Before the monstrous form could fully materialize, a seizing pain exploded in Kaiba's chest, stealing his breath. He staggered, his vision swimming.
"Kaiba, are you okay?" Sister Theresa cried out, her voice laced with alarm.
He collapsed to his knees, his right hand shooting up in a desperate signal for them to stay back. Above, the sky itself began to curdle, the cheerful blue devoured by an unnatural darkness that spread across the entire world in seconds. The air grew heavy and cold, thick with malevolent energy.
'I should have known,' Kaiba thought, the realization a bitter poison. With the last dregs of his will, he severed the mana supply, deactivating the magic.
The gauntlet and comms flickered and dissolved, reforming into his heavy grimoire which thudded onto the ground. But it was too late. Crimson Nova, the monster he had tried to summon, was already straining against the fabric of reality, its emergence inevitable.
Yet, from within the fallen grimoire, a new light emerged, a gentle, defiant glow that pulsed from a single card. It was his only Link Card: Duel Link Dragon, The Duel Dragon.
With a brilliant, purifying flash, the dragon's energy enveloped the emerging horror. It did not fight with force, but with order, weaving chains of light that suppressed the chaotic entity, forcing it back into the void from whence it came. The struggle lasted only a moment before the light faded, and the card gently floated back into the pages of the grimoire.
Instantly, the oppressive darkness shattered. The sky returned to a clear, untroubled blue, as if the nightmare had never happened.
As one, Sister Theresa and the others rushed to Kaiba's side.
. . . .
Kaiba's eyes fluttered open, his body protesting with a deep, pervasive ache. As his vision cleared, he found the worried faces of the children, Sister Theresa, Yumie, and Father Kirei gathered around him.
"Are you okay, Kaiba-san?"
"You're not going to die,are you, Kaiba-san?"
"Please don't go away," a small voice piped up, "we still want to play with you."
Their anxious words washed over him, a testament to the bond they shared. To them, he was the closest thing to an older brother they had.
"I'm fine," Kaiba managed, forcing a reassuring smile onto his face despite the pain.
Sister Theresa leaned closer, her expression a mask of caution and concern. "What happened, Kaiba?"
"Kids," Kaiba said, his voice still weak, "could you give us a moment alone?"
The children nodded, understanding the gravity in the adults' tones, and quietly filed out of the room, led by Yumie.
Kaiba tried to push himself up, but a sharp wave of dizziness forced him back.
"Just lie down," Father Kirei advised, his voice low and steady. "You are still injured."
"No, I'm good," Kaiba insisted, gritting his teeth as he finally managed to sit up. He met the stern gazes of the priest and the nun.
"What was that thing you were trying to summon?" Father Kirei demanded, his tone leaving no room for evasion.
"I'm… not entirely sure," Kaiba admitted. He sifted through his memory, searching for any fragment of Crimson Nova's lore. Then, a sudden, horrifying realization clicked into place. He let out a dry, humorless chuckle.
"What is it?" Sister Theresa pressed, her worry deepening.
"It seems," Kaiba said, the absurdity of it dawning on him, "I may have tried to summon a deity of destruction."
A stunned silence filled the room. Father Kirei and Sister Theresa could only stare, struggling to comprehend the magnitude of what he had just said.
"A god?" Father Kirei's voice was thick with disbelief. The word felt wrong, blasphemous even, just hearing it from Kaiba's mouth. A glance at Sister Theresa's horrified expression confirmed she shared his sentiment.
"I know that Crimson Nova must have forced its way through. What happened after I lost consciousness?" Kaiba asked, deliberately sidestepping their shock out of respect for them.
"A blue card with a dragon on it emerged from your grimoire and halted the summoning," Sister Theresa explained, her voice still unsteady.
"That is... interesting," Kaiba mused, more to himself than to them.
"You seem remarkably unbothered," Father Kirei observed, his eyes narrowing. "Did you know you were capable of summoning a deity?"
"Yeah, the potential was always there," Kaiba admitted with a weary shrug. "But I have to 'pull' the card first."
"'Pull'?" Sister Theresa repeated, unfamiliar with the term.
Kaiba let out a short breath, searching for an analogy. "Ah, how to explain it? It's like a gamble. Sometimes I get a weak monster, and other times... well, I get a god-like being."
"Then, could you 'pull' a card that can heal you?" Father Kirei asked, a new, calculating intensity in his gaze.
"Probably. Theoretically, any kind of card could exist. But I haven't encountered a healing type yet," Kaiba said.
Father Kirei fell silent, his expression darkening in deep thought.
After a long pause, Sister Theresa spoke, her tone firm and maternal. "You must not summon that thing again. Or any creature of that power."
"I know," Kaiba replied, the memory of the searing pain still fresh. "I nearly died."
With that settled, Sister Theresa and Father Kirei left, closing the door and leaving Kaiba alone in the quiet of his room.
He lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling as he brought out the Link Card, holding it gingerly in his hand. The intricate artwork seemed to pulse with a faint, cosmic light.
