"The Heroic Spirits are still on the field… does that mean the duel hasn't actually ended?!"
Hoshino Alter suddenly realized the truth. Even though she had clearly struck Kaiba down with her final blow, everything froze in a stalemate the instant before his Life Points hit zero—when the blackout occurred.
Drawing a card from her Duel Disk, Sera let out a cold laugh. "This is called 'interfering in a duel,' isn't it? At the exact moment Seto Kaiba's Life Points were about to hit zero, I forcibly terminated the duel. In other words, what's unfolding now… is nothing more than the continuation of the duel's unfinished endgame."
"The continuation of an endgame? That's way too dirty!" Jonouchi would've stormed the stage right then if not for the panicked crowd blocking his path.
"Hoshino and Kaiba fought with everything they had, down to the very last moment! And now you barge in with full Life Points?!"
"Dirty?" Sera's voice twisted. "Isn't it dirty to be born with talent? Isn't it dirty to have a special status that others don't?"
The shadows of the dimension crept over her small body. Resentment that had festered in her young heart for years now consumed her, twisting into a warped reflection of her soul.
"After seeing the true injustice of this world, the word 'dirty' belongs to those privileged few who were chosen above the rest!"
Kaiba's expression hardened. "There's no reasoning with her. Let's not waste any more time—end this quickly, so we can continue the press conference."
…Seriously? Even with the situation spiraling into disaster, Kaiba was still thinking about the press conference? What was he planning to do—cover up the vanished audience with holograms?
Of course, the new Duel Disk was always just the bait. The real centerpiece of this event was the announcement of Duel Academy's founding.
And since Hoshino Alter had already beaten Kaiba, by agreement she had already secured the Headmaster's seat—unless Kaiba shamelessly tried to wriggle out of it.
—Duel!
[Sera LP: 8000]
[Chiyuki Hoshino LP: 13]
[Seto Kaiba LP: 518]
"(゜゜) Huh? Kaiba, what's with your Life Points? Why is it some number that makes my wallet hurt just looking at it?"
Hoshino Alter had thought her own tiny scrap of LP was absurd enough, but Kaiba just had to compete with her even here.
Glancing at his Duel Disk display, Kaiba reasoned flatly, "Probably because my LP drained at just the right pace and froze at this number. Doesn't matter. A few hundred more or less makes no difference in this situation."
"Now then—let's begin. Dark Dimensional Duel!"
Sera twisted the Dimensional Cube in her hands. It shattered into countless orange shards, scattering outward to enclose the arena in a new field.
"Dark… Dimensional Duel."
Hoshino Alter frowned. She had learned the rules of a Dimensional Duel firsthand against Aimagi, but with the word "Dark" added to it… nothing good could come of this.
"In this Dark Dimensional Duel, dimensional sublimation is forced. Just look at your bodies and you'll understand. When your Life Points hit zero, you will no longer be able to resist humanity's evolution."
"Our bodies… I see."
Hoshino Alter studied her fingers. A faint stream of orange particles was spreading from her fingertips—not spreading, exactly, but slowly disintegrating her body.
Hoshino Alter: "So it's just a Shadow Game? Sorry, I'm used to those."
Kaiba: "So it's just a Shadow Game? Sorry, I've never believed in them."
"Then I'll begin. Draw!"
Her AR Duel Disk rebooted, its left eye scanner flashing blue. With no cards set or left in hand, Hoshino Alter drew the first card of this forcibly continued duel.
Unlike their previous 2-vs-1 setup, the turn order here went: Hoshino → Kaiba → Sera, in that cycle. Meaning Sera wouldn't get a turn until both Hoshino Alter and Kaiba had acted.
"Since I can't attack on the first turn… I set one card face-down and end my turn!"
Even with the turn order tilted slightly in their favor, the situation was still grim for the exhausted pair.
Hoshino at least had Mash (ATK 4000) and Ozymandias (ATK 3000) standing strong on the field. Kaiba, however, was in far worse shape—completely empty-handed and with no monsters at all.
