Narrator:
This follows The Sutra of Vajra, which told of Adamus Jovajra and Kiyohime, names thundered through legend. Yet you need not know that tale to read this one. A million generations later, their line endures this story belongs to Prajna Jovajra, Prince of the Kingdom of Ascension.
He kept walking, barely, each step a negotiation with his own failing body. Bruises mapped his arms and ribs, sand tracked his boots, and the desert sun carved slow hollows under his cheekbones. His hair was a small, stubborn Afro; his eyes were dark brown and dulled by exhaustion. He wore the black-and-gold garb of his house: a sleeveless black shirt trimmed in gold, a large golden eye emblazoned at its center. Over loose black pants hung a tabard that fell to his knees, fastened by a sash at the waist. The golden emblem on his chest glimmered faintly beneath the dust.
"I can't believe my own brother did this," he said to himself, his voice thin. "To Mother, to Father, to our kingdom. I need to find water."
The sand gave way beneath him. He tasted metal. The world narrowed, then tilted, and he felt himself going down until nothing was left but the rasp of breath and the slow dimming of his vision.
A girl appeared at the edge of that dark, as if conjured from some mercy in the sand. Black hair, long and straight. Eyes the color of ripe oranges. Her voice reached him like a hand.
"Stay with me. Stay with me."
He let go.
When he woke, it was as if the desert had been peeled away and the world replaced. He screamed before he could stop himself.
"Brother, stop this." The words burst from his mouth without warning. He sat up, breath ragged. The room smelled faintly of wood and stew. Sunlight cut through a window and fell across a wall lined with family photographs. In one of them, a woman smiled, surrounded by thirty-five children.
He froze, torn between distance and anger. That's her, he thought. The girl who saved me.
His body still ached, every movement heavy, but he forced himself out of the bed. Each step down the stairs was a test of will. At the door he hesitated, then opened it.
The yard was not what he expected. Children worked beneath a bright, careless sky. Three of them rode a massive bull, its two heads twitching separately, its four tails sweeping like whips, wings folded against its flanks. Others chased and herded giant chickens, birds the size of houses, their steps shaking the earth as if cottages had come to life.
He stumbled, pain dragging him down again. His body was still broken.
Before he collapsed fully, she was there again the girl. She caught him with practiced ease, her black hair brushing his shoulder. He studied her face up close and thought, She's young. My age. What is she doing with all these children?
"You should go back to bed," she said firmly. "You are seriously injured. I checked your wounds. They're bad."
"I'm fine,".
"No, you are not. Trust me. I am a nurse." She said it without flourish. "My name is Seraphina."
He tried to answer, but the words came out soft. "Prajna Jovajra. Prince of the Kingdom of Ascension."
She tilted her head as if hearing a rumor for the first time. "Never heard of it. Come on. You need rest."
He tried to place where he was, then laughed hollowly. "If you haven't heard of it, I must be farther from home than I thought. Am I even in the same hyperverse?"
The children swarmed them, earnest voices piling on. "Listen to Big Sister," one said. "She's the best nurse." Another, proud, called her the strongest of them all. They pushed and pleaded until he could not refuse.
They carried him back to the bed. The children scattered to the fields again like startled birds, their laughter and shouts fading into the sunlit yard.
orange eyes catching the light with a quiet fire. A soft shade of purple lipstick colored her lips. She wore a short purple skirt that ended at mid-thigh and a white shirt cropped just above her bellybutton, the back embroidered with a single purple flower. Her nails were painted lavender, and her dark-purple boots rose into practical high heels scuffed from work but carrying her with quiet strength.
She stayed behind. Without a word, she placed a gentle hand against his ribs, studying his wounds, then carefully stitched where she could.
Then the air around her changed.
A glow spread from her fingertips, soft at first, then burning bright not fire, but a shimmer of pink energy that flared like flames. Before Prajna's widening eyes, a card floated into existence. Its edges glimmered with higher-dimensional light, bending space around it.
