Chapter 273: Into the Shadows Part – Eight
The ground split apart beneath the force of the attack.
Long claw marks tore across the iron floor, carving deep grooves through the thick metal as sparks burst into the air. Twisted steel groaned under the impact, and fragments scattered across the workshop before sliding across the floor with sharp metallic screeches.
The two Bone Alchemists didn’t stop there.
The instant their attacks landed, they sharply turned toward the positions Ezra and Gena had moved to.
Without exchanging a single word...
They naturally divided their targets.
The female Bone Alchemist shot toward Ezra.
The male Bone Alchemist lunged straight at Gena.
Their teamwork was smooth, proving they had fought side by side for years.
Bang! Bang!
Two gunshots echoed almost together.
Ezra calmly raised one of his Kel-Tec PMR-30s and fired twice at the approaching woman.
The bullets cut through the air with deadly precision.
Yet...
The female Bone Alchemist didn’t even attempt to dodge.
Instead, she twisted her body.
Her movement resembled a spinning tornado.
Her sharpened bone claws flashed through the air.
Clang! Clang!
Bright sparks exploded.
Both bullets were cleanly sliced in half before they could reach her.
The severed rounds spun harmlessly toward the ground while she continued rushing forward without losing speed.
Her Cognis surged through her body.
The veins around her forearms glowed faintly beneath her pale skin as she poured even more power into her legs.
Every step became faster than the last.
Then...
Clap!
She suddenly brought both hands together.
The crisp sound echoed through the workshop.
An Alchemy Circle instantly formed, then expanded around her wrists.
Dark grey Cognis crackled like lightning beneath her skin before flowing rapidly toward her hands.
The bones inside her fingers shifted.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
The movement beneath her flesh looked almost unnatural.
Then...
Her fingernails tore free.
Whoosh!
Dozens of sharpened bone nails shot into the air like miniature spears.
Each one spun violently while racing toward Ezra.
His expression remained unchanged.
The muzzle of his Kel-Tec smoothly followed her movement.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
He answered with another controlled volley.
Bullets and bone projectiles collided one after another.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Every collision filled the air with showers of sparks.
Tiny fragments of shattered bone and broken lead scattered across the battlefield before bouncing across the iron floor.
"Hahahaha!"
The woman laughed loudly.
"You really are good, boy!"
Her grin widened.
"You really are!"
Still laughing...
She suddenly raised one arm.
Then slammed her fist downward.
BOOOOM!
The impact shook the entire workshop.
The thick iron floor visibly bent beneath her punch.
A violent shockwave burst outward, tearing across the metal surface.
Ezra had calmly stepped aside.
In one smooth step.
Then another.
His movements looked almost effortless.
The shockwave brushed past him, missing by only a few centimeters.
It was as though he had already known exactly where the attack would land.
The woman didn’t stop.
Clap.
Another Alchemy ignition echoed.
The timing couldn’t have been more precise.
Ezra had just begun raising his second Kel-Tec PMR-30.
"No..."
The woman smiled wildly.
"No, boy!"
Fresh bone nails rapidly grew from her fingertips.
The sound of cracking bone echoed faintly as they extended.
She immediately swung both hands.
The newly formed claws sliced across the air with frightening speed.
Ezra’s eyes remained fixed on her shoulders rather than her claws.
The smallest movement of her muscles told him everything.
He slightly lowered the pistol that had been preparing to fire.
At the same time...
He shifted half a step backward.
The claws swept across the space where his arm had been only an instant earlier.
The sharp wind brushed against his sleeve before disappearing.
His counterattack had been interrupted.
But...
Only for a moment.
His eyes briefly shifted away from his opponent.
Toward Gena.
If he would need to prepare his mind to fight the two Bone Alchemist...
However...
The sight before him made him stop his thoughts.
Gena wasn’t merely holding her own.
She was completely overwhelming her opponent.
Moments earlier...
The instant the male Bone Alchemist charged...
He lunged directly toward Gena.
His left arm swung downward.
The sharpened claws split the air apart with terrifying speed.
