"Catch me, Miles!"
From the radiant Quasar light, the slender body of Krista plummeted straight into Miles's arms.
Krista may have been small, but that didn't mean Aisha was particularly sturdy either.
Without the blessing of Stardust's power, Krista was nowhere near as light as during the duel—she slammed into Miles so hard that his D-Wheel's Crystal Flight Wings nearly flipped midair.
"Hehe... I'm... not that heavy, right?" Krista blushed.
"Depends who you're comparing to," Miles said dryly.
Standing before her was, after all, an A+ rank Duelist.
Retracting the external Crystal Wing module, Miles and Krista descended together onto the reborn land of Axet.
He had to admit: Viel the cheeky loli's engineering was flawless. Even as a temporary add-on, the external module fit perfectly with his custom D-Wheel after emergency docking and assembly.
When not in use, it folded seamlessly into the design—if anything, the tail wings made the D-Wheel look even cooler.
"So, Krista, did you know beforehand that you were, uh... [Shooting Quasar Dragon]?"
"Nope, not at all!" Krista shook her head. "It was only at the very end that I felt I had to help you, Miles! I think it's thanks to you that we reached the Limit Overdrive state!"
Only the realm of Limit Overdrive Synchro could summon [Shooting Quasar Dragon]... and Krista herself embodied that very being.
Their victory, their rewriting of the doomed future, had unfolded exactly as Yusei Fudo had once foreseen. The power of both Stardust users had been indispensable.
Still, Miles couldn't shake a lingering concern.
Not for himself, but for Krista.
If what she said was true, if she hadn't known about her connection to Quasar until now… then she'd spent her whole life believing she was just an ordinary girl.
Imagine living as a human for years, only to suddenly be told you were never human at all… but a Duel Spirit.
"You're really okay with this, Krista?"
"Mm-hmm! Totally fine!" Krista nodded firmly.
"Human or not, with or without Quasar's power… I'm still me. If the light of the Quasar hidden within me could save everyone in the end, then I'm grateful to the father who raised me!"
The ever-optimistic and strong Krista smiled brightly, and Miles felt his worries fade.
So long as he and Aisha kept quiet, no one would ever guess that Krista was [Shooting Quasar Dragon].
The battle was over, and peace could finally return.
After such a brutal fight, the reborn land of Axet, purified by Quasar's light, was their reward.
As for whether destruction would come again fifty years later... Miles had already said it to Demolish.
Humanity's fate would be for humanity to decide.
This time, the cataclysm had come because the true dangers of the magic stones had been hidden from nearly everyone.
For that, Miles had gathered every ounce of hope to rewrite the ending.
Regardless, from now on, after having witnessed firsthand the devastation that magic stones could cause—when they were no longer seen as a pure, harmless energy—how would people choose to use that power?
It was humanity's decision to make.
Even if they knowingly walked again toward destruction... then, as Miles said, so be it; let it perish.
Or perhaps, when the second apocalypse arrived, there would again be those who rose up with hope to save everything.
After all, if there's one lesson humanity's ever learned from history, it's that humanity never learns. And yet, they always keep living on.
"Oh no… my D-Wheel and the Millennium Scale!"
Krista suddenly remembered the moment she fell into the explosion—the D-Wheel and the Millennium Scale strapped to it, both lost.
Looking toward the site of the Main Magic Stone Leyline Tower, the massive structure had vanished, purified by Quasar's light, returning to the depths of Axet.
But the ground where it once stood was flat and empty—no sign of her D-Wheel.
"No way, I've gotta go look for it!" Krista's eyes filled with determination.
"Even if you do, you'll probably only find the wreckage," Miles cautioned.
"Not necessarily! Maybe Quasar's light restored it! And even if not, the Millennium Scale's a divine relic… it can't have burned up that easily!"
Resolute, Krista couldn't bear to lose the artifact or the D-Wheel she'd saved SP points for months to buy.
"Fly, [Stardust Spark Dragon]!"
Without a D-Wheel, she could only rely on a Duel Monster for high-speed movement.
Riding atop Stardust Spark Dragon, Krista touched two fingers to her eyes and flashed Miles a confident gesture.
"I'll be right back, Miles! I'll show you—I always take back what's mine!"
Riding off in a trail of stardust light, Miles could only watch her silhouette fade into the distance.
"Mr. Miles, you're hiding something from me, aren't you?"
Once Krista was gone, Aisha's voice, tinged with quiet reproach, echoed in Miles's mind.
"Uh, which thing are you talking about, Aisha?"
"(╯°Д°)╯So there's more than one thing you've been hiding!?"
"No, no no—probably just one!" Miles corrected himself immediately.
He'd hidden plenty from her… like the existence of Dark Aisha and Stardust-chan in the Soul Room, or meeting Yusei in the Stardust Realm and being entrusted with Krista.
Still, there was only one secret Aisha could realistically be referring to right now.
"You mean Luca, right?"
"Exactly, Mr. Miles. Why did Luca suddenly appear when she's supposed to be dead?"
"Well, it's not that complicated, it's just..."
Luca's soul had been reconstructed by Viel, the owner of the Witch Workshop—a secret Miles and Ren had agreed to keep from Aisha.
Compared to Ren, who barely knew Luca, or Miles, who had already come to terms with it, Aisha would only dwell on the moral implications—whether it was right or wrong—and torment herself over it.
That said, barely a day had passed, and Luca had already shown up in front of Aisha—as a courier.
"So, Mr. Miles didn't tell me because you were worried I'd overthink it?"
