A burly Monk of the Tenyi appeared on the field. As a Normal Monster, it could freely enable the effects of the Tenyi Spirits in the Graveyard—exactly what Morgan wanted. After retrieving a Tenyi, she would use BaShia, Brightness of the Yang Zing to destroy the Monk on the field, then Special Summon Mo Ye from the Graveyard and continue Synchro Summoning for the finish.
"I activate the effect of Tenyi Spirit – Adhara in the Graveyard!"
"If I control a face-up non‑Effect Monster, I can banish this card from my hand or Graveyard, then target one of my banished Wyrm monsters other than this card; add it to my hand."
"I add Tenyi Spirit – Adhara to my hand!"
With the Tenyi recovered, the Monk had served its purpose. Morgan immediately prepared her next Synchro. Seeing this, Chelsea no longer hid her concern. She was certain Morgan still had a follow‑up.
Chelsea's eyes burned with unwillingness as a wave of powerlessness rose in her chest. It was the first time she'd felt this in a duel—and she finally understood how those who lost to her had felt. But she didn't admit defeat. She was gambling that Morgan couldn't finish her this turn.
Isla exhaled in relief. Knowing Morgan, she was already lining up the lethal chain. Three high‑intensity duels in a row would drain anyone, yet Morgan was still on track to win this match without a hitch.
Milo watched Morgan, already planning to investigate Chelsea the moment the duel ended. The opponent clearly hadn't come alone; there had to be accomplices on the island. He couldn't face Shadow Duelists by himself—he would need to rally other Alliance members on the island to sweep them out.
Morgan pressed on.
"Next, I activate BaShia, Brightness of the Yang Zing's effect!"
"Once per turn: target 1 card I control and 1 Level 4 or lower monster in my Graveyard; destroy the card on the field, and if you do, Special Summon the monster."
"I destroy Monk of the Tenyi, and Special Summon Swordsoul of Mo Ye from my Graveyard!"
Mo Ye reappeared in a flash of steel, and her effect triggered at once. A longsword manifested on the field—that was the Swordsoul Token.
At this point, Chelsea knew exactly what was coming.
In truth, no matter what Morgan summoned next, she was certain she couldn't withstand the attack.
"Amazing—the situation's completely flipped!"
Jade finally snapped back to her senses, excitement in her voice. It had taken her a moment longer than Isla to grasp the flow of the last exchanges, but now she fully understood the fierce back‑and‑forth—and Morgan had crushed every offensive just as she'd imagined. With Chelsea's field empty, there would be no better time to decide the match.
Hannah grimaced.
She considered asking Zelo to send more people, then thought better of it. They didn't have many infiltrators in the Island Academy; if she split them further, their objectives might fail. She decided to set Morgan aside for now, duel as many students and pro duelists as possible, and win through numbers in the end.
With that, Hannah stopped watching and turned away to start her own duels.
As for Chelsea, the Duelist Alliance would surely keep eyes on her.
Let them focus on Chelsea. By the time they realized what was really happening, the true duels would already be over.
Hannah strapped on her Duel Disk and strode toward a professional duelist who had just defeated his opponent.
"I tune Swordsoul of Mo Ye with the Swordsoul Token!"
"Synchro Summon! Swordsoul Grandmaster - ChiShiao!"
ChiShiao returned to the field, its keen blade leveled straight at Chelsea.
Mo Ye and ChiShiao's effects triggered in a chain.
"By their effects, I draw 1 card, then add Swordsoul Strategist - Longyuan from my Deck to my hand!"
ChiShiao alone wasn't enough to satisfy Morgan. If she was piloting Swordsoul, she wanted to bring out the big boss at least once.
Longyuan's summoning condition was to discard a Wyrm from the hand to the Graveyard—at last, the Tenyi Spirit – Adhara in her hand had a role to play.
And when Longyuan was sent to the Graveyard as Synchro Material, it could also burn the opponent for 1200 damage, boosting Morgan's damage ceiling.
"I activate Swordsoul Strategist - Longyuan in my hand!"
"Discard Tenyi Spirit – Adhara; Special Summon this card!"
"Then Special Summon a Swordsoul Token [Wyrm/Tuner/WATER/Level 4/ATK 0/DEF 0] to my field."