A faint whistle echoed behind the attack.
Gena’s eyes calmly tracked every movement.
Instead of retreating...
She lifted her Big-4 Barrel Revolver.
Clang!
Metal collided with hardened bone.
Bright sparks burst between the revolver and the claws.
Before the impact had even finished...
Gena already threw her counterattack.
Her right fist shot forward like a cannon.
The sheer force behind the punch distorted the surrounding air.
The male Bone Alchemist’s eyes widened.
His instincts screamed.
He abandoned his attack immediately.
Within inches of her fist...
He twisted his waist and performed a backward somersault.
The punch narrowly missed his chest.
He landed several meters away.
His crouched posture resembled a hunting panther preparing to spring.
His eyes never left Gena.
Unfortunately for him...
Gena had no intention of giving him room to breathe.
The instant her feet touched the ground...
She exploded forward again.
BOOM!
The iron floor bent slightly beneath the force of her acceleration.
She closed the distance in a heartbeat.
Instead of throwing another punch...
She spun.
Her entire body rotated through the air before her right leg swept outward in a heavy crescent kick.
The Bone Alchemist reacted quickly.
He crossed both arms in front of himself.
Using them like a shield.
It became the biggest mistake of the battle.
BOOOOOOM!!
The kick landed.
The impact echoed throughout the workshop.
A second sound immediately followed.
CRACK!
Bone shattered.
Both of his forearms bent unnaturally.
The defense collapsed instantly.
Gena’s kick continued without slowing.
It slammed directly into the side of his head.
His body smashed violently into the iron floor.
The thick metal beneath him dented deeply.
A metallic groan echoed throughout the workshop.
Without celebrating...
Without speaking...
Gena calmly took several steps forward.
Her eyes never left her opponent.
She raised the Big-4 Barrel Revolver once more.
The barrel pointed directly toward the crater where the Bone Alchemist had fallen.
Bang!
The revolver roared.
The powerful shot thundered throughout the battlefield.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The heavy rounds from the Big-4 Barrel Revolver smashed into the deeply dented iron floor.
Each bullet threw sparks across the metal surface, but none of them struck the Bone Alchemist.
"He’s gone."
Gena muttered under her breath.
She had barely finished speaking when her instincts suddenly screamed.
Without thinking...
She sharply turned.
The Male Bone Alchemist had already appeared beside her.
His long bone claws swept horizontally through the air, aiming directly for her neck.
Gena immediately bent her upper body backward while taking several quick steps away.
The claws sliced through the space just inches from her face, carrying enough force to leave long scratches across the nearby iron wall.
"Ahhhh..."
The Male Bone Alchemist slowly exhaled.
His breathing remained steady despite the injuries covering his body.
"I can’t believe..."
He looked down at both of his arms.
"...she actually broke them with a single kick."
He slowly raised them.
Both forearms dangled unnaturally.
The bones beneath his skin had completely shattered.
Yet...
He didn’t scream.
He didn’t even show pain.
Instead...
A frightening amount of Cognis flowed from his Star.
Dark grey energy rushed through every vein in his body before gathering inside both broken arms.
His muscles twitched.
The broken bones began shifting beneath his skin.
Crack...
Crack...
Small snapping sounds echoed continuously as the fractured bones slowly forced themselves back together.
The healing wasn’t instant.
But it was fast enough to be seen with the naked eye.
During that brief recovery...
Gena never stood still.
She had already learned during the Trial of Steel that allowing an opponent to recover was the same as handing them another chance to kill you.
Without hesitation...
She threw her Big-4 Barrel Revolver.
The heavy revolver spun rapidly through the air.
The Male Bone Alchemist calmly tilted his head to the right.
The weapon flew past his cheek by barely an inch.
The wind from its rotation brushed against his face.
A smile appeared.
"You missed."
"No."
Gena’s voice suddenly came directly in front of him.
The smile instantly disappeared.
She had already crossed the distance while using the revolver as a distraction.
Her right fist was already pulled back.
Every muscle in her arm tightened.
Her shoulder rotated.
Her waist twisted.
