Pa—!
Ren slapped her cheeks hard with both hands, trying to drive away the strange thoughts in her mind.
"Even if Shining Flare Wingman was destroyed, the hero battle style Miles taught me doesn't end here!"
Riding on the lingering light of Shining Flare Wingman, Ren flipped her only Set card in the back row.
"Trap Card, Hero Signal, activate!"
[When a monster you control is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard: Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower monster with "Elemental HERO" in its name from your hand or Deck.]
Through the H-shaped signal beaming into the fog-covered sky, Ren called forth the man she trusted most in her Deck.
"I Special Summon in Defense Position—Elemental HERO Bubbleman!"
Her habit of using Miles's nicknames for cards was already ingrained.
[Elemental HERO Bubbleman] Level 4│WATER│Warrior│800 ATK/1200 DEF
"When I control no other cards, Bubbleman's Special Summon lets me draw 2 cards!"
Using Bubbleman's draw power to quickly reach key cards was one of the most important tactics Miles had taught her.
"Do-go! Do-go—!"
Drawing two cards in quick succession, Ren successfully pulled Mask Change into her hand, reinforcing her belief that her move was right.
"I will win. Even without Miles, I won't lose to the Shadow Game again!"
(So what? Even if you win, there's no one by your side. Isn't that the saddest thing?)
Pa—!
"Shut up!"
This time, she slapped her cheeks even harder, leaving her fair skin red and hot.
"Hehehe, girl, you're even cuter than I expected. Maybe watching you struggle with yourself is more interesting than the duel itself."
Megan ended the Battle Phase with a mocking smile. The card she drew next would give her the means to completely suppress Ren's HEROes.
"Spell Card, Level Up! activate!"
[Send 1 face-up "LV" monster you control to the Graveyard; Special Summon the monster listed in its text, ignoring Summoning conditions.]
This Spell bypassed the usual evolution requirements of LV monsters. Megan's target was, of course, the Silent Swordsman LV5 on her field.
"Behold the final silent evolution! Let the blade that cuts magic render all Spells mute! Special Summon—Silent Swordsman LV7!"
[Silent Swordsman LV7] Level 7│LIGHT│Warrior│2800 ATK/1000 DEF
[While this card is on the field: Negate all Spell effects on the field; neither player can activate Spells.]
The massive sword, larger than its wielder, stabbed heavily into the ground, erasing all magic from the duel.
With Silent Swordsman LV7 in play, all Spells were nullified. This was why Megan had activated Silent Sword at the LV5 stage instead of waiting until LV7.
"From now on, no Spells. Your HEROes, your Skyscraper, your Flame Wingman—they're all locked out!"
"Spells… sealed?"
Ren's pale red eyes narrowed sharply.
With Silent Swordsman LV7 negating all Spells, she couldn't use Polymerization or the Mask Change in her hand.
The tactics Miles had taught her were shut down completely by Megan's anti-Spell strategy.
"Now, what will you do, red-haired cutie? I Set 1 card and end my turn."
Ending her turn with LV7 on the field, Megan radiated a sadistic pride beneath her black robe.
"My turn… draw."
A far cry from her confidence last turn, Ren's Masked HERO transformation strategy was dead, and her offensive rhythm was broken.
(Without Miles, you can't do anything. Admit it—he's the real hero, not you!)
It was already the fourth turn of the Shadow Game. Without a Millennium Item, Ren's mental strength was being severely drained.
The strange fog around her burned her lungs, making her thoughts ever more muddled.
At this rate, she would lose—or worse, end up like in her first Shadow Game, her body collapsing before the duel was over.
(Still hoping he'll save you? Don't be delusional—Miles never belonged to you!)
She no longer had the will or energy to slap her face again, letting the voice in her head whisper the deepest desires buried within her.
The Pandora's Box she had shut tight was pried open again by the dark mist.
In a capital locked by three Millennium Items, the dark fog inevitably invaded a duelist's heart.
"I Set 2 cards and end my turn."
Without Spells, she couldn't transform her HERO, so all she could do was Set and pass.
"That's all? You're making this boring, cutie. My turn, draw!"
Megan Normal Summoned a second Silent Swordsman LV3, then Tributed it.
"Come forth! Special Summon—Silent Swordsman!"
[Silent Swordsman] Level 4│LIGHT│Warrior│1000 ATK/1000 DEF
[Cannot be Normal Summoned. Must be Special Summoned by Tributing 1 Warrior-Type monster you control. During each Standby Phase: This card gains 500 ATK.]
Though it started with the same stats as LV3, this "true" Silent Swordsman would grow stronger every Standby Phase.
