"Miles, just who are you, really?"
The manifestation of Kurikara Divincarnate had already fully proven that the deck Miles was using was unquestionably Aisha's deck.
This was not something that could be achieved through a simple classmate relationship, a senpai–kouhai relationship, or even a romantic relationship.
"Could it be!"
At this moment, countless clues connected together under the weight of this evidence.
Alice's thoughts raced, her forehead feeling as if it had been struck by electricity.
"The Millennium Puzzle!"
Against the backdrop of the blazing flame dragon, the pink-haired, barefoot Kurikara Divincarnate drew the darksteel greatsword that had shattered the steel gun dragon and slowly spoke.
"Oh? To summon me with this body? How delightfully fresh. So, will you be able to use me properly, Miles?"
Because she originated from the legends of Fudō Myōō, Kurikara Divincarnate, from the very beginning, possessed the ability—like Stardust Dragon—to grasp language and converse freely with humans.
"Of course!" Miles nodded. "Entrust all of that power to me. Kurikara Divincarnate's effect activates!"
[This card's Attack becomes the number of monsters Tributed to Special Summon this card × 1500.]
By directly increasing her Attack through the number of Tributed monsters, Kurikara Divincarnate—who cleaved with darksteel and devoured with a flame dragon—rose to a level directly comparable to Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
[Kurikara Divincarnate, ATK: 1500 → 3000]
Devouring one monster makes her Blue-Eyes White Dragon; devouring two makes her Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon; devouring three... the conditions were far too harsh, so Miles chose not to consider it for now.
"A Level 1 monster with 3000 Attack? Don't joke with me!"
After barely surviving the abyssal hell of the wicked god and finally glimpsing a sliver of hope, Bryce watched as the only monster on his field, [Desperado Barrel Dragon], was directly eaten by the Level 1 little girl floating in the sky.
"It shouldn't be like this. It can't be. Today should have been the peak of my luck!"
Flipping ten heads in a row—even for bounty hunter Bryce, this was a first in his lifetime.
Yet on the night when his luck was at its absolute peak, Bryce encountered the greatest crisis of his life.
"This shouldn't be where I die!"
"There's nothing 'shouldn't' about it," Miles teased. "Ever heard of luck being conserved? And a dueling style like yours that sacrifices lifespan—you've already overdrawn your life expectancy!"
This kind of remark was usually reserved for those ultra-lucky types who pulled ten SSRs in a row and lived dangerously short lives.
Applied to Bryce, who flipped ten heads in a row, it fit perfectly.
"Shut up! The duel isn't over yet. The final effect of [Desperado Barrel Dragon] in the Graveyard activates!"
[If this card is sent to the Graveyard, you can activate. Add 1 Level 7 or lower monster with a coin-toss effect from your Deck to your hand.]
"From my Deck, I add the Level 7 [Barrel Dragon] to my hand!"
"Then I set one card. Turn end!"
After Special Summoning [Kurikara Divincarnate], Miles declared the end of his turn. In the process, he naturally triggered another effect of the pink-haired little girl floating in the sky.
Swinging the slender arm utterly disproportionate to the weapon she held, Kurikara Divincarnate slammed the darksteel greatsword down toward Bryce's Graveyard zone.
[During your End Phase, you can target 1 monster in your opponent's Graveyard; Special Summon that monster to your field.]
"Your monster is very useful—but now, it's mine!"
Perfectly blending the elder sister's Kaiju-devouring tactics with Aisha's theft tactics, Kurikara Divincarnate—who possessed both tactical attributes—could not only devour a monster, but also steal one afterward.
"Revive and Special Summon to my field—[Desperado Barrel Dragon]!"
[Desperado Barrel Dragon, ATK: 2800]
The strongest gun dragon in Bryce's Graveyard was directly dug out by Kurikara Divincarnate with her greatsword.
Now left with an empty field, Bryce had to face the two boss-level monsters standing on Miles's field.
"My turn. Draw!"
With a draw made as if facing death itself, Bryce had no choice but to find a way to summon the final trump card of his Deck.
"The goddess of luck—the goddess of luck really is watching over me!"
