Chapter 555: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: Unexpected

At the seating section of the High Powers of Britannia, a few minutes before the winner’s announcement...

"I’m sure I’m not the only one who just saw what happened, right?"

Duke Aldous Burnwick glanced toward the Duke of Bergwyn, then toward the Duke of Galehart.

The two Dukes exchanged a brief look before both nodded in agreement.

"The timing makes no sense."

The words came from Duke Aldous, but the seriousness in his voice made it clear that he wasn’t simply talking about the speed of the battle.

He was talking about everything that had happened within it.

The Head of the Royal Alchemist Branch, Nebula, leaned forward slightly as she looked toward the fight platform, which had now gone quiet beneath the thick smoke.

The earlier explosions had finally stopped.

Only scattered flames continued to burn across the damaged platform.

Alister, meanwhile, kept his wine-red eyes fixed on the battlefield without speaking.

His gaze was sharp.

He had been part of the discussion back when Vera’s ability to see the future had been argued over by the Elders of Alchemy, Ministers, and even the King.

He hadn’t been present when the King himself experienced whatever had caused him to begin thinking that way.

At the time, like many of the others involved in that discussion, there had been too many possibilities and too little proof.

But now...

Alister had just witnessed something that was difficult to dismiss.

He had seen the exact moment Vera prepared all the counters for an action Ravenor only performed later.

He had seen it clearly when Vera placed the BL 60-pounder beyond Ravenor’s focused Cognis field of perception during their clashes within the smoke cloud.

That alone was already strange.

But it wasn’t the only thing.

He had also seen Vera take out the Acu-Vector Mk.II while throwing one the Acu-Vector Mk.IV she held to hold Acu-Vector Mk.II and fire it upward before she clashed with Ravenor, causing the first large explosion.

That explosion was what cleared the smoke cloud for a brief moment.

It was that moment which had given the spectators a glimpse of the two young Alchemists again.

Then the attack sequences which created the larger explosion, followed.

Alister’s fingers rested against the armrest of his seat.

His eyes did not leave the battlefield.

There were too many variables to consider from what Vera had done beforehand, many of which Ravenor hadn’t even noticed while the two continued to clash.

One example had been the rain of thin needles descending from above Ravenor’s Cognis field of perception.

It hadn’t simply been another attack.

It had also given Ravenor a choice.

He could either choose to tank the heavy bullet from the BL 60-pounder directly with his Flame Barrier.

Or...

He could cancel his Flame Barrier and use his Cognis to assist his evasion of the heavy artillery round.

But if he chose the second option, the thin needles that were already closing in would become the next problem.

Neither choice was safe.

And Vera had created that situation before Ravenor even realized he had entered it.

Alister’s wine-red eyes narrowed slightly.

There was no need for him to say what everyone else was already thinking.

The timing really didn’t make any sense.

Not unless there was something they still didn’t understand.

And now...

The winner was clear to the sight of all the High-ranking Alchemists who could easily see through the smoke cloud.

The battle had already ended.

Back on the fight platform, at the moment Patrick announced Vera as the winner, the medic staff and Craft-based Royal Academy staff immediately rushed into the battlefield.

They moved quickly, but they had to be careful.

The platform had been torn apart by the explosion, and large pieces of broken stone were scattered across the ground.

Some sections were still burning.

Others were covered by smoke.

And thin needles that were scattered on the ground, many stabbing into the earth.

The Craft-based Royal Academy staff immediately made use of Frost Alchemy Scrolls to quench the flames.

The scrolls unfolded in their hands, and cold Alchemy spread across the damaged platform.

Steam rose where the frost met the remaining heat.

At the same time, other team members used Wind Alchemy Scrolls to clear the smoke clouds.

Strong currents of air swept across the battlefield, pushing the thick smoke upward and away from the people entering the area.

The medics followed behind them.

They were prepared for the worst.

It didn’t take long before the fight platform became clearer.

The smoke gradually thinned.

The flames died down.

The spectators who had remained unusually quiet after hearing that Vera had won could finally see what had become of the two Young Alchemists.

"Ah... Ah... Ah... Ah..."

