Last Gun Alchemist

”Ah... Ah...”

Lyra panted as she took her first step.

Thud.

Her boot pressed against the damaged platform, forcing a small piece of broken stone beneath it to roll away.

Then she took another step.

Thud.

”Ah... Ah... Ah...”

Her breathing became rougher, and every breath came out through clenched teeth as she continued moving forward.

Yet her steps were becoming faster.

Thud.

Thud.

”Ah... Ah... Ah... Ah... Ah...”

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

The rhythm of her footsteps continued to increase.

Her body was already battered from the previous exchange. Blood still marked her skin and training cloth, and the dagger remained stabbed through the palm of her injured hand, making every movement of that arm painful.

But Lyra kept walking.

Then her walking became a run.

Boom!

Her speed suddenly increased.

Lyra dashed forward, forcing herself through the air around the damaged fighting area. The sudden burst of movement pushed the loose snow covering the platform backward, while the pieces of broken rock scattered around the place where she had slammed her left fist were also pushed aside by the gust created by her acceleration.

Her breathing was still rough.

Her body was already telling her that it had reached its limit.

Lyra ignored it.

”AHHHHHHHH!!!!”

She shouted as she reached toward the E.V 26 MK.II.

The shotgun had fallen from her hand earlier when Ezra had spun her through the air with the scythe’s chain, and it had landed several meters away from her position.

Lyra grabbed it while continuing her movement.

Her injured hand remained unusable for the moment, so she held the weapon with her good hand.

Across the platform, Ezra watched her.

His dead-fish black eyes followed Lyra’s movements without difficulty, which made him notice something different about Lyra.

Her movement was faster.

Not simply because she was forcing her body to run harder.

Something else was changing.

Her Cognis is growing?

Ezra watched the white Cognis inside Lyra’s body.

It was increasing.

The flow that had been weakening earlier was now becoming denser again, moving through her body as she continued running.

From the look of the growing Cognis.

It was obvious to Ezra that Lyra was moving towards a Breakthrough in her Alchemist rank.

Meaning Lyra had entered the state of Gaseous Cognis flowing from both her Novice star and Binder Star.

Lyra raised the E.V 26 MK.II with one hand.

Her feet continued moving.

Then she stopped her dash just enough to stabilize her aim.

Her breathing remained rough, but her hand did not shake.

Bang!

The shotgun fired.

The sound spread across the Arena.

The shell left the weapon before the pellets spread outward, creating a wide barrage that moved toward Ezra.

Ezra did not panic.

He had already dealt with the incoming attack before the pellets could travel even a meter toward him.

Ezra hand moved toward his Space Bag.

He took out the Glock 20.

Click.

The current magazine was removed.

Before the empty magazine could fall, another loaded magazine flew out from the Space Bag under the control of Alchemy Levitation.

It moved through the air directly toward the handgun.

The magazine entered the magazine well.

Click.

Ezra slammed it into place.

The entire process happened within milliseconds.

His wrist turned.

The Glock 20 was raised.

He aimed at the incoming pellets.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

The shots came out in rapid succession.

Each bullet met a pellet.

The air between Ezra and Lyra became filled with tiny collisions as the bullets struck the incoming shotgun pellets and redirected them away from Ezra.

Some pellets were sent into the platform.

Others struck one another after being redirected.

Small sparks flashed in the air.

Ezra’s eyes didn’t leave the incoming barrage.

His senses remained sharp even though his attention had shifted toward blocking the pellets.

Then he sensed another movement.

Lyra was already above him.

She had jumped into the air while keeping the E.V 26 MK.II aimed downward.

Bang!

The shotgun fired again.

The recoil pushed against Lyra’s shoulder and caused her body to move slightly backward.

She ignored it.

Her good arm remained steady.

She had only one functioning hand at the moment, and even though she could have removed the dagger from her other palm and used Cognis to heal the injury while fighting, Lyra hadn’t done so.

She had chosen to keep fighting with the dagger still embedded in her hand.

The growing Cognis inside her body rushed into the E.V 26 MK.II.

White light began to spread across the weapon.

The black metal body responded to the sudden increase of Cognis, its body brightened white almost like it had a circuit system integrated into it.

Lyra used the recoil from the shotgun to help rotate her body.

Her body turned in the air.

She became almost horizontal.

The E.V 26 MK.II continued glowing brighter as more Cognis poured into its metal body.

White light gathered along the weapon’s body.

The glow became stronger.

The black metal body could no longer simply handle the Cognis as a normal flow.

The weapon was being pushed beyond its usual output.

There was only one thing that could mean.

Alchemy Overload.

Lyra’s eyes sharpened.

BANG!

Another shot exploded from the E.V 26 MK.II.

This shot sounded louder.

At the same time, Lyra’s body spun rapidly while remaining horizontal in the air.

Then...

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

More shots followed.

The E.V 26 MK.II fired faster than the weapon’s original firing system that Ezra had designed for the shotgun to handle.

The increased Cognis output forced the weapon beyond its normal limit.

Lyra’s body was pushed slightly farther upward with each shot, her horizontal rotation becoming faster as she continued firing.

From Ezra’s position, the sky above him was now filled with pellets.

They descended toward him from multiple directions.

