Oga Slint collapsed.
It was a literal physical collapse. After taking who knows how many hits from Flare Bursts straight to the face, Oga briefly lost consciousness on his D-Wheel, and in the end had to be hauled back by Leon and Lloyd, one on each side.
If you can't resolve the Duel, then just resolve the Duelist instead.
Kevin Seth, having returned, once again brought Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon's infinite salvo back to the peak.
And with it, everyone present was once again reminded of the strength of Fusion Academy and the Duke Seth family.
"Great, we won!"
Unable to contain their excitement, Ren and Irena practically pounced over… and tightly hugged Miles.
Even though it made no sense that Kevin was the one who won the Duel, yet these two women insisted on hugging him and bouncing around.
But whatever.
Miles was genuinely happy too, his Duelist's soul boiling with excitement.
After all, what could possibly thrill a Duelist more than seeing the rival destined to face him grow even stronger?
Fusion Academy, which last night had seemed like the hopeless underdog, had now flipped into the luckiest star with the greatest chance of taking the championship.
By taking the first victory in the Turbo Duel on the final battle day, Fusion Academy had become the academy closest to the championship.
Conversely, having lost the first Duel—and with their ace Oga Slint being the one who lost it—XYZ Academy's hopes of winning the championship were already dashed.
Compared to Fusion Academy's soaring morale, XYZ Academy's side was noticeably gloomier.
No. More precisely, they weren't just gloomy. They had hit rock bottom.
Losing the first Duel, XYZ Academy's best-case scenario now was for their second Duelist, Korys, to defeat Synchron Academy, and then have Synchron Academy defeat Fusion Academy again, re-creating the same three-way balance from the previous days and ending in a three-way tie.
In any case, once you're placing your final hope on someone else's battle… in another sense, you've already lost.
No matter how you looked at it, XYZ Academy's campaign of revenge through exchange-study, aiming for the championship, had ended here.
The second match of the final battle day: XYZ Academy's Korys Diane versus Synchron Academy's Aoyao Izumi.
This matchup order actually aligned perfectly with XYZ Academy's planned optimal sequence.
Aoyao, who uses the Shiranui Deck built around Japanese katana, relies heavily on the Graveyard.
And that just so happens to be countered by Exosisters, who can punish Graveyard effects that activate.
However, due to XYZ Academy's morale being so low now, and because they miscalculated something—
"Xyz Summon! I activate the effect of [Exosister Mikailis], banishing [Shiranui Spectralsword] from your Graveyard!"
The core of the Shiranui Deck: the Level 2 Tuner Monster [Shiranui Spectralsword].
Its effect allows it to Synchro Summon from the Graveyard alongside other Zombie monsters, so dealing with it takes priority over the monsters on the field.
That said, Korys had miscalculated, assuming Aoyao only played standard Shiranui Synchros.
"—Chain effect! I activate the Trap Card [Synchro Call]! I Special Summon 1 monster from my Graveyard, then Synchro Summon using it and a monster on my field!"
Aoyao's only monster on the field was her second Tuner, another Level 2 [Shiranui Spectralsword], which had no combat strength of its own.
Nonetheless, sleeping in Aoyao's Graveyard was an 8-star Synchro Monster: [Shiranui Shogunsaga].
"Using the Level 2 [Shiranui Spectralsword] and the Level 8 [Shiranui Shogunsaga] for a Synchro Summon—combined Level 10!"
The light of a Level 10 Synchro erupted on Aoyao's field.
This time, the star-forged radiance did not expand into familiar blazing sword-fire; Instead, a brilliant phantom sword-light blossomed from within the Synchro Summon.
"This sword-light…!"
This was Aoyao's hidden trump card—one even her fellow Synchron Academy members did not know.
Yet, for any Synchron student, that Synchro sword-light was unmistakable.
"A blade honed to its utmost edge—reveal the noble form that inherits the shadow of the Phantom Dragon! Synchro Summon—[Swordsoul Supreme Sovereign - Chengying]!"
[Swordsoul Supreme Sovereign - Chengying] Level 10│WATER│Wyrm│3000 ATK
[Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters]
Using Shiranui monsters wielding Japanese katana to Synchro Summon into a Swordsoul monster—Chengying raised its blade, cutting apart the Synchro storm and descending before Aoyao.
After Synchron Academy won the championship last year, Swordsoul had long become the academy's most iconic Synchro archetype.
Just as people assumed that Aoyao, being the younger sister of Swordsoul user Takehiko Izumi, only played Shiranui with Japanese blades,
Aoyao directly proved that there was no gap too wide for siblings to cross.
