"Have some confidence—you've got to hold your head up, Aisha!"
Miles cupped Dark Aisha's cheeks and squeezed, kneading that soft face into a comically squashed expression.
He couldn't let her keep sinking into inferiority—it was time to guide her. If no one had guided her before, then he would. He'd tell the other Aisha she was excellent too—she'd just chosen the wrong academy (quietly).
"Hoo‑mah, mff dahn't ink yew shood…"
With Miles vigorously kneading her cheeks, Dark Aisha couldn't even speak clearly.
Boom—!
Abruptly, just when everyone thought it was a happy ending, a deafening rumble exploded nearby.
Dong—!
Along with it tolled the bell that had once counted down each strike toward a hellish storm of death—the bell of the imperial super‑dreadnought Chimes Concord. The warship Kaima had forced to crash into the capital—smashing into Locke and then brought down by Locke's bodily strength—suddenly roared to life at the last moment.
Everyone had forgotten it. Most duelists within the capital, unconscious, had never actually seen the moment of its fall.
So just as all thought things had wrapped up perfectly, the warship's presence shattered the brief peace—its "concord" anything but.
"The Holy Varian Empire shall stand undefeated for all time—!"
From the bridge came a hysterical roar—Cameron Slint's cry, full of sacrificial resolve. His father, Locke Slint, head of House Slint, had died horrifically, and his adopted daughter Luca had been consumed by divine fire. For him, there was no path back.
With such monstrous crimes, even doing nothing, the best end would be to serve as a war criminal—a scapegoat for the Empire's invasion—and hang.
Either way, death.
If advancing meant death and retreating meant death, then he would offer everything to the Holy Varian Empire he had served all his life—his final loyalty.
Kaima yelled, "Damn, his target is—!"
Anyone could see it. Cameron, spurring the warship on one last charge, meant to die in a suicide attack. His aim: the royal palace of Livorden's capital.
The aging King Kaiser would still be inside.
Trading a general for a king is a winning move on any board. If Cameron succeeded, Livorden would suffer an irreparable blow.
"Sons, charge with me! Even if our loyal bones lie in foreign soil, let House Slint's glory blaze across this continent!"
"Oooooooh!!"
Summoning lights flared across the capital—the Slint duelists who had infiltrated the city. They were all death‑sworn retainers. Having stepped into a foreign capital, they never intended to return alive.
Following their commander, the Empire's duelists emptied the last of their Spirit Eyes' power—their hole cards. There were no fewer than four copies of [Super Quantal Mech King Great Magnus].
Those giant combiner machines could even catch up to Neo Blue‑Eyes Ultimate Dragon's flight. Charging at that speed, side by side with the super‑dreadnought, the devastation from such a suicidal strike was obvious.
"Damn it—how can we let you have the last laugh?!"
Kaima wanted to stop the Empire's final lunge, but with what remained in her Spirit Eyes, even a simple summon was nearly impossible. Across the capital, duelists were battle‑worn; even those with enough strength left to summon could scarcely catch the sky‑borne charge of the desperate.
"What do we do, what do we do?!"
Aisha hopped in panic. After so many duels, her Spirit Eyes were as overdrawn as Kaima's. At this point, forget summoning a god—she couldn't even pluck a single Ra feather.
"No need to panic, Aisha Carlos."
Deion Kaiser laid a hand on her shoulder. Though tense, there was confidence in his tone. "You've done more than enough. By what happened today, calling you Livorden's savior wouldn't be an exaggeration. But guarding Livorden is also our House Kaiser's mission."
"Senior Kaiser?"
"With the life‑draining black mist gone, I think my elder brother has already helped father complete it—Livorden's strongest summoning!"
"Livorden's strongest summoning!" Kaima snapped to, seeing hope curve Deion's lips—a hope of absolute victory.
"You mean the Old King's legendary five cards?"
"Those five cards." Deion gritted his teeth and nodded. "Father is very old. Summoning them requires a long preparation. But once they're called… they're invincible!"
Though the black fog had interrupted the ritual, when Ra parted the clouds, the Old King must have seized the chance to finish the final rites. This was the kingdom's trump card—and why Deion had risked his life to stall Marshal Locke and send Prince Omar to alert the King.
Just as he predicted, the ground of the capital shook violently.
Though "five cards," each was enshrined in a massive slab beneath the city. The five slabs, set as a pentagram, encircled the capital. With time enough and the King's will, the slabs rose from the earth—a proclamation of victory.
[Right Arm of the Forbidden One]
[Left Arm of the Forbidden One]
[Right Leg of the Forbidden One]
[Left Leg of the Forbidden One]
[Exodia the Forbidden One]
When the five sealed cards awaken together, they become the undisputed strongest card.
Five in all—in official Dueling, that's a condition for a rules victory.
Deion cried out, "Witness the majesty that can ignite heaven and earth—!"
The five slabs shattered. Exodia tore free of four binding chains and descended in true form; its mere presence cracked the capital's walls. Far larger than Armityle, even the Empire's super‑dreadnought seemed a plastic toy before a true summoning.
Upon his throne, the Old King Kaiser controlled the strongest monster, staking his waning life to guard his realm and people.
"All who dare invade Livorden—this land of miracles will rain down divine fire upon you. Repent before the strongest power, knaves!"
Golden hands gathered a dread conflagration, compressing it tighter and tighter—until the mass within that orb defied even the sun's measure.
"Behold Exodia's strongest attack—'Demon‑God Flame Cannon!!'"
With the Old King's last declaration, Exodia hurled the god‑flame skyward. Scarlet energy exploded, blanketing the heavens.
"What monster is that?!"
Cameron, mid‑charge, didn't even grasp the magnitude before red swallowed all he saw.
"Holy Varian Empire—glory everlasting!!!"
