"Tower Wardens" are a unique role found only in the West.
Calling it a "role" may be inaccurate, since there's no pay at all—it's a tradition steeped in religious mystery.
There are no fixed requirements to be a Tower Warden. In the villages around the obelisk tower, every villager is a Tower Warden. From eighty-year-old elders to three-year-old children, all bear that title.
It's been passed down for generations; everyone's long since used to it.
The Tower Wardens' daily work is simply to clean the obelisk tower in the Gobi Desert at fixed times—swept by wind and sun. Split across every family and every person, it isn't a heavy burden.
The only real shackle is that Tower Wardens may not leave the village.
No matter how poor the undeveloped western region is, no matter how scarce the supplies, once you bear the duty of guarding the obelisk tower, the priest-teachers will not allow Tower Wardens to leave.
There is, of course, one exception: if a villager awakens as a Duelist. Only Duelists are permitted to leave the village.
The boy—long accustomed to this life—did the same as everyone else, going at intervals to wipe the dust from the obelisk's surface.
Yet each time he touched the tower, he was shaken anew by the mysterious inscriptions carved into its face.
That magnificent stele of the obelisk seemed utterly out of place amid the surrounding wasteland—like something not of this world.
"Grandpa, why do we have to guard the obelisk tower generation after generation? Is there some purpose?"
At ten years old, the boy finally voiced his doubt.
The village chief—his grandfather—smiled kindly, narrowing his eyes as his withered palm ruffled the boy's hair.
"Guarding the obelisk is guarding our god. Legend says the soul of Obelisk the Tormentor, the earth god, resides within the obelisk tower."
"Obelisk the Tormentor? When will he descend?"
"Only the strongest Duelist can awaken the god. Do your duty and wait patiently—for the Duelist whom the god acknowledges to be born."
"Only the strongest Duelist can awaken a god… If only I could be a Duelist too."
…
"Aaaaaargh!"
Having just been punched by Mokey Mokey last turn, Arnold—barely back on his feet—was sent flying again by the four Mokey Mokeys in concert.
"Damn it—how is this fair?!"
He could stand being knocked around himself, but the killer was this: the breakthrough board he'd built for Gaia the Dragon Champion with every resource he had was wiped out by four squares of tofu like it was nothing.
Lishia, his childhood friend, parted her lips: "Arnold's getting completely shut down… this is my first time seeing it. So this is Aisha-senpai's strength?"
"Charge, Mokey! Go, go, Aisha!" Princess Nova pumped both fists. "Let them witness the might of a Royal Knight!"
Miles said, "That's about enough, Arnold. This Duel's already decided."
As terrifying as the final push off Spiral Fusion was, it also emptied Arnold's resources.
Having that supposed finishing field wiped by four Mokeys was a devastating blow.
"You're a noisy senpai… The Duel isn't over yet. Until my Life Points hit zero, I haven't lost!"
"Hm?" Watching Arnold get blown back again and again only to rise once more, his unwavering eyes drew praise from Miles. "Not bad. Good eyes, Arnold."
Aisha frowned, "Don't flirt… please, I'm begging you, stop."
He'd been flustered—didn't expect praise from his opponent, especially after he'd spoken so rudely. The upperclassman's virtue-for-resentment attitude flushed Arnold's dark cheeks a faint red.
"I get it now—that effortless composure of the Academy's strongest. Anyways, too bad—for reasons beyond my control, I have to become the strongest too. So Aisha-senpai, I won't give up until the very end!"
He thrust his arm up; the Spirit Eyes on his arm flashed as he flipped his final face-down.
"I activate my Set Trap—[Spiral Reborn]!"
[[Spiral Reborn] Trap Effect: Target 1 Level 7 or lower Dragon monster in your GY; Special Summon it. If you Special Summoned a 'Gaia the Dragon Champion' with this effect, it cannot be targeted or destroyed by your opponent's card effects.]
A revival tailored for Gaia: soaring once more from Arnold's GY, the Dragon Champion took to the sky.
"This is the revival I stake my last chance on—Sky Galloping Dragon Champion! Gaia—!!"
[Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion, ATK: 2600]
Special Summoned during the Battle Phase, the Dragon Champion could still lower its lance and charge.
"Attack target—Mokey Mokey Adrift! 'Sky Galloping Spiral Spear Strike!!'"
"Oh? You're targeting the Mokey with an Equip?" The stall owner—fully in commentator mode—narrated eagerly. "With only 2600 ATK, how will he bridge the Level gap? What's he planning—?!"
