Raising the bulky firearm in her hands, the girl standing on this side gently kissed the silver barrel before speaking.
"Crystal Lattice Academy, sophomore, Sisa."
Having introduced herself, she shifted her gaze towards the direction of Saint Ingo Academy, shaking her gun barrel, "I'd like to challenge the geniuses of Saint Ingo—will you indulge me?"
To this, students from other academies looked on without much thought to interrupt her, as it was aimed at the top-ranked Saint Ingo, and everyone else was curious to see how Saint Ingo would respond.
Suochensi, currently the student council president of Saint Ingo Academy, was at the moment standing in front of the formation with his eyes closed, leaning on his sword. Wrapped around him was a cape with a white base and gold trim, with large gold buttons and thin cords at the edges, resembling the mane of a lion.
At the sound of these words, the president opened his dark golden eyes to stare directly at the girl in the clearing, then tapped the sword against the ground, causing a halo to rise at the feet of a girl in a white uniform.
"Yes, President." She stepped out of the formation, her footsteps quickening as she drew out a jade-colored metal sword.
"Saint Ingo, sophomore, Julian."
After both sides took their positions, the voice overhead announced the start of the match.
With her finger on the trigger beneath the barrel, Sisa then firmly gripped it in her palm. Upon the start, she immediately aimed at the onrushing Julian, firing 5 shots in succession. Three bullets were deflected and split by the opponent's sword edge, one missed, while one hit the opponent's shoulder, drawing blood.
At that moment, Sisa still had one bullet left in her gun, while Julian had closed in on her. With her left hand, she flicked open a box at her waist, revealing a bee-hive-like sphere with blue and grey modules distributed across it. Then, high-frequency light glowed on the blue modules, followed by the spreading of a spherical shield. When Julian's jade sword struck the shield, it sent out intense sparks of broken light.
In response, Julian frowned and withdrew her sword, then altered her attack formula. A vivid red Branding pattern coated the blade, and with another swing of her sword, she sliced through the defense shield as if cutting through butter.
Although the shield had only delayed Julian for a few seconds, it was enough time for Sisa.
She aimed the gun at Julian and then fired an Enchanted Bullet stamped with a special insignia.
Unlike the previous five bullets, this one had an extremely high muzzle velocity, instantly penetrating Julian's defense and shooting into her body, causing her to grunt and step back.
The Enchanted Bullet that entered her body emitted scrambler and barrier inscriptions, interrupting Julian's magic power flow. Seizing this opportunity, Sisa discarded her silver handgun, withdrawing two long-barreled guns from behind her back and firing in rapid succession.
Even though Julian did her best to dodge and fend off, her agility and reaction were severely hampered due to the bullet inside her body. In the end, succumbing to her injuries, she had to declare defeat.
Blowing on the barrel of her gun, Sisa breathed a sigh of relief, a hint of triumph in her eyes.
It seems Saint Ingo is not all that, she thought, stomping her foot and picking up the guns and equipment she tossed aside. Then she reloaded and recharged, waiting for the next challenger.
Just as members from other academies were getting eager to try, a member from Saint Ingo took the initiative to jump in.
He virtually leapt across the grass field strewn with fallen leaves, landing on one knee in the clearing before standing up, revealing his handsome face beneath that light gold hair.
"Saint Ingo, sophomore, Xue Lai."
"Oh, you look pretty sharp—looks like I need to buck up today," Sisa said, rubbing her nose as the silver handgun in her hand spun, occasionally being gripped firmly.
Once the judge announced this, Xue Lai immediately sprang up and darted to one side, catching Sisa off guard. She had assumed he would come directly at her, but he didn't.
While moving at high speed, Sisa found it difficult to hit Xue Lai, and the distance between them gave Xue Lai enough time to block or dodge the sparse bullets.
Facing this predicament, Sisa started to feel tense. After discarding the empty handgun, she reached for the twin guns on her back. Just as she did, Xue Lai suddenly changed direction and attacked, his scarlet sword cleanly breaking through the unfolded shield, and with a sharp slash, a narrow wound opened up. Following a kick, Sisa flew backward, slamming into the trunk of a gingko tree not far behind her.
"Sisa loses, Saint Ingo scores a point!"
After the judge finished announcing, several medical staff picked up Sisa and placed her in a rescue capsule, which then rose and departed.
After dispatching his opponent, Xue Lai flicked the blood from his blade and stood in the clearing, waiting for the next challenge.
At this moment, Tilan turned her head to glance at the members behind her, her gaze sweeping over them before lifting her snow-white finger from within the black sleeve, pointing at a male student with greyish-blue hair.
"You're up this time."
"Yes, President Tilan." With that, he removed his black hood and walked out of the crowd, slowly drawing the large sword strapped to his back.
Although he was a student, his appearance conveyed a sense of having been through many hardships, and the large sword in his hand was like an ancient tombstone, etched with the text of wind and snow erosion.
"Saint Ingo, junior, Tu Mu."
His voice was slightly hoarse, sounding as though it carried the chill of winter's snow.