"(???) So fast, so fast! We're going so fast, Mr. Miles!"
For the first time, Aisha couldn't hold back her excitement as she felt the roaring velocity of the D-Wheel, shouting out the instant they drifted perfectly around a curve.
"I can feel it too—we're faster."
Compared to yesterday's duel when Ren was the one riding, this time the D-Wheel's cornering acceleration was clearly higher.
Had his driving skills improved overnight after last night's Turbo Duel?
No, Miles was honest with himself.
He might have gotten better at dueling; albeit bike handling wasn't something that improved in a single day.
That meant there was only one explanation for the increased acceleration…
The body was different.
"Aisha, you're lighter than I expected."
"(?◇?) Mr. Miles, why are you suddenly saying that?"
"Because you're so light, don't get thrown off later!"
Of course, that last part was something Miles muttered to himself… since he was the one actually piloting the D-Wheel.
He glanced down at the six-card opening hand stored in the D-Wheel's crystal slot and decisively slammed one card onto the speeding track.
"I Normal Summon in Defense Position! Enter the field at full speed—Mokey Mokey!"
[Mokey Mokey] Level 1│LIGHT│Fairy│300 ATK / 100 DEF
The little tofu-block fairy materialized amid high-speed light, its tiny angel wings flapping frantically to keep up with Miles's D-Wheel.
-_-?
"..."
The heated atmosphere of the entire racetrack abruptly cooled into silence.
The expressions of the audience staring at the floating Mokey Mokey were probably not much different from the monster's own.
"What… what is that monster?"
"Wasn't this supposed to be an inter-academy level event?"
"Even a first-year Turbo Duel wouldn't use something like that. Can that thing even charge mana?"
"Refund!"
It was the same reaction as when he had first dueled Lost. If a duel's quality wasn't high enough, the efficiency of mana recharge for magic stones would drop sharply.
That might've been fine for free street duels; however, these spectators had paid for tickets—naturally, their standards were higher.
"Ugh, these people don't understand anything!" Ren fumed. "If this were Fusion Academy, that would've been cheers instead!"
After all, in Fusion Academy, Mokey Mokey had long since become an almost cult-like symbol of power.
Being booed at the start didn't bother Miles at all.
Like he'd said before—no matter how many people were watching, it wouldn't change the purity of the duel itself. And since most of the audience was here for mana energy, Miles had already expected that kind of reaction.
Unhurriedly, he drew three more cards from the D-Wheel's slot and slapped them onto the racetrack.
"I Set three cards. Turn end. Your move, Krista!"
"Oh? So that's your opening, Aisha Carlos."
Beneath her helmet, Krista raised an eyebrow slightly. Even for Synchron Academy, which focused on Synchro strategies, it was rare to see someone end their turn after summoning a single low-level monster.
Even though, before this duel began, Krista had already heard from Lost about the peculiar nature of Aisha's Deck.
So despite the crowd's jeers, she didn't underestimate the Mokey Mokey.
"My turn, draw!"
Krista Shia, taking the second turn, drew her card in one smooth motion as light flashed from her Spirit Eyes.
[Krista SPC: 0 → 1]
[Aisha Carlos SPC: 0 → 1]
As the Turbo Duel under Speed World advanced, both duelists' Speed Counters increased during the Standby Phase, and their D-Wheels accelerated even further.
"I activate the effect of [Level Warrior] in my hand!"
[If neither player controls a monster, you can 'Normal Summon' this card as a Level 2 monster. If your opponent controls a monster and you control none, you can Special Summon this card from your hand as a Level 4 monster.]
"Since you control Mokey Mokey and I control none, I Special Summon [Level Warrior] as a Level 4 monster from my hand!"
[Level Warrior] Level 4│LIGHT│Warrior│300 ATK / 600 DEF
A red-armored fighter with a star-shaped helmet appeared, sprinting onto the track like a tokusatsu hero.
