-SLASH! -SLASH!
The two of them took their time and fought with everything they had. Zero’s Dark Ice armor was also being destroyed occasionally and injured from Ruelle’s attacks.
However, the state Ruelle was in was more dire than Zero. She didn’t have body protection like Zero and was vulnerable if Zero’s attack went through her defense. Therefore, although she was injuring Zero now and then, Zero had done far more damage to her than she had done to him.
-CLANK! -CLANK!
She changed her fighting style to a defensive style. Attacking fiercely only when the opportunity arises. Zero also noticed this change in her fighting style quickly and decided to fight aggressively similar to Ruelle earlier.
In a sense, they had changed their fighting style with each other.
Zero knew that he would be at an advantage if they changed their style. He was able to have an upper hand while being defensive because he had Dark Ice Armor which would protect him even if he were to make a mistake.
This was not true for Ruelle. One mistake might cause her to be defeated.
-SLASH! -CLANK! -SLASH!
-
Just as Zero had thought, Ruelle was sustaining more injuries than previously. Zero was attacking fiercely, giving Ruelle no chance to rest and she was getting pushed back.
However, with the increase in her strength Ruelle had also managed to strike back multiple times and it didn’t look like she was going to be just defeated.
However, Zero continued to push her back. She was moving in the direction he wanted to.
-CLANK! -CLANK!
[ “Shadow Cryomancy Bomb Activate” ]
Immediately Zero activated the Shadow Cryomancy Bomb when Ruelle was in the range of one of his bombs.
-BOOM!
The one bomb that was behind Ruelle detonated and caught Ruelle by surprise. Even if she knew it, she would not have been able to dodge because she was fighting with Zero and had no time to dodge the explosion in time.
Her feet were frozen in Dark Ice. Not only were her feet trapped but she was severely injured by the explosion.
“What’s this?”
Ruelle cried in confusion and pain.
She didn’t know how it happened since she didn’t see Zero launching any attack though she understood that this was one of Zero’s skills. He didn’t have the time to gather mana for launching any strong skill, and yet in a matter of seconds, he caused some kind of explosion that was also in her blind spot.
She immediately tried to break free from the dark ice with her sword but she could not as it was more sturdy than Ice. She then exerted more force which again failed to work, though some of the Dark Ice cracked. She then thought of using her skill to break the ice using her skill.
[ “Shadow Cryomancy Bomb” ]
However, Zero was not going to give that opportunity to Ruelle. He immediately threw many of the Shadow Cryomancy Bombs at her.
With her feet stuck in Ice, Ruelle didn’t have the chance to dodge and immediately used her barrier skill.
[ “Putrefaction Shield” ]
However, the moment the Shadow Cryomancy Bomb came in contact with her barrier, her shield began to freeze. After more bombs came in contact, the inside of the shield also started to freeze including Ruelle’s body.
In a moment, Zero had managed to take advantage of Ruelle’s being stuck to Dark Ice and had quickly frozen her body.
Ruelle was not defeated yet though. She was still using mana and trying to break free from the Dark Ice. With the amount of mana that Ruelle was using, she could be freed from the Dark Ice in no time.
Zero also sensed that he needed to knock out Ruelle at this moment. He was not planning to wait for Ruelle to get free.
[ “Glacier Shadow Slash” ]
With her being frozen, she only had her body to rely on. If she could withstand Zero’s attack, she could be freed easily. However, judging from Zero’s attack, everyone could tell that it was not something that a bare body could defend against.
-SHUSH!
The attack quickly made its way towards Ruelle.
-SHINNNGGG!
However, before the attack hit Ruelle, a barrier appeared before Ruelle, protecting her from Zero’s attack. It was certain that the barrier was from the formation because it had the same color and power as the barrier that enclosed Zero.
-CRACK! -BANG!
Ruelle also used her power to get out of the Dark Ice. But she was not in a good state. First of all, Dark Ice didn’t just trap her but spikes grew out of that Dark Ice which pierced her body.
And for her to get out of that Dark Ice, she used a huge amount of mana which not only broke the Dark Ice but also resulted in her being injured since she was enclosed in that explosion.
However, she has no choice because if she didn’t get out of that Dark Ice quickly, Zero would have launched another deadly attack.
Although the barrier that was deployed inside the formation was powerful, more powerful than the barrier used to enclose Zero and her, the mana needed was also high. It was only used because she was in danger of being defeated.
With the use of this barrier, Ruelle knew that the time she had in the formation had also diminished, so she needed to finish her objective quickly. But she was not sure how.
She had already done her best and the more she fought, the more disadvantageous she became. While she had also done considerable damage to Zero, it was nowhere near enough to defeat Zero.
After Ruelle emerged from the Dark Ice, Zero also didn’t do anything else. He was also getting his mana exhausted. With him continuously using Dual Art and Strong skill one after another, his mana was running low for the first time.
It was the first time in a long time that he felt that his mana was about to be exhausted. Although he could use his skill 4 or 5 times, he chose not to do so. He had already learned some things about the formation.
Everyone was aware that the formation was formed by the 8 students outside the barrier and he also knew that they were using their own mana to do so. He could see many students struggling to provide the mana required to keep the formation.
Therefore, he was planning to conserve some mana and only keep Dark Embodiment for safety. He was intending to prolong the battle and conserve his mana.
He knows that only defeating Ruelle was not enough and he needs to defeat those 8 students also. He could see that Omar Noel was not having trouble giving the mana, mainly because of his higher stat.
This meant that after dealing with a Rank-B girl, he had to deal with Omar Noel. To deal with Omar Noel, Zero had to conserve some mana.
Unlike Zero, Ruelle’s only opponent was Zero or so she believes. They had already discussed that she as the strongest should be promoted to the next round. Others should give up.
Arcane Academy had already promised lavish rewards for those 8 students and also offered invitations from high-ranking guilds as their reward.
However, the biggest problem in advancing to the next round for Ruelle was Zero who she didn’t know how to defeat.