Skull Servant King, who had been bickering with The Lady in Wight off to the side, suddenly cleared his throat despite having no vocal cords.
"Ahem!"
Skull Servant King stepped forward, positioning himself between the young lady and Raku. The previously empty sleeves of his purple robe suddenly trembled.
"First of all, we must thank you for helping Phila through her difficulties." Skull Servant King's upper and lower jaws clacked together, producing a rattling sound. "And you even led us to a victory. So–"
Under Raku's slightly puzzled gaze, Skull Servant King extended his skeletal hands behind his back. No one knew where this skeleton had pulled them from beneath that drafty robe, but when he brought his hands back in front of his chest, as if performing a magic trick, he was now holding two wooden sticks.
And at the tip of each stick, there was a charred, blackened roasted sweet potato.
"Let's have a barbecue!"
Holding up the sweet potatoes, Skull Servant King shouted excitedly.
The sudden turn of events left Raku momentarily stunned.
"Aoo!"
"Wooo!"
At Skull Servant King's command, the undead monsters in the dark forest–who had seemed eerie and terrifying just moments ago–burst into deafening cheers.
Only the group of well-dressed vampires in the back struggled to maintain their elegance, while the rest of the zombies and skeletons erupted in celebration.
The massive Mezuki even ran out from behind the trees, dragging along a huge chunk of meat from who-knows-where, roaring at the top of his lungs, "I'll haul the meat over here!"
The little skeleton soldiers scurried around, gathering branches.
Only then did Raku realize. The pile of eerie green bonfire flames in this clearing wasn't the center of some terrifying evil ritual… it was just a fire prepared for grilling meat?
That shift in tone was way too abrupt.
Just moments ago, the place had been filled with the oppressive atmosphere of a deathly trial ground. Now, it was livelier and more festive than the cafeteria at Duel Academy.
"So, it's just a thank-you?"
Raku looked at the bustling group of monsters.
"No rush, sit, sit." Skull Servant King, still holding a sweet potato, casually found a thick tree stump and sat down. He raised his bony claw and snapped his fingers.
Snap.
Two small skeleton monsters immediately hurried over, carrying a wooden chair crudely assembled from dead branches, and placed it steadily behind Raku.
Raku didn't stand on ceremony and sat down smoothly. His dark gray coat spread over the wooden chair.
Skull Servant King extended his hand and handed one of the roasted sweet potatoes to Raku.
"Here, my roasted sweet potatoes are top-tier."
Raku reached out and took the stick. The sweet potato was still steaming, giving off a peculiar but not unpleasant charred aroma.
Holding the sweet potato, Raku turned to look at Aleister, who was standing to the side, watching everything with an indescribable expression.
"Aleister, want some?" Raku asked.
Beneath the great sage's hood, his brow twitched almost imperceptibly.
"Skull Servant King's roasted sweet potatoes… that's certainly a rarity." Aleister's tone remained calm, though it carried a hint of amusement. "Give me half."
Raku split the hot, sweet potato in two with both hands. The bright yellow flesh looked especially tempting under the firelight. He handed the slightly larger half to Aleister.
Aleister took it and, without hesitation, sat down on the horizontal log beside Raku.
He took a small bite.
"The taste is indeed… distinctive." Aleister lowered the sweet potato from his mouth, his emerald eyes staring directly at Skull Servant King across the firelight.
"But before we eat, tell me this." Aleister's voice was not loud, yet it carried clearly into the ears of every undead spirit amid the noisy barbecue.
This man, who had lived since the age of sages, threw out his question–and the doubt that had long puzzled Raku–in the most direct way possible.
"Why did you choose that white-haired little girl as your Duelist?"
Holding his half of the sweet potato, Aleister spoke in an extremely rational and cold tone.
"Forgive me for being blunt, but judging from her potential as a Duelist–"
He paused.
"–she's trash."
"What did you say?!"
The moment Aleister's harsh words landed, Fraulein, who had been standing quietly not far away, had her expression collapse in a blink.
Her ruby-like pupils shrank sharply, and her sharp fangs were exposed. Her grip on the parasol tightened, the handle creaking under the strain.
A violent aura belonging to a high-ranking vampire erupted. Almost out of control, she lunged forward, her sharp nails aimed straight at Aleister's detestable face.
At the very instant the Fraulein was about to reach Aleister–
Boom!
A surge of pure black death energy, far deeper and more immense than the aura around the young lady, erupted without warning from Skull Servant King, who had been sitting on the tree stump, looking almost comical.