"Effect of [Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion], activate!"
[When this card declares an attack on an opponent's monster: Change that opponent's monster to Defense Position.]
It can forcibly change the attacked monster's battle position at declaration—and [Amulet of Ambition] only boosts Attack.
Pressed by the champion's lance-wind, Mokey was blown into Defense Position.
[Mokey Mokey Adrift, DEF: 100]
The lance pierced through—skewering the tofu like a kabob and shattering it.
"While [Spiral Spear Strike] is on my field, when the Dragon Champion attacks a Defense Position monster, you take piercing damage equal to the excess of my ATK over its DEF!"
[Aisha Carlos, LP: 4000 → 1500]
With piercing, Miles took a heavy hit. Arnold's counterstrike from the brink seemed to tip the scale back a little.
"Still, it's not enough!" The stall owner was breathless. "When [Amulet of Ambition] is destroyed, it returns to the top of the Deck. Next turn, Aisha Carlos can re-equip it to a Mokey and kill the Dragon Champion!"
Ren side-eyed him. "Why are you so knowledgeable, boss? Even I didn't know it put itself back on top."
Miles still had three Mokeys on the field—and the destroyed [Amulet of Ambition] could recycle. One Dragon Champion wouldn't hold.
Arnold knew that perfectly well.
Despite that, he couldn't give up.
He didn't know how much time the obelisk tower had left for him.
That's why he'd rushed to challenge the Academy's upperclassmen.
Now he stood one card away from the strongest. If he quit here, he'd regret it for life.
"I bet it all on this draw—[Spiral Spear Strike]'s last effect!"
[If your "Gaia the Dragon Champion" inflicts battle damage to your opponent: Draw 2 cards, then discard 1 card.]
From these two draws, he had to find a way to stop the Mokeys.
"Draw!"
The two cards were [Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight] and a Spell.
"This one!"
He pitched Swift Gaia without hesitation and kept the Spell—his sword of hope.
"I activate the Continuous Spell—[Swords of Revealing Light]!"
[Flip all monsters your opponent controls face-up. This card remains on the field for 3 of your opponent's turns. While this card is on the field, your opponent's monsters cannot declare an attack.]
With the Spell's activation, countless sealing blades of light pinned down Miles's field, trapping the three Mokeys—each with a question mark hovering overhead.
Aisha's eyes widened slightly, "Swords of Revealing Light? Can a first-year really pull a card like that?"
Before enrollment, without access to the Magic Directory, Spells could only be refined at random.
So it made sense Arnold had [Spiral Fusion], which synergized with his summons.
However, [Swords of Revealing Light] was a B-rarity staple. For a brand-new freshman, that kind of Spell/Trap power was well above rate.
With Swords stopping attacks, Miles's monsters couldn't swing for three of his turns.
Arnold, on the other hand, could keep piercing through Mokey with the Dragon Champion—potentially lethal.
"I've won!" His teeth clenched, Arnold's fingers trembled from the top-deck high.
"Even against Fusion Academy's strongest, I can win. Grandpa—I'll reach it, that realm!"
"Only the strongest Duelist can awaken a god."
"I end my turn."
Bathed in the Swords' glow, Arnold ended his turn, already feeling he'd grasped victory in this duel of the strongest—and the godly card beyond that realm.
"So this is your resolve? I feel it—strongly."
"What?"
Yet just as Arnold convinced himself he'd won, the white-haired girl standing amid the blades of light spoke with calm confidence, sending a shiver through him.
How could she be so composed? Why had he ever thought she looked dim?
Was he wrong?
In a Duel, it was as if she became someone else. Those jade-green eyes were unfathomable.
"Since you've brought your will to win and challenged me, I have to answer with my strongest. That's respect for the Duel."
"Answer… with your strongest?"
The girl's pale fingertip pressed to the Deck in her Spirit Eyes. In that instant, Arnold felt as if a flicker of flame leaked from the card back at her touch.
"Wait—that card—isn't it [Amulet of Ambition]?" Arnold protested.
Last turn, with Mokey destroyed, if Miles wanted to beat the Dragon Champion's Attack, he should have recycled [Amulet of Ambition] to the top of the Deck.
"I never said I'd use the recycle effect. Which means this draw is fresh. My turn—draw!"
"—!"
Arnold staggered back three steps. He'd never felt a draw with such oppressive force.
