"Perhaps it's due to the limitations of Ritual Transmutation, after all it didn't use many precious materials."
Dark paid little attention to the strength of this Magic Guide Spirit Card, merely glancing at it through the feedback of his magic.
[Card Name: Vampire Young Lady]
[Type: Spirit Card]
[Level: ???????]
[Race: Undead Species]
[Attribute: Shadow-type]
[Magic: 3500]
[Attack: 3200]
[Defense: 2500]
[Ultimate Moves: Vampire Secret Rite, Vampire Fang, Blood Ritual, Death's Embrace.]
"Vampire Young Lady" was, in Yu-Gi-Oh!, a five-star monster card with an outstanding effect. On the card face alone, it differed little from this Magic Guide Spirit Card Dark had just Forged.
But by now, Dark no longer felt surprised at Forging out characters from the works of his past life.
Even those four Ultimate Moves earned only a single glance before he looked away.
The whole point of Forging Ophelia Brad into a card had been to save her; the card was nothing more than a form the rescue happened to take.
Of course, if this Magic Guide Card were still usable after transferring away Ophelia Brad's soul and consciousness, he would happily keep it.
After all, it was a seven-star Magic Guide Card, and in Dark's deck only Bastemon could compare to it.
But the pressing task at hand was to summon her out.
"Summon a seven-star Magic Guide Spirit?"
Dark turned, his gaze sweeping over each of his Magic Guide Spirits.
"Moo-moo!"
Miltank volunteered, stepping forward on her own.
Under normal circumstances, to Sacrificially Summon a third-tier Magic Guide Spirit, one needed at least a second-tier Magic Guide Spirit as the foundation.
And the only second-tier Magic Guide Spirits still present were Miltank, Leomon, and Honedge.
"Ha-cha!"
[7-4=3]
Hawlucha, having done the quick arithmetic, suddenly swooped down from the air.
Dark nodded and began the Sacrificial Summoning.
"In the name of Dark Demon, I offer up 'Miltank' and 'Hawlucha' as sacrifices. Sacrificial Summoning—'Vampire Young Lady'!"
As the two Magic Guide Spirits, seven stars between them, dissolved into light and rose, a vast Sacrificial Summoning array surfaced before everyone.
Virt Gold watched the gradually glowing array with an excited face.
Having swung between great joy and great grief in so short a time, he longed to rush forward the instant Ophelia Brad appeared and hold her tight.
Yet when Ophelia Brad truly rose from the Sacrificial Summoning array, he froze where he stood.
The vampire young lady, holding a black parasol, still bore a faint trace of Ophelia Brad in her features, but her figure and age were entirely different now.
Her delicate, pitiable look clearly belonged to a girl of fifteen or sixteen. Her long, cherry-blossom-pink hair gave off a dreamlike, hazy air, as if she had stepped out of a fairy-tale Castle—if one ignored those crimson eyes and pitch-black bat wings.
Naturally, Virt could not throw himself at a young girl in front of so many people.
And Ophelia Brad, who had set her heart on dying and even spoken her last words, only to not die in the end, found meeting her son rather awkward too.
That heart-wrenching scene of mother and son reuniting never came to pass after all.
"Ophelia!"
Professor Silf's stern voice cut off the meeting between mother and son.
Ophelia Brad turned to face the professor who trusted her, and her expression grew all the more awkward.
Now that she had been Forged into a Magic Guide Spirit, the absolute loyalty to the Demon King born from her Embrace had vanished completely. Looking back and recalling the terrible things she had done not long ago, she was filled with remorse.
At that moment she truly wanted to find a bottomless pit and crawl in, to become an ostrich that knew nothing at all.
"Professor."
Dark suddenly cut in, "Professor Silf, let's leave the interrogation for after we get back."
Hearing this, Professor Silf shot an undisguised glance at Ryan Hacks.
Professor Hacks rubbed his nose, his eyes drifting away. "Don't look at me. I don't know anything."
But Professor Silf said, prim and proper, "Thanks to Professor Hacks being here, tonight was harrowing but safe."
