A Soul Exchange in the depths of despair, within the battlefield scorched by Ra's true flames, Miles once again stood opposite Quaedes.
Only this time, he was dueling Quaedes through the body of Aisha Carlos.
Though a few unexpected incidents had occurred along the way, he had at least managed to arrive barely according to the original plan.
And in a twist of fortune, the appearance of that bratty loli Viel had allowed Miles to understand the true purpose of the King's Key, adding a few more chances of defeating Quaedes.
"QwQ Wuuuu, Mr. Miles, Mr. Miles! I knew you'd come back! I knew you loved me!"
After returning to the Soul Room within the Millennium Puzzle, Aisha finally let out a long breath of relief.
Only in front of Miles did she no longer need to pretend to be strong.
"It was so hard holding on…"
After all, she had been dueling the Empire's strongest Emperor. For a mere second-year student of the Duel Academy, even bearing the title of Royal Knight, the pressure—both from the Duel itself and from her own mind—must have been immense.
"Rest easy. Leave the rest to me, Aisha… Though honestly, this situation is really terrible."
Even though he had taken over the Duel at the critical moment, standing within the sea of flames, feeling the real heat around him and seeing Quaedes' body still burning ahead, Miles could not help but sigh.
This Emperor's obsession and madness toward the God Cards far exceeded even his expectations.
It was no longer merely a matter of disregarding chastity for the sake of a God Card.
Now it seemed that in pursuit of divine power, Quaedes would not even hesitate to throw away her own life.
"If you die like this, your persistence—your dream of pursuing the Creator God—will mean nothing, Quaedes!"
The girl's icy blue eyes, enduring the searing pain, trembled violently.
"How do you know about the Creator God?"
Quaedes had never told anyone about her encounter with the Creator God in the Spirit Sanctuary.
Except that man.
"Miles? Impossible… Are you Miles?"
"It's me, Quaedes. As for why I'm here, just consider it a special ability of the Millennium Puzzle. And besides, I still have a Duel to settle with you!"
Because of the King's Key, Miles had only been able to duel Quaedes before with an incomplete Deck.
Now that the power of the King's Key had been fully awakened, his Deck could finally be considered complete; in another sense entirely.
"This time, I'll defeat you!"
"Don't make me laugh. You still dare to show your face before me? The one who betrayed my trust and deceived me dares to speak of settling scores?"
It was only natural that Quaedes would be furious over Miles' mid-Duel escape.
If he had not fled, her body might already have obtained the genetic compatibility needed to wield a God Card. Perhaps she would not have needed to summon Ra in such agony.
"You will pay for your foolishness, Miles!"
Amid the burning flames, Quaedes flung a card from her hand.
"—Spell Card Foolish Burial!"
[Send 1 monster from your Deck to the Graveyard.]
Far from foolish, Quaedes precisely sent a monster from her Spirit Eyes Deck to the Graveyard.
"I send Gazer Shark to the Graveyard and activate its effect!"
[You can banish this card from your Graveyard; target 2 Level 5 WATER monsters in your Graveyard, except "Gazer Shark"; Special Summon those 2 monsters with their effects negated, and if you do, immediately Xyz Summon 1 WATER Xyz Monster using only those 2 monsters as material.]
After sending Gazer Shark—whose Xyz effect functioned from the Graveyard—Quaedes immediately began an icy Xyz Summon that clashed against the surrounding inferno.
"I revive the Level 5 Crystal Shark and Cyber Shark from my Graveyard and overlay them for an Xyz Summon!"
Although Crystal Shark has the side effect of being banished when it leaves the field after being Special Summoned, being sent to the Graveyard as Xyz Material does not count as leaving the "field." Instead, it avoids being banished and can be reused repeatedly.
"Descend, Number 94! Spirit World shrine maiden who holds a heart of ice—restore the pure soul! —Crystalzero!"
[Number 94: Crystalzero] Rank 5│WATER│Warrior│2200 ATK
[2 Level 5 WATER monsters]
The slender female Xyz Monster clad in crystalline ice appeared upon the battlefield still scorched by real flames.
