Parallel Memory

They both released their mana auras filled with killing intent. The barrier inside was filled with a dangerous aura that could mentally crush everyone below Rank-C.

[ " Dual Art: Dark Ice Embodiment"]

Zero Ice armor was then changed to black and had more thickness than before. He used more mana and strengthened the Ice Embodiment skill.

Ice Embodiment was not enough against the enchanted Ruelle, so he used the stronger version. Taking Ruelle's attack into account, Zero believes Ruelle has Rank-B + or Rank-B+ peak stats at the moment.

Although he does not know whether the formation has any other feature other than strengthening Ruelle. But even Rank-B + stat was enough for Ruelle to give him enough trouble.

"Finally getting serious!"

Ruelle said with a smirk.

Based on their previous battle, she already knew Zero had stronger skills. That's why she didn't let her guard down even after injuring Zero earlier.

[ "Putrefaction Blast" ]

[ "Icy Shadow Wall" ]

Zero immediately resorted to his strongest defensive move.

-BANG!

[ "Shadow Cryomancy Bomb" ]

Immediately after defending himself against Ruelle's attack, Zero set up traps everywhere.

Ruelle didn't see any abnormalities due to the Icy Shadow Wall blocking her view. Even if she saw Zero, she would not have known what that skill did. At most, she would have just been more careful stepping into those places where the skill has been set up.

Anyone, it didn't look like Ruelle had seen anything as she quickly readied herself to use another skill.

[ "Fission Wave" ]

Ruelle didn't hesitate to use another one of her skills. Normally, she would not use the skill one after another knowing that it was not going to work. However, with the formation, her mana capacity has increased as well as has faster mana recovery. As a result, she could easily throw out 10 such skills without exhausting her mana.

Therefore, she was not hesitant to throw another skill even though she believed Zero would be able to block it. Another reason was that while she had a large mana reserve right now, she knows that Zero's mana would deplete if he kept on using the skill to defend himself.

[ "Icy Shadow Wall" ]

Ruelle's plan involved more than simply exhausting Zero to death which she knows would be tedious and time-consuming. More than that she wanted to make Zero miserable for this moment. She wanted to beat Zero and have Zero taste the dirt on the ground.

After launching her attack, she went straight to Zero. She knows that her attack would not be able to penetrate Zero's defense.

-BANG!

Rulle's skill landed on Zero's Dark Ice wall, but as she believed, that was not enough to break it.

Right after the collision, Zero sensed Ruelle was rushing toward him.

[ "Dark Icy Surface" ]

Zero began freezing the already iced ground with a layer of another Dark Ice.

Ruell also saw that Zero was using a similar move to his previous one.

( It didn't work the first time, and it certainly won't work the second time either.)

Like what she did previously, Ruelle jumped in the sky to avoid the freezing and launched herself toward Zero.

Zero smirked.

He already knew from his previous action that Ruelle had become cautious of his abilities and was learning how to counterattack him. This time, he was intentionally baiting her to do this again.

Zero stopped using his skill and moved away immediately after Ruelle had jumped. However, this was not the only thing that he did. The Dark Ice had transformed from a smooth area to spikes.

!!!

Ruelle found herself falling right into a place full of spikes. She realized that she was baited into a trap. However, she didn't panic and had already found the solution.

[ "Fission Wave" ]

And the solution was to destroy the object which was giving her trouble.

-BOOM!

She immediately destroyed everything that was on the ground including the Ice below the Dark Ice. She even managed to crack the stage concrete which is made of mana stone and can withstand Rank-B attacks.

-THUD!

She then landed on the cracked surface that was free of Dark spikes.

Zero instantly went to attack her right before she even properly landed on the ground. He used the sword which is currently imbued with both Ice and Shadow energy.

Ruelle also raised her sword and prepared to fight with Zero. She believed that in close combat, she was superior, and with the increase in her strength, she believed Zero didn't stand a chance.

-CLANG! -CLANG!

Zero's attacks were all deadly and fierce. He didn't look like he was struggling to fight with the enchanted Ruelle.

Ruelle, on the other hand, was slightly pushed back. If not for her enchanted strength, she would have been long crushed by Zero. She then realized how powerful Zero was.

-CLANG! -CLANK!

