Chapter 761 - 761

"No, no, it wasn't me! I didn't do anything…"

Hoshino hurriedly waved her hands, trying to distance herself from the Star Relic Chosen One described by the dragon girl — the one who had immediately defected to the enemy.

"Why are you looking at me like I'm some kind of piece of garbage?"

Meanwhile, Eve looked as though her entire worldview had been shattered, her soul practically leaving her body.

After all, as the successor to the World Chalice Maiden, she had been taught from childhood that whenever the world fell into chaos and turmoil, the Maiden had to assist the one chosen by the Star Relics and restore the world to its proper state.

"So only you and Utgarda weren't stripped of your authority and divine status during that battle?"

Taking over from the guilty-looking Hoshino and the utterly bewildered Eve, Kaiba asked:

"The battle had originally been evenly matched and continued for hundreds of years. After the balance completely collapsed, you two still managed to survive?"

According to legend, when Ragnarök arrived, the World Tree would collapse and the world would be destroyed.

Yet ten thousand years later, the World Tree had neither collapsed nor been destroyed.

"Don't tell me Jormungandr spared your lives in the end? If Ragnarök were really only that weak, then this so-called war of yours would ultimately just be a joke."

"What a poisonous tongue you have, Faker!"

The dragon girl glared at Kaiba and raised her arm.

"I summon my fist to attack you directly!"

Her slender pink fist lightly tapped against Kaiba's chest.

It looked completely harmless.

Of course, it only looked harmless.

The girl's true form was that of a colossal Dragon. The moment that seemingly powerless little fist touched Kaiba's chest, the next instant, it sent his entire body flying.

If getting punched in the chest by those little fists was the norm, three punches would probably be enough to send someone straight to the grave.

"If Ragnarök were nothing more than a joke, we wouldn't have had to struggle this hard just to survive until today. Now then, I'll tell you the truth that even the other Kings don't know."

Without paying any attention to the Kaiba she had just sent flying, the dragon girl continued.

"After the Six Kings were defeated, Utgarda sacrificed all of his authority and divine status. He offered his own body as the price, together with the territories of the Giant Realm and the Dwarf Realm. Everything was condensed into a continent that separated heaven and earth, temporarily halting Jormungandr's advance. He sacrificed himself and two entire nations, turning them into a continent that divided heaven and earth…"

Hoshino was astonished.

"I thought Utgarda had been something like a moving continent from the very beginning."

That also explained why the Dwarf King had been so hostile toward Utgarda.

From the perspective of the Six Kings, who knew nothing of the truth, the Dwarf Realm ten thousand years ago had been destroyed because of Utgarda.

"Actually, King Utgarda looked pretty handsome originally."

The dragon girl stroked her chin as she recalled the past.

"If I had to describe him in human terms, he was the kind of charismatic middle-aged man who had a really strong presence. Although he's not my type."

The dragon girl continued:

"But even after transforming into a continent that separated heaven and earth, he still couldn't completely stop the combined assault of Jormungandr and the Star Relic Girl."

"However, the brief period of time Utgarda bought by staking everything he had became the final glimmer of hope for the world ten thousand years ago."

The dragon girl solemnly extended her hand.

This time, the ice sculpture she created carried genuine reverence.

"The world ten thousand years ago welcomed a true hero. A young man who could understand the voices of all Duel Spirits stepped forward. The Prince of Duel Spirits. Using the continent formed from Utgarda as its center, he divided the entire world into three."

"Divided the world into three?"

Hoshino had never heard anything like this before.

"The Prince divided the world according to the different forms of power manifested by Duel Spirits. The Fusion Summoning Dimension. The Xyz Summoning Dimension. And the Synchro Summoning Dimension. As for the dimension you live in, I don't need to explain that one in detail, do I?"

The Fusion Summoning Dimension was the world Hoshino inhabited.

Before Kaiba Corporation's had been rolled out, Fusion Summoning really had been the primary method of conducting Duels in this world.

"After the Spirit Prince divided the world into three dimensions, the original eight Star Relics were scattered as well. Two remained in the Xyz Dimension. Three flew to the Fusion Dimension where you live. And the final three, together with the girl chosen by the Star Relics, went to the Synchro Dimension."

So the three Star Relics that Eve's inherited legends claimed had been irreversibly destroyed during the war…

Had not actually been destroyed.

They had simply fallen into the distant Synchro Dimension.

"The girl chosen by the Star Relics was separated into the distant Synchro Dimension. Jormungandr remained here in our Xyz Dimension. And the Spirit Prince who divided the world was exiled to your Fusion Dimension."

Delicate ice flowers drifted down.

