Let's play cards! In a fantasy world of swords and magic

Kevin's defeat spread a deeper sense of helplessness among all the first-year students.

Before Aisha's comeback, Kevin, with his 100% win rate, was recognized as the ceiling of combat strength among the first-year students.

Yet, even such a widely acknowledged powerhouse like Kevin was utterly powerless against Kaiba Seto.

It was as if he were just a random passerby being casually crushed. Even though Kevin had special summoned the Red-Eyes Black Dragon on his very first turn, the result was still a merciless and crushing defeat.

Noticing the heavy atmosphere between the two girls, Ilena switched to her signature cheerful smile.

"Relax, this is perfectly normal."

"Perfectly normal?" Aisha's usually bouncy ahoge now looked listless and droopy.

Ilena explained, "The inter-grade challenge is meant to establish dominance over the first-years. So even if you're the strongest in your grade, getting completely stomped is pretty much expected."

"Getting stomped even if you're the strongest in your grade? Does that mean...!"

Ilin's eyes suddenly sparkled with curiosity as she asked, "Senior Ilena, did you get stomped last year too? After all, you were the one representing the first-year students last year."

For the current first-year students, it was hard to imagine Ilena, the Gray Witch, one of the Twin Pillars of the academy and a super powerhouse on par with Kaiba Seto, being completely dominated in a duel.

"Ah, well..."

As if struck in a sore spot, Ilena, who usually exuded confidence, showed a rare,微妙 expression, accompanied by a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth.

"I really don't want to bring up last year. Anyway, just know that this is a tradition at Fusion Academy."

"Senior, tell us! I really want to know!"

With her curiosity piqued, Ilin didn't seem willing to let Ilena off the hook so easily.

"Stop, stop, Ilin. I really don't want to relive that."

"Hmph, last year's Ilena wasn't any better off than Kevin."

The same magnetic female voice they had heard during the duel suddenly came from behind the three of them.

"That voice!"

Highly recognizable, both Aisha and Ilin turned around in shock at the same time.

"Kaiba Seto?"

It felt like a dream. Just minutes ago, Kaiba had been mercilessly crushing Kevin in the duel arena, and now she had suddenly appeared behind them.

But on second thought, they were all students of the same academy. Even if they were in different grades, there wasn't much of a substantial difference in their status as students.

Not to mention, Ilena, who had already become close with Aisha, was actually on the same level as Kaiba in terms of dueling prowess.

Moreover, up close, Kaiba's striking combination of handsomeness and beauty exuded a charm that could make even girls' hearts flutter.

"Senior Kaiba, do you know about what happened to Senior Ilena during last year's inter-grade challenge?"

Without hesitation, Ilin redirected her curiosity toward Kaiba.

Aisha couldn't help but admire Ilin's social skills. She had directly confronted Kaiba without hesitation.

Although Kaiba's appearance was captivating, after witnessing that duel, Aisha still felt a bit intimidated by her.

Mainly because she couldn't help but project her own sister onto Kaiba.

If Aisha's sister were as cold and strict as Kaiba, the fragile Aisha might not have survived to the age of sixteen.

"Of course I know. In fact, aside from you first-years, everyone else in the academy knows about it."

Kaiba stroked her smooth chin, a slight smirk forming as she glanced at Ilena, who was visibly struggling to hold back. "It's just that, under the threat of someone's tyranny, most students don't dare bring it up. Of course, I'm not included in that 'most.'"

"Shut up, Kaiba!"

Ilena tried to cover Kaiba's mouth, but due to the height difference between them, her efforts were largely ineffective.

"You should face reality, Ilena. Losing to that person isn't something to be ashamed of."

Kaiba's demeanor seemed quite different from the cold, stern image Aisha had of her. In front of Ilena, Kaiba didn't exhibit the strict 'older brother' attitude she had during the duel.

"That person... are you talking about the third-year senior?" Ilin's curiosity grew even stronger.

Kaiba nodded. "Yes, the man hailed as a once-in-a-century genius at Fusion Academy."

Ilena shook her head frantically. "Genius? More like a madman! He's terrifying. Just thinking about him makes me shiver."

Now even Aisha's curiosity was piqued, and she eagerly wanted to know more.

"Just what kind of person could leave such a deep psychological scar on Senior Ilena?"

"The third-year senior, Aleister." When mentioning this name, even Kaiba's eyes showed a hint of seriousness.

You Ling: "Aleister... that name sounds familiar. I think there's a top-tier deck called the Aleister the Invoker archetype."

Although he had died before officially diving into Yu-Gi-Oh!, You Ling had done some research on popular competitive decks in preparation.

Among them, the Aleister the Invoker fusion system, which could be splashed into various decks for attribute-based fusion summons, was nicknamed the "Playboy."

However, after some quick thinking, You Ling dismissed this idea.

"It's probably just a coincidence. There's no way someone would turn themselves into a card. That's just insane... Wait, insane?"

Ilena had just mentioned that this Aleister senior was a madman.

"No way." You Ling suddenly began to doubt the world's system.

Perhaps duel spirits weren't just confined to the cards in this world.

Kaiba continued, "Back then, Ilena was full of confidence, even to the point of arrogance. But Aleister senior taught her a harsh lesson. Though, in a way, it was a good thing. Otherwise, the Ilena you'd see now would be an extremely narcissistic and domineering version of herself."

Ilena retorted, "I'm not extremely narcissistic! I'm a cute and talented beauty, and that's a fact!"

"The senior who stomped Ilena, a once-in-a-century genius! So cool!" Ilin's curiosity turned into excitement. "So where can I meet this amazing senior?"

"Right, now that I think about it, the third-year seniors have had almost no presence in the academy for half the semester." Aisha suddenly realized something. "Actually, aside from the first few months of the school year, I haven't seen any third-year seniors at all."

"Of course you haven't. The third-year seniors only stayed at the academy for three months. After that, they left for their graduation internships."

You Ling: "Graduation internships? Even in a card game, there are graduation internships?"

Aisha: "This is the first time I've heard of it too."

Seeing Aisha's clueless and confused expression, Ilena couldn't help but pinch her soft cheeks and explain further.

"The Holy Land of Spirits, located at the center of the Elven Continent, where the three great nations converge. That's where the third-year seniors go for their graduation internships."

"Not just Fusion Academy, but also students from Synchron Academy and XYZ Academy will gather there. Through an annual dueling tournament, they determine which summoning method is the strongest on the continent."

This was a war representing Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz.