Heroic Spirit Deck in Yu-Gi-Oh!-Chapter 307 -

"Did... did Rafael lose?!" "Hoshino actually won?!"

Valon and Kaiba both exclaimed in shock. The final, earth-shattering strike and the unforeseen turnaround brought about by the shattering of The Extremity of Endlessness left them stunned. With 30,000 ATK, the strongest duelist of Doma, Rafael, and his ace monster had been utterly defeated.

Rafael lay motionless on the ground, silent, seemingly drained of all energy.

"Ra—fael—l!!"

Valon held Rafael's massive frame in his arms, shouting dramatically toward the sky.

Hoshino stared at him like he was an idiot. No, more accurately, Valon was just as much of a fool as Jonouchi. "Hey, he didn't activate the Orichalcos or anything. He just passed out from the shock, right?"

To the three watching, it seemed like Rafael had been launched back by the sheer force of the final blow. But the true cause lay deeper—Rafael's shaken convictions.

Days of non-stop action—stealing the God Cards, hunting down legendary duelists, and defeating Yugi—had pushed him to the brink.

Then, he had faced Kaiba and Hoshino in a state of extreme exhaustion, ultimately losing to a strategy that went entirely against his beliefs—sacrificing almost his entire deck to achieve victory.

More troublingly, he had used the dark counterpart to Guardian Eatos, Guardian Dreadscythe, given to him by Dartz, and sent his cherished companions to the graveyard to summon the vengeful spirit.

"I didn't want to lose anyone else. I only wanted to protect what was important... That's how it was supposed to be. But if I'm willing to sacrifice my own monsters for victory, does that mean my convictions are this weak?"

Haunted by his doubts, Rafael sank into a deep sleep.

Hoshino turned to the lone member of the Doma trio still standing—Valon—her expression serious. "Valon, return Yugi's soul and take Rafael and Alister with you."

"Hoshino, so you've chosen to betray Doma after all..."

"What betrayal?! I was never one of you in the first place! Say one more word, and I'll hit you!"

Though her tone was fierce, Hoshino's heart was conflicted. Despite the short time they had spent together, she didn't hate the Doma trio. In fact, their camaraderie had been somewhat enjoyable. They weren't truly bad people—just individuals fighting for different causes.

The true villain was Dartz, the madman intent on destroying and remaking the world.

Hoshino took the card containing Yugi's sealed soul from Valon. The image of Yugi's soul, trapped within the green Orichalcos Seal, resembled a prison locking away his spirit.

"Valon, why did you follow Dartz and choose to destroy and remake the world?"

Watching Valon carry Rafael and Alister's unconscious bodies, Hoshino couldn't help but ask.

She could understand why Alister and Rafael were swayed by Dartz's promises—each had lost loved ones and hoped the world's recreation might bring them back. But Valon? He had never shared much about his past. This naïve, straightforward guy baffled her.

"I have no choice but to keep fighting. Abandoned by my family, betrayed by my friends, and eventually sent to juvie... Lord Dartz was the one who discovered me and gave me a reason to exist—to keep winning duels."

"That's not right, Valon. If dueling is your purpose, then what about Mai?"

At the mention of Mai, Valon faltered.

"I liked her because she's like me—a person with nothing but dueling, someone whose only reason to exist is to keep winning."

"So Mai is like that too..."

Hoshino thought of Mai leaving alone after their duel at dawn. Somehow, she couldn't help but see Valon's departing figure overlap with Mai's lonely silhouette.

If anyone could save their hearts—Valon's and Mai's—it had to be that fool...

"What do we do now?"

After watching Valon's helicopter disappear into the distance, Hoshino put away Yugi's soul card and realized something—Kaiba was still standing silently beside her.

"Wait." Kaiba, arms crossed, uttered the single word coldly and remained silent.

Though Hoshino had teamed up with Kaiba to defeat Rafael, it now hit her that she was in the same predicament as him—a crash survivor.

I'm stranded too!

With no civilization nearby and only the wreckage of a burning plane, their situation was dire.

The good news: the fire meant warmth at night and might ward off wild animals.

The bad news: the plane could explode at any moment.

"I think we should get out of here, like, now..."

"ROOOAAAR—!!"

Before Kaiba could answer, a terrifying roar echoed through the area.

"It's here!! Why are wild beasts attacking in broad daylight?!"

Startled by the roar, Hoshino instinctively raised her duel disk, ready to use it as both a summoning tool and a blunt weapon.

"Wait a second. Why does that roar sound so familiar...?"

Getting into a combat stance, she suddenly recognized the sound.

"Isn't that... Blue-Eyes White Dragon's roar?!"

Kaiba reached into his pocket, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "It's a call. Mokuba and the others are catching up."

"Wait, that's your ringtone?! Who uses Blue-Eyes's roar as a ringtone?! You're such a ridiculous Blue-Eyes fanboy!"

The moment Kaiba answered the call, the roaring stopped. Realizing what had happened, Hoshino erupted into a storm of complaints.

"Why didn't you answer sooner?! You just let me panic like an idiot for fun, didn't you? And you were laughing just now, weren't you?! You smug, repressed jerk!"

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"So this is the Blue-Eyes White Dragon Jet!"

Seeing the sleek, extravagant design of the aircraft, Hoshino couldn't help but marvel.