Ravenor was the first one the spectators could clearly see.

He was panting heavily.

Blood dripped from his mouth.

More blood ran from his nose and down the side of his face, while traces of it could also be seen around his eyes and across his arms.

His training clothes were no longer in good condition.

Several cuts had torn through the fabric, and blood continued to drip from those wounds.

The violent wind pressure caused by the large explosion had left its marks across his body.

Ravenor stood beneath several large broken pieces of rock that had fallen across the fight area.

One of those pieces had landed across his back.

He was holding it up with one hand, preventing the weight from collapsing completely onto him.

His arm trembled slightly from the strain.

His breathing was rough.

His chest rose and fell heavily as he tried to recover.

He had pushed his Cognis to a level that had already reached the exhaustion state.

Every breath felt heavier than the one before.

Yet he was still standing.

But the reason he had lost wasn’t because he had exhausted himself.

The BL 60-pounder’s heavy bullet had pushed him outside the fight platform.

That was what decided the result, but the Young Lord of Burnwick still looked like he could still fight.

The thought became even clearer when the spectators saw his condition.

He had been badly injured.

But he was still conscious.

And he was still capable of holding heavy rocks with one hand.

As for Vera...

The scene was no less shocking.

She floated slightly above the completely damaged platform through Alchemy Levitation.

Six of her remaining rifles supported her body beneath her, keeping her from falling onto the broken ground.

An Alchemy Coat hovered above her.

The coat had been filled with the thin needles.

They stuck out from its surface from every direction, making the garment look almost like a porcupine.

But the needles had not stopped at the coat.

They were scattered across the entire fight platform and the surrounding fight area.

The medic staff and Craft-based Royal Academy staff had to carefully move around them just to reach the two Young Alchemists.

One careless step could have turned an already dangerous battlefield into another injury.

The area where the large explosion had occurred had also been completely cleared of smoke.

What remained was a huge hole in the platform.

The sight alone showed how powerful the explosion had been.

The stone hadn’t simply cracked.

A large portion of it had been torn away.

Vera’s training clothes were also heavily torn.

Blood dripped from the cuts across her body.

More blood could be seen around her mouth and eyes, evidence of how much she had pushed herself during the battle.

Her right hand appeared to have suffered the most from the flame burn.

It hung loosely from her side while drops of blood fell from her fingers.

Her Alchemy Coat had also suffered small damage from the flames.

Several areas of the coat were scorched.

Yet even after everything that had happened...

Vera continued using Alchemy Levitation.

She remained above the ruined platform rather than allowing herself to fall.

She had laid herself across the six rifles beneath her as though they were a bed.

Her body rested against them while her injured right hand dangled over the side.

Blood continued to fall from it.

The rifles that had remained with her before the large explosion had moved in front of her face.

They had joined together to block the flames during the explosion.

The damage across them showed exactly how much heat they had taken in her place.

For a moment, the battlefield remained strangely quiet.

Then...

The broken pieces of stone finally cracked apart.

The large rocks around Ravenor broke into smaller pieces before falling onto the damaged ground.

The medics immediately moved closer.

They helped Ravenor push the remaining large pieces of rock away and assisted him to his feet.

He leaned slightly against one of the medics for support.

Despite the condition of his body, he didn’t seem tired enough to collapse.

His breathing was still heavy, but his eyes remained awake.

His body had suffered.

His Cognis had been pushed to exhaustion.

Yet the fire within him hadn’t completely disappeared.

In fact, if Ravenor had not been pushed outside the platform, he might have been able to continue fighting.

There were still a few Alchemy abilities he hadn’t shown yet.

The same could be said for Vera.

The medic staff carefully approached her while the Craft-based Royal Academy staff continued repairing the damaged platform.

They needed enough stable ground for the medics to move around safely.

A portion of the platform was already being reconstructed beneath their feet.

Vera was assisted down from her floating rifles.

Her boots finally touched the ground.

The moment they did, she immediately took control of the floating weapons.

The rifles moved through the air.

Her two Acu-Vector Mk.II and Acu-Vector Mk.IV also flew back toward her.

One after another, the weapons entered her Space Bag.

