Because of the Field Spell Card Chicken Game, Miles, with fewer Life Points, became immune to all damage and successfully endured this turn.
And since only one Field Spell Card can exist at a time, it also forced the Sacred Beasts' Fallen Paradise to be destroyed.
Deceived by the combined trickery of two souls, Locke Slint ended up falling into a trap of his own Millennium Eye. Unable to inflict battle damage, he had no choice but to end this turn's battle.
"Old man, I end this Battle Phase, and now I'll activate your Field Spell Card's effect!"
Since Field Spells are shared, Chicken Game's effect could be activated by the opponent as well.
[Once per turn: During your Main Phase, you can pay 1000 LP to activate 1 of these effects.
● Draw 1 card.
● Destroy this card.
● Your opponent gains 1000 LP.]
"By paying 1000 Life Points, I destroy this Field Spell Card!"
No flashy tricks. Locke had no intention of competing in any kind of death race with the Millennium Puzzle's holder.
As long as he continued playing it safe, victory would remain firmly in his hands.
Now, even without the power of the Millennium Eye, Miles's two powerless cards in hand could not possibly overturn the situation.
"I change Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder, to Defense Position! Turn end!"
[Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder DEF: 4000]
"When Hamon is in Defense Position, you can't attack any other monsters. But right now, you don't even have the most basic battle power left."
On Locke's field, besides the two Sacred Beasts, was a third monster—The Tripping Mercury.
When Tribute Summoned with three tributes, as long as The Tripping Mercury is face-up on the field, all opponent's monsters' Attack becomes 0.
The endlessly spreading water ripples became a fatal debuff, erasing all of the opponent's battle power.
"Young man, no matter how many petty tricks you use, an absolute difference in strength cannot be erased! Your defeat is simple—you tried to use that shallow darkness to overcome true darkness!"
Spreading alongside The Tripping Mercury's waves was the darkness of the three Sacred Beasts, the Millennium Eye, and the Millennium Rod.
It surged endlessly outward.
Within the already black fog, an even deeper darkness spread. In hell itself, another layer of purgatory was carved open.
A mighty fist shook the earth, wings brought thunder, and infernal flames surged alongside the revival of Uria, Lord of Searing Flames.
In the duel between Reigun and Kaima, Uria, repeatedly destroyed by Kaima, revived again and again due to its own effect.
[If this card is in your Graveyard, you can send 1 Trap Card from your hand to the Graveyard; Special Summon this card.]
Reviving endlessly within the infernal flames, Uria's only cost was a single Trap Card.
And Uria's Attack increased with every revival, as more and more Trap Cards piled up in the Graveyard.
[Uria, Lord of Searing Flames ATK: 6000]
Surpassing even the Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon, the 6000 Attack Uria swung its tail, raising a tidal wave of flame that dyed the black skies above the capital red, extending purgatory.
"—Hyper Breath!!"
[Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon]
[Kaima, LP: 4000 → 2000]
The Chaos MAX Dragon was smashed. Under the suppression of Uria's 6000 Attack, Reigun broke through Kaima's field with infernal fire, halving her Life Points. In the Shadow Game, the flames truly burned Kaima.
"Are you alright, Kaima?"
"Worry about yourself, Miles!"
Even beaten so badly, the woman still spoke with a hard mouth.
However, from Kaima's strained expression, it was obvious that the endlessly reviving Uria had already become extremely troublesome at 6000 Attack.
"Ultimate Fusion of Ancient Machines!—Shatter everything! Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem!"
Even as the infernal flames hadn't subsided, on Ren's field, Professor Field fused and summoned forth the stomping Ultimate Golem.
[Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem] Level 10│EARTH│Machine/Fusion/Effect│4500 ATK/3400 DEF
["Ancient Gear Golem" + 2 "Ancient Gear" monsters]
A triple fusion of Ancient Gears, this giant with power close to Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon slammed its fist directly at Evil HERO Malicious Bane on Ren's field.
"Malicious Bane's effect: this card cannot be destroyed by battle! Though I'll still take the battle damage."
"—Quick-Play Spell Card Forbidden Chalice!"
Professor Field, with a decisive hand, chained the Quick-Play Spell, never intending to let Malicious Bane stay on the field.
[Target 1 face-up monster on the field; until the End Phase, it gains 400 ATK, but its effects are negated.]
Though Forbidden Chalice boosted a monster by 400 Attack, it negated its effects.
"Negate Malicious Bane's effect, and destroy it!—Ultimate Heavy Fist of the Ancient Gear!!"