The punch had already been fully loaded.
"This..."
The Male Bone Alchemist’s pupils shrank.
Every instinct inside him screamed the same warning.
Don’t take it.
He immediately abandoned all thoughts of counterattacking.
Instead...
He explosively stepped backward.
His body slid several meters away.
The next instant...
BOOOOM!!
Gena’s fist slammed into the iron floor.
The entire metal platform shook violently.
A deep crater instantly formed beneath her fist.
Thick cracks spread outward like spiderwebs, stretching across the workshop floor.
Several loose iron plates jumped from the impact before crashing back down.
"Tsk."
Gena clicked her tongue.
She slowly raised her head.
The punch had missed.
Only because her opponent had chosen to retreat instead of trying to block.
"You’ve got decent instincts."
She admitted calmly.
The Male Bone Alchemist didn’t reply.
Cold sweat had already appeared across his forehead.
That punch...
If it had landed...
He didn’t need to imagine the result.
Back to Ezra’s position...
After briefly watching Gena...
Ezra calmly withdrew his attention.
She had improved far more than he expected.
Her combat judgment had become much sharper since the Trial of Steel.
She no longer chased attacks recklessly.
She controlled the pace of the fight.
That alone was enough.
There was no longer any reason for him to continue watching.
It was time...
To end his own battle.
Ezra’s pitch-black eyes quietly settled upon the approaching female Bone Alchemist.
His gaze gradually became even colder.
Not through anger.
Not through killing intent.
Simply through focus.
The moment their eyes met...
The woman’s body suddenly froze.
Her feet stopped moving.
"...Huh?"
Confusion filled her face.
She instinctively looked downward.
"My legs..."
She blinked.
"...I stopped?"
Her fingers trembled slightly.
Even her breathing became uneven.
It wasn’t because Ezra had used an ability.
It wasn’t pressure from Cognis either.
It was experience.
Years spent killing people.
Years spent surviving battles.
Every instinct she possessed was desperately screaming at her.
Danger.
The boy standing before her...
Was dangerous.
Far more dangerous than anyone she had ever expected.
Her heartbeat unconsciously accelerated.
Like people often said...
A killer could always recognize another killer.
The moment their paths crossed...
She understood.
The child before her...
Wasn’t ordinary.
Not in the slightest.
But...
She gritted her teeth.
...I’m still an experienced Alchemist.
She slowly steadied her breathing.
Her hesitation gradually disappeared.
I’m not going to lose... to a kid who only recently became an Alchemist.
Just as that thought crossed her mind...
Her eyes widened.
Ezra’s Cognis suddenly changed.
The amount wasn’t much.
Only slightly beyond the Novice standard.
Yet...
That tiny increase completely shattered her confidence.
"So..."
Her pupils trembled.
"...he was holding back?"
Everything finally made sense.
He hadn’t been struggling.
He hadn’t been cornered.
He had simply been observing her.
The realization made her scalp go numb.
She blinked once.
And Ezra disappeared.
He had already entered her range.
Every hair on her body stood upright.
Her instincts exploded into panic.
Without thinking...
She threw herself backward.
Cognis surged into both legs.
Her speed increased dramatically.
At that exact moment...
A steel harpoon suddenly pierced toward her chest.
She instinctively swung both claws.
Clang!
The harpoon split cleanly in half.
She landed.
Immediately pushed herself forward again.
She refused to stop moving.
The next instant...
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bullets poured toward her.
She ran with everything she had.
Twisting.
Sliding.
Changing direction repeatedly.
Every missed bullet struck the iron floor behind her, leaving deep impact marks across the workshop.
Then...
Silence.
The gunfire suddenly stopped.
Only one sound echoed softly.
Clap.
Hands coming together.
The woman instinctively looked forward.
Her eyes widened.
Both Kel-Tec PMR-30 pistols floated quietly before Ezra.
Above them...
Two bars of Black Steel slowly rose into the air.
A small piece of purified limestone followed.
An Alchemy Circle expanded beneath the floating materials.
White lines rotated smoothly across the glowing formation.
