Chapter 760 - 760

The final attack of the Fusion between Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Obelisk — the fist that would open the path toward a future of victory — shattered the field.

The dragon girl, who had already been backed up against the ice wall behind her, was completely buried beneath the shower of falling ice fragments.

"We won! We really won, Hoshino!"

Eve threw off the blanket wrapped around her and, completely forgetting about the cold, excitedly threw herself at Hoshino.

"That means there's only one King left out of the Nine! This is wonderful, absolutely wonderful… To think that you were chosen by the Star Relics and became the Duelist who would fight against the Kings… It's honestly the luckiest thing that's ever happened to me in my entire life!"

"Careful… Ouch!"

The slippery ice betrayed Hoshino's footing, and Eve's tackle sent them both tumbling to the ground.

"You only think you're lucky now? Does that mean you never thought I'd win before this?"

"(;-_-)ノ Mmph… I've always trusted you!"

Eve slowly lifted her face from Hoshino's chest.

Her wandering, evasive eyes had absolutely nothing to do with the word "trust."

"Oh, get lost~"

Hoshino raised her foot and kicked Eve off of her.

She put away her Duel Disk, brushed herself off, and stood up.

Before doing anything else, she gave Kaiba a thumbs-up.

"Nice work, Kaiba! You actually managed to turn the Duel around in a situation like that? The Fusion of Obelisk and Blue-Eyes White Dragon… that was the ultimate embodiment of the soul of a Duelist!"

…

There was no response.

The battlefield was silent.

Only moments ago, Kaiba had been fighting alongside Hoshino, roaring out declarations of devastating attacks.

But the place where he had been standing was now completely empty.

Hoshino froze.

The cold wind of the frozen kingdom swept past her, lifting one corner of the trench coat behind her and letting it flutter gently along the path of the wind.

"Kaiba?"

Across the spotless white surface of the ice, there was no sign of him.

It was almost as though he had never existed here at all.

The only thing remaining was the metal pendant lying where Kaiba had stood.

Under the faint sunlight, it reflected a tiny glimmer.

"Hey, hey… what the hell is going on, Kaiba?!"

Hoshino turned toward the other Seto Kaiba, who had been standing silently behind them and watching the Duel from beginning to end.

"You definitely know the truth, don't you? If you don't explain everything today…"

Kaiba stepped forward.

He bent down, picked up the pendant left behind on the ice, and held it out toward Hoshino.

"Take it. You're better off keeping this."

"Have me keep it? But what is it…?"

Hoshino opened the metal pendant once again.

Inside was the same old photograph as before, its subject's face impossible to make out.

"It is proof of the catalyst," Kaiba answered.

"Along the future path that the two of you have chosen together, if you carry this with you, then one day it may become the catalyst that allows you to fight side by side once again."

Eve looked utterly bewildered.

"Is this another episode of 'Everyone Speaks in Cryptic Riddles'?"

Hoshino, however, chose not to press Kaiba any further.

After holding the pendant and thinking for a short while, she gently placed it into her pocket.

"I understand…"

The traces of a distant passage of time seemed to be engraved into the pendant itself.

It was light in her hand, yet somehow felt unbearably heavy.

"Even if you don't explain it, that's okay. I think I can more or less understand. You've worked hard these past few years, Kaiba."

Kaiba's eyebrow twitched almost imperceptibly.

He had never imagined that, after understanding the truth of what had happened, Hoshino would say those words to him:

"You've worked hard, Kaiba. After this whole incident is over, let's have another duel sometime."

Hoshino smiled.

"It's been a while, after all. Of course, we don't need to use the Duel Disk. Just a relaxed real-card duel between friends~"

"Hoshino…"

Kaiba was stunned for a moment.

Then he narrowed his eyes slightly and answered with evident satisfaction.

"Hmph. I'd be delighted."

"Without a Duel Disk, and unable to communicate with Duel Spirits, there's no way I'll lose to you."

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAH—!"

A faint, girlish voice let out a demonic dragon's roar.

The dragon girl, who had been buried beneath the scattered ice fragments, finally recovered from the shock of her defeat.

She jumped back out.

"You people! Don't forget about me!"

"She — she's still alive, Hoshino! What do we do?!"

Eve panicked.

"Isn't it normal for her to still be alive?"

Hoshino raised a hand and held Eve back, calming her down.

"Playing cards doesn't usually result in people dying, does it?"

