"Sixteen years old and already at the peak of Archmagus… what kind of joke is that?!"
Yuui's shout of disbelief instantly drew Alicia's attention. The next moment, she too felt the overwhelming surge of power emanating from the arena below—so vast it almost made her breath catch.
To put it simply, Alicia's own magic power was like a tank of clear water, while the girl below possessed a lake.
The amount of magical energy directly affected a Duelist's performance—the greater one's magic power, the more Spirit Power they could channel, and the stronger their Spirit Power, the more seamlessly they could control their Deck.
That aside, what truly shocked Yuui wasn't that… it was the fact that Grand Princess Sera, at just sixteen years old, had already reached the peak of Archmagus-level magic.
To Yuui, fourteen-year-old Alicia becoming a Great Magician was already an unparalleled talent—one in tens of thousands. His goal was simply to help her reach Magus level before graduation, at which point she could become a professional card crafter.
In other words, his best expectation was for Alicia to reach Magus by sixteen.
But a sixteen-year-old Archmagus at peak level? That was absurd!
For a brief moment, Yuui felt as if the SR card he had painstakingly raised had suddenly encountered a one-in-a-thousand-years UR. Every one of the girl's stats outclassed his protégé's, leaving him—the mentor—feeling strangely inadequate.
"Hehe, impressive, isn't she?" Alice's cheerful laugh rang out again. Alicia, still stunned, murmured, "Her Highness the Grand Princess… is really at Archmagus peak?"
"That's right! Her Highness has already reached the pinnacle of Archmagus. At only sixteen, she stands atop the mortal realm, just one step away from crossing into the world's highest tier—the rank of Sage."
Alice gazed down at the dark princess below, eyes brimming with admiration and yearning—pure, untainted by any ulterior motive.
Alicia swallowed hard, her throat dry. After a moment's hesitation, she asked, "But why? How could Her Highness be that strong? She's only sixteen… no amount of training or Duels should make her this powerful! Is it because of the Dark Magician?"
"Ha! Of course not!"
Alice laughed again, her voice full of amusement. "Sera-sama's power has nothing to do with any Spirit—it's her own strength. The first time I met her, I was eight and she was ten. Even back then, she was already a Great Magician.
"And that was before she had formed any Spirit contract! It wasn't until she entered Saint Fusion Academy that she obtained her first Spirit. By that time, she had already reached Magus level.
"Now she's sixteen—no, fifteen, technically, and she's already at the peak of Archmagus, standing at the threshold of the Sage domain.
"It's precisely because of Sera-sama's strength that our faction chose to support her. We believe she will one day become the new Great Sage—and perhaps even surpass that title, becoming the strongest existence in the world.
"Think about it—if your future leader had the potential to become the world's strongest, maybe even reach the realm of the divine, wouldn't you want to follow her now? I can't speak for others, but I choose to follow Her Highness. I want to witness the brilliance of one who transcends the Sages. For us nobles who revere strength above all else, the Grand Princess's future is far too thrilling!"
Alicia looked at Alice's side profile and saw in her expression a pure, unshakable admiration for strength itself. It made her turn again toward the Grand Princess below.
At that age… with that level of power… perhaps her future truly was something to be admired.
On the field, after Sera unleashed her Archmagus-level magic, Arella stood frozen, even more shocked than Yuui had been earlier. "Archmagus peak?! That's impossible! How can you reach such a level at your age?!"
"Why would it be impossible?" Sera's cold, composed voice resonated through the field, carried on the force of her magic. The frost coating her body evaporated into mist as she gazed down, calm and indifferent.
"Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It only means your perspective is far too narrow."
Her gaze sharpened. "Now then, Arella Chris. Are you ready? Ready to face defeat?"
At those words, Arella's body tensed instinctively—a reaction she only had when facing a true life-or-death threat.
Could it be… would she actually die from this Duel?
The next instant, Grand Princess Sera drew a card from her golden Duel Disk. "My turn. Draw!"
She glanced at the drawn card, then raised another high. "First, I Normal Summon Skilled Dark Magician! Then I activate the Continuous Spell Card, Dark Magical Circle!"
[Skilled Dark Magician, ATK 1900]
A pillar of golden light shot upward. Above the field, a vast golden magic circle—ten meters wide—appeared, covering the entire arena.
"The effect of the Continuous Spell Card Dark Magical Circle: when this card is activated, look at the top three cards of your Deck. You can add one Dark Magician or a Spell/Trap that lists its name to your hand, then return the remaining cards to the top of your Deck in any order."
Sera drew three cards, selected one, returned the other two to the Deck, and revealed her choice. "I add the Spell Card Bond Between Teacher and Student to my hand! Then, at this moment, Skilled Dark Magician's effect activates!
