"The effect of Blazing Cartesia, the Virtuous—during this turn, if a Fusion Monster was sent to your own Graveyard, it can only be activated in the End Phase. Return this card in the Graveyard to the hand."
Cartesia returned "Blazing Cartesia" from the Graveyard to her hand, then continued her turn.
Turn.3
"My turn, draw."
After drawing a card from the Deck, she fell briefly silent.
The air grew awkward.
Youmi gave an embarrassed smile and asked, "Just to check… did you skip activating El Shaddoll Construct because you don't need to mill anymore, or because you've already run out of good targets?
"And besides, I'm already holding half of Albaz's disguises… where's your Albion the Branded Dragon? Standby Phase, I activate the effect of Dragonmaid Sheou. During your or my Standby Phase, I can Special Summon a Level 9 or lower Dragonmaid monster from my hand or Graveyard. I Special Summon Chamber Dragonmaid from my hand."
Little Black appeared on Youmi's field again to work overtime. And once more, the card Youmi added to his hand was "Dragonmaid Tidying".
Glancing sidelong at Youmi, Cartesia activated "Shaddoll Fusion".
"It's still Shaddoll Fusion, but this time it's different. When this card is activated while the opponent controls a monster Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, I can also use monsters from my Deck as Fusion Materials."
Youmi wasn't sure what Cartesia was aiming for, but since it was more Deck milling, he countered: "Then I'll use Dragonmaid Sheou's effect. When the opponent activates a Spell, Trap, or monster effect, I can negate that activation and destroy it. Return this card to its owner's Extra Deck, then Special Summon one House Dragonmaid from the Extra Deck."
The "Shaddoll Fusion" in Cartesia's hand shattered into countless fragments, scattering into her Duel Disk's Graveyard. Yet she showed no sign of unease, quietly flipping over her Set card.
"Normal Trap, Witch's Strike. If the opponent negates the Summon or Special Summon of a monster, or negates the activation of a Spell, Trap, or monster effect, I can activate this to destroy all cards in the opponent's hand and on their field."
Behind Cartesia appeared the silhouette of "Witch of the Black Forest". She raised her hand and fired a bolt of violet lightning toward Youmi.
Startled, Youmi covered his mouth and immediately flipped his Set cards to minimize losses: "Seriously, that card?! I chain to the effect of Witch's Strike and flip my Set Dragonmaid Tidying and Dragonmaid Hospitality—I return Chamber Dragonmaid and House Dragonmaid to my hand, and return your El Shaddoll Construct and your remaining Set card to your hand!"
Cartesia instantly flipped her Set card as well: "I chain and activate my Set Forbidden Lance. El Shaddoll Construct loses 800 Attack and is unaffected by other Spell and Trap effects for the rest of this turn."
[El Shaddoll Construct, ATK: 2800 → 2000]
"Huh? Forbidden Lance? If you had that card all along, then back when my Dragonmaid Lorpar attacked…" Youmi glanced at the now‑weakened Construct, then at Cartesia. "Don't tell me…"
"Didn't expect you to only now notice… If I didn't leave you even a sliver of hope, wouldn't it be far too boring, Youmi?"
A gentle smile appeared on Cartesia's face. "I know everything that's in your Deck, but you don't know what I can accomplish in this Spirit World when cooperating with 'them'. You always said that a one‑sided steamroll is dull, right? So I gave you a chance, that's all~"
Youmi stepped forward. "Even so, what I pursue isn't—"
Cutting him off, Cartesia replied, "What you pursue has nothing to do with me, does it? You've realized it by now, right? I'm not actually Blazing Cartesia, the Virtuous—I'm just possessing her form. Duels mean nothing to me. I only used this method so you would recognize my existence."
She Special Summoned "Blazing Cartesia, the Virtuous" from her hand and continued:
"You always sacrifice yourself, claiming something 'can't be left alone'. Always so selfless, always shining that warm light I adore yet despise. But did you ever consider that your actions might hurt someone?"
"I activate the effect of Blazing Cartesia, the Virtuous to fuse itself with El Shaddoll Construct, Fusion Summoning Granguignol the Dusk Dragon~"
The eerie, beautiful, and distinctly non‑dragonlike Granguignol materialized behind her, an undeniable sign that she hadn't merely been holding back… she had been throwing the entire match.
"And next, as you surely know~ When Granguignol is Fusion Summoned, I send a Level 6 or higher LIGHT or DARK monster from my Deck or Extra Deck to the Graveyard.
