"Alexis sure is slow… it's just buying milk."
Hoshino loosened the collar of her yukata. After soaking in the bath, most of the heat had finally dissipated, and now she was craving the refreshing chill of ice-cold milk even more.
"Master, master?"
"Hm? That voice… Altera?"
"It's me, Master."
Altera gradually materialized before her in spirit form, pleasantly surprised that Hoshino could recognize her from her voice alone.
"This is rare. For you to appear on your own—did something happen?"
"It's not exactly a problem, but… I don't understand what's going on." Altera's tanned cheeks carried a puzzled look. "The children suddenly disappeared."
Hoshino raised a brow. "The children are gone? What do you mean?"
"I mean the Nursery Rhyme kids—Jack and the others…" Altera twisted her graceful, voluptuous body shyly. "We were having a little tea party just now. The sweets and tea were delicious."
"Oh, right. You get along really well with the Lilies. So what do you mean by 'disappeared'?"
"When a Duel started, they were suddenly summoned away one after another. But the summoning light this time felt different—there was a faint darkness mixed within it."
"A Duel?!" Hoshino stiffened. If she wasn't Dueling, then the only one who could summon Heroic Spirits or Lily cards was… Akasha.
Although Akasha's deck was more like a replica set, that girl grew up surrounded by Lily Servants. If she were truly Dueling seriously, those little Heroic Spirits would naturally respond to her summons.
"Darkness mixed into the summoning light? Then Akasha is… in a Shadow Game right now?!"
"This may be related to the Shadow Rider. You must investigate it thoroughly."
Hoshino recalled the note that had come with the lodging voucher Kaiba had couriered to her yesterday.
"So it really was connected to them… I thought Kaiba was just being his tsundere self, so I let my guard down—how careless of me."
But seriously, who would have thought that a newly opened hot spring inn would actually have something to do with the Shadow Riders?!
"And I've been sensing faint magical waves flowing from deeper inside the inn. Master, will you come with me?"
"Of course! My student is caught up in a Shadow Game—this is no time to relax!"
There was no time to change clothes. Still in her yukata, Hoshino followed Altera through the twisting corridors, heading toward the source of the magic flow. Eventually, they arrived before the icy Duel Arena.
"A place like this… under a volcano? This makes no sense."
Just like Alexis and Jaden earlier, the yukata-clad Hoshino felt the cold creeping into her loose collar from afar—her petite figure too small to fill out the oversized garment properly.
"You stole what's most important from me…"
"That voice—that's Akasha. So she really is in a Shadow Game." Hoshino's ears twitched. "I don't know what she's talking about, but Akasha almost never gets this angry."
"—Alexis kissed Hoshino-nee in the hot springs! I saw it! They did something that indecent!"
"!!!∑(ﾟДﾟノ)ノ Wh–What kind of development is this?!"
Hoshino froze, images of an extremely problematic scenario flashing through her mind.
"—So you saw, Akasha."
"That's Alexis's voice. So Alexis is there too… Don't tell me the one Dueling Akasha in a Shadow Game is Alexis? Why?!"
Peeking in from behind the hallway corner so she wouldn't be noticed, Hoshino processed the situation and found herself trapped between two impossible choices:
Retreat!
Her students were Dueling in a Shadow Game. As the Headmistress, she had to intervene.
Advance!
But what awaited her… was a hellish love-triangle battlefield far scarier than any Shadow Game.
Thus, Hoshino Chiyuki made a difficult decision—
Observe the situation in secret first.
Akasha and Alexis shouldn't have been capable of initiating a Shadow Game on their own, so the dark energy seeping into the Duel was likely connected to this icy arena itself.
Compared to a true Shadow Game, this environment-based imitation seemed relatively mild. At worst, it was just cold… and maybe they'd catch a cold. That was all.
"…Isn't this just a misunderstanding? Alexis, explain already! That was just treatment!"
…
Alexis refuted, "Akasha, you said I 'stole something important from you,' but that's wrong!"
Logically, she should have been explaining the misunderstanding. But driven by a strange, unnameable emotion, Alexis instinctively snapped back instead.
"Senpai isn't your possession!"
Jaden tensed and whispered, "No, Alexis—those words are forbidden around Akasha…"
He still remembered saying something similar as a kid. Akasha had dueled him savagely from start to finish and then ignored him for two whole months afterward.
"You don't understand anything, Alexis." This time, however, Akasha's calmness surprised Jaden—or rather, it was the eerie calm before the storm.
"When I was drowning in darkness and lost, it was Hoshino-nee who pulled me out with everything she had. Since then, she's been the light in my heart. You—who've only known her for a few days—you're just lusting after her looks like a fox!"
"I'm not…"
Still Dueling, Alexis looked at the card she had just drawn and declared firmly:
"Liking someone isn't determined by how long you've known them. Whether it's this Duel, or my feelings for Senpai—I won't lose to you, Akasha!"
"This is… quite a confession scene."
Caught in the middle of the crossfire, Jaden felt unbearably awkward—even though it wasn't his battle—and didn't dare to move an inch.
As for Hoshino, the person at the center of this emotional war, she had even less courage to reveal herself now.
"What kind of plot is this?! I've gotten used to Akasha being like that, but why is Alexis joining her too?!"
Only Altera, who stood beside Hoshino and stayed clear of the chaos, let out a small sigh of relief when she spotted Jack on the field. "I hope they finish soon so we can go back for tea and snacks…"
"Let's continue our Duel, Akasha! I'll show you my resolve through this Duel!"
Glancing at the card she drew this turn, Alexis immediately placed it onto her Duel Disk.
