Chapter 510: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: Two Guns of different Bloodlines IV

"What?"

"Isn’t that the Mauser Tankgewehr M1918?"

"How does Miss Grace Evergrey have something like that?"

"Shouldn’t it be impossible for her to create something like this?"

"Yeah, it’s in the Arcanist rank, and she’s just in the Adept Alchemist rank. Why does she have this kind of destructive gun in her hands?"

The questions spread through the Arena almost immediately.

The spectators who had been cheering only moments ago were now staring at the weapon Grace held.

The Mauser Tankgewehr M1918 is a weapon most people in Britannia would recognize, even if they had never seen one used in person. Its size alone made it difficult to mistake for an ordinary firearm.

Grace stood with the weapon firmly in her hands, her grey eyes locked on Vera.

The sight created confusion throughout the stands.

How could an Adept Alchemist possess a weapon that was considered an Arcanist-rank firearm?

Was the Evergrey House hiding something?

Was Grace actually stronger than everyone had thought?

Or had the Evergrey House found some way to bypass the requirements normally needed to use such a weapon?

The questions continued until even some of the louder spectators became quiet enough to listen for an explanation.

At the seating sections of the Elders and High-board members of the Duke Houses, the reactions were much different.

They weren’t confused for long.

"This should be impossible!"

Elder Fredricks shouted as he pointed toward Grace on the fighting platform.

His finger remained aimed at the enormous firearm.

"Wait."

Elder Gram raised one hand.

His eyes stayed on the weapon.

"That’s not the Arcanist version of the gun."

He spoke calmly, forcing Fredricks to look again.

"Yes."

Elder Ivanhoe chipped in calmly.

"That’s just the normal version of the gun."

He sat relaxed in his seat, one arm resting against it as he watched Grace with calm eyes.

Fredricks narrowed his eyes.

He looked at the weapon again before his expression slowly changed.

"So, they gave that girl something like that to level the playing field between her and little Vera."

His gaze moved downward toward the section where the Evergrey family members were seated.

Several of them were smiling.

They were speaking among themselves with pleased expressions, clearly satisfied with what Grace had revealed.

They had noticed some of the Ashenlockes looking in their direction.

That was probably why they made no effort to hide their confidence in the weapon.

They wanted the Ashenlockes to see it.

They wanted them to understand that the Evergreys had come prepared.

"Little Vera should be able to handle that, since the gun isn’t in its true version, right?"

Elder Tabitha asked.

There was a slight trace of worry in her voice.

"There is still a problem."

Elder Ivanhoe answered calmly.

"The Mauser Tankgewehr M1918 might not be in the Arcanist rank and might only be a normal gun, but its power is still on the level of a weapon capable of penetrating a tank with a single shot."

His expression became more focused.

"The speed and power of the gun is still something to be very careful about. Plus..."

Ivanhoe leaned forward slightly.

His eyes examined the weapon in Grace’s hands.

He could see something that most of the other Elders would not have noticed immediately.

The weapon wasn’t simply made from black steel, wood, and one particular material that Ivanhoe knew very well.

As a Craft-Based Alchemist who mainly worked on firearms and heavy artillery production, he knew the construction of weapons better than most people sitting around him.

There was something else inside the weapon.

"The weapon contains a percent of Orichalcum."

His voice became serious.

The nearby Elders looked toward him.

"What does that mean, then?"

Elder Branthwaite asked.

He wasn’t sure what the ore Ivanhoe had mentioned had to do with the normal Mauser Tankgewehr M1918 affecting Vera.

Fredricks also turned toward Ivanhoe.

Ivanhoe answered calmly.

"Orichalcum is a very good addition during the production of a Non-Alchemist gun."

He paused.

"Especially when adding Circuit systems to the gun."

Elder Tabitha nodded as she added her own knowledge of Orichalcum advantage in firearms creation while she looked between the two curious Elders.

"Tsk!"

Elder Portia clicked her tongue.

She clearly wasn’t pleased with what she had just learned.

Now that all of them understood that Grace’s Mauser Tankgewehr M1918 was a Non-Alchemy firearm with Circuit systems integrated into it, the situation became clearer.

It wasn’t the true Arcanist version.

But it also wasn’t exactly the same as the ordinary Mauser Tankgewehr M1918 that a Non-Alchemist soldier would carry.

The integrated Circuit systems gave it additional power.

That meant Vera couldn’t simply ignore it, by just evading.

Portia’s eyes moved toward the Elders of Duke House Drakes.

Her displeased expression remained.

It was already no surprise that the only person capable of adding such advanced Circuit systems into firearms or weapons was a Top Blacksmith.

And the Evergreys didn’t have a Blacksmith like that in their craft department ranks.

Which meant only one thing.

Portia’s eyes moved farther across the Arena.

At the side where all the Elders and High-board members of Duke House Drakes sat, an elderly muscular man sat with his arms folded.

His brown eyes remained fixed on the fighting platform.

His face was grim.

The man was one of the Top Blacksmiths of Britannia, someone whose recognition stood alongside that of Rogers Bremer.

