The three cards even the Millennium Eye could not see through—cards of radiance that pierced the darkness—became the turning point of all three duels.
"This card!"
What Locke Slint couldn't discern beneath that gleam appeared crystal clear in Miles's hand—clear enough to guide the future.
"Professor, so this is the light you left us. You're a truly great teacher. I'll win—and show you!"
The gleaming card traced past his brow. Miles flipped that card—the one even the Millennium Eye could not penetrate—face-down into his back row.
"I set 1 card, then activate the Spell Card 'Dark Factory of Mass Production'!"
[Dark Factory of Mass Production – Spell: Target 2 Normal Monsters in your GY; add them to your hand.]
"I add 2 Mokey Mokey from my Graveyard to my hand. Lastly, I Normal Summon Winged Kuriboh in Defense Position. Turn end!"
[Winged Kuriboh] Level 1│LIGHT│Fairy│300 ATK
The last monster in Miles's hand—Winged Kuriboh—fluttered its tiny angel wings, shedding a faint glow as it floated within the darkness.
"It's Winged Kuriboh—so cute!"
Even now, with tears in her eyes, the little princess couldn't help being drawn to it; clearly, she truly loved Kuribohs.
Of course, there was another reason—far more important.
"Never bow your head to the darkness and cry. Lift it high, Princess Nova!"
Taking Professor Field's words to heart, Nova lifted her head and faced the duel before her.
For those duelists fighting for Livorden—as a Kaiser of the royal line—she bore the duty to witness this duel's end.
"When you Summon a monster, I can Special Summon a Phantasm Token to my field!"
[Phantasm Token, DEF: 1000]
A dark thing crawled to Locke's field alongside Winged Kuriboh's arrival.
"Planning to stall with a monster like Winged Kuriboh? In the end, it's still just a deck piled with small fry!"
Yet despite his words, the radiant set card he couldn't see through made Locke uneasy.
Miles said, "Even small fry can blow you to pieces! Locke Slint, you who spent your life in darkness—you can't understand this light!"
As Miles ended his turn, Kaima in the other duel swept a hand to reveal her set card. "—I activate my Set Quick-Play Spell, 'Silver's Cry'!"
[Target 1 Dragon Normal Monster in your GY; Special Summon that target.]
"Return! Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
A silver dragon roared beneath the moonlit sky, rousing the Blue-Eyes first used as a Ritual tribute from Kaima's Graveyard.
[Blue-Eyes White Dragon] Level 8│LIGHT│Dragon│3000 ATK
Reigun barked, "What use is summoning Blue-Eyes now, foolish girl! This darkness is a place even its light cannot reach!"
"If what lies ahead is only endless darkness, then I'll use these wings to dye the darkness itself!—Spell 'Polymerization', activate!"
Kaima threw everything into Fusion, ignoring the Trap in Reigun Seth's back row—'Sakuretsu Armor.'
"I fuse the Blue-Eyes on my field with 2 Blue-Eyes in my hand! Descend—the strongest, the original ultimate dragon—Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
[Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] Level 12│LIGHT│Dragon/Fusion│4500 ATK
She did not choose to fuse into Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. For this final battle in darkness, Kaima chose the original form to tear it apart.
"Shatter! Break! Roar in triumph! Bet all hope on this strike, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!—'Ultimate Burst Stream!!'"
The triple heads gathered explosive light within the dark and locked onto Uria, Lord of Searing Flames on Reigun's field.
"What are you trying to do, Kaima!"
Reigun's face turned grim.
His Uria had 6000 Attack, and he still had the Trap 'Sakuretsu Armor' to destroy monsters. Kaima shouldn't be able to break through.
And yet…
Why did Blue-Eyes Ultimate blaze with a light even the Sacred Beasts couldn't smother?
As if Kaima Seth stood above him.
"Impossible. I am the head of the Seth family! Don't get arrogant, Kaima!"
With a furious bellow, Millennium Rod in hand, Reigun's face twisted as he drove Uria to counterattack.
"—Hyper Breath!!"
Purgatorial flame and ultimate white light collided, shockwaves vaporizing the very air and tearing up the ground of the Shadow Game.
"Professor, I—" Ren clenched the gleaming card in her hand. She knew exactly what it meant.
Professor Field stood calmly. "Don't hesitate, Ren. Your inner justice is no weaker than mine. Win this Shadow Game honorably! Show me the HERO you're proud of!"
"Yes, Professor. Thank you. I'll never forget how you used this light to guide our future. I'll end this duel the Fusion way!"
With Fusion Academy's hallmark style—even from an empty field—Ren slammed the Spell 'Polymerization' onto the ground.
"Fusion, activate! I fuse the 'Elemental HERO Avian' and 'Elemental HERO Burstinatrix' in my hand!"
Ren's first HERO Fusion—the possibility she'd inherited from Miles—blazed anew in this moment.
"Ignite the righteous blaze of the sky—stand at the apex and scorn the darkness! Fusion Summon—'Elemental HERO Flame Wingman'!"