[Evil HERO Malicious Bane destroyed]
[Ren, LP: 1500 → 400]
"Ahhhh!!"
The crushing punch shattered the Dark HERO, reducing Ren's Life Points to the brink of death. At the same time, the Shadow Game's real impact hurled the red-haired girl across the ground.
"Ren!"
"Ugh… how embarrassing, letting you see me like this, Miles."
Struggling to rise, nearly locked at 1 LP in the Shadow Game, Ren looked more battered than Kaima or Miles.
"Professor Field is so strong… this is the Iron Demon? There's just no flaw to find!"
Wiping her sooty cheeks, Ren only smeared the dirt more.
"I mean… are we really about to lose?"
Empire Marshal, National Lion, Iron Demon.
Three of Spirit Continent's most renowned duelists displayed power befitting their titles in this Shadow Game.
The difference from Fusion Academy's students was overwhelming. Even now, their three Life Points remained untouched.
[Reigun Seth, LP: 4000]
[Professor Field, LP: 4000]
And Locke Slint's Life Points had even soared to 7000.
On Fusion's side, the three were already battered, their Life Points suppressed, their field left empty.
Exchanging glances, their bitter smiles said it all. The desperate situation was laid bare without a word.
At that moment of despair, gentle footsteps suddenly echoed from beyond the Shadow Game's barrier.
"Why… why are you dueling here?"
A lost, helpless little girl's voice drifted into this infernal battlefield.
Locke blinked in surprise. "Oh? Besides us, someone can still move freely, even with the Sacred Beasts draining life force?"
The survivor beyond the Shadow Game was none other than Princess Nova Kaiser, who, too, had once been linked to the Millennium Puzzle.
"Nova, why are you here?"
"Aisha… Miles…"
The young princess's voice was weak. Even with a fragment of the Millennium Puzzle's power to protect her, the aura of the three Sacred Beasts and the dark fog weighed heavily upon a child of her age.
Her small body struggled forward, unwilling to collapse into death's silence. Step by staggering step, she pressed through the darkness, heading toward where the battleship had fallen.
"Aisha, Miles… so it really is you fighting. Thank goodness. If it's you two, you can surely awaken Livorden's miracle again."
Her frail face still managed a faint smile of relief. After that, the exhausted princess could no longer stay standing, slowly kneeling to the ground, uncaring that the dust soiled her white stockings.
"Nova..."
"Hmmm—hahahahaha!!"
Reigun Seth, seeing this, suddenly threw back his head in wild laughter, the roar echoing across the capital.
"Miracle? Livorden's miracle? Hilarious, Princess Nova!"
"You… Duke Seth?" Nova's golden eyes trembled. To her shock, one of the duelists standing with the enemy was her own nation's duke. "Why? Aren't you a great house of Livorden?"
At her age, her innocent mind never even considered betrayal.
"You still haven't seen the truth, Princess Nova Kaiser. Those brats will never awaken Livorden's miracle. Times have changed. The Seth family will take back control of Livorden! After drowning the capital in darkness and blood, the Kaiser line will end here!"
Nova's face paled with panic.
"Drown the capital in darkness and blood? No… You mustn't! If everyone dies, then this kingdom—this Livorden—what would it even be?"
From the mouth of a child came the purest truth.
"This is a necessary sacrifice. And afterward, I will guide everything." Reigun Seth gripped the Millennium Rod. "Darkness will reign over light. With the Millennium Rod's power, this nation will be reborn."
"No, you mustn't! Absolutely not!" Kneeling on the ground, Princess Nova's cry tore from her chest, her defiance unyielding.
What malice could a child bear? Even the usually willful princess would never wish for her people to suffer such calamity.
"I don't want to see everyone die, never!"
Her crystalline tears fell onto the darkness-soaked ground, leaving behind a trace of purest clarity.
That most sincere wish pierced the barrier of the Shadow Game, pleading for an answer.
"Princess Nova, remember this. Darkness… will never surpass light."
To everyone's shock, the first to answer Nova's pure prayer, in this moment of near hopelessness, was Professor Field.
Though bound by the Millennium Rod, the professor's deep, heavy voice broke free of control.
"Never bow your head to the darkness and cry. Lift it high, Princess Nova!"
"Professor!"
The three from Fusion Academy exclaimed in unison with joy.
They hadn't expected that, at the crucial moment, Professor Field would break free from the Millennium Rod's control because of Princess Nova's innocent tears.
