The conclusion of the Turbo Duel overturned everyone's expectations.
In the first inter-academy Turbo Duel of the exchange program, Synchron Academy was defeated by Fusion Academy—the school known primarily for Fusion Summoning—across every field: riding skill, Synchro Summoning, and even Accel Synchro.
"Aisha Carlos… what's her deal?"
"She used the same Stardust, but she's stronger than Krista Shia!"
"Is she really a student from Fusion Academy?!"
Krista Shia, the Axet Republic's star Turbo Duelist, had been defeated in a Synchro-based Turbo Duel.
Such a result left many of Krista's fans unable to accept it.
Yet Aisha Carlos's strength in this match was undeniable.
To perform an Accel Synchro on her first Turbo Duel… that alone was a miracle. Synchron Academy's own Duel Instructor, Takehiko Izumi, could no longer contain his excitement.
Aisha Yuna Carlos of Fusion Academy—only a second-year student… and yet already so accomplished in Synchro Summoning.
She had even followed Krista's lead, successfully performing the Accel Synchro of [Stardust Chronicle Spark Dragon].
A genius?
No… this level was beyond genius.
She possessed an extraordinary talent seemingly born for Synchro Summoning itself.
If Synchron Academy couldn't recruit someone like her, it would be an immense loss.
"Damn it, I want her! Aisha Carlos… I want her to become a student of Synchron!"
Driven by both admiration for Synchro's future and a desire for talent, Takehiko had already forgotten the sting of their first-round defeat.
"I lost…"
After her Life Points hit zero from the final Shooting Sonic, Krista's D-Wheel lost power, coasting to a stop at the center of the track.
Even burdened with Synchron Academy's pride, in this destined Duel of Stardust, she had been thoroughly outmatched.
Miles had perfectly exploited every card's potential… turning the tables with [Inverse Universe], allowing [Stardust Chronicle Spark Dragon] to turn around defeat against [Shooting Star Dragon].
Krista admitted to herself: even if she were the one to Accel Synchro [Stardust Chronicle Spark Dragon], she could never have beaten [Shooting Star Dragon].
"Carlos… you're amazing."
Though she accepted defeat, Krista couldn't shake a strange unease.
This Duel between two bearers of Millennium Items hadn't felt the way she imagined.
Even with the power of the Millennium Scale, she couldn't discern the true nature of Aisha Carlos—neither her good nor evil.
It felt as if she'd been dueling… someone else entirely.
"Millennium Puzzle… are you hiding something?"
Having taken the first victory of the tournament, Miles was in high spirits.
Accel Synchro versus Accel Synchro—
Even in the heat of the Turbo Duel, he had felt the staggering energy radiating when both dragons had appeared and roared together.
The magical energy generated by such an ultimate Synchro Duel, if converted into SP Points, would be astronomical.
Maybe he could finally pay off his loan to that greedy loli, Viel.
"Where's my adorable SP Settlement Robot? It should've shown up by now."
From experience, Miles knew: the greater the SP output, the faster the Settlement Robot arrived.
After all, the energy it processed fueled the entire nation. They couldn't afford delays.
And yet…
Something was wrong.
The SP Settlement Robot did not appear.
Strange.
The Turbo Duel was clearly over, yet the stardust effects and radiant light overhead hadn't faded.
Strange.
The audience's expressions were growing uneasy. Even if Synchron Academy had lost, this reaction was far too tense.
Bizarre.
"Ah!!"
Sudden screams erupted from the stands—signaling a crisis no one had foreseen.
"What's happening?!"
"It's hot!"
"The magic stones… they're turning red!"
Under the vast starlit sky, ominous crimson light began to appear everywhere.
The source of that glow… were the magic stones the spectators had brought to absorb and recharge from the duel's released energy!
The recharging had indeed worked.
A duel this intense would've easily filled small personal-use magic stones long before it ended.
When [Kurikara Divincarnate] devoured [Stardust Spark Dragon], the resulting bursts of energy had already maxed out their capacity.
Despite that, the duel hadn't stopped—it had only escalated.
By the time both duelists completed their double Accel Synchros, the charge had reached catastrophic levels.
The overflow surged outward, affecting nearby towns.
The excess energy, no longer contained, dyed the pale-blue stones a menacing red.
Such a phenomenon had only occurred once before in Axet Republic's history… fifty years ago, when magic stones were first discovered.
"Ahhhhh!!"
Screams echoed through the crowd as tragedy struck.
The overloaded stones, glowing red, exploded from within.
Even household-sized stones, no larger than an egg, released blasts comparable to real explosives.
Those who had stepped back early, fearing the heat, were still caught in the wave of consecutive explosions.
"What is this…"
Krista's violet-blue eyes trembled as chaos erupted around her.
"Could our Turbo Duel have caused this?"
"Krista, look out!" Miles accelerated his D-Wheel, racing to her side.
The stunned girl, frozen by guilt, didn't even notice the shards of a bursting stone flying toward her.
"—Tch, hot!"
Miles caught the fragment barehanded, then tossed it aside.
"This thing… is this really a magic stone?"
Even after landing, the red shard continued to radiate scorching heat.
Miles couldn't fathom how something so volatile could be used in everyday life.
"Carlos… you…"
"I'm fine."
Judging from Krista's dazed, remorseful expression, Miles could tell—the magic stone explosion wasn't a normal occurrence in Axet Republic.
During their hyper-intense Turbo Duel, something had reached a critical point.
