Not only the Wicked God himself, but even the cultists watching below were completely dumbstruck.
It seemed that from the moment "Arcana Force XXI—The World" appeared, the nature of the Duel had begun to change.
This was no longer a Duel, but a performance—an execution. Everyone already knew the outcome, and yet they still had to patiently wait through the long process, like death by a thousand cuts.
After all, twenty turns was not a short time.
So everyone simply stared wide-eyed in silence, listening as Kira tirelessly repeated the same sequence again and again:
"My turn. Draw."
"Standby Phase: recover Sinister Serpent from the Graveyard. Then Normal Summon Sinister Serpent."
"End Phase: Special Summon Samsara Lotus back to my field."
"Arcana Force XXI—The World's effect: Tribute Sinister Serpent and Samsara Lotus, and skip the Wicked God's next turn."
"Final Countdown continues to advance."
"…"
One by one, the rings of flame on the countdown were lit. Ghostfire-like orbs ignited in succession, forming a circular halo of wavering, sinister light. Behind those flames seemed to lurk an aloof reaper—above all existence, beyond even gods, a reaper that could rewrite the rules of dueling.
As the firelight grew, the reaper seemed to bare its teeth in a dangerous grin.
A monster that could be recycled infinitely each turn, paired with The World that could stop time infinitely—under such a combo, let alone twenty turns… even two hundred, two thousand turns would mean the other side was dead.
When Kira activated that Book of Moon, the Eraser had dismissed it. So what if he was set face-down? As long as he remained on the field, he was the ultimate shield. Battle destruction, card removal—either way, the Eraser's power would wipe the field.
What he hadn't expected was that this one set…
would be forever.
Until the Duel ended and the end arrived, he would never see daylight again.
"…Once again, I activate Arcana Force XXI—The World's effect, and skip my opponent's turn. Let's see… huh? Looks like it's already been twenty turns."
Kira put on a surprised expression, then said with a smiling squint:
"My apologies, Wicked God, but I regret to inform you—
…you seem to be dead."
Eraser: "…"
Eye silently watched Kira from the side. After staring for a moment, it couldn't help whispering:
"For someone who can talk like that and still live this long, your strength really must be unfathomable…"
On the twentieth turn of the countdown, the final flame ignited. The twenty tiny fires suddenly erupted and merged in an instant, forming a curtain of flame that looked ready to swallow heaven and earth!
It was no ordinary fire—more like God had decided to reenact the ancient flood that once ended the world, except this time what descended was a heavenly blaze that incinerated all things. The flames carried the will of annihilation: anything they touched was burned away in moments, until not even ash remained.
It was the true fire of the end—something even gods could not resist.
From within the high priest's body, the black aura radiating from the Eraser had begun to flicker, on the verge of dispersing. Yet the Wicked God's eyes remained fixed on Kira, as if he wanted to carve this punchable human into a thousand pieces with sheer glare.
"Now it's too late to kneel and apologize, human," the Wicked God rumbled.
"This torment, this humiliation! Very good. From now on, this is personal. I no longer want only that spirit. I want you too.
You will become the Wicked God's slave forever, for all eternity—!"
It looked like he still had endless words to spit out—like a player whose mental has exploded after a match ends, trying to flame hard during the results screen. But his typing wasn't fast enough: before he could say more, the other side was already gone, and all the curses he wanted to throw had to be swallowed back down. The anger with nowhere to go surged several times over.
Kira walked up in front of him. The high priest's knees buckled and he collapsed to the ground, eyes vacant, as if he'd gone stupid. Only when Kira reached him did he slowly look up, stare blankly for a moment—and then suddenly snap back, screaming in panic.
"Stop—don't! Don't do it!"
He flailed wildly, looking as if he'd seen the most horrifying thing in the world, scrambling backward while frantically waving his hands at Kira.
"Don't come any closer! Don't come any closer—aaaah!"
The scream was so shrill, so terrifying, that countless cultists below felt endless cold flood their hearts—limbs icy, bodies frozen stiff.
"Don't be afraid. I'm not a devil," Kira said with a smile.
"Exactly. Master is so handsome—what's there to be afraid of?" Vampire Fraulein said, smiling sweetly.
"Keep running, and I'll suck you dry."
As she spoke, she bared her pale little fangs.
The priest stiffened, trembling all over—but he truly didn't dare to retreat anymore.
Though he'd been possessed by the Wicked God during the duel, he still retained a hazy sliver of awareness. He didn't fully remember what happened, but the vague impression felt like the most terrifying nightmare of his life. Even if he couldn't recall the details, that fear from the dream was etched into his bones.
And if anything was more terrifying than the nightmare itself, it was waking up, opening your eyes—only to realize the demon from your dream was standing in front of you, smiling.
That was exactly what the priest was experiencing.
But Kira had little interest in a puppet like him. He first pulled out the man's Deck and quickly flipped through it.
Just like before with Zorc, the card of the Wicked God—Eraser—was gone.
But Kira wasn't surprised.
The Wicked God he had faced just now probably hadn't been the true body—he'd felt it during the duel. There had been an Wicked God's pressure, but not to the degree a true deity should have. It felt like Kira's usual situation when traveling to the spirit world: the real body remains in the present world, while only consciousness projects elsewhere.
So he didn't blame the Wicked God for cheating by using a puppet to duel him—after all, he himself usually did the same.
To find the Wicked God's true body, either Kira would have to locate the dimension where it resided, or the real one would have to come knocking.
After today, the Eraser likely wouldn't casually challenge him again through another puppet—because it should now understand it would be meaningless. Kira wasn't an opponent a puppet could handle.
Without the true Wicked God, Kira lost interest in this Deck. He pocketed it casually, then turned to the priest.
"Alright. Answer a few questions. Don't worry—it'll be quick.
Hm. Now that I know which Wicked God you serve, I'll start with this."
Kira took out Eye's blank card—the one with no information, only an illustration of a single eye.
"What spirit is this? And why do you want this useless weirdo?"
…