"I… I actually lost… in a place like this!"
Having burned through his life force by using Branded Banishment twice and still failing to win, the High Prelate's ideological body within the obelisk tower began to crumble and collapse.
"I haven't yet… I still haven't obtained the god-slaying weapon. Its power to rule the world… I was just one step away. But you… YOU ruined everything!"
With his mask shattered, exposing his withered, aged face, the High Prelate's fading form glared at Miles with hatred and resentment, forcing out one last breath as he reached toward him.
Miles, having already put away his Duel Disk, didn't even bother to dodge. He simply stood still.
Because the Prelate's speed of disintegration was far quicker than his reaching hand.
"Old man, drown in the emptiness of your delusions."
Even as his body crumbled until only half a face remained, he never managed to touch Miles.
With his last dying breath, the High Prelate uttered a final curse.
"I curse you… may your souls wander forever in this endless loop of space…"
It sounded like nothing more than the powerless rage of a dying man.
Then, the High Prelate's ideological form vanished altogether from within the obelisk tower.
At the very same moment—outside, before the eyes of all—the real High Prelate suddenly exploded into a spray of blood and flesh. Everyone fighting outside froze instantly.
If one's consciousness-form died within the tower, the result was even more horrifying than they had imagined.
However, Miles and Kaima, unable to see the outside world, were still totally unaware of the danger within this strange space, and remained excited over their first victory.
Miles happily retrieved the Deck from his Duel Disk and handed it back to Little Kaima.
"Blue-Eyes really is something else. Even if they're all Normal Monsters, they play completely differently from Mokey Mokey."
Well, obviously—one is the weakest Normals, the other the strongest Normals. Their concepts aren't remotely comparable.
[Aisha: 'QwQ So love really does disappear… Mr. Miles…']
Anyhow, surprisingly, Kaima did not immediately grab her Deck back.
Even though her small tsundere face hadn't changed at all, and even though she kept crossing her little arms like she was still tall and dignified…
After witnessing this duel, Kaima had indeed acknowledged Miles's strength.
And with her Spirit Eyes currently lost, she couldn't fight right now even if she had her Deck.
"Hmph. Keep the Blue-Eyes with you for now, Miles."
"Oh? Is it gonna rain today?" Miles teased.
"This is simply the best way to balance our combat power in the current situation! Who knows what else might attack us in this weird space!"
"I see. You want me to protect you, huh? You really are a kid, Kaima."
"Who are you calling a kid!? I'll kill you!"
Little Kaima tried to leap-kick Miles, but he sidestepped, causing her to miss and crash face-first into the ground.
"Ow—!!"
"Pfft."
It was just too funny.
To clarify: Miles was not a lolicon. Regardless, Kaima in loli form was simply too different from her usual cold, composed self—Miles couldn't help wanting to tease her.
Besides, he thought, maybe this was what Kaima was really like before she grew up. Maybe this pure, childish version was her most natural state—before the burden of reviving the Seth family forced her to harden herself.
Even for just this moment… she didn't need to force herself. She could relax.
"For the next 'battle,' at least rest for a moment."
Miles reached down and helped the fallen Kaima back to her feet.
"There's no time to rest!"
Clearly, in this loli state, her mind was just too simple; she didn't understand what Miles truly meant.
"We need to go full speed ahead!"
Even after face-planting, she wiped her eyes, brushed off her clothes, and charged forward again with admirable determination.
"Miles…"
Kaima's 'full-speed★forward' lasted five seconds before she came across an insurmountable obstacle.
"Miles… the door won't open."
She used all her strength, but the heavy stone door—fully sealed shut—didn't move at all. Her tiny arms had no chance.
Just as Miles had thought earlier—the stone door was heavy enough that even Aisha in her adult form would struggle. A loli Kaima stood no chance.
"Why are you just standing there!?"
After trying a few more times and seeing Miles unmoving, Kaima yelled impatiently.
"I was just wondering… once we get out of here, are you going to pay me extra?"
"Extra? Why!? Four million isn't enough for you? You greedy bastard!"
"Nah. Just asking."
Miles wondered whether, after he saw her in so many embarrassing situations today, Kaima would try to bribe him with an irresistible amount of hush money later.
He was a man of principle—if the pay was right, he could 'forget' anything.
He pushed the heavy stone door open. Having a proper adult body again really was convenient.
