Last Gun Alchemist

The instant the fluctuation of Cognis spread out from the burning area, Cyrus knew he had already lost his chance to dodge.

His body reacted before he could think of another option.

Both forearms crossed in front of his chest and face, while Cognis immediately flowed through his shoulders and down his arms, gathering beneath his skin to reinforce the muscles and harden his forearms as much as possible.

Facing a Sound Alchemist came with several annoying problems, but one of the biggest was the speed at which their Alchemy could be ignited.

Even at the Novice Rank, a Sound Alchemist who wasn’t even a Full Alchemist could perform certain Alchemy ignitions at speeds capable of competing with Nature Alchemy Paths, and compared with most other Alchemy Paths, the difference could become troublesome in a direct fight.

After all, sound didn’t politely wait for someone to prepare.

Once produced and controlled, it moved fast.

Very fast.

Cyrus couldn’t see the incoming attack itself.

Because the sonic impact was colorless.

Instead...

What he could see, however, was the way it disturbed everything around it.

The heated air above the flames suddenly distorted.

Smoke twisted unnaturally.

Dust and tiny pieces of ash were pushed apart as something invisible rushed toward him.

Cyrus gritted his teeth and pressed more Cognis into his forearms.

BOOM!

The sonic impact slammed into him.

His boots instantly left the ground.

”Urgh!”

Cyrus flew backward, his crossed arms still protecting his upper body as the force carried him several meters through the forest.

Then his back struck a tree.

BAM!

Pain shot through his spine.

The trunk bent from the collision before violently shaking from its roots to its highest branches, sending leaves raining down around him.

Cyrus dropped onto his feet just as the damaged tree finally gave way.

Crack...

The trunk tilted.

Branches scraped against the neighboring trees before the entire thing came crashing down behind him.

Cyrus slowly lowered his arms.

A dull pain pulsed through both forearms despite the Cognis reinforcement, and his fingers trembled slightly as he opened and closed them.

”Tsk.”

He gritted his teeth.

Cyrus had blocked it, but blocking didn’t mean the attack had been weak.

That was still the Alchemy of a Binder Alchemist.

Cyrus lifted his gaze.

The flames ahead shifted, then a large figure walked through them.

”You really thought...”

Basil stepped out of the burning area.

”...that little fire could finish me, you average Joe?”

His voice sounded firm and cold, but his appearance was another matter entirely.

He looked exactly like someone who had just been caught in the middle of a large explosion.

Parts of his academy training uniform had been burned away, leaving blackened edges across the damaged fabric. Burns covered several exposed parts of his skin, while soot stained his face and arms.

If Basil had taken the explosion with nothing protecting him, he certainly wouldn’t have walked out in that condition.

Cognis had reinforced his body before the worst of the blast could reach him.

More importantly, he wasn’t relying only on the Cognis stored within his own Stars.

The silver earrings decorating both ears.

The necklace resting around his neck.

And the silver rings covering the index fingers, thumbs, and pinky fingers of both hands.

Each expensive accessory.

And each serving another purpose.

Storing Cognis.

Basil had drawn from those backup reserves to strengthen his defense and protect his body from Cyrus’s explosion.

As he walked forward, another change became visible.

The damaged sections of his body began repairing themselves.

Thin Alchemy circuits hidden within the clothing lit up as the Healing Alchemy built into the academy uniform activated. The injured sections on Basil’s body slowly began to recover.

Cyrus glanced down at his own uniform.

The same process had already started on the body parts damaged by the sonic impact and his collision with the tree.

He tugged lightly at one recovering parts.

”This training uniform is pretty convenient, don’t you think?”

Basil’s eyebrow twitched.

”Shut up, weakling!”

Cyrus looked back at him.

Basil’s lips slowly curled into a mocking grin.

”Unlike your stepbrother...”

He lifted one hand.

Snap!

His fingers clicked together.

”...he can ignite his Alchemy with something as simple as that.”

Basil’s grin widened.

”All he needs is a lighter as his Alchemy medium, or even the flame from a candle, and he can perform Alchemy worthy of an Adept Alchemist.”

Cyrus said nothing.

While Basil continued with his grin widening.

”And your stepsister doesn’t even need to rely on a medium the same way.”

He gestured toward Cyrus dismissively.

”She simply adds the required combustion symbols to her Alchemy Circle, and everyone already knows how skilled she is at materializing flames into weapons.”

Then Basil pointed directly at Cyrus.

”But you?”

His smile became unbearable.

”You use friction-based combustion.”

Cyrus’s eyes remained on him.

”And that’s not enough, is it?”

Basil laughed.

