Chapter 557: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: End of the Ninth Round

Immediately after the word to commence the match was shouted...

Diane moved.

There was no pause in her movements.

Her body seemed to fade from the position where she had been standing, and before the ordinary spectators could properly understand what they had seen, she had already crossed the distance between herself and Maxwell.

BAM!

Her right fist collided heavily with Maxwell’s right arm.

The impact forced the air away from them, and the sound of the collision spread across the fight platform.

Maxwell stared at her.

Diane stared back.

Her light-blue eyes remained half-closed as Cognis began building rapidly inside her body, flowing through her muscles and strengthening each movement before she even finished the first exchange.

In that same position, Diane moved her left leg.

Her body shifted.

Her leg rose toward the side of Maxwell’s head.

BAM!

Maxwell moved his left arm just as quickly.

His forearm caught the kick before it could reach his head.

The force of the impact pushed his arm slightly away, but Maxwell kept his footing.

Diane didn’t stop.

She immediately drove her right knee toward Maxwell’s stomach.

Maxwell’s right arm dropped.

THUD!

He blocked the knee solidly.

The impact still travelled through his arm and into his body.

For a brief moment, the two were almost pressed against each other, their movements happening so quickly that there was barely any time between one attack and the next.

Then Diane lowered herself.

Her body twisted sharply.

Her right leg swept across the ground toward Maxwell’s legs.

Maxwell reacted.

He jumped backward only a few inches before the sweeping leg could catch him.

His boots left the platform.

The sweep passed underneath him.

But Diane had already prepared her next movement.

As her body rotated, her right hand struck the platform.

KZZRAK!

Light-blue Cognis sparked around her fingers.

Her body was almost horizontal in the air, supported by one hand while her legs continued the motion of the previous attack.

Two glass bottles filled with water were already floating directly in front of her.

They spun slowly in the air.

The light-blue Cognis around Diane’s hand became denser.

Then the Frost Alchemy Circle rapidly formed.

Alchemy Symbols appeared around her palm and connected into the structure of the Circle beneath the hand resting against the platform.

Cold spread across the ground.

The temperature around the Circle dropped so quickly that thin traces of frost began forming around its edge.

Light-blue Cognis shaped like lightning flowed from the completed Frost Alchemy Circle.

Crack. Crack.

The influence of the Alchemy reached the two glass bottles.

Both shattered.

Water burst into the air.

Instead of falling, however, the water was pulled toward the Frost Alchemy Circle as if an invisible vacuum had formed around it.

The water twisted into streams.

It gathered around the Circle.

Then, almost instantly...

Large spikes made of ice erupted from the Frost Alchemy Circle.

They shot from the ground toward Maxwell.

He had only just landed.

His boots had barely touched the platform when the first ice spike was already approaching him.

That was how fast Diane’s Alchemy execution was.

There was almost no gap between her physical movement and her Alchemy.

Maxwell immediately brought his arms together.

Cognis rushed through them and spread through the rest of his body.

His muscles tightened.

His tissues hardened.

His bones strengthened.

His organs were reinforced.

Even his skin became tougher beneath the flow of Cognis.

The first ice spike reached him.

Its sharp tip struck his reinforced body.

CRACK!

The tip fractured.

The crack spread down the ice.

Then the tip broke apart.

Maxwell’s eyes remained steady.

He didn’t retreat.

Instead, he forced both arms forward.

BOOM!

His arms crashed into the ice spikes.

The force behind his movement shattered them as though they were nothing more than an obstacle placed in his way.

CRASH!

The ice exploded apart.

Fragments flew across the platform before sliding over the ground.

Cold mist spread around Maxwell’s boots.

Diane’s light-blue eyes widened slightly.

It was the first real sign of surprise that had appeared on her face.

Maxwell had shattered a Binder-rank Frost Alchemy Ice Spike with his bare arms.

Several spectators reacted almost immediately.

"Did he just shatter a Binder Frost Alchemy Ice Spike with his bare arms?"

A Low-ranking Alchemist among the spectators couldn’t help asking.

He turned his head toward the people beside him, almost as though he wanted someone to confirm what he had just witnessed.

