"Looks like I still can't win, nya~"
With Spartacus's effect taking the last of his Life Points, Banner lowered his Duel Disk and gave an embarrassed smile.
"That was already an amazing duel, Professor Banner!" Jaden ran up to encourage him. "Seriously, your strategy was just… insanely cool!"
Hoshino felt the same way. Banner's strength genuinely surprised her. For the teacher who managed the lowest-ranked dorm—Slifer Red—to display power surpassing even Professor Crowler… that was unexpected.
"Mamma mia… maybe I really should avoid angering Banner from now on…"
Since Hoshino noticed it, Crowler couldn't possibly have missed it either. As a professor, losing to the Headmistress was understandable—but losing to a Red Dorm Professor was simply too humiliating.
Not that Crowler had any right to talk—after all, he even lost to students. Whatever "dignity" he thought he had was long gone.
"Even though he didn't win, Professor Banner going all out was probably several times cooler than usual!"
The Red dorm students rushed in excitedly—far more hyped than Jaden. None of them had imagined that their gentle, soft-spoken dorm manager possessed such overwhelming strength.
"Going all out… huh?"
Hoshino wasn't fully convinced by that assessment.
[Duelist Rating Evaluation Complete]
[Duelist: Banner]
[Overall Rank: A+]
[Saint Quartz Reward: 70]
[Remaining Quartz Reward: ???]
An A+ rank duelist—this was the level Seto Kaiba reached back in Battle City when he wielded a God Card. And although duelists overall had grown stronger in recent years thanks to the rapid evolution of Duel Monsters…
A+ remained the peak of the dueling world, a rank only a rare few could ever reach.
But despite Banner's impressive performance, this wasn't the power of a true A+ duelist.
Which meant… this squinty-eyed teacher definitely hadn't fought at full strength.
"And this 'remaining Saint Quartz: ???' glitch again… Da Vinci still hasn't fixed it?"
Every time she saw that result screen, Hoshino felt a stab of pain. Around a year ago, she happily used students as sandbags to farm quartz—so obsessively she nearly crashed the entire system.
Of course, "crash" was just Da Vinci's explanation. She claimed excessive farming triggered a bug… which reminded Hoshino of the time she asked Jonouchi to pull for her and lost her entire stash.
But Hoshino refused to believe Da Vinci's vague excuses. After all, she had seen another timeline where her ten-years-older self was disgustingly rich in quartz.
Yet her system supposedly broke because she farmed too much?
Then, about a month ago, Da Vinci—after stalling forever—suddenly claimed she found the likely cause. It was probably related to the three Evil God cards Hoshino kept in her Deck.
To this, Evil God Girl simply said she knew nothing—pure, innocent, adorable.
And so, to help Da Vinci investigate the real source of the malfunction, the three Evil God cards were temporarily returned to Chaldea. Which meant that in all subsequent battles—even against the Sacred Beasts—Hoshino had been unable to summon any Gods.
"Not having a God card on hand really makes me uneasy…"
As per the cosplay duel tournament rules, the reigning champion had to win three consecutive duels before stepping down.
Which meant…
The final victim was the one who had been running his mouth nonstop since the start: Minazuki.
[Hoshino Chiyuki LP 4000]
[Minazuki LP 2000]
"As expected of the Headmistress—you're unbelievably tough. But still… wasn't this at least a fairly even duel…?"
"No no no, Minazuki, you've just been getting one-sidedly destroyed the whole time."
Akasha waved dismissively.
"Come on, at least land some damage on Sensei, even if you have to explode yourself to do it! Otherwise you're disgracing our dorm!"
Jaden urged.
But talking was easy. For Minazuki—who was beaten down right from the start and now had nothing left but a lone Level 1 monster—dealing even a bit of damage to Hoshino was nearly impossible, especially with Martha cracking her knuckles threateningly on Hoshino's field.
"What's wrong, Minazuki? Giving up already?"
Hoshino, fulfilling her duty as a teacher, decided to motivate him.
"Or are you saying you only beat Bastion Misawa, the strongest of Yellow Dorm, purely by luck?"
"—?!"
His eyes sharpened instantly. Looks like provocation worked extremely well on Minazuki.
"In that case, I'll show you something you definitely didn't expect, Headmistress!"
He slid a Spell Card into his Duel Disk. Three summoning lights erupted on his field.
"—I activate the Spell Card Tri-Wight! Its effect lets me select three Level 1 monsters in my Graveyard and Special Summon them to my field!"
He flipped through the Graveyard slot of his Duel Disk, pulled out the cards, and placed them horizontally onto the Monster Zones.
"In Defense Position, I Special Summon Charcoal Inpachi, Performapal Kuribohble, and Treeborn Frog!"
[Charcoal Inpachi – DEF 2100]
[Performapal Kuribohble – DEF 200]
[Treeborn Frog – DEF 100]
With the three revived Level 1 monsters plus the small white rabbit already on his field, Minazuki now had four Level 1 monsters assembled.
Jaden's excitement shot through the roof.
"Wait—Minazuki, are you doing that?! Are you summoning that?!"
Syrus joined in, just as thrilled.
"He's really going to do that, isn't he?!"
Minazuki selected a monster from his hand, grinning proudly.
"I told you you wouldn't expect this, Headmistress! Take this!"
With full momentum, he slammed the monster onto his Duel Disk and declared:
"I Normal Summon a second Yomi Frog in Defense Position! Then I switch my Bunilla to Defense Position! And with that—my turn ends!"
[Treeborn Frog – DEF 100]
[Bunilla – DEF 2050]
Five low-Level monsters filled Minazuki's field in Defense Position, forming a wall as solid as iron.
"Didn't expect that, did you? This is my escape route—!"
