After returning [Monster Reborn], Ling Ling originally thought that based on the Elf Continent's stingy rules regarding cards, he probably wouldn't get a reward card.
But just as the quiet breeze of the back mountain rustled through the depths of the forest, things took an unexpected turn.
Tinkle~~~~!
Like a wind chime stirred by a gentle breeze in summer, a pleasant metallic clinking sound emerged.
The source of the sound was precisely the counterfeit Millennium Ring hanging on the black-robed man's chest.
Ling Ling was astonished: "How could it be, the Shadow Game is already over. Why would the Millennium Ring still react?"
Immediately following, like a soulless zombie, the black-robed man, who was unconscious just a second ago from losing the Shadow Game, tremblingly got up.
"Help, Mr. Ling Ling! This guy, he's still conscious!"
Aisha, who couldn't help but cry out in alarm, after all, the black-robed man's current state was even more terrifying than when he was conscious.
——Soul Exchange!
Seizing the time, he exchanged souls into Aisha's body again.
Good heavens, she's gone soft again.
Even with his quick reaction, he couldn't keep up with the speed at which the timid host girl's legs went weak.
Anyway, first try to maintain posture as much as possible. After slowly recovering, if the situation looks bad, run away directly.
However, the subsequent development of events was somewhat different from what Ling Ling imagined.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
The black-robed man showed no hostility towards Aisha, just kept repeating and muttering to himself, as if apologizing to someone.
"I'm sorry, Cult Master. Please give me, give me one more chance. I still, I still don't want to die! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Accompanied by the extremely eerie metallic clinking of the Millennium Ring, the black-robed man's joints twisted into positions impossible for a human.
"A thousand apologies, Cult Master!"
After a final miserable scream, the black-robed man's head twisted 180°, completely dead.
The counterfeit Millennium Ring on his chest also turned into a wisp of black ash, scattering with the wind.
A shocking scene, occurring in less than a minute, made even Ling Ling, who was operating the body, not dare to take a deep breath.
"Damn, this card game actually killed someone for real!"
Ling Ling, squinting his eyes, roughly glanced at the 'corpse' on the ground with its head detached from its body.
The reason for squinting was certainly not because Ling Ling himself was afraid, but because he was afraid of scaring Aisha.
"What does this person mean by the Cult Master he's muttering about, and the Millennium Ring actually broke?"
Ling Ling, of course, didn't know that the black-robed man's Millennium Ring was a counterfeit.
So many things happened tonight; Ling Ling only felt it was extremely bizarre.
A strong sense of unease welled up in his heart.
"Mr. Ling Ling, the card, the card!"
Aisha's urgent voice sounded in his mind.
"What card?"
"That Dark Duelist's card, it's burning!"
"Eh?"
Because his mind had been constantly thinking about the events of tonight, Ling Ling, sharing vision with Aisha, actually didn't even notice the deck in the black-robed man's Elven Eye suddenly self-combusting.
On the Elf Continent, after a Duelist passes away, the cards they hold will also be destroyed along with their Elven Eye.
But if the deceased Duelist's strength is sufficient, one card will be left behind.
That card is another type of tradable card born, aside from Shadow Games.
[Summoned Skull]
A very ironic ending.
Aisha didn't choose to take this card through a Shadow Game.
As a result, this [Summoned Skull] ultimately became another tradable card in a different way, with the black-robed man 'dying on the spot'.
"Take it, might as well take it if it's free."
Stepping over the grotesque corpse, Ling Ling took out the only surviving card from the burnt-out ashes of the deck.
The card face was still that demon clad in pale white skeletons; the vast elven power it contained allowed Ling Ling, who had only ever handled trash monster decks, to feel for the first time what it was like to truly possess a strong card.
Hand Exchange, that kind of thing, was indeed just ntr after all.
Aisha: "(oﾟ▽ﾟ)o What a strong card, Mr. Ling Ling! I didn't expect this card to end up in our hands after all, heeheehee."
This girl, clearly looking so innocent and kind when it came to Shuiyue Wu's card, how could she utter lines so much like a villain's at this moment.
You're not chaotic good, are you?
Carefully weighing and observing the [Summoned Skull] card in his hand, Ling Ling's eyes gradually became serious.
"Very strong, but still not strong enough."
"This card isn't strong enough?"
That depends on what card it's compared to.
Ling Ling originally thought that the unidentified pressure he felt when stepping onto the back mountain came from this [Summoned Skull].
But now, holding it in his hand, he could accurately distinguish that the vastness of that mysterious pressure, even the so-called one-tribute king [Summoned Skull], had no possibility of comparing.
The difference was too great.
"The truth of this back mountain, perhaps we haven't truly touched it yet."
When Ling Ling developed this 'awareness', that this giant beast hidden in the night had an even deeper 'secret'.
A form guided by consciousness, the Millennium Puzzle reacted once again.
「The enemy's darkness still exists here. Successor of Aibo, please, for your friend, expel that malice.」
In Ling Ling's mind, another voice sounded without warning.
"Aisha, were you speaking just now?"
"No, not at all."
It indeed didn't sound like Aisha; the voice was very unfamiliar, but it also reached deep into the soul.
"Enemy's darkness?"
The information conveyed by the voice was very vague, leaving Ling Ling momentarily bewildered.
After that, as if to explain the meaning of those words.
Under the shroud of night, the golden eye on the Millennium Puzzle suddenly shot out a golden ray of light, pointing towards the location where Aisha had previously separated from Yilin.
"The enemy's darkness still exists here..."
After his brain spun rapidly, Ling Ling suddenly reacted.
"Could it be that there's more than one Dark Duelist? Oh no, Lin is still alone right now, she might be in danger!"
There was no time to return the body to Aisha; following the nearest path indicated by the light, Ling Ling ran with all his might towards the place where they had separated earlier.
After Ling Ling and Aisha left, a translucent phantom slowly walked out from the depths of the forest, looking meaningfully at the departing girl and the swaying Millennium Puzzle.
"How nostalgic. Once upon a time, I also fought alongside Aibo like this. 「Things that can be seen yet cannot be seen」, fight to protect that invisible friendship and kindness, successor."
If Ling Ling had looked back just one more time at this moment, he would definitely have recognized it.
That hairstyle, as dazzling as starlight...