"My turn. Draw!"
With nothing on the field, the single card Kaiba drew would be his only resource this turn.
"I activate the Spell Card—Pot of Avarice!"
[Pot of Avarice – Spell Card Effect: Target 5 monsters in your Graveyard; shuffle them into the Deck, then draw 2 cards.]
"I return two Blue-Eyes White Dragons, Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon to my Deck—and then draw 2 cards!"
After their battle, nearly all of his strongest monsters had been spent. To both recycle and draw at the same time, this card was nothing less than a lifeline for Kaiba.
He drew two fresh cards. His brow twitched. "A high-level monster… and it says I can summon it directly?"
Hoshino Alter suddenly realized. "Ah, right, Kaiba—you don't know the rules of Dimensional Duels yet. Let me explain real quick…"
She gave him the condensed version: no Tribute needed to Summon, no battle damage exchanged between monsters, and when a monster is destroyed, its controller takes damage equal to its original ATK.
"Hmph. Omoshiroi. Using sheer spirit to fuel a monster's strength, is it? Very well—Dimensional Summon!"
[Blue-Eyes White Dragon – ATK: 0]
"My first and most beautiful white dragon… even in this Dimensional Field, its power will break through and transcend! OHHHHHH!!!"
"ROAAARRR!!"
[Blue-Eyes White Dragon – ATK: 0 → 3000]
With nothing but a roar, Kaiba's voice thundered across the arena. In perfect harmony, the Blue-Eyes roared alongside him—their dual cry surging together, driving the dragon's attack power to its peak.
Hoshino Alter exclaimed, "To shuffle Blue-Eyes White Dragon back into the Deck, only to immediately draw it again… Kaiba, that's just like you..."
"I Set one card and end my turn!"
Although Kaiba still had no cards left in his hand, at the very least, summoning Blue-Eyes White Dragon allowed him to ease some of the overwhelming pressure.
"My turn. Draw."
As Sera began her turn, the card she drew from her Duel Disk radiated with a dark, ominous aura.
"What an easy duel this has been. With this card, I'll send you both out of this world! Dimensional Summon—Crimson Nova the Dark Cubic Lord!!"
[Crimson Nova the Dark Cubic Lord ★★★★★★★★★★ (Level 10)][DARK][Fiend/Effect][ATK: 0 / DEF: 0]
"That card... it's the same one Aimagi used?"
Compared to the Cubic monsters Aimagi once wielded, this one was undeniably more powerful. Yet for some reason, the monster Sera summoned exuded an even more terrifying pressure than anything Aimagi had ever unleashed.
"Darkness that erases everything—reset this world! Aaaaaaahhh!!"
[Crimson Nova the Dark Cubic Lord ATK: 0 → 3000]
Though only a child's shrill cry, Sera's presence completely eclipsed that of her older brother.
"Then I Set three cards and end my turn."
Skipping her Battle Phase, Sera didn't attack either Kaiba or Hoshino Alter with her Cubic Lord. Instead, she immediately ended her turn.
Yet the moment her turn ended, the monstrous god swung the four massive scythes attached to its colossal body.
"At the end of my turn, Crimson Nova's effect activates! Now, reap the victory of this duel!"
[During your End Phase: Both players take 3000 damage.]
Akasha shouted in panic, "Hey, wait! If both players take damage, then Hoshino-nee and Kaiba won't have enough Life Points to survive!"
"Hahaha, sorry to end this so soon! Do it, Cubic God!"
"Hmph, are brats nowadays really this arrogant?"
With a cold sneer, Kaiba flipped over his only Set card. "Don't underestimate the resilience of the strongest duelist! I activate my Set Trap—Damage Polarizer!"
[Trap Card Effect: Activate only when an effect inflicting damage is activated. Negate the effect, and both players draw 1 card.]
Two shimmering shields materialized before Kaiba and Hoshino Alter, deflecting the god's massive scythes. Thanks to the Trap, the lethal damage was nullified, and both drew an extra card.