His last words. The tidal flame swept the sky and devoured the super‑dreadnought Chimes Concord in a single blow—taking the charging [Super Quantal Mech King Great Magnus] with it.
The gap was too vast—no chance for the Empire to answer. When the Demon‑God Flame Cannon passed, no trace of their forces remained.
"One hit… it's over? That's insane."
Seeing Exodia for the first time, Aisha finally understood what "the strongest" meant.
"I wonder… could [The Winged Dragon of Ra] beat Exodia?"
Miles said, "Aisha, aren't you making things hard for Ra?"
Even in a duel, Ra and Exodia are entirely different. Ra, for all its might, is a battling monster. Exodia itself is a rule: if a duelist assembles all five parts, victory is declared.
"Exodia… befitting a king." Miles hadn't expected the Old King to possess the five pieces. In this world, on the Spirit Continent, both [Pot of Greed] and [Graceful Charity] can be run. For royalty commanding a nation's wealth, even A‑rarity isn't so rare. Princess Nova's Deck runs one of each.
So for the Old King, a full Exodia list with Gracefuls and Greeds… not unreasonable. Terrifying to imagine—Miles wouldn't want to duel such a man. Thankfully, the Old King wasn't his enemy. If the road to Duel King one day required surpassing him, Miles would devise an anti‑Exodia plan.
For now, savor victory. Exodia's strongest strike declared the capital's final triumph.
"Wait… he's gone!"
Surveying the field, Kaima and Kevin suddenly realized their father, Reigun Seth, had vanished. Though beaten in a Shadow Game, as a Millennium Rod bearer, he had some resistance—he wouldn't be entirely incapacitated. Kicked into the fog by Luca after his loss, his life or death had been unknown. But with the mist dispersed, he was nowhere to be found.
Aisha noticed another anomaly: "No way—the Millennium Rod and Millennium Eye are gone too!"
Luca's body had finally burned to ash, but the two Items that should have fallen nearby had vanished. Coupled with Reigun's disappearance—
"Ugh! The old man snatched them in the chaos."
It could only have been in that instant when all eyes were on the sky—on the battle between the warship and Exodia—that Reigun stole the Items in plain sight.
Kaima cursed, "Despicable! Will you throw away the Seth name entirely?!"
Meanwhile, slipping away through a secret passage, Reigun had already reached beyond the city walls, clutching the two stolen Items tight.
"I'm not finished. I haven't lost! So long as the green hills remain, there'll be wood for the fire!"
Muttering as he ran, he pinned his last hope on the two Millennium Items. With the Eye and Rod together, he'd rise again. Then Kaima, House Kaiser, even House Carlos—the spark that had sent him into darkness—he would have his revenge.
"Oh my, if it isn't the famed Duke Seth. In such a rush—heading where?"
"Wah?"
The sudden voice made him jolt. He would never forget the voice that had left him speechless at the Fusion Academy Festival.
"Alice Carlos. Why are you here?"
Standing before him was the last person he'd expect.
"Waiting for you, of course." Alice's smile was as elegant as ever, heightening Reigun's panic and disarray.
"Impossible!"
The wasteland beyond the walls should have been empty, yet Alice had somehow known he would come—and waited.
"After such treason, Duke… did you truly think you'd leave unscathed? Aren't you underestimating Livorden's people?"
"So you mean…" Reigun's eyes hardened. "You intend to stop me—just you, little girl?"
Perhaps he'd panicked in flight. Thinking now, he realized there was no need. The one blocking him was a frail girl—and, by all accounts, not even a duelist.
Even after overtaxing himself in Shadow Duels, with two Millennium Items in hand he could surely summon a monster.
"A useless girl without a Spirit Eyes—nothing but a pretty face. You don't know your limits—you don't even know how to spell 'death'!"
Killing intent flared. Reigun no longer restrained himself toward the girl who had shamed him at the festival. Today, the one who always touched his reverse scale would die.
"Oh? You mean a Spirit Eyes." Alice tapped her chin as if thinking, then curved a mysterious, charming smile. "Do you mean this?"
She drew on magic and produced a Spirit Eyes from her Millennium Ring.
"No way… why do you have a Spirit Eyes? Alice Carlos, you're not a duelist!"
"Is there a rule that only duelists can hold Spirit Eyes? If you care so much, Duke, I can show you more."
Maintaining her mysterious confidence, she flaunted them—one after another.
"What about this one? Or this? Or do you prefer this?"
By the time she'd shown a dozen, each a different hue, Reigun's jaw had nearly hit the ground. No one had ever amassed so many—it was absurd.
Thinking of Marquis Barret's son having his Spirit Eyes stolen the night before, cold sweat ran down Reigun's back.
"Don't tell me—the Barret affair last night… was you!"
"What, only now afraid? For a grand duke, your nerve is small indeed."
"You call me timid?!"
Blustering, knowing there was no avoiding a fight, Reigun forced his Spirit Eyes to flare one last time. "Don't mistake me for Barret trash! Even if you can duel, you die here today, Alice Carlos!"
"Duel—!"
…
"Direct attack—Radian, the Multidimensional Kaiju!"
"AAAAAAAAAH!"
[Reigun Seth, LP: 2500 → 0]
A shadow flashed; the super‑giant Kaiju that had devoured Five‑Headed Dragon lunged at her command. In a single, effortless blow, it crushed Reigun's body.
"Too weak, Duke. So weak I can't be bothered to take your Spirit Eyes."
With the disdain one reserves for trash, Alice didn't even touch the dim Spirit Eyes on his corpse—overdrawn by Shadow Games and beneath her notice.
...
If you want to support, please consider Patreon, and read advanced chapters! Your support keeps this series going!
[Patreon.com/RedZTL]