"Zero."
With the roar of the final silver shell fired from the Mass Driver, the glaring red number on the Duel Disk was reduced to nothing.
"Ugh… Ah…"
Hisaki's body suddenly trembled. His face, twisted beyond recognition by extreme terror, was now tilted upward at a bizarre angle. Under Sasori's cold gaze, the black aura that had originally lingered like dense fog around them began to boil.
That black energy transformed into countless greedy spears, piercing into Hisaki's skin inch by inch, each one frantically stripping away his Soul Power.
"The loser of the Shadow Duel. Accept the punishment you deserve."
Sasori coldly withdrew his Duel Disk, his golden vertical pupils devoid of the slightest mercy. The power he had tempered in prison existed precisely for this moment of judgment.
However, at the very instant Hisaki's soul was about to be torn apart, within his nearly dissipated pupils, a sudden upheaval in the night sky above was reflected.
CRACK!!
A shattering sound, a hundred times heavier than any thunder before, directly shook the sky above Star City.
At the center of those pitch-black thunderclouds, space itself seemed to be forcibly torn open by an invisible giant hand, ripping apart into a ferocious rift.
Countless distorted dark purple lightning bolts surged outward, dyeing the surrounding kilometers of clouds into a nauseating deep violet.
"Heh… hehehe… hahahahaha!!"
Hisaki, who had already collapsed to his knees, suddenly burst into one final hysterical laughter. As he laughed, he allowed the black aura to devour half of his body.
"I succeeded… do you see it, Sa↑so↓ri! The gate… the gate to the Spirit World has opened after all!! Even if I perish here, this tide of evolution can no longer be stopped by anyone!!"
The fingers that had once held the El Shaddoll card were now turning into ashen dust, crumbling apart into the storm with the raging wind.
"In hell… We'll meet again in hell, Sa↗so↘ri↗!! Hahahahaha!!"
That laughter, along with his body, turned into ashes, scattering with the wind among the ruins of the spire; The existence known as Hisaki did not leave behind even a single strand of hair.
"!!"
Before Sasori could say anything to the remnants of ash, the torn rift in space suddenly unleashed a massive surge of energy powerful enough to overturn the entire tower top.
A tremendous purple beam descended from the sky. Before this inhuman force, Sasori appeared so small. He was forced back step by step by the shockwave, the deck beneath his feet letting out a piercing wail under the extreme heat.
At the same time, the scattered Shaddoll Deck was blown apart by the impact.
"Yumi!!"
Sasori's eyes split wide in fury. He saw the card bearing [El Shaddoll Winda] being swept up by the violent winds, spinning as it flew over the railing of the tower, plummeting toward the ruinous abyss hundreds of meters below.
Without the slightest hesitation, those golden vertical pupils held nothing but that fragment of purple card.
He leapt forward, vaulting directly over the railing.
Sasori had only one thought in his mind: No matter whether this is a curse, no matter whether this is a puppet, I will never let you disappear from my sight again.
The sensation of weightlessness instantly engulfed his whole body.
The rain flowed upward, screaming wildly past his ears.
Amid the rushing wind of the fall, he stretched out his arm, his fingers closing firmly around the card at the very instant before it was torn apart by the purple lightning.
"Got you…"
Just as he was about to crash into the pile of rubble below, a gentle yet resilient stream of purple threads suddenly surged out from the card in his palm.
Those threads were no longer shackles of torment, but instead wove themselves into a massive, dense net, catching the falling boy less than five meters above the ground.
Crack.
With a soft, muffled impact upon landing, the [El Shaddoll Winda] card eventually could no longer withstand the stripping of energy, shattering piece by piece between Sasori's fingers.
As the light faded, the originally cold card surface transformed into a body with warm human temperature.
Tender green hair, damp with rain, shimmered with a gradient of pale pink at the tips. The unconscious Yumi lay weakly in Sasori's arms. She slept deeply, a trace of crystal moisture still clinging to her long eyelashes, as if she had merely experienced a long nightmare.
"Yumi…?"
Sasori was stunned. Those golden vertical pupils, which had been burning with fierce light, now trembled intensely.
He felt the warmth of a human body at his fingertips… this was no longer that cold, foul-smelling card.
In the distant sky, that purple rift continued to expand greedily. Countless terrifying presences were seeping into this world through that crack, and the base of the spire had already begun to collapse.
"Tch."
He quickly gathered his thoughts, removing his black leather jacket and wrapping the fragile girl in his arms tightly within it.
Sasori cast one final glance at the collapsing spire, a resolve never seen before appearing in his golden eyes.
Even if this world truly turns into hell, I must take you away from here first.
He stood up amid the ruins, carrying the sleeping girl on his back, and disappeared into the shadows of heavy rain.
---
Elsewhere.
The rain poured relentlessly. Broken concrete and exposed steel bars looked grotesque under the purple lightning. Raku struggled forward through knee-deep floodwater and discovered a familiar patch of white beneath a collapsed corridor.
"Rikka!"
