"My turn ends. You're up." The examiner, wearing a Little Red Riding Hood, glanced at the Life Points indicator floating in midair.
The metallic dust kicked up by the massive gear monster had yet to settle. Phila stood frozen in place and swallowed hard. Instinctively, she wanted to reach for the Deck on her Duel Disk. The cards were clearly within arm's reach, yet the distance felt like an insurmountable chasm.
She didn't dare.
From above the spectator stands came faint, indistinct voices, mixed with ridicule toward her earlier incomprehensible plays. Those rumors and whispers she had heard countless times at school wrapped around her again like a net.
This was clearly the exam that would determine her future, an opportunity she had worked up the courage for in front of the mirror early that morning. Yet her fingers trembled at the edge of the Deck, unable to find the courage to draw.
Dueling… was terrifying.
She only wanted to be friends with them, so why did she have to treat her friends as bait, as sacrifices, sending them into the cold Graveyard just to exchange for that hollow victory? She didn't like this kind of duel at all!
Phila suddenly shut her eyes tightly.
She wanted to run.
At the very moment that thought took shape, the inverted pyramid-shaped imitation Millennium Puzzle on her chest suddenly flickered with a faint dark golden light.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
Phila screamed.
Unfortunately, within the enormous semicircular practical exam arena, neither the examiner in the duckbill cap across from her nor the murmuring audience above reacted to the scream.
Because the sound hadn't traveled through the air at all.
Phila stared blankly at her hands… transparent hands. She lifted her head, only to see "herself" standing before the massive gear monster across the field. The red eyes that had once brimmed with fear and tears now carried an indescribable sense of fatigue and languor.
"W-what is going on?"
Raku and Phila, now floating in midair as spirits, voiced the same question at the same time.
Aleister drifted leisurely over to Raku's side, interest gleaming in his emerald eyes.
"It seems this Millennium Puzzle has responded to this poor girl's wish to escape reality," Aleister said unhurriedly.
Hearing Aleister's calm explanation, Raku lowered his head and glanced at the layered lace skirt he was now wearing, finally understanding the bizarre situation.
He had possessed her.
"Hey, what are you spacing out for? If you're going to surrender, hurry it up. There are plenty of people waiting behind you!" The examiner tapped the Duel Disk, clearly running out of patience.
"Shut up!"
Raku blurted out almost instinctively.
The examiner was stunned by the shout. He looked at the gothic-dressed girl before him; still the same face, yet somehow the tearful, aggrieved expression had vanished, replaced by an extremely impatient and sharp gaze.
Meanwhile, Phila, floating in midair, watched her "self" say those words and stomped anxiously in the air.
No, no, no! That wasn't her intention at all! How could she speak to the examiner in such a harsh tone!
But…
Phila stopped, secretly glancing at her upright, composed "self."
…So cool!
Her own face could actually show such confidence, such ability to talk back to others?
Raku couldn't be bothered with the examiner's thoughts.
He raised his head. The centaur-like monster known as Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem loomed over the field with its overwhelming 4400 Attack, like a mountain pressing down upon everything.
He lowered his gaze to the cards in his hand.
Skull Servant.
Three copies of Skull Servant.
In a situation like this, there was no conceivable way to win.
Huff…
In that case, he'd stake everything on this draw!
"My turn—Draw!!!"
Raku pressed his fingers against the top of the Deck and pulled, tracing an arc through the air.
He brought the drawn card before his eyes.
Raku's pupils suddenly contracted.
"Cursed Eldland"
The Golden Land? In a girl's Deck that even ran Skull Servants, there was something like the Golden Land?
No… that wasn't right! That familiar sense of soul connection.
This was his Golden Land!
"Heh, it seems the power of the Golden Land has responded to you across the boundaries of space," Aleister's light chuckle came from beside him.
"Heh… hahahahahahaha!!! Ahahaha!"
Raku laughed—before bursting into manic laughter.
The oppressive atmosphere in the exam arena, created by the descent of the massive mechanical monster, was thoroughly torn apart by that sudden, almost crazed laughter. From within that small body clad in layers of gothic lace erupted a wildness utterly mismatched with her appearance.
He could win!
The examiner frowned tightly as he looked at Phila, who suddenly seemed like a completely different person.
"Have you gone mad?"