Vera then lifted one hand toward her head.

Her long black hair had become scattered during the battle.

She slowly adjusted it with her fingers, pulling several strands away from her face.

There was blood on her.

Her clothes were torn.

Her right hand was injured.

The battlefield around her was almost unrecognizable compared to how it had looked at the beginning of the match.

Yet Vera simply stood there.

She took a slow breath.

"Ahhhh."

The sound came out as a calm exhale.

Then...

"WOOOOOOOOAHHHHHHH!!!!"

The arena finally exploded with sound.

The silence that had followed the battle disappeared almost instantly.

"That’s my Black Queen!!"

"LADY VERA ASHENLOCKE!!!"

"Ashenlocke all the way!!!"

"Sir Ravenor Burnwick, you were really cool!!"

"Noooooo!!! My Sir Ravenor!!"

"Amazing fight!!"

"This is the best fight ever!!"

"Lady Vera Ashenlocke to the semis!!!"

"Glory to Ashenlocke!!"

The crowd finally erupted into cheers for Vera.

The sound rolled through the arena from one section to another.

Some spectators stood on their seats.

Others raised their hands into the air.

The people who had been holding their breath throughout the aftermath of the explosion finally released all of that tension through their voices.

Vera’s fans cheered the loudest.

Their Lady stood on the platform ground with blood still visible on her clothes.

Yet she lifted one hand and calmly waved toward the crowd.

Her expression remained composed.

After that brief gesture, she followed the Medic staff toward the entrance of the arena so they could continue treating her injuries.

The cheering did not stop.

Even the fans of Ravenor continued to voice their support for him despite his loss.

That didn’t shock many of the spectators.

Since the young alchemist who lost was none other than the popular Name Ravenor Burnwick.

And he also lost to a Young Alchemist like Vera Ashenlocke whose talent is considered to be on par with him.

The arena had somehow found a way to celebrate both young Alchemists at once.

But the shock of the winner wasn’t limited to the crowd.

In another seating area, Lucien Derlis’s eyes widened faintly in complete surprise.

Yet his expression carried another emotion as well.

He couldn’t stop looking at Vera.

A visible, lustful smile had appeared across his face.

Eleanor Tempest noticed it.

Her navy-blue eyes shifted toward Lucien.

She was also shocked by the result.

After all, even she hadn’t expected the battle to end this way.

But the expression on Lucien’s face immediately made her anger rise.

She looked away from him and toward the cheering noise coming from below their seating column.

"THAT’S MY SISTER!!!"

Bella Ashenlocke and some of the other members of the Ashenlocke family were cheering brightly.

"The Jewel of Ash!!!"

"Let’s go!!"

"Just one more round to the final!!!"

"Lady Vera is so cool!!"

The pleased voices of the Ashenlocke members from the third-year and second-year sections of the Royal Academy joined the noise spreading throughout the arena.

But they weren’t the only ones cheering.

At the First-Year seating section...

"Yes."

Veda finally sat back down in his seat.

The tension that had been holding his shoulders stiffly had finally left him.

A relieved smile appeared on his face.

He let out a quiet breath.

"Lady Vera!!!"

Nina waved her hand with a bright smile.

The moment Vera disappeared through the entrance of the arena, Nina and Zack immediately ran from the stand to go and meet her.

"That’s our Lady."

Linda and Tracy smiled with relief while high fiving each other with both hands.

Around them, the entire arena was filled with countless voices.

Some were bright with excitement.

Some were still shouting Vera’s name.

Others continued calling out for Ravenor.

The fight had ended.

But the energy it had created remained.

The cheers for Vera Ashenlocke continued to echo through the arena, while the sad voices of Ravenor Burnwick’s supporters mixed into the noise.

It continued for hours.

The excitement remained alive even as the Royal Academy proceeded with the rest of the ninth round.

The last match of the ninth round began.

The bright atmosphere of the arena died at that moment.

The cheers became quieter.

The attention of the spectators moved toward the next fight.

Because something happened that almost no one had expected.

Less than a few minutes after the match between Maxwell and Diane Bergwyn began...

Diane Bergwyn won.