In truth, Professor Ryan Hacks had played a very important role in this Ritual; had he not been there to look after the students, Silf would not have felt so at ease.
Ryan Hacks laughed it off. "Come now, I am a professor after all."
Professor Silf nodded. "Once we're outside I'll have to trouble Professor Hacks again. I hope you can take Tom Nixon to the infirmary, and I'll send Virt and the others back to the dormitory."
Ryan Hacks slapped his chest at once. "No problem."
Professor Silf pointed toward the Ferris wheel, and a gust of clear wind rose up, carrying the unconscious Tom Nixon down.
By this time, Dark had already begun putting away his Magic Guide Cards.
He first recalled the Magic Guide Spirits one by one into their cards, keeping only Leomon at his side, then released DemiDevimon from within the [Curse Cage].
He could still bear the magic drain of just "Leomon" and "Vampire Young Lady."
Only after Professor Silf had brought Tom Nixon down did he dispel the "[Paradise]" as well.
With that, the entire hall returned to emptiness.
"The Ritual is over. This Demon King's Castle won't last much longer."
Ophelia Brad suddenly warned.
Professor Silf nodded and told her, "Deal with your own corpse yourself."
Ophelia Brad folded up her open parasol and, fidgeting shyly, walked over to the Blood Magic Circle and lifted her own corpse into her arms.
"Mother, I can—" Virt jogged over in a few quick steps, wanting to help.
Ophelia Brad said bashfully, "No need, I can manage on my own."
Now that she had become a Magic Guide Spirit, she found her body's strength had grown greater; carrying her own corpse cost her no effort at all.
It was just that the feeling of holding her own corpse was somewhat strange.
…
"In the name of Sarah Silf, Magic Guide Summon—'Storm Magic Carpet'!"
As Professor Silf's chant rang out, a carpet that seemed to have flown straight out of Aladdin's Lamp appeared before everyone.
Only this "Storm Magic Carpet" was far broader, and beneath it churned a turbulent storm that howled without cease.
"Everyone, get on." Professor Silf said.
The group climbed aboard the carpet one after another.
The whole way, no one spoke.
Even Ophelia Brad and Virt Gold found there was truly nothing to say in such an atmosphere.
Once they had left, the Demon King's Castle at the heart of the Ritual collapsed with a roar, and all the obstacles and perils along the way dissolved into dust of magic.
Amid the tremendous din, this hastily built Ritual finally settled into stillness.
Atop the Spiral Clock Tower, Professor Medea stepped out of the Pumpkin Carriage.
She looked down over the tranquil Castle, drew a deep breath, and let the cold air pour in through her mouth and nose, seeping into her heart and lungs.
"A good omen!"
…
"Whoosh—"
The Storm Magic Carpet carried them out of the secret chamber and jerked to a stop in the corridor.
Professor Silf stepped down from the carpet first, and the others alighted one after another.
She turned back to give the entrance of the secret passage a quick handling, meaning to re-apply the seal later.
Then she turned to Ryan Hacks and said, "Professor Hacks, Tom…"
"Leave him to me!" Ryan Hacks decided at once.
Then he hoisted Tom Nixon onto his shoulder and strode off at a brisk pace.
"It seems Kazel's craftsmanship really is fine." Professor Silf remarked, watching Ryan Hacks's prosthetic leg, and shook her head.
That left only Virt and Robert to deal with.
So far, Virt and Robert in fact still knew nothing about this Ritual.
And Silf had no intention of explaining it to them clearly.
"Let's go to the Knight House tower first."
With that, Professor Silf led the way toward the Knight House tower.
In the small hours the Castle was unusually quiet, and the group's footsteps echoed through the passages.
Every patrolling Golem they met along the way was waved off with a casual flick of Professor Silf's hand, and they soon arrived before the Knight House tower.
With a professor accompanying them, Virt and Robert would not be stopped at the gate.
But before entering, Virt suddenly turned back. "Professor, may I come with you all?"
Professor Silf shook her head, her face solemn.
Only then did Virt sigh and look reluctantly at Ophelia Brad.
