"Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon?!" someone blurted out. "Why would Mai call a monster with only 1200 ATK her ace?"
"Jōnouchi," Mai said coolly, "Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon gains different effects depending on how many 'Harpie' monsters I control."
"With one Harpie: as long as this card is face-up, you can't choose any of my 'Harpie' monsters—except this one—as attack targets."
"With two Harpies: its original ATK and DEF become double."
"With three Harpies: once per turn, it can destroy one card on your field."
"What?!" Jōnouchi's eyes widened.
"So Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon's ATK becomes 2400!"
Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon (2400/1200)
"And because of Harpie Lady 1's effect, all WIND monsters on the field gain 300 ATK!"
The numbers surged across the board:
Harpie Lady (1800/1600)
Harpie Lady 1 (1800/1600)
Harpie Lady Sisters (2450/2300)
Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon (2700/1200)
"I activate Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon's effect—destroy Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon!"
The baby dragon spewed flame, blowing Darkness Metal Dragon apart.
"Battle! Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon, attack Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
Jōnouchi LP 1800 → 1500
"Next—Harpie Lady Sisters, attack Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon! Claw Shatter!"
Jōnouchi LP 1500 → 1450
"Oh no—Mai still has two monsters that haven't attacked yet!" Honda shouted.
"Jōnouchi, this is my final attack—Harpie Lady, direct attack!"
Mai's eyes suddenly narrowed.
From her perspective… the monsters she'd just destroyed snapped back into existence—all of them—and an additional monster appeared alongside them.
"W-What is this?!" Mai blurted, genuinely shaken. "How did all your monsters come back?!"
"That's because I activated the effect of the monster in my hand—Red-Eyes Retro Dragon!"
"If a Level 7 or lower 'Red-Eyes' monster on my field is destroyed and sent to my Graveyard by an opponent's attack or effect, I can Special Summon this card from my hand in Defense Position—and then, as many as possible, I Special Summon those destroyed monsters back to the field in the same battle positions they had when they were destroyed!"
"This… is the miracle of Red-Eyes Retro Dragon!"
The field rebuilt itself in an instant:
Red-Eyes Retro Dragon (1700/1600)
Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon (2800/2400)
Red-Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000)
Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon (2400/2000)
Mai stared—then suddenly laughed, placing her hand on her Deck.
Jōnouchi Katsuya wins.
"Mai, you—" Jōnouchi started.
"Did… Mai just surrender?" Anzu asked.
"Yes," Kisaragi said quietly. "The moment Jōnouchi brought everything back with Red-Eyes Retro Dragon, Mai was already finished."
"I don't want to see my monsters get destroyed next turn," Mai said simply. "So I surrender."
They stepped down from the Duelist Kingdom machine, and Mai handed her Star Chips to Jōnouchi.
"Jōnouchi… now you'll accept them, right?"
"Yeah," he said with that bright, open grin. "Dueling you was seriously fun!"
That smile hit Mai like a heartbeat to the chest—hard and fast.
"Hmph," she huffed, turning her head away like she was angry. "I was going to give them to you. But no—you had to duel me before you'd accept them. Now you've added a loss to my dueling record. I'm never dueling you again!"
Jōnouchi panicked instantly. He bowed low, palms pressed together.
"I'm sorry! Please forgive me!"
Mai peeked back—then burst out laughing.
"Hahaha—!"
Only then did Jōnouchi realize he'd been played. His face turned red in a flash… and everyone started laughing too.
They began heading toward Pegasus's castle—
—and then Kisaragi suddenly felt like something had pierced straight through her heart.
She clutched her chest and dropped to her knees. Tears spilled down her face.
"Ki-Kisaragi!" Anzu cried, rushing to support her with Mai.
Everyone froze in alarm.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt?!" Anzu asked frantically.
"What happened?! Kaiba—Kaiba, come here! Kaiba!!" Jōnouchi shouted.
But Kaiba didn't appear.
"Where did that guy run off to?!" Jōnouchi snapped.
"He already entered Pegasus's castle," Yugi said.
"What?!" everyone shouted.
"Why would he go in alone?" Anzu protested. "Wouldn't it be better for all of us to go together?"
At that moment, white light erupted from Kisaragi's body. A violent wind exploded outward—Anzu and Mai were thrown back, and the others staggered away under the pressure.
When the gale finally died—
A phantom silhouette of Blue-Eyes White Dragon emerged from within Kisaragi, roaring so loudly it shook the air itself.
The roar carried both rage… and grief.
"Is that… Blue-Eyes White Dragon?" someone whispered.
"So that's the spirit inside her," Atem said, eyes sharp. "I can feel how terrifyingly powerful it is."
Inside Kisaragi's heart, something snapped—like a thread being cut clean.
And the source of that thread…
…was Kaiba's soul.
"Pegasus…" Kisaragi whispered through tears, trembling with fury. "I will never forgive you."
"Don't tell me…" Atem said under his breath. "Did something happen to Kaiba that made Blue-Eyes this angry?"
After a long while, Kisaragi's breathing finally steadied.
Anzu and Mai helped her up and guided her to sit on a rock by the roadside.
"Sorry… everyone," Kisaragi said.
"It's okay," Anzu said softly. "But what happened? Why did Kaiba enter the castle early?"
Before Kisaragi could answer, Atem spoke—and then immediately apologized to her.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to overhear you two talking."
"It's fine," Kisaragi said.
"So Pegasus imprisoned Mokuba," Jōnouchi said slowly, putting it together. "That's why Kaiba went in early—right?"
Kisaragi nodded.
"That bastard Pegasus… doing something like that!" Jōnouchi spat.
"I think Kaiba challenged Pegasus," Kisaragi said, her eyes sharpening like a blade, "lost… and had his soul sealed—just like Mokuba."
"We don't have time," Atem said. "All of us have ten Star Chips now. We go into the castle—immediately."
"Right," Kisaragi said, standing, staring straight at the castle.
"Pegasus… I wasn't planning to take you seriously."
"But you touched my bottom line."
"So now—come and see what it means to endure my wrath."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( Ending )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter108)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 99
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 95
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 99
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 92
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 47
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 44
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 43
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