Under the pitch-black starry sky, the duel that had reached the domain of gods officially erupted.
The chaos from Zepha's Spirit Eyes first tore across the sky, signifying that he had taken the first turn.
Miles, who had the second turn, carefully examined the cards in his opening hand.
The uniqueness of this duel was unlike any before. Even during the opponent's first turn, he had to remain completely focused.
Miles murmured softly, "Quaedes' older brother, huh… what kind of fighting style will it be?"
As the elder brother of Quaedes, the strongest emperor in the empire's history, even if his strength did not match Quaedes', logically, he should not be weak.
That said, exceptions exist. From what Miles had heard through rumors, Zepha's strength was not only unimpressive; it was even somewhat weak.
His younger sister was the empire's strongest Duelist, while as the elder brother he lived under that terrifying halo of comparison, his strength inferior even to an average Duelist.
That could be considered Zepha's childhood shadow, and the fuse that ignited his fall into darkness.
In the Saint Varian Empire, which revered absolute power, the one who longed for power the most might very well be the Zepha standing before him.
For that purpose, he even fused with the god who would destroy the world, completely falling into chaos.
"The injustice of fate, all this sorrow… I will erase it with this battle!"
With the colossal Numerounius serving as the grand backdrop of the duel, Zepha threw out the card in his hand.
"From my hand, I Special Summon—[Lyrilusc - Turquoise Warbler]!"
[Lyrilusc - Turquoise Warbler] Level 1│WIND│Winged Beast│100 ATK
[If you control no monsters, you can Special Summon this card from your hand.]
Totally opposite to the terrifying god of destruction behind him.
The monster Zepha summoned first had only 1 star and 100 Attack and Defense. The powerless emerald songbird fluttered in the night sky.
"Next, the effect of [Lyrilusc - Turquoise Warbler]!"
[If this card is Special Summoned from the hand: You can Special Summon 1 "Lyrilusc" monster from your hand or Graveyard.]
"From my hand, I Special Summon—[Lyrilusc - Cobalt Sparrow]! Then with the effect of [Lyrilusc - Cobalt Sparrow], I search my Deck for another Level 1 Winged Beast monster!"
[Lyrilusc - Cobalt Sparrow] Level 1│WIND│Winged Beast│0 ATK
[If this card is Special Summoned: Add 1 Level 1 Winged Beast monster from your Deck to your hand.]
Another Level 1 bird-girl monster with no combat ability.
At this moment, Miles had already noticed something.
These Level 1 monsters formed the Duel Deck Zepha originally used.
He was practically the same type of Duelist as Aisha—someone with a special constitution that could only summon low-level monsters.
Thinking back to Aisha's past, she could only summon low-level fodder monsters and could barely survive even in Livorden.
Not to mention the Saint Varian Empire, which worshipped power. The prejudice and disdain Zepha must have endured likely exceeded what Aisha experienced several times over.
"Zepha…"
Quaedes raised his head and looked at the duel unfolding beneath the starry sky.
Even after gaining the power of the god of destruction, Zepha's fighting style seemed no different from before.
For some reason, that only made Quaedes feel even more uneasy.
It was as if the older brother who had been belittled and called useless since childhood was now flying farther and farther toward that terrifying abyss of stars.
"This is the final farewell." The blood-tear streaks on both sides of his face seemed to awaken again as Zepha roared, "I'll use this method to sever ties with the weak me of the past!"
The light of Xyz burst forth as the two Lyrilusc monsters on Zepha's field overlapped.
"Birds bearing wings of light. Gather and shine upon the battlefield! Xyz Summon! Descend, Rank 1—[Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale]!"
[Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale] Rank 1│WIND│Winged Beast│0 ATK
With dazzling wings stirring, the Rank 1 Xyz bird-girl monster flew out from the light of Xyz, materializing beneath the starry sky.
"It's not over yet!"
After completing the Xyz Summon on the field, Zepha immediately followed with a card no one expected.
"—Spell Card [Polymerization] activated!"
As a member of the Saint Varian Empire's royal family, Zepha activated Livorden's Polymerization.
