Last Gun Alchemist

KLANG!

The first clash of metal echoed loudly around the arena.

The sound rolled across the fight platform and reached the spectators seated and standing around the Arena stands.

BOOM!

Almost immediately after it came the sound of the platform cracking beneath the force of the exchange.

KLANG!

Another metallic clash followed.

BOOM!

Then came the heavy sound of boots striking the ground.

KLANG!

BOOM!

KLANG!

BOOM!

KLANG!

BOOM!

KLANG!

BOOM!

That was the rhythm that filled the whole arena.

Metal against metal.

Boot against stone.

The sounds came so quickly that they seemed to overlap, sometimes turning two separate impacts into one long burst of noise.

The Low-ranking Alchemists could at least hear the exchanges and catch brief flashes of what was happening.

To them, white light and light-blue light rapidly crossed the fight platform, disappearing from one side before appearing on another.

But even they were having trouble following the movements.

The ordinary spectators had it much worse.

They could not properly perceive the two Young Alchemists at all.

Their eyes could only catch occasional flashes before both girls vanished from sight again.

The only thing they could reliably follow was the sound.

And even that was becoming difficult.

KLANG!

BOOM!

KLANG!

BOOM!

The sounds came one after another, sometimes so close together that it seemed as if several clashes had happened at the exact same moment.

The speed at which the two Flowers of Britannia were fighting was simply too much for the non-Alchemists among the spectators.

Some people leaned forward with their eyes wide, trying to catch even one clear movement.

Others stared at the four large holographic screens hanging around the arena.

Fortunately, the screens were doing their job as always.

They displayed slowed replays of the ongoing fight, allowing the spectators to see fragments of the exchange that their eyes had completely missed.

But even then, following the fight was difficult.

The holographic screens showed Vera’s blurred figure as she swung the Repeater Sword Rifle vertically upward like a sword, using the slim blade attached to the weapon to block Diane’s slim sword as it came down from above.

Orange sparks burst from the point where the two weapons met.

The wind around them twisted violently from the force of their movements, causing loose snow to scatter across the platform.

The replay slowed the scene down.

Yet even with the slowed footage, the two girls still looked like blurred figures moving through the arena.

Of course, the High-Ranking Alchemists had no such problem.

Their eyes followed every movement.

They could see the shift of a foot, the turn of a shoulder, the change in a weapon’s angle, and the way Cognis moved through each girl’s body.

They watched without confusion.

Back on the fight platform...

Krrrkkk...

Vera moved backward.

Her boots dragged heavily against the ground as she forced herself away from Diane, leaving long trail marks across the platform.

Her dull black eyes remained locked onto the incoming Diane.

The damaged Repeater Sword Rifle in Vera’s hands had already endured too much.

The body of the weapon was bent and dented from the repeated clashes against Diane’s Alchemy slim sword, and the metal surface carried several fresh marks from their previous exchange.

Vera looked at the rifle for only a moment.

Then she threw it onto the ground.

The damaged weapon struck the platform with a metallic sound.

Clang!

Vera didn’t look back at it.

Her dull black eyes were locked on the incoming Alchemist.

Diane was already closing in.

Her light-blue eyes remained focused on Vera as her feet carried her forward.

Vera took another step backward.

Then her right hand moved.

Her left hand followed.

Cognis flowed through her arms and into the space around her.

Six Repeater Sword Rifles shoot our from her space bag under her control.

The weapons rose into the air almost at once.

They moved rapidly toward Diane from different angles, their barrels turning until they faced the same direction.

Diane’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The six rifles stopped.

Vera extended her right hand.

All five fingers pointed forward.

Then she raised one finger on her left hand.

The six Repeater Sword Rifles responded to her movements.

They shifted into position and aligned themselves into a perfect horizontal line.

Six muzzles pointed directly toward the incoming Diane.

For a brief moment, the rifles floated motionless in the air.

Then Vera gave the firing order.

Her Alchemy Levitation controlled every weapon at once.

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!

A barrage of bullets flew from the rifle muzzles.

The shots filled the space between Vera and Diane.

The six rifles fired together, then continued firing in rapid succession, creating a wall of bullets that rushed toward Diane from directly in front of her.

Diane’s half-closed light-blue eyes locked onto the incoming barrage.

The bullets were already close.

There was almost no time left.

Diane immediately moved her left hand to the side and spread her fingers wide.

KZZRAK!

The sound of Cognis rapidly flowing into her palm echoed across the arena.

Light-blue Cognis poured out from her hand.

The Cognis moved through the air and began forming an Alchemy Circle in front of her palm.

The symbols appeared one after another.

The Frost Alchemy Circle rapidly took shape.

At the same time, three glass bottles filled with water flew out from Diane’s space bag.

The bottles floated in front of her.

Diane did not even glance at them.

The Frost Alchemy Circle continued forming.