"I summon… the Sword of Light," she whispered. From the card emerged a radiant sword. Its hilt was crowned with a glowing heart, and along its blade danced symbols shaped like pulsing heartbeats. The weapon hovered over Prajna, suspended in the air, gleaming with compassion.
Can be skipped.
Card Name: The Sword of Light
Rank: D
A radiant weapon born from compassion, its hilt crowned with a glowing heart. The Sword of Light heals even falling enemies, mending their wounds in mid-battle with waves of luminous warmth. Though humble in rank, the card holds the potential to evolve, growing stronger with each act of mercy it performs.
End of description.
"You… you're a Summoner. A Dueler," Prajna gasped, his voice breaking through pain.
"Yes," Seraphina said, her eyes steady. "And your injuries are too severe for medicine alone. This card should heal you."
The sword lowered. Its tip touched his chest and pierced without drawing blood. Instead, warmth flooded him a rush of energy, veins had been filled with light. The fatigue and pain eased, and for the first time since the desert, he could draw a steady breath. The sword dissolved, returning to pink motes that vanished with the card.
"That's one of my best summons," Seraphina explained softly. "It doesn't fight. But it heals. And it heals well."
Prajna flexed his fingers, then sat up a little, wonder etched on his face. "I already feel stronger. Impressive… I knew you were skilled, but never would have guessed you are a Summoner? A Dueler?"
Seraphina hesitated, then looked away. "I used to be one of the best Summoners on this planet. I trained, I fought battles, I lived for it. But all of that changed."
"Why?" Prajna pressed.
"Because my family owns this farm. The king of this planet is a cruel tyrant. He demands half of everyone's crops. We couldn't pay anymore. So I stepped in I summoned my beasts, my warriors, my monsters. I fought his forces." Her hands clenched into fists. "But I lost. And for sport, the king took my parents away. Left me to run the farm and raise all these children, my siblings."
She smiled, though the smile held worry beneath it. "But it's fine. He told me we could buy them back if we worked hard enough. And today, finally… today is the day. We've earned enough."
At that moment the door creaked open. One of the younger boys burst in, breathless.
"Big sister the king's soldiers are here!"
Seraphina's face hardened, determination edged with fear. "Our freedom is finally close," she said to the children. "We'll be right back."
Prajna watched from the window as she led the kids to the gate. His body still ached, but his mind sharpened. She's a Dueler Maybe she can help me return home.
Then he heard it the rumble of many legs, the clatter of harness and axles. Out on the road a warband approached: red-skinned creatures with humanlike frames, each with four arms and a tail lashing behind them, carrying axes, blades, and spears that flashed cruelly in the sun. Giant, armored spiders harnessed like horses pulled creaking chariots and bore riders across the fields, kicking up dust and veils of web as they came.
At their head, a soldier dismounted and confronted Seraphina. He spat at the ground, and the crowd turned to look at her.
"Where's your half of the money? You know why our king sent us here."
Seraphina clutched the coins in her hand, the weight of the bag heavy with every piece they had scraped together. She stepped forward, ready to hand it over, when a thought cut through her resolve.
"Wait this was supposed to be the last payment," she said sharply. "Where are my mother and father?"
Before she could tighten her grip, one of the soldier's forearms shot out, snatching the bag from her hand.
"We ain't freeing your parents anytime soon," he sneered. "Our king says he wants more."
"What do you mean you're not giving my father and mother back?" Seraphina shouted, her voice breaking with fury. "We paid every coin, every harvest. This was the day this was supposed to be the day we earned their freedom!"
The soldier laughed, a harsh, guttural sound. "The king wants more. Your farm outproduced every other on this planet. Why stop now?"
Her orange eyes narrowed. "No more. Either my parents are returned to us today, or you get nothing."
One of the soldiers sneered and reached with his massive arms, seizing one of the smaller children by the collar. "You dare threaten us? Maybe we take another of your family make sure the job gets done."
Prajna gritted his teeth. His body screamed with pain, but his spirit burned. He could only watch as the air around Seraphina flared.
"I'm tired of playing nice," she said.
The pink energy erupted around her, flames of shimmering light. Three cards burst into being, floating before her like shards of another world.