Silf's heart softened. "Since Ophelia is back now, you'll have plenty of time to meet. For now go back and get a good sleep. As for the first Summoning Class, you needn't come."
Virt pressed his lips together, nodded hard, and walked in through the gate of the Knight House tower.
As the gate closed, Ophelia Brad, who had been staring at Virt the whole time, finally withdrew her gaze.
"All right, it's your turn now." Silf glared at her fiercely. "Come with me!"
As she spoke she waved a hand, and a [Wind Spirit] flew out, circling the three of them once.
Then a clear wind blew in, lifting them slowly into the air, and soon they flew up to the highest point of the Castle—the top of the Spiral Clock Tower.
Medea had long been waiting anxiously. She walked toward Ophelia Brad, but half a step in she exclaimed in astonishment, "Lia, how did you end up like this?"
Once again Ophelia Brad glanced awkwardly to the side, unable to face anyone.
"Get in the carriage first." Professor Silf pointed to the carriage, and the four of them filed into that Pumpkin Carriage one after another.
Seen from the outside, this Pumpkin Carriage already looked spacious enough.
But once inside, one found it far roomier, nearly three times the size it appeared from without.
Dark studied the space inside the carriage with some curiosity, recalling Leomon into its Magic Guide Card as he did so, and letting only DemiDevimon keep him company.
"You've worked hard."
After Professor Medea gestured for him to sit, she drew her wand and gave it a tap. A teapot and several teacups flew over and poured the tea by themselves.
As the sweet fragrance of black tea drifted out, the mood in the carriage eased a little.
Dark picked up a teacup, blew on it, and took a light sip, quietly waiting for the trial to begin.
Ophelia Brad sat alone across from them, head bowed like a child who had done something wrong.
Professor Silf said gravely, "I won't say much. What did you do at the end with the 'Grand Prophecy'?"
Ophelia Brad bowed her head deeply. "I let the Demon King escape?"
"That's it?" Professor Silf frowned. "And then, to atone, you chose to take your own life?"
Ophelia Brad said with difficulty, "It was the only way. In fact, back when I was in Bastia Prison, I had already been turned into the Demon King's servant, and everything I did had to be in loyalty to him."
Professor Medea suddenly raised a hand. "Wait, are you sure you succeeded?"
Ophelia Brad said slowly, "I used the Ritual and the 'Grand Prophecy' to create a possibility, but it needed the Demon King's own cooperation."
Professor Medea said, "So you're saying, after all that scheming, all you did was create a chance for him to kill himself?"
Ophelia Brad lowered her head. "You could understand it that way."
At this, the carriage fell somewhat silent.
Dark spoke up suddenly. "So then, did the Demon King kill himself?"
Ophelia Brad's head dropped even lower. "He did."
"This complicates things." Medea leaned back against her chair, folding her arms. "If what you say is true, then the Holy Church must already be in an uproar right now. Mm, do you have anything else to say?"
Ophelia Brad jerked her head up, but her crimson eyes shone with excitement. "Just before my death, I could feel that the Demon King had indeed accepted the 'fate' I created for him, but after that, the Ritual did not end."
As she spoke she turned to look at Dark and said earnestly, "Dark Demon continued and adjusted the Ritual. Not only did he save me, but he also set an entirely new 'fate' for the Demon King."
Silf furrowed her brow. "Don't learn everything from Medea. Straighten your words out and say it plainly."
Beside her, a flash of insight struck Dark, and understanding dawned.
Ophelia Brad quickly explained, "In short, the Demon King was originally fully sealed, without even a chance to kill himself, and I created a chance for him.
He would naturally accept it and choose to end his own life. But because the Ritual had a continuation, after his suicide he too had to bear the same fate as the Ritual's subsequent course.
In other words, in the process of transferring into a vessel, he would meet a fate similar to 'having one's mind worn away,' but he is not as fortunate as I was…"
Ophelia Brad looked at Dark with gratitude. "Though I don't know how Dark did it, it certainly was no ordinary method. Without his help, the Demon King is bound to run into trouble because of the Ritual's influence—losing his memories, for instance, or simply becoming an idiot!"
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