"Victory! We won this time, right?!" Princess Nova shouted excitedly, unable to contain herself.
They had personally witnessed the Numeron god being shot down twice, and the final strike had even brought forth the super thunder of Zeus himself. No matter how one looked at it, it should have been Miles and Aisha's victory.
"They really did it."
Wiping the tears from the corner of her eyes, Viel—who had reverted from the Crystalline Archsage back into her small child form—looked like a proud parent watching her child finally grow up.
"As long as Miles and Aisha fuse, they can even defeat a god of destruction! Just as expected from the ones I bet on~"
"After witnessing a duel like this, I'll have plenty to brag about when I get back," Irena said excitedly.
Almost everyone present was celebrating the victory of thunder slaying a god.
Only two people looked toward the end of the exploding lightning with complicated expressions—toward Zepha, whose chaotic wings had begun to wither after his scream.
"Zepha…"
One of them was Homar, who once regarded Zepha as a kindred spirit and closest friend.
The other was the emperor of the empire—Quaedes, Zepha's younger sister and the 'culprit' behind the distortion of his mind.
"That's enough already," Quaedes murmured. "Stop chasing that power. Stop fighting this meaningless battle, Zepha."
"Well, congrats. What a wonderful ending~
"At least, that's what I'd like to say."
From within the hidden Millennium Ring, Elra's tone suddenly shifted.
"But the cruel battle isn't over yet."
Alice frowned. "It's not over? That can't be…"
Elra replied, "Even I didn't expect this outcome. Prepare for the worst, Alice.
"That god… it was summoned in its strongest form from the very beginning."
"Summoned in its strongest form?"
The joy of victory had barely lasted a moment when the chaos gathering again beneath the starry sky froze the smiles on everyone's faces.
Zepha, who should have had his Life Points wiped out by ZEUS's 'God‑Extinguishing Super Thunder,' was standing there with his body scorched black and steaming with white heat. Yet he still tightly clutched a final card in his hand.
"—Quick‑Play Spell [Rank‑Up Booster]¹, activate!"
Zepha's voice no longer carried the arrogance from before. It sounded like the last breath he could barely force out while declaring the card's effect.
[All Xyz Monsters you control gain ATK equal to the number of Xyz Monsters you control × 300.]
This Quick‑Play Spell was designed to collectively boost the Attack of Xyz Monsters. Its optimal use was clearly meant to support the assault of the four Numeron Gates.
With all four Numeron Gates on the field, it could increase all Xyz Monsters' Attack by 1200 points—its initial boost even surpassing the 1000‑point doubling from [Limiter Removal].
However, Zepha currently had no Numeron Gates on the field. This was simply a Quick‑Play Spell that had never been properly used.
And yet it was precisely this card that had subtly changed the outcome during the thunderous clash just moments ago.
"During damage calculation, I used this card to increase the Attack of my only Xyz Monster—[Number C1000: Numerounius]—by 300."
With only one Xyz Monster present, it could only grant a pitiful increase of 300 Attack.
But that tiny 300‑point increase became Zepha's lifeline.
[Zepha, LP: 2000 → 300]
During ZEUS's ultimate strike, Zepha had urgently raised Numerounius's Attack by 300—just enough to preserve the final 300 Life Points he had left.
Calling it barely surviving was no exaggeration. The Numeron god he relied on had been defeated, all of his card resources were exhausted, and although his turn had not yet ended, Zepha was left with an empty field, an empty hand, and only 300 Life Points.
That was why Quaedes, who noticed this first, hoped Zepha would stop this meaningless battle.
However, although Quaedes had caught the card Zepha used during that fierce clash, she had not seen through the deeper power hidden beneath the surface like Elra in the Millennium Ring had.
Even with an empty field, Zepha was still able to gather chaos on the field again. That alone was abnormal.
Abnormal to the extreme.
"So this is the end," Zepha muttered quietly. "I'll bury you! And this entire continent. Together."
"You…!" Miles frowned. "Zepha, what exactly did you do?"
