Chapter 552: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: Two Genius of Two Duke Houses IV

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

Small explosions ignited one after another as Vera’s bullets clashed with Ravenor’s Scarlet Flame Balls.

Every collision produced a brief burst of fire in the middle of the smoke-filled battlefield. Some bullets were swallowed by the flames, while others struck the scarlet balls hard enough to break them apart before the remaining pieces of fire continued forward.

The sound of gunfire and explosions had already become normal inside the arena.

The crowd was still cheering loudly, even though many of them could barely see what was happening.

The four Holographic Screens above the arena were now displaying the Cognis colors of the two Young Alchemists, allowing the spectators who couldn’t see through the smoke and constant explosions to at least follow the movements of the fight.

The images on the screens were also slowed down.

The speed of the two Young Alchemists was being reduced to a level that ordinary spectators could actually perceive.

White Cognis moved across the screen.

Scarlet Cognis followed.

The audience could finally see pieces of the exchange that their own eyes had missed.

Some spectators leaned forward.

Others pointed toward the screens as Vera’s position appeared for a moment before disappearing again.

Even with the slowed display, the movements were still fast.

The difference was simply that the audience could now understand what they were looking at.

Back on the actual fight platform...

Vera continued shooting down the scarlet flame balls.

Her two Colt 1911s with extended magazines remained in her hands as she fired repeatedly, the recoil barely affecting her wrists.

BANG! BANG!

Another scarlet flame ball was destroyed.

BANG! BANG!

Another one burst apart.

Vera’s eyes remained focused.

She didn’t stop moving.

Her feet carried her across the damaged battlefield while her hands continued firing, and at the same time, her Alchemy Levitation moved through the smoke.

She was already preparing her next weapons.

The two mysterious handguns which she used against Grace Evergrey in the seventh round emerged from her Space Bag.

They were part of the new model of the Acu-Vector Mk series that Vera herself had created.

The Acu-Vector Mk.IV.

The two firearms floated behind her for a moment, surrounded by faint traces of white Cognis.

CRACK.

CRACK.

Vera removed her grip from the two Colt 1911s.

The weapons remained in the air for only a brief moment before their bodies began breaking apart.

Their metal structures cracked.

Small pieces separated from the guns before the entire weapons turned into fine dust and scattered through the smoke.

Vera didn’t look back at them.

She shifted her body into a running posture.

Her upper body lowered slightly.

One foot moved forward.

Her weight shifted.

At that moment, more scarlet flame balls came toward her in numerous numbers.

They appeared through the smoke one after another, their burning surfaces illuminating the battlefield as they moved.

Vera’s muscles tightened slightly.

Especially those in her legs.

Then...

WHOOSH!

The wind moved violently.

Vera dashed forward.

The speed of her movement was so sudden that the smoke around her was pushed apart.

Yet the platform beneath her boots remained almost untouched.

There was no massive crack.

No crater.

She simply disappeared from the position she had been standing in.

Vera moved almost ghost-like through the smoke and flames, heading toward Ravenor’s actual position.

Ravenor also stopped sensing Vera for a moment.

His scarlet eyes shifted.

The battlefield was filled with smoke, flames, the remains of destroyed bullets, and the lingering Cognis of both Alchemists.

Yet Vera had vanished from his senses.

Ravenor’s expression changed.

He immediately expanded his sensory ability.

It was the same method he had used when facing Prince Charles Aethelmont, when he had needed to sense the hidden light blades that blended into the morning sunlight.

His Cognis spread outward.

A ball of scarlet Cognis expanded from his body, moving across the entire fight platform.

The scarlet sphere continued expanding.

It passed through the battlefield.

It moved almost beyond the boundaries of the actual fighting area.

Ravenor’s sensory range covered everything around him.

His scarlet eyes flinched slightly.

His already serious expression became even more serious, because he saw them.

Seventeen thin needles were closing toward his front.

They were almost impossible to notice under normal circumstances.

At the same time, Vera’s figure appeared at his left side.

She had already reached him.

The two Acu-Vector Mk.IVs were pointed directly toward him.

Ravenor’s eyes moved toward her.

The distance between them had disappeared far faster than he had expected.

The smoke between them was still moving when Vera’s fingers prepared to pull the triggers.

