Since they're all classmates, Aisha and Irene decided it was only right to go back and check on Mizuki, who was still unconscious.
But when they arrived at the spot Aisha and Miles remembered, there was no sign of Mizuki.
Even the twisted corpse of the dark-robed man had vanished.
The back mountain was eerily quiet, as if nothing had happened at all.
"...I'm not lying, Ren-chan! There really was a Shadow Game here!"
Since all the traces and evidence of the battle had mysteriously disappeared, Aisha preemptively tried to prove her innocence with a cute face.
"Of course, I never doubted you, Aisha," Irene smiled. "You and Miles wouldn't lie to me. It seems something happened here after you left. Or maybe Mizuki woke up and left on her own."
Irene's guess was reasonable, but Miles couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
Too many strange things had happened tonight—more than everything Miles had encountered in this whole month since arriving in this world.
And maybe it was instinct, but Miles felt a connection.
The Dark Duelists, the Millennium Ring, the rumors of the Egyptian God Cards, the overwhelming pressure when they entered the mountain, the mysterious voice he heard, and the Millennium Puzzle guiding the way.
Maybe all of these strange events from tonight could be traced back to a single source.
When had he noticed—or rather, realized—the presence of a certain "being"?
A being connected to the Egyptian God Cards, the Millennium Ring, the Millennium Puzzle.
In Miles's mind, there was only one person it could be. Follow current novels on ɴo(v)elFɪre.ɴet
"It's getting late. We should head back, Aisha. If dorm mistress Miss Lily finds us out too late, she'll be terrifying."
Just picturing the usually gentle and kind Miss Lily with storm clouds over her head sent a shiver down Irene's spine.
"Mm, finally we can go—wait, huh? Is this really necessary?"
Aisha, who had been longing to crawl back into her warm bed, was relieved to finally return to the dorms—until Miles interrupted her.
"Alright then, if you say so, Mr. Miles…"
The Millennium Puzzle on Aisha's chest began to glow and sway, signaling another Soul Exchange as Miles took over her body once again.
"Irene, you go on ahead. I've got a few things I need to deal with alone."
Irene instantly realized it.
Every time Miles controlled Aisha's body before, Irene had gotten jealous, thinking he was taking advantage of a girl.
But now, facing Miles in Aisha's body, she felt an odd nervousness rise inside her.
If it weren't so dark out, the blush spreading across her face would've been obvious.
The jealousy was still there—only this time, it seemed like the object of her jealousy had changed.
"What's the problem you have to solve alone? Can't I go with you?" Irene blinked her red eyes and asked.
"If you came with me, it'd only make things more complicated. Trust me, Irene—I'll make sure Aisha returns safely."
She quickly turned her head away, knowing the blush on her face was now impossible to hide.
"Alright. I trust you, Miles. It's really late, so come back soon, okay? I'll wait for you back at the dorm."
Aisha: "That's my dorm though! Rin-chan really isn't acting like a guest anymore, huh."
While listening to Aisha's grumbling in his mind and watching Irene run off into the distance, Miles knew—the main event of tonight had only just begun.
It really was a ridiculously long night.
Aisha asked, "Mr. Miles, where's this problem you mentioned?"
"Just wait. If I'm right…"
Miles stood completely still, Aisha's body unmoving, his eyes half-lidded, as though waiting for something to appear in the shadows.
After mentally counting the time, figuring Irene should now be far from the back mountain, Miles finally spoke.
"You're there, aren't you?"
"You who radiate such divine pressure."
"You who can communicate through the Millennium Puzzle."
"You who could guide the exit of the barrier using the Puzzle's power."
"The one who fits all these descriptions…"
This was the conclusion Miles had reached after piecing everything together.
The one who tied together all the strange occurrences tonight.
The one who holds both the Egyptian God Cards and the Millennium Puzzle—the legendary Duelist who stands above all, and the spirit behind Yugi Muto himself.
"The Pharaoh… You're here, aren't you?"
Aisha raised a brow, "The Pharaoh?"
As a native of the Spirit Continent, Aisha Yuna Carlos had no knowledge of that name from another world.
But when that familiar voice rang out, Aisha immediately remembered.
"You sensed my presence with your awareness? Well done, Miles."
In the forest beneath the night sky, a soft breeze stirred a light-blue cloak, and the Pharaoh, Atem, stepped forward, shrouded in a mystical aura.
His translucent silhouette wasn't fully real.
But even this spectral presence gave off a pressure grand enough to shake the foundations of a world where Duel Monsters dictated power.
Aisha realized, "That voice! The one that asked if I was willing to abandon kindness to grow stronger! I thought it was just in my head."
"Yes, and also the one that warned me Irene was in danger," Miles added. "As I thought. You've been watching everything from the moment we entered the back mountain, haven't you, Pharaoh?"
"Millennium Puzzle… and the inheritors of its 'Partner'. Miles and Yuna, your encounter with me is the result of fate's guidance."
Yuna, referring to Aisha Yuna Carlos's middle name.
"I must say, the willpower you both showed in battle tonight—the pure-hearted kindness, the refusal to yield to evil and darkness—was admirable."
The Pharaoh's voice was gentle, like a kind elder speaking with beloved children, impossible not to listen to with reverence.
"Fate's guidance? Pharaoh, what do you mean by that?"
"Heh. I think it's better we speak not with words, but through the proper medium."
Slowly raising his arm, the Pharaoh's classic Duel Disk activated with a crisp mechanical snap.
"Duel me—successors of the Millennium Puzzle and Partner. Cards are the language of Duelists. Let us speak with our souls."
"The language of Duelists… soul-to-soul combat."
Honestly, Miles had already suspected it.
This endlessly long night's grand finale—
A duel with the world's strongest Duelist.
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