"At times like these, Kaiba, you're unexpectedly reliable~"
Thanks to Kaiba's Trap, they survived another turn, and the duel shifted back into Hoshino Alter's hands.
"Draw! Now it's my turn to counterattack. Mash, let's show that Cubic God what we're made of!"
With a flourish, Mash spun her sacred lance, the blackened tip swirling into a spiraling vortex of destructive force.
"Yes, Senpai! Leave it to me!—Dark God, be shattered beneath the Holy Lance!"
Though Mash's double attack effect could only activate once, with her Lance equipped, her ATK reached 4000—more than enough to overwhelm the 3000 ATK Cubic Lord.
"Counter Trap activate—Cubic Defense!"
At Sera's command, a wall of glowing crimson cubes enveloped her god, shielding it from the raging storm.
[Trap Card Effect: When your monster would be destroyed by battle, it is not destroyed. Then, Special Summon up to 2 monsters with the same name from your hand.]
"By preventing its destruction, Cubic Defense lets me Special Summon two more Crimson Nova from my hand!"
From her remaining three cards, Sera placed two onto her Duel Disk, splitting the field as her monster multiplied.
[Crimson Nova the Dark Cubic Lord ATK: 3000] ×3
Mana gasped, "Three more? Doesn't that mean during the End Phase they'll inflict 9000 damage?!"
Yugi added calmly, "Whether it's 3000 or 9000, for Kaiba and Hoshino it makes no difference. But Sera risks destroying herself through the backlash."
Jaden asked, "So, Yugi-san, you mean this situation might actually turn out better for sensei and Kaiba?"
"No..." Yugi shook his head. "Regardless of how you look at it, for them, this will be an unimaginably difficult battle."
Hoshino quipped, "Drawing three Cubic Gods right from the start? Guess Sera and Kaiba are cut from the same cloth."
Though she joked, the truth remained that Mash's attack had been stopped. With only Ozymandias left on her field, whose ATK also sat at 3000, Hoshino Alter had no way to push through.
And in a Dimensional Duel, equal ATK battles mean both players take damage equal to their monster's ATK—something Hoshino Alter couldn't afford.
"I end my turn. Sorry, Kaiba. Not only did I fail to destroy her monster, I ended up letting it multiply."
"The more monsters there are, the better!"
Looking at the card he had just drawn, Kaiba's lips curled into a confident grin.
"I activate the Spell Card—Dragon's Mirror!"
[Dragon's Mirror – Spell Effect: Fusion Summon 1 Dragon Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, by banishing Fusion Materials listed on it from your field or GY.]
From the mirror's reflection, three Blue-Eyes White Dragons fused into one, shattering the glass as a new form roared forth.
"Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon? No, wait..."
Hoshino Alter thought for sure Dragon's Mirror would lead to Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, but then remembered—the two forms of Ultimate Dragon were already in Kaiba's GY. More importantly, one of the three materials clearly wasn't an ordinary Blue-Eyes.
"From the Blue-Eyes White Dragon on my field, and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon in my GY, I Fusion Summon! Appear—Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!!"
[Blue-Eyes Alternative Ultimate Dragon ★★★★★★★★★★ (Level 12)][LIGHT][Dragon/Fusion/Effect][ATK: 0 / DEF: 0]
[Fusion Materials: 3 "Blue-Eyes White Dragon"]
"The radiance of a subspecies pierces the earth—behold the reborn form of the Emperor of Terror! ROOOOAAARRR!!"
[Blue-Eyes Alternative Ultimate Dragon ATK: 0 → 4500]
Hoshino Alter's eyes lit up. "A full 4500 ATK! That's enough to destroy the Cubic God!"
Despite the dire situation, Kaiba had managed to summon a dragon on par with the Ultimate Dragon.
"Destroy it? No—I'll use my Blue-Eyes Alternative Ultimate Dragon... to win this duel outright!"
Raising his arm, Kaiba commanded the dragon. Its three mutated heads roared in unison, locking onto each of the three Crimson Nova on Sera's field.