The students attacking Ace Academy were still scared off by Ace Academy’s power. They were still very reluctant even after hearing Preston’s command. However, they had no choice but to attack.
Ace Academy’s close combatants had already been deployed and Ace Academy opponents couldn’t run, even if they wanted to, as they would become their prey. They could only clench their hands and swing their weapons at Ace Academy fighters.
At the front of Ace Academy were Hiro and Zion. Behind them were 14 students all carrying swords, spears, and axes. On the other side, there were around 60-70 students who all charged at them.
[ “StarShatterer Style: Void Destruction” ]
[ “Imperial Spear Style: Swift Strike” ]
Hiro and Zion made the opening attack. They were stronger than other students and in order to make the fight easier for other students, they decided to quickly reduce the number of enemies as much as possible.
Zion’s rank was C + while Hiro’s was Rank-B -. They were extremely strong compared to the opponents that they were facing.
When two of them attacked, the enemy’s tank came forward and used its defense skill. There was also support from the Magician which enhanced their defense. However, with the huge disparity in strength, they were unable to block Zion and Hiro’s attack.
-BANG!
In one move, Hiro and Zion took out about 15 students. They were no longer in any state to continue the battle.
Despite the loss of nearly 15 students, the opponents didn’t give up and continued the attacks. They already knew that Hiro and Zion were powerful, but they had more than enough people to overwhelm him.
While 15-16 students took on Hiro and Zion, others went and attacked other Ace Academy students. They didn’t want others to help Hiro and Zion.
[ “Athena Blessing: Heavenly Strengthening” ]
Lisa cast a spell on all the Ace Academy students except Hiro, Sylvia, Misha, and Zion. She could already tell that they would not need any assistance to defeat their foes. Therefore, she only buffed the other close combatants.
Except for Misha, the other Ace Academy close combatants were around Rank-D and Rank-D +. With Lisa’s skill, their strength was almost at the peak of Rank-D. At the moment, they felt invincible and even with their enemies numbering more than 6x of theirs, they were confident in taking them down.
-CLANK! -CLANK! -CLANG!
Two sides were completely engaged in a fierce battle. The sound of swords clashing and spells being cast echoed throughout the battlefield. The opponents were caught off guard by the sudden surge of strength from Ace Academy students, and they struggled to keep up with the relentless attacks.
The participants from other schools didn’t expect that other participants from Ace Academy would also be so strong. They knew that individually they were weak, but they didn’t think that even the weakest participants from Ace Academy would be overwhelming to some of the participants from their side.
Most participants from Ace Academy could easily hold three-four of them in check. Yui Ernest was also quite strong and she even managed to instantly defeat the students that charged at her. Yui, despite being in her first year, was at Rank-D and she seemed quite experienced in fighting as well.
Hiro and Zion were holding their own against the 15-16 students who were attacking them. Despite being outnumbered, their superior skills and strength allowed them to keep the attackers at bay. They fought with deadly precision, dodging and counterattacking with lightning-fast movements.
Be it rank, stat, or experience, there was nothing their opponents could have an advantage over Hiro. They only had an advantage in numbers, which were rapidly dwindling.
At the stadium, audiences were excited to see such an amazing confrontation right at the start and started cheering.
“Hiro Ernest! Champion!”
“Lisa! Lisa!”
‘Ace Academy! Ace Academy!’
‘That girl called Misha is also strong. I saw her on the Top-20 list but I think that she could easily be on the Top-10 list.’
‘Sylvia and Lisa are also strong. I think that Lisa should have easily made it onto the Top-5 list.’
‘Haha… Who was it that said that Ace Academy would lose? Who was it that said Hiro would be eliminated?’ …
People that supported Ace Academy were most excited. In the beginning, they were also pessimistic about the chance of Ace Academy winning due to listening to the news and other people. But with Ace Academy showing their strength, they regained their confidence in Ace Academy. They were now gloating and pointing to those people who had said that Ace Academy would certainly lose.
Most people around the world were quite surprised by now. They thought that against 100-plus enemies, even if it was the prestigious Ace Academy, they would definitely lose or at least suffer serious damage. In spite of this, they were easily beating their enemies at the moment. They never thought that the difference between Ace Academy and other schools was this huge.
On the other hand, people from various guilds were very excited to see that kind of talent.
“Hiro Ernest is really strong! With him there, I don’t think Ace Academy would lose.”
“Yeah! I think that he is already Rank-B. With that kind of strength, no matter how many opponents there were, he would still win. Not to mention, Ace Academy has 4 other Rank-C participants.”
“Whoever gets Hiro to join their guild will win the jackpot.”
“Hiro is already set on joining The Authority. The Authority will never give up on a talent like Hiro.”
The recruiters from guilds were mostly from small and middle-sized guilds. The recruiters from Diamond and Platinum-graded guilds would only make an appearance during the final round as they would only want the cream of the crop and nothing else.
As for the small guild, they would be happy even if they got one of the participants to join their guild. While a middle-sized guild would probably aim for students at the Top-100. They quickly began jotting down the names of those who were talented and those who were suitable for their guild.
*******
-CLANK! -BANG! -WHOOSH!
As the battle raged on, the number of enemies continued to decrease. Ace Academy students could feel the number of attacks getting less and less.
The Ace Academy students had the upper hand, and it was only a matter of time before they emerged victorious.
This time the students on the opposing side were really scared and wanted to run away. They could not think of a way to win in this situation.
Long-range attacks?
Lisa could easily block that and most of the magicians were already taken out by Ace Academy Magicians and Archers.
Close combat? Take advantage of numbers?
Hiro and Zion were like lions trampling a group of rabbits. No matter the number, they easily handled them.
Taking out other students from Ace Academy?
Defeating Ace Academy was not their only goal. In case they could not defeat Hiro, they should at least take out other students and reduce their strength. However, looking at how strong other participants in Ace Academy are, this objective would also be impossible to achieve.
As for running away, there was no way that they could escape from long-range attackers like Lisa and Sylvia.
Finally, after 10 minutes, the battle came to an end. The opponents were defeated, and the Ace Academy students emerged triumphant. Hiro and Zion emerged unscathed, having dispatched their attackers with ease.
Other students were also not that injured. Even if they were, Lisa had already healed them. In her presence, a person would be perfectly healed as long as he or she did not suffer any serious injuries.
The only flaw in this victory was that the opponent’s seemingly leader had escaped. It seemed that in the middle of the fight when he knew that they could no longer win, he slipped when no one was paying attention to him.
Anyway, Hiro and others didn’t consider him a big deal and had even forgotten that there were some like him on the battlefield.
The participants of Ace Academy were overjoyed by their victory. They had proven themselves to be a force to be reckoned with, even in the face of overwhelming numbers.