The forest's mist dispersed, the green bonfire extinguished, replaced instead by the cold and heavy touch of marble.
This was Phila's dream.
Raku stood on the slightly damp stone floor, glancing around. This was the grand hall of an abandoned castle, with slanted moonlight filtering through the windows. Dozens of marble pillars supported a pitch-black dome whose ceiling could not be seen.
A stale scent of dust lingered in the air.
Within the shadow of one of the stone pillars, the girl in a black-and-white Gothic dress was curled up. Phila hugged her legs with both arms, her chin resting on her knees, her entire body drawn into a small, tight ball, leaning against the cold pillar.
The moonlight stopped abruptly just a few centimeters in front of her toes.
"Mr. Wandering Spirit?"
Phila lifted her head. A brief flash of surprise flickered in her ruby-like eyes, soon replaced by an instinctive sense of reliance.
"Why are you here?"
"Nothing much. Just got a little lost and happened to pass by."
Raku kept his hands in his pockets as he slowly walked into the reach of the moonlight.
Looking at the girl who seemed even more isolated than usual, he asked calmly, "Did you sleep well? By the way, what do you think of Niobe's duel today?"
Phila fell silent for a moment, burying her face into her knees, her voice muffled.
"It was very cool."
She seemed to see once more Niobe laughing amid explosions, charging forward alongside her monsters. That kind of passionate, straightforward dueling style–treating destruction as a badge of honor–was a world she had never dared to imagine.
Phila murmured, "She's different from my companions. When her companions are destroyed, it feels like they're cheering for some kind of rebirth. I was thinking then, if it were me… if I sent the Skull Servants to the Graveyard, would they also show that kind of happy expression, like Niobe's Scrap monsters?"
She also wanted to become like her. No longer the failure who hid behind Mr. Wandering Spirit, trembling in a corner. She wanted to reach out her hand and truly touch that reality she had locked behind glass… something called 'death.'
"I'm still reflecting on it." Phila lifted her head, her eyes still clouded with lingering confusion. "But I don't know what to do. Mr. Wandering Spirit, I feel like… I'm stuck in a strange place, and I just can't get out."
Raku just listened to her words, offering no immediate answer.
He reached out from within the moonlight, as if grasping something in the void.
Buzz.
The Deck he had just reconstructed in the depths of the dream, one that carried the will of the entire undead Spirit World, emitted a dim glow.
"As a Duelist, how about trying to understand your heart through a duel?"
Raku proposed it naturally. His tone was unhurried, yet carried an unquestionable steadiness.
"Besides, I have something to say to you on behalf of those guys. You call them family, but have you really asked for your family's opinion?"
Phila stared blankly at Raku.
The Duel Disk unfolded beneath the moonlight, the sound of a pendulum clock echoing repeatedly through the empty castle hall.
Could something like this… really be done? Duel with Mr. Wandering Spirit, here in this dream?
She lowered her head and looked at the card case at her waist.
The Skull Servants, Vampire Fraulein, and Mezuki inside all seemed to respond to Raku's presence with a strange rhythm–not fear, but an eager anticipation.
"I… I understand."
Phila pushed herself up using the marble pillar. Her legs were a little weak, but she still forced herself to stand straight.
Click.
Two Duel Disks unfolded.
[Phila, LP: 8000]
[Raku, LP: 8000]
The moonlight cut perfectly through the center of the hall.
Phila stood within the shadow beside the pillar, half her body swallowed by darkness.
Raku stood beneath the beam of moonlight, the edges of his dark gray coat gleaming, his gaze instantly sharpening.
"You go first, Phila."
Raku drew five cards, his tone calm.
Phila extended a trembling hand, her fingertips touching the Deck.
"My turn… draw."
Phila looked at the five cards in her hand.
Her fingers were still trembling.
Even in this empty castle, even with Mr. Wandering Spirit standing before her, the fear and hesitation rooted deep within her heart still wrapped around her like invisible chains.
I can't send everyone to the Graveyard. It's dark and cold there.
Phila bit her lower lip, adding the drawn card to her hand before selecting two cards.
"I set one monster." She carefully placed a Monster Card face-down in her Monster Zone. With a faint hum, the card's holographic projection appeared in Defense Position, floating within the shadows.
"After that, I set one Trap Card."
As if these actions had drained all her courage, she lowered her head, her hands clasped tightly in front of her chest.
"End… turn."
Raku stood beneath that beam of cold moonlight, his pitch-black eyes calmly watching Phila's utterly timid, entirely predictable opening.
The surroundings were deathly silent.
"Still can't bring yourself to do it?"
Raku spoke. His voice remained as gentle and steady as ever.
Hearing that familiar voice, Phila relaxed her guard slightly and responded in a small voice, "…Mhm."