From the first, a monstrous bull thundered into reality. Three heads bellowed in unison, tails thrashing like whips as it charged the soldiers. Its massive body struck them aside, scattering mounts and riders alike.
"I summon you, Radiant Seraphim Moth!"
Can be skipped.
Card Name: Radiant Seraphim Moth
Rank: D
Type: Summon Beast
When activated, this card summons a colossal moth with radiant pink wings, each patterned like living eyes. The creature fights on your behalf, wielding the currents of air and channeling the powers of wind and sky. Its wings carry air-based abilities and air magic, striking with impossible speed.
The Radiant Seraphim Moth can be empowered by channeling additional cards and even the essence of souls, magnifying its might beyond its base form. Though ranked D, this summon holds the potential to upgrade, evolving into a greater force of compassion and fury.
End of narration.
A butterfly of radiant pink wings erupted into the air. Each vast wing shimmered with patterns shaped like unblinking eyes, glowing as though alive. Its entire body was a blend of pink, white, and streaks of black, massive and awe-striking in size.
The creature swept upward with a single beat, then darted down with Massively FTL+ speed. In one fluid motion it tore the captured child from the soldier's grip and hurled the brute to the ground.
From the third, a blade manifested. Seraphina seized it, the heart-shaped hilt glowing in her hands. She raised it high, voice cutting like steel.
"Run back inside!"
The children scattered, sprinting toward the farmhouse as the dust filled with light, wings, and the roar of beasts.
The soldiers groaned and began to rise, their weapons glowing with rage. Two of them rushed the three-headed bull, spears driving deep into its chest. The beast bellowed, stumbled, then shattered into light, its card fragmenting to ash in Seraphina's hand.
Her jaw tightened. Sword in hand, her butterfly hovering close, she faced them down.
One soldier hesitated, whispering to another. "Oh no… it's true. They say she can summon thousands of creatures, weapons, and traps."
The leader snarled. "Don't lose your nerve. Reinforcements are coming one of our Duelers will arrive soon to deal with this peasant. Until then, charge!"
The red-skinned soldiers roared as they rushed forward. Swords sliced the air, energy blasts streaked toward her in waves of heat and light.
Seraphina stood her ground. The moment the blasts closed in, one of her hidden trap cards triggered. A pink mirror flared into existence before her, catching the energy and hurling it back threefold. The blasts smashed into their own ranks, throwing soldiers through the dirt.
The survivors pressed in. Seraphina charged to meet them. Her blade cut arcs of pink light, her butterfly soaring overhead, firing lances of radiant energy. Bodies fell, the clash of steel and the hum of magic filling the yard.
A soldier's sword cut across her cheek, drawing blood. She gasped but held her ground, slamming another trap card against her chest. The next strike landed and chains erupted from her body, wrapping around her attacker, binding him in luminous shackles.
Still, there were too many. They closed in from all sides.
Seraphina whistled sharply, and her butterfly swooped low. She leapt onto its back, wings beating as it lifted her above the swarm. The soldiers looked up, raising bows and blades.
"I need to finish this quickly," she whispered. Her eyes dropped to the glowing card still active in her hand.
Radiant Seraphim Moth, Level D Summon.
Her lips pressed into a line. One of its hidden effects shone on the card: Sacrifice other summons to amplify its strength. No limit to its growth.
Seraphina's gaze swept the farm. The creatures she had summoned for years the oxen that plowed, the birds that gathered, the machines of pink light that helped feed her siblings all of them flickered. She closed her eyes.
"I'm sorry… but I need your strength now."
The farm went still. Her summoned workers dissolved into streams of pink energy, rushing toward the butterfly. Its wings blazed, expanding until it filled the sky, a divine force of light and storm.
"Radiant Seraphim Moth!" she cried. "Ultimate attack Wind Tornado!"
The creature released a shriek, wings spinning with massively FTL+ speed. A storm erupted, winds ripping across the fields, tearing through the soldiers. Bulls and riders were lifted into the air, slammed into the earth, scattered like leaves in a storm. Some died, some lay broken and unconscious, others crawled, barely clinging to strength.