"It's not over yet!"
The light of icy Xyz energy reappeared, layering itself over the body of Number 94: Crystalzero.
"Armored Xyz Summon! Armor of freezing ice, grant Crystalzero an exalted form! Armored Xyz—Full Armored Crystalzero Lancer!"
[Full Armored Crystalzero Lancer] Rank 6│WATER│Warrior│2200 ATK
[3 Level 6 WATER monsters. You can also Xyz Summon this card by overlaying it on a Rank 5 WATER Xyz Monster you control.]
Grasping an icy lance and clad in resplendent heavy armor, Crystalzero evolved from Rank 5 into a Rank 6 Xyz Monster through armored overlay.
"Full Armored Crystalzero Lancer's effect—this card gains 500 Attack for each Xyz Material attached to it!"
[Full Armored Crystalzero Lancer, ATK: 2200 → 3700]
With 3700 Attack, the icy Xyz stood alongside The Winged Dragon of Ra at 4000 Attack. Ice and flame in symphonic harmony—this was Emperor Quaedes' assault for the turn.
"Perish within the flames of a god, Miles!"
Entering the Battle Phase of this turn, Quaedes led with a direct attack from The Winged Dragon of Ra.
Miles retorted sternly, "The one who will truly perish in divine flames will be you, Quaedes!"
If he could produce a mirror, Miles would have forced Quaedes to look at her current state.
On her obsessive and frenzied path toward divine power, after forcibly Summoning Ra, the backlash of divine wrath had already burned away much of the girl's once flawless pale skin with soul-scorching flames.
"Mr. Miles, watch out!" Aisha cried nervously.
She had already known before the Soul Shift that her two Set cards could not stop Ra's attack.
And that fact would not change simply because Miles had appeared.
"No matter what, we have to survive this strike—so I'll use this card!"
Miles swept his hand forward and flipped over a Set Trap Card upon the flame-scorched ground.
"—Trap Card Spell Enforcer¹!"
[Pay 2000 Life Points; declare the name of 1 Spell Card. Your opponent reveals their Deck, and if the declared card is among them, Set that card to your field. The card Set by this effect can be activated this turn.]
"We'll stake all our remaining Life Points on this one declaration, Aisha!"
[Aisha Carlos, LP: 2100 → 100]
In the spirit of settling debts, since Quaedes had used The True Name to take The Winged Dragon of Ra from Aisha's Deck, Miles certainly would not let it go. He would take one card back from Quaedes' Deck as well.
However, because Spell Enforcer could only declare a Spell Card, it typically aimed at common utility Spells within the opponent's Deck.
For example, Monster Reborn or Pot of Greed—stealing a powerful Spell for oneself.
But if the declaration missed, the cost of paying 2000 Life Points would be severe.
Of course, in the current situation, the most important matter was this—
"Mr. Miles, what are you going to declare?" Aisha asked.
To activate it before Ra's attack resolved and block the assault, it had to be a Quick-Play Spell that could be activated the turn it was Set during the opponent's turn.
There had to be a Quick-Play Spell in Quaedes' Deck capable of stopping Ra's attack—and Miles had to declare it precisely at this very moment.
The probability seemed infinitesimal.
But the advantage born of information disparity lay precisely here.
Miles knew that Quaedes' Deck contained that Quick-Play Spell. He had experienced it firsthand in their previous Duel.
The Quick-Play Spell that had retrieved Number C73: Abyss Supra Splash after it was banished by Black Luster Soldier—and had even contended against Obelisk the Tormentor's infinite power.
"The Spell Card I declare is—Burial from a Different Dimension!"
"Miles, you…!"
Quaedes' eyes trembled, for she knew better than anyone that her Deck indeed contained that card.
As the declared card was Set onto Miles' field, he finally grasped a miracle counterattack—one that could only be forged from the brink of defeat.
"I activate the Quick-Play Spell Burial from a Different Dimension!"
[Target up to 3 banished monsters from either player; return those monsters to the Graveyard.]
