the form of a concentrated blast.

VWOOM!

The blast tore through the air and shot beyond the fight platform before crashing into the Force Field.

The barrier trembled violently.

Ripples spread across its surface as the golden flames pressed against it, and several spectators near the front rows instinctively leaned back in fear and some were surprised by the sudden clash despite knowing the Force Field was protecting them.

Maxwell did not care to think about how Ezra had redirected his punch.

He immediately moved his other hand.

Golden flames flowed from his shoulder down his arm and gathered around his fist.

His fingers tightened.

Then he swung again.

BOOM!

Maxwell’s fist struck a group of Repeater Sword Rifles Ezra had brought together to block the attack.

The moment the punch landed, golden flames erupted across the bodies of the joined rifles.

The flames spread over the metal and temporarily blocked Ezra’s view of Maxwell.

Ezra’s body was pushed slightly backward by the force of the impact.

He adjusted his footing in mid-step, keeping control of the firearms even as the heat pressed against them.

The rifles, however, did not break.

They did not bend or even melt.

The reason was the material used to create Ezra’s firearms.

All of them were made from Umbral Orichsteel, an alloy composed of forty-five percent Orichalcum, thirty percent Blacksteel, and twenty-five percent Umbrium.

Orichalcum provided the heat resistance.

Umbrium provided its ability to absorb energy.

Blacksteel gave the alloy its impact hardness.

The three materials worked together to create a metal capable of taking punishment that ordinary Alchemy firearms would never survive from a Sun Alchemy Attack.

Most of Ezra’s firearms were also within the Eighth-Grade to Ninth-Grade quality range, which made them more than capable of handling Maxwell’s Sun flames for a good period.

But even such an alloy had a limit.

Constant exposure to the golden flames would eventually force the metal to heat up.

And Maxwell was already increasing the power of his flames.

Ezra’s eyes noticed the change.

The joined rifles began to redden.

He immediately jumped backward.

At the same moment, Maxwell increased the firepower flowing through his fist.

The golden flames pushed through the group of rifles.

The weapons were sent flying away from Maxwell, and he had to brace himself after the force of his own attack carried him forward.

Ezra landed.

Before his boots had fully settled against the ground, both Twin Vipers were already in his hands.

At the same time, he directed the AK-47s and FAN FAL Battle Rifles toward Maxwell.

The weapons turned in the air.

Their barrels aligned.

Ezra pulled the trigger.

BRRATATATATAT! BRRATATATATAT!

BANG! BANG!

The sounds of assault rifles, battle rifles, and the Twin Vipers merged together as bullets rushed across the battlefield.

Ezra did not aim at Maxwell’s center.

The bullets were directed toward his shoulders, the sides of his legs, and his knees.

He was trying to restrict Maxwell’s movement rather than simply shoot him.

Maxwell ran forward without stopping.

The gunfire did not make him slow down.

As he closed the distance, golden flames gathered in his right palm.

His arm tensed.

"AHHHHH!!"

Maxwell shouted as he stretched his right hand forward.

A condensed golden flame beam burst from his palm and rushed toward the incoming bullets.

VWOOM!

The Sun Beam swept across the path of the gunfire.

Several bullets were pushed away from their original paths as they entered the beam, especially the rounds fired by the AK-47s and FAN FAL Battle Rifles.

Those firearms were only Binder-rank weapons.

Their bullets could not completely resist the force of Maxwell’s Sun Beam.

But the Twin Vipers were different.

Their bullets pierced through the golden beam.

Maxwell’s expression changed.

The attack he had expected to stop the bullets was not enough.

He immediately stopped his forward charge and changed direction.

His body twisted.

One bullet passed beside his shoulder.

Another moved toward his knee.

He stepped over it.

A third came toward his chest, forcing him to turn his body sideways.

Ezra followed him.

He did not simply continue firing at Maxwell’s previous position.

His firearms moved with Maxwell.

The Twin Vipers continued firing while Ezra controlled the other rifles around the battlefield.

He maintained pressure with the Twin Vipers while simultaneously firing the other firearms and reloading the weapons that had emptied their magazines.

Maxwell increased his speed.

He began moving in a zigzag pattern.

Left.

Right.

Forward.

Then sharply to the side.

His feet struck the cracked platform repeatedly as he changed direction, while golden flames continued flowing through his body.

Ezra kept his eyes on him.

Every movement was being recorded.

Then Maxwell jumped.

His body rose above the battlefield, and he spread his right hand.

VWOOM! VWOOM!

Several Sun Vortexes spawned.

They did not form randomly.

They appeared directly around the firearms floating in the air which Ezra was firing at him.

The golden vortexes twisted violently.

Their force pulled the nearby weapons inward.

The Sun Vortexes were not only destroying Ezra firearms through the increased heat.

They were pulling them in with a magnetic-like force.