"So you'll use Fusion as well, Zepha."
Seeing this, Homar looked sorrowful as he recalled what Zepha had once told him when they first met.
"Fusion Summoning… I think it's also an excellent summoning method. The divisions on the Spirit Continent caused by different summoning methods have already become far too severe. True peace should come from trying to break that stalemate."
Back then, Zepha had been one of the few young royals in the empire who hoped for world peace. That was why Homar had felt an immediate connection with him.
But now, the cruelty of reality had twisted the dreams of that once-young boy.
When Zepha used Fusion while wielding the power of a god that could destroy everything, Homar felt nothing but sorrow.
"I fuse the Xyz monster on my field [Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale] with the [Lyrilusc - Celestine Wagtail] I searched to my hand!"
Directly using the stacked Xyz monster as Fusion Material, azure wings stirred a fusion storm beneath the starry sky.
"Let the chirping echoing through the dark night merge with the sound of chaos—cry out even more fiercely! Fusion Summon! Noble lone bird—[Lyrilusc - Independent Nightingale]!"
[Lyrilusc - Independent Nightingale] Level 1│WIND│Winged Beast│1000 ATK
[Lyrilusc - Assembled Nightingale + "Lyrilusc" monster]
Inheriting the Xyz monster used as Fusion Material, the darkened figure in the night spun violently through the air.
"Independent Nightingale's Level increases by the number of materials the Xyz monster used as Fusion Material had!"
The two Xyz Materials stacked beneath the Rank 1 card transformed into stars circling its wings, raising Independent Nightingale's Level from 1 to 3.
"And with the increase in Level, Independent Nightingale's power also grows!"
[This card gains Attack equal to its Level × 500. This card is unaffected by other card effects.]
[Lyrilusc - Independent Nightingale, ATK: 1000 → 2500]
A monster with 2500 Attack that is unaffected by other card effects could be considered somewhat strong as a Fusion finisher.
But only "somewhat".
If this was the ace monster of Zepha's original Deck, then in the Saint Varian Empire—where powerful Duelists were everywhere—it truly was not enough.
"Endure it. The storm of wings from the dark night! Independent Nightingale's effect activates!"
[Once per turn, during your Main Phase: Inflict damage to your opponent equal to this card's Level × 500.]
Azure wings whipped up a storm that rushed straight toward Miles.
Just like Miles' premonition at the start of the duel… no, rather the Duelist's intuition that had been multiplied after merging together.
Even during the opponent's first turn, he could not relax. A Level 3 storm of damage—3 × 500 = 1500—swept directly across the fused body of Miles and Aisha.
The violent pain from wind blades tearing across pale skin struck directly into the soul.
With the power of the Millennium Item, they had fused into a body capable of streaking through the sky, a body that could punch Zepha—who had fused with the god of destruction—hundreds of meters away.
Even with such absurd physical strength, he could still be injured in a duel. It truly showed how absolute the duel rules binding this world were.
This duel carried pain feedback even more real than a Shadow Game—a life-and-death battle in the domain of gods.
[Miles × Aisha, LP: 4000 → 2500]
Raising his arm to shield his body from the storm of wings, Miles stared firmly at Zepha.
"Is that all? If that's the extent of your power, this duel will turn into a one-sided crushing!"
From merging with Aisha came an unparalleled confidence. Even after losing 1500 Life Points at the start, Miles remained unmoved.
"A one-sided crushing? Heh… it seems you still haven't realized what it means to sever the fate I have cut apart. The ones who will be crushed are you!"
Zepha drew out a card from his hand and raised it beneath the starry night sky. In that instant, the power erupting from the mysterious card seemed to pierce through the sky above and extend into the endless sea of stars.
"With this card, I will truly sever the fate of the past. I Tribute the Fusion Monster on my field—[Lyrilusc - Independent Nightingale]—for a Tribute Summon. Feel the tyrannical power of a planet!"
Zepha directly used his Fusion finisher—the ace monster—as a Tribute, feeding it to the monster card in his hand.
