"AAAAAAAAAAH—!"
As the 5000 Life Points dropped to zero in an instant, the temporary body formed by the Millennium Ring fused with Irena's soul was almost completely purified by the blade of the Master of Chaos's Judgement.
"Impossible! How dare you, dare you!!"
Seething with impotent rage, she pressed a hand to her flat chest, cut by the blade, yet even so, the white-haired loli could not suppress the leak from the gap in her soul.
On one hand, the soul stolen from Irena returned bit by bit; on the other, her own soul suffered damage as a result of losing the Shadow Game.
The delicate, cute cheeks of the little girl contorted from expression acting into true agony.
Meanwhile, the Spirit Eyes upon her slender arm dimmed further, returning to their original owner the fairy soul taken from Irena by the power of the Sacred Beasts.
"The power of the soul has recovered, Miles. You can give me back my body now."
"Mm… before that."
If Miles remembered correctly, the Shadow Game was about to enter its most thrilling reward phase.
Swish—!
The cards contained within the white-haired loli's Spirit Eyes deck scattered and fluttered through the air, just as Barrier Mage Megan's had after her defeat.
According to the basic rules of the Shadow Game on the Spirit Continent, the victor of the duel may take one card from the defeated side.
Miles, of course, would not stoop to the Millennium Ring's underhanded tactic of plucking away the opponent's Spirit Eyes after winning a Dark Duel.
Frankly, he could not think what use he would have for the Spirit Eyes even if he did.
They were just duel disks on the Spirit Continent, after all.
Rare cards held far more value than duel disks.
Irena's witch body no longer possessed Irene's reaction speed or dynamic vision, and so could not discern the exact card she wanted from among those fluttering everywhere.
But a witch has her own methods.
"—FubuteUbcabtaten!!'"
At the utterance of the Stop Defense spell incantation, the whirling cards froze in midair under Time Stop, awaiting Miles's choice.
Stunned, Irena cried out again and again, "How...how do you know the incantation for Stop Defense? Were you a magician in your past life?"
That notion sounded wrong no matter how you said it.
As for the incantation, Miles had understood the moment Irena chanted the first spell when revealing her deck.
Isn't that like a Hogwarts spell?
Back when he was a chūnibyō teen, Miles had often imitated the incantations from the Harry Potter novels.
With a few simple classical spells and the proficiency imprinted in Irena's DNA, even Miles himself could cast them.
"I'm getting more and more intrigued by you, Miles. You really are someone with a story~"
Sorry, senpai. Miles clearly cared more about cards than girls.
The forty cards paused in midair before Miles nearly dazzled him.
Their rarity was astonishing… built around Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder, the deck included A-rank spells like Raigeki and Pot of Greed.
It even contained Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder himself.
And Darkness Neosphere, with both 4000 Attack and Defense, which cannot be destroyed by battle.
Yet none of these seemingly "wonderful" "powerful" cards compared to that one card…
Of course!
Card of Demise!
After the Millennium Ring had played that card, no other rare card mattered.
Who could resist the allure of one card for five?
Even if there was a tiny "side effect" (which there wasn't).
Among the forty cards frozen, Miles carefully searched and finally found his longed-for target.
According to the rules of the Shadow Game, the victor of the duel may take one card from the loser. But since this duel was a 1v2 tag duel, could he take one card for each of them?
Not knowing the rule, Miles dared not act rashly.
However, no matter what, he had to take the Card of Demise.
And not for himself.
"Here—Aisha!"
He flung the floating Card of Demise into Aisha's waiting hand.
"H-Hey?! For m-me?"
Caught off guard, Aisha hurriedly caught the Card of Demise.
You don't let outsiders benefit when there's treasure to be had. Even if Miles now resided within Irena's body, free-riding the acquisition of a rare card had to favor his primary host.
Had he been able to take a second card, he might have spared a thought for Irena.
Thinking this, Miles reached for the second suspended card.
Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder
One of the Three Sacred Beasts… if he could take this card and make it tradable, what chaos would ensue? Miles even felt a small thrill.
Perhaps it could become the next prized possession of the High-Level Spirit Research Society. At least it would deal a double blow to the Millennium Ring, reliant on the Sacred Beasts' power.
