"Aaaaahhhh—!"
The counterstrike of Miracle's Wake hurled Luca, her Life Points dropping to zero, flying high into the air as the Shadow Game barrier shattered. Her blouse snagged on a branch of the royal garden's pine tree.
"Ow… I can't move at all. Is this the side effect of a Shadow Game?"
For the first time in her life, Luca had personally lost a Shadow Game. Hanging from the branch, her limbs were limp, her soul so weakened she could faint at any moment.
Nova said, "We won, Miles! Amazing, this is what victory feels like!"
All the fear she had carried before was swept away. In the little princess's childish voice came excitement at victory—worthy of the Kaiser family blood.
"Yes. As expected, you lost again, Luca."
Looking up at the dangling Luca, from the little princess's naturally short stature and upward angle, Luca's pure-white panties were plainly visible.
Though honestly, he had no desire to look.
All Miles wanted now was to quickly deal with this troublemaker who had already caused so much.
Slash!
Aisha's Spirit Eyes gleamed, summoning Utopia into reality. The blade in his hand cut the branch holding Luca.
She dropped straight down, her rear crashing hard against the ground, dealing a painful secondary blow.
Yet even so, with her soul ravaged by the Shadow Game, Luca no longer had the strength to even scream from the pain. The arrogance she once carried was gone without a trace.
"Why do you look like a dead fish? I thought you'd be used to losing by now."
"How could anyone get used to this…?"
Regardless, sympathy wasn't an option. Controlling the little princess's body, Miles pulled Luca's entire Deck from her Spirit Eyes.
The price of a Shadow Game must be paid. Having her soul-bound cards forcibly taken would leave Luca even weaker.
At that point, she'd truly be powerless—anyone, even the little princess, could step on her.
"Let's see what kind of cards these are. All Fiends? Didn't you used to play Angels?"
Nova suddenly yelled, "Those cards are scary, Miles! Don't look through them anymore—I don't want to see!"
"What, Nova, you don't want any of these cards? You can take whichever you like."
"I don't want them! With cards that scary, I wouldn't even be able to sleep at night."
"Well, if you don't want them, then I'll just take them myself~"
"Yeah, Miles, please take them away."
Miles had already expected the princess would look down on Luca's Deck. After all, the Kaiser royal family hardly lacked for rare cards.
So from the start, he had been picking through them for Aisha's sake—seeing if there was anything that girl could use.
Compared to the overly privileged princess, he had to think of his impoverished host at least a little.
Aisha, suddenly realizing, said, "I really am just a poor girl without rare cards, but isn't that how most people are?!"
Few in the world could rival the royal family in wealth—or card power.
"Sacred Beasts…"
Just as Miles was picking through the cards, Luca, slumped on the ground, spoke weakly.
"Sacred Beasts?"
"Raviel, Lord of Phantasms. That card's in my Deck… Please, take the Sacred Beast cards and let me go."
"Let you go? You're dreaming."
Miles already knew she might have the three Sacred Beasts. He'd been on the lookout since he got her Deck.
The odd Deck build, packed with Fiends, had obviously been support for the Sacred Beasts.
Despite that, there was nothing.
He flipped the Deck from top to bottom—not a single Sacred Beast card.
Just to be sure, he checked several times over.
"The Raviel you mentioned… does it even exist?"
"What nonsense are you saying? Of course it exists—"
"But there's nothing here."
"Impossible!"
"See for yourself."
He tossed the Deck back to her and let her check.
Collapsed on the ground, Luca dragged her heavy body, flipping through the Deck one by one. With each card she saw, her face grew more desperate.
They were truly gone. Raviel, the Sacred Beast she had sworn was in her Deck, was missing.
She had confirmed it was there when the Duel began.
But the signs had been there from the start. From the very first turn, Luca Slint had felt her bond with the Sacred Beasts vanish.
No matter how many times she drew, no matter how she tried, she couldn't find them. She had thought it was just a lack of bond.
Albeit the cruel truth was that the Sacred Beasts hadn't even been in her Deck to begin with.
"You idiot, don't tell me you've been tricked again?"
Six months ago, when she fell into Kaima Seth's hands, she'd been deceived by the Millennium Ring, forced to watch it turn from genuine treasure into worthless ash.
What was strange this time was that Luca hadn't used the Ring to trigger the Shadow Game. She hadn't even been carrying any Millennium Item.
Her pupils dimmed, Luca's broken figure on the ground as she checked her Deck was too pitiful for Miles and Aisha to even watch.
As for why the Sacred Beasts had vanished from her Deck after the Duel began… she could only think of one reason.
"Damn that old man! So it was a setup from the start?!"
"Old man?"
Her muttered words made Miles suddenly recall something important.
The head maid, Sally's warning, when they entered the palace:
"There are two Shadow Duelists who invaded the palace."
If the Luca before them was one of those Shadow Duelists…
Then the other would still be out there.
"Luca, this old man you mentioned… is he your partner?"
"Partner? Heh." Luca laughed at herself.
"That self-centered old man has probably never trusted anyone. Not even his own granddaughter."
"Granddaughter?" Aisha gasped. "Then… the one with you, could it be the head of the Slint family?!"
That was a far greater figure than they expected.
"Now you realize? It's already too late. With his power, the Kaiser royals are probably already done for."
"No, it's not too late. If you want to live, then use what little worth you still have, Luca."
They bound her tightly. If the other Shadow Duelist was truly the head of the Slint family, then Luca's identity as his granddaughter could at least be a bargaining chip.
"...Miles, you're starting to sound like a villain."
Having exchanged back into his own body, Miles re-linked with Aisha and returned to the Soul Room.
"No—I call this ruthless justice."
As for the cards taken from Luca, with no Sacred Beasts, the only useful one for Aisha was Effect Veiler.
Though she barely had any powerful Spells, Aisha Carlos's collection of strong hand traps was starting to grow unexpectedly.
...
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