The chaos gathering on the field was even greater than when [Number C1000: Numerounius] had been destroyed.
"The strongest Numeron god will never be defeated! To prove this power, I can destroy the world again!"
Miles sighed. "So it really couldn't be avoided… he's totally twisted now."
Zepha originally sought power only to surpass his sister, Quaedes.
For that purpose, he used the National Transmutation Array to summon Numerounius, yet he had also prepared methods to control the god.
But as the duel progressed, the Chaos inside his body kept expanding with every turn, gradually eroding Zepha's soul.
Half of his soul had become the god that destroys the world.
The other half was the fragment of consciousness that remained because of his obsession.
Only in such a state could someone say something so illogical, like destroying the world again just to prove absolute power. Words that could only come from pure "Chaotic Evil."
"If you destroy the world, who are you even proving it to?!" Aisha couldn't help shouting.
Whoever Zepha wanted to prove it to didn't matter anymore.
What concerned Miles now was how Zepha could possibly accomplish it.
With an empty field, yet gathering even greater Chaos than before, the ominous aura spreading between heaven and earth felt like the true omen of the world's end…
…Or perhaps the final end itself.
"Wait… the omen of the world's destruction… the last end!" Miles suddenly realized.
"So it's that?!" Sylvia, who had once been the most devout believer, reacted at the same time.
Among the seven murals inside the imperial cathedral, the legend of Numerounius destroying the world in seven days was depicted.
The first mural showed the moment Numerounius descended upon the world.
On the first day, life on the surface and humanity perished together—the appearance of Numerounius in the mural was exactly the same as it had been during its battle with AA-ZEUS just now.
But as the epic of destruction continued and the murals progressed one by one, while the world was being destroyed, Numerounius itself also began to change.
…
The sixth day: Light and darkness both perish, returning to chaos.
The seventh day: Disaster lowers its banners, the world rests. In joy, quiet tears fall.
The heavenly flames of the world's destructive cycle—by the final mural, the appearance of Numerounius was completely different from when it first descended.
It had discarded the angelic form it originally imitated. What stood above the end was a pitch-black being—a true demon of chaos.
If Miles were to put it bluntly, that state meant it no longer even bothered pretending.
At the end of the seven-day destruction, when the earth and the seas were gone, when even the sun and moon vanished, leaving only a lonely void planet; no one would care whether you were an angel or a demon.
After organizing all the known information, Miles's eyes widened as he looked toward the chaos swelling to its limit ahead.
"This is bad! The god of destruction still has a true form hidden!"
This battle was far from over.
Zepha said, "I overlay the destroyed [Number C1000: Numerounius] as Xyz Material!"
Even the Rank 12 Numerounius itself became Xyz Material for the Chaos Xyz.
"Chaotic extinction Xyz transformation! Descend—Number iC1000! In the instant of my heaven and earth, humanity's dreams are nothing but illusion. O great god of the void, wield the weapon of ultimate darkness and smash the light with your iron hammer! Descend—Numeron Divine Light God: Numerounius Numerounia!"
The chaotic Numeron power swelling to its limit exploded at the center of heaven and earth, shattering the concepts of space and time together.
Space twisted, time flowed backward, and from within the chaos, a god even greater than [Number C1000: Numerounius] was born through Xyz.
Without question, this was the final form recorded in the epic of world destruction.
[Number iC1000: Numerounius Numerounia] Rank 13│LIGHT│Fiend│100,000 ATK
[When "Number C1000: Numerounius" you control is destroyed, you can use that card as Xyz Material to Special Summon this card from your Extra Deck as an Xyz Summon.]
When Numerounius is destroyed, it can immediately be used as Xyz Material to Special Summon this monster from the Extra Deck.
[Number iC1000: Numerounius Numerounia] was a monster beyond all standards in every sense.
Dark Aisha: "???! Rank 13?"
Aisha: "○A○! One hundred thousand Attack?"
"(°ロ°)! Does a monster like this really exist?!"
