Chapter 513: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: End of the Seventh Round

After Grace fainted, the Medic staff immediately carried her away from the damaged fight platform so they could complete her treatment without any interference from the continuing matches.

The arguments and cheers still continued even after she had been taken away.

Some people were discussing whether Vera had gone too far, while others were defending her without hesitation. The tension between the different Noble Houses and Non-Noble families hadn’t disappeared either. The result of the match had only added another reason for them to argue.

The Craft-Based Royal Academy staff eventually walked into the fight area and began repairing the entire platform.

Earth Alchemy circles ignited one after another across the damaged stone.

Some staff members also used Earth Alchemy scrolls, causing the ground to move and broken pieces of the platform to return to their original positions. Cracks slowly disappeared beneath layers of newly formed stone, while damaged sections were rebuilt and cleaned.

The repair and cleaning process took a while.

Almost an hour passed before the staff finally finished.

During that time, as usual, the fight between Vera Ashenlocke and Grace Evergrey was replayed for the crowd.

The four large Holographic Screens hanging above the Arena displayed the battle again, but this time the footage was slowed down enough for even people without high-level Cognis control or non-alchemist people to understand some of what had happened.

Many eyes remained fixed on the screens.

The replay showed Vera holding a firearm about the size of a handgun, but its structure was closer to that of a compact submachine gun.

Most ordinary spectators had no idea what they were looking at.

Even many Alchemists only recognized that it was a firearm they had never seen before.

Only Gun Alchemists, Gun Scholars, and Blacksmiths who dealt with firearm manufacturing could properly appreciate how unusual the weapon was.

The slowed footage showed the muzzle of the strange firearm.

Thin needles suddenly flowed out of it.

They moved so quickly that even the slowed recording had difficulty making their movement appear natural.

Within milliseconds, they reached their targets.

Grace’s hands.

Her legs.

Her shoulder.

The sides of her chest.

Vera’s two firearms moved with precise control as she fired again and again.

The weapons behaved almost like submachine guns, sending out rapid shots without any visible hesitation in Vera’s hands.

Yet the frightening part wasn’t simply the speed.

It was the accuracy.

Every needle seemed to have a destination already decided.

Vera didn’t fire rapidly at random.

She moved the two firearms with small changes in angle, each shot directed toward a specific part of Grace’s body.

The needles struck vital spots with an accuracy that made several experienced Alchemists narrow their eyes.

And what made the scene even more frightening was the power behind those tiny weapons.

The needles were thin enough to look almost harmless when compared to a normal bullet.

Yet they penetrated the skin of an Adept Alchemist with surprising ease.

One needle became several.

Several became many.

Grace’s body was eventually covered with them.

And despite the sheer number of needles that had entered her body, Vera hadn’t killed her.

The replay paused briefly.

Then it continued.

Elder Ivanhoe couldn’t stop thinking about the firearm Vera had used.

He was so focused on the weapon that he didn’t even notice the questions the other Elders had already asked him.

"Do you know what firearm that is?"

Elder Tabitha asked curiosity taking over her expression fully

"Is it another weapon created by Ezra and Vera?"

Elder Portia asked calmly.

"Have you seen anything like it before?"

Elder Yestin pointed at the Holographic screen while looking at Ivanhoe curiously.

The questions came one after another, even some of the High-board members of the family also asked their curious questions.

Ivanhoe didn’t immediately answer.

His eyes remained fixed on the Holographic Screen.

Inside his mind, he was already trying to break down the entire handgun’s system.

The shape.

The muzzle.

The firing mechanism.

The way the needles were stored.

The way Vera had controlled the weapon.

There were too many questions.

And not enough answers.

The slow video also showed the final part of the attack.

The Mauser Tankgewehr M1918 had fired its enormous bullet.

The shot completed the finishing exchange that had nearly killed Grace Evergrey.

For many people watching, the replay made one thing painfully clear.

Grace Evergrey had been lucky to survive.

Her status as an Adept Alchemist had played a major role in keeping her alive.