"I activate the Spell Card — Pot of Greed! I draw two cards from my Deck!"
Thanks to the "Professor Crowler Face" projection's shattering effect, Alexis's hand returned to four cards.
"Hmph, I finally drew it. Now the condition is fulfilled — this is my final tactic to defeat you, Akasha!"
"Alexis figured out a way to beat Akasha?" Judai frowned skeptically.
At the moment, whether it was field presence, Set backrow, or Akasha's 5900 Life Points, everything pointed to an overwhelming advantage crushing Alexis completely.
"Now, I activate the Continuous Trap I Set last turn — Royal Decree! This will completely seal off your usual tactics, Akasha!"
The Set card flipped open — the absolute authority of its decree locking down both players' backrows.
[Negate all other Trap effects on the field.]
"With this, all those Traps you rely on are now completely useless!"
"Wow, that was a great card for Alexis to activate. Against that trap-heavy brat Akasha, it's practically super effective."
Hoshino, secretly watching from the sidelines, nodded in approval. As expected of an Obelisk Blue student — she's properly studied her opponent's Deck.
"Tch, so you sealed off my Traps." Akasha clicked her tongue, clearly displeased that her weak point had been struck. "But even so, you have no monsters that can turn this Duel around."
"Then witness the miracle this card will bring! I activate the Spell Card — Polymerization!"
Selecting two monsters from her hand as Fusion Materials and sending them to the GY, a swirling Fusion aura erupted on Alexis's field.
"I fuse Blade Skater and Etoile Cyber from my hand! Appear — the beautiful girl who shines upon the radiant path of stardom— Cyber Blader!"
[Cyber Blader ★★★★★★ (Level 6)][EARTH / Warrior / Fusion / Effect][ATK 2100 / DEF 800]
Gracefully gliding across an icy battlefield, even without a Field Spell to match, Cyber Blader's elegant form fit perfectly atop the shimmering blue ice.
"I remember that card..." Hoshino muttered from her hiding spot, raising an eyebrow. Cyber Blader was considered one of Alexis's signature Fusion Monsters.
"If I recall correctly, that Fusion Monster's effect changes depending on the number of monsters the opponent controls."
Pulling the Fusion Monster from her Extra Deck and slamming it onto the Duel Disk, Alexis declared:
"Cyber Blader gains different effects depending on how many monsters you control!"
[●1: Cannot be destroyed by battle.]
[●2: This card's ATK is doubled.]
[●3: Your opponent's activated card effects are negated.]
"Since you control both Lobo and Jack the Ripper, Cyber Blader's ATK is doubled! And that's not all!"
Alexis slid her last Equip Spell into the Duel Disk — the signature equipment for her ace Fusion Monster.
"An Equip Spell for Level 6 or lower Fusion Monsters — Fusion Weapon! Cyber Blader gains 1500 ATK, and with the doubling effect, her final ATK becomes—!"
[Cyber Blader ATK 2100 → 3600 → 7200]
"7200 ATK?!" Jaden shouted in shock. "That's stronger than two Oda Nobunagas combined! Incredible — is this Alexis's ace!?"
"Sealing Traps and then breaking through with overwhelming ATK! Take this, Akasha — this is my counterattack to turn the Duel around!"
Entering the Battle Phase, Cyber Blader slid gracefully across the icy field, carving a dazzling trail as her shining Fusion Weapon cut toward Akasha's field.
However, due to Jack's effect — "This card, when Normal Summoned, cannot be selected as an attack target" — her petite figure hid within the mist, untargetable. Alexis could only choose to attack Lobo.
"Loving someone is never wrong! And this strike… is my proof of my feelings for Senpai!"
If Alexis were to discover that Hoshino was secretly eavesdropping nearby, who knows whether she'd still be able to say something that embarrassingly bold with such confidence.
Meanwhile, Hoshino was already blushing furiously from hearing such a passionate confession, her face red enough to drip blood.
"Is she this bold!? Even knowing I'm the Headmistress, she still said that… wait—does she actually know I'm the Headmistress?"
While Hoshino was only now realizing that oversight, Akasha's Set card beneath her monster suddenly activated.
"Even if Traps are sealed, Spell Cards can still activate! — Quick-Play Spell: Phantasm Summon!"
"That card allows her to Fusion Summon using monsters from both the field and the GY — the exclusive Fusion Spell for Heroic Spirits!" Jaden exclaimed, eyes sparkling at the explosive clash.
"Of course she'd respond to Fusion with Fusion! But if I remember correctly, Akasha only has Paul Bunyan as a Fusion Monster, right? Even if she summons the version that uses three Lily monsters as materials, Paul Bunyan can't overpower Alexis's attack."
"If three materials aren't enough… then I'll use FOUR! Let this burning rage transform into the form of the strongest Avenger!"
Akasha sent Jack the Ripper and Lobo from the field to the GY as Fusion Materials, then banished Nursery Rhyme and Jeanne d'Arc Alter Santa Lily from her GY as substitutes.
Gathering the power of three Lilies and one wolf, the ultimate form of this monster rose upon the icy battlefield, roaring.
"Arise—Fusion! This is the strongest Avenger born from the flames of my heart! Fusion Summon — Avenger of the Kid's Kingdom!"
[Avenger of the Kid's Kingdom ★★★★★★★★★★ (Level 10)][DARK / Zombie / Fusion / Effect][ATK 2500 / DEF 1000]
[This card is also treated as a "Heroic Spirit" and "Lily" card. Must be Fusion Summoned. Cannot be Special Summoned otherwise.]
Jack, Nursery Rhyme, & Jeanne:
"Behold! This is the strongest combination, y'know!"