”You even carry bottles of Draconium Lacrimal Extract just to strengthen your weak Flame Alchemy ignition! Hahahaha!”

His laughter rang loudly through the damaged forest.

Cyrus continued to stare at him for several seconds.

Then he spoke.

”Idiot.”

The laughter stopped.

Basil blinked.

”...Huh?”

Cyrus’s expression didn’t change.

”What did you just say?”

Basil asked frowning.

”My Scholars...”

Cyrus sighed and pointed toward the head plugs hanging around his neck.

”Are you actually that deaf?”

Basil’s face stiffened.

”I’m standing here using one of your family’s best products to block my own ears...”

Cyrus lightly tapped the head plugs with one finger.

”...yet somehow, you can’t hear a single word coming out of my mouth, Basil Evermont.”

He looked at Basil as though he had just discovered something truly disappointing.

”That’s impressive in its own way.”

Basil’s face darkened.

”But...”

Cyrus raised his hand.

”I’ll humor you.”

His lazy expression gradually disappeared.

The look in his eyes became colder.

”And I’ll repeat myself.”

He pointed directly at Basil.

”Louder this time... for a deaf pig like you.”

The veins near Basil’s temple began to rise.

Cyrus deliberately slowed his words.

”You.”

His finger remained pointed forward.

”Are.”

Basil’s fists tightened.

”An idiot.”

Cyrus paused just long enough for the words to settle.

”Basil...”

His eyes narrowed.

”...the...”

The side of Basil’s face twitched.

”...Pig.”

For a moment, there was silence.

The insult seemed to land harder than Cyrus’s earlier explosion.

A thick vein bulged along Basil’s temple.

Another appeared across his forehead.

His face reddened as his anger shot upward so quickly that even Cyrus was slightly impressed.

”Y-You...”

Basil’s shoulders trembled.

Cyrus watched him calmly.

”Y-Y-Y-YOU!”

His hands shot together.

CLAP!

”YOU BASTARD!”

Cognis erupted from Basil’s body.

The force of it stirred the surrounding dust and sent several dry leaves sliding across the ground.

An Alchemy Circle rapidly formed between his palms.

Dark-pink light sparked along its symbols.

At the same moment, every bell attached around Basil’s wrists began ringing.

Ring-ring-ring-ring!

The Alchemy Circle responded.

The sound produced by the bells was pulled toward it.

Cyrus’s expression immediately became serious.

He could see the effect through the changes in the surrounding air.

The different sounds were absorbed.

Combined.

Compressed.

Then amplified.

Circular sonic waves began spreading violently outward from the Sound Alchemy Circle.

Cyrus moved immediately.

BOOM!

The first sonic impact struck the ground where he had been standing.

Earth exploded upward.

Cyrus poured Cognis into his legs, increasing his running speed as another invisible wave followed.

BOOM!

A tree behind him burst apart.

He changed direction smoothly.

BOOM!

A large rock shattered.

Cyrus continued running, using the broken trees and uneven ground to constantly change his path while the sonic impacts chased him one after another.

Every missed attack destroyed something behind him.

Trees.

Rocks.

Bushes.

The forest floor itself.

The already chaotic battlefield was being torn apart even further.

Then...

Clap!

Cyrus senses immediately caught a new heat signal from above.

His eyes snapped upward.

Basil’s large body was airborne.

Despite his size, he had launched himself high enough to pass over the broken terrain, and his hands were already pressed together.

Another Alchemy ignition.

But this one felt different.

The bells around Basil continued ringing, but they were no longer the only source of sound available to him.

A tree collapsed nearby.

CRACK!

Burning bushes popped beneath the flames.

Crackle!

Stones struck one another after being thrown by the previous sonic attacks.

Clack! Clack!

Branches broke.

The ground cracked.

Cyrus’s boots struck the earth.

Even the destruction Basil had caused moments earlier was now producing more resources for him.

All those sounds were pulled toward the Alchemy Circle.

To Cyrus’s senses, the effect resembled waves of colorless gas vibrating through the air before gathering around Basil.

Cyrus’s eyes widened slightly.

This asshole.

Basil looked down at him.

”Let’s see you survive this!”

More Cognis poured into the Alchemy Circle.

The Aether Symbols embedded in the circle brightened along with the other symbols required for the Alchemy, while the gathered sound continued swelling inside the circle.

More.

And More.

The pressure kept building.

Like a balloon being filled far beyond what it should contain, the gathered sound reached its limit.

Then it burst.

BAAAAAAAAAAM!!

The sonic wave exploded outward.

This wasn’t like the smaller attacks from before.

The front of the sound wave tore through everything it touched.

