Phila braced herself under the cold, oppressive aura emitted by [Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon Lord], and the trembling at her fingertips gradually subsided.
"It's okay, Niobe."
The girl's voice was soft, yet without the slightest hesitation. She neatly stacked the black dragon card together with the others and carefully gathered them into her palm.
"Since it has come before me, doesn't that mean it wants to become my partner and family? I want to accept it."
Seeing this, Raku, floating nearby, let out a breath he didn't actually have, and his tense spirit relaxed along with it.
This girl… she's finally graduated.
"You're not worried?"
Aleister crossed his arms, that knowing yet deliberately provocative smile hanging on his pale face as he glanced at Raku.
"After all, it's because of you that things have reached this point."
"No one can predict everything from the very beginning." Raku turned his head and met the great sage's gaze directly, his tone calm as if stating a theorem. "If everyone stops acting just because they fear a future without light, then it's truly over."
He paused.
"Just like when I saved Eldlich before. If I hadn't tried to duel back then, would there even be a present now?"
Raku looked again at Phila, who was happily sharing cards with Niobe.
"So I choose to believe. I believe that [Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon Lord] choosing Phila means she is destined to face hardship and darkness. But I also believe…"
Raku's gaze sharpened.
"…that what [Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon Lord] chose is someone who can stand up and duel in the face of that hardship."
Hearing this, a flicker of surprise passed through Aleister's eyes. He let out a low chuckle.
"That really is an answer in your style. It seems choosing you was my good fortune."
But immediately after, the summoner who always enjoyed rubbing salt into others' wounds abruptly shifted tone.
"However, what preparations have you made… for the choice that is about to come?"
Aleister pointed toward the glass automatic doors of the card shop.
With a soft "shh" from the pneumatic door, a small figure draped in an oversized black stand-collar long coat walked in.
Raku followed the direction of the finger, his pupils shrinking sharply.
That is… Rikka?
Rikka lowered her head as she entered the card vending area. Her signature silver-white hime-cut hair now looked slightly disheveled, and the ahoge atop her head-usually full of energy-drooped lifelessly.
What struck Raku the most was the clear redness at the corners of her eyes, and the faint redness at the tip of her nose. The way she was holding back tears was quite different from her usual self at home, where she would show off her Starry Knight deck with pride.
"It seems that because of your choice, you overlooked another person's feelings."
Aleister's voice sounded faintly beside Raku's ear, every word piercing.
"To save Eldlich, you forced a duel with the flawed Philosopher's Stone and ended up damaging your body. You played the hero, but made your adorable little sister worry herself to tears in the real world. How do you plan to resolve this?"
…How did it turn out like this?
Raku drifted two steps closer, but stopped himself abruptly midair. He saw that Rikka was wearing that brand-new Obelisk Blue uniform, and on the nameplate pinned to her chest, the emblem of Fusion Academy was displayed.
She got in. And not just that… the top-tier Blue dorm.
Yet now, instead of rushing back to the hospital room to brag about her results like she should have, she stood here with reddened eyes.
Aleister showed no intention of stopping.
"It seems she indeed passed the Duel Academy entrance and became an Obelisk Blue; moreover, a top student of Fusion Academy. Bearing both her own and her brother's expectations, she achieved such excellent results…"
The great sage cruelly tore away the final layer of pretense.
"…only to learn not long ago that her brother's condition lying in the hospital has worsened for unknown reasons."
Aleister tilted his head, looking at the stiff-faced Raku with a faint smile.
"What do you think she's thinking right now?"
Rikka walked up to a vending machine. She didn't look at the colorful promotional ads for card packs on the screen, but instead extended a slightly trembling hand and pressed her student card against the sensor.
Beep-
[Purchase confirmed. Two boxes.] The mechanical female voice echoed in the quiet shop.
After buying the card boxes, Rikka didn't open them immediately.
She simply stood in front of the vending machine, the oversized black stand-collar coat making her already small figure look even more fragile.
Raku fell into silence.