At least physically, he was much stronger than Aisha's slender build.
Two hundred thousand gold, once this mission was done, his new life was right in front of him.
Thinking of physical ability, Miles suddenly remembered.
In the Battle of the Capital, Luca Slint had appeared in a new body made by Viel.
That body's abilities… how should he describe it?
It had downright surpassed human limits.
Leaping ten meters in one bound, running so fast the eyes couldn't track it, crushing half a human skull barehanded, and ripping out the Millennium Eye…
That was a monster.
If Viel created his new body with similar power…
Hm? That didn't sound bad at all.
Power… you get used to it.
Miles had never jumped ten meters high before. It actually sounded fun.
Nonetheless, that was all for later—right now, unless he secured Obelisk and the god-slaying weapon, everything else was meaningless.
They returned to the first chamber Miles had landed in—one room explored, one path left.
The next room was the only way forward.
"Miles… doesn't this place feel… like a tomb?"
"What a coincidence. I felt that the moment I arrived."
A tomb—but not the coldness of corpses. Only ideological forms could exist here—no physical bodies.
The solemn pressure of a tomb came from the sense that something important was buried within.
Kaima shivered, instinctively stepping closer to Miles.
"Miles… there won't be some ugly, terrifying monster waiting for us in the next room, right…?"
"Who knows. Maybe one that specializes in eating children."
"E-EH!? I'm not a child! What does that have to do with me!?"
Despite what she said, that trembling shout quite betrayed her.
As they approached the second sealed door, the atmosphere grew heavier.
As if some terrible threat really did lurk behind it.
Even Miles swallowed nervously.
"I'm opening it, Kaima. Be ready."
"W-What's there to be scared of…?"
Trying to recover her pride after being spooked earlier, she forced herself to sound confident.
"No matter what monster is behind that door, I'll just have my Blue-Eyes White Dragon pulverize it!"
"Let's hope so."
Even with her brave words, fear of the unknown was instinctual. Especially in this warped, eerie space, the fear was amplified.
Miles took a deep breath and pushed the door open.
It was far lighter than the previous stone door; so light that even loli Kaima could open it.
Miles used too much force and stumbled forward the moment it opened.
And in that instant, as he lost balance—
A figure already waiting within the room lunged straight toward him.
"Gyaaah!!" Miles and Little Kaima both screamed.
There really was something unclean lurking behind the door!
A filthy, child-eating monster—charging straight at them.
"It's me, Miles."
Although the figure rushed forward the moment the door opened, she didn't do anything strange.
That voice—Miles knew it better than anyone. And the moment she saw Miles in his original body, she recognized him in no time.
Most importantly: She was very flat as she hugged him tightly.
"AISHAAA, you actually entered the obelisk tower too!?"
The Aisha before him was likely not the normal Aisha Carlos, but Dark Aisha—the one who always stayed with Miles inside the Millennium Puzzle's Soul Room.
Which explained why she recognized Miles immediately in his real body.
After all, the one who spent the most time with Miles's spiritual form was Dark Aisha—no one else even came close.
And moreover, the way she addressed him wasn't "Mr. Miles"—she directly called him Miles.
"I don't know." Dark Aisha shook her head. "I opened my eyes, and I was already here."
Exactly like Miles.
Entering the obelisk tower as a spirit—once Miles unlocked the door with the key, it seemed Dark Aisha, also a spiritual entity, had been pulled inside with him.
"Aisha Carlos… you came too?" Kaima asked.
Naturally, Little Kaima couldn't tell Aisha and Dark Aisha apart.
To her, both were simply Aisha.
And since Aisha had been hugging Miles nonstop from the moment she appeared, Kaima felt an immediate and subtle annoyance.
"Who's she?" Dark Aisha tilted her head, staring in confusion at the loli-form Kaima.
"Kaima Seth!"
"Liar. She's way too small."
"Sorry, I'm so small! I have no idea why I suddenly shrank either! Just like you don't know why you suddenly appeared here!"
Little Kaima grumbled angrily at Dark Aisha.
Miles looked around briefly—the room's layout was almost identical to the one Kaima had been stuck in earlier. Simple, bare—nothing hidden.
But within that simplicity, Miles sensed something off.
"Aisha… you've been here this whole time? You didn't try moving?"