When the storm settled, the farm was silent but for the sound of Seraphina's heavy breathing atop her glowing beast.
Seraphina smiled as she saw her siblings spilling from the farmhouse, their voices rising together.
"You did it, Big Sis!"
Her relief lasted only a breath. A sudden chill pricked her skin the aura of another Dueler. She turned just in time to dodge a blade meant for her head. Steel whistled past, cutting the air.
An armored beast lunged. Seraphina's sword flashed once, and the creature split in two, vanishing into light. She tightened her grip. "A summon…"
She looked up. Floating above her were five of the king's Summoners, cloaked in flame and shadow, higher-dimensional cards orbiting their hands like hungry predators.
They descended in unison, summoning blasts of energy, hurling monsters that tore through the fields. Her butterfly surged upward, weaving and dodging as Seraphina clung tight, her siblings screaming below as their farm was ripped apart.
I have to end this… She bit her lip. Even if it takes everything, this card will take almost all my energy to summon it.
She raised a card. "I summon Pink Vortex!"
The air snapped. A spiral of pink light tore open in front of the enemy Summoners, a mouth of spinning luminescence that howled and reached with invisible fingers. Beasts, blasts, and the summoned horrors were ripped from their anchors and hurled toward the maw. Screams slashed the air as four of the Summoners vanished into the vortex, their shapes folding away and swallowed whole.
One remained. He clenched a crimson card like a last prayer and howled, "Sunstorm!" The card erupted: tiny suns boiled out of it and multiplied pale pinpricks of fire that swelled and brightened as they poured forward. The vortex drank them in, swallowing flare after flare as if feeding on light. For a time the pink spiral seemed to hold them, crazed and steady.
Then it buckled. The suns, gathered and contained, reached a critical fury. With a sound like glass and thunder, the vortex blew outward from its center. The pink spiral tore apart in a bloom of white-hot light. The vortex was unmade; the card that had birthed it shredded into motes of dust. The Summoners caught inside were gone erased.
The survivor's lips curled.
A tremendous explosion cracked the sky the gathered suns and the torn vortex collapsing into a white-hot bloom that seared the air. The shock rolled across the field and left a ringing silence in its wake.
Seraphina's butterfly faltered beneath her. The summoned beast shimmered, then thinned into drifting motes of pink light as her reserves bled away. With one last keening cry it unraveled; the card winked out and all that power snapped back into her like a bruising tide. She hung alone in the air, winded and exposed.
The last Dueler only grinned, red aura flaring hotter around him. His cards swirled in a cyclone at his back as he raised one and howled, "Double Hit!" The rune flared, and his arms swelled with unnatural strength each punch splitting into twin strikes that blurred the air with force.
He charged. Fists came in a rain: one blow became two, two became four, each impact magnified by the card's cruel doubling. Seraphina took hit after hit; blood and wind assailed her until her knees gave. She plummeted from the sky, the pink flames around her guttering as exhaustion and pain finally claimed her.
Seraphina hit the ground hard. Her breath came shallow, her pink flames guttering out. The Dueler hovered above, red fire curling from his body, his cards circling like vultures.
Her siblings ran from the farmhouse, surrounding her with small, shaking arms. "Don't hurt our sister!" they cried.
The Dueler laughed, his red cards orbiting faster. He plucked one and thrust it forward. A circle of flame erupted, and from it rose a towering ogre. Its body was stone and scar, its eyes glowing like molten lava.
"I'll end this with one strike!" the Dueler bellowed. The ogre's eyes blazed, gathering a blast strong enough to crack the sky.
Seraphina closed her eyes. She was too weak to stop it.
Then a voice rang out:
"I summon, the Shield of Judgment!"
Can be skipped.
Card Name: The Shield of Judgment
Rank: C
Type: Weapon and shield
When activated, this card summons a massive black-and-gold shield that protects its user with unyielding force. The shield can grow in size, expanding to guard against assaults ranging from single strikes to destruction on a galactic scale.