Ravenor understood something at that moment.

The explosions had made it difficult for him to sense the sound of Vera firing those handguns.

He couldn’t rely on hearing anymore.

The noise of the explosions made it hard for me to sense the sounds of gun being fired.

Ravenor thought to himself calmly.

His right hand moved forward.

A Flame Alchemy Circle hovered only inches away from his palm.

Scarlet Cognis moved through the Alchemy Symbols.

The formation, completed.

A Scarlet Flame Ball flew out from the Alchemy Circle continually like a rapid firing gun.

Ravenor immediately canceled the Flame Alchemy Circle.

He didn’t wait for the attack to finish.

His body swiftly changed position so that he could face Vera, who was now at his left side and already about to pull the triggers.

KZZRAK!

Scarlet Cognis sparks flew from his right hand.

Another Flame Alchemy Circle began forming rapidly.

The Symbols appeared around his hand, and the moment the Circle completed its formation, the flames scattered across the battlefield began moving toward it.

Fire was pulled from the damaged platform.

The flames that had been burning across the broken ground twisted through the air and gathered around Ravenor.

The seventeen thin needles were already closing in.

Ravenor didn’t wait.

The gathered flames surged around his body.

WHOOSH!

A Flame Barrier formed.

The scarlet fire wrapped around him just as the thin needles arrived.

BRRATATATATAT! BRRATATATATAT!

Vera pressed down on the handguns.

The Acu-Vector Mk.IVs fired with a firing system similar to a submachine gun.

The sound was completely different from the slower gunfire of the Colt 1911s.

The thin needles flew from the small muzzles of the handguns in rapid succession.

They were tiny.

Fast.

And difficult to perceive.

Normally, no Alchemist could have easily sensed the thin needles.

It was similar to what had happened with Grace Evergrey.

Only Alchemists above her Alchemist rank could properly perceive the Acu-Vector Mk.IV bullets.

But Ravenor was different.

His Cognis sensory ability had already expanded across the battlefield.

So, he could sense them.

And it wasn’t only that he could sense them.

He could react to them.

The thin needles struck the Flame Barrier.

TING!

TING!

TING!

One melted.

Another struck the barrier and disappeared into the flames.

Several more entered the barrier before the heat consumed them.

Ravenor’s eyes followed the movement of every needle he could sense.

The Flame Barrier continued burning around his body.

At the same time, his right hand moved, igniting his Alchemy Levitation.

He caught the flame sword that he had thrown at Vera earlier.

His fingers wrapped around the hilt.

The Flame Alchemy Circle was still ignited.

The flames around the blade continued burning.

Ravenor’s feet shifted, then he moved.

Because Vera had also moved.

The distance between them closed again.

Sparks ignited as both Young Alchemists moved sharply, each blocking the other’s strikes.

The battlefield suddenly became a blur of white and scarlet.

Vera used the rifles that still hovered around her.

Her Alchemy Levitation controlled them while they attacked.

One rifle moved forward.

Ravenor’s sword struck it away.

Another rifle came from his side.

He turned his sword and blocked it.

Vera continued firing the Acu-Vector Mk.IVs between the movements of her rifles, forcing Ravenor to divide his attention between the thin needles and the incoming weapons.

Ravenor answered with his flaming sword.

The blade moved through the smoke, leaving short trails of fire behind every swing.

KLANG!

Metal struck metal.

KLANG!

Another rifle was pushed away.

A Flame Slash moved across the platform.

Vera shifted her body and avoided it.

The attack continued beyond her before striking the force field around the spectator seats.

BOOM!

The protective barrier rippled.

The whole fight area was now filled with the sound of metal clashing with metal and Flame Slashes flowing out from the platform and striking the force field.

White Cognis and Scarlet Cognis moved sharply within the smoky cloud.

The smoke began clearing in some places because of the violent gusts of wind created by the two Young Alchemists’ movements.

But before one part of the battlefield could become clear, another explosion would fill it again.

Vera moved through the smoke.

Ravenor followed.

She controlled her rifles.

He swung his sword.

She fired.

He blocked.

The exchange continued so quickly that even the slowed Holographic Screens struggled to show every movement at once.

Then...

