By the end of this duel, Aster was practically out of his mind.
No—not just this duel. Lately, nothing felt normal.
Sartorius's prophecies had been broken again—something that hadn't happened in all these years, but had now occurred three times in a row.
First, the duel with the Revolver. Sartorius foretold a complete victory, yet in hindsight it felt more like a complete defeat. That Chariot card seemed far more fitting for the opponent.
Next, the Pro League duel against Zane Truesdale. He believed Sartorius's nonsense again, about how victory was guaranteed by destiny. In the end, he didn't even get to use his real deck before being pinned down, losing like a clown.
Then there was today's match at Duel Academy against Jaden. Another total disaster. Sartorius's prophecy was once again hot air—he foretold nothing; reality didn't match his words at all.
By this point, Aster's long-standing trust in Sartorius—and in "destiny"—had completely collapsed.
Destiny? Destiny my ass.
And it wasn't just that he lost—it was how bizarrely he lost.
First the duel with the Revolver was a festival of ritual, dark gas, bird cages, and NTR—utter nonsense. Then against Zane, the guy laser-focused on countering his Elemental HEROes with Future Fusion and De-Fusion and Warrior Elimination, culminating in Cyber Dragons eating his Shining Phoenix Enforcer alive...
And now today's duel with Jaden, a pure disaster. Every time he made a big boss, the opponent just tossed down Grand Mole to bop it back to hand. And then out of nowhere Jaden whipped out a dumb Aqua Dolphin that wiped his hand clean; by the end he literally had no plays...
For the first time since he became who he is, Aster felt lost.
Times have changed? Am I the one who's fallen behind?
Is this what dueling is like now? (PS: It's the new Duel King era. Of course, the Meta will change. Hehe!)
"I won!" Jaden chirped. "That was a really fun duel!"
The finishing blow was inspired—a hammer to Aster's chest. He nearly spat blood.
Something's wrong. Definitely wrong!
My destiny is cursed!
Kira, however, thought the outcome was entirely expected.
After all, Jaden had already obtained Neo-Spacian power. From a deckbuilding perspective, Jaden's deck used to be a pile of Elemental "trash" HEROes plus a bunch of bespoke spells and traps. Now he'd also mixed in a whole system that had nothing to do with the rest—and more bespoke spells and traps—pushing the piloting difficulty from "hell" to something inhuman. Normally, that should be a nerf.
But you can't judge the anime world by common sense. By mixing in a whole unrelated system, Jaden's deck actually became more versatile. Plus, a bunch of cosmic spirits joined him, elevating his "destiny power" to a level incomparable to before.
Not to mention Jaden had been around Kira long-term, soaking up his influence. The moment he got the new cards he immediately spotted the Neo-Spacian dynamic duo with the most firepower—Mole Bro and Dolphin Bro.
Dolphin Bro needs no introduction—he was heavily nerfed on the real card. In the anime, he has no "once per turn" on his discard-and-peek, and the fused Aqua Neos can nuke two from the opponent's hand—enough to make even the sunny Mr. M. from back in the day give a big thumbs-up.
Mole Bro's reputation is even bigger. Even in the real card meta he earned honors on the banlist. From the moment he saw play he was a staple across many decks; at his peak, practically everyone jammed one copy of Grand Mole.
No mystery: you slam it down, bounce the opponent's boss to hand, and effortlessly recoup all the resource investment they made to summon it. It doesn't get destroyed by battle, returns to your hand, and you can reuse it next turn. Before the game sped up, it was an obviously strong, anti-fun beater with zero reason not to include.
Aster might be a little anti-fun himself for a while...
But it didn't matter. The shard of Light lodged in Aster's deck had already been shattered by Kira's own hand, severing his direct connection to the Light of Destruction. On top of that, his faith was now shaken. As Sartorius's strongest enforcer, this chess piece was basically out of play.
Over at the Academy, the students led by Jaden were clearly seasoned enough to handle Sartorius's offensive.
What surprised Kira was that, later that same day, Sartorius's sister, Sarina, reached out.
Not the Revolver, but the Duel King, Fujiki Kira himself. And not in the real world either, but via his Link System.
She wanted to meet Kira in the Link System's virtual world.
Though it looked like an enemy officer's invitation, Kira actually knew that while Sarina seemed like another powerful pawn of Sartorius, she wasn't, not really. He knew from the original story that she was already aware something had gone wrong with her brother.
After all, both siblings weren't ordinary—Sarina was born with special abilities too. She had sensed that an evil force had taken over her brother, but also realized her own power couldn't oppose it. So she'd continued to feign loyalty to Sartorius while secretly looking for allies who could free him.
That's why, in the original, she sought duels with Jaden and Aster—merely to test their strength.
Kira figured she was seeking him now for the same reason.
So, the person she told the Revolver she was going to find at the Academy turned out to be him...
Kira didn't waste words. At the agreed time, he logged into the Link System and, unsurprisingly, met Sarina.
No ambush. No one else. Just her alone, in a kimono, like she'd stepped from a painting, calmly waiting.
"You've come."
Sarina stood, Duel Disk already on her arm.
"I'm here."
Kira nodded and revealed his Duel Disk.
"You want to use a duel to observe my destiny, don't you?"
Sarina looked a bit surprised, then smiled faintly.
"You really are as the rumors say—an extraordinary man, Duel King... Yes. That makes things simple."
Both Duel Disks unfolded.
"Duel!" x2
[Kira, LP 4000]
[Sarina, LP 4000]
"I'll take the first move. Draw."
Sarina drew and immediately summoned the monster she'd drawn.
"I summon 'Silver Spirit Ukyo' in Attack Position."
A transparent whirlwind rose on Sarina's field. From the storm, a masked, ninja-like shikigami appeared and landed lightly.
[Silver Spirit Ukyo, ATK 800]
It was a monster Sarina used in the original: Level 3, with middling stats and effects. But Kira vaguely remembered it was part of some original-series archetype, with plenty of dedicated support—one of those lines like Dark Magician or Blue-Eyes where the base body looks weak but the derivative power is vast.
"Next, I activate the Continuous Spell 'Full Moon Mirror'!"
Her second card hit the zone. A strange green sphere appeared on her field, covered in tightly shut eyes; above it floated a black, ghostly cloak holding a bright, reflective circular mirror.
The art was eerie—obviously some trickiness involved. But Sarina didn't explain; after activating it, she set two more cards.
"Finally, I set two cards and end my turn."