[Elemental HERO Flame Wingman] Level 6│WIND│Warrior/Fusion│2100 ATK
He descended, arms crossed, meeting the gaze of the massive 'Ancient Gear Ultimate Golem' before him.
That was Professor Field's final monster.
"I'm coming, Professor!"
"Come, Ren. Surpass me here—break through this darkness!"
"Battle—!"
Declaring her Battle Phase, Ren raised the radiant card she'd drawn this turn high above her head.
A HERO card—not from Ilon, but from Edigo.
"Attack target—Ancient Gear Ultimate Golem! Soar on this light and burn through—Flame Wingman!"
He clashed head-on with the 4400 Attack Titan. Flames erupted from his draconic arm—at that instant, the wings at his back evolved, shining like an angel's.
"During battle, I activate the effect of 'Elemental HERO Honest Neos' from my hand!"
[Discard this card; target 1 'HERO' monster on the field, it gains 2500 ATK until the end of this turn. This effect can be activated during either player's turn.]
"Big bro Ilon, big bro Edigo—lend me your HERO souls! I use Honest Neos to raise Flame Wingman's Attack by 2500!"
"This is—!"
Professor Field's eyes widened slightly—as if he could see those former students placing reassuring hands upon the girl's shoulders.
[Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, ATK: 2100 → 4600]
With wings of radiant sincerity, Flame Wingman's Attack surged past the Ancient Gear titan's.
"Finish it—Radiant Flame Wingman!—'Brilliant Flame Shot!!'"
Heroic fire, veiled in pure white light, erupted point-blank, swallowing the enormous machine and kindling a newborn blaze within the darkness.
[Professor Field, LP: 4000 → 3800]
"Additional damage—Flame Wingman's effect!"
[When this card destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the GY: Inflict damage to your opponent equal to the destroyed monster's original ATK.]
Flame Wingman, who can deal massive damage at once, would inflict 4400 damage after destroying Ancient Gear Ultimate Golem.
"—Ultimate Spark Break!!"
[Professor Field, LP: 3800 → 0]
In the Shadow Game, the searing blaze of true light erased the professor's Life Points in an instant.
Yet despite the real pain, he showed no trace of suffering.
His student had surpassed him. As a teacher, he had to offer the sincerest praise.
"Beautifully done, Ren! Use that light to carve apart the royal capital's darkness!"
A lance of light shot from the Shadow Game, clearing a full third of the black fog shrouding the capital.
It was the first light.
[Kaima, LP: 2000 → 500]
A 1500 Attack gap—ultimately, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon fell in battle against Uria.
However, the lingering white-dragon soul linked to the radiant card clenched in Kaima's hand—a dragon birthed when the slate of the Soul Room shattered, one that had truly appeared in her Deck.
"Even your strongest—Blue-Eyes Ultimate—failed. Kaima, you will never defeat me!"
"Reigun Seth—you've already lost."
A tall figure stood wreathed in radiance. Slender fingers pinched the dragon card and raised it high—as if the very boundary of dimensions cracked behind Kaima.
"O pure white power at the fount of endless time—wings that tremble in the interlaced echoes of souls—appear from the cerulean abyss! Deep-Eyes White Dragon!"
[Deep-Eyes White Dragon] Level 10│LIGHT│Dragon│0 ATK
[When a Level 8 or higher Dragon-Type monster(s) on your field is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to the GY: You can Special Summon this card from your hand.]
"When my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon is destroyed, I Special Summon a new white dragon from my hand—Deep-Eyes White Dragon!!"
Bursting through the dimensional veil, Deep-Eyes White Dragon unfurled its haloed, resplendent wings, releasing a pure white light beyond the very source of time.
"Deep-Eyes White Dragon's effect—when Special Summoned, for each Dragon in either Graveyard, inflict 600 damage to your opponent!"
The cerulean abyss linked to Kaima's Graveyard, rousing every Dragon within—even the phantom of the fallen Blue-Eyes Ultimate reappeared.
Gathered dragon souls completed a nuclear blaze of light within the dark.
"There are 7 Dragons in my Graveyard—that's 7 × 600 = 4200 damage to you!—Take it! 'Abyssal Destruction White Light!!'"
The souls ringed behind Deep-Eyes converged and launched 4200 direct damage at Reigun Seth.
"This time, it's farewell—for good, my cowardly father."
"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!"
[Reigun Seth, LP: 4000 → 0]
The true abyssal light pierced through Reigun Seth's body within the Shadow Game. As his death cry rang out, the light once again broke past the barrier of darkness, spreading into the skies above the capital and clearing away another third of the black fog.
This was the second light.
"So they lost after all?" Locke Slint frowned as he glanced at his two defeated allies.
"As expected, the trash from other nations is useless. If I want to crush you completely with darkness, I'll have to do it myself! My turn—Draw!"
The Millennium Eye scanned the card drawn this turn, and Locke's lips curved in a sinister smile.