The firearms were dragged toward the centers of the vortexes, their metal bodies shaking as the golden energy crushed them.

Ezra glanced at the weapons being consumed.

Then he looked back at Maxwell.

His expression remained calm.

He immediately sent several Repeater Sword Rifles forward.

At the same time, most of the M27 IARs changed position.

Their barrels turned toward Maxwell.

The guns opened fire.

BRRATATATATAT!

The bullets rushed through the air.

Maxwell moved both hands.

More Sun Vortexes appeared.

The golden vortexes intercepted the incoming bullets.

Several rounds disappeared into them.

Others were deflected.

Then another vortex appeared.

This one did not form around one of Ezra’s firearms.

It appeared directly in front of Ezra.

Ezra was already running toward Maxwell.

The golden vortex suddenly formed in his path.

His eyes widened slightly.

He stopped himself immediately.

The soles of his boots scraped against the ground.

He jumped backward.

Thud!

Ezra landed.

His body lowered slightly to absorb the impact.

Then his inner-world sensory sketch spread outward again.

It moved through the battlefield like a ripple traveling across water.

This time, Ezra was not mapping Maxwell and the whole fight area.

He was mapping the heat.

The heat wave surrounding the fight platform had become part of the battlefield.

Ezra had watched the Sun Vortexes appear again and again.

They had not been appearing without reason.

There was something happening before every formation.

A gathering of hot particles.

A change in the heat around the point where the vortex would appear.

Ezra’s eyes narrowed.

He had finally found what he needed to look for.

He had to sense the gathering particles within the hot wave.

Now that he understood the pattern, his inner-world sensory sketch spread farther.

Every gathering of heated particles became visible to him through his enhanced senses.

Another point of heat began gathering.

Ezra reacted before the Sun Vortex could appear.

BOOM!

He dashed forward.

At the same time, all of his firearms changed position.

They moved just before the Sun Vortexes could form.

It was not easy.

The weapons had to move quickly enough to escape the point where the heat was gathering, while Ezra still had to keep control over hundreds of individual firearms.

Some of the weapons were still caught.

A few Sun Vortexes appeared around them and began pulling the firearms inward.

But Ezra did not allow the pattern to repeat.

He moved the remaining firearms immediately.

He was not going to lose his weapons one by one.

Maxwell noticed the change.

Ezra was getting closer.

And while doing so, he was reloading the Twin Vipers.

The magazines were replaced rapidly.

The firearms moved around Ezra while he kept advancing.

Then...

BRRATATATATAT! BRRATATATATAT!

The Twin Vipers opened fire again.

Bullets rushed toward Maxwell.

At the same time, the BAR M1918s and M27 IARs joined the attack.

The battlefield filled with gunfire.

Maxwell’s focus sharpened.

The golden halo hovering above his head began rotating rapidly.

The movement of the halo accelerated.

Golden flames on the ground grew stronger.

The heat increased so quickly that the surface of the platform began to melt.

Stone softened.

Small pieces of the ground sank beneath the heat before turning red and flowing.

Maxwell looked toward Ezra.

"If you think you can stop the flames of the Sun, then think again!"

He shouted.

More Cognis flowed into his Mass Alchemy.

The golden halo spun faster.

The flames beneath Maxwell became more violent.

Then golden lasers shot out from the halo.

VWOOM! VWOOM! VWOOM!

The beams intercepted the incoming bullets.

One after another, the white flashes disappeared inside the golden light.

At the same time, Maxwell gathered golden flames between his palms.

The flames compressed.

A small sphere formed.

Then it grew.

Maxwell pushed both palms forward.

A large Golden Flame Blast exploded outward.

VWOOM!

Ezra reacted immediately.

He controlled several firearms and moved them directly in front of himself.

The weapons formed a temporary path.

Ezra stepped onto the first firearm.

Then the second.

He used them as stepping blocks.

His legs pushed against the metal bodies, launching him upward as the Golden Flame Blast rushed beneath him.

The attack passed under his body.

The firearms were not so lucky.

The golden flames consumed them.

Metal melted.

Barrels warped.

Several weapons fell apart as their bodies were incinerated by the heat.

But Ezra was already in the air.

He controlled the remaining M79s.

Their barrels turned downward.

Toward Maxwell.

White Cognis rushed into the launchers.

The body of firearms brightened like circuit systems had been integrated into them.

Ezra forced them into an Overload state.

BOOM! BOOM!

All the M79s fired at once.

Grenades flew downward.

Maxwell looked up.

His golden eyes followed the incoming projectiles.

He moved his position.

At the same time, he gathered golden flames from the halo above his head and from the golden flames flowing across the ground beneath him.

The flames gathered around his hands.

He compressed them into another Sun Blast.

Maxwell raised both hands.

The attack erupted upward.

VWOOM!

The golden blast struck the incoming M79 grenades.

BOOM!

