Chapter 610: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: The Final X

Vera jumped to her left.

The moment her boots left the ground, a golden Sun Vortex spawned at the exact position she had occupied a fraction of a millisecond earlier.

VWOOM!

The spinning vortex tore into the platform.

The ground beneath it disintegrated without producing the usual cloud of broken stone, leaving behind a clean, deep hole as hot steam rose from the damaged surface.

Vera landed several steps away.

Before her feet had fully settled, she raised her fingers slightly.

The firearms hovering around her responded at once.

The BAR M1918s changed direction, some rising higher while others moved sideways, their long barrels turning toward different sections of the battlefield.

VWOOM!

Multiple Sun Vortexes appeared inches away from the firearms.

The golden whirlpools spun violently, their edges eating into the air and the platform beneath them, but Vera had already moved the weapons away.

The distance between the firearms and the vortexes was so small that even the spectators could see how little room Vera had left to work with.

She landed properly.

Then she shifted her body.

Her upper body turned sharply to the right as another Sun Vortex opened beneath her boots.

The ground vanished.

A clean hole appeared where she had been standing only a moment before, with hot steam pouring upward from the damaged platform.

Vera did not even look down.

Her fingers moved again.

The firearms rose into the air.

Another group of Sun Vortexes spawned around them.

One opened beneath a BAR M1918.

Another appeared beside its barrel.

A third formed behind another rifle.

The weapons escaped by only inches.

Maxwell was not giving her enough time to breathe.

The rate at which he created the Sun Vortexes kept increasing, forcing Vera to change the position of her body and every firearm almost at the same time.

She stepped left.

A vortex appeared there.

She shifted right.

Another appeared.

She moved backward.

A vortex opened behind her.

The battlefield was slowly being covered with holes and trails of hot steam, while the remaining sections of the platform became harder to use as safe ground.

But Vera was doing more than simply avoiding Maxwell’s attacks.

Every time she shifted her body, every time she turned her shoulders, and every time she moved one foot to another position, she was also giving orders to her weapons.

Even without looking directly at Maxwell, Vera’s BAR M1918s turned toward him.

Her black eyes remained dull and steady.

Then she moved her hand forward.

BANG! BANG!

The automatic rifles fired.

A stream of bullets tore through the air toward Maxwell.

Maxwell was still airborne.

Golden flames came out from his feet, pushing against the air and carrying his body through the battlefield.

He shifted his torso just as the bullets reached him.

Several passed directly in front of his face.

One came so close that he could feel the movement of the air against his cheek.

Maxwell immediately brought both hands together.

Sun Vortexes appeared around him.

One formed behind his back.

Another opened beneath him.

Two more appeared to his left.

The golden whirlpools swallowed the incoming bullets before the projectiles could reach him.

"Tsk."

Maxwell clicked his tongue.

He twisted his body in the air while controlling the golden flames flowing from the halo above his head.

The halo rotated above him, and the flames followed the movement of his body.

BANG! BANG!

Another series of gunshots came from different directions.

Maxwell felt the change in the air before he saw the bullets.

The turbulence around him shifted as another barrage approached.

He rotated his entire body.

Golden flames gathered around him.

The flames spun faster, forming a rotating mass around his body that looked almost like a small tornado.

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

Bullets struck the rotating golden flames.

Sparks burst from each impact.

Some bullets were deflected upward.

Others were thrown to the side.

A few were swallowed by newly formed Sun Vortexes before they could get close.

Maxwell immediately raised his right hand.

Golden light gathered around his fingers.

He attempted to create another series of Sun Vortexes around Vera and the firearms.

Yet another barrage of gunshots came before he could finish.

VWOOM!

Sun Vortexes spawned rapidly throughout the air and across the platform where Vera was moving.

Vera ran.

Her black hair moved behind her as she crossed the damaged platform.

A vortex appeared ahead.

She changed direction.

Another appeared behind her.

She turned.

A third formed beside one of her firearms.

She moved the weapon away before it could be swallowed.

Maxwell pushed forward through the air, following her direction.

Golden flames carried him higher as he continued the assault.

Several Sun Balls gathered around him.

