"W-What is going on here?"
"Someone save us!"
"Why do I have to duel someone at this level?!"
"Aaaahhhhh!"
The dragon slayer eventually becomes the dragon. The hero who saved the world yesterday had turned into a terrifying demon today in a blink.
Like a reenactment of hell itself, the Duelists gathered in the imperial capital had barely survived yesterday's catastrophe caused by the National Transmutation Array. Now they were once again suffering under Miles' indiscriminate slaughter, fueled by ZEXAL.
Miles had wanted to rely on sheer numbers of Duelists in the imperial capital, begging for a defeat through a sea of challengers.
However, he had underestimated the power of the heart of the cards.
"A true Duelist has everything determined by destiny. Even the cards they draw are created by themselves."
After sweeping through nearly half of the imperial capital, Miles finally understood again.
Even if countless ordinary Duelists with no reputation appeared, it was useless.
Just like how a top-tier meta deck would never lose to an Axe Raider deck.
Not to mention that he practically never bricked.
He couldn't lose even if he tried.
Perhaps this was the same feeling that the legendary undefeated swordsman once had.
"This won't work. This method is futile."
If only quantity was considered and not quality, then bringing in endless cannon fodder would achieve nothing.
So Miles had no choice but to change his approach and search within the imperial capital for Duelists who could truly be considered strong.
Elra: "They've left. Should we follow them, Alice?"
Alice: "Of course we should!"
After Miles confidently left the consulate restaurant, Alice naturally followed after him.
Though before that, Alice wore a black robe to conceal herself.
Don't ask how wearing a black robe in broad daylight could possibly hide someone.
In truth, as long as Alice surrounded herself with the same dark power that the Millennium Ring normally used to conceal its true form, she could run naked through the imperial capital, and no one would notice.
"If necessary, I'll step in."
Letting her beloved little sister (or rather, sisters) remain fused forever with a man was something Alice would rather die than accept.
That's why she switched modes and followed behind Miles and Aisha.
If Miles simply could not lose a duel, Alice would intervene while keeping her identity hidden and deal with him personally.
---
Imperial Capital Grand Cathedral.
Today was likely the quietest day in the cathedral's entire history.
As a nation where divine authority and royal authority stood in opposition, the reason the cathedral had fallen to this state was obvious.
Even the god who had once served as their faith had collapsed in defeat. With their object of faith gone, was there any reason for the people of the capital to come to the cathedral anymore?
"Huh? You want to duel me? And wait… Miles and Aisha, you still haven't separated yet?"
Looking at the fused form of Miles and Aisha, Sylvia was just as confused.
Still, what surprised the nun Sylvia even more was why these two had come all the way here, specifically to duel her.
"I don't have much time, you know. I still have to go back and take care of my mother later."
Today, Sylvia hadn't opened her confessional booth; Otherwise, the cathedral might still have had at least a little activity.
After losing the god they once worshiped, Sylvia had already regained her composure through dueling. Albeit Karina Diane, the head of the Diane family that controlled the empire's theocratic church, was probably the one who found it hardest to accept.
She had taken to her bed in illness that very night.
At the beginning of Prince Zepha's conspiracy, the Diane family had been framed as the culprits who tried to assist the emperor in summoning the God of Destruction. But after the truth came out, Miles learned that the Diane family had actually been the most innocent party.
They had merely heard some dangerous rumors related to Zepha's plot, and before the National Transmutation Array was activated that night, they had already arranged for some Duelists staying in the capital to be sent away.
If one had to say what wrongs the Diane family committed during the chaos that swept the Varian Empire…
Then it would probably only be two absurd things: kidnapping Miles and putting him in Emperor Quaedes's bed, and Karina Diane reading in some ancient book that intimate relations between a man and a woman could transmit the genes of a god.
Sylvia asked curiously, "By the way, Miles and Aisha, in your current state… does that count as a little boy or a little girl?"
Even after things had fallen to this state, this lewd nun still didn't forget to ask the question she cared about most.
Her fetish was just as steadfast as Irena's.
"Beat me in a duel, and I'll tell you!"