Bill Drakes.

The moment his name came to mind, the meaning of Grace’s weapon became even clearer.

This wasn’t simply an Evergrey firearm.

Someone with the knowledge and skill to create advanced Circuit systems had helped make it.

And now that weapon was pointed at Vera Ashenlocke.

***

Boom!

Back on the fighting platform...

Grace placed the Mauser Tankgewehr M1918 on the ground.

The large weapon landed heavily against the platform.

Grace immediately moved her other hand into her Space Bag.

She didn’t waste even a millisecond.

Her fingers wrapped around another firearm.

She pulled out a Long Revolver and pointed it toward Vera.

Vera was still standing in the same general area.

She had barely moved.

Her dull black eyes stared at Grace without showing much reaction.

Grace’s breathing remained controlled.

She didn’t let the confusion around the Mauser affect her.

If Vera was going to stay close, Grace needed to keep her at a distance.

She raised the Long Revolver.

Bang!

Bang!

Two shots were fired almost together.

Grace’s aim was sharp.

The first bullet moved toward Vera’s left shoulder.

The second was timed differently.

Grace had already predicted that Vera would move away from the first bullet, so she adjusted the second shot toward Vera’s right shoulder.

The purpose was simple.

If Vera shifted away from the first bullet, the second one would already be waiting for her.

But Vera moved anyway.

Her body shifted with a smoothness that made the movements look almost effortless.

One step.

A slight turn of her shoulder.

A shift of her waist.

The bullets passed through the space where she had been standing only a moment earlier.

The distance between the bullet and Vera’s body was almost nothing.

"Tsk."

Grace clicked her tongue.

She already knew how fast Vera is.

But even with careful timing and two different firing lines, Vera still moved before the bullets could touch her.

Vera placed one hand into her Space Bag.

Her fingers closed around something.

She pulled her hand out.

A thick needle, almost as long as a dagger, shot toward Grace.

Whoosh!

Grace’s eyes widened slightly.

She raised the Mauser Tankgewehr M1918 from the ground.

The large body of the weapon came between her and the incoming needle.

Clank!

The needle struck the gun’s body and bounced away.

Grace’s arms absorbed the impact.

She looked back at Vera.

"Try better."

She forced a smirk onto her face.

There was a slight nervousness hidden behind it.

She knew she couldn’t afford to show fear, especially when she just took out her trump card.

Vera’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Then she dashed forward.

Grace immediately raised her Long Revolver again.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

More gunshots exploded through the Arena.

Grace continued using the same targeting trick.

She wasn’t expecting to hit Vera immediately.

She simply wanted to keep her back.

The first bullet moved toward one side.

The next covered the direction Vera might use to escape.

The third was placed along another path.

It was a method meant to reduce Vera’s options.

But Vera didn’t allow herself to be trapped.

She shifted left.

Then right.

Her feet barely seemed to touch the ground before moving again.

Each time a bullet passed by, Vera had already moved several inches away from its path.

The spectators could hear the gunshots clearly, but many of them struggled to follow Vera’s actual movement.

To the ordinary spectators, her figure seemed to flicker around the platform.

One instant she was in front of Grace.

The next she was slightly to the side.

Then she was already somewhere else.

Grace continued firing.

Vera kept moving.

Grace quickly placed the Long Revolver back into her Space Bag and pulled out another Long Revolver without stopping her movement.

Bang!

Bang!

Another pair of bullets crossed the space between them.

Vera spun once.

Her body rotated smoothly as she avoided the shots.

And during that same motion, her hand moved toward her Space Bag.

Grace noticed the movement.

But it was already too late.

Vera’s hand came out.

Several thick needles shot forward.

They were each as long as a dagger, and they moved through the air like small missiles.

Clank!

Clank!

Clank!

Some of the needles collided with Grace’s bullets.

Metal struck metal, sending several projectiles away from their original paths.

The remaining needles continued forward.

Grace brought the Mauser Tankgewehr M1918 upward.

Clank!

Clank!

The thick needles struck the body of the gun.

Grace’s arms shook from the impacts.

She held her ground.

Then...

BAM!

Vera’s leg slammed into the Mauser Tankgewehr M1918.

Grace had raised the massive firearm like a staff to block Vera’s jumping kick.

The impact forced Grace backward.

Her boots scraped across the platform, leaving shallow marks in the surface as she struggled to stop herself.

Vera’s leg came down.

Her foot touched the ground.

For a moment, the two stood far from each other yet again.

Then Vera felt it.

A new flow of Cognis.

Whoosh!!!

More Cognis surged through Grace’s body.

The pressure around her changed.

Her grip on the Mauser Tankgewehr M1918 tightened.

The muscles in her arms and legs tensed as the Circuit systems inside the weapon responded to the Cognis flowing through her.

The spectators noticed the change.

The Evergrey section became louder.

Grace had been pushed back.

She had been unable to touch Vera.

But she was still standing.

And now, with the Mauser Tankgewehr M1918 in her hands and more Cognis flowing through her body, she was preparing to push the fight into its next stage.