Heroes' Mirage

The entirety of East Building's first floor was in ruins. The students were rampaging, each exhibiting their intense powers.

A boy was coughing, his whole body felt like it was going to collapse. His energy was drained like water on a sink.

Rodney used his inactive Reverence to push himself up. The pain from the fights he had was slowly dissipating. He needed to push himself and walked out of the room he rested in.

"Rain and Kagura had already won," he said to himself. "I have to win too."

"You sure about that?"

A voice from behind him made Rodney snap his head. He took a few steps back after seeing that it was from Team Luna, Morris's team.

She was a tall woman with a good figure. Her weapon was a long thin sword with a hook in the tip. Her name was Elizabeth.

"Because I'm not so sure," Elizabeth grinned and dashed towards Rodney.

He pointed his sword forward and opened his palm. "Archive Projection!"

After training with Kagura, Rodney learned a few tricks up his sleeve. Although it was a cheap tactic, it's effective enough.

His palm glowed and he took a few steps back. Elizabeth was incoming and he only had one shot. When the girl was near, he played his memory of the room over the room. His white hologram layer would conceal himself and attack the enemy in their opening.

Rodney walked around the now confused Elizabeth. She was looking around, searching for Rodney.

When he thought he secured his win over this fight, Elizabeth's hand shook and made a static sound.

"Gotcha," she said and slashed towards Rodney's palm. If he couldn't use his Sanctity, he'd be at a great disadvantage.

The hologram stopped playing after Rodney's palm was cut open.

The hologram disappeared, revealing Rodney. He covered his hand and put his sword forward.

"Let's continue," Elizabeth dashed forward, clashing swords with Rodney.

He could barely keep up. His dominant hand was injured, making it impossible to hold a sword with it. Elizabeth was also from a prominent family, training herself to satisfy her father's wishes.

Rodney was at a disadvantage. Their skill wasn't as equal as he thought.

"Ms. Stephanie wasn't the only adopted Heir, you know?" she said with a faint smile.

As Rodney continued on blocking, Elizabeth was mercilessly slashing her sword. Stephanie was on edge. She had undergone the same training, the same treatment, and the same discrimination.

She was winning. Rodney was losing his stength. He was slowly drifting.

That was when a kick landed on Elizabeth's stomach.

"Hiya!" Orlando yelled. Elisabeth crashed through a wall and outside.

"You okay?" Orlando asked. His Reverence was a metal pole.

He offered his hand and Rodney took it before returning his inactive sword inside his scabbard. "Thank you."

After Rodney stood up, Orlando's emotions changed. He got serious and hit Rodney on the stomach with his weapon.

"What in the hell?" Rodney asked before his body flung and hit a wall.

"We're still enemies, Rodney," Orlando smirked. Rodney stood, unsheathing his sword and activating it.

"Then, we'll fight."

The two boys clashed swords. White sparks erupted from the weapons every time they meet.

"I think this will end badly," Stephanie said, sighing.

Rodney gripped his sword. He raised the handle near his eye. This technique was meant to be used by his right hand but he couldn't hold his sword.

"This will do," he said and took a right step back. Forcing his right hand to activate his Reverence. "Heroes' Mirage!"

Several Rodneys appeared. He recorded himself in his memory. A memory where he was fighting Kagura in front of the mirror.

"An Ark?" Orlando's eyes widened. He felt a slash on his right arm so he took a defensive stance. "He's placing a faint presence on each mirage so it would feel like him."

Orlando rotated his pole and tried on attacking one of the mirages. They were all over the place, leaping and slashing.

When his weapon hit one, his weapon went through it. A smirk found its way to his lips before rotating his pole and struck a few, trying to find where Rodney was hiding.

Orlando felt the wind. He raised his pole in front of him and internalized all the movements. The holograms had a small mass but if he could concentrate...

"Gotcha!" Rodney said and hit Orlando in the face with the hilt of his sword.

