The Battle of Speed

The hall was silent. Kagura just finished her morning practice with Rodney, developing her Ark properly.

"Your Ark has four parts, meaning it would take time to perfect it," Rodney said.

Kagura laid on the floor, panting as she looked at the ceiling. "I'm too far."

"Compared to your enemy? Yeah," Rodney chuckled.

Kagura sat up and narrowed her eyes at her friend, "Spill."

"From the other teams, not so much. But from Team South America, Europe, and Oceania, you should be scared. Anitta Werdt from Brazil is someone who can catch flash drifters like you, Bianca Blanche from Wales can flash drift as fast as you, and finally, Stacy Wilson from Oceania can copy someone's moves, even their Arks."

"So, basically I'm doomed?" Kagura asked in horror.

Flash drift refers to a movement that happens in a flash, much like Kagura's Sanctity. Although a not rare skill, flash drift can make or break an Exorcist. It needs mastery and thought on how to harness its full potential.

"If you don't speed up, then–"

Kagura appeared behind him, the Kagura in front of Rodney dispersed like smoke.

"How fast do I need?"

Rodney clicked his tongue, pursing his lips to his sword that was already pointing at her.

"This is annoying," Kagura sighed. "But the real enemy I have is not them, even those three."

Her words made Rodney scrunch his forehead in confusion. "Don't say something from a bad 80's movie–"

"My real enemy is me," Sofia cut him off. Rodney sighed, shook his head and stood.

"Welp, get ready. We will leave in one hour," Rodney said and walked out of the hall.

Sofia stared at the ceiling. "Speed. I need more speed."

–

The crowd hollered as Michelle stated, "We have reached the Third Round. Meaning, we have reached the first half of the Summit."

The crowd continued to cheer, still supporting their teams.

"Meaning, tomorrow will be the Time Out Day," Daniel said. "This competition takes a lot of energy. We should give our participants a day to rest and recollect themselves. Maybe let a day to stroll around the beautiful streets of London?"

"But before that relaxing day, let us have our Third Round," Michelle said before they chorused.

"This is, The Battle Royale."

The platform the match will take place on was significantly larger than the one on the previous day. It was wider and longer by at least six times.

As the participants walked inside the ring, Kagura couldn't help but gaze at the balcony where her teammates were. They all grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

Rodney in particular flexed his biceps and mouthed, "You can do this."

Kagura nodded and went in. The first thing that came up to her mind was that there were only two guys in the match. And all their figures were similar. Slender but lean, meaning they were all speed-types.

A common mistake people get was differentiating stealth and speed. The two shared the same principal skill, speed. However, stealth types rely mostly on their ability to project amounts of strikes while speed types focus on how fast their feet will take them.

'This is a battle of speed.' Kagura thought. 'I bet everyone here can flash drift.'

'The match will start in...'

'3…'

'2…'

'1…'

'Start!'

"Bring Out!"

All the participants disappeared at the same time. The next thing everyone knew, swords were clashing at tremendous speed. Normal humans or even some Exorcists couldn't keep up with them. Their eyes could only catch the sparks the clashing of the blades created.

Kagura wasn't having a hard time catching up with everyone else's speed, she was barely comprehending the number of enemies she encounters. Everyone was moving so fast as she expected.

Not long after, the two male participants have been knocked out. They were instantly recovered by the Grimms nearby. There were only four participants left, Kagura along with the three Rodney warned her about.

'Three more to go.' Kagura thought.

Bianca was the first to make a move, targeting Anitta. They were both using daggers, hitting each other's attacks as they ran to the sides of the ring.

"Ark!" Bianca yelled. "Dazzling Sprint!"

She shot herself twice as fast as her drift, leaving a trail of glitters in the air as she did. Anitta was well aware of this move since she saw Bianca do this before.

Anitta narrowed her eyes and ducked, dodging Bianca's attack. She hacked the hilt of her sword and hit Bianca's stomach.

While Kagura was watching their fight, she felt someone dashing through her.

Stacy was wielding her shortsword towards her, ready to attack. "Ark! Dazzling Sprint!"

'The Copycat!'

Kagura barely avoided the other girl, using her Sanctity to avoid the fast slash.

"Very nice," Stacy complimented. "But have you seen this? Ark! Golem's Drift!"

It was the attack of the North American, Ed. The Ark consists of a drift but the power from it isn't something a speed-type usually has. Ed's previous opponent from Africa was blown away, knocking him out in the process. After he defeated the other boy, Stacy knocked him out with his own skill.

Kagura leaped, flipping mid-air. She found a spot to land on when Anitta appeared before she could land. Kagura assumed a stance, pointing her sword towards the awaiting Anitta.

Anitta lunged towards the falling Kagura, meeting her mid-air. Their blades clashed a few times before Anitta kicked Kagura on the stomach.

Kagura landed on the ground but the others weren't there anymore. Bianca and Stacy were also flying mid-air and just landed. Bianca looked at Kagura and flashed. She appeared behind the black-haired girl and sliced a mirage of Kagura.

"I missed?" she asked out loud. A presence beside her made her kick to her side but it was too late, Kagura had fired her hilt towards her, hitting her on the jaw and knocking her out.

'Two left.' Kagura thought.

Stacy and Anitta were fighting when the former used a move that made Anitta fall to the ground. It was so quick that Kagura didn't even see it.

"I guess it's just you and me," Stacy said and smirked. "Who will prevail?"

The two took a sharp breath before dashing towards each other.

"Ark! Golem's Drift!"

Again, Kagura leaped to avoid the attack. She was thinking when was the time to use her own Ark but her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a loud piercing of the cement floor.

Stacy stopped her drift by slamming her sword on the floor, using the excess energy from the Ark to shoot herself up.

"Crap!" Kagura cursed. She tried to clash their swords but was overpowered. Her body was smashed to the ground, creating a large crater in it.

A few feet above her was Stacy, about to shoot herself down and slam the hilt of her sword to Kagura.

'Is this my end?' Kagura asked herself. "Did I lose?"

It felt as though the time stopped ticking. She was staring at Stacy when she remembered what her grandfather told her a few years back.

"Only when you give up that your time has ended. It's you who decides when you'll lose."

'Right!'

Stacy landed on the ground, creating cloud-looking dust that covered them. The entire crowd hollered in excitement. Has Stacy won?

When the specks of dust dispersed, everyone gasped at the sight.

Her sword pierced Kagura's chest.

The whole stadium was silent. Kagura was laying there, eyes wide open, and a hilt if the sword impaling her chest.

"Dances of the Flowers Second Form!" A sword inside a scabbard hit Stacy on her arm. "Fall!"

A surge of different strikes hit Stacy on different parts of her body. She couldn't grasp what was happening.

"Third form," Kagura retreated her downward and struck it up. "Winter!"

Stacy was blasted from the floor. She was in mid-air when Kagura appeared beside her with ethereal figures spewing out from her.

"Final Form!" the figures took her shape. "Spring!"

Stacy was attacked mercilessly by the clones. She was screaming in pain while her body was being struck a few times per second.

She fell unconscious and fell. When she was about to hit the floor, Kagura caught her.

"Thank you," she managed to speak before completely fainting.

The crowd went wild at the sight. Once again, Team Asia had won the battle!

Kagura smiled and gazed at her friends. They were standing along with everyone and clapping. She smiled before she too laid unconscious.

–

"Did you get it?" Andrea asked and got in the van. Roy was trailing behind her, checking his camera for the file.

"Yep," Roy said. "All recorded from 3 different angles."

"Good," Andrea said and drove off. "Now we're a step closer. The destruction of Exorcists will not take long."