"HAHAHAHAHA——!"

The gigantic burning body of Naglfar shook violently with laughter. Every booming roar that emerged from within the raging inferno carried scorching heat waves crashing outward.

"A human actually dares challenge me?! Challenge King Naglfar—the incarnation of natural disaster itself?!"

"No matter how you look at that thing, it's an absurdly dangerous monster. But at this point, running away isn't really an option anymore."

Uria had originally grabbed Akasha's arm to persuade her to flee, but she never expected the girl to immediately switch into full provocation mode and directly draw the monster's attention.

"So I guess fighting is our only choice now."

Dragging Uria into the mess with her, Akasha grinned mischievously.

"Then I'm counting on your support, Uria. Since even I've stepped up, you can't run away from battle either."

"So that's your plan, huh?" Uria replied helplessly. "Fine. We're already tied together on the same rope now anyway. There's no way I'd abandon you and flee on my own."

Uria narrowed her eyes slightly. Spiritual energy spiraled upward from beneath her feet, transforming into a swirling stream of heat. For a brief instant, the scene looked strangely familiar to Akasha.

"Uria… is it your zodiac year or something?"

"Zodiac year? What does that mean?"

Moving her fingers delicately, Uria gathered the spirit energy flowing from below and condensed it into several cards that materialized in her hands.

"After the battle with Hoshino before, my power still hasn't fully recovered. This is already my limit for now."

Taking the cards Uria handed over and shuffling them into her deck, Akasha confidently declared:

"This is more than enough. Even against the Flame King, we've got sufficient firepower now."

If Uria hadn't appeared, Akasha probably would've hesitated much longer over whether she should really confront the Flame King head-on.

But now, she possessed absolute confidence because she held two crucial elements capable of deciding victory itself.

First—the support of the Sacred Beast Uria, whose compatibility with Trap Cards was exceptional.

Second—the newly unrestricted Xyz Summoning rules announced by Kaiba Corp earlier that day.

"Oh? This power… how interesting."

Sensing the Sacred Beast energy radiating from Uria, the Flame King spoke in a low voice.

"At first, I thought you were merely two suicidal human females. But perhaps… you might finally provide me with some entertainment."

"—It's not just us!"

Before anyone saw them, their voices arrived first.

Two small figures leapt out from the blazing flames and landed beside Uria and Akasha.

"To cause trouble during the lunch shift we're assigned to guard?! Your fate ends here!"

Sharing the same identity as Uria among the Three Sacred Beasts, the self-proclaimed leader of the trio—the blue-haired girl Raviel—struck a flashy superhero pose.

Meanwhile, the other girl who arrived alongside her contrasted completely with Raviel's overbearing confidence. The timid-looking blonde girl was naturally Hamon, the final Sacred Beast assigned to guard the academy.

"It's your turn now, Hamon!"

Raviel maintained her pose while frantically signaling with her eyes.

"We practiced this entrance a million times already! Don't choke at the critical moment!"

"That's exactly why I said I'm not suited for this kind of thing…"

Letting out a small sigh, Hamon reluctantly struck a pose as well.

"T-Today, the Hero of Justice from the Spirit World—the Three Sacred Beasts—shall deliver punishment upon you!"

"Perfect!" Raviel praised excitedly. "You're finally starting to sound like Master Emiya! 'Hero of Justice' sounds so unbelievably cool."

"(ㅍ_ㅍ) 'Hero of Justice—the Three Sacred Beasts'… there are honestly too many things to complain about here. It's exhausting just thinking about it," Akasha muttered. "And even though Emiya is a Hero of Justice, he definitely wouldn't strike poses this lame."

"How is this lame?!" Raviel protested. "It's super cool! Besides, now that the invincible Three Sacred Beasts have arrived as reinforcements, there's nothing left to fear no matter what kind of monster we're facing!"

Just like Uria earlier, the other two Sacred Beast girls gathered power as streams of rising energy flipped up their skirts slightly while cards materialized at their fingertips.

"N-No, no, no!" Akasha hurriedly waved her hands. "Uria's cards alone are enough! You really don't have to go through the trouble of—"

"Even if this power is only temporary, don't hold back with us at a time like this, Akasha!"