Eve looked doubtful.

"But didn't several of the previous Kings, including that enormous King, completely disappear after they were defeated?"

"There are Kings that didn't disappear, too."

"Like the Dwarf King, and the Light King we Dueled back at the elves' place. They're both perfectly fine, aren't they?"

Even though Hoshino said this, she still hadn't figured out the underlying rule herself.

Why did some Kings disappear so completely after defeat, while others merely seemed to lose an ordinary duel and could still jump around in front of her afterward?

"I know what you're wondering about."

The dragon girl crawled out of the pile of ice and stretched lazily before explaining:

"The Kings that don't disappear after defeat simply haven't completely merged the concept of their own existence into King's Proof. In terms you humans would use… they're probably the type who don't care all that much about their own authority or status."

"Oh, you mean they're indifferent to fame and wealth?"

"Exactly, exactly!"

The dragon girl nodded.

"But the rulers who place enormous importance on the authority and status of being a king are different. Although they obtain greater power from King's Proof, when they are defeated, even the very concept of their own existence is erased along with it. In the human world, I suppose you could describe it like this… too much power will ultimately turn around and consume the person who wields it."

After hearing the dragon girl summarize it that way, Hoshino seemed to realize something.

The Kings that had disappeared completely after defeat had indeed all shared a similar attitude during their duels. They had been arrogant, looking down on everyone around them, while also possessing extraordinary confidence in the power they wielded as rulers of their respective races.

What surprised Hoshino even more, however, was the Ice King standing before her.

Since she hadn't disappeared, she should have belonged to the "indifferent to fame and status" category — the type who didn't particularly care about the power granted by King's Proof.

And yet, when it came to an actual duel, she had been more troublesome than any King Hoshino had fought before.

"Are you basically complimenting yourself here, or looking for a nice excuse for why you lost?"

"Hahaha, busted~! Yeah, there's a little bit of that."

The dragon girl glanced away, brushing the accusation aside.

"But more importantly, I made a promise, didn't I? If I arbitrarily lost and disappeared, wouldn't that mean I broke my promise~?"

"A promise?"

"Oh, right! You said that if I defeated you, you'd tell me the truth."

Hoshino suddenly remembered.

"So where's Kaiba?"

The dragon girl looked around.

But Kaiba was nowhere to be seen.

A disappointed expression appeared on her face.

"I see… so this is the choice he made."

"Why does it feel like all of you understand what's going on except me?"

Eve was completely bewildered.

Watching the three people in front of her exchange looks as though they all understood some unspoken secret, she felt as though her intelligence was being mercilessly crushed beneath their feet.

"Kaiba…"

"No, Seto Kaiba~"

The dragon girl's golden eyes turned into heart shapes as she gazed toward the sky with admiration.

"As expected of the Duelist I chose~ That self-willed attitude of his is simply irresistible~!"

"That's enough!"

The Kaiba who was actually present awkwardly interrupted the dragon girl's lovestruck behavior toward another version of himself.

"Explain everything already. We're short on time."

"Tch. What could you possibly be in such a hurry for? You don't even know anything."

The dragon girl simply sat cross-legged on the ice.

She didn't seem to mind her bare thighs coming into direct contact with the frozen surface at all.

Just looking at it made Hoshino's own thighs shiver in sympathy.

"Where should I start? It was ten thousand years ago, after all… let's start by explaining why the Nine Kings declared war on humanity."

"Why?"

Hoshino glanced at Kaiba and Eve before recalling what she had been told.

"Wasn't it because humanity recklessly obtained the power of Xyz Summoning, thereby attracting foreign enemies that didn't belong to this era?"

"Hahahaha! What kind of half-baked excuse is that?"

"And you actually believed it?"

The dragon girl laughed heartily.

"Why would the fact that you humans obtained Xyz power mean we had to destroy you?"

"We're kings who rule entire nations and races, you know. We're not that petty~"

"Huh? That wasn't the reason?"

"That's what the previous Kings told us."

"Oh, that's what the Lower Six Kings told you?"

The dragon girl waved dismissively.

"They don't know anything. They're just hired hands."

"H-Hired hands?"

Eve stammered.

It was the first time she had ever heard someone refer to kings ruling over entire races as "hired hands."

"Exactly. Although the Nine Kings are collectively known as the Nine Kings, there are actually clear differences in status among them. During the Divine War ten thousand years ago, those six Kings were on the losing side. A large portion of their authority and divine status was stripped away."