"Then I Normal Summon [Shiba-Warrior Taro] in Attack Position!"
[Shiba-Warrior Taro] Level 2│EARTH│Beast-Warrior / Tuner│800 ATK / 600 DEF
[This card cannot be destroyed by battle.]
The small Shiba Inu-like warrior bounded forward on all fours, racing alongside its partner.
With one human and one dog—Tuner and non-Tuner—Krista's field roared with the power of Synchro energy.
"Let the light of Stardust carve the path between us in this battle of destiny, Carlos!" Krista declared, thrusting her hand forward.
"I tune my Level 2 [Shiba-Warrior Taro] with my Level 4 [Level Warrior]!"
Bathed in starlight, the Tuner transformed into a glowing ring that pierced through Level Warrior's body.
2★ + 4★ = 6★!
"The stardust that adorns the heavens—take form as the warrior who breaks through every wall of the Speed World! Synchro Summon! [Stardust Charge Warrior]!"
[Stardust Charge Warrior] Level 6│WIND│Warrior│Synchro│2000 ATK / 1300 DEF
[Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters]
A warrior clad in glittering stardust armor burst forth from the Synchro light, racing across the Speed World's track.
Aisha gasped, "A Stardust warrior? So Krista's monster is a 'Stardust' too! No wonder she said earlier we'd see which Stardust shines brighter."
Krista raised her arm while riding, announcing her monster's effect.
"When [Stardust Charge Warrior] is Synchro Summoned, its effect activates!"
[When this card is Synchro Summoned: Draw 1 card.]
"Riding the winds of Stardust, I draw one more card! Doro!"
A new card slid into her hand. Krista's violet-blue eyes flicked toward its face—and gleamed.
"It's here… then, I activate a Speed Spell!"
"Already using a Speed Spell?"
It was only the first turn for the second player—both duelists had just one Speed Counter. The number of possible Speed Spells was still very limited.
Yet Krista's long fingers flicked the freshly drawn card onto the track.
"No matter the timing—in a Turbo Duel, speed itself is a duelist's magic! I activate [Speed Spell - Sonic Break]!"
[Activate when you have 1 or more Speed Counters. Target 1 Defense Position monster on the field; change it to face-up Attack Position.]
"With Sonic Break's effect, I change your Mokey Mokey from Defense Position to Attack Position!"
Harnessing her accumulated speed as magical energy, the floating tofu-block fairy was struck by a sudden burst of shockwave, flipping upright midair.
[Mokey Mokey, ATK: 300]
"With your Defense broken, you'll take the full damage from this battle, Carlos!"
Having shattered Miles's defense, Krista revved her D-Wheel's engine, declaring her attack phase.
"Destroy the Attack Position, Mokey Mokey! Go, Stardust Charge Warrior—Starlight Slash!"
"At the moment of your attack declaration, I activate my Set Trap!"
Facing the incoming blade of starlight, Miles flipped one of his face-down cards—bringing two more Mokey Mokeys to the field beside the first.
"Trap Card, [The League of Uniform Nomenclature]! Targeting Mokey Mokey, I Special Summon two more copies from my Deck in Defense Position!"
[Mokey Mokey, DEF: 100] ×2
The two additional Mokey Mokeys formed what looked like a completely defenseless tofu wall behind Miles.
Accelerating her D-Wheel, Krista said firmly, "You can't block Stardust's brilliance with a tactic like that! Continue the attack, Stardust Charge Warrior!"
With another attack declaration, the Stardust Warrior's shining blade easily sliced through the attacking Mokey Mokey's body.
[Aisha Carlos, LP: 4000 → 2300]
The impact of the Turbo Duel's damage violently shook the D-Wheel, forcing Miles to steady his balance as his speed dipped a bit.
"Now I'm faster, Carlos!"
Using the momentum from battle, Krista revved her D-Wheel's engine, speeding past Miles and seizing the lead.
But even after overtaking him, Krista had no intention of slowing down.