Orlando flew a few meters away but pierced his pole on the floor to stop himself. He then held both the ends of the pole and the pole was divided into three. Silver chains with white runes connected the three smaller poles.

"That's also a nunchucks?" Rodney gasped as Orland went closer and closer to him. Orlando was swinging his weapon, switching hands left and right.

"This will not end well," Stephanie sighed.

Just as she said that, Rodney's Reverence ceased its activation. His body was about to fall face-first on the floor but Orlando caught it.

"I thought you'd make your sister proud?"

"Shut up," Rodney said before falling asleep.

"Arena 7 has a winner! Team Maxime won!"

–

Sofia flipped midair when a girl with a long spear rotated her weapon around her. "This is so annoying."

She couldn't get near the girl, who's name was Melissa, because her karambit was too short to reach Melisa. If she could get closer, then her victory would be secured.

Wait, what if. He thought and used her Sanctity.

Sofia injected fear into the air, making sure it would reach Melissa. If Melissa would lower her defense for even a moment, Sofia could reach her.

And her plan was working. Melissa started to look distressed. She was looking around and saw Sofia with a wide grin.

"Surprise!" The karambit was so close to Melissa when a hammer hit Sofia on her side.

She flew a few meters away, hitting a tree as she did. A couch of blood followed her and a figure stood in front of her.

"What if I give Devin a surprise? A squashed head of her friend would be nice, ain't it?"

Mohammed grinned and lifted his hammer. He was about to hut Sofia when a pole swept Mohammed away. Melissa continued attacking Mohammed until the boy lost consciousness.

"You do not hit a lady with a hammer!" Melissa yelled, poking Mohammed's face with the pointy end of her spear.

"It's okay," Sofia stopped the other girl.

"So rude," Melissa remarked. She let Sofia drag her away before chuckling. "You could have attacked me while I was busy."

"I wouldn't do that," Sofia chuckled and they laughed at each other.

A crying of a female child stopped them.

"Is that someone's Sanctity?" Sofia asked.

Melissa shrugged but prepared her weapon just in case.

"Where is my mommy?"

A child stepped out from a tree. She was holding a giant lollipop while crying. Her skin was fair and glimmering like theirs. She was looking down so the two couldn't see her face clearly.

"I want to see my mommy."

–

"Arena 4 has a winner! Team Baxter won!"

"I lost," Adonis whispered to himself. After hitting everyone else with his sniper, someone still got to him. Their arena was at an amusement park.

Adonis was hiding in the Ferris wheel and looking back at it, he was pretty obvious. A boy saw him when Adonis hit the other student the boy was fighting. That gave his location away.

"You're pretty good," the boy said. He was helping Adonis since he pierced his trident on the tall boy's leg. He felt like he needed to at least get Adonis down.

"You're better though," Adonis countered as the boy made him sit on a bench. "You found me. When someone finds the best hunter, then that person is better."

"I don't think so," the boy said and sat next to Adonis. "You know, I never met my parents. One day while I was at school, I was suddenly expelled. Only three days later was then I knew that I wasn't normal."

He looked at his weapon and smiled. "I guess being an Exorcist isn't too bad."

His name was Michael. He was an orphan and outgrew the system like Devin did. He worked for a grocery store until he was transferred to the Institution.

"That story is so familiar," Adonis grinned after remembering Devin. Although Michael and Devin didn't share any physical traits in common, they both had the same outlook in life.

Unlike the others that were raised by Exorcisting families, Devin and Michael did not even imagine being one. The surprise must've been big.

Michael looked at Adonis and smiled. "Oh, yeah?"

Adonis nodded, "Yeah."

Meanwhile, the judges' attention was brought to the girl Sofia and Melissa was facing.

"I-Is that…"

Stephanie didn't finish her sentence and instantly stood. "We have to go. That's dangerous."

Liu nodded. They all leaped from the balcony when a small black, dense cloud appeared in front of them. The cloud grew bigger until a series of red and purple streaks of light traveled around it.

"Dimensional Opener?"

A woman walked out. "How amusing."

"666!"