"—Scrap Fist!!"
"Ahhhhhhh!"
This time, even Korys couldn't keep her balance; Quasar's colossal iron fist sent her flying clean off the track.
A one-turn kill from Quasar itself.
In the turn Miles completed his ultimate Synchro Summon into Shooting Quasar Dragon, he didn't just wipe out all three Exosisters; he blasted through over 6000 of Korys Diane's Life Points.
The starlight of hope gathered, then scattered once more; an explosion of cosmic force in a single turn, unleashing overwhelming destruction.
Krista chirped, "That was so cool, Miles! My Deck, and me… we can actually look that awesome?!"
Tasting the thrill of a Quasar OTK for the first time, Krista felt her scalp tingle and her knees go weak.
Even though her soul was still trapped within the Millennium Puzzle, that didn't stop her from reveling in the exhilaration.
"I… I actually…"
Slammed down by the Scrap Fist, Korys slid several meters across the ground on her rear… yet, the heat in her chest burned even hotter than the friction burns.
"I really got OTK'd… Krista Shia, you're so strong!"
Before the duel began, she'd stubbornly insisted that even if Krista's handsome looks might draw her in a little, her soul could never compare to Ren's.
But now…
The impact of those twin Scrap Fists shook her girl's heart just as much as Ren's arrow of ice ever had.
"Ugh, I can't be such a flirt…" Korys muttered, knocking her own head lightly. "I lost the duel… I should probably start thinking about how to explain this to Leon and the others. They're going to tease me forever."
After that breathtaking finale, the Quasar finish sealed with a decisive Scrap Fist, the entire arena fell into a stunned silence for a few seconds.
Then, with professional reflexes, commentator Takehiko was the first to recover.
"Amazing! The mightiest starlight scattered into Stardust itself… Krista Shia's storm of stellar strikes sweeps the field! Synchron Academy takes victory in the second Turbo Duel! Let's give it up for Synchron Academy!"
Technically, a commentator shouldn't show bias between academies; even so, after Synchron's crushing loss in round one, Takehiko couldn't help his excitement.
Of course, no one was louder than the crowd.
It was Synchron's home arena, after all, and the vast majority of spectators were their supporters.
"Ohhhhhh! So strong—Shooting Quasar Dragon!"
"As expected of Synchron's ace… no, its reborn ace!"
"I'll stan Krista forever!"
"Junk Warrior is eternal!"
The roar of the crowd, the ecstatic cheering—only now did Krista realize something was off.
There were so many people.
Before the duel began, there had only been a handful of spectators. Now, the stands were nearly packed.
Krista stared around in confusion. "What's going on? Why are there suddenly so many people?"
Miles answered, "What's hard to understand? The people of Axet have gathered at Synchron Academy. To watch your duel, of course."
"To watch… the duel?"
"The light of Quasar's hope spread across the sky. Just like you wanted, Krista."
"Miles, you…"
"To bring hope through dueling in the midst of life's darkness—that's a wonderful idea, Krista. You should be proud."
He understood her completely.
Even if she'd only spoken the thought once, even if unforeseen events had prevented her from dueling herself… Miles, who had taken her place, had carried out not just her actions, but her conviction as well.
Seeing the crowd's radiant joy, Krista knew… Miles had proven that Vice Principal Orcus's seemingly reckless faith had not been misplaced.
"Thank you, Miles!"
For a fleeting instant, she thought—maybe even if she could never switch back, living like this wouldn't be so bad.
When the D-Wheel rolled back into the garage area, Miles barely had time to get off before Lost came barreling toward him and tackled him to the floor.
"You were amazing, Krista! I was wrong to doubt you before! I get it now… you must've gone off to train last night, right?! You still care about us, about Synchron Academy!"
Pinned under Lost, Miles could only groan internally.
He knew nothing about Synchron's inner workings—so being stuck in Krista's body right now was going to be… complicated.
Then Krista's voice echoed in his mind: "Just make up something random to dodge her. For now, the priority is to get back to Carlos and investigate the Millennium Puzzle's malfunction."
'Make up something random, huh.'
"Lost, get off me. I need to go to the bathroom."
"Oh~"
A flimsy excuse, though effective. Miles figured the less he said, the less chance of slipping up.
Lost finally let him go.
Abruptly, then, as he turned to leave—
"So, Krista, what's this thing?"
She was holding the Millennium Puzzle in her hands.
"Wait… when did you swipe that?!"
He'd been keeping it tied to his arm rather than leaving it with Aisha, to avoid accidentally switching souls mid-duel and triggering the 20-meter link restriction, which could make Krista vanish in front of everyone.
Albeit somehow, in the few seconds Lost had tackled him, she'd managed to snatch it.
Petty theft on instinct—truly the delinquent queen.
"The Millennium Item? I thought Aisha Carlos was the one who had this…"
"Give it back!"
Miles snatched it from her hand, fuming.
"What's your deal, getting so touchy? Why would something that belongs to Aisha Carlos be with you, anyway? Don't tell me…"
Lost's brow furrowed in suspicion, as though she'd seen through everything.
"Is this… a token of love?! I can't believe it… Krista, you like that type?!"
"You're overthinking it."
"I'll just warn you now, Krista—love can be the biggest obstacle on the road to strength."
"So what? You want to be the world's strongest?"
"Nope! My dream is to marry a man stronger than me."
…So she didn't want to be strong herself, then.
Seriously, why did this delinquent girl sound like she'd walked out of a rom-com?