"Let this speed become my fighting spirit! Let Stardust's radiance shine across the entire circuit! [Stardust Charge Warrior]'s effect!"
[This card can attack all Special Summoned monsters your opponent controls, once each.]
"Since you still have two Special Summoned Mokey Mokeys on your field, Stardust Charge Warrior can keep attacking! Be wiped out in this light of Stardust—Starlight Chain Slash!"
Together with Krista, the Stardust Warrior surged ahead and slashed twice more, destroying the two Mokey Mokeys Special Summoned by the Trap Card.
"Ohhhh, incredible, Krista!"
"As expected from our star duelist!"
"Suddenly, the ticket feels worth every cent."
The triple assault from Krista's Synchro monster reignited the crowd's passion. The energy generated from the Turbo Duel rippled outward from the racetrack.
Lishia said worriedly, "A multi-attack effect that hits all monsters… Aisha-senpai, that completely counters her strategy, doesn't it?"
On the XYZ Academy side, Leon's expression turned grim. "Even if the D-Wheel's performance is good, the duelist herself is still only at the level of a second-year student from the bottom-ranked academy."
Having finished her Battle Phase, Krista threw a card from her hand onto the track.
"I told you already—a strategy like that doesn't work against Stardust Warriors. You were careless, Carlos. I Set one card and end my turn!"
"Careless?" Miles, riding just behind her, smiled mysteriously as Krista declared the end of her turn.
"Is that what you think, Krista? Then allow me to show you the truth."
"The truth?" Krista's pupils instinctively tightened.
"Those three Mokey Mokeys… I let you destroy them on purpose! For this!"
As the high-speed duel entered the End Phase, Miles raised his hand and flipped over his second face-down Trap Card.
It was a Continuous Trap overflowing with Mokey Mokeys.
"During your End Phase, I activate the Continuous Trap [Human-Wave Tactics]!"
[At the end of each turn, Special Summon Level 2 or lower Normal Monsters from your Deck equal to the number of Level 2 or lower Normal Monsters you had destroyed by battle that turn.]
"Since three Mokey Mokeys were destroyed this turn, I can use [Human-Wave Tactics] to Special Summon three Level 2 or lower Normal Monsters from my Deck!"
He had deliberately allowed the Stardust Charge Warrior to destroy all three Mokey Mokeys, just so he could replace them with three new monsters from his Deck.
"Let the will of Mokey Mokey be carried on! Triple Special Summon!"
Three beams of light shot out from Miles's Deck, manifesting on the rapidly shifting racetrack.
"Level 2 [Crowned by the World Chalice], Level 1 [Flamvell Guard], Level 1 [White Duston]—triple Special Summon!"
All were Level 2 or lower Normal Monsters, but one of them was critical—the Level 1 [Flamvell Guard], a Normal Monster that was also a Tuner.
Its simplicity made it one of the easiest Tuner Monsters to bring out from Aisha's Deck.
"Aisha Carlos… what are you planning?"
Despite that, what shocked Krista most wasn't the mass summoning itself… it was how Miles had summoned them.
[Crowned by the World Chalice, ATK: 0]
[White Duston, ATK: 0]
[Flamvell Guard, ATK: 100]
Though weak in Attack, all three monsters had considerable Defense. Both Crowned by the World Chalice and Flamvell Guard had Defense values over 2000—high enough that even Stardust Charge Warrior would struggle to break through.
Albeit Miles had Special Summoned all three in Attack Position.
Combined, their total Attack was only 100 points.
"Now I'll show you—the new way low-level monsters fight!"
Miles flipped his final face-down card.
Before everyone's astonished eyes, the entire Speed World seemed to invert.
Heaven became earth, and earth became sky—the two speeding D-Wheels looked as if they were racing upside down through the heavens.
"Trap Card, [Inverse Universe], activate!"
[Switch the ATK and DEF of all face-up Effect Monsters on the field.]
...
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