They're Brothers

Devin sighed, waiting for the hosts to start the battle. His hands were twitching on his sides, irking to hold the blade and defend himself against the two colossal auras in front of him.

"And now, let us begin the first match of the final round!" Michelle cheered.

'The match will start in…'

'3…'

'2…'

'1…'

'Start!'

The three brandished their swords. Devin was about to activate his when his opponent attacked each other without even activating their Reverence.

'Did I just got ignored?' Devin thought.

The two were so focused on clashing their swords, rapidly attacking each other that they forgot about the curly-haired boy.

Dante opened his palm and a flock of miniature birds flew from it.

"Ark. Birds of Paradise."

"He used an Ark without activating his Reverence?!" Kagura gasped.

"To master such skill…" Morris trailed off, worriedly looking at his ignored teammate. "Devin is in trouble."

The miniature doves darted towards Liam. The birds created an explosion made of wind after it made contact with Liam's sword. He was blocking some of it but couldn't help but avoid the others.

The explosions produced a powerful shock. Three doves were already enough to make his arm numb. 

"Is that all?" Liam smirked. He flashed towards Dante, attacking with swift cuts. The latter was taking the attacks without breaking a sweat. At one angle, they almost had the same power level.

But in the eyes of the few, they could see the huge power gap between the two.

"Devin should just remain being ignored," Rodney said. "After those two fights, the winner would be exhausted. A perfect time for Devin to attack and win.

"I just hope that's the case," Morris sighed.

Kagura looked at him, "What do you mean?"

Morris paused before replying, "Those two had already reached Terceria."

"The Exorcists had reached the era of strong Exorcist blood," Schneider said to Xia while they were watching on the sidelines.

"Indeed, their generation has more potential than any generation in the past 5 centuries," Xia sighed. "It's bothersome."

"Especially with what the Windsors are doing," Schneider remarked and glared at a man at the VIP seats. "They think they're making heroes, but they're just creating monsters."

"The things people do for power," Xia said. Shed at the balcony where Stephanie was sitting. Only the top 10 were allowed to be the judges while Stephanie and the twins were honorable guests.

As the two other participants fought with a speed that's not visible to regular humans, Devin was gripping his sword in silence. He was scared to take part in the game even if he could catch up.

He had already learned to hide his presence while he dashes towards his enemies yet he was scared that the two will knock him out first. Devin was waiting for the other to win before he could fight. He still lacked confidence in himself to fight.

He looked at the balcony and saw them smiling at him. They gave him a thumbs up and a comforting smile, mouthing, "You can do it!"

It was then that Devin realized that if he wouldn't fight, everyone's efforts would be gone to waste. Martin for sticking his neck out and opening his secret dimension for Devin, the twins, and Leonardo who was training him for four days straight, his friends who have waited for him, and for Revelation that kept him company.

Finally, for himself who had endured all the pain and exhaustion. He would be disappointing everyone.

In the middle of his thoughts, a student had already fallen.

Liam kicked Dante's face, creating a force that made the dark-skinned boy fly a few meters back. Before Dante could fall to the ground, Liam had already appeared beside him. He kicked Dante's back and raised his sword, crashing it to the boy's stomach.

Dante crashed through the ground, creating a crater from the great force the royalty made.

"Stand back up!" Liam yelled. He gave Dante his sword, making the almost unconscious boy grip it. "We're not done, Dante. Stand back up!"

He grabbed Dante's collar, raising him up the ground, forcing him to stand up.

While watching the scenes unfold right before his very eyes, Devin shakily walked towards them.

"Stop," he croaked. "He's hurt… please, stop."

Liam couldn't hear his voice. He was too occupied punching Dante that his head was filled with diabolic thoughts.

The referee was only watching. Devin called out to him with his silent voice but he wasn't responding.

"Sh*t!" Morris cursed.

"Why?" Kagura asked him.

Morris shook his head in disbelief and his eyes were filled with fear, "T-The referee is… a Windsor."