Then...

Sun lasers shot from his sides.

The golden beams traveled downward toward Vera.

On the fight platform, explosions began erupting one after another.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Vera faded backward.

Then forward.

Then to the side.

She continued moving through the narrow gaps between the attacks, her firearms shifting around her as she maintained control over them.

Maxwell watched her from above.

Time and time again, I keep trying to keep her from getting her control of this fight, but...

He turned his body as another group of bullets rained past him.

One passed his shoulder.

Another passed beneath his arm.

He avoided them and glanced upward.

Several BAR M1918s were hovering above him.

Maxwell’s expression changed.

Since when...?

He had been watching Vera’s movements, yet somehow, she had moved those firearms into a position above him without him noticing.

The realization came with a small sense of danger.

BANG! BANG!

The BAR M1918s fired at the exact same time.

Maxwell’s back tingled.

His instincts warned him before his eyes could fully register the attack.

He immediately moved his right hand.

Golden flames poured from the halo.

They condensed into the shape of a long Sun staff.

Maxwell grabbed it.

KLANG!

KLANG!

KLANG!

He sliced through the incoming bullets.

His body turned with the movement as he brought the Sun staff downward.

Then...

KLANG!

The staff collided with the blue bolt bullet.

BOOOMMMM!

The impact exploded between them.

The force pushed Maxwell backward through the air.

His body was thrown several meters away before he managed to regain control.

Vera saw it.

And her dull black eyes sharpened immediately.

Maxwell was now moving higher up into the sky.

The Cognis around Vera’s body became slightly more visible as it surged outward.

She raised her right hand.

Several firearms hovering beside her shot upward.

Vera fed Cognis into them as they moved.

At the same time...

Maxwell finally stabilized himself.

Then he saw the BAR M1918s approaching from directly ahead.

He immediately directed Sun lasers from his halo toward them.

BANG! BANG! BRRATATATATAT!

More gunshots erupted from behind him.

The sounds came from the air above.

Maxwell’s golden eyes widened.

It wasn’t because of the number of gunshots that caught his attention.

One of them sounded different.

BOOM!

BOOM!

The Sun lasers intercepted the BAR M1918s approaching from the front.

Maxwell sharply turned his body.

He raised the Sun staff and blocked the incoming bullets.

KLANG!

He swung the staff.

More bullets were cut apart.

Sparks scattered through the air.

But among the bullets he had blocked, something else caught his attention.

At first, he could barely see it.

It was too small.

It moved with the bullets.

But the reflection of the surrounding light revealed its shape for an instant.

A needle?

Maxwell’s golden eyes widened.

Thk!

A tiny needle pierced the side of his thumb.

He looked down.

The needle had entered his skin.

A sharp pain traveled through his right hand, and a small drop of blood appeared around the wound.

For only a microsecond, his control over his hand weakened.

And that was all.

The heat coming from his body began melting the needle almost immediately.

But Vera had never needed more than that.

That single microsecond was what she had been waiting for.

KZZT!

Lightning sparked from the V-01 VOLT.

The three circular markings along the rifle began rotating faster.

The mechanical sections turned against one another as blue electricity gathered around the weapon.

The lightning grew.

Before this exact moment, after Vera had realized she had no much time left using her ability.

She began watching.

She used everything she had already seen before the actions happened.

Her eyes moved from one side to another.

Possibilities unfolded inside her mind.

Maxwell moved his right hand.

One possibility formed.

His body twisted.

Another possibility appeared.

His Sun Alchemy followed.

Another possibility branched from it.

Vera saw the attacks and the actions that would follow them.

She saw one possibility.

Then another.

Then another.

Each one had a different result.

Each movement Maxwell made created another branch.

Vera did not simply wait for the future to reveal itself.

She searched through those possibilities.

Her eyes moved left.

Then right.

She continued fighting while her mind sorted through the countless paths appearing before her.

She picked one.

The others faded.

Then another group of possibilities formed.

Vera selected another.

She moved.

A Sun Vortex appeared behind her.

She was already gone.

A Sun laser crossed the path she had occupied.

She had already turned.

