The twenty-one tolls of the night bell, melodious yet eerie, revealed the nameless fear hidden in the darkness.
"It's the Old Dominators—they've come!"
"The Old Dominators?" Miles frowned.
Camille had just mentioned them: the cult from the western regions, fanatical in their worship of gods.
Of course—of evil gods.
Aisha asked in confusion, "Why do you and Lishia know about the Old Dominators, Arnold?"
"Aisha‑senpai, no one living in the West could not know of the Old Dominators… When the night bell tolls twenty-one times, it means they've descended. Souls under that night will never find peace."
Lishia added, "In the West, if this happens, no matter how important the work at hand, people drop everything and rush to the church, praying their souls can safely last the night."
Ren pressed, "What happens if they don't pray at the church?"
"They go mad from the whispers of the eldritch gods. Once, during a night of their descent, a family that didn't go to pray… by the next day, they'd all gone insane. As if they'd glimpsed some terror beyond human comprehension. Three days later, the whole family committed suicide in gruesome ways."
"S‑so scary!" In the Millennium Puzzle, Nova curled up into a ball, shivering so hard Miles could feel it through their soul link.
"Then should we go to the church to pray?" Aisha thought aloud. "No… is the town church really safer than inside Fusion Academy? And the Academy has so many students. Those who've never heard of the Old Dominators—would they even believe this?"
"Don't you find it strange?" Irena pointed out.
"Strange?"
"The bells tolled three times in a row, something that's never happened. Normally, everyone should be shocked. But…"
Irena lowered her witch's hat, gesturing with her blue eyes around them.
It was seven in the evening. Night had fallen, but nightlife was just starting.
At the Academy gates, students came and went constantly. Yet not one stopped because of the twenty-one tolls of the church bell.
"Could it be… we're the only ones who heard it?" Irena guessed.
"Let's test it." Social butterfly Ren casually grabbed a passing acquaintance. "Mizuki, did you hear anything strange just now?"
"Yeah." Mizuki pointed at Lishia. "That girl's stomach growling—so loud? Feed her already."
"You can buzz off."
"What the heck, rude!"
After Ren asked several more, her suspicion was confirmed. Aside from them, no one else heard the anomaly in the bells.
That made it even stranger. Sharing the same space—why was what they heard different?
"Miles… Miles…"
The soft, weak voice of the princess reached his mind.
"I can't… I'm too scared… I don't want to be outside… I want to go back."
For twelve‑year‑old Nova, this terror was too much.
Even though Miles controlled the body, he could feel Nova's slender legs trembling uncontrollably.
"Alright, Nova, you go back."
Miles removed the Millennium Puzzle and handed it to Aisha, returning control of the body to Nova.
Understanding her state, Aisha asked, "Lishia, could you take Nova back to the first‑year dorms? She's exhausted from this afternoon. Another shock like this might overwhelm her."
Thinking carefully, even if the Old Dominators were dangerous, Fusion Academy's dorms were surely the safest place—far safer than any church.
"Mm, I understand, Aisha‑senpai."
Seeing Nova's pale face, remembering her efforts all afternoon to save Arnold, Lishia felt guilty and protective.
Stifling her hunger, she supported Nova's weak legs. "Leave Nova‑chan to me. Senpai, Arnold—please stay safe too!"
Watching them leave, the rest exchanged glances.
On the Spirit Continent, no faction dared reach into the Three Great Academies. At least within the Academy, they were safe.
That said, if they stepped outside after hearing the twenty-one tolls, they'd be facing the cultists of the Old Dominators head‑on.
Ren marveled, "So, leaving Nova to go alone means, Little Ai, you're ready to face cultists after the God Card? Since when were you this brave?"
Camille had warned them about cultists at noon, and by night the tolls of the Old Dominators sounded. Clearly, they were after the God Card.
And from what Ren knew of Aisha, things involving unknown horrors were exactly her weak point.
"It's not that I'm brave, Ren‑chan… you know…"
Tears welled in her eyes. Aisha telling herself she wasn't scared was a lie.
The one who was truly brave was Miles.
—Soul Exchange.
From the princess's body, his soul leapt into Aisha's. In his hand was the Pyramid of Light he had just finished restoring.
"The timing of the tolls, and the restoration of the Pyramid of Light—they were almost simultaneous. That can't be a coincidence."
Slowly raising the Pyramid of Light into the night, he found that though darkness fell, the starlight tonight was unusually brilliant.
The stardust filtered through the crystal body of the pyramid, reflecting in Miles's hand a dazzling scene that condensed the whole sky of stars.
That starlight in his hand became a solitary brilliance in the unknown dark.
"The Pyramid of Light frees lost souls, right, Irena? That's what the text said?"
"That's correct."
"But to be honest, I've never been lost."
Miles's goal was clear: to become Duel King. His path was focused entirely on dueling.
If that could be called 'lost,' then there was no such thing as clarity.
"So then—the soul that wanders in the light… who could it be?"
When he spoke, it was as if asking both those around him and the one inside his heart.
"Wha… so I've been found? As expected of the one who could restore the Pyramid of Light in an afternoon."
As Miles had suspected, the voice carried from within the Pyramid of Light was that of a strange Duel Spirit slumbering in the stardust crystal.
...
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