"Next, I activate the effect of [Swordsoul Supreme Sovereign - Chengying]!"
[When a card is banished: Banish 1 card from your opponent's field and 1 card from their Graveyard.]
Since Korys had banished a card from the Graveyard, Aoyao—having brought out [Swordsoul Supreme Sovereign - Chengying] in a chain—could now banish a total of two cards from Korys: one on the field, one in the Graveyard.
The exorcising holy blade-light and Chengying's phantom dragon sword-light intertwined. Clearly, Aoyao's Synchro exchange was far more advantageous.
A move that decided the Duel: Korys's [Exosister Mikailis] on the field was banished, and Aoyao's Graveyard gained yet another Tuner—[Shiranui Spectralsword].
The turn changed—Aoyao's turn.
Chengying's sword continued to shine on the field, echoed by the ghostly fire of Spectralsword burning in the Graveyard.
"I activate the effect of [Shiranui Spectralsword] in my Graveyard!"
[If this card is in your Graveyard: Target 1 non-Tuner Zombie monster in your Graveyard; banish both it and this card, and if you do, Special Summon 1 Zombie Synchro Monster from your Extra Deck whose Level equals the total Levels of those monsters.]
The core battle style of Shiranui—Graveyard Synchro.
The Synchro materials used last turn to Summon [Swordsoul Supreme Sovereign - Chengying], the combined Level 10 of [Shiranui Spectralsword] and [Shiranui Shogunsaga], were now banished from the Graveyard as Zombie Synchro materials once again.
"Cross the boundary of life and death—the strongest Spectralsword! Let the Shiranui blade raise a wave of flame! Synchro Summon—[Shiranui Sunsaga]!"
[Shiranui Sunsaga] Level 10│FIRE│Zombie│3500 ATK
Splitting the Synchro light with its blazing sword, the galloping [Shiranui Sunsaga] appeared alongside [Swordsoul Supreme Sovereign - Chengying] on Aoyao's field. Together, the twin blades unleashed the Duel-ending strike.
"When a card is banished, the effect of [Swordsoul Supreme Sovereign - Chengying] banishes two of your cards! And when [Shiranui Sunsaga] is Synchro Summoned, it can return banished Synchro Monsters to the Extra Deck and destroy the same number of your cards!"
Chinese swords and Japanese blades—two-colored lights cleaved the battlefield of the high-speed world.
To perform such a spectacle of sword-dance, even Takehiko Izumi himself could not do it. At present, only Aoyao Izumi of Synchron Academy could accomplish this.
"Everything under heaven… return to ash!—"Ryūjin Jakka"!!"
The banish-and-destruction effects erupted simultaneously, wiping Korys's entire field in an instant.
"I win!"
On their home turf, Synchron Academy's Duelists carried the pride of the undefeated.
If someone had to be the sacrifice at this moment…
The direct attacks from blade and sword pierced straight through Korys, who was riding a D-Board. In the end, the role of this "sacrifice" fell squarely onto XYZ Academy.
With that, XYZ Academy was officially eliminated. Fusion Academy and Synchron Academy each held one point. The final Duel would decide the victor.
"Looks like it's finally your turn."
"Yeah. It's my turn now."
On the stands of Fusion Academy's preparation area, Kevin and Miles—controlling Aisha's body—stood side by side, just watching the Turbo Duel arena for the final battle, exchanging a few sparse words.
"I've already set the conditions for victory. The rest is up to you, Miles!"
"Mm. Your will! I'll carry it properly, Kevin!"
Aisha: "(￣ー￣) For a moment there, I felt super unnecessary. Isn't the next battle supposed to be the two of us together, Mr. Miles?!"
The final showdown between Synchron Academy and Fusion Academy had no uncertainty left. All that remained was Nid Hogg, the wielder of the Three Polar Gods, versus Miles, who held the last chance to Duel.
This progression was almost perfectly identical to the worst-case scenario Miles had predicted a few days ago.
But even in the worst case, Kevin had completely overturned what should have been a disadvantage.
Only the final Duel remained.
The winner of that Duel would bring the highest honor back to their academy.
"Let's go, Synchron!"
"It's not an official Academy Ranking War, but if we win this, it'll still count as a two-time championship!"
"Nid Hogg, show them the power of the Astral Synchro God!"
Despite this being an away game, and despite the loyal supporters who backed Aisha Carlos because she had saved Axet; When it came down to the final Duel, the majority of the audience naturally wanted Synchron Academy, the representative of Axet, to win.
That, too, was a kind of invisible pressure.