A golden gleam flashed through Bryce's eyes.
As the final trump card of the gun dragon deck, Bryce wagered the outcome of the Shadow Game itself and flung the [Polymerization] Spell from his hand.
"—Spell Card [Polymerization] activated! I fuse the [Barrel Dragon] and [Blowback Dragon] in my hand!"
Two gun dragon monsters of different Levels and different firearm types merged into one amid the spiraling fusion effects, giving birth to a brand-new form that embodied heavy firepower.
"Fusion Summon—riddle everything with suppressive fire! [Gatling Dragon]!"
[Gatling Dragon] Level 8│DARK│Machine│2600 ATK│1200 DEF
["Barrel Dragon" + "Blowback Dragon"]
After the fusion, the pistol became a cannon—or more accurately, a triple-barreled Gatling gun spewing blue flames.
This was bounty hunter Bryce's final gun dragon fusion.
"The effect of Fusion Monster [Gatling Dragon] activates!"
[Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can activate. Toss a coin three times. Destroy monsters on the field up to the number of heads that result.]
Once again, it was the classic coin-toss destruction effect.
The triple Gatling cannons spun at high speed as they chambered. If Bryce's previous streak of incredible luck continued, Miles's field should have been wiped clean.
However, this time the coin toss results did not go as Bryce wished.
Coin toss results: Heads, Tails, Tails
Out of the three coins, only a single head appeared, meaning that Gatling Dragon—born from Bryce's all-in fusion gamble—could only destroy one monster on Miles's field this turn.
"As expected... so-called good luck always comes at a price."
As if he had foreseen this outcome long ago, Miles coldly looked ahead at Bryce, who was bleeding heavily from the nose.
Ten heads in a row—no matter how much lifespan you overdrawed, that was still excessive. Did he really believe someone could be that lucky?
When the tenth head appeared, Miles had already formed a vague suspicion. But he doubted even Bryce himself had realized the truth.
The powerful luck that bounty hunter Bryce relied upon was merely the power of the Shadow Game, forcibly altering outcomes at the cost of his soul.
If one were to ask why the Shadow Game would do this,
Then the forced explanation was simple: without it, Bryce would not have even the faintest chance of victory against Miles.
Even though, even twisting fate by sacrificing one's soul had limits. And a dueling style that relied purely on luck was ultimately destined to be defeated by luck itself—it was only a matter of time.
Bleeding endlessly, kneeling on one knee, completely overdrawn, Bryce fought to the end. By now, both his body and his soul were already shattered beyond repair within this Shadow Game.
"It's not over yet! Even if it's my last bullet, fire it!"
The destruction represented by that single head manifested as a Gatling barrage, blowing apart the [Desperado Barrel Dragon] that Miles had stolen.
[Desperado Barrel Dragon] destroyed
Although both monsters on Miles' field had higher Attack than [Gatling Dragon], Bryce had to destroy [Desperado Barrel Dragon] in order to safely enter the Battle Phase.
Otherwise, forcing his way into the Battle Phase would result in Miles using the coin-toss effect of [Desperado Barrel Dragon] to counterkill him.
Still kneeling on one knee, Bryce clutched another card.
"—Equip Spell Card [7 Completed] activated!"
[Can only be equipped to a Machine monster. The equipped monster gains 700 Attack or Defense.]
"I equip [7 Completed] to [Gatling Dragon], increasing my Machine-type Gatling Dragon's Attack by 700 points!"
[Gatling Dragon, ATK: 2600 → 3300]
The crucial Attack boost—thanks to the equipment of 7 Completed, Gatling Dragon's Attack now surpassed Kurikara Divincarnate's 3000.
"Battle! Blow that annoying monster to pieces once and for all!—Gatling Dragon: Full Barrage!"
The blue-flamed Gatling cannons unleashed a storm of bullets like a torrential downpour, dumping everything at once toward the pink-haired little girl floating in the sky.
Yet in the very next second, that overwhelming assault—countless bullets—was entirely blocked by the flat of the darksteel greatsword that Kurikara Divincarnate held horizontally before her petite body.