Ezra looked upward.

He did not flinch.

There was no need for him to spend time thinking about how to respond.

His body had already begun moving.

Two black steel bars flew from his Space Bag.

They rotated rapidly through the air before moving toward his free hand.

Ezra spread his hand slightly.

The black steel bars moved towards his palm.

Cognis rushed through his veins and into his arm.

Then it gathered in his palm.

KZZRAK!

White Cognis sparked from his hand like lightning.

A Binder-rank Gun Alchemy Circle rapidly formed.

Alchemy Symbols appeared across the Circle as its structure completed.

The two black steel bars fell into the center.

They melted almost immediately.

The molten metal flowed inward.

It compressed.

Then it began to take shape.

The material shifted through several forms in a matter of moments as the Alchemy Circle controlled its structure.

The shape of the weapon became clear.

The Glock 40.

Ezra caught the newly formed handgun.

His other hand raised the Glock 20.

His black plain eyes locked onto the descending pellets.

Both handguns were aimed upward.

Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Ezra fired with precision.

His eyes didn’t even blink once.

The two handguns moved only slightly as he adjusted his aim between shots, and each bullet was sent toward a different section of the descending barrage of pellets.

Klang! Klang!

Klang! Klang!

Klang! Klang!

Klang! Klang!

Klang! Klang!

Klang! Klang!

Klang! Klang!

Klang! Klang!

Klang! Klang!

Klang! Klang!

Klang! Klang!

Klang! Klang!

The air space between Ezra and Lyra became filled with sparks.

Bullets and pellets collided in the air.

Some pellets shattered against incoming bullets.

Some were pushed away from their original paths.

Others fell toward the platform after being deflected.

The view between the two Young Alchemists almost looked like a wall of sparks.

Lyra remained airborne above it all, her body still spinning horizontally while the E.V 26 MK.II continued firing.

Ezra stood below.

Neither of them stopped.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

More pellets struck the platform.

The damaged stone cracked in several places as the remaining projectiles descended.

Some of the deflected pellets struck the ground.

Others collided with Ezra’s bullets and changed direction.

A few bullets themselves slammed into the platform after completing their work.

Snow jumped from the impacts.

Small pieces of stone scattered across the already damaged battlefield.

The exchange lasted only moments, but the amount of firepower being exchanged made the platform look as though another small battle had broken out inside the main fight.

At the commentator’s seating area...

Professor Kent stared at the sparks.

”He even knows how to execute a no-clap Alchemy ignition to that level.”

His voice carried a hint of amusement, but his expression showed nothing like that.

Patrick’s eyes remained fixed on the fight.

His fingers had tightened around the table microphone without him realizing it.

The excitement in his expression was difficult to hide.

The spectators were the same.

Many of them were standing.

Some were shouting Ezra’s name.

Others were cheering for Lyra.

The scene was difficult to follow for ordinary spectators, but they could still understand the basic meaning of what they were seeing.

Ezra was calmly answering Lyra’s attacks.

And Lyra was continuing to fight despite everything that had already happened to her.

The title Wild Gun suited her more and more with every exchange.

Back in the fight area...

Lyra finally stopped spinning.

The E.V 26 MK.II gave a sharp crack.

A thin fracture spread across its body.

Then another.

The weapon could no longer withstand the strain.

It crumbled.

The firearm broke apart into dust, and the remains were carried away by the wind.

Lyra coughed.

”Cough! Cough!”

Blood came from her mouth.

Her body began descending toward the platform.

Blood was now dripping from her eyes, nose, and mouth.

The strain of using the growing Cognis to execute Alchemy Overload had taken almost everything she had left.

Her breathing was weak.

Her arms felt heavy.

She had very little Cognis remaining.

Yet her eyes were still open.

She looked toward Ezra.

He was still standing.

The pellets that had descended toward him had been completely blocked.

Two Glocks were held in his hands.

Smoke drifted from their barrels.

Lyra stared at him, then she smiled faintly.

”You truly are a monster.”

Her voice was low and weak.

She was exhausted.

But she still hadn’t surrendered yet.

At that same moment...

The two Glocks suddenly moved.

They flew toward Lyra.

”Huh?”

Her eyes widened.

She had barely enough time to react.

The Glock 20 had a thin black thread attached to it.

The thread shot forward and wrapped around Lyra’s good hand.

Her fingers tightened instinctively.

The hand already hurt from the repeated recoil of the E.V 26 MK.II, especially after she had forced the weapon into an Overload state.

Before she could pull away, the Glock 40 moved as well.

Another black thread wrapped around her other hand.

The hand with the dagger still stabbed through her palm.

Lyra’s expression changed.

Ezra pulled downward.

”AHHHHHH!!!”

Her voice echoed across the Arena.

Her body was dragged downward with sudden force.

The black threads tightened.

Her feet left the air beneath her.

She was pulled toward the damaged platform faster than she could regain control of her body.

The snow below her rushed closer.

Lyra’s hair and training cloth were thrown upward by the sudden movement.

Boom!!!

Her body crashed into the ground.

The sound echoed through the entire Arena.

The damaged platform shook beneath the impact.

For a moment, the crowd went quiet.

The two black threads remained connected to Ezra’s Black gloves which now were in a loosened state.