The dragon girl completed an ice sculpture depicting the Spirit Prince.

"AAAAAAAAH!! T-This, this, this! The Prince of Duel Spirits! Hoshino, this is…"

Eve became completely incoherent upon seeing the ice figurine in the dragon girl's hand.

She tremblingly grabbed Hoshino by the sleeve.

But at this moment, Hoshino was even more shocked than Eve.

"Jaden? Jaden Yuki… was the Prince of Duel Spirits?!"

There was no way Hoshino could mistake the ice sculpture in the dragon girl's hands.

That distinctive appearance —

No, more precisely, that unmistakable hairstyle —

Even if the sculpture had been smashed into dust, Hoshino would still have recognized him.

Though his clothes were different, the dragon girl's exquisite carving had perfectly captured that distinctive spiky, sea-urchin-like hair and that familiar face.

It was undoubtedly the Jaden Yuki that Hoshino knew.

"Hmm? You two know the Prince of Duel Spirits?"

The dragon girl looked curious.

"The Prince's identity was known only to myself and Utgarda. Unlike the others, whose authority came from their positions as rulers, his status was different. He was a soul loved by all Duel Spirits, regardless of race or nation. Even though he couldn't achieve the immortality of the Kings, his soul would continue to reincarnate under the protection of the Spirits."

"Knowing him is putting it mildly!"

Eve proudly answered for Hoshino.

"Hoshino is Jaden's teacher! His master!"

"The Prince of Duel Spirits you're talking about is Hoshino's student! What?! You actually took the Prince as your student?"

The dragon girl looked Hoshino up and down in disbelief.

"Blasphemy!"

"What do you mean, blasphemy?"

Hoshino immediately protested.

"Jaden was the one who asked me to become his teacher!"

But right now, Hoshino was more concerned about where Jaden himself was than about her own identity — or the ridiculous light-novel-like situation of "My Student Is the Prince of Duel Spirits."

No wonder Kagemaru had previously said that Jaden alone was capable of releasing the Spirit energy necessary to awaken the Three Sacred Beasts.

"Then how did the divided world stop Ragnarök?"

Hoshino asked.

"Although Jormungandr remained in the Xyz Dimension — our world — the Prince took away most of its power when he divided the world. And Utgarda sacrificed himself and transformed into the continent separating heaven and earth. Those two things allowed me to seal Jormungandr in my name as a King, successfully preventing Ragnarök from arriving."

"A seal completed in the name of a King, huh?"

Kaiba had returned after being blasted away by the dragon girl.

"So that's why you share the same name as the legendary poisonous dragon Nidhogg that gnawed at the roots of the World Tree."

"Mm."

"I abandoned my original name as the price for sealing the weakened Ragnarök — Jormungandr. I originally thought that after the world finally ended that brutal war, it would remain at peace…"

At this point, the dragon girl, who had been sitting cross-legged on the ice, slowly straightened her body.

Then, looking dejected, she simply fell backward onto the frozen ground.

"But I was still too naive. Even after Utgarda was sealed away, the wars over interests between the various nations never stopped throughout those ten thousand years. Now, for some reason, the Fusion Dimension and Xyz Dimension that the Prince had separated have forcibly merged together again. I'm already too tired to think about all those complicated issues."

["If the dragon girl doesn't even know about Super Polymerization, then she probably doesn't know about Supreme King Jaden either."]

The dragon girl raised her slender legs, lazily swinging them like a salted fish wagging its tail, then tilted her head toward Hoshino.

"So it has nothing to do with whether your world can use Xyz power or not. Can you understand now why, after you were chosen by the Star Relics, the World Kings launched their attacks against your world?"

In the eyes of the Nine Kings, Hoshino — the girl chosen by the Star Relics — was the absolute enemy who had once assisted Jormungandr.

That was precisely why Hela had desperately tried to stop Hoshino and regarded her as the culprit behind Ragnarök.

In her eyes, Hoshino obtaining the complete Star Relics would probably cause history from ten thousand years ago to repeat itself.

And yet, the truth was that history really had repeated itself, exactly as the dragon girl had described during their duel.

The flames of war that had continued into the present were no different from those of ten thousand years ago.

The girl chosen by the Star Relics, bearing the Star Relics herself, had used the demonic power of Infinite Synchro to instantly defeat the Six Kings.

And this time, it wasn't merely the Lower Six.

Even Utgarda, which had transformed itself into a continent to protect the world, had been defeated.

"But there's a contradiction here."

Kaiba frowned thoughtfully.

