Team Asia vs Team North America

There was a pause after the bell that signaled the start of the match rang. Sofia, being a stealth-type, dashed towards their opponents in a flash.

Her karambit clashed with the North American's hammer.

'This weapon brings me back bad memories.' Sofia thought.

She swerved her body down, targetting the foot of the enemy when she felt a projectile launching towards her.

Pivoting away, Sofia barely blocked the arrow.

Morris had lunged for the ranger, waving his large sword against the girl. The girl backflipped and tried to kick Morris on the chin but he stepped back just in time.

"The Acrobats," Kagura commented.

"Acrobats?" Her teammates looked at her.

"They are the triplets of the North American Branch, Axel, Apple, and Hetty Acrobat. They're agile, flexible, and full of stamina just like circus performers. Sofia and Morris will have a hard time fighting them," Kagura scorned.

Sofia's Ark, Fast Slicer, allows her to gather the movements of her feet and transfer it to her hands. She would dash in one line, creating slashes along her path. This would be especially useful when facing a lot of enemies at once.

But this time, she had only two.

'I'll alter it.' She thought.

Morris was battling the two on his own, clashing weapons with Axel Acrobat's hammer while avoiding Apple Acrobat's arrows. Sofia focused her energy, transferring her strength to the speed of her arm and the quickness of her feet.

"Ark!" Sofia yelled. "Fast Slicer Altered Form!"

She laughed herself directly to Apple who wasn't expecting such a fast move. Sofia crashed her weapon onto the ground to stop her, crouching down and turning around only to kick Apple upward.

Apple's body was lifted off the ground. Sofia stood and release the pent up energy on her hands, slicing at her enemy as fast as she could.

Axelcould only watch her sister getting attacked. Morris was having an easier time now that he could focus on fighting one enemy instead of two.

"Ark!" Morris's eyes widened when Axel screamed. "Mount Rustmore!"

Axel slammed his hammer on the ground and the force felt like a mountain was rising up from the floor. Morris blocked himself from the impact but it was too late for him to realize that he wasn't the target.

The force crawled over to Sofia. The attack blasted her off a few meters away.

The crowd went wild. The previous matches weren't as thrilling as this one. Both the first fights looked like a one-sided battle. This one was fighting with the same levels, creating more friction.

Morris ran to Sofia, helping her up and asking, "Are you still okay?"

"Just a small scratch," she said.

"You high-kicked," Morris pointed out. "Did you–"

"I'm wearing pants inside my skirt, yeah," Sofia smiled.

"Okay."

The matched continued. Apple's arrows were like Adonis's bullets. They couldn't wound them but it would hurt a lot when they get shot. Apple was taking her time shooting arrows at her enemy.

"Doesn't she have any limit?" Morris annoyingly said.

"3, 2, 1," Sophia whispered.

Morris quirked his brow and realized that the arrows stopped raining. Axel was charging over to them with full force. Apple's energy had bee depleted, making it a perfect time for them to attack.

"Are you ready?" Morris asked.

"Err, yes," Sofia answered.

"Now!"

Sofia released an aura of fear of Axel. Everything was according to their plan. Thy would take the match slow but effectively, learning their opponents' capabilities first before they would unleash their full potential.

Axel stopped in his track after he felt his whole body shiver in fear. He didn't know why or what until he remembered Sofia's Sanctity. He mustered courage and held his sword, but he was a moment too late. Morris was already in front of him.

"Ark!" Morris held. He stumped his foot on the ground, focusing the center to his foot and rotating his body to gather up the energy. "Desolate Strike!"

The zweihander met Axel's body. His body flew away that it looked like he was a baseball being hit with a bat.

He crashed towards the cemented wall, leaving a crater.

"Axel!" Apple yelled.

"Your enemy is me." Sofia had already reached her. Sofia slashed Apple's hand first so she would let go of her weapon. She kicked Apple on the side, serving her an aura of fear.

"W-Who are you guys?" Apple cried.

Morris appeared behind her, doing his stance.

"We're Squad Lewis," Morris said. "Ark! Desolate Strike!"

Apple clashed beside her brother with the same crater-like form on the wall.

The crowd hollered in yells and cheers. The entire arena was filled with loud voices. Among the three matches so far, this match was the most exciting. The two teams grasped for the win with almost equal talents.

"The winner! Team Asia!" Daniel announced and made the cheers louder.

"And now the battle between Block A and Block B," Michelle announced. "Team Oceania versus Team Europe!"

A group of medic went over to the Acrobat siblings and placed them on a stretcher. Morris and Sofia walked down the platform and were also healed by healer-type Exorcists.

"We won!" Devin cheered. The squad went down the resting area to greet their victorious teammates. "One more fight to go."

"Squad Lewis?" Kagura said and offered her hand instead of her sword. The others followed.

"Squad Lewis!"

"Congratulations," Xia said. "I'm not allowed to heal you since I'm from the same branch but Lenny will fix you up just as fine."

A man who was wearing a similar-looking uniform as her. Devin had only noticed that there are differences in the uniforms of the Exorcists.

There are five shades. Bearers had the whitest shade of their uniform, combat Exorcists like Mr. Franco and Schneider had a darker tone, non-combatant faculty members had even darker tone, the medical team had a light gray uniform while the Grimms or the bodyguards have black uniforms.

The bearers also have a silver star-shaped symbol inside a diamond crest on their left chest. And a star-shaped symbol was weaved onto the right arm of the uniform, inside was a Roman symbol that signified their rank.

Devin didn't even know why he just noticed all these little details. Maybe perhaps it was because it was his first time to see the other uniforms.

Somehow, he found himself looking at the direction of the judges' balcony. His eyes widened when it came in contact with two soft ocean blue ones.

'Why is Tina Godfrey looking at me?' He asked himself.

The woman smiled and looked away. Devin stared at her before an announcement broke his thoughts.

"Team Europe is down!" Daniel announced.

"Team Oceania won!"