"Not compatible? What do you mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like."
Arms crossed, the beautiful Headmaster put on an exaggerated look of difficulty.
"With your current Decks, it's hard for the Legendary Dragons to show their full power. Especially Timaeus—the big brother of the trio—he'd be practically useless in your hands."
With that, she pulled out one of the Legendary Dragon cards.
It was the one featuring a dragon with a scratched eye.
Aisha exclaimed, "Ah! That's the card I drew earlier!"
"Yes, this one used to belong to the previous holder of the Millennium Puzzle. The fact that you drew it might be fate linking the sacred items."
"If it's fate, who cares about compatibility… just give me the card."
"I could, but you wouldn't be able to use it," the Headmaster said, hands still on her hips. "That's the problem with fate—so inconvenient. Your Deck has nothing to do with Dark Magician. Why would Timaeus choose you..."
She trailed off suddenly, her clear eyes trembling slightly, like something had interrupted her.
"What? You believe in her? You think she has the potential to be a 'Hero'?"
Now, clearly talking to someone else, she seemed to be communicating with the card itself—Timaeus.
"Don't interrupt me mid-sentence, Timaeus. You truly want to go to the one holding the Millennium Puzzle, huh? Yeah, yeah, I get it, she's someone the Pharaoh acknowledged as a Duelist."
Irene leaned over to whisper in Aisha's ear.
"Isn't this Headmaster a bit weird? She's pretending to talk to her card. Maybe she doesn't want to give up the Legendary Dragon cards and is just making excuses. They are insanely rare."
"I heard that, Irene!"
With a raised brow and a twitching ahoge, the Headmaster smirked.
"I'm not stingy. Even if you can't use the Legendary Dragons, I'll find you cards of equal rarity as substitute rewards."
"Equal to the Legendary Dragons?" Irene, completely unashamed at being overheard, grinned. "Only the Egyptian Gods could match that. Can you get those, Headmaster?"
"Not the Gods, but something close."
Her confident eyes made it hard to believe she was bluffing.
Maybe she really could pull it off.
"That said, based on the Duels from the Festival, the Legendary Dragons seem to have taken a liking to you three and decided to trust your potential."
That was why the Headmaster hadn't just given the cards to the most compatible Duelists.
Making the Legendary Dragons the prize served to apply pressure on the other academies.
Although more importantly, a Hero worthy of the Dragons had to prove themselves in a Duel so intense it earned the Dragons' approval.
And indeed, the three matches fought had met that bar.
"As I said before, of the three of you, Kevin is the only one whose Deck suits the Dragons well. Aisha, Irene—even with the cards, you likely can't draw out their full power. So I'm giving you a choice."
"A choice?"
"You can receive substitute cards just as rare as the Dragons—or face a trial Duel to prove your potential as 'Heroes.'"
"Trial Duel? Against what?" Irene asked.
"Against the Legendary Dragons themselves. If you defeat them, I'll acknowledge that you can use them."
"We can Duel the Dragons?" Aisha's ahoge curled into a question mark. "Aren't they just cards? How can cards Duel?"
"Technically, I'll be controlling the Legendary Dragon cards and Dueling on their behalf."
"Dueling the Headmaster..."
Aisha and Irene exchanged a glance and said in unison:
"We choose to Duel the Headmaster and the Legendary Dragons!"
From what little they'd gleaned, the Dragons seemed eager to come to them.
And more notably, they had won the Festival thanks to Miles' efforts. The Legendary Dragons were earned with a hard-fought victory.
Even if she offered other rare cards, there was no reason to walk away now.
"Excellent! I accept your resolve!"
She shuffled the three Legendary Dragon cards back into her Deck, and with a satisfying mechanical hiss, her Duel Disk activated.
"Rules are 1v2. Irene and Aisha versus the Legendary Dragons. Kevin, since your compatibility is fine, you'll sit this out and observe how to use the Dragons."
"Got it," Kevin only nodded.
Aisha and Irene exchanged another look and slotted their Decks into their Spirit Eyes.
"Duel!"
[Legendary Dragons (controlled by Headmaster), LP: 4000]
[Aisha & Irene, LP: 4000]
It was a 1v2 Duel, and naturally, the Headmaster took the first turn.
"My turn, draw!"
Drawing her opening card, the Headmaster's gaze locked onto Aisha.
"The Duel's begun... so are you going to show yourself? Let me see just how powerful the soul entrusted with the Millennium Puzzle really is."
"Mr. Miles!"
"Yeah."
The golden puzzle on Aisha's chest shimmered. Miles took over her body, opening his emerald eyes.
"As you wish. Let's see if I have what it takes to be a Hero worthy of the Legendary Dragons."
"This really does feel like switching with Yugi. Fascinating."
The Headmaster's lips curled into a smile, clearly excited. This was the perfect opportunity to indulge her Duel cravings.
"Let me start by showing you how to use [The Fang of Critias]. I fuse it with the Trap Card in my hand—[Mirror Force]!"
...
If you want to support, please consider Patreon, and read advanced chapters! Your support keeps this series going!
[Patreon.com/RedZTL]