At the host table of the banquet, the royal family member Kaiser also had his attention caught by the sudden duel.
Among the three royals were the First Prince, Homar Kaiser;
The Second Prince, Deion Kaiser;
And the Third Princess, only twelve years old, Nova Kaiser.
"The banquet hasn't even officially begun, and some families haven't arrived yet. And they can't wait to start dueling and show off? These nobles, just how desperate for power are they?"
First Prince Homar Kaiser immediately expressed his disapproval at such impatient power plays.
But when Homar looked closely at the duelists and saw Villy Barrett's face, he instantly understood.
As the only son of the Marquis Barrett family, which held great power and close ties with the royal family, Villy's conduct was well known to Homar.
This hasty duel could only be the result of that spoiled troublemaker picking a fight.
And yet, for all his arrogance, Villy usually had the strength to resolve the messes he created.
But the other duelist, Aisha Carlos, was someone entirely unfamiliar to Homar.
"Oh-ho! Isn't that my old acquaintance!"
Unlike the calm and composed Homar, Deion Kaiser was far more carefree.
The old acquaintance he referred to was clearly a junior from Fusion Academy.
Homar asked curiously, "Oh? Deion, you know that little girl duelist?"
"Know her? Of course I do. Aisha Yuna Carlos, first-year at Fusion Academy. She's the one who beat Kaima Seth. I was right there, felt that duel up close! She's the real deal, no doubt about it!"
"So that Aisha Carlos... is her."
Even if no one dared report the defeat of the Seth family's eldest son to the royal family, nothing could stop Deion's loose tongue from spreading the news.
What surprised Homar was how youthful and innocent the girl looked, despite having defeated Kaima Seth and earning such praise from his brother.
The only thing that hinted she might be strong was her eyes, more resolute and confident than any duelist's, as if connected to a powerful soul within.
Of the three royals, only the Third Princess Nova seemed completely uninterested.
Sitting in a luxurious banquet seat, her small feet in white socks and black boots swinging above the ground, the golden-haired little princess hugged a plush animal tightly, her cute face full of boredom.
"Another duel? I don't like it."
Despite possessing the Spirit Eyes, Nova had no interest in dueling—perhaps even a slight aversion.
"Dueling is just fighting, isn't it? Those ugly, terrifying monsters battling each other... I hate it!"
"That's because you're still young, Nova. You haven't experienced the fun of dueling yet," Deion teased with a smile.
He knew his little sister's personality well. As the Third Princess, even with Spirit Eyes, their royal parents had never forced her to become a duelist.
"Fun of dueling? Bleh!"
Nova stuck out her short, red tongue at Deion in protest.
"Just imagining myself summoning one of those terrifying monsters makes me feel sick."
"Terrifying monsters, huh..."
Deion rubbed his chin, glancing at Aisha as if recalling something.
He wasn't exactly sure where Nova drew the line between terrifying and ugly.
"Maybe after this duel, you'll change your mind, Nova. Who knows?"
At least in Deion's view, compared to his own constantly struggling Cyber Dragons, Aisha Carlos's monsters were much more... visually agreeable.
Back in the Duel Arena, under the crowd's watchful eyes, Villy Barrett, who had been staring intently at Miles, suddenly spoke up.
"You know, now that I look closely, little sister-in-law, you're pretty cute too. Damn, I want both sisters now. What should I do?"
"..."
Misstep. The Soul Exchange was activated too early, and now Miles had become the third victim of physiological nausea.
Controlling Aisha's body, Miles could feel the goosebumps rippling across her smooth arm like a shock reflex.
"You're really scum, Villy Barrett."
Miles gave his unfiltered assessment of the flirtatious blond.
Proposing to the older sister, then telling the younger one that he wanted them both—this alone was proof he had no genuine affection for Alice, and that his proposal had no true emotion behind it.
Though Miles didn't know how twisted Villy's upbringing might have been, one thing was clear: this guy truly lived up to the title of scum.