"That's... probably it, yeah."
"Honestly... ε=('ο｀*))) sigh!"
Aisha let out a deep sigh.
"I'm not a child anymore, Mr. Miles. I can judge right and wrong for myself. There's no need to worry about me like that. The Luca who's lost her soul and memories doesn't need to bear her past sins anymore—I agree with you on that."
Miles muttered, "Mm-hmm, though in some ways you're still a kid..."
"Besides, without Luca, we couldn't have won this battle, could we?"
Miles couldn't deny it; Luca the courier had delivered perfectly both times.
The first time, she'd brought him the ticket to duel the gods. The second, she'd delivered Krista—[Shooting Quasar Dragon] herself.
"Let's go see her together sometime, Mr. Miles. Even if we can't be friends, the Luca now shouldn't be our enemy either. Also… raising Luca from zero sounds kinda fun!"
…That last part was definitely her true motive.
Having confessed the truth, Miles felt a little less guilty. Now, the number of secrets he was keeping from his partner Aisha Carlos had dropped from ten... to nine.
Whoosh—!
While Miles and Aisha were talking, Krista, who was riding on [Stardust Spark Dragon] in the distance, suddenly vanished from their sight.
Miles raised a brow, "She disappeared?"
Aisha: "(°Д°) Could it be... an Accel Synchro!?"
"No, no, no, that's way too ridiculous!"
It wasn't an Accel Synchro, though it did look suspiciously similar, as if she'd looped around the entire area.
The next second, instead of flying ahead, Krista crashed down behind Miles.
"Ow ow ow!" Still in her riding pose atop Stardust Spark Dragon, Krista tumbled hard, rubbing her sore backside where she'd skidded across the ground.
"That's a pretty unique way to come back, Krista. But seriously… how'd you even manage to perform an Accel Synchro outside of a duel?"
"It's not Accel Synchro!"
Krista herself had no idea what had just happened.
She had simply been flying toward the Leyline Tower on Stardust Spark Dragon, but once she got far enough away from Miles, she was inexplicably teleported back.
"Stardust Spark!"
Krista called out again, summoning [Stardust Spark Dragon] into form.
"What was that about!?" she scolded.
"Rooaar?" The dragon tilted its head innocently.
"Don't joke around! This time you're flying me there properly!"
"Rooaaar~"
Krista mounted Stardust Spark Dragon once more.
Two minutes later—
Miles & Aisha: "(°Д°) She disappeared again!"
The same thing happened. The moment Krista got far enough away, she was instantly teleported back.
Thud—crash—roll, roll, roll—!
And this time, she landed even worse, rolling several times before stopping.
"What the heck is happening!?"
Flat on her back, arms spread out in a daze, Krista stared at the sky, questioning her life choices.
"Mr. Miles, I think I might know what's going on."
"What a coincidence. I think I do too."
While Krista lay confused after her second crash, Miles and Aisha had already pieced it together from the repeated pattern.
"If I just explain it, you might not believe me, Krista. So I'll show you."
Miles drew a card from his [Spirit Eyes] Deck.
"Fly, [Stardust Dragon]!"
Bathed in starlight, Stardust Dragon materialized and took off at Miles's command.
Two minutes later—
It vanished in the distance, only to reappear beside him a moment later.
"Krista, do you know what causes that?"
"Of course I do! I'm not a rookie Duelist," Krista said. "When a Duel Monster gets too far from its summoner, it's automatically teleported back after a short time. Still, what does that have to do with me?"
Just as Miles expected… the girl was already subconsciously refusing to face reality.
"No offense, Krista, but from what I saw, your teleportation looked exactly the same as Stardust Dragon's."
"Huh? You're saying I'm the same as Stardust Dragon? Don't be ridiculous, Miles, how could I possibly—wha—?!"
Her protest froze the moment Miles raised a card in his hand.
The card read: [Shooting Quasar Dragon].
"Why not?"
"N-no way...!"
Krista's voice trembled as her face went pale—utterly unable to accept what was before her.
"So you're saying... because you summoned [Shooting Quasar Dragon] in that final Turbo Duel... I can't leave your side anymore?"
"Given the evidence, that's the only logical explanation. And just to remind you, class should've covered this: how far can a Duel Monster go before triggering the recall mechanism?"
"T-twenty meters..."
According to the Duel Monster system on the Spirit Continent, outside of duels, if a monster strays more than 20 meters from its Duelist, it will automatically teleport back after two minutes.
"Wait, wait, wait… that can't be right! Who's trying to set me up here!?"
Poor Krista was already flustered beyond coherence, her cheeks burning scarlet.
"So I can't be more than twenty meters away from you now!? What am I supposed to do!"
Though they were both Stardust Duelists who had fought together for Axet, they were still students of different academies—Krista from Synchron Academy, and Miles (and Aisha) from Fusion Academy.
Now, as the summoner of [Shooting Quasar Dragon], Miles was permanently bound to Krista; if she ever went more than twenty meters away, she'd at once warp back.
"Then what am I supposed to do about my daily life—about classes!?"
The bond between Duelist and Duel Monster was even stronger than the red string of fate… she couldn't even distance herself from him.
And to make matters worse, the [Shooting Quasar Dragon] card wasn't tradable, and only Miles could perform Limit Overdrive Synchro.
"Well then... looks like we'll be living together from now on. Please take care of me?"
"Waaaah! Why do you look so calm about this, Miles!?"
Why wouldn't he be calm? After all, he wasn't the one bound by a twenty-meter leash.
...
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