It was a pure, terrifying pressure, accumulated over countless years.
The black aura formed an invisible wall, firmly suppressing the entire scene.
Fraulein charging at the front seemed to slam into an iron barrier, her body freezing abruptly in place.
That pitch-black death energy felt almost tangible, weighing heavily upon the forest clearing.
Forced to halt midway, the ferocious expression on the Fraulein's face was locked in place, only the unwilling ferocity still flickering within her ruby-like eyes.
Just as the tension reached its peak–
"Haa…"
The terrifying pressure surrounding the Skull Servant King vanished without a trace in an instant, as if the suffocating oppression just now had only been an illusion.
He immediately returned to his previous amiable, even somewhat comical demeanor, still casually waving the roasted sweet potato in his hand.
"Guests are guests, after all." Skull Servant King slowly sat back down on the tree stump, his tone soothing. "And although this guest spoke a bit harshly, he wasn't wrong. Phila is indeed too indecisive in many ways."
With the Skull Servant King stepping in to smooth things over, the unrest among the surrounding undead gradually subsided. Though their gazes toward Aleister remained hostile, the atmosphere around the bonfire was no longer as heated and dangerous as before.
Fraulein snorted coldly, retracted her fangs, and retreated into the shadows with her parasol.
Just then did the Skull Servant King turn his hollow eye sockets toward Aleister.
"Before answering your question, I'd like to ask something first." The Skull Servant King took a bite of the roasted sweet potato despite having no flesh, speaking indistinctly. "What kind of person do you think the undead need as their Duelist? Or rather… what do you think the undead… desire?"
Holding his half of the sweet potato, Aleister did not rush to eat.
A faint, intrigued smile curved beneath his hood.
"An interesting question."
Aleister's emerald eyes gleamed with rational light.
"If we're talking about what kind of Duelist is most needed, then naturally–someone with the resolve to face life and death without fear.
"A Duelist who has seen through the true nature of death, who, even after walking through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, can still coldly calculate victory and continue to fight for truth."
"Oh! Oh!"
Hearing this answer, the Skull Servant King excitedly slapped his thigh bone, producing a crisp sound.
"That kind of answer? Indeed, indeed! Such Duelists are very popular among us undead. Many battle-hungry undead would choose that kind of Duelist without hesitation."
Skull Servant King's hollow gaze paused for a moment, and his tone softened.
"But that is not the reason we chose Phila."
The Skull Servant King turned his skull toward Raku.
"What about our other guest? What do you think?"
Raku looked at the sweet potato still steaming in his hand.
Death…
He hadn't lived as long as Aleister, but he had still read quite a number of books.
"Remembrance?"
Raku raised his black eyes and gave his answer.
"After all, a person dies three times, don't they?" He took a bite of the sweet potato, its cloying sweetness spreading in his mouth. "Biological death, social death, and… being forgotten."
"Ah! What a fine answer!"
The Skull Servant King even put down the sweet potato in his hand. He raised a finger bone and pointed at Raku, his tone filled with undisguised praise.
"That's also correct. Very correct. Remembrance is the most important destination of death."
The Skull Servant King traced a circle in the air with that finger bone.
"But let's extend that a little further.
"Remembering the dead is, in essence, a form of reverence; a kind of respect for those who have passed.
"And if we extend that just a bit more, it becomes–"
"Respect for life," Raku continued along the Skull Servant King's logic.
The Skull Servant King nodded heavily, his skull clacking against his neck.
"Mm. A Duelist who does not fear life or death can certainly wield the immense power of the undead.
"That said, in the end, it is those who respect life who are more suited to command the power of the undead." The Skull Servant King's tone became slow and solemn. "Those who respect life should rightfully be granted the power of undeath."
"Tch!"
Aleister let out a cold scoff from the side, turning his head away, clearly dismissive of such soft reasoning.
"I won't comment on whether your argument is correct. But purely in terms of 'respect for life,' that timid little girl Phila does indeed have it." Aleister's gaze was icy. "However, in a Duel, if you can't win, it has no meaning whatsoever."
For the great sage who pursued ultimate power and truth, any emotion that could not be converted into a winning advantage was nothing but a burden.
Skull Servant King did not grow angry at Aleister's harshness. Instead, he nodded again.
"That's right. And that is precisely why we invited this wandering spirit here."
Skull Servant King looked at Raku, his tone carrying both the helplessness and expectation of an elder.