"As expected of Professor!" Miles couldn't help but praise.
In this Shadow Game, Professor Field had endured nearly 20 turns with nothing but the mental strength of an ordinary human. The steel will of a retired soldier was displayed in full on this man, even surpassing the shackles of a Millennium Item at this very moment.
"As a teacher, even if I was under darkness's control, dueling my students in a Shadow Game is a disgrace for me, Field, for life!"
"Professor, it's okay!"
Though she had been knocked flying by Professor Field during the Shadow Game, Ren harbored no blame.
Kaima added, "The real disgrace is those villains who betrayed this nation and gave themselves to darkness!"
That very villain, Reigun Seth, gripped the Millennium Rod in his hand even tighter.
"To think you could resist brainwashing with your own will—how could that be possible?"
The Shadow Game duel wasn't over. Naturally, Reigun couldn't allow Field to escape the control of darkness.
Mana gathered at the tip of the Rod. Reigun pushed the Millennium Item to full power, raising the brainwashing on Field to its highest level.
"Ooooohhhhhh!"
With a roar, in the instant his consciousness was about to be dragged away again, Field suddenly drew the steel saber at his waist with lightning speed.
"As a teacher guiding students toward their future, at any moment, I must leave behind the most righteous and towering back for them to follow! Begone, darkness!"
The blade gleamed as Professor Field drove his steel saber straight into the Spirit Eyes on his own arm.
Crack—!
When steel met Spirit Eyes, the sound of shattering rang out. With a strike carrying his full resolve to abandon everything, Professor Field pierced the Spirit Eyes and the darkness surrounding it all at once.
"Fool, you actually—!" Reigun Seth gasped.
"Professor, you—!"
As the blade dug in, countless cracks spread from the center of the Spirit Eyes outward, until finally it shattered completely.
The loss of Spirit Eyes marked a Duelist's fall.
The Spirit Eyes were the most mysterious thing on the continent—unless their spiritual power was exhausted, like with Alice, they could never be broken by mere steel.
Yet here, they shattered against reason itself—because they had responded to Professor Field's will, to his resolve to never again be used by darkness against his students.
Ren's trembling voice rose: "Why, Professor? Without Spirit Eyes, you can never again…"
It was supposed to be her who saved him from darkness. Yet in the end, she was the one saved.
With his Spirit Eyes destroyed, even if controlled by the Millennium Rod, Professor Field could no longer summon monsters in this duel, nor in any future duel.
Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem became the final requiem of the man who gave the first half of his life to his nation and the second half to his students.
"There's no need for sadness, Ren. And you, too, Kaima, Aisha. You, who showed courage here and fought against darkness, will always be my proudest students. As a Duelist of light, you have inherited my will."
Aisha sobbed: "Professor!"
The saber withdrew from the shattered Spirit Eyes, and within the countless cracks, something shone.
It was the lingering miracle awakened by Professor Field through the soul of a Duelist.
"Students, this is my last lesson. Remember it well. Even if you use the power of darkness, your heart as a Duelist must never be consumed by it.
Overcome it with light!
Everything has a crack—that's how the light gets in!"
Professor Field's broken Spirit Eyes turned into the brightest light of his soul, shining into the decks of all three students.
"Go forth, my proudest students! Dispel the darkness covering this kingdom once and for all!"
Even a Destiny Draw had never shone this brilliantly.
The light within their decks was the soul of a veteran, condensed into a legacy for his students, now awakening and illuminating the darkness.
"Kaima! Ren!"
"Hmph!"
"Yeah!"
Exchanging glances again, the three no longer bore the bitter smiles of despair.
What lay before them, in their decks, in their hands, was the light and hope shining through the cracks.
Miles said, "Lately, it's always been duels filled with darkness and grudges. It really wears you down."
Kaima nodded, "Agreed. Such duels don't suit us, the students of Fusion Academy."
Ren continued, "Then once this duel ends, let's return to the academy and duel happily again. Let the Professor witness our growth there!"
"Then what we must do now is clear! Win this duel, and return to Fusion Academy with Professor!"
The three struck a pose in unison, confidently placing their fingertips on their shining decks.
"My turn—Draw!" ×3
Three cards wrapped in pure white radiance illuminated the darkness that still covered the Livorden royal capital.
"Impossible!" Locke Slint exclaimed. "My Millennium Eye can't see through those three cards!"
In his vision, the only thing covering the cards was that light—that light of hope.
...
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