Ruelle knew that she couldn't defeat Zero in close combat, at least in a short period of time. She didn't know whether she could defeat Zero at the time that the formation was working.

-CLANK!

After exerting some strength she pushed Zero and made some space between them. She didn't think that she would need to think about the way to defeat Zero after her power had increased and believed that she would easily defeat Zero with her new strength.

She got intoxicated with her strength and forgot that the opponent she was fighting had easily beat her before. She needed a well-designed plan if she wanted to defeat Zero easily. A formation alone was not enough to defeat Zero.

Even after the confrontation, she backed off, making it seem as if she had lost. She gritted her teeth and looked at Zero angrily.

[ "Shadow Ice Shard" ]

However, Zero didn't give much time for her to be angry as he immediately launched his attacks.

[ "Putrefaction Shield" ]

Ruelle immediately used her defensive skill to block the incoming attack. With the countless attacks coming toward her, she had to use her barrier skill instead of confronting with attacks.

In between, she was also thinking about the way to defeat Zero.

In close combat, she had no advantage, and Zero had many long-range attacks that made her even more vulnerable in long-range confrontation.

Then what about the battle of stamina? She has already witnessed Zero fighting for hours with multiple enemies and he showed no sign of exhaustion. She had no confidence that her stamina and mana would last longer than Zero even after being enchanted.

( What a monster! )

She again realized how difficult it was to fight against Zero. Zero was skilled with swords, had many powerful long-ranged attacks, and had strong defensive skills. The only thing that he was lacking was insane speed.

[ "Glacier Shadow Slash" ]

[ "Fission Wave" ]

Ruelle realized that Zero was not stopping when he used skills one after another, which affirmed her belief that Zero's mana capacity was huge and that he would be hard to exhaust.

-BANG!

-WHOOSH!

After defending herself from Zero's attack, she instantly sprinted toward Zero. She made up her mind to defeat Zero with her sword. Rather than using Zero's weakness which she could not find, she decided to use her biggest strength which was her sword technique.

Even with the time taken, she believed that this was the right way to defeat Zero. She instantly moved towards Zero.

Zero was also not afraid to face Ruelle in a sword fight. He was already adept with the sword since this was his primary weapon from a young age, and with some memories from Emperor of Destruction, his sword technique has already become more powerful.

-CLANG! -CLANG!

The sword fight between Zero and Ruelle again took place. Ruelle used more mana and increased her attack. This time she had become more aggressive in her attack.

On the contrary, Zero calmly defended against Ruelle's attack while also attacking occasionally.

-CLANG! -CLANK!

Outside the barrier, the 8 students who had been channeling the mana had started to sweat and were hoping for the battle to end quickly. More than Ruelle, it was them who were actually suffering from the long battle.

-CHEERS!

Not having any idea about their suffering, the audience was more hyped than ever. They got to see such a grand battle at the start of the second round and could not be more pleased.

From the beginning until now, the battle had been so engaging that even blinking had become a waste of time.

Many of the audiences were low-ranked humans with an average rank being Rank-F+. For them, this kind of battle was already the epitome of strength. They could sometimes even fail to see Zero and Ruelle's movement.

Not only the average citizen but also the high-ranking explorers who came to find suitable guild members were also amazed by the battle. This was one of the most impressive fights that they had seen in the history of the Tournament of Academies.

Coming back to the participants, they were treated as extras by everyone even though they were among the strongest participants, much to their dismay.

This was their chance and a platform to showcase their power but it had turned into Ruelle Vs Zero. They didn't like that at all. Especially Omar Noel, who was gritting his teeth because he was being treated as nobody.

It was his greatest opportunity to shine and make everyone know his name but instead, he was here imbuing mana to make someone else shine. He vowed to defeat Ruelle after Zero was defeated.

Even if he was instructed to give the opportunity to Ruelle by the professors, he didn't care. As long as he wins the tournament, nobody would blame him, and even if he was blamed, he could easily join any guild with his fame.

How could he bear to stay on as an extra? He was Omar Noel, the most famous student in the world. His ambition could not be stopped by some school decisions.

He is just hoping that Zero and Ruelle can defeat each other quickly so he can take the overall victory. He could not stand being treated like air.

Omar Noel's eyes glinted with ambitions.