After the consecutive double attacks, Kevin, who still hadn't managed to summon the Red-Eyes Black Dragon in his hand, set his cards down and ended his turn.
"It's over, Aisha Carlos. Your life is but a flickering candle in the wind!"
"Heh, Kevin, this flickering candle's 100 LP... will be the wall you can never overcome."
Miles began his turn.
"My turn! Draw!"
With the clutch buff of being on the verge of defeat—the so-called Last Flame Kill—Miles, already blessed with uncanny luck, hit his peak.
The card flashed, trailing a streak of light that signaled hope.
Aisha said, "Mr. Miles, that card is—!"
"Yeah, it's our key to a comeback, Aisha." Miles glanced at the card with a confident smile. "It's also proof of how hard you've fought to reach this point."
"Mr. Miles..."
Even Aisha, watching from within, was moved by the card Miles had drawn in their most critical turn.
"Let's use this card to win it all!"
"Right!"
"I set a card, then activate the Spell Card Exchange!"
This D-rank Spell Card, Exchange, was one that Aisha had painstakingly earned by working hard for credits outside of Duels for half a semester before she could finally craft it.
Now, that very Spell Card would shine brighter than ever in this moment—in the most important Duel of her life.
Hope, earned through the will to never give up.
"By this Spell's effect, we exchange hands, Kevin."
"Impossible!"
Kevin made his most exaggerated and shocked expression yet.
When their hands were revealed, it was obvious: Miles's hand was full of Aisha's usual low-power, useless monsters. Kevin could pick anything.
But in Kevin Seth's hand... was the legendary card.
"Hand it over, Kevin. I'm taking your Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
He nearly ground his teeth to dust in frustration, yet no matter how unwilling he was, Kevin couldn't defy the Spell's effect.
Under the eyes of the crowd, Kevin's ace—Red-Eyes Black Dragon—was taken by the bottom-ranked Aisha, and in return, he got a worthless monster from her hand.
No one had words. Everyone just looked at each other in stunned silence.
"That's not power you can control, Aisha Carlos!"
Kevin finally broke the silence.
"To Tribute Summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon, you need two monsters! You don't even have one on the field!"
One normal summon per turn. Aisha had no monsters on her field. Kevin was right: she didn't meet the summon requirements.
"Getting your hands on power beyond your means is useless!"
"You've been yapping non-stop since just now. Annoying, Kevin."
"You…"
Kevin was completely speechless. Never in his life at Fusion Academy had he been mocked like this.
And worst of all, it was by the perennial bottom-ranked, soon-to-be-expelled girl—Aisha.
"My victory formula is already complete."
Miles flipped the card he'd set before activating Exchange.
He had deliberately set it early so Kevin couldn't snatch it during the exchange.
"With this card, we sound the final horn of counterattack! Spell Card activate: Tri-Wight!"
Aisha's only C-rank Spell Card.
It could only be activated with Level 2 or lower Normal Monsters without effects—pure weaklings.
"A so-called elite like Kevin Seth, who only uses Level 3+ monsters, would never give this card a second look. But this, Kevin, is the way of battle for the so-called trash you look down on!"
The monsters returned from the Graveyard by its effect.
Unlike normal summons, Special Summons could be done any number of times per turn—one by one, the so-called "trash" Kevin had personally destroyed returned to Aisha's field:
[Mokey Mokey, DEF: 100]
[Crowned by the World Chalice, DEF: 2100]
[Hourglass of Life, DEF: 600]
Normally, Kevin wouldn't have even batted an eye at these monsters.
But now, he couldn't say that.
Because everyone knew what was in Aisha's hand right now.
A blinding white Tribute glow lit the field, connecting to the card Miles was about to play.
"I Tribute [Mokey Mokey] and [Hourglass of Life] to summon!"
"Black flame dragon, born of sky and earth, bring us victory!"
The two monsters turned into beams of sacrificial light and soared into the sky, coalescing into the form of a massive black dragon.
And so, the legend descended.
"—Tribute Summon! Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
[Red-Eyes Black Dragon] Level 7│DARK│Dragon│2400 ATK
"ROOOOAAR!!"
With a sky-shattering roar, black flames scorched the land, and black wings blocked out the heavens.
The legendary Red-Eyes Black Dragon appeared at Fusion Academy's Duel field in a way no one ever expected.
"This... this can actually happen?"
Miss Erin's cigarette fell from her mouth in sheer disbelief.
"Aisha summoned the Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
"The legendary black dragon, summoned not by Kevin... but by her?!"
Everyone present was stunned.
Most of them had hoped to see Red-Eyes summoned during this Duel.
It happened as expected... and yet completely unexpectedly.
The one who summoned Red-Eyes Black Dragon wasn't the top student, Kevin Seth, but the bottom-ranked, soon-to-be-expelled girl, Aisha Carlos.
"Now the tide's completely turned, Kevin!"
A girl commanding a black dragon, her silver-white bob fluttering in the black firelight—Standing beneath the burning dragon of shadow, Miles saw only one thing: victory.
"Attack, Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Burn everything in your sight!"
Miles targeted Kevin's face-up [Dragon Statue].
Which had already been weakened by [Nitwit Outwit], reducing its ATK by 700.
[Dragon Statue, ATK: 400]
[Red-Eyes Black Dragon, ATK: 2400]
"—Inferno Fire Blast!"
The dragon roared. A torrent of black fire shot from its jaws like a nuclear blast, obliterating Kevin's monster, his field, and Kevin Seth himself.
"Aaaaaaaaaarghhhhhh!!"
[Kevin, LP: 2000 → 0]
Victory in the first match!
***
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