"While this card is on the field, each time a Spell Card is activated, place one Spell Counter on it. Once it has three, I can Tribute it to Special Summon one Dark Magician from my hand, Deck, or Graveyard!"
[Skilled Dark Magician, ATK 1900, Spell Counters: 0 → 1]
"Three Spell Cards, huh?" Arella watched the black-robed, staff-wielding sorcerer and thought, "So she only needs to activate two more Spell Cards to summon Dark Magician. Unfortunately, since that was a Normal Summon, she can't use its effect yet."
"Next, I activate my second Spell Card—Pot of Greed—to draw two cards! And Skilled Dark Magician gains another Spell Counter!"
[Skilled Dark Magician, ATK 1900, Spell Counters: 1 → 2]
"Then I activate my third Spell Card—Ketu Dracotail!" Sera raised the green Spell Card high. A flash of light burst from it, forming a massive golden magic circle in the sky engraved with the twelve Zodiac constellations.
"Dracotail series!?" Yuui exclaimed from the stands.
"Yuui-san, is that card powerful?" Alicia asked at once when she saw his surprised expression.
"Uh… I don't actually know!"
"Eh!? Yuui-san, even you don't know what that card is?"
Normally, Yuui could answer most of Alicia's card-related questions… even if he hadn't used a card before, he usually knew something about it. But, today was the first time he was totally clueless.
"Yeah," Yuui replied, watching the golden magic circle in the sky with a complicated look. "I've only heard of the series, but I know nothing about the monsters, Spells, or Traps that belong to it."
He wasn't joking. Though thousands of years had passed, he still remembered the day he crossed into this world. Back then, the Dracotail series only existed as a rumor online, without any official details. All he knew was that it was based on the Zodiac constellations.
However, in the Yu-Gi-Oh! world, there were already several series inspired by the Zodiac, such as the famous Constellar Knights connected to the DT Planet storyline.
Could this new "Dracotail" series, also based on the Zodiac and appearing on the DT Planet, be related to the Constellars?
"Her Highness has gained a new power again!" Alice's eyes sparkled as she looked up at the constellation magic circle. "This means she'll be even stronger now! That's wonderful!"
Alicia glanced at Alice's shining eyes—their light was pure admiration for power, utterly devoid of jealousy.
On the field, Sera lifted her Spell Card and declared loudly, "The effect of the Spell Card Ketu Dracotail allows me to add 1 'Dracotail' monster from my Deck to my hand! I choose the Level 5 Dracotail Faimena!"
A card automatically ejected from Sera's Deck. As expected of a royal-grade golden Duel Disk, it retrieved the corresponding card on its own.
Sera drew it, and beside her appeared the projection of a blue-haired woman wearing a qipao-like outfit, glasses glinting coldly, and a dragon's tail swaying behind her.
[Dracotail Faimena] Level 5│WATER│Spellcaster│ATK 1300 / DEF 2500
The blue-haired dragon sorceress adjusted her glasses, her sharp gaze falling upon the two Windwitches across the field. "Sera, are those our opponents?"
"Indeed." Sera's expression matched her familiar's calm coldness. "Let's test this Vice President's strength with your power."
The dragon sorceress gave a small, confident nod.
Sera continued, "Ketu Dracotail's additional effect—if my opponent controls a monster, I can Fusion Summon 1 Dragon or Spellcaster Fusion Monster using monsters from my hand or field as material! I fuse the Dracotail Faimena in my hand with Dracotail Urgula! Fusion Materials: one 'Dracotail' monster plus one monster from my hand!"
The woman's chant and a lion's roar echoed in unison. The dragon sorceress mounted a crimson-gold lion with saber-like fangs and a long foxlike tail crowned with the sigil of Leo. Together, they soared into the zodiacal magic circle above.
"O sorceress of Aquarius! O lion of the stars! Under the light of the Zodiac, unite and become the draconic guardian of the Celestial Palace! Fusion Summon—descend, Dracotail Gulamel!"
"ROAR!!!"
A deafening roar shook the heavens. From the constellation array, a colossal lion's head emerged, its fangs shimmering blue and white like crystalline blades. Its royal blue eyes radiated the majesty of a true king.
Atop the lion's head appeared a goddess-like statue garbed in blue and white, her silken veil woven from the very stars themselves. Beneath her, two alabaster vessels engraved with the sigils of Aquarius glowed like divine claws.
The new guardian of the Zodiac—Dracotail Gulamel—descended!
[Dracotail Gulamel] Level 7│WIND│Spellcaster│2800 ATK
[Skilled Dark Magician, ATK 1900, Spell Counters: 2 → 3]
"Now, the final Spell Counter on Skilled Dark Magician is charged! But before I summon Dark Magician, I activate the effects of Faimena and Urgula, which were sent to the Graveyard as Fusion Materials!"
...
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