"The Blue-Eyes White Dragon helicopter looked kind of silly, but I have to admit, a jet shaped like Blue-Eyes White Dragon is actually pretty cool!"

Kaiba's brow furrowed slightly. "Silly?"

"But I heard rumors from Doma that you've gone bankrupt~ Didn't you have to sell off all these weird toys to pay your debts?"

Kaiba's frown deepened. "Bankrupt? Debts? Weird toys? Hoshino, you've become quite bold in the short time we've been apart!"

"Ah, it really is Hoshino!" Mokuba, who had just leapt down from the jet, interrupted Kaiba before he could explode, running straight toward Hoshino. "Long time no see! I missed you so much!"

Hoshino ruffled Mokuba's soft, surprisingly fluffy hair and asked curiously, "Has it really been that long? Feels like it's only been a few days to me."

For Hoshino, who had just returned from a time-travel adventure, only a few days seemed to have passed. But the actual timeline she returned to was uncertain.

"A few days?! It's been over a month since Battle City ended! Where have you been all this time, Hoshino? Your duel disk's tracker couldn't even find you!"

A whole month?! Hoshino realized she'd somehow skipped forward in time. That "evil god" had claimed to fully understand how the D-Runner worked, but clearly, it hadn't pinpointed the timeline correctly! Now she wondered whether her little warehouse at Grandpa Sugoroku's shop had been cleared out during her absence.

"Get in. We're going to find Yugi and the others." Kaiba, already seated in the cockpit, urged her impatiently.

The Blue-Eyes Jet's interior was much smaller than the helicopter's, with only two seats—one in front and one in back. Judging by the circumstances, Mokuba must have piloted the jet here alone. Quite impressive for a kid.

"Guess we'll have to squeeze into the back seat together, Hoshino!" Mokuba grinned cheekily.

...

"It's still a bit cramped!" Hoshino complained as the narrow space barely accommodated both her and Mokuba.

"Mokuba, sit still and don't move!"

Mokuba looked aggrieved. "I am sitting still! The seat wasn't designed for two people, you know."

Apparently, much of KaibaCorp's transportation assets had been seized, leaving Mokuba no choice but to rely on this jet. Given its military origins, it must have been a relic of Gozaburo's weapons-market dealings.

With the transparent canopy sealed, Kaiba asked, "Enough chatter. Where are Yugi and the others, Hoshino? You should know."

"Probably at a place called the Valley of the Kings. That's where Yugi lost to Rafael. As for where they went after that, I'm not sure."

Hearing that Yugi had lost, Mokuba was shocked. "Even Yugi lost? Doma must be really strong!"

In Mokuba's mind, Yugi—who had once defeated Kaiba—was the world's second-strongest duelist, second only to Hoshino herself.

Kaiba shook his head. "The Valley of the Kings is remote, with nowhere to stay. Yugi and the others wouldn't linger there. Do you have any other leads?"

Hoshino tilted her head and thought hard. "Other leads... Oh! Arthur!"

"Arthur?"

"Arthur Hawkins, the professor! After Pegasus' soul was sealed, Yugi and the others, originally invited to America by Industrial Illusions, probably stayed at Arthur's house. That's why Doma kidnapped Professor Hawkins—to force Yugi into a duel!"

Mokuba caught on. "Professor Arthur Hawkins? He's quite famous. Hang on, let me look up his exact location."

He fiddled with a smartphone-like device, inputting the professor's details into a search engine.

"Found him! Last night, Professor Hawkins' research lab had a major fire. All research materials were destroyed, but thankfully, there were no casualties."

"A fire? That's obviously Doma's doing! They've infiltrated everything—military, media, even the news industry!"

"Brother, I've sent you the coordinates!" Mokuba announced.

"Buckle up. We're taking off."

The Blue-Eyes Jet roared to life, flames shooting out from its engines, propelling it forward at breakneck speed. From an outside perspective, it probably looked like a Blue-Eyes White Dragon had eaten too much spicy food.

In the cramped rear seat, Mokuba had no choice but to sit on Hoshino's lap.

"Hoshino, what are you doing? I thought you said no moving around!" Mokuba asked as she poked his head repeatedly.

"That rule's for you. I'm busy with something important," Hoshino replied absentmindedly.

What was that important task?

Obviously, summoning cards!

[Summoning Store: Opening...]

Hoshino's focus wasn't on Mokuba; it was on her interface, conveniently overlapping with his head.

[Duelist Level Evaluated: Duelist Rafael, Level A++. Saint Quartz Reward: 140. Remaining Quartz: 235.]

[Summoning Store: Remaining Servants 2/3. Next refresh: >1 day.]

[SSR Minamoto no Raikou—Exchange Cost: 100 Quartz]

[SSR Shuten-Douji—Exchange Cost: 100 Quartz]

"Jackpot! Rafael, you didn't disappoint me!"

An A++ duelist's reward was double that of A+, granting her a hefty sum of quartz.

"If Rafael had used the Orichalcos Seal, I could've gotten three times the reward—460 quartz!"

Although tempted, Hoshino quickly dismissed the idea. Using such a soul-stealing Seal to earn quartz would be crossing a moral line, even for her.

"Raikou and Shuten acquired! Prepare for the end, Kintoki!"

Grinning wickedly, Hoshino confirmed her summons, poking Mokuba's head to finalize the exchange.

(*****)

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