The Hero's Companions

Her aura was supreme. That was the thought that lingered inside Devin's mind.

Tina Godfrey held innocent doe eyes that's masking the absolute power she possessed.

After Tina's entrance, the female host took over. She smiled, "This year, our competition will be…"

She trailed off and looked around the crowd that's filled with anticipation. Squad Lewis held their breath as she opened the envelope.

"Well before that," she chuckled which made the crowd groan in disappointment. "Let me tell you the purpose of the surprise element of the competition. Exorcists face different enemies at different times in their career."

"Not every time you'll encounter the same type of Stained Souls– thus, the Union thought it would be wiser to announce how you will compete on the day of the competition itself. They have established among 5 different choices, Random Matches, Representative Battles, Group Battles, Tandem Battles, and Tandem versus Bearer."

"And this year's competition will be…"

"Random Matches!"

A male voice finished for her. A tall blonde man walked into the platform the female host was on and flashed a toothy grin.

It was none other than the celebrity Exorcist, Daniel Vermillion.

While the crowd inside the coliseum was filled with hollers and cheers, the participants weren't as thrilled.

Among all the competition types, Random Matches was the most exciting and the most time-consuming.

The participants will enter different matches, will be completing different tasks, and gain different points. There was once a year where a team only won one round but the round had more points than all the other rounds combined. That one round secured their victory.

"Random Matches will always reveal a different surprise every time it gets to be chosen," Kagura sighed worriedly.

"And what's worse is that they had already chosen the rounds, participants and the task," Morris said. "Why did it have to be this year?"

Feeling the uneasiness of her friends, Sofia calmed them down with her ability. As she continued on using it, she had more control over it. She can now control the specific people and the specific amount to apply.

"Thank you Sofia," Devin said. "And guys, let's not lose hope! This is just an obstacle. Remember, among all of the teams, we're the only ones who are all Exorcist-level. That title alone is enough for them to be intimidated by us. We only have to have confidence in ourselves, okay?"

Rodney grinned and wrapped his arm around Devin's neck. "Devin's right. We just need to focus on our battles and fights. Our classmates are expecting our victory at home."

"Yes!" everyone from their squad unsheathed their swords and connected them.

"Squad Lewis!"

"These are the rounds," Daniel announced.

A four-sided screen was lowered from the high ceilings of the coliseum. The screens displayed information about the upcoming match.

[ 642nd Brightburn Six Schools of Exorcism Summit ]

< Round 1 >

Points: 10

Game: Battle of Grace

Daniel filled in with the information about the match, "Along with fighting Stained Souls, Exorcists display a virtue of grace and skill to perform at any stage. Tomorrow's match will showcase that hidden talent. Good luck!"

Participants per team: 1

–

The first round, the Battle of Grace, would start the next day. Squad Lewis's participant was Rodney who was still confused.

"I'm a power-type!" Rodney argued as he walked circles in their hotel room. Everyone was inside Devin, Rodney, and Rain's shared room as they prepared for his match.

"I know right," Yuri said with pure sarcasm in his voice. "You're not even graceful!"

"Yeah, wait, hey!" Rodney narrowed his eyes while his teammates were laughing loudly.

Rodney's antics were amusing to his friends. He was acting like a 7-year-old that was deprived of their candy.

"How do I do this?" Rodney looked at Devin and got on both his knees. "Bless me with your grace, oh small saint."

His last remark earned him a smack from Devin. "Small Saint my ass. You can just perform a power-type dance. You have seen a lot of Exorcists that has the same fighting style as you. You can–"

"I got it!" Rodney cheered without evel letting Devin finish.

"What have you got?" Kagura quirked her brow.

"It's a secret," Rodney grinned and went to the training hall.

Inside their hotel was a large hall. This was usually used as a function hall but there was no event taking place. It was the perfect place for Rodney to practice.

"You only have one night to finish, Rodney," he said, taking out his Reverence and activating it.

"Let's dance."

–

The time for the first round to commence has come.

But Rodney was nowhere to be seen.

"Where in the hell is he?" Kagura gritted her teeth as the whole squad looked around the area, scouring for their missing teammate.

"He's so irresponsible," Kagura growled.

Daniel and Michelle walked onto the platform in front of the bigger balcony.

"Good morning to each and every one of you," Michelle greeted. "Today, a competition of gracefulness will take place."

"Indeed," Daniel added with a smile that made everyone swoon. Everyone apart from Team Asia who was worrying about Rodney's disappearance.

"Each performance will take not more than 5 minutes and not less than 3," Daniel informed. "Exorcists are not just capable of fighting, we're also capable of entertaining. Especially when it comes to the ladies."

The wink from Daniel made the women's hearts flutter. His features were outstanding even among the Exorcists.

"The order of the participants will be revealed shortly," Michelle said.

"Teams, make sure that your participants are present before the time of the reveal," Daniel smirked smugly. "If they fail to do so, your team will be disqualified for this match."

Kagura was fuming at this point. Sofia was barely helping with her Sanctity to keep their hot-headed friend down.

"Where the hell is he?" Devin cried.

As if on cue, a panting Rodney came to their seat. His clothes were disheveled and there were bags under his eyes. Sweat laced his face like just finished a marathon.

"Where were you?!" Kagura roared.

"Easy," Rodney panted. "I got up late because I was up all night practicing."

"What were you practicing?" Devin quirked his brow but Rodney only shrugged in response.

"That better be worth it or else I'll shove your scabbard so deep in your *ss," Kagura threatened.

"Don't worry," Rodney smirked again. "We'll win this round."

"And now..." their attention was caught by Daniel. "This is the order."

< Round 1: Battle of Grace >

1. Europe

2. Asia

3. Africa

4. Oceania

5. North America

6. South America

The screen displayed the order of the performances. Europe was up first and a woman with Goldilocks-styled hair walked down the steps and into the middle platform in the center of the large coliseum.

The crowd was silent as she unsheathed her sword. The countdown from the screens displayed.

3...

2...

1...

"Bring Out, Merida!"

Her Reverence glowed transformed into a large white lyre. She plucked a string from her musical instrument and used it to tie her hair.

She took a deep breath and hummed a beautiful melody. Her fingers trailed on the strings of her lyre, still not playing it.

As she continued humming, she lifted her large Reverence and tiptoed. Her slender fingers plucked a string, creating a beautiful melody. She played her instrument while humming and dancing like a ballerina.

The crowd awed at the sight and sound. She wasn't just tugging her lyre, she was also tugging everyone's heartstrings.

The participant from Europe's performance finished with loud cheers, hollers, and claps from the audience and judges.

It was Rodney's turn. He didn't look nervous at all. This made his teammates confused. They were terrified that Rodney's performance wouldn't even gain half the score the girl from Europe got.

"Your faith for me is too little," he chuckled. He looked at Kagura and ruffled her hair. "Stop. I got this."

"You better do," Kagura threatened.

Rodney walked over to the platform with head held high. The people from the bleachers of the coliseum were watching over him intently, also expecting a magnificent performance.

"Can he pull this off?" Margaux asked worriedly.

Rodney took a look at them and winked.

"I could only hope so," Devin said.

The timer started.

3...

2...

1...

Closing his eyes, Rodney unsheathed his sword and raised it.

He opened his eyes and a flame of confidence burned inside it.

"Ark!" his sword glowed while he leaped and rotated his body mid-air. Large sparks of white light shot from his glowing swords and created eight flaming figures.

The flames of the figures died that made Rodney's teammates gasp. It was them.

"Ark: Hero's Companions!"