"Then…"

Eve pressed further.

"Are you saying that the remaining three Kings were the victors of the war ten thousand years ago?"

"No. I told you, the war isn't over yet."

"So there is no victor."

"If you absolutely have to put it one way… we simply haven't lost yet~"

"You haven't lost?"

Hoshino became curious.

"Then what exactly are you fighting?"

"We're fighting… Ragnarök."

The dragon girl's expression suddenly became serious.

"According to legend… beneath the roots of the World Tree Yggdrasil, there lives a poisonous dragon named 'Nidhogg' that constantly gnaws at the tree's roots. It continues biting away at them endlessly. Until one day, when it finally manages to sever the tree… Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods, will arrive. You've heard that legend before, haven't you?"

Hoshino nodded vigorously.

Ever since the World Tree had taken root, she had heard this legend more than once.

"That poisonous dragon… its true identity is actually the ninth King — Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity."

The dragon girl manipulated the magical energy at her fingertips.

Using ice as her medium, she carved a sculpture resembling the form of Jormungandr.

Eve stared in shock.

"You're saying the poisonous dragon that brings about the destruction of the world and heralds Ragnarök… is actually one of the Nine Kings?!"

Hoshino immediately understood.

"So the truth behind the war between the Nine Realms… was actually a war between the eight Kings and Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity?"

"Bingo! Correct~!"

The dragon girl condensed a small ice sign with a check mark on it and held it up approvingly.

"But because 'Ragnarök' is an existence akin to an unavoidable force marking the end of the world, even if the other eight Kings joined forces, they couldn't shake Jormungandr from its position. The flames of war continued for hundreds of years, locked in a stalemate. Between the burning earth and sky, everywhere you looked was a scene of devastation and suffering. At one point, we even thought… maybe this cruel world, where the flames of war treated living beings like blades of grass, was already the so-called Ragnarök — the end of everything."

The dragon girl tapped the ice sculpture of Jormungandr in front of her.

The shattered pieces of ice changed shape.

In her hands, they transformed into an exquisitely detailed ice sculpture of a girl, almost like a collectible figurine, glittering brilliantly beneath the sunlight.

["With a skill like that, could you make figurines forever? I'm so jealous!"]

The dragon girl continued explaining:

"So at this point, if this were a legendary fairy tale… the hero who saves the world should make their grand entrance!"

"I get it!"

Eve proudly raised her little hand.

Looking at the ice sculpture in the shape of a girl, she eagerly answered:

"The girl chosen by the Star Relics is that savior! She helps everyone defeat Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity and restores peace to the world! Right?"

"Mhm, very good~"

The dragon girl nodded approvingly.

"See? Hoshino, you really are the genuine savior chosen by the Star Relics."

"That old hag Hela, she was totally lying to us!"

Eve indignantly defended Hoshino.

"A savior, huh?"

Hoshino awkwardly scratched her head.

"Being suddenly praised this highly is kind of embarrassing. Hehe."

She had originally been prepared to become the great villain of this world.

Now she had suddenly been labeled its "savior."

The psychological whiplash was quite something.

And, of course, it was the good kind of whiplash — the kind where you go from the bottom all the way to the top.

It felt damn good.

"The girl chosen by the Star Relics became the savior who rescued the world… that would make a wonderful ending to a legendary tale, wouldn't it?"

A subtle smile appeared at the corner of the dragon girl's lips.

Then her slender fingers gently closed around the ice sculpture.

With the slightest bit of force, she crushed it to pieces.

"But the truth is… the girl chosen by the Star Relics stood on the side of Ragnarök. She became a demon who joined forces with Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity!"

The story had taken a complete reversal.

As she reached this point, the subtle smile that had previously lingered on the dragon girl's lips completely froze before disappearing.

"The power of Synchro instantly shattered the balance of the war that had lasted for hundreds of years. Of the eight Kings, all except myself and Utgarda were defeated without being able to put up the slightest resistance. Their authority and divine status were stripped away."

"..."

Hoshino awkwardly swallowed.

Only a moment ago, she had been secretly pleased at being called a savior.

Now that she knew the truth, she desperately wanted to throw away the few Star Relic cards she was carrying, pretend to be some completely uninvolved passerby who knew nothing about any of this, and quietly slip away.

She had prepared herself to become the world's great villain.

But she never imagined she would turn out to be this despicable.