"Then let's go!"
"Duel!"
...
"Aaaahhhhhhhhh!"
[Sylvia, LP: 4000 → 0]
The lewd nun lost without suspense. In front of the invincible ZEXAL Utopia, she was instantly defeated just like Irena.
"This is so unfair! How could I possibly win when you're dueling in that fused state?"
Sylvia cried that she had fallen for it.
"Looks like this one doesn't work either."
To begin with, Miles had only tried this with a "might as well try" attitude. His expectation for Sylvia had probably been about 0.75%.
About the same odds as pulling a 5-star from a single draw; far too low.
"Well then, we'll take our leave."
"What on earth just happened?"
In the empty cathedral, Sylvia stared blankly at the fused Miles × Aisha who had suddenly appeared, beaten her up in a duel for no apparent reason, and then immediately left… leaving her alone in total confusion.
"In the end, we still have to find that person."
To be honest, Sylvia had only been an appetizer.
If they really wanted to lose a duel, they had to challenge the empire's strongest…
Emperor Quaedes.
---
"You two!" Inside the room, Quaedes's icy-blue eyes revealed disbelief. "Why have you trespassed into my bedchamber?"
Quaedes had already ordered the guards at the entrance to allow no one inside. He intended to spend the entire day reflecting on his mistakes in the Zepha incident.
However, forget the two guards at the door; even if all the palace guards were gathered together, they probably still couldn't stop the current Miles and Aisha.
"There's no time for you to stay depressed, Quaedes. Let's duel."
"A duel with me? You trespassed into my bedchamber just for that? You certainly have nerve!"
Indeed, compared to his gloom over Zepha's affair, the confidence of a Duelist suited Quaedes's face far more.
"Don't think that just because you remain fused, you can easily defeat me!"
"That's exactly why we're here. Because it won't be easy to beat you!"
"Duel!"
...
[Quaedes, LP: 100]
[Miles × Aisha, LP: 100]
There was no doubt about it.
The emperor truly deserved the title of the empire's strongest Duelist. Even against the fused Miles and Aisha, he wasn't as fragile as the cannon fodder who had been instantly defeated before.
The emperor's bedchamber, specially expanded and reinforced for dueling, had been left in ruins by this near-limit battle.
[CXyz Barian Hope, ATK: 7000]
"Supreme war god born of Chaos. Brandish your spear and unleash the power of the Seven Emperors! Earth Chariot Slash'!!"
The shattered spear lunged straight toward [Number 39: Utopia] on Miles' field.
"Utopia's effect activates! I detach 1 Xyz Material to negate the attack! Crescent Shield!"
With both sides at only 100 LP, the duel had reached the ultimate brink; one touch meant defeat.
"By the effect of [CXyz Barian Hope], I gain the effect of [Number C103: Ragnafinity] in my Graveyard. End turn!"
A layer of freezing ice coated the crimson spear; an effect inherited from Number C103.
[Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card, then target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; inflict damage to your opponent equal to the difference between that monster's original ATK and current ATK, and if you do, banish it.]
As long as Miles controlled a monster whose current Attack differed from its original Attack, Quaedes could activate this effect to deal damage.
And facing a [CXyz Barian Hope] with 7000 Attack and seven Xyz Materials, destroying it without altering Attack values became a completely different level of difficulty.
Even so, before the fused deck's shining draw, there was still a chance to break through.
"My turn—draw!"
Light flashed at Miles' fingertips as starlight power instantly overwhelmed the chaotic, frozen ice.
"I activate Rank-Up-Magic [Rank-Up-Magic Astral Force]!"
A brand-new Rank-Up-Magic from the shining deck. On the card's artwork, a golden Emperor's Key shone brilliantly.
[Target the 1 Xyz Monster you control with the highest Rank (your choice, if tied); Special Summon from your Extra Deck, 1 monster with the same Type and Attribute as that monster you control but 2 Ranks higher, by using it as material.]
Most Rank-Up-Magic used before would only increase an Xyz Monster's Rank by one.
Using starlight as its medium, this Rank-Up-Magic instantly raised the Xyz Monster on the field by two entire Ranks.
