Closing her eyes to draw, Aisha put her absolute trust in Miles. Even after pulling her starting card for the turn, she refused to open her eyes to even take a look.
"Exchanging with the first soul in the Millennium Puzzle? What are you planning?"
The sudden shift made Locke Slint, the Marshal of the Varian Empire, who always carried himself as though he saw through everything, reveal a trace of bewilderment and a sudden anxiety in his aged brow.
The true source of that anxiety was simple: for the first time, he couldn't see through the card Aisha had drawn this turn.
Unlike the Nameless Dragons, whose card faces bore no effect text, here he had no idea what card the opponent had just drawn at the start of her turn.
In Locke Slint's century-long career of dueling with the power of the Millennium Eye, this was the first time such a thing had ever happened.
"Impossible! If you won't even look at the card you drew, how do you expect to conduct a normal duel?!"
A sense of urgency he had never experienced before forced the proud Marshal of the Empire to question and press the little girl standing before him as his opponent.
Ignoring him, Aisha still kept her eyes shut tight, whispering under her breath, "Can't see, can't see, can't see! Don't think of anything! I'm just a potato!"
'Don't look at anything. Don't think of anything. Draw blind!'
Holding fast to Miles's advice, Aisha ignored even the Marshal's doubts.
No one knew what this card was—Aisha didn't know, Locke with the Millennium Eye didn't know, and even Miles himself, back inside the Millennium Puzzle, didn't know.
After all, under shared sight, as long as Aisha didn't observe the card face, Miles, too, would remain ignorant of its truth.
If no one knew the card's identity, then Locke naturally couldn't predict what use it had or what strategy it could bring forth.
After all, being unable to see through it—that was the normal state.
To gamble with unknown cards in hand, to hope for a god draw, to calculate probabilities amidst uncertainty… that was what true dueling was about.
Not abusing the Millennium Eye's power to read both your opponent's cards and their thoughts.
So, having relied on that cheating convenience for nearly a hundred years, once Locke lost that edge, he was the one to grow unsettled.
Anyone else would see this as perfectly ordinary, but for Locke, it was an absolute anomaly.
When you grow used to cheating, losing your cheat leaves you worse off than an ordinary man.
Even though the board already leaned heavily in his favor and Aisha had only one unknown card in hand, Locke Slint still could not calm his heart.
"This is madness, young one! To me, it looks like nothing more than self-destruction! Utter nonsense!"
Of course, compared to Locke's panic, Aisha's act of dueling blindfold seemed even more absurd.
Just to prevent the Millennium Eye from seeing, she refused to look at her own card.
Childish stubbornness at its peak.
"That's so dumb," Luca muttered. "If you don't even look at your own card just to keep your opponent from seeing it, you're only hurting yourself, Aisha!"
For Locke, unable to see the opponent's card, this could still proceed as a normal duel.
Despite that, for Aisha Carlos, unable to see her own card, even a normal duel couldn't move forward.
"So what do I do now, Mr. Miles?"
"Do nothing."
"Do… nothing?"
"Yeah. End your turn."
"Eh?!"
Still squinting, Aisha, no matter how surprised, could only throw away her own thinking and follow Miles's orders without hesitation.
"Okay, my turn… ends!"
"She really did nothing and ended her turn, Aisha Carlos…"
The last-draw gamble shattered Deion's entire worldview of dueling. Blind draw, eyes shut, and she ended her turn without ever glancing at the card she drew.
No one yet knew what card it was.
"Is this really okay, Miles?"
Within the Soul Room, Dark Aisha finally couldn't help questioning him.
"Even you don't know what card was drawn… how can this duel still make sense?"
"I don't know what card it is. Still, I know every single tactical possibility in this deck by heart. So instead of the card itself, I'm gambling on the strategy that one card could unfold."
Only that one strategy could open a path against the impossible situation created by Raviel, Lord of Phantasms.
However, only if the strategy itself wasn't exposed to the Millennium Eye.
That meant that Miles, who knew the plan, could not stand before Locke in the final turn. If Locke saw him, even a god draw would be wasted.
So before the draw, Miles chose to exchange souls with Aisha, letting her stand before the Marshal.
And he reminded her: Don't think of anything unnecessary. If even Aisha realized the strategy, the soul swap would be pointless.
Fortunately, Aisha hadn't let him down.
"I always believed you were a genius, Aisha… a genius at emptying your head!"
That was something Miles had known from the very first day he arrived in this world.
Aisha made a Mokey Mokey face, with a hint of annoyance, "Feels like a compliment… but doesn't at the same time."
"Nonsense, young one!"
Seeing Aisha truly end her turn with eyes still shut, Locke's anxiety deepened.
That the proud Marshal of the Varian Empire, bearer of the Millennium Eye, would one day have to blind-guess his opponent's card… he had never imagined it.
Since she didn't summon or set, and just ended the turn, that had to mean a hand trap.
And considering her deck, a hand trap monster.
"Is it Kuriboh? Trying to confuse me into a misplay with such tricks!"
Kuriboh, which could block one instance of battle damage—if Raviel was the only monster on the field, it could indeed let her survive the turn.
"My turn, draw!"
Forcing down an unease he had never felt before, Locke looked at the card he drew.
"You're far too green to block me! Effect of Chaos Creator in my hand!"
[This card cannot be Normal Summoned. You can Special Summon this card by banishing 1 LIGHT and 1 DARK monster from your Graveyard.]
"I banish the LIGHT Banisher of the Light and the DARK The Suppression Pluto from my Graveyard—Special Summon! Descend, Chaos Creator!"