"Now that I get a good look at you... aren't you some kind of cosmic being?" Kaiba muttered to the card.
His thoughts began to race, connecting the dots. So, I currently have a deity of destruction, a cosmic dragon, and a Monarch that supposedly destroys worlds. My grimoire is starting to look less like a tool and more like an armory for ending realities.
"It's powerful, sure," he whispered into the silence, "but what kind of 'pull' is this?" A more disturbing thought followed. Is this grimoire actually trying to get me killed?
Kaiba let out a long, weary sigh. His life had become so absurd that no one could have scripted it better.
A few days later, Kaiba returned to the forge.
Ironclad looked up, his surprise evident. "I heard you were injured during training. You should have stayed home longer; I can still handle things here."
"I heal fast. Don't worry about it," Kaiba replied, picking up his hammer.
"If you say so," Ironclad conceded, though he sounded unconvinced.
The two fell back into their rhythm, the clang of metal on metal filling the air as they worked.
At the end of the day, Kaiba headed home. As he walked, a very small, elderly woman shuffled past him. Kaiba's step hitched for a fraction of a second before he continued, his blood running cold.
'I'm sure that was the Wizard King. Shit' A spike of fear shot through him. 'Does the demon know about me?'
He forced himself to keep walking, maintaining a casual pace despite the alarm bells ringing in his mind.
'I hope I'm not on his radar yet. Not until I become a Magic Knight. Wait... wouldn't he know what happened?' Kaiba's thoughts raced. 'Or is his future vision blurred now that I have the cosmic dragon and a destruction deity? Probably.'
Pushing the paranoia aside, he continued with his evening. It seemed that nearly killing himself by summoning Crimson Nova was just the beginning of his troubles.
Returning to the chapel, Kaiba found Sister Theresa deep in prayer. He waited in silence before taking a seat in the pew beside her.
A moment passed before she spoke, her voice a soft murmur in the hallowed space. "What is it, Kaiba?"
"I need you to teach me everything about advanced mana application," he said, the memory of his recent failure sharp in his mind. He would not rely so heavily on his monsters again; he couldn't afford a repeat of the accident.
Sister Theresa turned to him, a faint crease of confusion on her brow. "But that has always been the plan. Our sessions until now have been to build your foundation."
"Then from this point on, can we focus exclusively on it?" Kaiba pressed, his tone earnest.
She studied him, surprised by the intensity of his request. She knew of his combat training with Father Kirei and understood the drive behind it, the need for self-reliance.
After a contemplative pause, she gave a slow nod. "Alright."
"Thank you, Sister."
She offered a gentle, knowing smile. "It is no problem at all."
Kaiba found Father Kirei standing outside, watching the sun fall behind the horizon.
The priest turned, having heard Kaiba's approach. "Yes, Kaiba?"
"I need you to push me to my limits," Kaiba stated.
Father Kirei's eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you certain? My methods are... harsh."
"Absolutely. I need to make my body as strong as possible in five months," Kaiba insisted, his voice firm. "I won't rely on an uncontrolled power."
"Very well. We begin at dawn." Father Kirei moved to leave but paused, glancing back with an inscrutable look. "Be prepared. I will not hold back."
"Thank you."
Kirei responded only with a raised hand in acknowledgment, a faint, almost predatory smile touching his lips as he walked away.
After heading back inside, Kaiba was stopped by Yumie, a black-haired nun with glasses. As he passed her with a polite nod, her hand darted out to clutch his shirt.
"Yes, is something wrong?" Kaiba asked.
She released the fabric, her gaze serious. "Are you certain about letting Father Kirei train you?"
"I'm sure," Kaiba said. "He's far more skilled than anyone else here. Why do you ask? Are you worried about me?"
"No, I'm not," Yumie insisted, looking away.
A wounded expression crossed Kaiba's face. "Really? I'm sad to hear that. I thought we'd grown quite close these past few months."
"I… I'm sorry," she mumbled, her cheeks flushing. Then she caught the smirk tugging at his lips.
"You're a bad guy, Kaiba."
"My apologies," he said, not sounding sorry at all.
"But please, be careful with Kirei," Yumie urged, lowering her voice. "They called him 'The Executor' when he was a Magic Knight."
Kaiba froze. 'An Executor? That's far too similar to the Kirei from Fate.' The revelation sent a chill down his spine. His mind raced. 'How does she know this? She's a twenty-year-old novice who's only been here a year. Kirei has been a priest far longer. Who is she, really?'
A new, sharp worry for his own safety began to gnaw at him. 'So I have a Black Clover version of Kirei and a mysterious nun who knows his secrets. This is sketchy.'
But just as quickly, he shrugged the tension from his shoulders. Meh, why should I be worried? They haven't hurt or bothered me yet.
"Cool nickname," he replied casually. "It's fine. Father Kirei is a good guy."
With a final, dismissive wave, Kaiba left her standing in the hall. Yumie, however, could only watch him go, her worry for him deeper and more genuine than ever.