At this point, it was already right in front of them, so questioning its existence was meaningless.
Compared with its original form, Numerounius Numerounia, reborn through Xyz overlay, was like the difference between the first mural and the seventh mural: completely different beings.
Especially its overwhelming "size," which seemed to ignore the very concept of space and struck against the existence of the planet itself. Even AA-ZEUS, whose size rivaled Numerounius before, now looked tiny in comparison.
Extreme chaos surrounded the body. Zepha, who had completely transformed into chaotic evil, had his soul fully synchronized with the colossal being above him.
"This is the strongest, invincible god! Let everything on this planet submit before this great form! Tremble, humanity!"
With that single sentence, he completely separated himself from humanity. Now that he possessed power capable of destroying the planet, Zepha clearly no longer wished to remain human.
Ignoring the concept of space itself, Numerounius Numerounia manifested its enormous form across every corner of the planet.
"Hey, hey… what the hell is that thing?!"
This was fundamentally different from the earlier omen where the sky merely turned red. Even students far away at Fusion Academy could see the gigantic being floating above the Varian Empire.
The anxiety and fear of gazing directly upon chaos triggered the darkest emotions buried deep within human hearts.
"A monster? A god?"
"No, no, no… that looks like a disaster itself bringing about the end of the world!"
"The end of the world? Is the world ending again?!"
"No way, I still haven't found a girlfriend yet!"
"Let the world end then. I can't find one anyway."
The moment it descended, the entire Spirit Continent fell into chaos. Even Miles and Aisha, who had already resolved two national crises, had never seen anything like this before.
This crisis of the Varian Empire extended far beyond the empire itself.
And the most troublesome part was that Zepha had Special Summoned Numerounius Numerounia—with 100000 Attack—during the Battle Phase.
Even after two consecutive [Limiter Removal] activations pushed AA-ZEUS's Attack to 12000, surpassing Numerounius, that had already been Miles's strongest counterattack for this turn.
No one could have imagined that behind the Numeron god with 10000 Attack… there was an even greater Numeron god with 100000 Attack waiting.
The gap between one hundred thousand Attack and ten thousand Attack was like the difference in size now visible between heaven and earth—between [Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder] and [Number iC1000: Numerounius Numerounia]. They simply could not compete on the same stage.
If during this turn's Battle Phase Zepha simply attacked with the one hundred thousand Attack of Numerounius Numerounia… then without question, they would lose.
Right now, Miles and Aisha had no means to withstand one hundred thousand Attack.
"Mr. Miles, what should we do?!"
"That depends on whether our opponent gives us a chance."
If the humans of the Spirit Continent were now facing the despair of a mysterious calamity god threatening the world,
then what Miles and Aisha felt was the despair of reaching a crossroads of fate and finding an absolute wall that could not be passed.
There was no way through it; unless fate itself left a crack in that wall of despair, allowing light to shine through.
"A crack…?"
Facing that massive wall of despair, Miles suddenly remembered something Professor Field had once said during the battle of the royal capital.
"Everything has cracks. That's where the light gets in."
Even though the current situation was a hundred times more desperate than the battle at the royal capital, Miles still chose to believe in his professor's teachings.
"I'm Professor Field's student. If I give up here, I'd never have the face to return to the academy!"
Wait. And believe.
Bet that even at the end of despair, a final hope still remained. Bet that this wall of despair itself already contained a crack.
Zepha declared, "I end this turn's Battle Phase!"
Instead of declaring an attack to end the duel, Zepha directly chose to end the Battle Phase.
"I would have loved to tear you apart within chaos, but unfortunately, the final mercy of the Numeron god allowed you to survive for one more moment."
[This card is unaffected by other card effects and cannot declare an attack.]
Despite possessing a terrifying one hundred thousand Attack and immunity to other card effects, the enormous Numerounius Numerounia itself could not declare attacks.
They were still alive. The duel continued.
Even though they had bet everything on this possibility, when the crack finally allowed light to shine through, the joy of survival still felt overwhelming.
