Chapter 507: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: Two Guns of different Bloodlines

The crowd continued cheering for Ezra while the repair of the fight platform went on.

The cheers rolled through the Arena in waves, with Ezra’s name still being shouted from different sections even though the match had already ended. Some spectators were still discussing the final exchange between him and Desmond, while others watched the damaged platform being restored, clearly unwilling to let their attention leave the place where such an intense battle had just taken place.

The Craft-based Royal Academy staff worked quickly.

Several Alchemists stepped onto the damaged platform and began using Earth Alchemy to restore the stones that had been broken by the heavy explosions, punches, kicks, and the repeated impacts caused by the two Young Alchemists’ Cognis-enhanced movements.

Cracks that had spread across the floor slowly closed.

Broken stones rose from the ground and returned to their original positions.

The damaged sections were filled, compressed, and shaped again until the platform began to resemble its earlier state.

Above the Arena, the four Holographic Screens continued displaying slowed versions of the best moments from Ezra and Desmond’s fight.

The images showed fragments of their battle from different angles.

However, the smoke that had covered much of the platform during the latter part of the fight had made it difficult for the audience to see several important movements clearly.

The technical group had solved part of that problem.

They managed to display the visualized colors of Ezra’s and Desmond’s Cognis within the smoke, allowing the audience to see their movements through the changing trails of energy even when their bodies themselves had been difficult to follow.

The screens replayed the exchange again.

A white trail moved.

A crimson trail followed.

Then both suddenly disappeared into the smoke.

The crowd reacted every time the replay reached one of the more impressive moments.

Inside the Arena, away from the center of the crowd’s attention...

Ezra walked through one of the paths leading away from the fight platform.

"You used Cognis Instant Force."

Vera’s voice came from in front of him.

Ezra looked at her with his usual plain expression.

Vera was leaning against the wall beside her, her arms folded as she watched him with her dull black eyes. She hadn’t moved much while waiting for him, and even with the cheers of the crowd still echoing through the Arena, she looked as though she were standing in a quiet hallway rather than inside one of Britannia’s largest combat venues.

"It was really helpful."

Ezra simply replied.

While he continued walking for a while, a bottle of healing elixir held in his left hand.

The glass bottle moved slightly with each step, catching the light from the nearby lamps.

Vera’s eyes dropped from his face to the bottle.

"Ehhh..."

She made the sound without changing her expression.

Then she looked back at him.

"I’m surprised you use both hands."

She said it casually.

The word surprised didn’t fit her expression at all.

Her face remained almost completely emotionless, and her voice carried the same calm tone she used when making an observation about something ordinary.

Ezra glanced at her.

"It’s basically something all Gun Alchemists of Ash learn about. But I did start practicing using my left hand without knowing this because of how jobless I was back in my ghost life."

His tone was just as casual.

Vera’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Saying ’ghost life’ feels a little sad, Dancer."

She pushed herself away from the wall.

Her arms unfolded and moved behind her back as she began walking toward Ezra.

Her steps were slow and gentle, as though she had not just said anything particularly emotional.

Ezra watched her approach.

Knowing Vera, he could already guess that the conversation wasn’t finished.

The strange thing was that he couldn’t tell whether she actually felt sad about what he had said.

Is she even capable of feeling sad?

The thought had barely formed.

"What a rude thought."

Vera answered.

Ezra’s eyes shifted toward her plainly.

He wasn’t surprised, even though he didn’t speak the words out.

Vera also hadn’t even looked at him as she spoke.

She simply continued walking.

"I would have you know..."

Vera walked past him.

Then, after taking a few more steps, she gently turned around to face him.

"I am the biggest softy in the whole wide world."

She pointed at herself with one hand.

The gesture was dramatic, but her expression wasn’t.

Ezra stared at her.

For a moment, yet again he genuinely couldn’t tell whether she was joking or being serious.

Then again, he had already learned how Vera operated.

She could say something completely ridiculous with the same face she used when discussing something important.

"I see."

Ezra replied dryly.

His eyes remained slightly narrowed.

Vera looked at him.

Neither said anything for a moment.

The noise from the Arena could still be heard through the corridors, with the distant cheering occasionally becoming louder whenever another announcement was made.

Then Patrick’s voice suddenly echoed through the nearby speakers.

"Welcoming the next fighters!!"

The announcement carried through the Arena and reached the corridor where Ezra and Vera stood.

"Lady Vera Ashenlocke!!"

The crowd immediately reacted.

"My Black Queen!!"

"The Jewel of Ashenlocke!!"

"Lady Vera Ashenlocke!!"

The voices of Vera’s supporters rose from the stands.

Some shouted her title.

Others simply repeated her name.

The sound became louder as more people joined in.

Vera glanced toward the path leading to the Arena’s fight platform.

Then she looked back at Ezra.

"Wish me luck, Ezra."

Her voice remained calm.

"It’s your opponent I should be saying that to, honestly."

Ezra replied plainly.

He didn’t make much movement as he spoke.

He already knew who would be facing Vera.

Because of that, he understood that the upcoming fight wouldn’t be a simple one-sided battle.

Vera stared at him.

"Hmmm..."

She puffed her cheeks slightly.

"You’re awakening the jealous Vera, you know."

She said it so casually that it was difficult to tell whether she was actually complaining or simply teasing him.

"Funny."

Ezra simply replied.

"Humph."

Vera turned around.

Her attention returned to the path leading toward the fight platform.

She placed her hands behind her back again.

Then she began humming.

Ezra recognized the melody almost immediately.

It was familiar to him.

Very familiar.

It was his piano piece.

Vera’s footsteps remained light as she walked away.

Patrick had already begun announcing the other fighter.