"Then prepare to be buried in the bottomless abyss."
Raku's voice came lightly.
"Eh?"
Phila lifted her head, her eyes filled with shock. For a moment, she couldn't process what Mr. Wandering Spirit had just said. Abyss? Buried?
In that instant of her distraction, the figure beneath the moonlight changed.
Raku's previously relaxed shoulders suddenly jerked upward. He raised his right hand to cover half of his face.
In the next moment, his pitch-black eyes abruptly contracted, the whites expanding, his once refined features twisting completely. The corners of his mouth stretched into an exaggerated grin, revealing stark white teeth.
This was an unrestrained, grotesque expression.
"Don't get it, Phila?!"
Raku's voice shot up several octaves in an instant, carrying a kind of sickly frenzy and sharpness as it echoed through the castle's dome.
"I'm a wandering spirit! And now, such a fresh body is just lying here defenseless right in front of me. What do you think I plan to do?!"
He suddenly dropped the hand covering his face, the hem of his coat whipping violently.
"Hehahahahahaha!"
The arrogant laughter made Phila's ears ring with pain.
Startled, Phila took a step back, her back slamming heavily against the cold marble pillar.
"You've been tricked, Phila!" Raku stepped forward, his leather shoes striking the stone floor with a crisp sound. "Don't even think about surrendering! Once this duel begins, there's no turning back! If you surrender, your body will still belong to me! Hahaha–ah, the feeling of toying with a foolish prey in the palm of my hand is truly delightful!"
As he spoke, he even stuck out his tongue and licked his dry lips.
Phila was terrified.
Her legs trembled uncontrollably, her eyes instantly reddening. Why? That was Mr. Wandering Spirit. The one who had dueled in her place when she was most helpless, who told her to take things one day at a time. Why had he become like this?
That twisted face, those cold and cruel words, were even more frightening than the examiner.
"Heh heh heh." Raku sneered as his well-structured fingers drew a card from the top of his Deck.
"My turn! Draw! Now, let me show you what true power is! I activate the Continuous Spell–Cursed Eldland!"
A dazzling yet ominous golden light burst forth instantly. The phantom image of a golden palace rose behind Raku, its brilliance piercing through the gloom of the castle hall.
"Then, I activate its second effect: by paying 800 Life Points, I can add 1 'Eldlich' monster or 1 'Golden Land' Spell/Trap from my Deck to my hand!"
[Raku, LP: 8000 → 7200]
The sound of Life Points decreasing rang out.
A card automatically popped out from Raku's Deck. He pulled it out, raised it high, and directly showed it to the trembling Phila.
"And the card I add to my hand is this–Conquistador of the Golden Land!"
It was a Counter Trap. Just seeing that name caused an invisible, heavy pressure to descend upon the field.
"This isn't over yet–the game has only just begun!" Raku added the searched Trap Card to his hand, then swiftly picked out two cards.
"Next, I activate Eldlich the Golden Lord's first effect from my hand: I send this card and 1 Spell/Trap from my hand to the Graveyard, then target 1 card on the field and send it to the Graveyard!"
He mercilessly placed that noble and magnificent lich king card, along with another card, into the Graveyard slot of his Duel Disk.
"I send Eldlich the Golden Lord from my hand, along with Huaquero of the Golden Land, to the Graveyard!"
Raku extended his hand, his fingertip pointing directly at the lone face-down monster on Phila's field.
"Afterward, I target your face-down Defense Position monster–get sent to the Graveyard!"
Boom!
Gold crashed onto the set card, then turned into liquid, corroding it away.
"I see…" Raku looked at the card sent to the Graveyard, the mockery on his lips deepening. "So it was a Skull Servant. A worthless creature with barely any Attack to speak of. If this is the extent of your strength, then prepare to embrace death!"
My Skull Servant…
Phila stared blankly at her now empty field. The place where her card had been set was now completely vacant.
That hollowed-out feeling was even worse than fear.
"Wha… why would you do this?"
Phila's voice was soft, thick with tears. Large droplets welled up in her reddened eyes.
"Aren't you my friend… Mr. Wandering Spirit?"
Raku's exaggerated expression paused for less than half a second before shifting into even colder disdain. He looked down at the girl curled beneath the pillar.
"Friend?"
Raku let out a scoff.
"Who would be friends with a weak Duelist like you?"
He emphasized every word, each one landing like a heavy slap across the face of the self-deceiving girl.
"A fool who doesn't even understand the true meaning of the undead. From you, I see none of the iron will or steel-like resilience that a Duelist should possess!"
Phila's body stiffened at those words. Her tears finally spilled over uncontrollably, sliding down her pale cheeks.
...
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