Even with the field sealed by [Swords of Revealing Light], the power in that card seemed to reach him through the blades.
"What kind of card is that…"
He watched Miles' draw like a hawk—but Miles played a different Spell first.
"I activate the Spell [Triangle Power]!"
[ Increase the original ATK/DEF of all Level 1 Normal Monsters you control (except Tokens) by 2000. During the End Phase, destroy all Level 1 Normal Monsters you control.]
"Thanks to [Triangle Power], my three Level 1 Mokeys each gain 2000 ATK!"
[Mokey Mokey, ATK: 300 → 2300] ×3
Three tofu cubes aligned in a triangle, tiny wings flapping as light linked between them—their Attack skyrocketed to numbers no Level 1 should have.
"2300 Attack?" Arnold forced his voice steady. "Even so, under [Swords of Revealing Light], they can't attack—so it's meaningless!"
"The Swords can't stop this one thing. Watch—the strongest card."
Miles raised the card he'd drawn. Golden flame spilled from it, radiating outward, engulfing the field and surging skyward.
The three Mokeys on the field were wrapped in the fire—offered as Tribute for an upgraded summon.
"I Tribute my three Mokeys for an Advance Summon!"
Arnold's eyes widened. "A three-tribute summon? Then—that must be…!"
As the card's flames burst forth, Miles chanted:
"O spirit's hymn, primeval power that governs all things! Thy life, thy soul, and even thy bones! When sky and earth meet, the sun shall light this world! Descend, The Winged Dragon of Ra!"
[The Winged Dragon of Ra] Level 10│DIVINE│Divine-Beast│? ATK/? DEF
The god's unique Attribute and Type proclaimed it the strongest card of all.
Aisha's head was bombarded with questions, "Mr. Miles… this is just a Duel with a freshman, and you're summoning Ra? Isn't that a bit much?"
Miles said confidently, "Aisha, do you believe in fate? It's not that I chose to summon Ra. It's that the Winged Dragon of Ra chose to display its divine majesty in this Duel."
Arnold—a common-born Duelist from the West—might well be closely tied to a God Card.
From a solar sphere, its form shifted into a wing-spread avian. The god's advent left all present in awe.
"So this is the card you and Aisha hold… The Winged Dragon of Ra."
During the capital battle, Ren had blacked out before the final god-summon; this was her first time witnessing Ra's descent with her own eyes.
The pancake boss, jaw slack, had never dared dream that a routine day flipping pancakes would let him witness a god.
And none were more shocked than the two freshmen—Lishia and Arnold.
Lishia muttered, "Aisha-senpai is really someone who can bring down a god from legend?"
Arnold was utterly dumbstruck, "This is also a god? The Winged Dragon of Ra… So beyond Obelisk, there truly exists another god—and a Duelist who can command it!"
He remembered his grandfather's words at the obelisk tower: only the strongest can awaken a god. It was the path Arnold pursued.
And the girl before him—the Academy's strongest—had already reached that realm.
Was the world simply that vast? Or was this senpai just too strong?
Miles pointed at Ra and declared its effect: "The Winged Dragon of Ra's Attack equals the total Attack of the three Tributed monsters!"
With three Mokeys as Tribute, Ra would normally have only 900 ATK.
But [Triangle Power] had increased their original ATK by 2000.
2300 × 3 = 6900!
[The Winged Dragon of Ra, ATK: ? → 6900]
Drawing on the Mokeys' power, the massive half-mechanical golden body blazed. The Swords could not restrain what Ra was about to unleash.
"Ra is affected only by Spell effects activated this turn. Since [Swords of Revealing Light] was activated last turn, it cannot bind a god!"
Ignoring the blades, Ra spread its wings, raised its proud head, and gathered a blazing divine strike.
"Target—Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion! Let the god-flame burn the heavens—Ra!"
With 6900 ATK, Ra crashed down—Absolute force.
"Divine Blaze—Cannon!!"
The gap between a Normal Monster and a god was too vast. There was no resistance. The sun's verdict pierced the Swords and consumed the champion.
"Aaaaaaaaaah!"
[Arnold, LP: 3000 → 0]
His remaining Life Points vanished in an instant. Defeat without suspense revealed a chasm he could not cross.
Before Arnold's eyes, the senpai bathed in the god's wings shone like a deity herself.
"So strong… so cool… This is Fusion Academy's strongest—Aisha-senpai!"
...
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