Chapter 91: Fusion of the Dark Side
"Is the duel over?"
After Despair God broke through the ceiling of the ruin chamber, Kevin and the others could only retreat to the second-to-last labyrinthine underground room.
After that, the only entrance was directly buried by collapsed ruins; the few of them could only press against the wall, barely observing the duel situation in the room through the cracks between the ruins.
"I think I saw Aisha get sent flying." Nia, her sexy body completely pressed against the wall, strained to look inside.
"Which Aisha?" Kevin, having picked a bad crack and unable to see the situation clearly at all, eagerly pressed.
"Both sides are Aisha Carlos, I'm also a bit confused."
"That's right, the trial is over."
Compared to Kevin and the others who still had to observe the duel with their eyes, Camille , sensing the fluctuations transmitted from the Millennium Key, knew that after that muffled sound, the trial had already decided the victor.
"Don't worry, Aisha Carlos won."
"Won?!" Kevin's eyes widened slightly, saying in pleasant surprise: "Aisha Carlos actually defeated even God. As expected of my destined rival!"
Camille continued to remind: "Since the duel is already over, you guys should quickly leave the underground space. After suffering that level of destruction, no one can say for sure if the remaining two spaces will be implicated and collapse."
Nia said worriedly: "But, student Aisha Carlos, she hasn't come out yet..."
Rovik said: "Idiot, the ceiling of the ruin chamber, due to the destruction, is already directly connected to the surface. Aisha Carlos, as a Duelist, wanting to escape from a room without a ceiling, isn't it as easy as lifting a hand?"
Casually summoning a flying Duel Monster, Aisha could directly leave the underground space through the ceiling pierced by Despair God and Yoyo .
In comparison, Kevin and the others, who still had to traverse the labyrinth and Mystic Mine in reverse to leave the underground space, were indeed in a more urgent situation.
"Senpai Rovik is right, we should leave first."
After agreeing with Camille's suggestion and Rovik's judgment, Kevin looked one last time at the collapsed ruins blocking the entrance.
"Aisha Yuna Carlos. You must be safe and sound, I'll wait for you back at the academy."
Although the duel was ultimately won by Aisha, this trial involving the dark side of the heart, Kevin believed the final outcome couldn't be determined solely by the victory or defeat in the duel.
On the ruins, Dark Aisha, tattered from head to toe, her clothes and exposed skin covered in dust and dirt, fell to the ground, looking extremely wretched.
"Despair God, the power I obtained from despair. I actually lost, lost to something like Yoyo, the trash among trash..."
After the duel ended, the Despair God card floated down beside Dark Aisha's hand.
Despair God, with two seals already unlocked, could fully exert its power as a God Card in a duel.
Even so, Despair God Anti-Hope still failed to win this duel for her.
"Other me."
Aisha, the victor of the duel, was actually already severely overdrawn, yet she still tremblingly persisted in walking towards her dark side who had fallen to the ground.
"Y-y-y, don't you come over here!"
Stomping her foot, Dark Aisha took a few steps back, crying out in terror.
You Ling : "Look at you, scaring your own child."
You Ling had actually started sympathizing with Dark Aisha's life experiences long ago.
Although that was just a false existence separated by the power of the Millennium Key.
After all, the real Aisha Carlos was not expelled from Fusion Academy.
False experiences, false hatred, even despair itself was false.
The only truth about this miserable girl before him was probably that she truly existed in the deepest part of Aisha's heart, a hidden corner that even Aisha herself hadn't noticed.
"Why are you so scared?" Aisha tilted her head in confusion, "Aren't you just me? And who would be afraid of themselves?"
"Stop talking so lightly, you won the duel, of course you're not afraid!"
Dark Aisha wanted to grab the nearby rubble to throw at Aisha, but found that her blurry body could no longer even touch physical objects.
In this world, it's impossible for two Aisha Carloses to exist.
And in most stories, the dark side defeated by the protagonist would be completely eradicated, becoming an opportunity for the protagonist to purify their soul and advance to a stronger realm.
"I will disappear, you will definitely erase me completely. The dark side of human nature is just a burden. No one will want me, even the last truth of my existence will be stripped away by this trial. This is the meaning of this trial."
"You won't disappear."
Aisha revealed a gentle, healing smile and reached out her hand.
"Even a saint cannot avoid darkness, how could I possibly manage to completely abandon you?"
"Hm?" Blinking her emerald green eyes a few times, Dark Aisha fell into a daze for a moment, "Then, then I... what should I do?"
"Come back, if you don't exist, then I wouldn't be a complete me."
Not taking this opportunity to choose to abandon and eliminate her dark side, but instead accepting the darkness as well.
A decision very much in line with Aisha Carlos's personality.
Just as Aisha said in the duel, possessing the courage to face darkness and despair directly is true growth, true strengthening.
Aisha's outstretched finger gently touched Dark Aisha's cold palm.
Dark Aisha, already so weak she couldn't even touch the surrounding physical objects, once again felt that sliver of real warmth.
"Can I really go back?"
"One doesn't deceive oneself."
The power from the Millennium Key, the final trial, officially concluded.
Reintegrating with the darkness deep within her heart, no longer hidden in the deepest corner, Aisha Carlos's soul truly accepted her other self.
The Despair God card that had floated to the ground also, following the return of the dark side, joined Aisha Carlos's deck.
At this moment, the 「Millennium Scale」 located at Synchro Academy tilted a few degrees to the left.
The legendary Millennium Item used to measure the good and evil of a soul, taking this as an opportunity, allowed the Elven Eye to define the Duelist, obtaining 「growth」.
As if stepping into the magic power amplification ritual of a summoning class, the summoning energy accumulated in Aisha's Elven Eye was unprecedentedly brilliant and abundant.
Continuous monster summons unfolded uncontrollably. Several Xyz cards with pitch-black card faces appeared before Aisha Carlos's eyes.
This power was also what Aisha Carlos sought and pursued in another non-existent world line, her own way of fighting.
You Ling: "You've really become stronger, Aisha."
Aisha's almost perfect decision at the last moment made You Ling suddenly feel as if his daughter had finally grown up.
However, just when You Ling thought things had been perfectly resolved, he discovered it wasn't that simple...
In the Millennium Puzzle, in his own exclusive mind room, another figure suddenly appeared.