"I won. That was a good duel, Jaden~"
Retracting the card she'd pointed at him, Hoshino felt a subtle shift inside—a rare thrill from a pure, honest duel. It was a feeling she hadn't experienced in a long ti.
Scratching his head in frustration, Jaden said,
"As expected, I still can't beat you, Sensei. I really thought I had it this ti..."
Despite his disappointnt, Jaden's heart surged with energy. This wasn't just about winning or losing—this graduation duel had been sothing more.
"From our duel... I could vaguely sense that the Hoshino of this world has gone through so unimaginably tough battles."
Jaden, who once fell into deep darkness as a Duelist, was more attuned than most to recognizing such struggles.
Just as he'd said before the duel—his most important reason for crossing ti and space to co here wasn't simply to fight.
"But I still want to say... even duels that co with sacrifice—so long as you're protecting sothing worth risking your life for—they can still bring smiles."
"Dueling to protect sothing important, even if it costs your life... can bring smiles, huh? Maybe you're right, Jaden."
That smile on Keith's face, in the end—Hoshino finally began to understand it after dueling Jaden.
Jaden's body, turning into particles of light, looked back at her with reluctance.
"Looks like my ti's up. I have to return to Yugi-san's side. If I stay too long, it could affect this tiline."
"Ti? How would Yugi even know how long our duel would last? Don't tell ... he was secretly watching us?!"
Startled, Hoshino quickly glanced around, half-expecting to find a spiky-haired silhouette hiding in a shadowy corner of the quiet street.
Honestly, she was curious what Yugi would look like ten years from now... hopefully, at least a little taller.
"Haha, Yugi-san didn't co. It's just that this duel with you reached its absolute limit—there wasn't a single turn left to spare."
Jaden lifted his Duel Disk and showed her the deck area. All 40 cards had been used—every single one.
"That's why I said this duel was everything I had with my HEROes. If there's ever a next ti, I want to duel this world's Hoshino again... and by then, I'll be even stronger."
As he began to dissolve into light—transported by the Egyptian Gods through ti and space—Jaden scratched his cheek a little sheepishly.
"Sensei, say hi to Akasha for , okay? And tell her to go easy on the next ti we duel… or I'll be depressed for days after another crushing defeat."
[Duelist Rank Evaluation Complete.
Duelist: Yuki Jaden
Rank: EX
Saint Quartz Reward: 200 units
Remaining Quartz: 265 units]
"I'll be waiting for you in the future, Sensei~"
With that final ssage, Jaden disappeared into the divine light of the Egyptian Gods.
"So he's gone..."
Hoshino stared at the spot where he'd vanished, slowly pulling herself back from the surreal atmosphere of space-ti unraveling.
"EX Rank... that's basically on par with Dartz using the Orichalcos..."
Back then, it had taken the combined strength of Hoshino, Yugi, and Kaiba—plus the power of the Knights of the Round Table and the Lion King—just to barely defeat Dartz with the Orichalcos.
Even though the Orichalcos's influence was counted separately in Duelist Rank evaluations, among those Hoshino had faced, only Dartz had ever reached EX Rank.
"Jaden... you've really done it. Standing at the top of the world with your HEROes."
While she was lost in thought, a figure erged from underground—Ereshkigal.
"I'm back, Master..."
Usually full of divine pride and playful confidence, the goddess of the underworld looked completely different. Her pale cheeks were smudged with soot, and the ends of her once-smooth golden hair were scorched and curled as if singed by fire.
Seeing her in such a state, Hoshino asked with concern,
"You worked hard, Eresh... But how did you end up like this?"
Pouting, Eresh snapped,
"Isn't it because you asked to find a human soul in the underworld? That's why I ended up like this!"
Not long ago, feeling guilty over Keith's death, Hoshino—knowing it was a selfish request—had asked Ereshkigal to try and locate his soul.
She had completely underestimated how much Eresh doted on her. Even if the request was absurd, Eresh had confidently accepted it without a second thought.
("The underworld's my ho! Just leave it to the great Mistress of the Underworld~")
"After you said that, I had a bad feeling... and sure enough, sothing went wrong."
Eresh puffed up her cheeks.
"Who said I ssed up?! Don't lump in with Ishtar—that woman's always the one screwing up!"
"But aren't you two sisters?"
"I didn't ss up! The underworld in this world is completely different from the one I govern. How was I supposed to predict that!?"
"You'd normally expect to predict sothing like that," Hoshino muttered under her breath, trying not to further provoke the already-annoyed goddess.
"Do you even understand what 'completely different' ans, Master? This world's underworld is completely ungoverned... a filthy, burning realm filled with evil wandering spirits, howling until they vanish completely."
As she spoke, Eresh trembled, her face full of disgust.
"That's not an underworld. That's what you'd call... hell."
"...Hell, huh?"
For most people, that is what the underworld looks like. Eresh's description fit the textbook image of hell all too well.
Unable to respond to sothing so utterly inhuman, Hoshino simply offered her sincere comfort.
"Not every world has an underworld ruler as kind and caring as you, Eresh~"
A goddess who would handcraft cages and offer warm shelter to every soul that stumbled into her realm... Even though she herself didn't fully understand life or freedom, she still gave the dead one final kindness.
That was Ereshkigal—gentle and devoted goddess of the underworld.
"If you're the angel of the underworld, then I'd never want to ascend to heaven—so long as I get to be looked after by you, Eresh~"
Her soot-stained cheeks flushed red in an instant. Flustered and caught completely off guard by Hoshino's sudden flirting, the once-fiery goddess lted into embarrassed silence.
