Parallel Memory

"START!"

The referee signaled the start of the match.

Two of them immediately released all their power. Previously, both of them worked together but at that moment, the fight was for themselves.

There was no Ace Academy to bind them together nor was there a senior-junior relationship. They were just individuals fighting to advance to the next round.

It was their first time fighting with each other.

Lisanna is at the top of her year and also the schools. She is a well-known person and Hiro has known about her ever since the start of school.

Same was the case for Lisanna, who was constantly hearing about the talented first year from her friends. Though it was mostly because her girlfriends like to gossip about handsome boys.

Lisanna had seen Hiro's power before and also during the first round where he was much stronger than her. But it didn't mean that she was going to give up, rather she was more excited to fight.

Hiro had also seen Lisanna's fights and he knew that her speed was higher than him. It is crucial that he does not make a mistake, otherwise he will be defeated instantly.

[ "Star Swift" ]

Hiro increased his speed and seemingly disappeared from the spectators' vision. Higher ranked people could see him, but for people in Rank-E and F, he has practically disappeared.

[ "Wind Spirit: Astral Movement"]

Lisanna also didn't hold back and increased her speed tremendously.

-CLANG! -CLANG! -CLANK!

In a second, they exchanged many moves. Normal people could only see them when they stopped moving and their swords clashed with each other.

When they were fighting one another while moving they could only hear the thunderous sound of swords clashing against each other.

It didn't take long for them to start using their powerful skills.

[ "Starshatterer Style: Void Destruction" ]

[ "WindSpirit: WindStorm" ]

The stage vibrated when their skill collided. However, even after they had finished releasing their skill, they would not stay still and immediately attack one another.

The fight was on another level than Adamscat and Jeremy. The previous match was also a fantastic fight but they were not as flashy as the fight between Hiro and Lisanna.

As both Lisanna and Hiro were sword users, they confronted each other directly and that's why their battle was more popular with the spectators.

One more reason was that Lisanna and Hiro were more powerful than them. The impact of the skill that the two of them were using regularly to fight was similar to the impact of the last confrontation between Adamscat and Jeremy.

Each one of their skills would shake the stage and leave the spectators gasping for air. Even Rank-D explorers have a hard time spotting them.

-CLANG! -CLANG! -CLANK!

In terms of speed, Lisanna was unparalleled. She had the upper hand against Hiro in the speed department. However, in terms of strength, it seems that Hiro was stronger.

The match as previously expected was very unpredictable as both of them were very on the same level. Though Hiro was younger and of lower rank, everyone could see that he was more talented.

But talent is not equal to strength. If both of them were the same age, Hiro would be a lot stronger than Lisanna but at that moment, their strength was similar.

In spite of Zero's knowledge of the majority of world events, he could not be sure that Hiro would win. Zero knows that Hiro is powerful and that if he uses System, then he would win.

But Zero also knows the price that needs to be paid to use that skill. He suspects that Hiro does not have enough system points to activate his skill again. He already used too much during the first round to beat Omar.

Anyway, whoever wins, Zero would happily congratulate them. He would get the rewards regardless of who wins.

After many clashes, Hiro began to feel exhausted. He was certainly powerful but for him to compete with Lisanna in speed was not a smart idea.

As for using skill to beat Lisanna, he was either countered by her skill or when she does not use skill, she quickly dodges them. It was not possible to hit her without exhausting her or decreasing her speed in some ways.

For Hiro to win, he needs to take away Lisanna's advantage, which was her speed. However, he was no Zero who could freeze the area and make her lose her ground.

While clashing with Lisanna, he started to think about how to defeat Lisanna. With where this was going, he knew that he was going to bite the dust.

-CLANG! -CLANG! -CLANK!

[ "Thousand Wind Blade" ]

Lisanna used her strongest attack.

Thousands of blades made of mana formed and went after Hiro. Hiro who was having trouble with Lisanna has to now face tens of her attacks at the same time.

[ "Starshatterer Style: Starfall Fracture" ]

Hiro destroyed hundreds of wind blades but again another hundred came after him.

-CLANG! -CLANG!

Hiro then destroyed one attack after another. He decided to conserve his mana and counterattack using his sword technique. He hoped that Lisanna would be exhausted after this and he would gain the upper hand.

This was the idea that he came up with. If he continued to fight as earlier, he would be the one to exhaust first. But now that Lisanna is using a skill that takes away much of her mana, as long as he survives, he would win.

However, he was getting pushed back as he continued to dodge and destroy the wind blades without using any skill. He continued and he noticed Lisanna's attacks were getting weaker and weaker.

He knew that his tactics were working and it was only a matter of time before she stopped using her skill.

!!!

After a few rounds, he was pushed back to the edge of the stage. He didn't even notice that as he was fully concentrated on the wind blades of Lisanna.

He noticed a smile on Lisanna's face. He realized that she was trying to push him off the ring. He immediately poured most of his mana and readied himself for his last attack.

[ "Starshatterer Style: Complete Annihilation" ]

Now, with him being at the edge, attacking was the only option that he had. If he continues to defend, he would fall off the next wave of attacks.

He expects that with such a powerful attack even Lisanna would not escape unscathed. This was the most powerful move that he could muster at that moment.

[ "Wind Spirit: WindStorm" ]

Lisanna responded with an attack of her own. If she dodged the incoming attack, she knows that the hard work that she had done will be all wasted, and with how little mana she had, it would be her loss if Hiro escaped from that position.

-BOOOOM!

A huge explosion followed with the collision of two skills.

The impact was several times stronger than when Adamscat's skill collided with Jeremy's shield. The audience in the stadium could feel how strong the attacks were by the wind that was blowing.

Similarly, the huge explosion caused dust to be released into the atmosphere. The whole stadium was filled with dust.

One of The Authority's management team members came forward and cast a skill to make the dust go away. If they waited for the dust to go away naturally, they were afraid that they would need to wait for half an hour.

-SHUSH!

After all of the dust had settled, what remained was a severely injured Lisanna on the ring and Hiro who was outside the ring.

"Winner! Lisanna Lockser of Ace Academy!"