However, the rule for acquiring cards through the Shadow Game on the Spirit Continent was stubbornly strict—The moment Miles touched the Beast card, the entire deck vanished to another dimension, just as Megan's had.
It seemed that even in a 1v2 tag duel, Miles could take only one card.
'Good thing I grabbed Card of Demise first.'
Glancing at the vanished cards, Miles breathed a silent sigh of relief.
With the boundary of the Shadow Game dispelled, the defeated Millennium Ring's white-haired form melted away, revealing the true appearance of Luca Slint's body.
Yet Miles, as a Duel Spirit, sensed that this white-haired girl figure was merely a soul appearance gained by the Millennium Ring when inhabiting Luca's body.
In other words, not the real Luca Slint.
The true Luca Slint must still be in Fusion Academy.
But although not Luca herself, nothing prevented Miles from delivering judgment since he had promised the Pharaoh not to let the Millennium Item fall into unworthy hands.
Thus, having judged the Millennium Ring as "evil," it was his duty to reclaim it.
Even after the Dark Duel ended in a stalemate of life points, Aisha and Irena's vessel was already battered, but the Millennium Ring's injuries were far more severe. And because the Shadow Game inflicted real damage to souls, it was like a critical hit added to the special attack of a Duel Spirit.
Unable even to rise, the battle-worn little girl could only claw at the ground, trying to move away from the advancing Miles.
"Oh, you were the one who chose to approach me. Now you want to run away? Don't forget that holders of Millennium Items are fated to attract one another. Even if you try to escape, you can't."
Staggering toward the Millennium Ring, Miles's face wore a sinister half-smile that sent chills down the defeated loli's back.
"Y-You—you—you—don't come any closer! STOP!"
"The other me!"
A massive figure, black and red merged, charged forward in an instant.
"Hold on tight!"
From the distant sky, Luca Slint herself leapt onto the shoulder of the materialized Queen Angel of Roses and sprinted into the battlefield.
Then, before anyone could react, she used the speed of a Duel Monster to whisk away her immobile Duel Spirit.
"Damn, can they even do that?"
Her host rescued her Duel Spirit in this way, leaving Miles—also a Duel Spirit yet unable to manifest independently—in disbelief.
He wanted to pursue them at once, but neither Irena's body nor Aisha had any strength left after the Shadow Game.
Miles could only glare skyward as Luca Slint flew ever farther away.
"I didn't expect you to come save me, Luca. You haven't answered my summons this whole time."
As the defeated loli's soul state dissipated, the Millennium Ring once again took the form of a Duel Spirit that hung around Luca's chest.
"What nonsense are you talking about? How could I abandon another me? Didn't we promise to use absolute power to change this continent's twisted rules and create a new paradise?"
Despite her string of misfortune and being left to fend for herself, Luca showed no complaint, her light-blue eyes gazing at the distant sky brimming with determination.
"Let's go back. If the truth is exposed, Fusion Academy—and this country—can no longer hold us."
If she stayed at Fusion Academy any longer, exposure as a Shadow Duelist would likely lead to legal punishment even if she didn't lose the Millennium Ring.
"At least by awakening another Sacred Beast from Irena's Soul Sacrifice, this journey wasn't in vain. Let's head back to Xyz Academy."
Without looking back, Luca intended to fly across the border, the only regret being her favorite dolls and decorations in the dorm that she would never retrieve.
Yet in the next second, a burst of white light tore across the sky, shattering Luca's innocent fantasies.
"So eager to go, where do you think you're going?"
Before Luca stood the blinding beam from the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and atop its back, arms crossed, exuding arrogance, stood Kaima Seth, blocking her path.
"Do you think I'll let you escape? Set aside your childish dreams. After what you've done, the only judgment that awaits you is the law of the land. A prison, not Xyz Academy, is where you belong."
Unlike the battered Aisha and Irena after the Shadow Game, Kaima, who had remained outside the Shadow Game, was in perfect condition.
"Even you stand against me? Then I have no choice!"
Riding on the angel's shoulder, Luca broke into a cold sweat yet activated her Spirit Eyes.
"The way of the Duelist decides everything—come on!"
"Duel!"
...
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