A falling tree was caught first.

Its trunk shattered into pieces.

Rocks cracked apart.

Branches were ripped from trees.

Loose soil exploded upward as the massive sonic attack rushed after Cyrus.

Cyrus ran.

Ran fast.

Very fast.

”You crazy pig!”

He threw himself behind a large tree.

”You really want to kill me over an insult?!”

The sonic wave reached the tree.

Cyrus jumped away.

BOOM!

The trunk exploded behind him.

Chunks of wood shot through the air like broken arrows.

Cyrus raised one arm to protect his face as he continued running.

His mind worked quickly despite the destruction chasing him.

”The attack shouldn’t last too long...”

He muttered between breaths as his boots struck the ground again.

Cyrus glanced over his shoulder.

Basil had already landed.

And he was running after him.

The Sound Alchemy Circle remained active in front of his hands, functioning like the generator controlling the massive sonic attack.

Whenever Cyrus changed direction...

Basil moved the attack with him.

Left.

The sonic wave followed.

Right.

It changed direction again.

Cyrus frowned.

”It’s just that...”

He watched Basil for another second.

Will using something like this actually exhaust him?

He couldn’t answer that.

Basil was a Binder Rank Alchemist, and he also had several Cognis-storage accessories covering his body.

Trying to simply wait until he ran out of Cognis might be a very stupid plan.

”Tsk.”

Cyrus changed tactics.

More Cognis flowed into his legs.

This time, he sent part of it all the way down to the soles of his boots.

He stepped toward a nearby tree.

His boot landed against the trunk.

Instead of falling backward...

Cyrus ran upward.

One step.

Then another.

With Cognis reinforcing his movement and grip, running along the trunk felt almost like running across ordinary ground.

The sonic wave followed.

Cyrus reached several meters above the forest floor before pushing away.

The instant he jumped...

BOOM!

The tree behind him shattered.

Cyrus crossed the gap toward another tall tree.

His boot struck the side of its trunk before he turned his body.

Now facing Basil...

He reached into his space bag.

Two small bottles appeared between his fingers.

Dragon’s Tear.

Basil immediately noticed them.

His expression twisted further.

”DIE, TRASH!”

He thrust both hands forward.

The Sound Alchemy Circle remained in front of him as the source controlling the attack.

Hatred had already swallowed whatever restraint he had possessed earlier.

At that moment...

Basil didn’t care anymore whether Cyrus actually survived.

The sonic wave surged forward.

Cyrus waited.

One heartbeat.

Then another.

The moment the distance became right...

He jumped from the tree.

At the same time, he threw both bottles forward.

The small containers spun through the air toward the incoming sonic attack.

Cyrus brought his hands together while falling.

Clap!

Cognis flashed between his palms.

His Alchemy Circle formed.

Crimson Cognis erupted from it like branching lightning.

The streams raced through the air and struck both bottles of Dragon’s Tear.

The sonic attack reached them at almost the exact same moment.

For a fraction of a second...

Everything met in one place.

Then...

BOOOOOOM!

A huge explosion erupted between Cyrus and Basil.

Fire expanded through the forest.

The blast struck the incoming sonic force, and the collision released a violent wave of pressure in every direction.

Cyrus was caught by it in midair.

His body was pushed backward as his coat and hair plugs snapped violently in the wind.

Basil was struck from the opposite direction.

His large body swayed backward while his boots dragged across the broken ground.

Trees surrounding the explosion shook.

Leaves were torn from their branches.

Smoke rolled upward through the canopy.

The roar traveled far beyond their battlefield, spreading through different parts of the examination forest.

For several seconds, neither boy could clearly see the other through the flames, smoke, and debris filling the space between them.

Back at Ezra’s battlefield, the exchange continued from the exact moment the thin crack appeared across Tristin’s Light Blade.

Ezra saw it.

Tristin saw it.

And for that brief instant, the prince’s attention remained fixed on the damaged blade.

While Ezra immediately moved.

Without warning, he swung his arm and threw the Kel-Tec PMR-30 directly toward Gareth, who was already rushing toward him from the front.

Gareth’s eyes followed the spinning handgun.

He threw his handgun?

The action didn’t make sense.

Why would Ezra willingly throw away one of his weapons in the middle of a three-on-one fight?

Still, Gareth didn’t waste time trying to understand it.

The Kel-Tec spun toward his face.

He calmly raised one hand.

Clank!

The back of his Colt struck the incoming handgun and slapped it away.

The Kel-Tec flew toward the side, spinning through the air before disappearing from Gareth’s immediate attention.

His eyes returned to Ezra.

Whatever Ezra had intended by throwing the handgun, Gareth wasn’t going to give him time to complete it.