If the person standing in front of Vera had been an Alchemist of a lower rank...

Death would have been the only answer.

The next fight commenced later.

Felix Ashenlocke faced Priscilla Ashenlocke.

The crowd gradually returned to its usual cheering as the two Young Alchemists stepped onto the repaired platform.

Their names were shouted from different sections of the Arena.

However, the cheers weren’t as powerful as they normally were for the favorites of the Combat Festival.

The atmosphere had changed after Vera’s fight.

People had just watched Grace nearly die.

Even though Patrick had already informed the crowd that she had been stabilized and was fine, the memory of her condition remained fresh in everyone’s mind.

Still, many spectators eventually moved on.

Grace had survived.

And with three of the strongest Medical-based Alchemists in Britannia already seated among the spectators, as well as the Royal Academy’s own Senior Medic staff, there had never been much danger of Grace being left without treatment.

The match between Felix and Priscilla continued.

The two of them exchanged attacks across the platform, neither immediately giving the other a chance to settle into an easy rhythm.

Felix maintained a long-range battle strategy.

It was the same Alchemy strategy he had created during the Trial of Steel, but now...

After the months he had spent at the Royal Academy...

Felix had developed it further.

His firearm switching was fast.

His hand movements were precise.

His shooting accuracy was also impressive.

Whenever one firearm became inconvenient for the distance or angle, Felix smoothly switched to another, keeping his opponent under pressure instead of giving her time to breathe.

Several Gun Alchemists watching the match nodded in approval.

Felix had clearly improved.

However, compared to Felix, Priscilla possessed greater physical statistics.

Her body could handle stronger bursts of movement, and she could maintain her speed for longer.

Her shooting accuracy wasn’t bad either.

It wasn’t on Felix’s level, but it was good enough that she didn’t need to rely on him making mistakes.

Because of that, Priscilla actually had the advantage for most of the fight.

She kept moving closer.

Whenever Felix increased his speed with Cognis and tried to create distance, Priscilla followed him.

Felix would move left.

Priscilla moved left.

Felix changed direction.

Priscilla followed.

Neither of them wasted movement.

Priscilla used a Colt 1911 in each hand while Felix relied on the Springfield M1903A.

The difference in their weapons created an interesting contrast.

Felix wanted distance.

Priscilla wanted to close it.

The longer the battle continued, the more obvious that difference became.

At the peak of the fight, however, Felix suddenly took control.

He said something to Priscilla.

Whatever those words were, they affected her.

Her combat speed changed.

Her composure weakened.

It was subtle at first, but even the Non-Alchemists and low-rank Alchemists watching from the stands could see that something had changed.

Priscilla’s movements were no longer as sharp.

Felix immediately noticed.

And then he revealed his actual Alchemist rank.

He was at the early construction stage of his third Star.

Only a tiny fragment of the third Star had been constructed.

But that tiny fragment was enough.

Felix Ashenlocke had reached the Adept Alchemist rank.

The revelation shocked Priscilla.

She had thought she understood the difference between them.

Now she realized that there was another layer she hadn’t known about.

During the one-month personal training period before the tournament, Astraea Ashenlocke had sent Felix a Seventh-Grade Ese, along with a batch of Fifth-Grade Ese and Sixth-Grade Ese, to help him reach the Adept Alchemist rank.

The surprise pushed Priscilla to the edge.

Especially when Felix immediately used Mass Alchemy.

His Cognis surged through his body.

His hands moved.

The Alchemy Circle formed.

Then it expanded.

Multiple Springfield M1903A rifles appeared across the battlefield.

One became several.

Several became dozens.

Until sixty Springfield M1903A rifles had been created.

The sight caused a wave of shock throughout the Arena.

Priscilla pushed herself to the best of her abilities.

But the composure she had shown earlier was gone.

The difference in Alchemist rank had suddenly become much more obvious.

Felix’s control over his Mass Alchemy allowed him to keep pressure on her from multiple positions, and the Springfield M1903A rifles fired with the precision of a sniper formation.

Priscilla moved.

She dodged.

She fired back.