"It is indeed because Phila 'respects life' that we are willing to be used by her.
"But she seems to have misunderstood something; We are the undead.
"We do not mind being sent to the Graveyard; that is our home. We have simply gathered by her side because of her respect for life."
The Vampire Fraulein slightly lowered her head in the shadows.
"And giving those who should have died a proper burial is also a way of respecting life."
The Skull Servant King planted the wooden stick in his hand into the soil beside the bonfire.
"So, we hope that you, Mr. Wandering Spirit… can convey this to Phila."
Raku watched the flickering ghostly green flames. He made no promise, only silently swallowing the last bite of sweet potato.
Convey it, huh?
He lowered his head, his pitch-black eyes fixed on the bare wooden stick in his hand as he thought.
How was he supposed to convey something like that to a girl who would start trembling if you so much as raised your voice a little?
Walk up to her bedside and solemnly tell her, "Your spirits aren't afraid of death. They've already been dead for a long time"?
That girl would most likely cover her ears and burst into tears, then treat him like some bully.
So… a Duel?
Yeah… it has to be a Duel.
Raku recalled everything he had experienced in this world. To him, at the beginning, Dueling had really just been something pure–something that brought joy. Drawing cards he liked, pulling off clean combos, seeing the shock on his opponent's face–that was enough.
But after coming to this world, the weight of Dueling seemed quite different.
It was no longer just a card game.
Through that replica Millennium Puzzle, he had used Super Polymerization to shut the gate of the Spirit World and save this city.
In the abandoned grand hall, he had engaged in a Shadow Duel with the flawed Philosopher's Stone and saved Eldlich.
Every Duel was truly changing fate.
And now, he was supposed to use a Duel to convey the will of these undead? To turn what was once a stage for life, death, and power into a massive platform for communication?
Was that really possible?
Raku's usually dull eyes gradually changed, a sharp glint gathering once more in those pitch-black pupils. He casually tossed the wooden stick into the bonfire and smiled knowingly.
This was a Duel. As long as the cards remained in the Deck, as long as the Duel Disk was still running; in this world, Dueling could do anything.
"I'm not some tool."
Raku raised his head and looked straight at the hollow skeleton before him.
"I refuse your request."
Silence immediately fell around the bonfire.
"I see?"
Skull Servant King's clacking jaws came to a halt. The wooden stick in his hand drooped, and the whole skeleton frame seemed to slump slightly, looking somewhat dejected.
The zombies and skeletons at the edge of the dark forest also lowered their heads.
"Therefore–"
Raku's voice suddenly rose. He stood up, the hem of his coat billowing in the night wind.
"If you want to convey your will to Phila, then you have to do it yourselves. It can't just be me performing over there. If it's only me, there's no way I can properly convey your intentions to that idiot."
He raised his right hand, showing them the back of his Deck.
"Use your own power to tell her–sending someone off is not abandonment!"
All the undead froze. Several pairs of eyes stared blankly at the Deck in Raku's hand.
The silence lasted less than three seconds.
"I think what he said makes sense!"
The massive Mezuki was the first to shout in a hoarse voice.
Like a drop of water hitting scorching oil, the entire undead world instantly erupted.
"Oh! Oh oh!"
"Raaah!"
The undead warriors excitedly banged their blades against their shields, while the zombies let out hoarse roars.
"So this is your answer?!" The Skull Servant King suddenly sprang up from the tree stump. "Good! Good! Good!"
The ghostly green bonfire surged skyward like a volcanic eruption.
In an instant, all the undead monsters standing in the clearing transformed into streaks of dim or pale light, rushing toward Raku and diving into his Deck without reservation.
The Deck rapidly grew thicker.
The Vampire Fraulein still stood at the edge of the shadows. She gripped her parasol tightly, her crimson eyes giving Raku a long, deep look.
Then, lifting the hem of her gothic dress, she transformed into a swarm of black, red-eyed bats. After circling twice, she too flew into Raku's Deck, becoming a card that shimmered with a dark red glow.
The field suddenly became empty, leaving only the still-burning bonfire.
Aleister, who had been sitting to the side watching coldly, looked at the scene before him, a complex emotion flashing through his eyes.
He gave a slight shake of his head, a relieved smile forming beneath his hood.
"Partner."
Aleister closed the Book of Law in his hand and stood up.
"You really are…"
The great sage's figure gradually faded, along with the mist-filled dead forest, dissolving into the depths of the dream.
...
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