But Gareth wasn’t the only one attacking.

Farther in front of him, Felix had already found another opening.

His finger pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The Springfield M1903A roared.

A sniper round shot across the battlefield toward Ezra.

Ezra didn’t even turn his head to look at it.

His black eyes remained forward.

The Desert Eagle in his other hand rose.

BANG!

He fired.

The heavier handgun round crossed the incoming sniper bullet’s path.

Clank!

Both bullets collided.

Unlike Ezra’s earlier attempt with the Kel-Tec PMR-30, there was no need to use three separate rounds to force Felix’s sniper bullet away.

The power of the Desert Eagle was enough.

The two bullets struck each other with such force that both lost their momentum and dropped onto the forest floor, bent and pressed against one another from the collision.

Felix blinked behind the Springfield’s optic scope.

His expression changed.

Did he enhance the hardness of his bullet?

The thought had barely entered his mind when something strange appeared within the edge of his vision.

Felix’s eyes widened.

The handgun.

Since when?!

The handgun Ezra had just fired wasn’t simply hanging in his hand anymore.

It was coming toward Felix.

And attached to it was a thin black metallic thread.

Felix immediately tried to move the Springfield.

Too late.

The Desert Eagle spun around the long body of the sniper rifle.

Once.

Then again.

The metallic thread followed the rotation, wrapping tightly around the Springfield’s barrel and body until the Desert Eagle itself became caught against the rifle.

Felix stared at it in disbelief.

”What...”

Ezra moved at the same time.

His knees bent.

His entire body dropped.

Bang!

Gareth fired.

The Colt round passed through the space where Ezra’s head had been a fraction of a second earlier.

Ezra could feel the air shift above his hair as the bullet continued behind him.

He didn’t look up.

Instead, his hand pulled sharply toward his body.

The thin metallic thread attached to the Desert Eagle instantly became tight.

That thread wasn’t ordinary.

Neither were the black gloves covering Ezra’s hands.

This was one of Ezra’s gadget inventions during his preparation for the Royal Academy, Ezra had created the gloves from materials he had specifically chosen for this kind of combat.

Magnetizum... 30%

Black Steel... 70%

He had combined the two metals into an alloy before incorporating that alloy into the special leather commonly used for Alchemy accessories.

The result wasn’t a heavy piece of armor covering his hands.

Ezra had deliberately kept the gloves slim enough that they wouldn’t interfere with his fingers, grip, trigger control, or the quick movements required when changing between firearms.

But beneath that simple appearance was the important part.

Magnetic force.

The Magnetizum–Black Steel alloy gave the gloves a powerful attraction toward compatible metals, and Ezra had extended that function into the thin threads hidden within the gloves.

Even a single thread could form a strong magnetic attachment once it made contact with metal.

That alone would have been useful.

But Ezra took it further.

He constructed Circuits throughout the gloves and continued those Circuits into the thin metallic threads themselves, allowing Cognis to flow through the system and strengthen the special functions he had designed into it.

That was why he could drop a handgun and pull it back into his palm effortlessly, and that was why he could throw one weapon away without truly giving it up.

And that was why the Desert Eagle wrapped around Felix’s Springfield wasn’t merely a handgun caught on a string.

It was an anchor.

Ezra’s hand snapped backward, with the Circuit inside the thread responding.

The magnetic connection tightened, then the entire line pulled.

Felix suddenly felt a violent force jerk the Springfield sideways.

”Huh?!”

His hands tightened around the rifle instantly.

But it didn’t matter.

Ezra combined the pull of his arm with the momentum of his lowering body, and the thread drew tight enough that the Springfield was ripped straight out of Felix’s grip.

Felix’s fingers closed around empty air.

His eyes widened further.

The sniper rifle flew across the battlefield.

Only then did Felix understand.

The Kel-Tec Ezra had thrown at Gareth.

The Desert Eagle.

The strange thin black threads.

The guns weren’t simply weapons in Ezra’s hands anymore.

They were part of his movement.

Part of his reach.

Part of the way he controlled the space around himself.

And now Felix’s own weapon had been dragged into that same system.

The Springfield M1903A spun through the air, still wrapped tightly by the metallic thread connected to Ezra’s Desert Eagle.

Its direction wasn’t random.

Gareth had already moved away from the center while continuing his close-range assault.

That left a clear path.

Directly toward Prince Tristin.

Tristin had just recovered from the shock of seeing his Light Blade crack, and his hand was already rising as he prepared his next attack on Ezra.

His golden eyes caught movement from the side.

He turned.

The stolen Springfield was already there.

BAM!