"I knew Mr. Maxwell was the real deal."

A few young boys sitting together spoke loudly.

They wore Maxwell merchandise, and one of them was gripping a small flag bearing his name.

"With the fit body he showed when he faced the Wax Light of Burn... I was already sure his natural strength was something else."

Another boy spoke excitedly.

His eyes remained fixed on Maxwell.

"I’m sorry, Lady Diane Bergwyn, but this win is going to Mr. Maxwell."

The voices of Maxwell’s fans grew louder.

Because his display of strength had given them confidence.

The four Holographic Screens immediately replayed the exchange in slow motion so ordinary spectators and Low-ranking Alchemists could see what had happened.

The ice.

Maxwell’s arms.

The impact.

The shattered Frost Alchemy.

The replay made the exchange easier for those who had failed to follow its speed.

Back on the fight platform...

Maxwell moved his hands to the side.

He brushed the remaining ice particles from his sleeves.

Small pieces of frost fell onto the ground.

Diane, meanwhile, rotated horizontally through the air before twisting her body around.

Both of her hands touched the platform.

She used them to control her rotation and maneuver herself back into a standing position.

Her boots touched the ground.

She didn’t immediately continue attacking.

Diane stopped.

Her half-closed eyes rested on Maxwell.

For a moment, neither moved.

Then Maxwell faded from his position.

He rushed forward.

The distance between them disappeared almost instantly.

BOOM!

Maxwell’s fist struck Diane.

But Diane caught his fist with one hand.

The moment her fingers closed around it, the ground beneath her boots cracked heavily.

At first, there was only one small crack.

It appeared within milliseconds of the collision.

Then it spread.

CRACK!

The fracture travelled across the platform.

More cracks branched away from it.

Small rocks and pieces of snow were thrown into the air before falling back onto the ground.

Maxwell’s eyes narrowed.

Diane had stopped his punch with one hand.

That alone would have been surprising.

But there was more.

His fist contained his natural strength, which was already solidly at the level of a Meister Alchemist.

And he had also passed a portion of his Cognis into his arm to increase the force behind the attack.

Yet Diane was holding it.

With one hand.

And her grip was tightening.

"You are thinking arrogantly, A..."

Diane spoke with a serious expression.

Her half-closed light-blue eyes remained fixed on Maxwell.

Then she paused.

She had forgotten his name.

"Huh?"

Maxwell looked at her in surprise.

Diane’s fingers tightened around his fist further.

The pressure increased.

Maxwell felt the bones in his hand being squeezed.

His expression changed slightly.

Seriously?

The question wasn’t about what she had said.

It was about the hand holding his fist.

For some reason, his fist was being crushed beneath Diane’s grip.

He tried to pull it back.

But he couldn’t.

A Meister Alchemist like him was getting held down by an Adept Alchemist.

"I get you are a Meister Alchemist and all, but what is the meaning of a fight between two strong Alchemists if you don’t even want to face me seriously?"

Diane tilted her head slightly.

Her voice remained light, but her expression had become serious.

Maxwell’s eyes narrowed.

He had expected Diane to be strong.

Everyone had.

But he had not expected this.

Until now, he had thought of his natural strength as something that would let him control most of the people standing at the same level as him.

Especially since he was a clear Alchemist rank above all the first year in this Combat Festival.

This gave him more right to be confident in his natural strength.

Maxwell had entered the fight expecting Diane to be interesting.

Not threatening.

That difference was beginning to disappear.

Diane pushed Maxwell’s fist forward.

The movement pulled Maxwell closer to her.

His boots scraped across the platform.

Before he could recover his balance, Diane’s left hand tightened into a fist.

Her shoulder moved.

Her body shifted.

Then...

BAM!!!

Her left fist slammed into Maxwell’s stomach.

Maxwell immediately reinforced his abdomen with Cognis.

The Cognis rushed into his muscles and hardened his body just before the punch connected.

But the reinforcement wasn’t enough to prevent the force from moving through him.

His eyes widened more, as his body was launched backward.

The platform passed beneath his boots as he was thrown away.