Floating in midair, Phila watched the body below wearing her face burst into wild laughter, and she retreated half a step in fright. What on earth was going on?
"P-please, don't be like this, okay?"
Phila froze. She had wanted to address him somehow, but she had no idea who this "self" before her really was. She could only imitate scenes from certain stories and awkwardly add a form of address.
"Another me?"
However, Raku was exhilarated, unable to suppress the grin at the corner of his mouth.
"I'll handle this myself!" Raku declared, speaking words of overwhelming authority in Phila's soft, gentle voice.
Phila, floating in midair, shrank back.
"Eek! S-sorry… don't be so fierce, other me…"
Raku slammed the drawn card heavily onto the Duel Disk.
"I activate the Continuous Spell Card from my hand—Cursed Eldland. Then I activate its second effect: Pay 800 Life Points; add 1 'Eldlich the Golden Lord' monster or 1 'Golden Land' Spell/Trap from your Deck to your hand."
The Life Points indicator on the Duel Disk flickered as Phila's LP dropped from 3800 to 3000.
The loss of Life Points brought with it a very real stabbing pain that spread along her nerves.
"Ah what a pleasant feeling" Raku savored the pain transmitted through this unfamiliar body, letting out a remark dripping with villainous delight.
"I choose to add Eldlich the Golden Lord from my Deck to my hand."
The Deck automatically shuffled, and a card gleaming with golden light popped out.
"Next, I activate the first effect of Eldlich the Golden Lord in my hand. Send this card and 1 Spell/Trap from my hand to the Graveyard; target 1 card on the field and send it to the Graveyard."
Raku pulled out a blank Spell Card from his hand.
"I send Eldlich the Golden Lord and the Spell Card Tri-Wight from my hand to the Graveyard, targeting your Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem; send it to the Graveyard!"
Golden light gathered across the field. There was no explosion, only an irresistible pulling force. The enormous centaur-like gear monster began to collapse and sink under the golden glow, with no room to resist.
"By the way, I know this," Raku said, looking across the field. "The third effect of your Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem. When this card is destroyed, you can target 1 'Ancient Gear Golem' in your Graveyard; Special Summon it, ignoring its Summoning conditions."
The massive mechanical phantom completely vanished into the vortex of the Graveyard.
"Too bad. This sends it to the Graveyard, not destroys it."
The examiner stared at his now-empty Monster Zone, his pupils suddenly shrinking.
"What?!"
He couldn't comprehend how the rookie who had been trembling just a moment ago, someone who didn't even understand timing… had suddenly elevated their dueling skill to this level.
This precise board-clear expertly bypassed the most troublesome floating effect of Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem.
Could it be that the machine hadn't malfunctioned at all, and Phila's earlier near-tearful state had all been an act?
No… it didn't feel like acting. This fundamental change in presence, this arrogance and proficiency emanating from the very core…
A second personality?
The examiner suddenly recalled records from within Kaiba Corporation's internal archives: about that legend from 300 years ago.
The first King of Games, Yugi Muto, would also switch into an extraordinarily powerful alternate personality during duels.
"After that, I activate the second effect of Eldlich the Golden Lord in the Graveyard." Raku's movements didn't pause for even a moment, as if he had rehearsed them countless times.
"If this card is in the Graveyard: You can send 1 Spell/Trap you control to the Graveyard; add this card to your hand. Then, you can Special Summon 1 Zombie monster from your hand. A monster Special Summoned by this effect gains 1000 Attack and Defense until the end of your opponent's turn, and cannot be destroyed by card effects."
He pushed a card on the Duel Disk into the Graveyard.
"I send my Continuous Spell Card Cursed Eldland to the Graveyard to return Eldlich the Golden Lord to my hand. After that, I can Special Summon a Zombie monster from my hand. I Special Summon Eldlich the Golden Lord in Attack Position; its Attack increases by 1000."
Amid dazzling golden effects, a supreme Zombie king clad in magnificent golden armor descended onto the field.
Its Attack value soared from 2500 to 3500.
The massive projection of Eldlich the Golden Lord overlooked the opponent's field, its golden radiance illuminating the gothic girl's originally pale face with a brilliant glow.
The examiner looked at this Zombie king with 3500 Attack and resistance to destruction by effects, subconsciously clenching his fists as fine beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
...
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