"A sharp-tongued beauty, huh? I don't have one of those yet. Not bad... I just need to beat you in a duel, right?"
Finally ready to start, Villy pulled out his Deck from his waist and loaded it into his Spirit Eyes, then slid several white cards into the side slot.
"White cards? So, Synchro Monsters," Miles remarked.
In contrast to the black-colored Xyz cards, Starcrest Academy's signature Synchro Monsters had radiant white card faces.
"Oh? A freshman from Fusion Academy who knows Synchros? Impressive, impressive. No wonder you beat Kaima Seth, you've got some skill."
"If just knowing what Synchros are was enough to beat Kaima, then you really underestimate the Seth family."
Miles pulled out his Deck box from his waist. After Alice had forcibly changed his outfit, Aisha's thigh-mounted deck holder had to be repositioned.
The reason? Lifting a skirt at a banquet would be far too unseemly.
"Duel!" x2
[Villy Barrett, LP: 4000]
[Aisha Carlos, LP: 4000]
The duel began. The Spirit Eyes on Villy's arm lit up first, indicating he had the first move.
"I Summon a monster in Defense Position—Sangan!"
[Sangan] Level 3│DARK│Fiend│1000 ATK
A small, brown demon with three eyes materialized in Defense Position on Villy's field.
"I Set two cards and end my turn!"
No Synchro Summon yet. Villy's first turn ended casually.
Back at the royal seats, Deion asked curiously, "Sangan, huh? Nova, you think that one's cute?"
Nova shivered and scooted further back in her seat, clutching her plushie tighter.
"Gross. Way too ugly. It'll give me nightmares."
"Really? I thought it was sort of... ugly-cute."
Apparently, Nova's standards for aesthetic tolerability were quite high.
"My turn. Draw!"
Starting his turn, Miles glanced at his hand.
A top-tier opening hand, thanks to this newly added B-rank Spell Card.
"I activate the Spell Card, Joker's Straight!"
[Discard 1 card; Special Summon 1 "Queen's Knight" from your Deck, then add 1 of "King's Knight" or "Jack's Knight" from your Deck to your hand. Then, you can Normal Summon 1 monster. This turn, you cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck, except LIGHT Warrior monsters.]
A support Spell dedicated to the Poker Knights. As long as he drew this, Aisha's Deck could quickly bring out all three knights.
"I discard a card to Special Summon Queen's Knight from my Deck, add King's Knight to my hand, and Normal Summon it!"
[Queen's Knight, ATK: 1500]
[King's Knight, ATK: 1600]
With the king and queen on the field, their blades crossed, calling forth the third knight.
"When KING and Queen are both on the field, come forth, Jack's Knight!"
[Jack's Knight, ATK: 1900]
"Now I activate the Spell Card, Polymerization! I fuse the Poker Knights on the field to Fusion Summon—the strongest knight of the Arcana Court! Arcana Knight Joker!"
[Arcana Knight Joker] Level 9│LIGHT│Warrior│Fusion│3800 ATK
["Queen's Knight" + "Jack's Knight" + "King's Knight"]
Clad in black armor and wielding a holy sword, Arcana Knight Joker stood on the field. With a perfect opening, Miles had Fusion Summoned his ultimate trump card, Joker, on the very first turn.
"Fusion Summon, huh? 3800 Attack. That's higher than Blue-Eyes White Dragon. So this is the power that beat Kaima Seth, huh?"
Jumping to conclusions, Villy had never seen that duel at the Fusion Academy Festival, and didn't know that Joker never even appeared in it.
"But this won't work on me. From the very beginning, you've already walked into my trap—Trap Card, Crush Card Virus!"
[Tribute 1 DARK monster with 1000 or less ATK; destroy all monsters in your opponent's hand, field, and Deck with 1500 or more ATK.]
"If your Deck is stronger than Kaima's, then you must have even more powerful monsters. This virus will wipe out your entire offensive potential!"
Miles gave a half-smile, half-sigh.
"Are you... seriously doing this?"
...
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