The Black Steels gradually melted into liquid.
The limestone dissolved into glowing particles before mixing perfectly with the molten metal.
Instead of falling...
The liquid floated peacefully.
It stretched.
Compressed.
Separated.
Then rejoined.
Every movement followed an invisible blueprint only Ezra could see.
Piece by piece...
The shape of a firearm slowly began emerging in midair.
The receiver formed first.
Then the barrel extended forward.
Internal components assembled themselves with mechanical precision.
The stock gradually took shape.
Every individual part locked perfectly into the next.
Not a single movement was wasted.
The weapon was being born...
Right in the middle of the battlefield.
A brand-new firearm.
One Ezra had been quietly designing ever since returning from the Ashenlocke Estate.
Not an assault rifle.
Not a sniper rifle.
But something created to stand perfectly between both worlds.
A Designated Marksman Rifle.
The M38 SDMR.
Equipped with the Leupold TS-30A2 optic scope.
The newly forged rifle descended into Ezra’s waiting hands as though it had always belonged there.
His fingers wrapped naturally around the grip.
The stock rested firmly against his shoulder.
The rifle and its creator looked strangely synchronized.
Almost like two parts of the same machine.
The female Bone Alchemist’s pupils contracted.
Her instincts screamed louder than ever before.
Danger.
Extreme danger.
Without another thought...
She stopped retreating.
Running away would only make her an easier target.
Instead...
She chose to attack first.
A massive amount of Cognis burst from her Star and surged through every vein in her body.
Dark-grey lightning flickered beneath her pale skin.
The bones inside her arms shifted violently.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
Every finger twisted unnaturally.
The joints expanded.
Fresh layers of hardened bone rapidly formed beneath her skin before forcing themselves outward.
She suddenly clapped both hands together.
Clap!
An Alchemy Circle instantly spread beneath her arms.
Grey Cognis flowed through the glowing symbols before concentrating around every fingertip.
She leaned backward.
Compressing every muscle within her body.
Then...
She violently sprang forward.
Her arms thrust straight toward Ezra.
Whoosh!
Countless bone projectiles burst from her fingertips.
Each one resembled a sharpened white spike.
The sheer speed at which they traveled tore through the surrounding air.
Several even produced sonic cracks as they approached the speed of sound.
The barrage completely sealed off Ezra’s front.
There was nowhere to dodge.
Yet...
Ezra never intended to move.
His breathing remained steady.
His expression stayed calm.
He simply lowered his face slightly.
One eye aligned perfectly behind the Leupold TS-30A2 optic.
The world instantly changed.
The battlefield seemed to slow.
Every incoming bone projectile became perfectly clear inside the optic’s sight picture.
Distance.
Angle.
Velocity.
Rotation.
Every detail appeared naturally before him.
Without panic...
Without rushing...
He gently squeezed the trigger.
Bang!
The first bullet flew.
It struck the leading bone projectile perfectly.
The shattered fragments scattered harmlessly into the air.
His finger continued moving.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
More shots followed.
Each trigger pull blended smoothly into the next.
There was no wasted movement.
No hesitation.
The rifle barely shifted under the controlled recoil before returning to its original position.
One after another...
The incoming bone bullets exploded apart.
White fragments rained across the workshop floor.
The female Bone Alchemist’s eyes widened.
He wasn’t simply shooting.
He was intercepting every one of her attacks.
Impossible...
She immediately poured even more Cognis into her body.
Trying to overwhelm him through sheer volume.
More bone spikes erupted from her fingers.
They spread outward before converging toward Ezra from several angles at once.
Unfortunately...
The optic never lost them.
Ezra calmly adjusted the rifle.
His movements were unbelievably small.
Barely noticeable.
Yet every adjustment perfectly aligned another shot.
Bang!
A bone spike shattered.
Bang!
Another one burst apart.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The final projectiles exploded before reaching him.
Not a single one entered within a meter of his position.
The battlefield suddenly became silent.
The woman froze with fear, completely swallowing the little confidence she had left.
She finally understood.
She wasn’t fighting someone who happened to know firearms.