Special Ability: The Shield of Judgment absorbs the energy of every attack it endures, storing the gathered force within. At any moment, this energy can be unleashed back at the opponent, turning their own power against them.
If the shield is shattered, the card returns to the user. All the energy required to destroy it—no matter how great flows back into the summoner, granting them the strength to call forth a stronger card or wield that energy as they see fit.
End of description.
Light poured over her, golden and unyielding. She opened her eyes and beheld it a massive black-and-gold shield, floating before her with a radiant card shimmering below it.
The ogre's blast struck, but the shield did not falter. The attack shattered like water against stone, its power swallowed whole.
Seraphina gasped. "Who… did this?"
She turned and there he stood. Prajna, leaning but unbroken, golden light framing his presence. Flames of gold wrapped around his body, his eyes blazing with the Tenshi no Me, Angel Eyes.
"I've seen enough," he said, his voice echoing across the battlefield. "This duel ends here."
The king's Dueler snarled, disbelief twisting his features. "Impossible! That shield… my beast is a D-level card it has the power to destroy planets! How is it not enough… to break it?"
Prajna raised his hand. The golden card in his grasp flared brighter, light pouring from it.
The ogre roared, its massive club crashing again and again against the black-and-gold shield. But Prajna's gaze remained steady.
"Your attack isn't working," he said evenly. "Because my card is C-level. One of its effects is to absorb all energy especially magic. And your ogre is a magic monster."
The Dueler's face drained of color. How… how does he have a C-level card without making a sacrifice? Who is this man? Wait… that symbol on his shirt… could he be from that family?
Panic bled into desperation. If he is… then I need to upgrade. I need more energy I need to summon a C-rank monster. But I've already spent so much power throughout this battle.
His eyes swept the field. Fallen soldiers littered the ground like discarded pieces. His lips curled into a grin.
"Perfect. Those soldiers will be the perfect sacrifice," the Dueler whispered. "More energy… for me. But hopefully it does not have to come to that. Try one more move. Put everything into this."
He poured his remaining will into the ogre. The beast drew breath and conjured a massive ball of crackling energy, a roaring sun of violence held between its hands. Seraphina and the children screamed, in terror. Prajna stood like a statue, golden fire licking his skin, eyes calm like two golden Suns.
As the energy ball hurtled toward them, Prajna raised his hand. The Shield of Judgment swelled, lengthening and widening until it matched the size of the incoming sphere. The orb smashed into the black-and-gold face of the shield and disappeared, its fury swallowed whole as if poured into a bottomless well.
"Impossible," the Dueler choked, watching his power vanish. Even the king's retinue stared, mouths open. Seraphina and the children could only stare, stunned by the sight of Prajna's golden flames.
Prajna lifted his hand higher. With a single motion the shield released everything it had taken every scrap of stolen force flipped and returned. The gathered energy burst outward, focused into a lance of light that looked like thunder, shooting out the energy of Dharma. It struck the ogre dead center, piercing through the creature's skull. The lance did not stop there. It tore upward, a spear of raw, righteous force that streaked past the battlefield, cleaving through sky and space. Suns and planets along its path shattered, destroyed and burned before the beam finally detonated in a cataclysmic explosion beyond the stars.
The ogre disintegrated. The Dueler was flung from what remained of his summon, his card burning bright, then vanishing erased from His dimension. He hit the ground hard, coughing, his robes singed. He spat toward them, crawling backward. "It is not over!" he gasped, voice ragged.
"It is over," Prajna said, cold and precise. "Leave this farm. Leave this family. Or meet your end.
The Dueler laughed through blood. "I cannot return empty-handed. The king demands she be brought to him alive!" He stared at Prajna, fear and fury bleeding together as his energy drained away.
Distantly, the sound of boots rose: soldiers, a tide of troops spilling over the rise. The Dueler's face brightened. Perfect. He could use them now.
Swords were raised; energy crackled along blades. Magical cannons, enchanted bows, and sword-borne energy blasts all fixed on the farmhouse and the people huddled beneath Prajna's expanding shield.