After finally brushing Lost off, Miles—still using the "bathroom" excuse—slipped away toward Fusion Academy's prep area, hiding in the corner as he waved over Aisha and Ren.
"Mr. Miles, you're finally back!"
Seeing Miles again made Aisha simply happy, purely happy, even if he was currently trapped in Krista's body.
"As expected of you, Miles. You can handle any Deck… though it's a shame the win went to another academy."
Ren, however, was unquestionably in a different mood—her tone dripping with thinly veiled irritation.
Unlike Aisha's innocence, Ren was far more cautious about such things.
Another woman's body had now hosted Miles's soul. Knowing that, Ren couldn't possibly be pleased.
From the moment Krista asked for the Millennium Puzzle, Ren had a bad feeling.
Even though, since Krista had only wanted to avoid being forcibly teleported mid-Turbo Duel—not to swap souls—Ren hadn't had a solid reason to object.
And now… tragedy had struck.
Miles was stuck inside Krista's body. Not only was Krista still imprisoned, but now Miles was too.
Then again… was Miles's current situation really "imprisonment"?
Even though he'd gotten used to spending most days inside the Millennium Puzzle's Soul Room—killing time with Dark Aisha and Stardust-chan—the difference now was that he at least had a body that could move on its own.
Granted, that body didn't belong to him originally.
"Speaking of bodies… there's no helping it. We'll have to wait until the afternoon match ends, then talk to Boss Viel about it."
Viel, the Doraemon—whenever things went wrong, asking her for help usually got results.
"What about me?" Ren's red eyes—one light, one dark—widened as she pointed at herself. "I'm up next, Miles!"
No sooner had she said that than Takehiko's voice echoed once again across the arena.
"After a short break, we'll finally have today's final Turbo Duel!"
"Ohhhh!"
"Let's start already!"
Now that the crowd had grown, Takehiko no longer had to struggle to hype up an unresponsive audience. Hearing such lively cheers made him suddenly think—maybe switching careers to full-time commentator wouldn't be so bad.
"Let's welcome the duelists for our last Turbo Duel of the day! First up, from Fusion Academy—Ren Austin!"
No surprise there. Fusion Academy's lineup had been decided long ago.
The original plan had been for Miles to swap bodies and souls with both Aisha and Ren, dueling twice in a row to start strong and build momentum for Fusion Academy's comeback from last place.
That was… assuming the Krista incident hadn't happened.
Now that Miles couldn't swap, it meant he couldn't take Ren's place in the Turbo Duel.
A total act of God.
If this were a normal duel, it wouldn't matter—Ren, with her newfound power over Destiny HEROes and Super Polymerization, could absolutely fight on her own. Her strength was on par with any senior duelist from the other academies.
Despite that, this was a Turbo Duel—and that changed everything.
"I don't even know how to ride a D-Wheel, Miles!" she cried, flustered.
That was the biggest problem.
"No, maybe… there's a way around it. But it depends on your charm."
Miles recalled something from his duel against Korys—and got an idea.
…
Meanwhile, at XYZ Academy's prep area—
"Hey, Korys! Korys~"
The seated Korys suddenly heard a familiar, pleasant voice calling her.
"That voice… Ren?!"
Turning around, she saw a red-haired head peeking out, waving at her—Ren, of course.
But Korys's joy didn't last long.
After that whole "falling for another girl" fiasco during her duel, guilt toward Ren weighed heavily on her heart.
Not that Ren herself would ever care whether Korys Diane, queen of Xyz Yuri, was faithful or not.
"What's up, Ren—Ah… huh?!"
As Korys stepped away from her seat to where Ren was hiding, she froze.
Beside Ren stood none other than Krista Shia—the very girl she'd fallen for mid-duel.
"W–Wait… don't tell me, I've been found out?!"
Caught between Ren and Krista, Korys's eyes darted wildly, her heartbeat pounding so hard it nearly leapt from her throat.
A love triangle!
She was living in a love triangle!
For Korys Diane, it was both thrilling and terrifying… a strange kind of happiness in its own right.
Miles: "Korys, can we—"
Ren: "Ask you for a favor?"
Miles had tagged along because he worried Ren's presence alone might not be enough to persuade her.
Who could've predicted that this exact pairing would hit Korys right in her weak spot like a critical hit?
"Ren and Krista… asking me for something together?! I-I…"
Drowning in blissful confusion, Korys looked almost hypnotized.
At this point, no matter what they asked, she probably wouldn't be able to refuse.
"Lend us your D-Board."
That was the solution Miles had devised—letting Ren duel on Korys's skateboard.
Given Ren's athletic reflexes, she'd already mastered board-riding from helping in club activities. Using a D-Board instead of a D-Wheel wouldn't be a problem.
Now the only question was whether Korys would agree.
Given that Ren's opponent would be an XYZ Academy student. If Korys refused, Ren couldn't enter the Turbo Duel, and XYZ Academy would win by default.
"You can have it if you want!"
Under the combined charm offensive of Ren and Miles, Korys's pupils turned to heart shapes as she clutched the D-Board tightly.
…
"What's Korys up to now?"
Back at XYZ Academy's area, only Lloyd noticed her sneaking off with her board.
"Forget her," said Leon. "The duel's about to start."
After Korys's loss, neither Lloyd nor Leon had gone up for the second round.
XYZ Academy's long-hidden fourth duelist was finally stepping in. They'd placed him after Korys deliberately... because this match was one XYZ absolutely had to win.
Their guaranteed ace card.
Leon crossed his arms, eyes fixed on the track. "Time to show them what absolute power looks like: The god of XYZ Academy."
...
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