A firearm moved through the air.

Vera adjusted its position without looking at it.

She fired.

The possibility continued.

She kept moving toward the range she needed.

Instead of simply reading the future, Vera began creating her own possibilities.

She needed one particular opening.

One moment.

One fracture in Maxwell’s movements that would give her enough time to use her greatest weapon.

She calmly held the V-01 VOLT in both hands.

Her focus deepened.

The electricity being generated by the rifle became stronger.

Blue lightning flowed out from the weapon.

It crawled along the body of the rifle before spilling onto the ground.

KZZT!

Another bolt struck the platform.

The damaged stone cracked.

The lightning then traveled up Vera’s arms.

It moved across her sleeves and along her skin.

Vera did not react.

Her dull black eyes remained fixed on Maxwell.

The battlefield around her was becoming increasingly violent, but her expression stayed the same.

Maxwell sensed the immense fluctuation of Cognis.

His golden eyes moved toward Vera.

Then he felt the lightning.

The needle had finally melted completely from his thumb.

He could feel his hand again.

TZZZRAK!

A louder cry of lightning echoed from Vera’s position.

Maxwell’s golden eyes reflected blue light.

The entire battlefield around Vera seemed to have been swallowed by it.

Vera pushed more Cognis into the V-01 VOLT.

The weapon entered a state of overload.

The three circular sections rotated faster.

Electricity continued building inside the rifle.

The pressure in the air changed.

Maxwell understood what he was looking at.

If that gun blast touches me...

He could feel the power gathering inside the weapon.

He already knew it was dangerous.

This was different from the rifle Ezra had used against him.

Ezra’s bullet had possessed the Law of Inversion.

That bullet had pierced through his Sun Blast and entered his body, damaging his shoulder and knee.

But Vera’s weapon was different.

It was not relying on the same method.

It possessed raw power.

And a terrifying amount of it.

The level of power climbing from that weapon was already approaching that of a Meister Alchemist.

Maxwell stared at Vera.

Then his Master’s words returned to him.

"This is why I’m telling you that there will always be people who are better than you in some other aspect, and even people who are better than you in the same aspect as well. You might meet them when you go out into the world of this Kingdom."

"Ha..."

Maxwell laughed bitterly.

"Why the hell am I remembering my Master’s words just now?"

His voice carried a strange mixture of amusement and frustration.

His eyes moved through the battlefield.

Diane Bergwyn.

Ravenor Burnwick.

Ezra Ashenlocke.

And now...

Vera Ashenlocke.

They were all young Alchemists.

They were the same age as him.

They had started from similar positions.

The difference was their upbringing.

And the people who had taught them.

Maxwell had not been given the same things.

But that did not mean he was automatically ahead of them.

Nor did it mean they were automatically ahead of him.

If he wanted to prove that he was stronger than everyone else, then there was only one thing he could do.

He had to defeat them.

All of them.

An excited smile appeared on Maxwell’s face.

The atmosphere around him changed.

The halo above his head began rotating faster.

Golden flames poured out from it.

The flames moved toward his hands.

CLAP!

Maxwell brought his hands together.

The golden flames pouring from his feet increased.

Then he shot downward.

This time, he went directly toward Vera.

Crack.

Crack.

Crack.

The sound of breaking objects came from Vera.

Her Alchemy accessories began breaking apart.

The stored Cognis inside them had been completely drained.

Vera had used almost everything she had.

BOOM!

The lightning around the V-01 VOLT erupted.

The force was so strong that the ground beneath Vera’s boots broke apart.

The sleeves of her training clothes began to burn away from the heat.

Blue lightning covered the entire rifle.

Vera exhaled.

"Ahhh..."

She positioned the weapon perfectly.

Her right eye moved toward the scope.

She looked through it.

Maxwell appeared inside the sight.

He was descending from the sky.

A white flame had ignited from the Sun Alchemy Circle forming in front of him.

His body was coming down so quickly that he looked like a missile.

The golden flames surrounding him were changing.

They were turning white.

Maxwell continued gathering more golden flames into the white flames.

Vera watched him through the scope.

She did not panic.

Her expression remained composed.