Planetary gravity pressed down, and in the night sky appeared the phantom image of a massive celestial body falling.
"This is… a Planet card?!"
A dormant memory suddenly struck Miles.
When the Slint family—one of the three great imperial families—invaded the royal capital of Livorden, nearly every one of them wielded a Planet monster card.
And now a card belonging to that same planetary series had appeared in Zepha's hand.
It was impossible for Miles not to make the connection.
"The war the Slint family tried to ignite… you were involved as well, Zepha."
"You should thank me, Aisha Carlos. Because of that attack, you were given the chance to become the hero who saved the kingdom, weren't you!"
Tearing apart and devouring the fused Independent Nightingale, the tone of the duel shifted drastically as the strongest Planet card descended.
"This rage that pierces through planets. No one can withstand it! Tribute Summon—[Tyrant Neptune]!"
[Tyrant Neptune] Level 10│WATER│Reptile│0 ATK
[This card cannot be Special Summoned. This card can be Tribute Summoned by Tributing 1 monster.]
[This card gains Attack and Defense equal to the combined original Attack and Defense of the Tributed monster used for its Tribute Summon.]
The planetary tyrant born from the dark shadows absorbed the original Attack of the monster offered as tribute, much like the effect of The Winged Dragon of Ra.
[Tyrant Neptune, ATK: 0 → 1000]
"A planetary ace with only 1000 Attack?"
"Now open your eyes and watch carefully! Tyrant Neptune absorbs far more than just the Attack of its tribute! This is 'Perfect Absorption'—even stronger than Ra!"
[When this card is Tribute Summoned: Target 1 Effect Monster in your Graveyard that was Tributed. This card's name becomes that monster's name, and it gains that monster's effects.]
'Perfect Absorption'—not only does it absorb the Attack of the tribute monster, it even absorbs its effects. Even The Winged Dragon of Ra cannot accomplish that.
"I have [Tyrant Neptune] inherit [Lyrilusc - Independent Nightingale]. With your level of skill, you should know what that means, Miles, Aisha Carlos!"
The Fusion Monster [Lyrilusc - Independent Nightingale] was a monster capable of massively increasing its combat power through its Level, though the method of raising that Level was normally quite difficult.
But Tyrant Neptune itself was already Level 10.
[This card gains Attack equal to its Level × 500. This card is unaffected by other card effects.]
"After gaining that effect, Tyrant Neptune's Attack increases by 10 × 500 = 5000!"
[Tyrant Neptune, ATK: 1000 → 6000]
A final Attack of 6000—and complete immunity to all other card effects.
With the arrival of Tyrant Neptune, what had once been a modest level of power was elevated to something absurd.
And [Lyrilusc - Independent Nightingale] possessed another even more terrifying effect.
[Once per turn, during your Main Phase: Inflict damage to your opponent equal to this card's Level × 500.]
Having inherited Independent Nightingale's effect, Tyrant Neptune could activate this ability once again during the very first turn.
"Direct effect damage—5000! This planet‑piercing fury leaves no survivors!"
Raising the tyrant's spear in his hand, Zepha seemed to command a colossal object in the heavens themselves, as though the entire planet Neptune were being hurled down into the duel.
Even the Duelist's intuition, Miles felt at the start of the duel, had not foreseen this moment.
Five thousand points of effect damage on the first turn was even more terrifying than an OTK.
A First Turn Kill—ending the duel before the opponent could even act, before they even had a chance to play Yu‑Gi‑Oh! at all.
Fortunately for Miles and Aisha, they were the ones enduring Neptune's fall. Had it been anyone else, only despair would have remained.
"Prepare for impact, Aisha—use that card!"
"Understood!"
Miles & Aisha: "Deploy it—Photon Barrier!"
Colliding head‑on with the massive celestial body crashing down from space, a Kuriphoton barrier expanded to its limit above Miles and Aisha.
"It's just Neptune, isn't it? Then shove it right back!"
---
If you want to support, please consider Patreon and read advanced chapters! Your support keeps this series going! [Patreon.com/RedZTL]