The first grenade exploded.

Another followed.

BOOM!

More detonations filled the air.

But the Sun Blast did not stop.

It continued moving toward Ezra.

Ezra’s eyes narrowed.

He reached out with his Black Magnetic Gloves.

Black threads shot from his hands.

They crossed the air and attached themselves to the body of one of the firearms floating farther away from him.

The polarity locked.

Ezra pulled.

His body was dragged away from the incoming attack.

He moved toward one of the distant firearms.

The Sun Blast passed behind him.

The heat brushed against his body.

Ezra landed on the firearm.

But he did not remain there.

His legs pushed against the weapon.

He launched himself again.

Another firearm moved beneath his boots.

He landed on it and immediately pushed away.

This time, he used the weapon like a skateboard which was under his control with Alchemy levitation.

The firearm slid through the edge of the Sun Blast while Ezra rode along its path.

Sparks ignited beneath his boots as the metal scraped through the golden flames.

The weapon was already beginning to melt.

Ezra did not care.

He only needed it to carry him through the attack.

As he moved downward toward Maxwell, Ezra threw the Twin Vipers upward.

The two firearms remained suspended in the air alongside the other weapons.

Hundreds of rifles had already fallen during the battle.

Yet hundreds still remained.

Ezra’s white Cognis spread from his body.

It flowed into the firearms.

One after another.

The weapons began entering Overload.

Maxwell immediately noticed the change.

His eyes widened.

He stopped the Sun Blast.

The attack began fading.

Ezra pushed himself away from the firearm beneath his feet.

The weapon was already melting from the heat.

His body rose through the steam as the last remnants of the Sun Blast passed beneath him.

Then he turned his body toward Maxwell.

The remaining firearms moved.

BAR M1918s.

Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk Is.

Repeater Sword Rifles.

FAN FAL Battle Rifles.

AK-47s.

M38 SDMRs.

M79s.

M27 IARs.

The weapons shifted into position.

Their barrels pointed toward Maxwell.

The Twin Vipers remained suspended among them.

Ezra stretched both hands forward.

His fingers opened.

Then he gave the firing command.

BANG! BANG!

Every firearm fired at the same time.

The battlefield disappeared beneath a rain of white light.

Hundreds of bullets rushed toward Maxwell.

The sound of gunfire became one enormous roar.

Maxwell moved both hands downward.

More Cognis surged from his body.

The ground beneath him shook.

Golden flames erupted upward.

A massive wall of fire rose between Maxwell and the incoming barrage.

The wall spread across the battlefield, blocking his entire body from Ezra’s line of fire.

Then the bullets collided with the flames.

BOOOOMMMMM!!

The clash erupted into a massive explosion.

The shockwave tore across the platform.

Wind blasted outward.

Smoke and steam spread through the battlefield, swallowing both young Alchemists.

Ezra descended through the cloud.

His body passed through the thick smoke and hot air.

The golden glow from Maxwell’s flames could still be seen through the darkness.

Ezra landed.

Instead of stopping himself immediately, he rolled across the ground to reduce the force of his landing.

His shoulder touched the platform.

His body rolled once.

Then he stopped on one knee.

Ezra reached into his Space Bag.

He pulled out several metal bars.

Orichalcum bars.

Umbrium bars.

Blacksteel bars.

His breathing was heavier now.

Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes remained focused.

Ezra brought his hands together.

Clap!

Cognis surged through his body.

The metal bars rose from his palm.

An Alchemy Circle formed rapidly beneath them.

Maxwell tried to move toward Ezra.

But the moment the Circle ignited, the metal began to change.

The Orichalcum softened.

The Blacksteel followed.

Umbrium flowed between them.

The three metals melted together.

The material compressed.

The shape changed.

The molten alloy was pulled into the form of a firearm.

Ezra continued feeding Cognis into the Alchemy Circle.

The weapon being created was beyond Ezra’s current Alchemist rank.

A Meister-rank rifle.

More blood slipped from Ezra’s mouth.

Another thin line ran from his nose.

His body trembled slightly from the strain.

But he continued.

The weapon finished forming.

An MCX-SPEAR appeared in his hands.

Ezra caught the battle rifle and immediately raised it.

His eyes moved behind the scope.

The world inside the sight changed.

Everything became closer.

Sharper.

Maxwell was directly within his view.

The golden halo still hovered above Maxwell’s head.

Golden flames continued burning beneath his feet.

Maxwell was already preparing his own attack.

Ezra’s finger settled against the trigger.

Neither of them looked away.

The battlefield had become almost unrecognizable beneath the heat, smoke, broken ground, and scattered firearms.

Yet the two of them remained standing.

The Sun Alchemist.

The Gun Alchemist.

And now Ezra was holding a weapon that should not have been possible for an Adept Alchemist to create.

His black eyes remained fixed through the scope.

He took aim.