"Miss Grace Evergrey!!"

The crowd responded brightly.

The Evergrey section was particularly loud, and several members of the Drakes family also joined the cheering.

There were also plenty of spectators who had come to support Grace herself.

Their voices spread through the Arena as Vera continued walking.

Ezra listened to Vera’s humming for a few seconds.

It wasn’t surprising that she had a good musical voice.

Her normal speaking voice was already soft enough that Ezra had long suspected she would sound good when singing.

But her musical tone was better than he had expected.

There was control in it.

Even while humming casually, she kept the melody steady.

Ezra turned away.

He didn’t waste any more seconds standing there listening to Vera hum his piano piece.

He began walking toward the direction of the first-year seating section.

Now...

At the fight platform, where the noise of the Arena truly gathered, Patrick raised his table microphone.

The four Holographic Screens displayed the two fighters standing on opposite sides of the platform.

The crowd began to settle.

Patrick looked toward one side of the stage.

Then he looked toward the other.

"Vs..."

He purposely paused.

The effect was immediate.

The audience became tense.

Vera’s supporters, who had already been preparing to cheer, grew quiet for that brief moment as they waited for her name.

Patrick held the microphone closer.

"Lady Vera Ashenlocke!!"

His voice rang through the Arena.

The response was immense.

"LADY VERA ASHENLOCKE!!"

"The Best Flower of Britannia!!"

"Lady Vera Ashenlocke!!"

"Kyaaaaa!!! Lady Vera Ashenlocke!!"

Cheers erupted from different sections.

Some people stood from their seats.

Others waved banners.

Several young Noble ladies shouted Vera’s name while gripping the edges of their seats, and some younger spectators simply joined the noise because everyone around them was cheering.

Vera walked out.

She raised one hand and waved calmly as she moved toward the center of the platform.

Her expression remained composed.

The enormous crowd didn’t seem to affect her at all.

She walked at the same gentle pace she had used in the corridor, neither speeding up because of the cheering nor slowing down because of the attention.

Once she reached the platform, she lowered her hand.

Grace’s grey eyes locked onto her.

"Ahhh..."

Grace exhaled.

She looked at Vera with a confident expression, but there was a small tension around her eyes that was easy to miss.

The two girls stood several meters apart.

Snow rested across different parts of the platform, and the repaired stone beneath their boots still carried faint marks from the previous battle.

The Arena lights reflected off the remaining moisture and small fragments of ice.

Patrick raised his microphone.

"Let’s start the countdown!!"

The four Holographic Screens immediately displayed the countdown.

The large number appeared above the fighters.

THREE!!

The crowd began shouting along.

"THREE!!"

The countdown echoed from one section to another, mixing with the remaining cheers.

"THREE!"

"THREE!"

"Go, Lady Vera!"

"Miss Grace Evergrey can do it!"

"You are going to lose badly, Evergrey!!"

"It’s better you give up!"

"Believe in yourself, Miss Evergrey!"

Different opinions overlapped.

Some supported Vera without hesitation.

Others shouted for Grace.

The noise became a strange mixture of cheers, insults, encouragement, and excited laughter.

Grace didn’t look toward the audience.

Her eyes remained on Vera.

She had already begun analyzing her opponent.

Vera was standing with her arms folded.

She didn’t appear ready to attack.

She didn’t even appear particularly interested in the countdown.

Her dull black eyes simply rested on Grace.

"TWO!!"

The second countdown echoed through the Arena.

Vera tilted her head.

Her arms remained folded across her chest.

She looked at Grace as though she were already beginning to grow bored just from watching her.

"Trying to analyze me isn’t going to work, Evergrey."

Vera said it dryly, her expression remaining completely indifferent.

Grace’s lips moved into an awkward smile.

"I thought I could try, though."

She replied.

Vera could easily tell that Grace had been trying to read her movements.

Grace had probably been watching her posture, her shoulders, her legs, the direction of her gaze, and even the position of her hands.

She had likely been trying to find some small sign that could reveal what Vera intended to do when the fight began.

But even after enhancing her perception with Cognis, Grace had gained almost nothing.

Vera was simply too difficult to read.

There was no obvious shift in her stance.

No nervous movement.

No unnecessary tension in her shoulders.

No change in her breathing that could give away what she was preparing.

Even her eyes revealed almost nothing.

Grace’s lips pressed together.

She bit them lightly.

The pressure of facing Vera was beginning to settle into her chest.

She remembered the videos.

She remembered watching Vera fight Gareth.

She remembered how badly Gareth had been beaten.

The image of Vera standing over him had remained in her mind.

Grace also remembered Vera’s words about what all Ashenlocke’s should do when meeting an Evergrey or a Drakes.

Those memories returned now.

Standing in front of Vera was different from watching her through a screen.

On a screen, Grace could pause.

She could replay the movements.

She could study the angles.

She could discuss Vera’s techniques with other people.

Here, there was no pause.

There was no replay.

There was only Vera standing several meters in front of her.

And Grace knew that the moment the countdown ended, she would have to face her directly.

"ONE!!"

The crowd shouted the final countdown.

The sound shook the Arena.

Grace slowly lowered her center of gravity.

Her hands moved closer to her Space Bag.

Cognis began flowing through her body.

Vera unfolded her arms.

Her hands moved slightly.

The atmosphere around both fighters changed.

The crowd sensed it.

The cheers became louder.

Some spectators leaned forward.

Others stopped talking altogether.

Patrick’s eyes widened with excitement as he watched the two girls prepare themselves.

The final second was almost gone.

Grace drew a slow breath.

Vera remained calm.

Her dull black eyes stayed fixed on Grace.

Then...

"BEGIN!!"

The fight was about to start.