Grabbing the cards that had formed in Hamon's hands as well, Raviel forcefully stuffed them into Akasha's deck while flashing a bright, cheerful smile.

"Aren't we partners? Fighting side by side and facing hardships together—that's what it means to be heroes!"

"(╯°Д°)╯Don't do that! You'll brick my hand!"

Uria was one thing, since she synergized excellently with Trap Cards. But forcing the other two Sacred Beasts into the deck would massively ruin its consistency.

If all three Sacred Beasts clogged Akasha's opening hand, the destructive power would surpass even Okita's legendary bad luck.

"After the Three Egyptian Gods, now there are the Three Sacred Beasts too? The human world truly possesses many amusing things."

Slamming a massive arm into the ground, the Flame King pulled forth a Duel Disk forged from solidified magma.

Even the cards and deck he used were constructed entirely from flames.

"'Fire Fist'! Beasts of boiling infernal flames—become the power of King Naglfar!"

"Fire Fist?"

Since Akasha had already seen the Iron King's gigantic Duel Disk and deck before, seeing the Flame King wield a magma Duel Disk and flaming cards somehow felt easier to accept.

But the phrase "Fire Fist" sounded strangely familiar to her.

"o(ﾟДﾟ)っWait, this is NOT the time to be worrying about that!"

For the sake of her deck's consistency, Akasha decided she should remove the other two Sacred Beast cards first.

"I won't let you escape—Duel!!"

Roaring flames spiraled outward in a giant ring around them, forming a blazing dueling arena.

[Flame King Naglfar LP 8000]

Vs.

[Akasha LP 8000] 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"(」＞＜)」Crap, I missed the timing…"

Once a duel officially began, the Duel Disk automatically shuffled the deck. And after the shuffle was completed, it was impossible to pull the cards back out to reorganize them.

Drawing her starting hand, just as expected, one copy of Raviel was hopelessly bricked in Akasha's hand.

"No helping it then—I'll take the first turn! Draw!"

A dead hand was still a dead hand, but securing the first move was still crucial.

Akasha glanced at the card she drew for her turn.

Spell Card Graceful Charity.

A perfect draw. She could immediately discard the Raviel.

"I activate the Spell Card Graceful Charity! Draw three cards from my deck, then discard two cards from my hand!"

After drawing, Akasha sent Raviel and another card into the graveyard slot of her Duel Disk.

"Eh? Why?!"

Raviel stared in utter disbelief after being sent straight to the Graveyard at the very start.

"You actually discarded the strongest Sacred Beast like some worthless Okita! What are you even thinking, Akasha?!"

"You seriously have the nerve to ask me that?"

Akasha shot a glance at the loudly protesting blue-haired girl.

The summoning condition for Raviel required three Fiend-Type monsters as Tributes. But even if Akasha spread out her entire deck, she still wouldn't be able to find three Fiends to summon the thing.

"Finally, I set one monster face-down in Defense Position! Then I set two cards and end my turn!"

[Akasha: 3 Hand Cards | 2 Set Cards]

"My turn. Draw!"

The Flame King drew a burning card from his magma Duel Disk. The fiery dueling field around him swayed violently from the sheer movement of his gigantic body.

"Hey, what the hell is going on here, Akasha?!"

Outside the blazing duel arena, Jaden and the others—who had rushed over immediately after hearing the explosion from the academy infirmary—were greeted by the shocking sight of Akasha confronting an enormous monster alone.

Just as Akasha had predicted earlier, a disturbance of this scale would definitely attract students. And if they got caught in the spreading inferno as well, the situation would become irreversible.

"H-Hey hey hey, what kind of ugly monstrosity is that?! I'd pay top dollar for a pair of eyes that never saw that face!"

Minazuki recoiled several steps in fear from the overwhelming presence of the Flame King.

"Could that be… one of the Nine Kings?" Jaden asked worriedly. "Akasha, fighting that thing alone is way too dangerous!"

However, after the Flame King deployed the fiery dueling arena, Jaden and the others couldn't even get close to Akasha anymore.

Frowning slightly as irritation rose within her, Akasha snapped back:

"You're one to talk, Jaden. You're worried about me? You barely ever beat me in duels. If even you could defeat the Sword King, why can't I?"

"Ugh…"

Jaden awkwardly shrank back, left speechless by her retort.