"From among the banished monsters, I return Kuriboh (Clean) to the Graveyard. Then, when The Winged Dragon of Ra declares a direct attack, I banish Kuriboh (Clean) once more to activate its effect!"
Kuriboh (Clean)'s effect banishes itself to draw from the top of the Deck. If the drawn card is a Monster, it can be Special Summoned to block Ra's direct attack.
"You really managed to stop it, Mr. Miles!"
Although Miles had not yet drawn the Monster Card, Aisha knew that with the bond between Miles and his Deck, this draw would not fail.
However, Miles' next action left even Aisha stunned.
"I'll use this card to confront Ra!"
Miles slammed his palm heavily onto the palace floor, still burning with real, scorching flames.
"Draw!"
And then came the eruption of divine wrath that made even the earth tremble.
"Descend!"
"Obelisk the Tormentor!"
In this Duel, the second Divine-Beast God Card descended.
Awakening from the earth itself, the god Obelisk the Tormentor stood tall within the raging inferno, its massive blue body towering amid the flames.
"It's Obelisk the Tormentor!" Quaedes exclaimed in shock.
"Let's collide head-on, Quaedes!"
Through the Special Summon granted by Kuriboh (Clean)'s effect, Miles brought forth Obelisk in Attack Position.
[Obelisk the Tormentor, ATK: 4000]
"Mr. Miles, even Obelisk can't overpower Ra in Attack Position!" Aisha cried anxiously.
Even though both stood at 4000 Attack, as the foremost of the three Egyptian Gods, Ra could further increase its Attack by absorbing the Duelist's Life Points.
If Quaedes activated Ra's effect, then with Obelisk at 4000 Attack and only 100 Life Points remaining for Aisha and Miles, they would have no way to withstand it.
Conversely, if Obelisk had been Special Summoned in Defense Position with 4000 Defense, not only would they avoid Life Point damage, but it might even force Quaedes to pay Life Points to activate Ra's effect, creating an advantage.
"No. The point is a direct clash in Attack Position! I'm betting that—"
"Why?!" Before Miles could finish, confusion spread across Emperor Quaedes' face.
"I… I can't activate Ra's effect?"
"I'm betting that you can't fully control a god, Quaedes!"
Quaedes had only barely managed to Summon Ra by burning her own soul to the brink of collapse.
And that was already the limit of her body.
Let alone activating The Winged Dragon of Ra's effect.
"If you continue to use Ra's power, Quaedes, you will die!" Miles stated the cruel truth.
"You say… I will die?"
Miles could clearly perceive that as divine wrath continued to scorch her soul, Quaedes would not even last until the end of this turn.
Thus, this Obelisk—this Obelisk Special Summoned in Attack Position—was not only meant to save Miles and Aisha from certain defeat.
It was also to prevent this girl emperor, whose obsession with God Cards bordered on madness, from perishing midway through the Duel.
After all, if the Duel ended through the Duelist's death, Miles would have no chance to settle that score with Quaedes.
"Clench your teeth and wake up, Quaedes!"
With Miles' furious countercry, Obelisk the Tormentor swung its massive divine fist through the flames.
Unable to use Ra's effect, Quaedes' Ra now stood at the same 4000 Attack as Obelisk.
"—God Hand Crusher: Shockwave!"
The divine fist detonated. Obelisk's punch collided head-on with Ra in the sky, unleashing an indescribable gale of shockwaves.
In the next instant, the storm born from the clash of divine powers swept across the entire field, extinguishing the raging flames surrounding the Duel arena.
Beyond the field, within the palace, everyone watching stood dumbfounded.
The scene was so exaggerated and shocking that it made one question the reality of what they were seeing.
Just moments ago, they had been anxiously struggling to see through the inferno consuming the Duel.
Now, as the flames were blown out by the divine gale, what lay before them was the sight of two Egyptian Gods striking each other down together.
Just what kind of Duel had those two been waging within those flames?
….
¹ Couldn't actually find a card with the effect of "Spell Enforcer" hmmm
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