Before any of the ordinary or Low-ranking Alchemist spectators could realize what had happened...

BOOM!

Another loud explosion rang out.

The blast pushed through the smoke and cleared a large part of the platform.

The sound shook the arena.

Patrick’s eyes widened.

"Oh, my scholars."

He sounded completely surprised.

The fight platform was almost completely destroyed.

Large parts of the ground had been broken apart.

Cracks spread across the remaining sections, while flames still covered many parts of the platform.

Smoke rose from the broken ground.

Some pieces of rock were still falling from the air.

The spectators who had been cheering for their favorite Young Alchemist gasped.

They had seen the destruction through the Holographic Screens, but seeing the actual state of the platform made the damage feel much more real.

Vera stood on one of her rifles in the air.

The weapon hovered beneath her feet, keeping her from falling off the remaining platform.

Her balance remained steady.

She looked down at the ruined battlefield.

Then she jumped.

THUD!

Her boots landed back on the damaged platform.

Parts of her training clothes had been torn from the constant explosions and Flame Slashes she had needed to block or evade.

Small marks were visible across the fabric.

Her hair had also been disturbed by the repeated blasts and violent winds.

But Vera herself remained standing.

Across from her, Ravenor wasn’t looking much better.

His training clothes were also slightly torn.

He had been forced to evade the thin needles, block the attacks from Vera’s rifles, and endure the repeated exchanges at close range, even though his flame barrier was still active.

His right hand had suffered the most.

Ravenor looked down at it.

Blisters had formed across his hand from all the heavy clashes.

His flame sword was still held in that same hand.

He tightened his fingers around the hilt.

Then he looked back toward Vera.

The two Young Alchemists stared at each other.

For a moment, neither moved.

The arena became quieter.

Not silent.

The crowd was still there.

The flames were still burning.

Smoke still moved across the broken platform.

But the attention of everyone watching had settled on the two of them.

Ravenor cracked his neck.

"You really are the Genius of Ash."

His voice remained calm.

Vera looked at him.

A faint smile appeared on her face again.

"I will take that as a compliment from the Genius of Burn."

She stretched the hand that still held the two Acu-Vector Mk.IVs.

The movement was casual and almost elegant despite the ruined battlefield around her.

Some of the young men among the spectators couldn’t help but blush at the sight.

Vera didn’t seem to notice.

Or perhaps she simply didn’t care.

Ravenor smirked slightly.

Scarlet Cognis began flowing faintly from his body.

The air around him seemed to grow warmer.

"I now understand how you move that fast..."

He said calmly.

Vera narrowed her dull black eyes at Ravenor.

She was listening.

Her fingers remained around the Acu-Vector Mk.IVs.

"Is that s—"

Before she could finish speaking...

Ravenor was already in front of her.

The distance between them had vanished.

Vera’s eyes shifted.

KZZRAKKKKKK!!!!!

The sound of an Alchemy Circle being formed echoed loudly from the front at close range.

Vera’s dull black eyes drooped slightly towards Ravenor’s figure.

Ravenor’s fist tightened.

His body lowered.

His feet settled into the stance of the Burnwick family’s exclusive Martial Art.

The posture was different from his previous movements.

This wasn’t simply another sword swing.

His body had changed.

His center of gravity lowered.

His arm pulled back.

The Flame Alchemy Circle formed around his fist.

Flames rapidly flowed into the Circle.

Scarlet Cognis gathered around his arm.

The fire spread across his forearm until his entire arm was coated in flames.

The heat reached Vera’s face.

Her expression changed only slightly.

Her eyes remained fixed on Ravenor.

"I will be taking the win, Vera Ashenlocke."

Ravenor said, while his scarlet eyes locked onto Vera’s faintly surprised dull black eyes.

The Flame Fist grew brighter, as more flames poured into it and more Cognis gathered.

The firepower of the attack continued increasing as Ravenor fed more flames and Cognis into the incoming strike.

The damaged ground beneath his feet began to heat from the pressure of the Flame Alchemy.

The flames around his arm twisted toward his fist.

Vera remained directly in front of him.

The distance was now almost nonexistent.

Ravenor’s fist began moving forward.

And the Flame Alchemy surrounding it grew stronger with every inch it traveled.