Prajna's card held firm, the Shield of Judgment swelling into a broad dome that covered the yard. The Dueler rushed among his men, eyes burning with a new, terrible calm. "I don't have enough energy to summon my true ace," he admitted, voice low. "But don't worry I have a plan. And you lot are perfect for it."
"What do we do?" one soldier asked, voice trembling.
"Sacrifice yourselves," the Dueler said simply. The soldiers stepped back, horror on their faces. "No please, don't use that technique!" someone cried.
"It's too late," the Dueler snapped, his grin like a blade. "You knew what being a pawn meant when you work for a Dueler." He raised a card. Light ripped from it, a cold, hungry beam that scooped the soldiers up. Their bodies flared into pure energy and light souls and sparks drawn screaming into the card's maw.
They struggled, but the power poured in like water into a cauldron. The Dueler's grin widened as red flames coiled around him, his Dueler's energy condensing into a single crimson card.
"I summon King Ogre!" he roared.
The ground split with a sound like a world breaking. From the card surged a massive ogre, its skin a deep green, a crown blazing upon its head. In its hands it gripped a colossal club forged from cosmic energy, pulsing with storms. The sky darkened at its arrival, lightning tearing across the heavens as winds howled.
The Dueler hovered above the titan like a god, red flames whipping around his body. He pointed down with a snarl.
"Smash that shield!"
The King Ogre's club came down in a single, thunderous blow. The impact shattered Prajna's shield black and gold splintering like glass and a shockwave rolled across the farm. Dust and debris whipped through the yard.
When the air cleared, Prajna still stood, golden flames rippling around him, a living barrier protecting the children and Seraphina though the physical shield was gone. Only the card lay on the ground, smoking and intact.
The Dueler hovered above, triumphant and snarling. "It's finished," he taunted. "You summon a C-level defense that's impressive. But it can't handle a sea-level strike. I called my strongest: King Ogre, the mightiest monster from my dimension. I was supposed to bring Seraphina back alive, but you made me angry. Now I'll finish you all."
He barked the order, and the ogre raised its cosmic club for the killing blow.
Something bright sparked where the card lay. The golden card flared, then shot into Prajna's body. His golden flames roared outward, surging higher and brighter than before. His golden eye the Tenshi no Me, Angel Eyes flared open, radiating unbearable light.
All the energy that had been poured into breaking the shield now burned within him, absorbed completely. Prajna stood renewed, every breath heavy with power.
Prajna breathed, calm and low, "Thanks for the energy." He spoke two more words, and the ground beneath them began to shift and ripple. "Dimension Ascension."
Higher-dimensional geometry uncoiled into the air floating squares, shifting colors, edges that should not exist. The battlefield warped into Prajna's domain: new laws, new scales, a world he shaped for the instant. The King Ogre staggered, its form strained by rules that did not permit it to function. The Dueler's confidence flickered to dread.
Seraphina watched with a stunned flare of hope. He can use Dimension Ascension… he's truly a Dueler. She thought of all the ways he might help her grow.
Prajna's voice was low and terrible.
"You're lucky I'm still injured. Right now, my higher-dimensional essence only reaches the 5th dimension. If I weren't wounded, I'd raise it further to a plane so high that you'd be erased outright, crushed beneath dimensional pressure you could never endure."
With a flex of will, he forced the realm itself to constrain the King Ogre. From the wreckage of his shattered shield, power still lingered energy released by the blow that destroyed it. Prajna seized that power and channeled it into a single summon.
"I summon you: Holy Knight of Light."
Can be skipped.
Card Name: Holy Knight of Light
Rank: C+
Type: Warrior (Light / Dark)
When activated, this card summons a towering knight in black-and-purple armor trimmed with gold, its body ringed with spiked pauldrons and gilded barbs. It wields a black-purple blade that bleeds violet energy and swings streaks of holy white-gold and abyssal purple in the same stroke; a rotating halo of light pierced by black-and-gold spikes surrounds the knight. No magic can bind, dispel, or control this warrior it is effectively immune to common spellwork and instead can absorb hostile energies. The Holy Knight fires concentrated beams of holy and dark power and, when fed enormous energy (by sacrifice, returned shield energy, or domain feedback), can output force at a scale to destroy galaxies. It may be equipped with weapon cards, whose properties fuse into the Knight's strikes, and its strength multiplies dramatically when lesser summons or poured energy are sacrificed into it.