Then he remembered what the Shadow Duelist had said the day before:
"The so-called infinitely reusable magic stones—their danger, the real truth hidden in the dark—the people of this country do not know. No, they're not allowed to know!"
"So this… this forbidden danger… is what he meant?"
Could it be the Shadow Duelists were hunting Turbo Duelists to stop this from happening?
Was Turbo Dueling truly a danger to the nation's future?
The situation was even worse than Miles imagined. The ground itself began to quake, rumbling ominously.
If only household stones had overloaded, perhaps the crisis could still be contained.
Nevertheless, the chain reaction had already begun.
The red contamination spread from small stones to the larger ones.
Far away, the earth shook and split open—
Revealing massive subterranean mines of magic stones glowing crimson hot, rising toward the surface.
One… two… three… four…
From the burning heat, the colossal mountains of raw magic stone began to crumble and peel away, their unstable cores splitting from the rock.
The mountains were no longer mountains—they transformed into four towering crimson spires, jutting from the earth like pillars of apocalypse.
If those titanic masses were to ignite and explode like the smaller stones, the Axet Republic would be obliterated in an instant.
No one could have imagined that humanity's greed for infinite energy would bring about its retribution through a single Accel Synchro Turbo Duel.
"Wait, this shouldn't be our fault, right?" Miles asked Krista cautiously.
He'd only been invited to the exchange program and had only participated in one official Turbo Duel.
Who could have known that this duel would push the magic stones to their final point of collapse?
His draw luck might be unmatched; even so, when it came to everything else, his misfortune was as consistent as ever.
"I… I don't know what we're supposed to do."
The girl who'd been so strong in the Duel now trembled, her voice fragile against the oncoming disaster.
No one knew what to do.
Before a true catastrophe, all humans were powerless.
"Run, Krista!"
"Get out of there, Aisha! Miles!"
The shouts from both academies reached the two duelists just before the inevitable.
If the magic stones that could endlessly recharge through Duels were now exploding from overload, could the ones inside their D-Wheels possibly be spared?
The answer was no.
In the unseen cores of their D-Wheels, both Miles's and Krista's stones detonated simultaneously.
The force of the explosion at point-blank range—within fractions of a second, they brushed shoulders with death.
But instinct to survive overtook thought. In that instant before annihilation, Miles's mind raced faster than ever before.
At the same moment as the blast, he cried out to the sky.
"Stardust Dragon—Sanctuary of Sacrifice!"
The protective power of Stardust Dragon—the ability to nullify destruction. He didn't know if the effect could manifest in reality, nor what the outcome would be; Regardless, in that instant, it was the only move left.
If he didn't try, they would certainly die.
The Stardust Dragon soaring above them scattered into stardust, its gentle light enveloping the D-Wheels and their riders.
Bathed in its protective glow, Miles felt his soul dissolve into the sea of radiant dust—his consciousness swept through time itself, linking to the memory of Stardust.
"Where… is this?"
When Miles opened his eyes again, his soul stood in a cosmic expanse filled with drifting stars.
Beside him stood Krista, her eyes just as dazed.
Though in her case… perhaps even more so.
"Who are you?"
No longer using Aisha's body, Miles now appeared before her in his true form.
Which meant Krista was facing both a strange world… and a stranger.
"Calm down, Krista. Listen carefully… it's me, Miles."
With danger unknown and trust uncertain, Miles had no choice except to tell her everything.
"The Millennium Puzzle… soul exchange. In other words, Miles… you were the one actually dueling me."
At last, the contradiction made sense. While most would struggle to believe such a claim, as a fellow artifact bearer, Krista had already felt something off during their duel. Hearing the truth, she finally understood.
"So that explosion… was it you, Miles? Did you protect us with Stardust Dragon?"
Though his appearance was unfamiliar, the presence before her carried the same warmth… the same spirit she'd fought against in the race.
Krista's feelings tangled with awe and confusion. The young woman's soft, androgynous face flushed slightly red.
"Whether it worked or not… we'll have to figure that out. First, we need to know where we are."
As they spoke, Miles examined their surroundings.
He had never seen anything like this… a universe of starlight so vivid yet untouchable, more wondrous even than the mindscape within the Millennium Puzzle.
"Worst case scenario, this could be… the afterlife."
"What?!" Krista gasped. "Are you saying we're dead?!"
"I've never died before… it's just a theory."
A lie.
"I haven't died either," she murmured softly, pouting.
"—This is a space guided by Stardust's memory. The fact that you've arrived here means things outside must be dire."
A calm, familiar voice resonated through the starry void.
Following the sound, a man's figure appeared before them.
"You—?!"
The sight struck Miles silent with shock.
"Ah—!"
Krista trembled visibly, her delicate frame shaking, voice breaking between disbelief and tears.
"Father!"
"Wait… Krista, that man is your father?!"
"There's no mistake! I'd never forget him!"
No daughter could fail to recognize her own father.
The man who'd vanished from Krista Shia's life when she was ten stood before her once more.
She lunged forward, crying into his chest.
"F-Father, I missed you so much!"
He smiled gently, stroking her hair. His strong eyes, so much like Krista's own, shone with affection.
"I've missed you too, Krista. Every day."
"W-wait! You…"
Miles, overwhelmed by the scene, could hardly bring himself to interrupt such a heartfelt reunion.
Albeit something about the man's presence struck him too deeply to ignore.
He had to ask.
"You're… Krista's father?"
The man's face was unmistakable. Just as Krista could never mistake her father, Miles could never mistake that hairstyle.
"You… you're not… Yusei Fudo, are you?"
...
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