"Don't think a mere Winged Kuriboh can stop me!—I Normal Summon Makyura the Destructor in Attack Position!"
[Makyura the Destructor] Level 4│DARK│Warrior│1600 ATK / 1200 DEF
"Then I activate Raviel, Lord of Phantasms' effect! By sending the Phantasm Token and Makyura the Destructor to the Graveyard, Raviel gains ATK equal to their combined Attack Points!"
[Raviel, Lord of Phantasms ATK: 4000 → 6600]
By offering up his monsters' lives to boost Raviel, Locke also achieved another purpose.
[Makyura the Destructor effect: During the turn this card is sent to the GY, its controller can activate Trap Cards from their hand.]
Locke's true goal was to play the Trap Card he had just drawn this turn.
"—Continuous Trap, Final Attack Orders!"
[Final Attack Orders – Continuous Trap: While this card is face-up on the field, all monsters are changed to Attack Position and cannot change their battle positions.]
With Final Attack Orders forcing every monster on the field into Attack Position, Miles's Winged Kuriboh was turned from Defense to Attack Position.
This way, Locke could destroy Winged Kuriboh in battle and deal damage directly, bypassing its parting effect.
The only drawback—Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder, which should have been safe, was also forced to Attack Position with 0 Attack, leaving it vulnerable.
Even so, as long as he finished this turn, none of that would matter.
"Trash will always be trash. Once I crush the Millennium Puzzle's wielder, the rest of you are next! Raviel, unleash your sacrificial fist—Shimmering Scraper!"
With life force overflowing, the muscled Sacred Beast roared as Locke declared his Battle Phase.
Though Locke Slint, unable to see through the radiant set card with his Millennium Eye, didn't realize that the moment he chose battle, he had already fallen into Miles's final reversal.
"This is the last light that will pierce the capital's darkness!"
Facing the strongest Sacred Beast's sacrificial strike, Miles raised his hand and slowly flipped open the radiant card.
Kaima & Ren: "Go, Miles!!"
"—Quick-Play Spell, Transcendent Wings, activate!"
This was the card Aisha had once pulled at the Academy Festival as an A-rank prize—mocked at the time for its uselessness.
But now Miles understood: in that moment, Aisha's luck had peaked.
[Send 1 'Winged Kuriboh' and 2 cards from your hand to the GY; Special Summon 1 'Winged Kuriboh LV10' from your hand or Deck.]
"I send Winged Kuriboh on my field and 2 Mokey Mokey from my hand to the Graveyard! Evolve—and let these transcendent wings banish all darkness!"
As the card activated, Winged Kuriboh's white wings stretched endlessly toward the heavens, its gentle radiance slowly illuminating the capital.
[Winged Kuriboh LV10] Level 10│LIGHT│Fairy│300 ATK / 200 DEF
[This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card can only be Special Summoned by the effect of 'Transcendent Wings'.]
From Level 1 to Level 10 in an instant—the pinnacle of its existence—Winged Kuriboh LV10 had ascended, surpassing all the small fry monsters in the Deck.
Its evolved twin wings spread across the entire capital sky, transforming into a dragon. The strongest form of Winged Kuriboh charged alone toward the mightiest Sacred Beast.
"Winged Kuriboh LV10's effect, activate!"
[By Tributing this face-up card: Destroy all monsters your opponent controls, and inflict damage to your opponent equal to the combined original ATK of those destroyed monsters. This effect can only be activated during your opponent's Battle Phase.]
"I Tribute Winged Kuriboh LV10! Destroy all your monsters and deal you damage equal to their total original Attack!"
This was the third light.
Winged Kuriboh LV10's blazing radiance annihilated every monster on Locke's field in an instant.
"No… no way! That trash Kuriboh evolved into a light greater than the Sacred Beasts?!"
Forced back by the blinding brilliance, even Locke's Millennium Eye cracked under the intensity.
Everything has a crack—that's how the light gets in!
"The true evolution isn't Kuriboh itself—it's the Duelist's heart, never ruled by darkness! End this, Sacred Beasts!—Transcendent Kuriboh Radiance!!"
[Raviel, Lord of Phantasms, destroyed]
[Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder destroyed]
[The Tripping Mercury destroyed]
All three monsters obliterated at once, their overwhelming Attack Points converted into damage that slammed into Locke Slint's body.
"4000 + 4000 + 2000 = 10,000 points! This is my answer in the Shadow Game, old man!"
Just a turn ago, Locke had sought to obliterate Miles with 8000 damage, body and soul alike. He never expected a single reversal would make him the one to suffer 10,000 instead.
"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!"
[Locke Slint, LP: 7000 → 0]
The ultimate strike, the transcendent wings of Kuriboh, became the third light bursting from the Shadow Game, scouring the last of the fog and darkness from the capital.
"We… we won!" Nova's small body trembled with excitement as she gazed at the three figures standing proud within the light.
They were the Duelists of Fusion Academy—the ones who had brought light back to the land.
...
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