End of description.
Black, purple, and gold radiance gathered and solidified into the form of a towering knight. His blade was black trimmed with violet, glowing with raw purple energy. Upon his arm coalesced the very shield that had been broken before the Shield of Judgment. A warrior card, C+ rank, forged from has attacker energy, returned energy.
The Dueler's eyes widened. "Your energy has triple …. No! How?"
Prajna answered coldly. "Because my shield carried a special ability. Any power used to destroy it returns to me."
The Dueler snarled. "I tried to be merciful destroying only your summon, not this entire planet. I aimed my energy skyward to spare your world. But now…" His voice broke into rage. "Now you will meet your doom. This attack you won't dodge it will engulf the entire battlefield!"
King Ogre's massive hand tightened on his cosmic club. "If you unleash that here, the planet will shatter!"
Prajna's golden eye blazed. "Not in Dimension Ascension. Here, all destruction is contained."
He roared to his summon:
"Holy Knight of Light destroy them completely! Use Holy Light of Destruction!"
The knight's sword ignited, blazing with golden brilliance. A torrent of sacred radiance swept forth, colliding with the Ogre's swing of its colossal club. But the knight's strike carried more than Prajna's energy it bore the combined might of everything the Dueler had poured into King Ogre, magnified and unleashed.
With one devastating stroke, the Holy Knight cleaved through both Ogre and master. A cataclysm followed, an explosion vast enough to erase galaxies yet perfectly bound within the cage of Dimension Ascension, leaving the world untouched.
When the light faded, King Ogre and Dueler was gone, destroyed utterly. Only the Dueler's trembling sphere of energy remained.
Prajna raised his hand and snapped his fingers. Reality folded. The higher realm unraveled. The 5th dimension dissolved. In an instant, the battlefield returned to normal.
Only Prajna stood victorious.
Silence fell like a sheet. The farmhouse stood, scarred but upright. Children rushed toward Prajna, faces alight with childish awe. "Thank you! That was amazing how did you change the world?" they gushed.
Seraphina hurried over, eyes shining. "Thank you. You saved us." She helped him steady himself. He swayed; the strain showed in the tightness of his breath. "It's nothing," he managed. "Let's get you all inside."
As they crossed toward the doorway, Seraphina paused at the Dueler's last place of fall. A flicker of light pulsed where his essence had been an orb of condensed Dueler's power, a little universe of cards suspended in the air. Instinct took her. She reached out and drew it in. The Dueler's cards and part of his essence flowed into her new summons, new marks of power nesting against her own. She felt the weight and the danger of it, but also the fierce usefulness. She absorbed all of it into her. Increasing the size of her dimension inside of her.
Can be skipped.
Narration.
Duelers and Summoners: when you claim your first card, you gain a tiny dimension. With each card and summon that dimension grows a world, then a universe, then a multiverse, and for the greatest, a hyperverse. These are divine powers, not mere magic: true acts of creation that reshape reality itself. When you defeat another Summoner or Dueler, you can seize their cards and a shard of their essence, folding those realities into your own. Those stolen or born-with cards are not tokens; they are whole, living realms nested inside the wielder monsters, traps, soldiers, even outer gods ready to be called at will. Beyond creatures, a master can summon abilities and tactical "hacks," raw powers, abstract concepts made flesh, entire armies, weapon systems, or new laws of physics to enforce a battle. Some are born with cards by bloodline; others win them by fighting, sealing foes into their pocket-realms. Cards can also spring from need: emotion, faith, sacrifice, or sheer will can birth a new reality to answer its master.
End of narration.
One lone soldier, bloodied and badly shaken, scrambled to his feet at the edge of the field. "You'll pay for this!" he barked, then ran, vanishing into the heat haze on the road off to tell the King.