He could throw himself into a Shadow Duel with the flawed Philosopher's Stone for Eldlich. When it came to risking his life directly, he was actually quite good at it.
But…
Seeing his own family, his little sister who loved to imitate Chairman Kaiba's maniacal laugh and would drag him out of bed early in the morning to duel… now standing there crying because of him, he was at a total loss.
That was also why, after waking up in the hospital, his first reaction wasn't to call and reassure her, but to let his soul drift directly here to Phila because seeing Rikka's tears would make him feel terrible.
…That feeling was even more suffocating than taking a solid punch from the Skull Servant King.
Phila carefully placed the precious cards she had just drawn into her card box. She keenly sensed that the temperature in the air beside her seemed to have dropped.
Normally, at a moment like this–pulling top-tier, meta-defining cards–that Mr. Spirit who was always chattering at her side shouldn't be this quiet. Even if he didn't say a few words of astonished congratulations, at the very least he should have come over to take a look at the card's effects.
But now, Mr. Spirit's semi-transparent form was frozen in midair, his gaze locked tightly onto a certain direction not far away, an unmistakable gloom spreading around him.
"Mr. Spirit, is something wrong?"
Phila spoke softly, her tone filled with undisguised concern.
"It's nothing, I just saw someone I know. I don't really know what to do for a moment."
Raku's voice sounded muffled.
"Someone you know?"
Phila blinked and followed the direction of Raku's gaze.
At this hour, there weren't many students in the vending area. Aside from the silver-haired girl standing in front of the machine in a daze wearing an Obelisk Blue uniform and a black coat, there was no one else.
Phila's eyes widened, a flash of realization passing through her ruby-like pupils.
"Could it be… a relative from when you were alive?!"
"Pff–Huh?!" The bit of sadness Raku had just now was instantly shattered by that horrifying statement.
From when I was alive?!
Come on, my body's just lying in the ICU in a bit of a serious condition… I'm not all dead yet! What is with this feeling of being sentenced to death?!
"And she looks very sad, the corners of her eyes are red." Phila clasped her hands in front of her chest, looking at Rikka in the distance. "Could it be… because of Mr. Spirit's passing?"
…This girl's imagination is way too strong.
Regardless, although all the premises are wrong, the conclusion was unexpectedly correct.
"That part is true." Raku let out a sigh and nodded honestly. "She's my little sister."
Hearing this confirmation, the way Phila looked at Rikka instantly became incredibly gentle.
"Mr. Spirit must like her very much." Phila turned her head and looked seriously at Raku's spirit. "There must be many things you still want to say to her. Please tell me; I will pass them on."
"I do have things to say. But how are you going to pass them on?" Raku spread his hands. "You want me to tell you, and then you run over, tap her on the shoulder, and say, 'Hi, your brother sent his spirit to deliver a few words'?"
With Rikka's temper, and considering she was already in a state of grief, hearing something like that would definitely make her immediately pull out her Starry Knight deck and beat up this stranger who dared joke about her brother's life and death.
Phila wasn't frightened off by Raku's assumption. Instead, she straightened her back, her right hand naturally resting on the card box at her waist.
"Duel!"
Those two firm words rang out clearly in the quiet rest area.
"Duel?" Raku froze.
"Mhm! Duel." Phila met Raku's stunned gaze without backing down. "This is what Mr. Spirit taught me. Through dueling, Mr. Spirit conveyed the words of the Undead, and the spirit of 'unyielding perseverance' into my heart."
There was no longer any fear in the girl's eyes.
"So now, please let me use a duel to convey Mr. Spirit's words to the heart of the family you cherish!"
Raku opened his mouth in astonishment.
This girl…
She's really grown.
Not far away, in front of the vending machine, Rikka heard the commotion from the rest area.
She sniffed and turned her head, a bit irritated. Those azure eyes still held traces of unshed tears, but when her gaze swept over Phila's hand resting on the card box, it instinctively turned cold.
...
If you want to support, please consider Patreon, and read advanced chapters! Your support keeps this series going! [Patreon.com/RedZTL]