"So the pervert was him all along!"
Aisha's memories from the start of the year resurfaced with Ren's words.
Of course, with Aisha's naïve and defenseless personality, unless someone stuck right in her face, she'd never notice being followed.
However, Ren Austin was different.
Her beast-like intuition had noticed Alester watching Aisha as early as the second day.
Still, with Alester's teleportation magic, even if Ren caught him, he could vanish instantly, leaving no trace.
Without hard proof, all Ren could do was warn Aisha to be cautious of perverts.
And then, three months later, that pervert vanished.
Back then, as first-years, neither Ren nor Aisha knew third-years left for the Spirit Sanctuary Ranking War.
Ren thought her vigilance had finally driven the stalker away.
But that stalker, who shadowed Aisha for three months, turned out to be none other than the so-called once-in-a-century genius Duelist, Alester Crowley.
And now that stalker seemed especially hostile toward Irena—or rather, toward Miles in her body.
"Stalking Aisha? A pervert stalker?"
Hearing Ren's accusation, Miles's expression grew serious.
If this man had 'plans' for his host, Aisha Carlos, Miles would never let it slide.
Just from a glance, sparks flew between their eyes, the Duel already ablaze before it began.
Miles demanded, "Ren says you're a stalker. Is it true, Alester… senpai?"
Alester shot back furiously: "Stalker's unnecessary! And why should I be questioned by you, scumbag man?!"
"You know, if there's proof of stalking, it's not up to you to decide whether you're a pervert, senpai."
Thus began the insults: stalker versus scumbag.
Irena suddenly realized, "Wait, why did Alester-senpai call him scumbag?"
After all, Miles was using her body. Facing a pretty girl, if Alester had said 'scumbag woman,' she might have admitted it.
She did like both Miles and Aisha, after all. If that made her scummy, so be it.
But scumbag man?
Irena said, "Miles, don't tell me you've been found out?"
"Obviously, yes."
Alester's hostility, his history of stalking Aisha—it wasn't hard to guess why.
If Miles was right, Alester understood the Millennium Puzzle's powers.
So continuing to talk risked exposing himself.
He needed another way to communicate.
Miles lit the Spirit Eyes on Irena's arm, pointing at Alester. "Enough talk! Whether you're a pervert and I'm a scumbag—we'll settle it with a Duel!"
Irena remarked, "That's something you can settle with a Duel?"
Alester's Spirit Eyes flared as he drew his Deck. "Perfect! If I win, I won't let a scumbag like you near Aisha Carlos again!"
"And if you lose, you pervert, disappear from her sight forever!"
"Come on!"
"For the pride of men!"
"Duel—!"
[Alester, LP: 4000]
[Irena, LP: 4000]
Their fiery, absurd declarations left the audience of students stunned.
Alester the genius, a stalker?
Irena, the pretty girl, a scumbag?
…What even was this?
The only clear takeaway was that they seemed to be dueling over Aisha Carlos.
Everyone had vaguely noticed that Irena, who spent most of her time in the library with Aisha, had feelings for her.
Anyhow, no one ever pointed it out. After all, two pretty girls being close was far too nice to ruin.
No one expected Alester, freshly graduated, to also like Aisha Carlos… and that he had stalked her for three months after she enrolled.
"Little Ai, you're a sinful woman."
"(＞﹏＜) Ren-chan, I'm panicking too! What's going on?"
"Be envious. Just think of it as Miles fighting to protect you. I wonder… would he fight this seriously for me?"
Ren's own words cut into her as she spoke.
Irena said, "Using my body to fight for Aisha… what a bad man, Miles. But I kind of like that too."
After all, both fighters were people she liked.
The Spirit Eyes on Irena's arm lit first, declaring Miles would go first.
"My turn, draw!"
Before the Duel, Miles had asked Irena about Alester's Deck.
Her answer: Alester never used a fixed Deck.
In this world, with summoning limited by Spirit Eyes, most Duelists could barely manage a single cohesive Deck.
Nevertheless, Alester was different.
A master of summoning.
While normal students needed Academy support to summon once a week, Alester could summon multiple times without aid.
His card pool was vast, his style unpredictable. That was why he was called a once-in-a-century genius.
With no way to prepare specifically, Miles would have to take things as they came.
"—I activate the Spell Card, [Pot of Greed]! I draw two cards from my Deck!"
Opening with a jar, Miles felt a surge of excitement. Using Irena's Black Magician Deck, he found it packed with new additions, enough to enjoy.
Wait, no—this Duel determined whether Aisha would still be stalked! He had to give his all.