[Minazuki's: 0 Hand Card | 0 Set Card]
"It's just a bunch of fodder monsters in Defense Position. Why are you acting like it's something incredible?"
For some reason, Akasha simply could not handle Minazuki's completely unpredictable personality.
"Hmph! A true Duelist's draws are destined!" Minazuki wagged a finger proudly. "As long as I top-deck—no, DRAW—Dystopia the Despondent next turn, there's still a chance to turn this duel around!"
"Betting everything on your top-deck, huh? That really is exciting!" Jaden said, impressed.
"My turn! Draw!"
One glance at her hand, and Hoshino smiled.
"You won't get the chance, Minazuki-kun~ If a true Duelist's draws are destiny… then this is my destined divine draw for this turn!"
Hoshino tributed Martha on her field and Tribute Summoned the monster she had just drawn.
"Come forth, thunderous applause! — Heroic Spirit – Nero Claudius!"
[Heroic Spirit – Nero Claudius ★★★★★★(Level 6)][FIRE][Warrior/Effect][ATK 2300/DEF 1600]
"Umu!"
Emerging amid drifting crimson rose petals, Nero raised her sword, cheering with excitement.
"A festival? I adore festivals, umu! Allow me to raise the mood with my song!"
"Stop her, Caligula!"
Since Nero was summoned, Hoshino also searched her Deck and Special Summoned Caligula.
[Heroic Spirit – Caligula ★★★★(Level 4)][DARK][Warrior/Effect][ATK 1500/DEF 1200]
[Effect: If 'Nero Claudius' exists on your field, this card can be Special Summoned from the GY or Deck.]
With perfect understanding, Caligula stepped forward to block Nero's path.
"Nero. Duel. Top priority."
"That is true, umu."
Flames danced along Nero's blade as she nodded. "Very well. After the fight, I shall sing a victory song for the festival!"
Looks like Nero had made up her mind—she wasn't planning to let anyone escape untouched today.
Hoshino unfolded the hidden area of her Duel Disk and placed a Field Spell.
In an instant, the surroundings of the Red Dorm transformed into a grand, glittering golden palace.
"—Field Spell Activate! Aestus Domus Aurea: Invitation to the Golden Debauchery Theater!"
[Effect: ① When this card is activated: your 'Nero Claudius' can attack all opponent's monsters once each this turn.]
"And with this… your escape route is completely cut off!"
Entering the Battle Phase, Hoshino targeted all five of Minazuki's Level 1 monsters.
"Behold my glory… Hear the thunderous applause… Sit down and praise… My Golden Theater! Kingdom of Heaven and Hell… My heaven, reconstructed! This is where the limelight shines! Aestus Domus Aurea!!"
Wielding her sword, Nero roared and charged forward.
[③ Your 'Nero' monsters gain 300 ATK/DEF and are unaffected by your opponent's Spell/Trap effects.]
[Nero ATK 2300 → 2600]
This was the name of Nero's strongest sword technique—unleashed only upon the stage of the Golden Theatre.
"—Laus Saint-Claudia!!!"
At her cry, flames surged in a sweeping arc, crashing over Minazuki's field.
Engulfed in blazing red wind, all five weak monsters vanished instantly—an extravagant sight befitting the Golden Theatre.
"NANI?! What kind of card is that!? I'm falling apart here!"
"With your field empty, Minazuki—take Caligula's final direct attack!"
Alexis blinked. "But Caligula's ATK isn't enough to finish Mizunozuki's remaining 2000 LP."
"No—it is. Caligula's effect! Devour my heart, O moonlight—!"
[Caligula Effect: Once per turn, pay 500 LP; this card loses 500 DEF and gains 500 ATK.]
[Hoshino Chiyuki LP 4000 → 3500]
[Caligula ATK 1500 → 2000]
Caligula's fist hammered down on Minazuki, delivering the finishing blow.
[Minazuki LP 2000 → 0]
[Duel Over — Winner: Hoshino Chiyuki!]
Scratching his head, Minazuki sighed in relief.
"Good, good… at least I shaved 500 LP off the Headmistress at the end. Not too embarrassing."
"That wasn't you shaving off 500 LP," Akasha corrected flatly. "She paid it herself! You didn't scratch her once—you just got pummeled the whole duel!"
"Akasha, you're too strict! I really was close! Just a little more and I could've turned it around!"
Hoshino stepped forward and—with no hesitation—flipped the top card of Minazuki's Deck.
[Dystopia the Despondent]
Akasha blinked.
"Whoa—he really was going to top-deck it next turn!"
"Just as I thought." Hoshino frowned.
If she hadn't top-decked Nero and wiped his field with the Theatre effect, Minazuki might've revived Frog next turn and actually summoned Dystopia the Despondent.
[Duelist Rank Assessment Failed
Duelist: Minazuki
Overall Rank: ?]
And that was exactly why Hoshino frowned even more.
The system occasionally failed to grant Saint Quartz, but this was the first time it failed to evaluate someone at all. Even Dartz, back then, had been assessed properly.
Whether the system was glitching again…
Or whether Minazuki was simply too unreliable as a human being…
Hoshino honestly couldn't tell.
In any case, that Dystopia the Despondent card would need to be monitored.
A Level 12 monster—left alone, it could definitely cause trouble.
"Now then, Headmistress—this is your reward for achieving three consecutive wins in the cosplay duel tournament, nya~!"
Banner handed over the champion's prize.
A tiny plastic pendant shaped like a red worm.
Hoshino stared at it, baffled.
"What is this supposed to be?"
"It's the Red Dorm's emblem—the 'Slifer Prayer Charm', nya! It brings victory!"
"…A charm to pray for victory… with Slifer? No thanks."
If you pray to that dragon, the only thing guaranteed not to happen… is victory.