After being directly attacked by the demon of Infernoid, Nephilim's body halted, kneeling on the ground with its hands drooping, falling into a state of stupor. After a while, it finally slowly regained consciousness.
In this instant, it wondered if it, as a loser, would have its body taken away like Midrash did. However, it found that the existence that had taken Midrash's body and walked the world using its visage did not even glance at it, but instead cheerfully waved at that human warrior.
At this moment, she was proudly proving herself to Tenjo Hikari.
"So, Tenjo Hikari, the first duel, I easily defeated a powerful Spirit."
"Graceful Charity enhanced Pot of Greed, and furthermore, you forcibly drew the only four cards using Divine Power. Aren't you being too much?" said Tenjo Hikari, a bit speechless, as Tierra was weak, Nephilim couldn't really match her. Moreover, she completely suppressed Nephilim and used Divine Power to draw cards miraculously, certainly getting whatever she wanted, "Even so, you still made so many blunders, and were checking your card's effects on the spot."
Tenjo Hikari shook his head wildly.
More importantly, she shamelessly exaggerated her self-proclamation and display of miracles during the duel, doing so much that he even wanted to stand up for Nephilim.
Was it necessary?
"A duel of Gods should have the majesty of Gods, humans wouldn't understand," Tierra turned her head to say.
She wouldn't fuss over a clueless Spirit giving her a punch in a duel.
But this was indeed her first time experiencing a duel, so she truly didn't "hold back" much.
Not exactly in the duel itself—she was playing quite confusedly, relying on Tenjo Hikari's "plain and unadorned cards."
Because of the opponent, she appeared too over the top.
Just when she released her power, the entire dimension should have been influenced by it, and who knows what could happen afterward.
However, precisely because of this first duel, Tierra completely understood the underlying logic of the "Duel Ceremony."
Just like Tenjo Hikari said, she only needs to do what she wants.
A duel is the expression of the Duelist's ideology.
Even if she couldn't be resurrected, she actually could still showcase her authority through a duel.
To be honest, she was quite happy with this duel.
"You... who are you, really...?"
"Address me as [Your Grace]." Tierra turned towards Nephilim, "I don't need your power, nor will I take your life, but from today you will address me with respect."
Nephilim was silent for a long time.
It was a warrior of the Shaddoll Race.
One of Shaddoll's "Guards," as a warrior, although not the most excellent, it was already a relatively high-ranking warrior.
However, just now, it could clearly sense that its power and its opponent's power weren't on the same dimension.
Even facing their leader, it never had this feeling.
But aside from this, in the duel, the opponent seemed utterly clueless about how to duel, acting like a complete novice, even uncertain of her own card effects, and needed her partner's reminders.
In this world, the stronger the Spirit, the stronger the duel.
If it were a "God," naturally, it would be invincible.
This was its instinctive understanding.
However, after the duel ended, when it truly lost, when it was directly hit by Tierra's power, it faintly, truly felt a strange sensation.
As if its power genuinely originated from the opponent.
But this feeling was too vague, indistinct enough to make it seem like an illusion.
You have to know, the more advanced a duelist, the more sensitive they are to feelings, as a powerful duelist's intuition might change the course of a duel.
And capturing a momentary feeling, following it, is exactly a duelist's skill.
Could it be that the unknown existence on the opposite side really is...
A God?
Their God?
Not understanding, not knowing the truth, unable to imagine, but Nephilim instinctively bowed, addressing Tierra: "Your Grace."
A loss comes with a price.
If it won, it could indeed make Tierra change Midrash's visage, as agreed.
And losing, the opponent merely required it to address her respectfully, so it naturally wouldn't refuse.
"Alright then, go back home," Tierra snapped her fingers lightly.
Nephilim instinctively bowed again—even it didn't know why it did so.
After bowing, Nephilim's figure dissipated in this dimension, Tierra summoned Satan to retrieve the cards and said to Tenjo Hikari casually: "Here."
Tenjo Hikari took the cards and couldn't help but chuckle.
First time not dueling but gaining cards for free.
Quite delightful.
Nephilim's cards still contained the power of Light of Destruction, but now, having Nephilim's permission, they didn't need enhancement from Light of Destruction, and could be used.
Meanwhile, Tenjo Hikari picked up the book at his waist, opened it, and glanced at it.
OK.
The positioning towards Nephilim was also confirmed by Wanrong.
Now, it could slowly lock the position of the DT Spirit World.
By the way, he saw that Nephilim left behind a few other cards.
One Midrash, one Shaddoll Squamata.
Tenjo Hikari's eyes lit up.
Gained a Little Winda, that's quite nice, and Squamata is a strong lower-level card; overall, it was a gain.
Tierra felt great.
Not only because she won her first duel.
But because she finally discovered something she could do amidst "nothingness."
Although she found Tenjo Hikari and obtained the possibility of resurrection, and although everything seemed to progress in a direction favorable to her, she was actually always quite confused.
Indeed.
Even though she was always firm, Tierra was also confused.
She was bewildered by it.
She had no idea what to do in the resurrection process and after being resurrected.
In the past, when she was first resurrected, all she thought about was resetting the ecosystem, reconstructing everything, and recreating the world according to her own will.
This was her persistence.
But now——
Countless ages have passed.
Even "Spirits" have been born.
Perhaps, her planet might have even disappeared by now.
Even if she resurrected, even if she rebuilt life on her planet, what should she create?
She wasn't too sure.
Initially, she only thought about creating a mechanical Tenjo Hikari as "the first Adam" or something, but what about after that?
Gods need to progress.
Even a Goddess of Rebirth must understand the new era.
The new era belongs to duels.
Old notions need to be discarded.
"Duels are quite interesting, Tenjo Hikari." She grasped the Duel Disk, handing it back to Tenjo Hikari.
Vaguely, she held a sense of anticipation.
"Ha, really?" Tenjo Hikari listened, nodding slightly, then raised the Emerald Book, "If that's the case, you'll have plenty of opportunities in the future."