"I target the Rank 4 [Number 39: Utopia] on my field and activate Astral Force!"
Brilliant, dazzling starlight immediately enveloped Utopia's entire body as it leapt and evolved toward a new dimensional Rank.
"Starlight Xyz Change! Break through the limit! A new No.39! When hope surpasses itself and embraces dreams, a new future will appear in the distant beyond! And we will grasp it with our own hands! [Number 39: Utopia Beyond]!"
[Number 39: Utopia Beyond] Rank 6│LIGHT│Warrior│3000 ATK
A brand-new Rank 6 Utopia appeared gracefully within the starlight, unleashing the hope that pierced through the chaos and freezing ice.
"This is the effect of [Number 39: Utopia Beyond]!"
[When this card is Xyz Summoned: All monsters your opponent controls have their ATK become 0.]
Instead of increasing its own Attack to break through, it directly reduced the Attack of all monsters on the opponent's field to 0.
[CXyz Barian Hope, ATK: 7000 → 0]
Even with the power of Chaos Number 102, Quaedes had no way to respond to such an effect.
"This ends it! Hope Sword: Beyond Flash Slash!!"
Utopia Beyond transformed its entire body into a burst of light, instantly destroying the now 0 Attack Barian Hope.
At the same time, it took away the last of Quaedes's Life Points.
"Aaaaaahhh!"
[Quaedes, LP: 100 → 0]
Aisha: "(ノへ￣,) That really is the end... Even the emperor of the empire couldn't do anything about it."
Even Quaedes, their most promising opponent, had still fallen one step short.
And now an even more troublesome problem had appeared.
Under the guidance of the "Shining" power, the more they dueled, the more forms of Utopia appeared.
It was as if the deck itself was constantly searching for new victories to complete its final evolution… defeating new opponents and continuously adding new Utopia forms.
As the number of Utopias increased, the deck became stronger and stronger… and therefore harder and harder to lose with.
"You two!"
In just two days, Quaedes had experienced the only two defeats of his life. For the first time, his cold expression burned with an emotion called unwillingness.
"Don't think I'll just let this go so easily!"
Of course, there was also a positive side.
Compared to the gloom he had fallen into because of the Zepha incident, thinking about how to become stronger suited the emperor of the power-worshiping Saint Varian Empire far more.
After trespassing into the imperial palace, beating up the emperor, and still walking out alive, Miles and Aisha now sat on a quiet grassy field on the outskirts of the capital, looking utterly lost.
Miles: "If even Quaedes doesn't work, where are we supposed to find an even stronger Duelist?"
Dark Aisha: "There probably isn't one left, Miles."
After all, Emperor Quaedes was publicly recognized as the strongest person on the Spirit Continent.
Of course, it wasn't impossible that someone even stronger was hiding beneath the continent's bright surface.
That said, someone like that wouldn't casually show themselves just to challenge Miles and Aisha to a duel.
"Come duel me, Miles... Aisha!"
"It actually happened?"
On the quiet grassland ahead, as if an invisibility spell had been dispelled, a female Duelist wearing a black robe and hiding her face suddenly appeared before Miles and Aisha without warning.
Aisha: "(っ°Д°;)っ W-Who is this person?! Appearing from the darkness like that, and wearing a black robe in broad daylight… this is way too suspicious!"
Dark Aisha: "The more suspicious they are, the stronger they might be."
Miles raised an eyebrow. "But this..."
The mysterious female Duelist in the black robe seemed to have her voice specially altered by magic. It didn't sound like a normal human voice at all… more like something synthesized.
Her appearance was the same. Although it looked like she was simply hiding beneath a hood, there was also a concealment spell layered over it. Even if the hood were removed, her true face probably still wouldn't be revealed.
Hiding one's identity to this extent only made people more suspicious.
And even if a voice could be altered and a face hidden, a person's aura couldn't be changed… It gave Miles a strange sense of familiarity.
---
If you want to support, please consider Patreon and read advanced chapters! Your support keeps this series going! [Patreon.com/RedZTL]