Under Morgan's banish effect, Anneli suddenly flipped her Set Trap.
"I activate Evil★Twin Challenge!"
"Target 1 'Ki-sikil' or 'Lil-la' in my Graveyard; Special Summon it. Then, immediately after this effect resolves, you can Link Summon 1 'Evil★Twin' Link Monster using monsters you control."
She chose Lil-la, reviving her. With the chain resolving, Lil-la could trigger its effect, destroying one of Morgan's cards before being used with Ki-sikil to Link Summon Evil★Twin's Trouble Sunny—a 3300 ATK behemoth. Against Morgan's generally low-ATK Traptrix, it could stand tall, so long as it avoided Trap Holes.
Her only worry was Morgan's Set cards. Most Trap Holes had strict timing conditions, but if met, they could annihilate monsters she worked hard to Summon. She'd already fallen for one and didn't want to repeat it.
Evil★Twin Lil-la appeared. With Ki-sikil still present, its effect activated.
"I use Lil-la's effect! Destroy your Traptrip Garden!"
Silver light burst forth, collapsing the forest-like field. The carnivorous plants and lurking Traptrix vanished, their cover stripped away. Anneli grinned—without Garden, Morgan's monsters could be battle destroyed.
"Now, I Link Summon! Evil★Twin's Trouble Sunny!"
The two Twins disappeared, their Link-4 form appearing once more. Anneli exhaled in relief.
But Morgan had anticipated this. The very Trap she'd searched—Void Trap Hole—was waiting. Garden's protection had already done its job. Losing it cost her little.
Rowe sighed. She could see it clearly: Morgan had guided Anneli into this. Void Trap Hole only triggered on monsters with 2000 or more ATK—like Trouble Sunny. By baiting her into summoning it, Morgan had set the perfect snare.
"If she hadn't summoned Sunny, she might've survived. But now…"
"At this moment—I activate Void Trap Hole!"
Morgan's Trap flipped, just as Rowe predicted.
Anneli's face fell. From the start, she'd been dancing on Morgan's strings.
"When a monster with 2000 or more ATK is Special Summoned: Negate its effects, then destroy it!"
A rune-sealed pit yawned beneath Trouble Sunny, magma bubbling below. The sigils broke—the monster plummeted into lava and vanished.
Her strongest monster, gone instantly. Trap Holes were merciless.
The stream fell into stunned silence. Viewers filled the chat with sympathy. Losing to Morgan wasn't shameful… being crushed so decisively was. Stories spread of Junior Division Duelists who'd quit entirely after she broke them, or warped their style to cram in endless traps.
Rowe herself barely recovered from such a loss. Others hadn't. Morgan had earned another nickname: the Graveyard of Newcomers.
"Brutal. Getting 'sunned' by Morgan wrecks your mindset."
"She really is the Newcomer Crusher. And this is the Senior Division… she's only gotten scarier."
Reports surfaced confirming Morgan's presence at Duel Academy's Senior Division. Students whispered about her countless confession Duels, never once losing—even the Dean had taken notice.
It was still Morgan's turn. Anneli's Summon had only happened through Traps. Now, Morgan didn't need complicated plays—just raw power.
Thanks to new support, Traptrix finally had it.
"I use three Traptrix monsters as Link Material!"
'Another Summon? A Link-3?!'
Rowe blinked. In all her Duels, Morgan had never revealed a Link-3 Traptrix. Was it an off-archetype Link? Morgan had used those before.
Three arrows lit, a petite figure emerging from the circuit.
"Link Summon! Traptrix Atypus!"
Threads wove into a webbed nest. From it crawled a red-haired spider-girl, tugging the silk in her hands.
[Traptrix Atypus] Link-3│1800 ATK
"I activate Atypus's effect! While you have a Normal Trap in your Graveyard, all 'Traptrix' monsters you control gain 1000 ATK."
Each Traptrix surged with new strength. Three monsters, each boosted by 1000—an extra Blue-Eyes White Dragon's worth of power.
Rowe froze. Traptrix's old weakness—low ATK—was gone.
Together, Morgan's monsters now surpassed Anneli's LP. She declared the attack.
"Battle! Traptrix Atypus, direct attack!"
A storm of strikes landed. Anneli's LP dropped to zero. The field dissolved. She collapsed to her knees… the Duel lost.
She'd expected it; regardless, the sting remained.
Morgan closed her Duel Disk, stepped past Anneli, and opened the dorm door. "Don't forget to send my cut. And… check your stream. It might cheer you up."
Anneli blinked, then instinctively grabbed her phone. The chat scrolled nonstop, full of comforting messages. Tears welled up. She'd lost, but she'd gained something more.
…
The next day, Senior Division life began in earnest. Classes were intense, schedules packed, lectures blindingly fast. Miss a beat and you fall behind. Everyone scribbled notes furiously, fearing failure in the monthly tests.
Jade worked the hardest, as the weakest of their group. Morgan, of course, slept through class as usual. After last night's victory, she'd stayed up tweaking her new meta Deck until dawn.
Only attendance rules dragged her here.
"Sleeping in my class, Morgan? Do you think my lectures don't matter?"
It was Professor Mayn, voice sharp with uncharacteristic anger. The room turned to Morgan. Some noticed something off about Mayn.
"Strange. He's normally so kind. Never angry."
"Yeah, the seniors said Mayn's the nicest prof. Naps aren't usually a big deal."
"Heh, you don't know? Yesterday, he confessed to Professor Hannah. Challenged her to a Duel. You can guess how it ended…"
"Ohhh. No wonder. Bad timing for Morgan."
"Mayn's no weakling either. On par with the Dean. If Hannah beat him, she's no ordinary teacher."
Jade and the others looked worried. This wasn't Middle Division anymore.
Albeit, Morgan only frowned. Something about Mayn felt oddly familiar.
Seeing her unbothered, Mayn snorted. "So you doubt a teacher's authority? Beating the Dean made you arrogant, huh?"
"However, I'll prove a teacher's power. Right here."
He pulled out a Duel Disk.
At Duel Academy, settling disputes with Duels was tradition.
Gasps spread through the class. Mayn had never challenged a student before. His pride must've been wounded deeply.
Curiosity burned—how would Morgan respond?
She rose slowly, still frowning at that sense of familiarity. Though one thing never changed: if challenged, she never refused.
The podium sank, transforming into a Duel Stage. Teachers often used it for demonstrations. It would do fine.
Morgan slotted her freshly built "meta beauty" Deck into her Duel Disk. Time to test it in battle.
Both Disks lit, LP counters appearing.
"Duel!"
They drew five cards. The coin flip granted Mayn the first turn.
"My turn—draw!"
...
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