"If you hadn't taken the initiative to attack Hoshino, the girl chosen by the Star Relics, and launch an assault on our world… then the Kings wouldn't have been defeated one after another, and history from ten thousand years ago wouldn't have repeated itself."

"Exactly! You guys started it!"

Eve immediately agreed.

"If you hadn't picked a fight with us, Hoshino wouldn't have declared war on you even after being chosen by the Star Relics!"

This was the dimensional paradox.

If the Nine Kings hadn't launched their attack, Jaden's Supreme King personality as the Prince of Duel Spirits wouldn't have awakened, and the two dimensions wouldn't have been fused through Super Polymerization.

And if the dimensions hadn't merged, Hoshino would never have been able to collect the remaining Star Relics.

But there was no point dwelling on it now.

Everything seemed to have been calculated by some irresistible force.

From the moment the Star Relics chose Hoshino, the events of ten thousand years ago had already been destined to repeat themselves.

"But fortunately, the seal on Jormungandr still hasn't been broken."

"If you, Hoshino, have no intention of assisting Jormungandr, then perhaps the final Ragnarök won't come."

"What?! Then why did we have to fight all those battles before this?!"

Eve demanded.

"Do you even know what you're doing?! Hoshino would obviously never assist Jormungandr and bring about Ragnarök!"

"No."

Hoshino calmly stopped Eve from continuing.

"Eve, it's too late to say that now. Just give me the Star Relic — Star Shield first. Isn't that why we came here in the first place?"

"Mm… Star Shield?"

"Okay."

Eve nodded.

Her Maiden's magical power blossomed as she shrank the enormous Star Shield down into the shape of a Duel Monster card.

It landed on Hoshino's fingertips.

Hoshino placed the Star Shield card back into the card case at her waist and continued:

"Okay."

"There should only be one Star Relic left in this dimension now. Let's return to the academy, make some preparations, and then set out."

Eve looked somewhat troubled.

"Hoshino… I'm really touched that you respect my duty as a Maiden and have been so enthusiastic about collecting the Star Relics. But if we don't need to fight the Kings anymore, then we won't have any use for the power of the Star Relics, right?"

"No."

Hoshino shook her head.

Her gaze was unwavering.

"I'm going to obtain the final Star Relic. And then break the seal on Jormungandr."

"What did you say?! ×3"

The three of them spoke at once, unable to believe their ears.

"Hoshino, have you lost your mind?"

Eve was completely panicked.

"Why would you do that?! Didn't you just say that Jormungandr is the culprit responsible for bringing about Ragnarök?!"

The dragon girl's expression changed subtly as well.

"Could it be… even if you have no intention of doing it, once you obtain the Star Relics, your mind will be corrupted, and you'll be forced to lead this world toward its end?"

"Calm down, Hoshino."

Kaiba placed a hand on Hoshino's shoulder.

"I'm perfectly calm. And I haven't been corrupted by any Star Relic. This is my own decision."

Hoshino answered.

"I'm going to obtain the final Star Relic. And then break the seal on Jormungandr. That is what I'm going to do."

According to Da Vinci's theory, if they wanted to restore the world after the Super Fusion, there was only one option:

They had to prune one of the two worlds from history.

And what Hoshino intended to do was defeat all Nine Kings, sacrifice the other world, and restore her own world to its original state.

"If we don't break the seal on Jormungandr, then we won't be able to defeat all Nine Kings as originally planned."

"You intend to defeat Jormungandr?"

The dragon girl warned her seriously.

"Be realistic. That thing is the embodiment of the very concept of Ragnarök. It's a monster that even all eight Kings combined couldn't defeat. And after ten thousand years of accumulating power while sealed away, that thing has undoubtedly grown even stronger. Do you really think you can defeat it?"

The dragon girl wasn't exaggerating.

Anyone with eyes could tell that with Hoshino's current strength, she absolutely couldn't defeat Jormungandr.

After all, during their battles against Utgarda and the Ice King, Hoshino and the others had only barely managed to win by fighting two-on-one.

And back then, those two Kings, together with several others, had only barely been able to hold their own against Ragnarök.

"Sorry. But when it comes to breaking the seal, there's no room for negotiation."

At this point, even if this had never been Hoshino's intention from the beginning, the fate of this world had already been determined.

If Hoshino defeated Jormungandr, then the Xyz Dimension created by the Super Fusion would be pruned from history and brought to an end.

If Hoshino lost to Jormungandr, then the collapse of the World Tree would bring about Ragnarök and destroy the world.

Victory or defeat.

Either side led to destruction.

It was even crueler than the war ten thousand years ago.

It was almost as though the one chosen by the Star Relics was destined to become the person who had to destroy this world.