She was fighting someone whose mastery over them had already become instinct.
Before she could retreat...
Ezra shifted his aim.
The crosshair moved away from the projectiles.
It settled on her body.
His finger squeezed the trigger again.
Bang!
The first round pierced cleanly through her right shoulder joint.
Blood sprayed into the air.
Her entire arm instantly lost strength.
Before she even screamed...
Bang!
The second shot destroyed her left elbow.
Bone fragments exploded outward.
Her attack completely collapsed.
Her balance faltered.
She desperately tried to jump away.
Too late.
Bang!
Her right knee shattered.
She stumbled.
Bang!
Her left ankle burst apart.
Her body tilted helplessly toward the floor.
The rifle spoke one final time.
Bang!
The bullet entered cleanly through the center of her forehead.
Her expression froze.
The fear...
The disbelief...
Everything remained on her face.
Then...
Her body slowly collapsed.
She never even had the chance to look toward her brother one final time.
Thud.
Silence returned to Ezra’s side of the battlefield.
Thin trails of smoke drifted lazily from the muzzle of the M38 SDMR.
Ezra calmly lowered the rifle.
His eyes slowly examined every part of it.
The receiver.
The barrel.
The bolt.
The optic.
He quietly analyzed the completed weapon.
"...Tsk. A third-grade creation."
His voice remained completely flat.
Most Alchemists would’ve celebrated creating a weapon of that quality during combat.
Ezra wasn’t satisfied.
Not even a little.
"The Alchemy Circle still lacks precision."
He calmly reached his conclusion.
"I still have a long way to go."
Without another thought...
He stored the M38 SDMR inside his space bag.
Only then did he turn toward Gena’s battle.
His eyes quietly followed every movement.
She was already close to ending it.
The Male Bone Alchemist continued retreating.
Every heavy punch Gena threw forced him farther across the workshop.
He simply couldn’t understand it.
"What are you?!"
He gritted his teeth.
His broken arms continued healing through Cognis.
Yet they still hadn’t recovered enough to withstand another direct hit.
"How... can someone hit this hard... without strengthening themselves with Cognis?"
The question echoed inside his mind.
His confidence had long disappeared.
Gena answered him with another charge.
The iron floor bent beneath her explosive acceleration.
She instantly entered his striking range.
Her fist tightened again.
Every muscle from her legs to her shoulders moved together.
Another devastating punch was ready.
This time...
The Male Bone Alchemist smiled.
"You think... I’m cornered?"
His right arm had finally recovered enough to move freely.
Instead of retreating...
He suddenly slipped around Gena’s incoming punch.
The attack narrowly brushed past his shoulder.
At the same moment...
His sharpened bone claws shot toward her face.
The claws sliced through the air.
The shrill sound they produced resembled several knives cutting through thick cloth.
He smiled triumphantly.
BOOM!
The claws struck.
A solid impact echoed.
His grin widened.
"I got..."
His words stopped.
"...W-What?"
His pupils violently shook.
"What... is going on?!"
The triumphant smile instantly vanished.
His face twisted into disbelief.
His claws had struck Gena’s forehead.
He clearly felt the impact.
Yet...
Instead of piercing straight through her skull...
They only broke through the outer layer of skin.
A small wound appeared.
A thin line of blood slowly trickled downward across her forehead.
Nothing more.
The Bone Alchemist stared blankly.
His attack...
Had failed.
The enhancement from Gena’s Cognis...
Combined with the incredible physical strength she was born with...
Had hardened her body to a level comparable to that of an ordinary Binder Alchemist.
She hadn’t relied on technique.
She had simply become that tough.
Before he could react...
Grab!
Gena’s left hand tightly seized the wrist he had attacked with.
Her grip locked around his arm like solid iron.
His eyes immediately widened.
"N-No..."
He violently shook his head.
"N-No... no... no..."
Panic finally consumed him.
Slowly...
Gena’s free hand curled into another fist.
Every finger tightened.
The muscles in her arm swelled once more.
The answer to his question...
Was about to arrive.
BOOOOOOM!!