With the Level 6 Longyuan and the Level 4 Token, she could go straight into a Level 10 Synchro. In this spot, there was no need for Baronne de Fleur.
"I tune Swordsoul Strategist - Longyuan with the Swordsoul Token!"
"Synchro Summon! Swordsoul Sinister Sovereign - Qixing Longyuan!"
Longyuan's form twisted; the sword in his hand warped into a dragon-like abomination. His body swelled, armor reshaping into jagged plates—menacing to behold.
[Swordsoul Sinister Sovereign - Qixing Longyuan] Level 10│FIRE│Wyrm Synchro│2900 ATK / 2300 DEF
Chelsea knew she couldn't escape, but her face didn't show fear. Losing a duel wasn't the end of the world. She hadn't taken down Morgan, but she had bought time for the mission against the Duelist Alliance.
She glanced toward Milo—she had noticed him long ago. Instead of calling him out, she had used the duel to draw attention, letting Milo and the others assume she was the Shadow Duelist and focus on her.
If her calculations were right, Zelo and the others had already eliminated many contestants.
Tonight would be the night of mass conversions to the Shadow Duelists.
Morgan raised her hand to declare the attack.
"Battle! Swordsoul Sinister Sovereign - Qixing Longyuan, direct attack!"
The dragonlike blade swept down, engulfing Chelsea. Before she could react, a barrage of strikes followed, and her Life Points dropped to zero.
Chelsea fell to her knees, body drained. The grand twin peaks on her chest even gave a faint tremble, leaving the onlookers parched.
The duel ended, and the crowd slowly dispersed. Chelsea rose and slipped away, vanishing into the throng.
Milo quickly excused himself and gave chase.
After three high‑level duels in a row, no one wanted to challenge Morgan; they scattered to bully weaker opponents instead. Morgan was happy to let them. She wandered the Academy alone, soon strolling from the teaching building to the harbor.
Aside from the classroom area, this was the busiest place—students over there, visiting professional duelists here, and far stronger.
Before long, Isla and Jade went off to find opponents. Morgan had little interest in this Hunting Duel, but the two of them were eager. After meeting so many strong duelists at Morgan's side, they needed to bully some students to soothe their egos.
Morgan had no desire to pick on the weak—there was simply no fun in it.
Yu‑Gi‑Oh! was a two‑player competitive game; what was the point if you played it like a single‑player game?
Just then, she noticed a duel underway by the seaside harbor. It was already in its final moments, a near one-sided match that the duelist won with ease.
What caught Morgan's eye was the deck in use…
'Altergeist?'
A rather obnoxious deck. If possible, Morgan would prefer not to face that duelist.
She was about to leave when an excited voice called from behind her.
"Ah! You there, girl—please wait!"
Morgan turned in surprise, glancing around. She was the only "girl" in a school uniform nearby.
"That's right, you!"
A woman in a close‑fitting combat outfit strode up to Morgan. After giving her a swift once‑over, she smiled, threw an arm around Morgan's shoulders, and laughed.
"So it really is you. You're the Morgan that Nerissa's always talking about, aren't you? Didn't think I'd meet you here!"
Morgan stared, blank for a moment before remembering who the speaker meant by Nerissa—Rowe's superior, the main force of Team Predator.
"With you here, I won't be bored. Not a single man around here is any use!"
The woman—Shia—cast a disdainful glance over the surrounding duelists. Every man she looked at lowered his head in shame; indeed, they'd all lost to her.
"Well? How about a duel? Nerissa hypes you up like a legend. I want to see what you can do."
Shia and Nerissa were close friends who usually talked about everything. Lately, though, their chats had revolved around a single name: Morgan. Curious, Shia had looked into her and discovered that Morgan was a big deal—so she'd come to try her luck.
Now that they'd met, there was no way Shia was letting Morgan go.
Morgan wasn't thrilled about facing Altergeist, but she had time to kill.
She raised her Duel Disk, then paused—switching out her Swordsoul deck for Sky Striker.
Since this was a battle between bad girls, she had to use this deck.
Seeing Morgan's stance, Shia grinned and unfolded her Duel Disk as well.
"Duel!"
...
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