"Miles! Kevin! Hurry, come here!"
From the seats in Fusion Academy's preparation zone, Ren waved excitedly toward the two of them.
"What got her so worked up?" Miles wondered aloud.
Kevin forced a smile. "I can guess. They were preparing it before we even left this morning."
"They were preparing? Who? Preparing what?"
Full of questions, Miles headed toward Ren.
At that moment, Irena was holding her wand, fiddling with a Beaconbugs communication device unique to the Spirit Continent.
"What's Irena doing?"
"Oh! The signal connected!"
Just as Miles spoke, a burst of magic spread from Irena's wand and struck the Beaconbugs on the table.
Then, as if activating a projection device, a perfectly square display appeared before them, carried by mana.
Except… the screen was pitch black.
"Moshi moshi, can you see the image over there, Irena?"
"That voice…?" Miles recognized it instantly.
There was no mistaking that distinctive voice: Nia, the president of the High-Level Spirit Research Society.
"We can hear you, but there's no image, Nia," Irena reported honestly.
From the dark screen came the aged voice of Vice Principal Raiden.
"Nia, dear, if you've finished adjusting the Beaconbugs, please… step back a bit. You're blocking the screen."
"Oh, it was me?"
As Nia's Grade-G chest gradually moved away from the display, Miles and the others finally saw the actual projected scene.
Judging from the setting, it was the student plaza at Fusion Academy. Though they had only been away a short while, seeing the familiar Fusion Academy from Synchron Academy made it feel strangely nostalgic.
And in the image, the first people to enter view were all familiar faces from Fusion Academy.
Including Nia and Rovik from the High-Level Spirit Research Society, Vice Principal Raiden, Miss Erin, Professor Field, Deion Kaiser, Princess Nova…
And not just the familiar faculty. As the projection zoomed out, the entire plaza was filled with the students of Fusion Academy.
"My dear students," Vice Principal Raiden's aged voice called out again, "though you are far from home, we have watched every moment of your battles."
From the uncontrollable joy on Raiden's face, he clearly knew all about how their Xyz and Synchro users had been wiped out earlier.
"This final battle day is being streamed throughout all of Fusion Academy. What I want you to remember is this: even far from home, countless companions stand behind you! Because you are the pride of Fusion Academy!"
To have journeyed to Synchron Academy carrying the academy's honor, fighting their way to the brink of victory… Even Raiden, who had selected this team, hadn't expected that these second-year students could hold their ground against the top Duelists of the three academies and reach the very final step.
"Let me! Let me talk to Aisha too!"
Princess Nova, overwhelmed with longing, rushed onto the screen, pressing her face right up to the projection.
"You have to win, Aisha! As the Royal Knight who embodies the miracles of Livorden, you're definitely the strongest!"
"Don't get too excited, Nova."
And with that, Nova's head was firmly lifted away—by none other than her older brother Deion, the only person allowed to manhandle the little princess.
"But like Nova said, you are the strongest Royal Knight acknowledged by the royal family. Aisha Carlos… I entrust it to you! Bring the honor of victory back to Livorden!"
Professor Field: "The unyielding hearts of Duelists—you already possess them. Go, give it your all, my proudest students!"
Miss Erin: "I don't have much in the way of pretty words. Win and come home. I'll treat everyone to a drink. Obviously… no alcohol."
"Go for it, Aisha!"
One after another, the excited students chimed in, calling out their support.
"Use the Mokey Punch on Synchron too!"
"Let those foreigners witness the might of the invincible Tofu God!"
After the War of Wicked Gods, the students of Fusion Academy had privately elevated Mokey Mokey to the level of the Three Egyptian Gods.
"Everyone…"
Even separated by a great distance, the passion transmitted through the projection warmed Miles's heart.
Being far from home, fighting on foreign ground? None of that mattered anymore.
Because right now, Miles and Aisha carried the hopes of everyone in Fusion Academy.
And the role of an ace is to shoulder the expectations of their comrades… and win beautifully until the very end.
Vice Principal Raiden concluded: "Aisha, in this final battle… fight without reservation! All of Fusion Academy shall bear witness to the moment glory is born! Your name will be etched into the academy's history!"
"Leave it to me!"
This… this was the true allure of Dueling. Fighting with everything until the very last second. Miles's burning Duelist spirit felt as if it had already shot across the track of the Turbo Duel.
"The horn of Ragnarök has already sounded. Time to bring down the Three Polar Gods!"
If Miles could win this final Duel, Fusion Academy would open an entirely new chapter in its history.
The epic of victory would begin… written by Miles's own hand.
...
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