Glancing at Blair standing beside him, Akasha added:

"Besides, you already have your cute girlfriend keeping you company, don't you?"

"⁄(⁄⁄•⁄⁄•⁄⁄)⁄ W-What do you mean, girlfriend?! That's so embarrassing!"

Completely failing to understand Akasha's tone, Blair buried herself in the word girlfriend, covering her blushing cheeks shyly.

"So now even more noisy little insects have arrived? How irritating."

The Flame King thrust his massive claw into the flames, gathering a scorching fireball before hurling it toward the newly arrived group.

"What kind of lunatic attacks the spectators directly?! Referee, disqualify this guy from the duel already!"

Minazuki panicked as the flames came crashing toward them with nowhere to dodge.

"—Come forth, Neos!"

Reacting instantly, Jaden pulled out his Neos card and materialized the Duel Spirit of Elemental HERO Neos in front of them. With a single punch, Neos shattered the incoming flames.

"W-We're safe…?" Alexis exhaled nervously.

"As expected of Jaden-sama! Protecting us so coolly!" Blair clung tightly to Jaden in admiration.

"This King is completely different from the previous ones," Bastion analyzed while staring at the destroyed school building and the monster's immediate willingness to kill. "This one is genuinely dangerous."

"So Akasha is dueling something that terrifying right now?" Alexis muttered anxiously.

Looking toward Neos protecting Jaden and the others, the Flame King laughed.

"More and more interesting things keep appearing. Very well—after I burn this human female to ashes, I'll play with the rest of you too."

Continuing the duel, the Flame Realm King inserted a burning Spell Card into his Duel Disk.

"—I activate the Continuous Spell Card Fire Formation - Tenki!"

[Effect: When this card is activated, you can add 1 Level 4 or lower Beast-Warrior monster from your Deck to your hand.]

The fiery dance swirling across the field flowed into the magma Duel Disk before ejecting the searched card from the deck.

"I add the Beast-Warrior monster Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Gorilla from my deck to my hand! Then I Normal Summon it in Attack Position!"

[Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Gorilla ★★★★ (Level 4)][FIRE][Beast-Warrior/Effect][ATK 1600/DEF 1000]

Holding a massive blade heated crimson by intense temperatures and clad in Chinese-style armor, the Fire Fist Beast-Warrior roared onto the field.

"—Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Gorilla enters the battle!"

"Fire Fist?"

Even though most monsters used by the Nine Kings didn't belong to this world, Akasha still felt an odd sense of familiarity.

"So this is what the Flame Realm King meant earlier by 'Fire Fist'? I swear I've seen this somewhere before…"

"It's Water Margin!" Bastion instantly realized. "Heavenly Spirit of Valor—Guan Sheng, nicknamed 'The Great Blade'! He's a fictional character from the Chinese novel "Water Margin"!"

"(꒪Д꒪)ノ Right, Water Margin!" Akasha suddenly understood. "No wonder it sounded so familiar! I think I've seen a gender-bent doujin version of that novel before!"

"Huh? Why would a King from another world use fictional Chinese novel characters as monsters?"

The tangled layers of references left Minazuki completely confused.

"Also, Akasha, lend me that book sometime."

"The characters from Water Margin represent the 'Thirty-Six Heavenly Spirits' and 'Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends.' Perhaps, in some symbolic sense, concepts from the two worlds overlapped," Bastion theorized while rubbing his chin.

"Unlike the 'Generals' from our world, the Beast-Warrior monsters transformed into 'Fire Fists' are the versions belonging to the Kings of Cataclysmic War's world."

"That's way too complicated. I completely lost track halfway through."

Jaden gave up trying to understand.

"Basically, they're alternate Chinese heroes, right? They do look pretty cool, but it's a different story when monsters like that are using them. Don't lose, Akasha!"

"Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Gorilla's effect activates—once per turn, by sending one 'Fire Formation' Spell or Trap on my field to the Graveyard, I can destroy one card in your Spell & Trap Zone!"

Turning the Continuous Spell Card Fire Formation - Tenki into blazing energy, the flames fused into Fire Fist - Gorilla's giant blade.

With a thunderous roar, Akasha's face-down Sakuretsu Armor was cleaved apart instantly.