"And El Shaddoll Construct also has a Graveyard effect. When this card is sent to the Graveyard, I can target a Shaddoll Spell or Trap in my Graveyard and add it to my hand. I add back Shaddoll Fusion and send the DARK monster El Shaddoll Apkallone to the Graveyard, then activate its effect."
The signature Shaddoll graveyard chaining—this time fully enabled by Granguignol.
"The effect of El Shaddoll Apkallone is that it can only activate if this card is sent to the Graveyard. Add one Shaddoll card from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand, then choose one card in your hand and discard it.
"I add one El Shaddoll Fusion, discard Naelshaddoll Ariel, and activate this kid's effect to banish your Dragonmaid Tidying, Dragonmaid Downtime, and Dragonmaid Lorpar~"
Watching from behind Youmi, Parlor looked absolutely grim as she turned to the equally pale Chamber and said, "Hey, this is really bad, right? Your sweetheart's ex-girlfriend is absurdly strong, okay? Should we just interrupt the Duel right now and take her away?"
Chamber Dragonmaid shook her head and said, "I don't really know why, but I get the feeling that it'd actually be better for Youmi to lose here. One, the opponent is indeed overwhelmingly strong. Two... honestly, even though that woman looks downright deranged, I don't think she'd actually hurt her."
"To be honest, there's no longer any need for this fight, is there? Come with me. I and him are waiting for you. Come back to us, Youmi~ You used to—"
Drawing the Deck out from the Duel Disk, the Duelist from another world, using the appearance of [Blazing Cartesia, the Virtuous], voluntarily forfeited the Duel and walked up to Youmi. As if knowing her habit, she extended her left hand.
"If you're saying that, I think I know who that kid who became [Aluber] is. But you—"
Youmi tapped her left hand lightly against the other's palm, gritted her teeth, and pulled her hand back.
"I'm still absolutely certain that there's no such person as you in my memories! If I really forgot you for some reason, I would apologize. But please don't lie to me using my past. I've already given almost all of my life back then to him. There shouldn't be any place for you. So—"
Pointing her left hand at the white-haired girl's face, Youmi asked with a stern expression, "Who are you?"
The white-haired girl stared at her own palm, still faintly holding Youmi's warmth. She looked like she wanted to say something, but shook her head and held it back.
"Hahahaha, I'm so happy... knowing that you're staying here by your own will. It'd be even better if you weren't still fighting for other people, but I'm still happy…" Two clear tears brimmed in her eyes and slid down her cheeks. "But... that's too cruel I'm the one who's been with you the longest, so let me have a little revenge"
A tangible red-black power enveloped her body, and behind her appeared three figures in red, yellow, and blue.
Compared to the other Dragonmaids, the far more experienced House Dragonmaid pushed up her glasses and said with a serious face, "Those are the Sacred Beasts... Has she obtained her power by making a pact with the Sacred Beasts?!"
Thinking of everything Aluber had done during this time, Youmi shouted, "The Sacred Beasts... don't tell me you joined, or even replaced, the Seven Stars?! What you're trying to do is—"
"Since you exist in this world, you'll unconsciously forget yourself and fight for others. Then I'll just turn this world, and every world you're going to travel to afterward, upside down~ Doesn't that sound fun?"
Standing atop the gradually materializing Granguignol the Dusk Dragon, she said, "To achieve that goal, to bring you back to us, we'll stop at nothing~"
Youmi leapt forward, trying to use her dragon power to jump to her side, but Granguignol swatted her away: "Tch! Hold on! Aluber—no, Yuki would never do something like that!"
A pair of red eyes glinted with a chilling ferocity. She let out a cold laugh and said, "And what makes you so sure? Because your template is well-made? Because you spent almost your entire life taking care of him? Haha, don't overestimate yourself. You don't understand him at all, nor do you understand yourself. But it's annoying to keep saying 'you', so just call me 'Miyo'~"
The Duelist, calling herself Miyo, raised her hand. Granguignol, as if understanding its master's will, grabbed the unconscious Eldlich and the Laundry Dragonmaid clinging to him.
"This guy is one of mine after all, so I'll be taking him. As for this little one... taking her along seems like it could be fun, right? There's still some time before the Sacred Beasts fully awaken. We'll meet again then~"
A massive Spirit World gate opened behind Granguignol the Dusk Dragon, and Miyo stepped through it with them.
Worried for Little Blue with unanswered questions, Youmi and one of the Dragonmaids hurriedly dashed in after them.
...
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