What kind of strength is this...?

Maxwell’s thoughts became more serious.

She’s just an A...

His boots struck the platform.

He dragged them across the ground to slow himself down.

The soles scraped hard against the surface.

Two trails appeared in front of him.

Broken pieces of stone and snow were pushed aside as his boots continued sliding.

He finally stopped himself.

But before he could properly raise his head...

"Adept Alchemist."

Diane’s voice came from directly in front of him.

Maxwell’s eyes widened again.

She had already crossed the distance again.

Her right fist was coming toward him like a missile.

Her body followed behind the punch, and the force of her step cracked the platform beneath her.

Maxwell’s mind went blank for a fraction of a millisecond.

What is going on?

BOOM!

He raised both arms.

His forearms crossed in front of his body.

Diane’s fist slammed into them.

The impact shook his entire body.

The platform beneath Diane’s boot shattered.

Cracks spread outward from the point where she had pushed off.

The ground broke apart.

The force travelling through Maxwell’s arms was enormous.

His boots left the ground.

His body was sent flying.

To the ordinary and Low-ranking Alchemist spectators, the movement happened too quickly to properly follow.

Maxwell disappeared from the platform.

Then...

BOOM!

His body crashed into the outside wall of the fight platform.

Dust burst from the impact point.

The wall shook.

For a moment, the arena became quiet.

Many eyes widened.

"W... what... what just happened?!"

Patrick West stood up from his seat.

He stared at the platform with a completely dumbfounded expression.

Only moments earlier, it had looked as though Maxwell might have the advantage.

He had shattered Diane’s Frost Alchemy with his bare arms.

He had then attacked her with a heavy punch.

The crowd had begun to believe that Maxwell’s natural strength might actually be enough to defeat the Flower of Bergwyn.

But Diane had caught his punch.

Then she had crushed his hand effortlessly.

She had driven her fist into his stomach.

And now she had sent him outside the platform with a single attack.

The change had happened so quickly that many spectators were still trying to understand it.

Professor Kent stared at the platform.

He shook his head helplessly.

You idiot...

In terms of natural strength, a person shouldn’t mess with a child of Bergwyn.

Not to mention if that person is Diane Bergwyn.

She is the young genius known to have killed an entire hunting pack of Silverback Dire Wolves while she was still an Alchemist who hadn’t even completely formed her Novice Star.

And she had done it with nothing but her bare hands and natural strength.

Kent continued looking at Maxwell.

His expression was one of helplessness.

The boy had walked into the fight with confidence.

Perhaps too much confidence.

Now he was lying against the outside wall of the platform, staring back at Diane with an expression that showed just how badly his expectations had been overturned.

Back on the fight platform...

Diane walked toward the edge.

Her steps were steady.

She looked toward Maxwell.

He remained against the wall, still visibly devastated by what had happened.

At the same time...

"Winner!"

Patrick’s voice echoed loudly through the arena.

Diane stopped near the edge of the platform.

She looked at Maxwell.

"If that’s how you were going to face me..."

Her voice remained light.

"...Then I won’t give you the benefit of the doubt toward making me your experimental product of your arrogant display of power."

She paused for a moment.

Her half-closed eyes remained on him.

"Win the losers’ match and come back with a better mentality of the strong."

Her words were serious.

She wasn’t shouting to make her statement.

She didn’t need to.

The tone alone made it clear that she meant every word.

Maxwell remained silent.

The excitement that had been present in his eyes before the fight was no longer there.

He had wanted to see the strength of the so-called Ice Genius.

Now...

He had gotten his answer.

And it had come much faster than he expected.

"Lady Diane Bergwyn!!!"

Patrick announced the winner.

The words echoed loudly through the arena.

Yet the crowd remained silent.

Even though their Lady had won, almost nobody cheered immediately.

The spectators simply stared at Diane.

Then at Maxwell.

Then back at Diane.

No one had expected it to end this quickly.

The ninth-round final match had barely begun.

Yet Diane Bergwyn had already sent Maxwell outside the platform.

The arena remained quiet for several seconds, as everyone slowly understood what they had just witnessed.