"Professor never lied to me!"
"Mr. Miles!"
"This isn't just a moment of survival! It's our final chance to turn the tables, Aisha!"
Grasping that final hope of survival, the intense emotions of Miles and Aisha fused together into a fighting spirit as their combined form faced the strongest chaos god.
The soul-light gathered by the Divine Relics shone before the gigantic Numerounius Numerounia. Just like the god itself, the light ignored the concept of space and appeared before everyone.
"Someone… someone is standing in front of that monster!"
"Are they fighting that thing?"
"Is it even possible to duel a monster that huge?"
Numerounius Numerounia ignored the concept of space and appeared in every corner of the Spirit Continent. That alone was already beyond reason.
So what happened next did not need to follow reason either.
For example—the radiant figure that suddenly appeared before the colossal chaos god.
Even though the distance and overwhelming light made it impossible to clearly see who was fighting, that light carried a familiar warmth of hope and gentleness.
It was unmistakably familiar—the reassuring feeling that made people want to rely on it, the certainty that this person would win an important duel for you.
"Miles, Aisha! Is it them fighting?"
The scene of the final battle also appeared above Synchron Academy.
Looking up at the sky, Krista felt something similar to when she once dueled the Earthbound Immortal in a Turbo Duel—when she became Shooting Quasar Dragon and fought side by side with Aisha, who was possessed by Miles.
"Miles and Aisha? No way," Lost said skeptically. "I know those two are strong, but this… isn't this a bit too exaggerated? Can they really be that powerful?"
Flying in the sky and dueling without even riding a D-Wheel… how could that possibly be something a human could do?
"That's probably just the filter of love," Aoyao muttered quietly. "An idiot in love tends to imagine their partner as being capable of anything."
"That's not a filter," Krista said firmly. "It's definitely them. It has to be them fighting. Just watch!"
Having gained a precious moment to breathe, Aisha tried once again to analyze the gigantic chaos god before them.
"Even though it has one hundred thousand Attack, if it can't declare attacks itself, then maybe it's not so terrifying. As long as we avoid battling it, we can stall for time and think of another way to win."
Zepha only had 300 Life Points left. There were still ways to win the duel without confronting Numerounius Numerounia directly.
For example, finding a way to Xyz Summon Baby Tiger Dragon and attack directly.
"Heh… hahahaha!"
As if he had seen through Aisha's thoughts, Zepha—commanding the colossal chaos god—threw his head back and laughed wildly.
"Don't be naive. Before the strongest Chaos god, you won't survive even a single turn. Watch carefully—this is the absolute power of [Number iC1000: Numerounius Numerounia]!"
[While this card is face-up on your field, monsters whose names include "Chaos" cannot attack. If your opponent declares an attack with a monster, that attack must target this card.]
[When an opponent's monster declares an attack, you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; negate that attack, and you gain Life Points equal to that monster's Attack.]
[At the end of your opponent's turn in which this card did not battle, you win the Duel.]
Three layers of chaotic despair were slammed directly into Miles and Aisha's faces.
Trying to stall for time to search for a way to win simply wasn't possible.
They were forced to attack Numerounius Numerounia, yet the attack could be negated by detaching Xyz Material. Combined with its one hundred thousand Attack, the situation was already absurd.
And the final effect went even further—it invoked an outright victory condition. If a turn passed without battling Numerounius Numerounia, defeat would be declared immediately.
In the epic legend of the seven-day destruction, the final form that descended on the seventh day—Numerounius Numerounia—was exactly as its card effect suggested. Ending the duel and destroying the world required only a single turn.
Chaos symbolizing annihilation spread through heaven and earth. At that moment, across the Spirit Continent, the ground trembled and split apart, volcanoes erupted, the sky turned blood-red, and storms of thunder and rain raged.
Countless disasters that should have been called "natural calamities" erupted simultaneously. It resembled a hellish panorama before the end of the world.
