The Legendary Dragons' cards were no less appealing to Miles than the Egyptian God Cards—and that's no exaggeration.
In his memory, the strongest version of the Legendary Dragons from the anime was a card that could fuse with any other card to create a brand new power.
In simple terms, it was a legendary-level printing machine that was both convenient and reasonable.
As for whether the Legendary Dragons of the Spirit Continent functioned the same way as those in the anime, Miles couldn't yet say for sure.
Regardless, one thing was undeniable: the Legendary Dragons' cards were absolutely worth fighting for.
Pulling out all the stops was simply part of the resolve needed to become the ultimate Duelist—the Duel King.
"No problem. I can take your place in the Fusion Festival Duels, but you have to promise me one thing."
"That's what Miles said~"
Aisha repeated Miles's words word-for-word to Irene.
"That's great! Really? If you're willing, Miles, then no matter what it is, I'll promise anything!"
"That means there's one week until the Festival. Time for special training!"
"Special training?"
Beating the top second-year powerhouses wasn't going to be easy since they weren't opponents Miles could beat just by casually stepping in.
Especially after seeing Irena's Deck firsthand, Miles had come to realize just how wide the gap was in terms of Deck completeness.
The purpose of special training, first, was to help the girls further refine their Decks. For the sake of winning at the Festival, they might even include cards specifically to counter certain threats—fighting with intelligence and information warfare.
Second, Miles—who always stepped in during key moments—wanted both girls to grow stronger themselves, instead of always relying on him.
Of course, since this time it involved the Legendary Dragons' cards, Miles had to make sure things went smoothly and would step in himself.
"Oh, right, get Kevin too. If it's special training, a reliable sparring partner and teammate will be a big help."
As his rival in spirit, Miles had high hopes for Kevin's growth.
If Kevin Seth could carry a duel on his own and take a win, it would be a huge relief for Miles.
"Fine, special training it is! Miles, bring it on!"
Irene nodded eagerly, even swallowing nervously... and covertly licked her lips in anticipation.
Even though it was almost the end of the term, Fusion Academy was still holding regular classes, so the secret training sessions had to be scheduled after school.
With days packed to the brim, the week flew by.
The Fusion Festival officially opened.
The first day of the Festival was essentially reserved for free-form Club activity exhibitions.
As expected, the Magic Club's demonstration of their transformation potion and card printing theory drew everyone's attention.
Prepared in advance, President Shira even printed a card on the spot, winning thunderous applause.
Clearly, with the Magic Club's dedicated efforts over the past few months, the card printing process had become more refined and convenient. Even without Miles's level of focus and mental reinforcement, Shira was able to replicate a card with unknown effects using the copying process.
Rumor had it that after the Magic Club's demo, a major business family made a jaw-droppingly high offer to monopolize the technology, only to be politely turned down by Shira.
After all, it was Deion Kaiser of the royal family who had originally funded the experiment. Thus, any benefit from the tech must go to Kaiser's faction. Shira understood the rules of the game better than anyone.
"So basically, we wasted another semester just goofing off."
At their Club's booth, Rovik sighed helplessly, adjusting his golden glasses that glinted in the sunlight.
Back when Aisha and Kevin had just joined, President Nia had sworn that the High-Level Spirit Research Society's activity this term would be "Finding the God Cards."
Anyway, as Miles had predicted, God Cards weren't exactly roaming around like wild Pokémon.
Half the semester had gone by, and not only had they failed to find a God Card, but there wasn't even a rumor.
"Cheer up, Rovik. Look, our booth has decent traffic, right?"
Nia, cosplaying as "Chamber Dragonmaid," may have had skin a bit too tan to match the character, but in terms of... size, she was very much on point—perhaps even surpassing the original.
"So we're just using cosplay to draw attention now?"
As a member of the High-Level Spirit Society, Aisha had been forced to participate in the Club display too.
Wearing a maid outfit and a blue wig, her portrayal of "Laundry Dragonmaid" was so adorably derpy it earned her surprisingly positive reviews.
"Why am I part of this, too?"
Kevin, cross-dressed as "House Dragonmaid," looked shockingly natural.
That said, if someone from the Seth family—like Kaima or anyone else—saw him in this humiliating state... he could only pray the Club event ended before his family arrived.
As for why Rovik didn't have to suffer the same fate?
Simple: money.
He casually hired a nationally renowned team to do professional-tier Dragonmaid cosplay, blowing every other Club out of the water.
Which explained why, despite having zero actual research results, their Club booth still attracted tons of attention.
"Ren-chan, I think my wig slipped a bit. Help me fix it."
"Little Ai, you look so silly~ You really do capture the blue dummy vibe."
Not being a member of the High-Level Spirit Society, Irene had escaped the humiliating cosplay fate.
"Ren, we're here, Ren!"
"My sweet little Imouto, I missed you so much!"
"Big brothers are here!"
"Those voices?!"
Irene froze, her body trembling. Even from afar, she could clearly hear the booming voices calling out—her cheeks turned scarlet.
Three red-haired young men, extremely conspicuous in the crowd, bore some resemblance to Irene.
No need to guess: they were her three overprotective big brothers from the Austin family.
"Can you guys not be so loud at school?! It's embarrassing!"
"What can we do?! After nearly a year apart from our baby sister, who could hold back their feelings?!"
Though she escaped cosplay humiliation, Irene was ultimately defeated by her own family.
"Haha, the Austin family is as rowdy as ever. I'm starting to feel sorry for Irene."
With a gentle voice, a figure blending in among the three red-haired brothers calmly approached Aisha from behind.
Aisha turned around in delight. "Sister Alice!"
Seeing her little sister dressed as Laundry Dragonmaid, Alice covered her mouth with a soft chuckle.
"Long time no see. Aisha, how are you getting cuter and cuter~"
...
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