"Time for you to feel more pain—though it's nothing compared to what I've endured!"
She touched her eyepatch over the empty socket, the scarred wound still able to stab at her soul.
The pain of darkness tearing through flesh could only be released by revenge.
"Crushed by your own doubts, devoured by your desires—fall into darkness again and again! What kind of 'hero' are you?!"
Her tone was no longer teasing. Hatred dripped from her words.
The pain of defeat, the pain of blindness, the pain of humiliation—Megan had been waiting half a year to drag Ren Austin into hell.
The silent greatsword swung down, easily destroying Bubbleman's 1200 DEF.
"Direct attack, Silent Swordsman—Dispel Blade Wind!"
Though only 1000 ATK, the real Shadow Game damage blasted Ren off her feet.
It felt like her chest had been literally slashed. The despair was exactly like that first Shadow Game.
[Ren Austin, LP: 3400 → 2400]
"Stand up, girl! The duel's not over—I'll keep breaking you until you collapse completely!"
Ren slowly pushed herself up. Yes, the duel wasn't over, and falling now would be an insult to a hero.
Yet her gaze drifted toward the mist beyond.
The fog hid everything, but only she knew what she was searching for.
(He won't come. You're not Aisha Carlos. The only thing that can save you now is the darkness you shut away after fleeing your desires.)
"Darkness… my desires…"
Ren remembered the strange black box in the Soul Room when she and Miles had switched bodies.
The deep darkness and unknown fear had made her shut it instantly.
But even in that instant, she had glimpsed a card that could never be called a hero—an utterly evil HERO.
A card engraved with overwhelming desire—a Dark HERO.
"That's… my desire?"
(It's the power to get everything you want!)
"Everything… I want!!"
Her eyes narrowed. The fog no longer seemed to hinder her sight.
Her vision fixed only on what she wanted—and the power needed to claim it.
The Pandora's Box swung open, and the Dark HERO emerged.
"I Set 1 card and end my turn!"
Megan glared with her single eye.
"Stop playing dead. If you close your eyes now, you could at least donate your useless one to someone who needs it!"
"Yap yap yap—you're annoying, old hag!"
"O-Old hag?!"
"I'll shut your mouth with this card!"
Ren's eyes, once purely red, now gleamed heterochromatically—one red, one yellow.
"Trap Card, Necro Fusion, activate!"
[Banish the Fusion Materials listed on a Fusion Monster from your Graveyard face-down; Fusion Summon that Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck. The monster Special Summoned by this effect cannot attack this turn.]
At the end of Megan's turn, she fused without a Spell, bypassing LV7's lock.
"Necro Fusion? Even after your strongest light HERO fell, you still haven't given up—going for another HERO Fusion?"
"The light HERO isn't needed anymore."
From Ren's Graveyard, Elemental HERO Avian and Elemental HERO Burstinatrix were banished face-down as materials.
"Hero who burns with dark hellfire—spread your wings of calamity! Fusion Summon—Evil HERO Infernal Wing!"
[Evil HERO Infernal Wing] Level 6│FIRE│Fiend│2100 ATK/1200 DEF
['Elemental HERO Avian' + 'Elemental HERO Burstinatrix']
From darkness emerged a devilish HERO with a sultry female form and black, corrupted wings.
Though born from Elemental HERO materials, she embodied Ren's deepest, hidden desire—the Evil HERO.
"My turn, draw!"
Having Fusion Summoned during the opponent's turn, heterochromatic-eyed Ren drew from her burning Deck.
It was a card that hadn't existed in her Deck before—a card she had seen in the black box.
Evil HERO Malicious Edge.
Megan announced: "During your Standby Phase, my Silent Swordsman gains 500 ATK, making it 1500!"
"Hmph? Too weak! Trap Card, Rush Recklessly, activate!"
[Discard 1 card; target 1 face-up monster you control; it gains 1500 ATK until the end of this turn.]
"I discard Evil HERO Malicious Edge to boost my Evil HERO Infernal Wing by 1500!"
[Evil HERO Infernal Wing, ATK: 2100 → 3600]
The ultimate dark power surged into the Fiend HERO. Even without Spells, Ren had surpassed her limits through the Evil HERO.
Her wings, burning with crimson-black hellfire, cut through the mist, casting a demonic red glow that reached hundreds of meters away.
"That's… Flame Wingman? No… nothing like it! Miles!"
It was still in Ren's direction, but this light carried ominous malice, unlike Shining Flare Wingman's beacon.
"Ren…"
His unease was confirmed. Miles already knew whose wings those were.
"Wait for me, Ren."
...
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