Miles flipped open the set card in his back row. "Trap Card activated, [Half Unbreak]!"
[Target 1 monster on the field. During this turn, the targeted monster cannot be destroyed by battle, and any battle damage you take from battles involving that monster is halved.]
"Such a powerless attack," Kurikara Divincarnate taunted, gaining resistance as she spoke.
[Miles, LP: 1400 → 1250]
What looked like a violent hail of bullets ended up doing little more than scratching Miles.
"Bloody hell!" Truly out of ammo and options, Bryce gritted his teeth and ended his turn.
At this point, Bryce could only hope that Gatling Dragon's 3300 Attack would survive the next turn so he could toss coins one more time.
He could only hope that his incredible luck would favor him once again.
"Your luck ends here."
Coldly shattering the Shadow Duelist's naïve fantasy, Miles—his hands already stained with countless lives—would never allow such a dangerous man to leave alive.
"My turn. Draw!"
This turn, Miles's strategy was to deal with the 3300-Attack [Gatling Dragon].
No. There was no need to deal with it at all.
As his gaze swept over the card he had just drawn, the equation of victory had already been established in Miles's mind.
"I Normal Summon in Attack Position—[Effect Veiler]!"
[Effect Veiler] Level 1│LIGHT│Spellcaster│Tuner│0 ATK│0 DEF
The Level 1 Tuner hand trap he had drawn was directly Normal Summoned to the field.
The stocking-clad, white-winged girl materialized, shining brilliantly within the Shadow Game.
"I Synchro Summon! Level 1 Tuner [Effect Veiler] plus Level 1 [Kurikara Divincarnate]!"
As the stocking girl and the barefoot girl resonated together, a Synchro effect of intertwined light and flame erupted.
"Gathered prayers shall guide new speed to a new horizon—become the road where light shines! The power of hope—[Formula Synchron]!"
[Formula Synchron] Level 2│LIGHT│Machine│Synchro│Tuner│200 ATK│1500 DEF
"A Synchro Summon!?"
The sudden shift in the duel's style threw the Shadow Duelists watching the livestream in the tavern into yet another uproar.
Using Synchro Summoning in Livorden… the Carlos family's hound had been hiding this card as well.
"[Formula Synchron]'s effect—when this card is Synchro Summoned, I draw 1 card from my Deck!"
Whether the draw succeeded no longer mattered. With his winning line already prepared, Miles only needed to raise the number of monsters in his Graveyard to five or more.
"Spell Card [Pot of Avarice] activated! I return five monsters from my Graveyard to my Deck, then draw two cards!"
Only with more than five monsters in the Graveyard could Miles activate [Pot of Avarice].
And only by activating [Pot of Avarice] could he shuffle the three Mokey Mokey back into the Deck and trigger the final key card.
After Effect Veiler, Kurikara Divincarnate, and the three Mokey Mokey were all shuffled back into the Deck, Miles drew the Fusion Spell that connected to the future from his hand and hurled it toward the sky.
This tactic was something Miles had thought of after witnessing Aisha utterly crush Mizuki during an academy duel.
"—Equip Spell Card [Future Fusion] activated! From my Deck, I Fusion Summon [Mokey Mokey King]!"
Shuffled back from the Graveyard into the Deck, then fused straight from the Deck through Future Fusion.
[Mokey Mokey King] Level 6│LIGHT│Fairy│Fusion│300 ATK│100 DEF
["Mokey Mokey" + "Mokey Mokey" + "Mokey Mokey"]
An enormous tofu block floated up, blotting out the sky and casting a gigantic cubic shadow across the ground.
"After Synchro, now Fusion too!?"
Eyes wide, Bryce could only watch as Miles performed one flashy Summon after another as if showing off.
"What are you trying to do!?"
"Next comes a battle in an entirely new domain."
The Spirit Eyes embedded in Miles' arm suddenly blazed fiercely like fire.
The mark engraved within those Spirit Eyes also changed—from a tofu block at the beginning into the shape of a demonic dragon.
"Spirit Eyes—Form Change! Red Lotus Form!"