Once it was complete, the Light-blue Cognis surged forward like lightning.

The Cognis struck the three glass bottles.

The glass shattered.

But the water did not fall.

Instead, it was pulled directly into the Frost Alchemy Circle.

The liquid twisted through the air and entered the circle.

The moment it did...

The Alchemy Circle ignited.

Diane moved her left hand horizontally toward the right.

The Frost Alchemy Circle responded immediately.

Small ice spikes shot out from the circle while still floating inches above her palm.

They flew directly toward the incoming bullets.

The first ice spike collided with a bullet.

The projectile disappeared beneath the sudden layer of frost.

The bullet became a frozen block of ice.

Another ice spike struck another bullet.

Then another.

The incoming shots were being caught one after another.

The ice did not merely deflect the bullets.

It consumed them.

Every projectile that touched the ice spikes became frozen solid.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Frozen bullets dropped onto the platform.

Some bounced once against the ground before coming to a stop, while others landed directly into the snow and remained there, covered in a thin layer of frost.

But not every bullet was stopped by the ice spikes.

Some passed through the gaps.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Diane’s slim sword moved.

Her wrist turned.

The blade swept through the air with smooth and controlled movements.

Every bullet that slipped through the Frost Alchemy was either sliced apart or deflected away.

She did not remain in one position while doing it.

Her feet continued moving.

Each sword swing carried her a little closer to Vera.

Then, within the same motion, Diane jumped.

Her body rotated quickly in the air.

Her light-blue hair followed the movement as she turned, and the slim sword remained firmly in her hand.

Before she landed, she attacked with the same Frost Alchemy Circle.

Ice spikes emerged from the circle, shooting towards Vera.

Fast.

Vera immediately moved her right hand.

The six Repeater Sword Rifles responded.

They shifted through the air and moved together.

The rifles joined into a defensive formation, positioning themselves in front of Vera like a shield.

The first group of ice spikes struck the rifles.

Clang!

Crack!

Ice spread across the metal.

Other spikes missed the weapons and struck the platform instead.

The ground froze where they landed.

Thin frost spread across the surface around each impact point.

The same thing happened to Vera’s rifles.

The moment the ice spikes touched their metal bodies, frost rapidly spread across them.

The barrels began freezing.

The outer surfaces of the rifles became covered in white ice.

Vera saw it immediately.

She did not wait for the weapons to become completely frozen.

She moved backward.

One step.

Then another.

Then several more.

Diane landed.

Her right boot struck the ground heavily.

BOOM!

The platform cracked beneath her foot.

Broken pieces of rock and fallen snow flew upward from the impact.

Diane remained balanced even after the landing.

Her light-blue eyes never left Vera.

Vera continued widening the distance between them.

The damaged ground between them was quickly becoming covered with scattered snow, broken stone, frozen bullets, and pieces of ice.

Then, in that same moment...

Two large glass jars floated beside Diane.

KZZRAK!

Light-blue Cognis rapidly flowed into Diane’s left hand.

Another Frost Alchemy Circle began forming.

She did not clap her hands together.

She did not need to.

Her Cognis moved directly into the construction of the circle.

The Alchemy Symbols appeared in rapid succession as the Frost Alchemy Circle took shape.

The two jars of water broke.

The water floated in the air for a moment before being pulled into the circle.

The Frost Alchemy Circle completed its ignition.

Diane raised her left hand forward.

More Cognis flowed into it.

The temperature around her dropped.

Then...

Ice daggers shot out from the Frost Alchemy Circle.

Dozens of them flew toward Vera in rapid succession, moving so quickly that their formation resembled the continuous fire of a machine gun.

Vera’s eyes shifted toward them.

She already understood what Diane was doing.

The ice daggers were not meant to give her time to think.

They were meant to force her to keep moving.

Before Diane could fully raise her left hand forward, Vera moved her own hands.

Her space bag opened.

Four BAR M1918s came out.

The automatic rifles immediately floated into the air under Vera’s Alchemy Levitation.

They spread apart.

Each rifle found a position.

Then their barrels turned toward Diane.

Vera looked at the incoming ice daggers.

A faint smile appeared on her face.

”Let’s up the power, shall we.”

Her voice remained casual, with no sign of panic in it.

Her fingers moved slightly.

The four BAR M1918s responded.

Cognis flowed through the weapons under her control.

The firing mechanism of each rifle began moving.

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! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

The four automatic rifles erupted at once.

The sound of their gunfire swallowed the arena.

Muzzle flashes appeared across the floating weapons as Vera’s Alchemy Levitation kept all four BAR M1918s aimed toward Diane.

The bullets rushed forward.

At the same time, the ice daggers continued flying toward Vera.

For one brief moment, the space between the two Flowers became filled with two opposing attacks...

A storm of bullets moving toward Diane.

And a storm of ice daggers moving toward Vera.

Neither side stopped.