The dissonance wasn't coming from the room… but from Dark Aisha.
If the three of them entered at roughly the same time:
Miles had immediately moved and was drawn by Kaima's voice. Kaima shrank into a loli and stayed put while trying to figure things out.
But Aisha?
She stayed… in this tiny, empty room the entire time?
Meanwhile, Miles and Kaima had fought an entire duel before moving again.
A long period.
And earlier, Miles had tested the new door—it opened with ease. Unlike the heavy stone gate, this door wouldn't stop anyone from moving.
"Aisha… what were you doing all this time?"
"Waiting for you." Dark Aisha said honestly. "I knew you had to be nearby. Rather than wander, I stayed put so you could find me."
"Ah… that…"
That did sound like something Aisha would do—over-relying on him.
Albeit that raised an even bigger problem.
There was nowhere else to go.
Miles had found only two rooms inside the tower.
The first room held Little Kaima. The second room held Dark Aisha.
Two treasure rooms…? Even the worst RPG map design wouldn't consist of only treasure rooms! How were they supposed to progress!?
A hidden door? A secret mechanism?
Impossible. In such a simple layout, a hidden door would be obvious.
Only one possibility remained.
"Aisha… did you bring your Deck with you?"
Miles abruptly remembered. And this detail might break the stalemate.
Since he could use Kaima's Blue-Eyes Deck inside the obelisk tower… there was no reason he couldn't use Dark Aisha's Xyz Deck.
"My Deck?" Dark Aisha searched her pockets, then sighed. "Looks like I didn't bring it."
"But last night, before bed, you said you had reorganized it to celebrate returning to the Academy. Why wouldn't you have it?"
"Um..." Dark Aisha scratched her cheek awkwardly and looked away with apologetic, innocent eyes. "Maybe I was too sleepy and forgot…?"
"I see," Miles nodded.
"Miles! Why are you worrying about Decks right now!? Isn't my Blue-Eyes Deck good enough!? Or do you have to use Aisha Carlos's Deck!?\"
Little Kaima scolded him sharply, her voice tinged with jealousy.
"No, Kaima—listen." Miles stepped forward, placing Kaima behind him.
He looked directly at Dark Aisha, his expression serious.
"Why are you lying?"
"Lying?" Dark Aisha's ahoge curled into a question mark. "Miles, I really don't understand what you're saying."
"Not a single word you've said has been true. First, Aisha would never reorganize her Deck for something like returning to the Academy."
Because the one returning from the exchange study was Aisha Carlos, not Dark Aisha.
"Second—Aisha never sleeps."
A spiritual being doesn't need sleep. Ever since she moved into the Soul Room, Miles had never once seen Dark Aisha sleep.
"What…?" Kaima was stunned.
Not reorganizing a Deck was believable… but never sleeping? How was that possible?
And Miles's dead-serious interrogation… it was as if he suspected…
This "Aisha" wasn't real.
"Miles, are you making me play riddles?" Dark Aisha forced a stiff smile.
"Maybe things are too chaotic, and I wasn't thinking straight. Ask me one more time, okay?"
"Fine. I'll ask again."
Regardless, Miles had already made up his mind.
Time for the decisive argument collapse.
"Aisha… did you bring your Deck with you?"
Dark Aisha rummaged again, then turned her pockets inside out.
"Really! I don't have it! Look! Take a good look!"
"I see it." Miles's brow furrowed.
When all impossible explanations are eliminated, whatever remains, no matter how absurd, must be the truth.
The dissonance he felt earlier, combined with every dead end, left only one answer.
"I see it now. You're not Aisha."
"Why not!?!" Dark Aisha's eyes widened—she hadn't realized what she had exposed.
"Because your Deck… has been on you all along. You just don't know it. Because you're not her."
Miles drew a card from his Duel Disk and flicked it.
The card sliced through the air, creating a gust that blew up the hem of Dark Aisha's black skirt.
Beneath it, strapped firmly to her pale thigh, was a Deck case.
Aisha always carried her Deck strapped to her leg.
She would never take it from a pocket.
"You mimic Aisha's appearance… but who are you really?"
"Tch!" Dark Aisha clicked her tongue, glaring at the deck case strapped to her white thigh—fully abandoning the innocent act.
"Seriously… who made it trendy to strap deck boxes to your thighs!? How is that not ridiculously lewd!?"
...
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