( This is my victory! )
As long as he continues to keep his distance and press on, regardless of whether he could defeat Ruelle or not, he knows he would be the ultimate winner!
Ruelle was too invested in defending and had switched into turtle mode. But Zero didn't care because the more time she wasted, the more likely it was that she would lose.
The spectators were also surprised by this turn of events. Not only did Zero defend himself against the Rank-B attack, but he actually had the upper hand.
"Haha. How can we forget? Zero's real Art is his Ice Magic!"
"I also totally forgot. It does not seem like he is going to lose!"
Ace Academy students realized that Zero was using his Sword Art the whole time. They knew that Zero was more powerful when using his Ice Magic but due to Zero rarely using Ice Magic, they almost forgot his actual Art.
Then they realized that Zero was actually holding himself back when he was fighting with Rank-B.
Zero was going easy on the Rank-B opponent!
( Cruses! How is his Ice Magic more powerful than Sword Art! )
Ruelle threw curses in her head. She thought that Zero's Art was a Sword but turns out he was just messing with her earlier. His Ice Art was even stronger than his Sword Art.
"Help! Quickly save me!"
He was getting his ass beaten down by Hiro and his helper has not yet arrived. He has no choice but to beg for help seeing that Ruelle had forgotten about him.
From Omar's shouts, Ruelle remembered her objective and realized that exhausting Zero was not going to work. Zero was playing with her.
Ruelle gritted her teeth in anger.
She knew that her option was limited. She could not continue her earlier tactics.
"What are you waiting for? Attack them!"
Ruelle, seeing no way out, commanded the students behind her to take action. They had to fight now or they would end up losing.
The students hesitated. They were mostly Rank-E + and Rank-D -. They would be dead before they could do anything in the battle involving Rank-B.
It was for this reason that they had to refrain from interfering from the start. They were barely able to intervene in the fight between Omar Noel and Lisanna, not to mention the fight was more fierce than that.
"Cowards! I am holding him back. You just need to attack other students."
She was irritated by the behavior of her allies. The only reason she was relying on them was that it didn't seem likely that she would end the battle with Zero anytime soon.
If this was about a one on one fight, she believed that she would not be forced to get help from those weak students. She could have fought with Zero and emerged victorious.
But she still needed to have Arcane Academy students get the required tokens. Which would be hard if they didn't defeat the Ace Academy and Britelts Academy's students and take their tokens.
"I would stay back if I were you. If you all dare to move, I will make sure that you are unable to stand up for the rest of the tournament!"
Zero warned them before they even made up their minds.
Zero was emitting his mana aura and his bloodthirst. Although his mana aura was just at C-Rank, it was denser than other C-Ranks - but what made him the most terrifying was his intense bloodlust. Anyone who heard his warning shivered from head to toe.
The enemies started stepping back in fear that Zero would attack them.
"You think I am scared of you? You overestimate yourself!"
Jeremy Vincent of Skyline Academy shouted angrily.
Being in rank C, Zero's threat amounted to very little in front of him. Even so, he was still frightened of Zero's killing intent. But as the ace of his school, he needed to be brave.
"Students of Skyline Academy, get ready to charge into the battle!"
He relayed his command to the student. He was the leader of Skyline Academy. Even though their school is considered the weakest among the Top-5 Academies, they were more powerful than a typical school.
They want to use this tournament to elevate the rank of their Academy.
Jeremy Vincent was wary of Zero but like Ruelle has said, right now, he was occupied with Ruelle. He believed that Zero could not make a move and was just bluffing and scaring them.
With Lisanna and Lyon still recovering and Hiro Ernest and Zero currently preoccupied, he believed that this was the right time to annihilate Ace Academy and Britelts Academy.
If they delay this, when Ruelle and Omar Noel are defeated, then they would have no chance to fight against Ace Academy, which has Zero and Hiro.
"We will also charge!"
Luciano Elderik of Demacia Academy also relayed his command.
The students of Arcane Academy were also ready to charge into the battle. While their Aces were still fighting, they still had their third strongest leading the students from behind. They were eager to help Omar Noel.
As for Ruelle, they didn't dare interfere nor did they think it was necessary. They know what a strong individual she is and know that they would only be a burden.
Jeremy Vincent took the initiative and moved forward with Skyline Academy students following him. He felt that it would be an easy fight.
However, it was not one step that he moved that Zero started to take action.
[ "Ice Embodiment: Ice Creation" ]
Zero was not joking when he said that he was planning to take out anyone who is going to move their place.
Ice Creation was a delicate skill that required extremely high control over Ice Magic. That's why Zero had to use Ice embodiment to increase his control of Ice Magic before using Ice Creation.
Zero used Ice Creation to make a gigantic hand and waved it towards Jeremy Vincent.
The enemies instantly became alert and moved back when they saw the giant Ice Hand being shot at them, especially Jeremy who was in the front and had nowhere to run.
"Don't underestimate me!
The only thing he could do was pretend to be strong while sweating buckets. He knew that the attack was aimed at him and he could not escape like other students.
[ "Reverberating Strike" ]
He took the hammer in his hand and pounded at the giant Ice Hand with his full power. He wanted to destroy the Ice hand.
The ground shook a few times, and what was left intact of Jeremy was only his body. His hammer and armor were all shattered and he was coughing up blood. Jeremy, the Ace of Skyline Academy, was in a miserable state.
The motivated students instantly lost their morale.
'How can we do anything when even the Rank-C - student was instantly defeated?'
Even the other Rank-C students were scared right now. It took only one move from Zero to flatten one of the strongest participants of the tournament. They were sure that the moment they took action, they would end up like Jeremy Vincent.
However, they had to muster their courage. Zero power was an indication of what would happen if they didn't take advantage of this opportunity to eliminate Ace Academy and Britelts Academy.
"Listen up! Zero must have spent a lot of mana on that skill. We just need to remember that Zero doesn't have an infinite supply of mana!"
Luciano Elderik of Demacia Academy said to his allies.
He believed that Zero could not use such a strong skill again and again. He believes that since Zero was fighting Ruelle, he could no longer afford to fight them. If he did, he thought that Zero was putting himself at a disadvantage, which was beneficial for them.
Ruelle also didn't stand when Zero attacked the other student, she charged straight at Zero when Zero was attacking Jeremy Vincent.
[ "Dark Ice Embodiment: Icy Shadow Wall" ]
Taking this chance, she immediately went in Hiro's direction. She wants to take Omar and retreat.
However, Zero instantly reacted when Ruelle turned toward Hiro's direction.
[ "Dark Ice Embodiment: Icy Shadow Wall" ]
Immediately, a big wall was erected between Ruelle and Hiro. She had no choice but to stop. She immediately turned around and found Zero behind her.
She thought that without defeating Zero, she couldn't rescue Omar Noel.