"I activate the effect of [Apprentice Illusion Magician] in my hand!"
[You can discard 1 card; Special Summon this card from your hand.]
"I discard [Dark Magician Girl] to Special Summon Apprentice Illusion Magician!"
Discarding one waifu to summon another, the lively dark-skinned twin-tailed girl leapt into battle.
[Apprentice Illusion Magician] Level 6│DARK│Spellcaster│2000 ATK / 1700 DEF
"When she's Special Summoned, I can add [Dark Magician] from my Deck to my hand! Then I activate the Spell Card [Dark Magic Veil]!"
[Pay 1000 LP; Special Summon 1 DARK Spellcaster from your hand or Graveyard.]
[Irena, LP: 4000 → 3000]
"With 1000 Life as the cost—revive, my waifu!"
Aisha, raising her fists then, yelled: "I'm your waifu!"
[Dark Magician Girl] Level 6│DARK│Spellcaster│2000 ATK / 1700 DEF
Unlike the lively apprentice, this one radiated soft charm, her blushing cheeks melting hearts.
Two waifus summoned on turn one—Miles was already winning.
"I set one card and end my turn!"
Turn passed, it was the genius's move.
Strangely, Alester, who had been trading insults, fell silent once the Duel began.
Irena muttered, "It's coming."
Miles asked, confused: "What's coming?"
"I told you why I never wanted to face him. This is Alester's true Duel."
"Hahahahahaha!"
Drawing, Alester threw his head back and laughed, entering a frenzy.
"His personality changes completely when he Duels," Irena explained. "That's Alester-senpai."
Before, he could talk. Once the Duel began, he thought only of crushing his opponent.
"My turn, draw! I activate the Spell Card [Pot of Greed] to draw two cards!"
Mirroring Miles's start, both now had seven cards.
Alester's eyes gleamed with madness as he studied his hand.
"Hehehehahaha! Let's test Viel's new research—see how far I alone can go on the path of Truth!"
"Yourself?"
"I activate the Field Spell [Magical Meltdown]!"
Scarlet mana burst forth with the card's activation.
[When this card is activated: Add 1 [Aleister the Invoker] from your Deck to your hand.]
"When [Magical Meltdown] activates, I add [Aleister the Invoker] from my Deck!"
"What do you mean add Alester? You are Alester!" Miles couldn't help but retort.
"Oh? Who said a Duelist can't use themselves as a card?" Alester flung the card down.
"I Normal Summon—[Aleister the Invoker] in Defense Position!"
[Aleister the Invoker] Level 4│DARK│Spellcaster│1000 ATK / 1800 DEF
A monster identical to Alester himself appeared, the very technique Viel had shown him in the Royal Capital: turning oneself into a card.
[When this card is Normal Summoned or flipped: Add 1 [Invocation] from your Deck to your hand.]
"I search [Invocation] and then activate the Spell Card [Polymerization]!"
Though he had searched Invocation, he played regular Fusion. The swirling vortex of fusion opened a gate to the elemental planes.
"I fuse [Aleister the Invoker] on my field with [Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion] in my hand—Fusion Summon from the Earth Plane!"
Having seen his heart broken yesterday, Alester had embraced being a scumbag, deciding to fuse himself with various girl cards.
What about real women?
Aside from Aisha Carlos, no others interested him—even as a scumbag.
"Mountains crumble before the might of the Earth! Fusion Summon—[Invoked Magellanica]!"
[Invoked Magellanica] Level 8│EARTH│Rock│3000 ATK / 3300 DEF
["Aleister the Invoker" + 1 EARTH monster]
Using himself as material, he summoned the towering Invoked beast.
"This monster—it's from the Royal Capital!"
Miles recognized it instantly. Back in the war, this was the monster that had cleared the path for Kaima's Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
So the hidden Duelist aiding them had been Alester himself.
With that, Miles didn't find him quite so detestable anymore.
Still, this was a Duel—and the monster's 3000 Attack rivaled Blue-Eyes itself.
"—I activate the Spell Card [Invocation]!"
After his first Fusion, Alester now used the card he had searched.
[Fusion Summon 1 Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using monsters from your hand as material. If Summoning an "Invoked" monster, you can also banish materials from the field or either Graveyard.]
For "Invoked" monsters, he could even use Graveyard monsters as material.
"I banish [Aleister the Invoker] and [Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion] from my Graveyard—another Earth Fusion!"
[Invoked Magellanica, ATK: 3000]
The ground shook as a second colossus filled the stage.
Compared to Alester's twin mountains, Miles's two waifus looked tiny.
...
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