There was no need to see the future anymore.

Vera had already coated the hippocampus, visual cortex, and prefrontal cortex of her brain with Cognis.

The coating began canceling the massive flow of information coming from her sight.

The countless possibilities disappeared.

The endless branches vanished.

She no longer needed to watch everything that could happen.

She no longer needed to follow every possibility Maxwell might choose.

All those countless fragments had already led her to one point.

A point she had created herself.

The battlefield around her continued shaking.

The ground beneath her boots cracked further.

The white flames above grew brighter.

Maxwell descended.

Vera remained still.

Her finger rested against the trigger.

Look, my dearest Inventor.

Vera’s eyes remained fixed through the scope.

This is my CREATION.

She pulled the trigger.

BOOOOM!!!!!

A blue bolt bullet erupted from the V-01 VOLT.

It shot through the air like a missile.

The force of the shot pushed against Vera’s body.

The ground beneath her boot cracked even further.

The air parted around the projectile.

The bullet accelerated.

It broke through the sound barrier.

Then it broke through it again.

And again.

The pressure around the bullet became so intense that the air behind it formed a vacuum-like trail.

The blue lightning wrapped around the projectile as it tore toward Maxwell.

Maxwell continued descending.

He gathered more golden flames.

The white flames around him became brighter.

The golden color disappeared.

White replaced it.

"Ahhhhhhhh!!!"

Maxwell drew both hands backward.

The white flames condensed around his body.

The heat continued gathering.

"AHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Maxwell shouted.

Then he released the attack.

The white flame blast shot downward.

The blue bolt bullet and the white blast moved toward each other.

The air between them shook violently.

Wind exploded outward.

The Force Field surrounding the fight area trembled from the pressure.

The ground vibrated beneath the feet of everyone watching.

The spectators felt the force even through the protective barrier.

BOOM!

The two attacks collided.

Blue light and white flames erupted across the battlefield.

Sparks scattered in every direction.

The Force Field shook again.

For a moment, almost every spectator in the arena and every person watching through the live broadcast could only stare.

Even the people who had been shouting moments ago became silent.

A little noble girl stared at the scene with her mouth slightly open.

White sparks fell from the collision like tiny stars.

One landed on the damaged platform and disappeared.

"It’s beautiful."

The words left the girl’s mouth without her realizing it.

That was all she could see.

The light.

The falling sparks.

The white and blue colors filling the whole battlefield.

To her, it was simply beautiful.

But the people who understood Alchemy knew what they were actually watching.

This was not simply beautiful.

This was two attacks colliding at a level far beyond what most of them could properly understand.

At the seating section of the High Powers of the Kingdom...

Alister Morgan stared at the battlefield, his expression slightly lost its usual composure.

"It’s piercing through it."

His voice came out quietly.

He was watching the blue bolt.

It was not being swallowed.

It was not being stopped.

It was moving through the white flames.

At the First-Year seating section...

Cyrus had his mouth open in disbelief.

But what stunned him even more was the person he was looking at.

Ezra had one hand resting near his nose.

His expression remained as plain as ever, but the corners of his mouth moved.

"Haha... Haha..."

A quiet laugh escaped him.

Is he laughing?

Did he really just laugh?

Cyrus asked himself in complete shock.

Ezra never reacted to anything openly.

"She actually created a railgun."

His eyes remained fixed on the blue bolt tearing through the white flames.

"A freaking railgun."

For the first time in a very long time, there was something close to genuine excitement in his voice.

Not because of the destruction.

Not because Maxwell had been pushed into a corner.

But because Ezra understood exactly what he was looking at.

That was a Gun.

A weapon that should not have existed in Britannia yet.

And Vera Ashenlocke had actually made one.

Cyrus continued looking at him with his completely shocked expression.

While on the Fight Platform...

The blue bolt of lightning continued forward.

It broke through the white flames.

The attack split the massive white blast apart, cutting through it like a blade passing through a sea of clouds.

White flames scattered around the blue projectile.

Maxwell’s glowing white eyes reflected the approaching lightning.

"Ho..."

His voice was barely audible beneath the growing roar.

BOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!