Miles had already tested and confirmed this before. As long as two doors within the Soul Room were opened at the same time, two different decks could be mixed and used together.
However, mixing decks from totally different series did not necessarily guarantee an effective increase in combat power.
At times like this, the door Lost had left behind came into play.
Even if the door of Red Dragon Archfiend was opened, Miles could only use two of Lost's cards. The spirit he had bought back for fifty bucks were practically the best plug-in cards imaginable.
"Level 2 Tuner monster [Formula Synchron], Level 6 [Mokey Mokey King]—Synchro Summon!"
2★! + 6★! = 8★!
Stepping through the Shadow Game, Miles employed a brand-new combat method, using the Fusion Summoned [Mokey Mokey King] as Synchro Material.
"The king's roar shakes the heavens and earth! Engrave this one-and-only power of supremacy upon your body! Synchro Summon—Soul of Rampage! [Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend]!"
[Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend] Level 8│DARK│Dragon│3000 ATK│2500 DEF
In its battle-damaged form, Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend blasted apart the flames of the Synchro Summon with its demonic wings, making a ferocious entrance.
"A 3000 Attack Synchro Summon?" Bryce retorted. "What a shame. My [Gatling Dragon] still has higher Attack!"
"That doesn't matter at all! One strike ends the duel—this is the effect of [Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend]!"
[Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can activate. Destroy all Special Summoned monsters with Attack less than or equal to this card's Attack, except this card. Then inflict damage to your opponent equal to the number of monsters destroyed by this effect × 500.]
"Idiot! I already told you—Gatling Dragon's Attack is higher!"
The effect of Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend could only destroy monsters with Attack less than or equal to its own, so it could not destroy Gatling Dragon, which had 3300 Attack after being equipped with [7 Completed].
A mysterious smile curled at the corner of Miles's mouth. "Did I ever say I was going to destroy [Gatling Dragon]?"
"What!?"
A faint light flickered within the Shadow Game. On Miles' field, besides the fiercely burning [Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend], there were three other monsters.
"When [Mokey Mokey King] leaves the field, I can Summon as many [Mokey Mokey] from my Graveyard as possible!"
Sent to the Graveyard as Synchro Material for Red Dragon Archfiend, Mokey Mokey King Special Summoned the three [Mokey Mokey] that had been used as Fusion Materials back onto the field.
[Mokey Mokey, ATK: 300-_-?] ×3
Alice gasped. "Wait… Miles' way of fighting, could it be that he's about to—?"
Miles raised his arm and declared, "Ignite the Mokey Mokey, Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend! Absolute Authority Flame!"
The demonic dragon's claw, burning with flames of authority, slammed into the ground. Scorching dragonfire tornadoes erupted through the darkness, engulfing and igniting the tofu blocks.
"After taking so many of your bullets, it's time you tasted my 'bullets' too!"
The effect of Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend destroyed all Special Summoned monsters on the field with lower Attack than it, and for each one destroyed, inflicted 500 effect damage to the opponent.
[Bryce, LP: 1500]
So there was no need for battle at all.
"Impossible!" Bryce howled in disbelief. "There's actually a way to fight like this!?"
Miles swung his arm forward and roared, "Turn the ignited bodies of the Mokey Mokey into crimson bullets!"
[Mokey Mokey] destroyed
[Mokey Mokey] destroyed
[Mokey Mokey] destroyed
With a single activation, the effect of Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend destroyed three Mokey Mokey at once, dealing total damage of 3 × 500 = 1500.
A perfectly precise finishing blow.
Within the firestorm kicked up by the demonic dragon's claws, the three Mokey Mokey—scorched red-hot—charged toward Bryce together with a wave of heat.
"Take this! Flaming Mokey Mokey—Triple Burst!!'"
"Ughhhhhhh!"
[Bryce, LP: 1500 → 0]
Miles' tofu bullets successfully pierced the darkness.
Having watched the entire Shadow Duel from the shadows, Alice had all but deduced the truth hidden within Miles.
Elra: "I thought the Millennium Puzzle would be the easiest thing to retrieve. Now it's become the hardest instead. What do you plan to do, Alice?"
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