Tristan was shocked when he heard Melvin's words, then asked again
"But how did this happen? How did they win? I'm sure I split their vehicle in half, which means they couldn't have brought it back to the starting point like they were supposed to."
Jayden replied
"It turns out the important thing wasn't returning the vehicles to the start, but delivering the gems there."
Melvin raised his hand, pointing at a distant blue glow and said
"That light shows that Milan and Siran managed to deliver their blue gem to the starting point and they won the match."
Tristan frowned.
"But how do you know that?"
Melvin pointed toward Klaus, who was sitting nearby, and answered
"After Siran and Milan succeeded, Klaus came and told us. He stopped the fight and declared the National Division the winners."
Tristan clenched his fists.
"So you mean, if I had stopped Siran and Milan from returning, the result could have been different?"
Melvin shook his head.
"Even if you tried, it wouldn't have worked, Tristan. They're stronger than you and if they fought together, they would have defeated you."
"Damn it!" Tristan slammed the ground with his fist in frustration.
Jayden added calmly
"There's no point in worrying now."
Tristan sighed.
"I know but I never expected this to happen. Siran and Milan were right in front of me, yet instead of stopping them, I came back here. All I wanted was to retrieve our gem and place it on the platform."
Melvin lowered his gaze.
"Don't blame yourself, Tristan. The only one to blame here is me."
"Why you?" Tristan asked.
"Because from the start, I should have focused on bringing the gem back to the starting point after we took it from the cave. But I let myself get distracted by fighting the Fighter Division who were nearby. As the commander , I was the one who told both of you to join me."
Jayden shook his head.
"Don't blame yourself either, Captain. We all made mistakes. Let's just hope we collected enough points to make up for this loss."
"You're right."
After that, the three teams returned to the facility with the three towers, where their companions were waiting. The Moon Division team was greeted by their friends, as were the National and Fighter Divisions.
While Melvin was speaking with the others, Aiden himself appeared. Everyone greeted him together, saying
"Hello, leader!"
Aiden smiled.
"Hello, everyone."
He looked at Melvin, Jayden and Tristan and asked
"Why do you look so down?"
Tristan replied
"Let's just say we're upset because of our loss in the last match."
Jayden added
"Yes… we hope you can forgive us."
Aiden shook his head.
"Don't worry. You did your best and that's what matters."
While they were talking, a voice suddenly came from the loudspeakers connected to the giant screen:
"It is now time to display each team's points."
Everyone turned their eyes to the screen to see the results:
National Division: 100
Fighter Division: 75
Moon Division: 75
Melvin, Jayden and Tristan smiled when they saw the results. They had truly given their all in the battle. More importantly, the Moon Division was still in the lead with a total of 175 points. Both the Fighter and National Divisions were tied in second place with 150 points each.
Then Klaus appeared on the screen and announced in front of everyone
"In two days, the third match between the Divisions of the Fauvism will take place. Please prepare yourselves."
The screen went dark.
The participants of the third match would be: Luna and Yuna from the Moon Division, Kuro and David from the National Division , Hinami and Shiro from the Fighter Division.
Whether the Fighters or Nationals won, it wouldn't be in the Moon Division's favor. Both sides disliked them and wanted them out as soon as possible.
Later, Aiden gathered with Milo, Melvin and Tia.
Aiden : " The day after tomorrow will be the most important match."
Tia : " No need to worry. The Ribwan twins are the ones competing and they are our strongest members."
Melvin shook his head.
"It's not only about strength. What matters most is achieving the match's goal."
Tia raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, just like what happened with me, Jayden and Tristan. We were strong but because we failed to reach the actual goal, we lost."
Aiden nodded.
"And don't forget, the opponents matter too. Kuro and David are special fighters. They can't be underestimated. We need to give the Ribwan twins some advice before their battle."
"That's true."
Luna and Yuna were training together, each using her weapon against the other.
Yuna started by firing lightning-charged arrows at Luna, who rushed forward to block them with her staff of pressure. She dodged some arrows too and countered by swinging her staff at her twin. Yuna raised her shield to block but Luna leapt into the air and hurled a blazing fire star at her. Yuna blocked it again with her shield, though this time the shield shattered, so she quickly stepped back and shot more arrows.
Luna advanced in the same way as before but this time Yuna also jumped forward, attacking with her bow. Luna was surprised and said mockingly:
"That bow of yours won't do me any harm. What's the point of using it against me?"
Yuna smirked.
"Fine, keep thinking that way."
She gathered lightning into her bow and struck Luna with it, pushing her back even though Luna blocked with her staff filled with pressure air energy.
Luna stepped away and admitted:
"I underestimated your attack. But I won't go easy on you anymore."
"Good." Yuna replied.
Luna gathered a huge amount of fire and wind into her staff and launched it at Yuna, who blocked with her bow that now held both lightning and water energy.
The two fought fiercely for a while, then both stopped, exhausted and sat down to rest.