[Chaos Creator] Level 8│DARK│Thunder│2300 ATK / 3000 DEF
Crackling with chaotic lightning, the Creator appeared, its 2300 Attack raising Locke's offensive power.
If Aisha's hand really was Kuriboh, it could only stop one monster's attack. With two monsters, it would be a certain victory.
For the first time, even Locke Slint had to make a judgment he could not be fully certain of.
"As Marshal of the Varian Empire, I will not be fooled by the likes of you!"
Pointing with skeletal fingers, Locke declared the Battle Phase more seriously than ever, aiming at the squinting girl who mocked him.
"Such nonsense won't win you this duel! You'll regret not even looking at your card! Raviel, Lord of Phantasms—Heavenly Ravager Fist!"
The colossal fist came crashing down toward Aisha's empty field.
Miles shouted, "Now!"
—Soul Exchange!
At the moment Locke declared his attack, Miles swapped souls with Aisha again.
Then, Miles opened his eyes.
Now, at last, he could confirm the destiny of that final draw.
The card flipped, its face revealed to three pairs of eyes—Miles, Aisha within the Millennium Puzzle, and Locke through the Millennium Eye.
All at once, they saw the truth.
"No way—!"
Locke Slint, the Marshal, cried out in disbelief.
"Impossible! This can't be real!"
"Mr. Miles? Is… is this for real?"
"Of course! Together, we created the one counterattack to overturn the Millennium Eye!"
Miles's fingers held the card, radiant light bursting forth from its face, overpowering Raviel's Heavenly Ravager Fist as it bloomed brilliantly at the girl's fingertips.
"—Monster Effect! Goddess of Sweet Revenge!"
The ultimate comeback hand trap, passed down alongside the Poker Knights to the Pharaoh.
[If you control no cards and this is the only card in your hand: When an opponent's monster declares an attack, you can discard this card; destroy all cards your opponent controls. Then, you can Special Summon 1 monster from your Deck.]
A condition so harsh it could only trigger in desperation—that was why it was the Goddess of Comeback.
But if Locke's Millennium Eye had seen it beforehand, he never would have attacked this turn. He would have waited until Miles's hand or field wasn't empty, when the Goddess could not activate.
Only by completely hiding it could they fool the Marshal's cheating eye.
After all, in normal dueling, guessing wrong was far more common than guessing right.
"How does it feel, old man? For the first time in your life, you've had to gamble against an unseen card! To seek victory hidden within the unknown—that is true dueling!"
A pillar of holy light pierced the palace roof, revealing the goddess descending in splendor with her sacred staff.
"Effect of Goddess of Sweet Revenge—destroy all monsters you control!"
With divine radiance purging the darkness, Raviel and the Chaos Creator alike turned to ash.
Then Miles slammed down the highest-Attack monster his Deck could Special Summon straight from the Deck.
"Summoned Skull!"
[Summoned Skull] Level 6│DARK│Fiend│2500 ATK
The thunderous demon king of single-Tribute monsters—Aisha's highest-Attack option aside from the unsummonable Dystopia the Despondent.
"I… I, even after a century of battle… lost to a child!"
Even with the Millennium Eye at full power, Locke could not believe his eyes. His Raviel was gone, vanished before the Goddess's brilliance.
The entire duel had turned upside down.
"No monsters, no cards left in hand—Locke Slint, you can't move anymore. It's my turn!"
Pressing the assault, Miles activated the skill to forcibly end Locke's turn, then drew.
"Spell Card—Monster Reborn!"
After being suppressed the entire duel, Miles finally struck back.
With Monster Reborn, he could revive any monster from either Graveyard.
Pluto was banished. Raviel couldn't be Special Summoned except by its own conditions. Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight required the Legendary Dragons. So the highest-Attack available target…
"Return, white wings of hope! Shine once more, Number 39: Utopia!"
[Number 39: Utopia] Rank 4│LIGHT│Warrior│2500 ATK
Unfurling radiant wings and wielding the Starlight Blade, Utopia returned under the sacred glow.
"A 2500 Attack Summoned Skull, and a 2500 Attack Utopia—this is my full power!"
Lightning and starlight crossed, crashing down upon the Marshal's aged body.
"—Hope Sword Thunder Slash!"
[Locke Slint, LP: 5100 → 100]
In a single turn, the Marshal lost 5000 Life Points, dragging the duel into its final state: both sides at 100 LP.
But by the pre-duel wager, as long as Locke took damage, Miles would be the victor.
"By the rules, I win, old man!"
"A bet is a bet. This duel… I have lost."
Contrary to everyone's expectations, Locke conceded without protest. Even Miles hadn't expected him to yield so cleanly.
The dark power of the Millennium Eye faded, and the barrier trapping Deion fell away.
"We… we really won?"
Freed from the Shadow Game, Deion felt almost unreal.
Though it had been harsh, and though the victory hinged on Locke's own conditions, Aisha Carlos, a first-year of Fusion Academy, had stood against the legendary Marshal of the Varian Empire and forced a draw.
One of the Empire's mightiest—defeated.
A true underdog duel, one that would go down in Spirit Continent's history. The bearer of the Millennium Eye, Marshal Locke Slint, had 'lost' the duel.
"Aisha Carlos… just how strong are you?"
Having faced Locke himself, Deion knew better than anyone how terrifying he was.
And precisely because he knew, after witnessing that comeback with Hope Sword's slash, he respected the girl even more.
First defeating Kaima Seth at Fusion Academy, and now even facing off against the Marshal…
It felt as if there was no duel she could not win. Somehow, in this moment, Aisha Carlos gave Deion exactly that impression.
...
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