Prajna, Seraphina, and her siblings went inside. The children crowded around Prajna, voices bubbling with wonder. "That was amazing! I thought our sister's summons and Dueler power were strong, but you you're on a whole new level."
Seraphina smiled, cheeks still streaked with dust and blood. "Not many Duelers can use Dimension Ascensions," she said. "I haven't mastered it." She looked at Prajna with a hopeful, sudden intensity. "Can you teach me?"
Prajna winced as he shifted his weight. He had no illusions. That soldier will run back to the King, he thought. They'll come with more troops. I'm still weak. But with two Duelers we might have a chance. He nodded. "Yes. I can teach you. We don't have a choice."
Pink light gathered in Seraphina's hands. She produced the healing card again two this time and the blades hovered in the air, humming with gentle energy. When a stray shard of metal from the fight nicked her, both blades slid into the wound to seal it, glowing softly as they stitched flesh and eased the ache in her bones.
Prajna exhaled, steadying his breath. His strength remained diminished, his body heavy with injuries that no quick spell could erase. "Let's get some sleep," he said. "We begin training tomorrow. Who knows how long until they return with vengeance?"
"I'll be ready," Seraphina answered, her voice brave.
"Good," Prajna replied, his golden gaze settling on the children. "Because eventually, we're going to storm that castle. And I will get your parents back. I promise you that."
Seraphina looked at him in shock. Who is this guy? she thought. I've never felt energy like this. Then, aloud, she murmured, "Those men we fought… they were nothing compared to the King and his top warriors. His Duelers."
ChatGPT said:
Prajna said, "I fear no one."
A small boy hopped into Prajna's lap, eyes wide. "You're really going to save our parents?" he asked.
"Yes," Prajna replied, voice steady. "Even if it is the last breath I take."
The boy grinned and announced, "Sis says your new boyfriend is awesome."
Seraphina snorted, embarrassed. "He is not my boyfriend. I just met this stranger. He's a good man." She looked around at the children. "It's time for you all to go to sleep."
The boy stayed curled in Prajna's lap, but his eyes remained wide. "I don't wanna go to sleep yet," he said stubbornly. "Can you tell me about that thing you did outside? All those weird shapes… the way the world started to bend and change. That… Dimension Ascension."
Another child chimed in eagerly. "Yeah, that was pretty cool. I was even floating!"
A third piped up, grinning. "I've seen my sister try to use that power before but she's not that good at it."
Prajna smiled despite himself. He explained slowly, so the children could follow. "Dimension Ascension is a technique only a few can use. You shape the reality around you change its rules, its dimensionality. Duelers and Summoners use it to make a domain where they can fight without worrying about collateral damage… or, if they choose, to press a foe into a place they cannot survive. The pressure, the new laws, it's like being inside a different world."
One of the kids frowned. "Then why didn't we feel it? Why didn't we suffer the pressure?"
Prajna's voice dropped protective and steady. "You didn't notice because I protected you. My Ascension can carve a safe space that shields friends and innocents."
Can be skipped.
Narration: Dimension Ascensions.
Dimension Ascensions are a rare power. A Dueler or Summoner makes a domain whose size and reach depend on how much energy they pour into it. It can be finite or, if enough energy is given, effectively infinite. Inside that domain the user rewrites dimensionality and physical law: they can create a protected battlefield that spares innocents, shield planets or even multiverses, or raise the dimensional pressure until anyone who cannot survive it is erased. The higher the energy, the higher the dimensionality, and the greater the effect protection or annihilation, depending on the will that shapes it.
End of narration.
Seraphina moved quietly from child to child, pulling blankets up beneath their chins, smoothing hair, and whispering soft words until each one settled. One by one, the children closed their eyes, the sounds of the house growing still.
At last, everyone was tucked into bed. The little ones slept soundly, Seraphina resting nearby, and even Prajna allowed his tired body to sink into the quiet of the night.
But outside, the calm did not last. The lone soldier who had seen it all was already racing down the dark road, hurrying toward the palace to deliver the news to the king.