After catching her breath, Luna used her teleportation skill, pulling Yuna with her and together they sneaked into the kitchen.
Soup, salad and rice with chicken were being prepared. The smell made their mouths water as they watched the cooks at work. Suddenly, a voice spoke behind them:
"You two are quite curious, aren't you?"
The twins turned quickly and saw Yusako, one of the Archive scholars, standing there.
They both blushed then apologized at the same time:
"We're very sorry!"
Yusako smiled.
"It's alright. You can have dinner here tonight."
Luna's eyes widened.
"Really?"
"Yes."
The twins hugged each other with joy, smiling happily—they were starving after all the training.
After a short silence, Yusako asked:
"Is it special, being twins?"
Luna nodded.
"Yes, very special. We're always together and sometimes we can even feel each other's emotions."
"So since childhood, you've always been close and together?"
Yuna shook her head.
"No, we didn't spend all of our childhood together."
"Really?" Yusako raised his eyebrows.
"Yes. Luna and I didn't spend the first seven years of our lives together. And even then… it wasn't a normal childhood."
Luna added softly:
"We grew up in the City of Smoke when we were little. You could say it wasn't a happy childhood."
Yusako's face fell.
"I didn't know. I'm sorry for bringing it up."
The twins smiled.
"Don't worry, we've moved past it."
"Good."
That night, the twins shared dinner with Yusako and some of the cooks. Afterwards, they bid him farewell and returned to the Moon Division building, where they could rest or do as they pleased.
Yusako then went back to the place where he usually met Klaus and found him there. He told Klaus what the twins had shared with him. Klaus replied:
"It's not just them. Merrick, Sony, Clara, Salvador… all of them came from the City of Smoke. I believe none of them had a normal childhood."
Yusako sighed.
"I hope they can make up for what they lost, someday."
"So do I. For now, let's sleep. It's already two in the morning."
"I didn't even notice , the time passing so quickly."
"Just sleep."
"Alright, alright."
And so, Yusako and Klaus went to sleep peacefully, as did nearly everyone else—except the guards, who continued their duty of protecting the facility.
At seven in the morning, Jayden woke up. He washed his face, got dressed, ate breakfast and stepped outside into the courtyard near the Moon Division's building. There he found the Ribwan twins training with Merrick and Tristan.
He greeted them cheerfully:
"Good morning, everyone."
Yuna : "Hello, Jayden."
Jayden looked around.
"What's going on here?"
Yuna explained:
"Luna and I are receiving advice from those who fought in the previous matches—Tristan and Merrick."
Jayden nodded.
"I can give you advice too, or even train you if you'd like."
The twins nodded eagerly.
"Yes, we'd like that."
So Jayden, Tristan and Merrick all gave tips and trained Luna and Yuna, helping them prepare for tomorrow's battle. Afterwards, the twins eat herbs to help them sleep, since their nerves had given them insomnia—the match was that important.
The next morning arrived. Everyone was ready.
Luna and Yuna, from the Moon Division.
Kuro and David, from the National Division.
Hinami and Shiro, from the Fighter Division.
The last match would take place in a ruined city that had been abandoned after a flood. Rubble covered most of the streets.
The challenge was to find blue rabbits with red eyes roaming through the city. Each team had to catch at least three and return them to their pen at the starting point. Each team was given a cage that could hold three rabbits, lockable only from the outside.
Luna and Yuna began their search but the city was vast and it was impossible to predict where the rabbits might appear. After two hours of wandering, Luna finally spotted one.
"There it is!" she shouted.
She teleported several times, chasing the rabbit. It kept running, but Luna controlled the air around it, pushing it back until it flew into her grasp. Yuna rushed over and together they placed it inside the cage. The twins clapped their hands together in triumph.
But suddenly, both felt the presence of two powerful energies approaching. They turned—and saw Kuro and David.
For the twins, this was the worst outcome. They had never wanted to fight these two in particular. David had once been like a brother to Luna when they were young and Kuro had been the same for Yuna in her childhood.
The four of them stood in silence, tension thick in the air.
David broke it first:
"I didn't want you to be the first ones we'd fight… but we have no choice."
Yuna raised her voice:
"You do have a choice—surrender and step aside."
David smirked.
"You made me laugh. As if we'd ever accept that."
The battle began: the twins versus Kuro and David.
Luna hurled a massive fireball at them but David blew it away with a violent gust of wind and then lunged at the twins. If he managed to touch either of them with the strange weapon in his hand, they would be struck by his special power. The twins teleported away, ignoring him for now and struck at Kuro instead.
Kuro pulled out his shackles, using them to block Yuna's arrows. He also managed to deflect Luna's fire star but she suddenly appeared behind him and hit him with her staff, knocking him back. Yuna shot arrows into him but the wounds were not serious.
David jumped in, defending his friend by teleporting close to Luna. He tried to touch her with his weapon but she pulled away just in time.
Luna whispered to Yuna:
"I'll fight Kuro. You handle David. That's the best way."
"Alright." Yuna agreed.