"Ah… Arigato…"
Though she had once been trapped in the Underworld with no way to leave, Ereshkigal had always taken her one and only duty seriously. Now, being acknowledged and praised by Hoshino for her efforts filled her with a warm sense of fulfillnt.
"In that case, if there's nothing else, you can return now, Eresh-chan~"
"QAQ Don't kick out! I'm not done talking yet!"
The touching mont lasted only a few seconds before Eresh, nearly forcibly returned, stubbornly insisted on staying.
"Even though this world's Underworld is chaotic and terrifying, I still managed to find a few spirits who'd retained their sanity and asked them about the situation!"
Hoshino's eye twitched. Sohow, when Eresh said it, it sounded as casual as asking strangers for directions while lost.
"—Zorc Necrophades! The ruler of this world's Underworld. He once stood at the top of this world as a god. And he's not just the master of the Underworld—he commands both the human world and the Underworld. He's the embodint of darkness in both realms."
Hoshino was stunned. That na—Zorc Necrophades—he'd heard it before from Da Vinci.
The true ruler of this world's Underworld: the Dark Evil God Zorc. It was said he was deeply connected to the seven Millennium Items, and those very items served as keys to open the gates of the Underworld in this world.
"Embodint of darkness from two realms, huh… No wonder the Millennium Items carry such overwhelming dark power."
Compared to the Orichalcos god who fed on planetary darkness, Zorc drew power from the Underworld itself—sothing far deeper and more ancient than the human world could comprehend.
"Sounds insanely powerful… Ah, I didn't an to say you're not powerful too, Eresh-chan! You're amazing as well!"
Clenching her fists, Eresh declared confidently,
"Of course! As a fellow ruler of the Underworld, there's no way I'll lose to so god who abandoned his domain!"
"Wait, Eresh... Did you say he abandoned his domain? And that Zorc used to be a top god in this world?"
Catching the nuance in her words, Hoshino quickly made a connection.
"So you an Zorc, like in our world, disappeared with the end of the Age of Gods?"
Eresh's expression turned serious.
"No, Master. The Age of Gods in this world still lingers. But as far as I could find, Zorc Necrophades mysteriously vanished around 3,000 years ago. Since then, there's been no trace of him anywhere in this world."
"Zorc Necrophades… disappeared 3,000 years ago, leaving behind a chaotic and empty Underworld."
Even if it had happened millennia ago, Hoshino couldn't shake the uneasy feeling creeping into her chest.
And the reason was clear—the Millennium Items, all tied to Zorc, had also remained dormant for the past 3,000 years... only recently beginning to resurface. Especially the more dangerous ones like the Millennium Eye, Millennium Ring, and Millennium Rod.
"Did you find anything else, O' reliable Eresh-chan~?"
Pressed for more, Eresh awkwardly fidgeted.
"N-no… That's all. Actually, I only did this investigation because I wanted to talk to you more, Master."
Usually a bit tsundere, Eresh rarely got the chance to speak freely with Hoshino due to the constant presence of more possessive Heroic Spirits. So when the opportunity ca—dusty and disheveled as it left her—braving a hostile foreign Underworld had been worth it just to spend a little more ti with him.
"That soul of Keith Howard… drowned in that hellish Underworld. Not even I could find him. I'd promised you so confidently that I could… but in the end, I let you down."
"It was my request that was too much. Reversing life and death… that's not sothing humans should tamper with."
Hoshino sighed quietly. Perhaps it was thanks to Jaden's visit, but sothing in her had changed.
Keith, who once clung desperately to life, had ultimately found resolve the mont he chose to fight for soone important. The mont he stepped onto the battlefield, he had accepted his fate.
"And if you think about it another way… maybe not finding Keith's soul in that hellish Underworld ans he found aning in his final monts… and ascended to heaven~"
(***)
Three Days Later —
Keith Howard
19xx – 20xx
There were no relatives or friends at Keith's grave. The lonely, quiet scene was a somber reflection of his tragic life.
"How ironic, Keith. The only one who ca to see you after you died… is . And don't worry, I'm not here to pray for you or anything."
Standing before the cold gravestone, Hoshino glanced around the desolate cetery and sighed softly.
"I ca too, you know…"
From behind, the small figure of Akasha suddenly peeked her head out.
"Surprised? I bet you never imagined two cute girls would visit your grave after you died."
Hoshino added with a smirk,
"Actually, it was supposed to be three. But that ojou-sama still hasn't recovered from the shock and hasn't been discharged from the hospital yet. Too bad, Keith—you missed your one chance to experience the peak of life after death~"
Bending down, Hoshino gently placed a card deck in front of the grave—Keith's own, taken from his Duel Disk.
"As a duelist, you can't forget your most treasured possession. Even if your actions once disgraced the na of Duelists... I have to admit—you looked damn cool in the end, when you fought to protect what mattered most."
Following her lead, Akasha reached into her pocket and carefully placed a small box in front of the grave.
"Uncle Keith, these are your favorite chips. I don't like owing people anything—except Nee-chan. But if you're still hungry out there, I hope you eat your fill."
There wasn't much else to say. After laying the offerings down, Hoshino turned and began walking away.
"Oh, one last thing… The KC Tournant's tomorrow. I'll settle your grudge."
She glanced back one final ti.
"So don't worry—Clara won't fall into that guy's hands."
(*****)
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