The heart Raku had been holding in suspense finally eased halfway. He rushed forward, somewhat roughly wiping the rainwater from his face.
Rikka was leaning against the wall. That originally stylish long coat was now soaked, covered in mud and black ash. She looked utterly disheveled, her small face pale, but the moment she saw Raku, a spark of light returned to those azure eyes.
"Big brother…" she tried to stand, but frowned from the sharp pain in her ankle.
"Don't move." Raku quickly supported her. "I'll get you out of here right away."
"Hehe… Big bro, even though I look pretty miserable, I still won."
Like she was presenting a treasure, Rikka raised with some effort the Spell Card in her hand that still crackled faintly with electricity—[Raigeki].
"That big guy still lent me its power in the end."
Raku looked at the card and took a deep breath.
That was Raigeki: an ultra-rare card even in this world, and this girl actually…
"As expected of my little sister." He gently ruffled her silver hair, which had already turned into a bird's nest. "Alright, this isn't the time to show off. I'll take you out of—"
BOOOOM!!!
Before he could finish speaking, the sky seemed to be cracked open by an invisible giant hand, followed by another deafening explosion. A visible purple shockwave swept down from the top of the tower and slammed heavily into the ground.
Raku only had time to turn around and shield Rikka beneath him before he was blown away by the shockwave, crashing heavily into the surrounding ruins.
"Cough, cough…"
"Big bro! Are you okay?!"
Ignoring her pain, Rikka anxiously tried to pull him up.
"Tch… I'm fine, I'm fine, nothing's broken." Raku grimaced as he adjusted his posture, feeling a burning pain across his entire back. "We can't stay here. The rift is still expanding. We need to leave now!"
"I didn't expect any humans to survive under such circumstances. And… this peculiar Soul Power is quite interesting."
A magnetic male voice, calm yet quite out of place with the surroundings, suddenly rang out amid the roar of the stormy rain.
Every hair on Raku's body stood on end. He immediately turned his head, his previously lifeless eyes now sharp enough to be frightening. "Who?!"
Under the flickering purple lightning, a figure dressed in a dark green hooded robe slowly emerged from the shadows, holding a massive staff of peculiar design, its tip embedded with a triangular pyramid.
That outfit, that staff, and the thick grimoire in his left hand that turned its pages without wind, emitting a faint blue glow…
Raku's pupils suddenly contracted. As a duelist, he would recognize that face even if it turned to ashes!
"Aleister?!"
The figure paused. Beneath the hood, a trace of surprise flashed in those emerald-green eyes.
"Oh? Not only is your soul unusual, but you also recognize me? That is quite an honor in another world."
Aleister waved his left hand—the grimoire, none other than the legendary [Book of Law], slowly opened with his motion.
The flowing text from its pages condensed into a tangible barrier in the air, shielding them from the pouring rain.
Raku instinctively stepped in front of Rikka, watching this man with vigilance. He knew this guy's background all too well… in the card lore, Aleister was no hero.
For the sake of researching Invocation, there was nothing he wouldn't do.
"All of this… was it your doing?" Raku tried to keep his tone calm, but his right hand had already moved toward his card case.
"Me? Heh, don't think so poorly of me."
Aleister chuckled, as if seeing through Raku's tension. He elegantly spun the staff in his hand and pointed toward the rift above.
"No, as you can see, I am merely an innocent traveler caught up in this.
"I was originally inside the tower's magic circle, researching how to open a path to higher dimensions.
"Then this world's gate suddenly opened on its own. I was dragged in here before I even understood what happened… it seems the goddess of fate occasionally smiles upon diligent scholars."
At that, he looked up at the sky that continued to spew energy particles, the smile on his face fading slightly.
"However, if this disturbance is not resolved, it will become quite troublesome. At this rate of energy leakage, I estimate that in about ten minutes, this city… and even all life in the surrounding area… will be annihilated by the pressure."
Raku let out a long breath, feeling his temples throb.
"Destroyed, huh… that's really terrible news."
He glanced back at Rikka behind him. The girl bit her lip, gripping [Raigeki] tightly in her hand. There was fear in her eyes, but also a firm determination that seemed ready to act. She looked like she wanted to say something, but after seeing her brother's back, she swallowed the words.
"So… do you intend to stop it?" Aleister's all-seeing eyes fixed on Raku.
"What else can I do?"
Raku scratched his head helplessly. His once lazy gaze had become exceptionally clear at this moment.
"If I don't go, I die. If I go, maybe there's still a chance. Rather than sit and wait for death, I might as well try to seal that damn gate."
"A wise choice."
The smile at the corner of Aleister's mouth deepened. He suddenly extended his right hand toward Raku.
"Then take me with you. I just came through that gate, so I have some understanding of its structure. And…"
A cunning glint flashed in his eyes, the kind unique to a scholar.
"I happen to be planning to burn the bridge after crossing it. Before I fully understand the rules of this world, if Enzo… I mean, if those old relics were to track me down, that would be quite troublesome."
...
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