"So?" Sofia asked. "They can't just let a student die, right?"

"We can't," Kagura said. "The Windsors hold a large part of the Union through their colonies. If the Union goes against what they want, they will turn against the Union. And they will attack."

"How is that even possible?" this time, Adonis couldn't help but react. "That's unsettling to know and we're just going to let them?"

"The Windsors also holds connections and a lot of Exorcist families have debts with them. Including Dante's family. If he gets hurt, the tragedy will only be buried by his family and their debts will be paid."

"So, Dante will just become their sacrifice?" Sofia asked. "That's horrible."

Squad Lewis grimaced at the information. They looked at Dante who already had a broken nose and bloodied face. He was barely awake.

He was barely breathing.

"He knows," a female voice said from behind them.

They turned around and saw the rest of Team South America. "Please, tell your teammate to stop Liam."

Kagura walked over, "What do you mean he knows?"

The girl fell to her knees, "He's going to be killed in the match, or else the Windsors are going to destroy his family."

"What debt does Dante's family has that made the Windsor let such a thing to happen?" Morris asked.

"D-Dante…" the girl trailed off and cried.

Her other teammate stood forward. She had tears welling in her eyes but she kept her posture, "Dante's father got the previous princess pregnant. T-The child was Dante."

"The previous princess?" Morris gasped. "Dante is the same age as us and the queen died 15 years ago already… That means the–"

"The Queen is Dante's mother. Liam and Dante are brothers," the girl cut off.

The squad gasped at the revelation. They stared at each other and had the same look on their faces.

Kagura ran to the edge of the balcony and screamed, "Devin!"

Devin was staring at the events in front of him with wide eyes. The scenes reminded him of what had happened at the qualifying round.

The scenes played like film. The 666 with the scythe, when Morris's arm got cut off…

"Mr. Coltrane," he whispered while shakily staring at his hands.

"Devin!"

His friends' voice got to him. Looking at their balcony, his teammates were calling out.

Yuri snatched a flashlight and spelled their secret code.

'You'

'Can'

'Do'

'This'

'…'

'We'

'Believe'

'In'

'You'

Devin gripped his sword, receiving the motivation from his friends.

"Are you sure we're not going to tell him about the brothers?" Yuri asked.

Kagura shook her head, "He'll only try to talk Liam out of it if we did."

"Bring Out, Revelation!"

Devin flashed towards his opponents. He kicked Liam in the face, making him fall back in surprise.

Devin caught Dante and laid him on the ground, checking his breathing and his heartbeat.

"He's okay." Devin let a sigh of relief.

"You." He heard Liam said from behind him. "How dare you?!"

"You were about to kill him," Devin argued.

Liam let out a chuckle, brandishing his sword and pointing it at Devin. "I know."

"What?!"

"I was planning on killing him. Now, I'm going to kill you."

Liam appeared in front of Devin in a flash. His speed was even faster this time. Devin couldn't catch up and couldn't avoid the slice on arm.

"What a pity," Liam said. "I was only going to kick you in the stomach and let you faint. But now you have angered me. I am going to make you pay."

"I doubt I could afford it," Devin snorted which made Liam even angrier. "You royals have quite expensive taste in things after all."

"You m*therf*cker!" Liam yelled. "F*ck you! I'll kill you!"

Devin readied himself but was once again got cut after being slashed in a surprise attack. Liam was mercilessly hacking his sword and kicking Devin without letting the boy recover.

He kicked Devin up and kicked him mid-air that made Devin roll over the ground a few times.

"Pathetic," Liam sighed. "I heard you were the one who fought the 666 along with Morris. So, that's why he lost his arm. Poor Morris. Felicia wanted him back too. It's just that that girl, Sofia, must have him fall hard, huh? Even rejecting the princess for a commoner."

Something inside Devin clicked after hearing the boy insult his friends. He felt himself losing control over his body. He stood up felt the surge of greater energy travel throughout his body.

"Divine Possession!"