"There's only one turn left. Both for this duel and for the world!" Zepha's expression suddenly twisted in agony. "My turn… ends!"
At the moment he declared the end of the turn, AA-ZEUS—whose limiter had been released—completed its mission and vanished from the field.
At the same time, the chaos power within Zepha's body finally swelled to its absolute limit.
And when that limit was reached, his entire body exploded in an instant.
Scarlet blood and shattered flesh scattered into the sky, already dyed crimson by disaster, blending in without the slightest sense of contradiction.
Aisha: "(*?ロ?) H-he's dead?!"
Miles: "So he ended up becoming the final sacrifice after all."
Miles was not surprised by the destruction of Zepha's body. Zepha himself had likely foreseen this outcome.
"Hahahahahahaha! I finally obtained it!"
Even though his body had exploded into pieces before everyone's eyes, Zepha's eerie laughter still echoed across the sky.
In fact, the laughter grew even louder, spreading across the entire Spirit Continent for everyone to hear.
"I finally obtained it! The ultimate power that surpasses Quaedes!"
From the center of Numerounius Numerounia's enormous black body, a human face suddenly emerged—Zepha's face, twisted to the extreme.
Just like Miles and Aisha, it seemed the other side had also "fused."
However, Zepha's fused form was truly unbearable to look at, grotesque enough to shatter one's sanity.
Alice sighed involuntarily. "What terrifying obsession. He would rather exist in such a hideous form just to surpass his own sister?"
Alice also had a younger sister, yet she could not understand Zepha's madness at all.
Her sister Aisha might not have been born with the overwhelming dueling talent that Quaedes possessed.
But even as a Duelist, Aisha had often been compared with Alice, who was not a Duelist.
Even if she were inferior to her sister by nature, Alice would never destroy the world over something like that.
Even her pact with the Millennium Ring had only been a means of protecting her loved ones in the cruel and dark world of the nobility.
Losing his sanity more and more, Zepha continued shouting.
"Did you see it? Did you see it, Quaedes?! My power… power stronger than yours!"
"That's enough, Zepha!" Miles finally shouted in anger.
Unlike Alice, Miles could understand why Zepha had twisted into this outcome. But precisely because he understood, his anger burned even stronger.
"So you lived in your sister's shadow, and that's why you'd rather destroy the world just to prove yourself? Don't make me laugh!"
Aisha: "Mr. Miles…?"
Even Aisha was startled. It was the first time she had heard Miles speak with such fury.
"Don't joke around, Zepha! Do you know that some people can no longer even see their family ever again?!"
Dark Aisha: "Miles…"
With that single sentence, both versions of Aisha immediately understood why he was so angry.
The person who could no longer see their family… was Miles himself.
"So what if you lived in your sister's shadow? So what if your older sister scolded you every day? The things you once found annoying only become precious once you truly lose them!"
For a moment, Zepha's face, emerging from Numerounius Numerounia, seemed stunned, as if suppressed by Miles's overwhelming anger.
"Siblings arguing with each other is absolutely normal!"
The turn shifted. This duel and the countdown to the world's destruction finally reached Miles' final turn.
"But don't drag other people into your sibling quarrel! Destroying the world for such a childish reason! Don't make me laugh!"
Miles placed his fingers on the Deck within the Spirit Eyes. His fury at that moment seemed to flow into the Deck itself like chaotic power.
That chaotic anger awakened the crystal ring on his finger—the one given to him by Quaedes, containing the raging power of the ocean.
"Please… take my power with you and stop my foolish brother."
"You really are foolish beyond belief, Zepha!" Miles declared. "I'll show you that relying on a destructive Numeron god doesn't allow you to surpass anything!"
His finger, glowing with the blue light of the crystal ring, drew the final card.
Since this world-destroying duel began with the rift between siblings, its conclusion would be decided by the greatest power born from that same bond.
"Barian Chaos Draw! [Rank-Up-Magic - The Seventh One]!"
….
¹ Couldn't find the "Rank‑Up Booster" cardie sigh
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