But the pressure continued.

Felix’s expression slowly became more confident.

For a moment, he looked as though he had secured his victory.

That was when Priscilla revealed that she had been keeping something in reserve.

She had prepared a trump card in case she encountered someone like Vera, Willow, or another Young Alchemist known to be among the strongest fighters in the Combat Festival.

She also possessed a Non-Alchemy firearm with Circuit systems integrated into its structure.

An Adept-rank gun.

The Dual Barrel Shotgun.

But before revealing it, Priscilla reached into her Space Bag.

Several stick grenades appeared in her hands.

Thin steel ropes were attached to them.

It was a trick she had learned from Nate during their private training before their Academy life had even begun.

Priscilla threw them.

One.

Two.

Several more.

The stick grenades landed in almost the same location, thanks to the steel thin rope holding them together.

And that location was close to both Felix and Priscilla.

Neither of them seemed to care about the danger.

The next moment...

Smoke and flames erupted from the middle of the two Young Alchemists.

The explosion swallowed the area.

Felix’s vision disappeared behind the smoke.

The sudden attack caught him off guard.

Priscilla used that moment.

She forced her way out of the flames while holding the Dual Barrel Shotgun.

Her body moved through the smoke as she raised the weapon.

Then she fired.

Felix was still shocked by her use of the stick grenades when the shotgun blast came toward him.

The sound shook the Arena.

Priscilla poured almost the last of her Cognis into the attack.

She had already pushed herself through a battle against someone a rank above her.

Now she was gambling everything she had left on finishing Felix.

The fight ended soon after.

Priscilla had won.

For a moment, the Arena was quiet.

Then the crowd erupted.

The cheers were filled with satisfaction.

She had overcome an Adept Alchemist despite being at a lower rank.

In the First-year section...

Nate clapped with a pleased smile.

"Felix, that idiot..."

Page Laverdale shook his head.

"He let his guard down."

She sat at the right side of Nate, speaking truthfully while looking calmly toward the fight platform.

She didn’t look like someone cheering because one of her close friends had won.

Nor did she look sad because another close friend had lost.

She simply stated the reason Felix had actually lost the match.

The Combat Festival continued.

One match ended, then another began.

The excitement slowly returned to the Arena as the Young Alchemists displayed their different Alchemy paths and fighting styles.

Maxwell defeated Zack Ashenlocke effortlessly.

He didn’t even reveal his true Cognis output during the fight.

Although...

Zack was still a tough opponent, and he managed to land several planned shots on Maxwell.

Yet the attacks had almost no effect.

The reason soon became clear.

Maxwell’s Alchemy Coat blocked the gunshots.

The shots struck the hardened coat and failed to deal the damage Zack had expected.

The match ended with Maxwell taking the victory without needing to reveal much of his actual strength.

Ravenor Burnwick also won his fight with ease.

He used his iconic Instant Flame Burst and overwhelmed Philippa Bergwyn with a massive display of Flame Alchemy.

The flames swept across the platform, forcing Philippa to defend herself with her Frost Alchemy until she could no longer maintain the battle.

And with that, the seventh round finally came to an end.

The huge Arena slowly began to empty.

Nobles left their seating sections while talking among themselves.

Non-Nobles gathered near the exits and discussed the battles they had just watched.

Some were still talking about Lady Vera Ashenlocke.

Others were discussing Miss Grace Evergrey and the strange firearm Lady Vera Ashenlocke had used.

Sir Felix Ashenlocke and Lady Priscilla Ashenlocke’s battle had also become another popular topic, especially because Lady Priscilla Ashenlocke had defeated an opponent one rank above her.

Names that had barely been mentioned before the tournament were now being added to conversations about possible winners.

New arguments began.

New favorites appeared.

And some spectators were already trying to predict who would survive the next round.

The seventh round had ended.

But the excitement of the Grand First-Year Combat Festival hadn’t.

If anything, the results had only made the next round more interesting.

Everyone was already waiting for what would come next.

The Eighth Round of the Grand First-Year Combat Festival.