45 Chapter 45 – Fiery Hammer Technique

"I finally get to see Ball Queen's turbulent, surging Super Energy Flame Cannon!"

"Ball Queen will definitely win!"

"These fake Ball-fans. Fake gentlemen, your brother, I, am here to watch the Ball!"

The entire gallery was unusually noisy and crowded. OP matches were generally very serious and formal… but this was the effect of Sharmie's rhythm and matches. Basically, everyone in the gallery would find it hard to feel serious. Even if a large portion was strict, even they would get influenced by those having fun.

Sharmie outside the battlefield could be called incomparably pure. She'd often be found cheerful and careless. In combat, however, Sharmie never joked around. Her personal weapon was a one-of-a-kind rune cannon, a mid-ranged weapon created in the form of a pressure hammer. Any ranged soldier capable of using such a weapon generally possessed frightening levels of soul power. They didn't only have high output values, but also a vast, vast soul sea that exceeded normal boundaries. This allowed for an unimaginable scope of wide-area lethality.Sharmie fit this to the tee. With her frightening fire ability level, she made countless people filled with anticipation for the power she'd possess after casting her heroic soul.

Sharmie stood at a bit over one meter sixty centimeters tall, but Sharmie herself says she's at one meter sixty-five. With a voluptuous body and doll-like features, she possessed a body fit for a succubus. It was to the point where people worried about how her physique would affect her combat abilities.

Sharmie's opponent was Gold Swordsman Brad, a famous face within the elite division. The battlefield was the arena. Ever since her match with Hanged Ghost, Sharmie felt extremely loathing for environments that allowed for harassment from all directions. A genuine arena was her favourite place to fight.

Brad wasn't truly at a disadvantage in this kind of environment. He hailed from Sun City, one of the five great cities and was the model of a balanced soldier. Brad possessed solid skills coupled with ample experience, achieving a figure strong in both attack and defence. If he could block Sharmie's artillery strikes and close in, then he could have a chance at victory.

As a matter of fact, within the elite division, unless there was an absolute counter of occupations, the odds of victory were usually 50-50. It all depended on one's response within the battlefield and their understanding of the opponent's killing moves and their own battle condition.

The battle between the two of them started off with raging fire. The minimum soul power an elite division combatant possessed was at least 150 grassos and above. Feeling the raging, explosive soul power explosively colliding with one another gave off a completely different kind of sensation. Due to Sharmie's soul power which contained the explosive element, it resulted in every more devastation and a force reaching as high as 200 grassos. At this level, any little middling in the area would just be there to get slaughtered.

Sharmie's choice this match was a rune flame cannon, suitable for her combat style and chosen after countless matches. If one were to be honest… Sharmie's physique wasn't very suitable for close combat. Furthermore, if she were a ranged soldier like a sniper, then it would waste her fire ability. As such, the mid-ranged flame cannon fully catered to her special traits.

In an open combat environment, Sharmie may have some superiority, but this small arena made it so that she need to be weary of her opponent's sudden charges.

The two sides started their match and Sharmie's flame cannon once more cemented her strength as a fiery cannon lady. One shell after another rumbled toward Brad. Brad didn't advance and continued to dodge or block the shots time and time again. So long as he didn't get hit head on by the cannon, he had enough soul defence to block his opponent's cannon attacks. Within this division, everyone had quite the reasonable amount of training with regard to their soul power defence techniques.

Being cornered was very common, but everyone could clearly tell the might of the cannon. The projectile frequency was visibly slow, and Brad utilized this fact to slowly close the gap between the two.

As a matter of fact, Sharmie's strength was more suited for group matches with other soldiers forming an effective defence around her. She'd be able to increase her attack output indefinitely in such a case, and that was the most fearsome part. In a duel, however, she suffered some loss.

The both of them had ample combat experience. Faced with her opponent's advance, Sharmie didn't panic and instead continuously adjusted her flame cannon to Brad's new position, halting his advance. Brad focused his all on defending. Having reached a high proficiency in a soldier's advancing steps, he forced Sharmie to retreat in order to increase the gap between them.

By this stage of the combat, everyone felt that Sharmie had an issue. A flame cannon without the desired lethality would be very useless. Sun City was one of the five great cities of the Federation and had a standard no ordinary city could compare with. Everyone wasn't new to the fire abilities of Sharmie. While it possessed a burning effect, everyone could tell from Brad's expression that he had confidence in himself.

"I have a feeling that Ball Queen will kneel."

"The might of the flame cannon is adequate, but it relies too heavily on landing hits. If it manages to hit head on, then even a solid shield will fall within three hits."

"Sharmie's special traits have long been scrutinized carefully and thoroughly analyzed. This time, she will lose."

With the jokes aside, after the start of the battle, everyone felt deep shock over the impacts caused by the collision between two elite division combatants. Although these matches weren't as fancy as those in the cannon fodder division, each and every move and attack was brilliantly calculated, revealing great skill behind them.

Unknowingly, Sharmie had been forced into a corner of the arena. In the instant she realized this, Brad's eyes suddenly glowed with a brilliant light. He knew this would be the moment where his opponent would have a lapse in thoughts.

Bandelier Three-fold Charge!

A loud bang sounded. A tremor coursed through Brad's body as he advanced, and instantly, three figures appeared before Sharmie. The rune sword was like a poisonous dragon that rose from the sea—Void Severing Slash! His soul power was compressed to its critical limit before being slashed out!

At that moment, the faint sliver of confusion within Sharmie disappeared. With a slide, she advanced forward instead of retreating. At the same time, her flame cannon moved in an upward arc, as if it were used as an attack itself. The result was a torrent of flames instantly filling the entirety of Brad's vision.

He used a shield to instantly block it.

Whoosh…

Brad released a stuffy snort as he felt the sensation of being roasted. He did, however, manage to block the attack and relied on it to retreat. It was at this time that he saw the cunning look Sharmie was showing.

Whoosh…

The rune flame cannon she held in both hands fired round after round continuously, striking at Brad who was still in mid-air.

Dispatched!

The gallery instantly erupted into head-shattering cheers and hollers. Everyone had presumed that Sharmie was finished the instant she was confronted at close range. In previous fights, this would have spelled defeat, but no one thought that Sharmie didn't slack during the holidays and had instead managed to train in this chain move that allowed both attack and defence.

Using the flame cannon as a flame hammer, she utilized the explosive force generated by her fire ability to shove the opponent away while at the same time, making rapid movements.

The fearsome might of her fire ability could instantly kill any amount of foes.

Long live Ball Queen! Long live Ball Queen! Long live Ball Queen!

Everyone present was chanting the song of the Ball fans, and this was joined in by Mario and his team. There were already so many people singing, yet their captain wasn't able to see this. These were true, genuine fans.

Without needing to think, Sharmie already knew the condition of the gallery and forums. She honestly accepted the masses. What Bimbo, she wanted to prove to everyone that she, Sharmie, Captain of the Flaming Battle Squadron, had brains on par with her chest!

At this moment in the night, Sharmie's match advanced to the top five battles of the OP rankings list.

The return of the Ball Queen, impossible to resist!