Duel in a Sword & Magic World: Girls Spirit Duelist

'Allow me to introduce myself.'

'Aisha Yuna Carlos, first-year student at Fusion Academy.'

'My hobby is reading. My passion is Miles.'

'I used to be an honored member of the Go-Home Club.'

'But now... I'm officially a member of the High-Level Spirit Research Society.'

"Uuuu... I only enjoyed half a year of Go-Home Club life, and now I've been forced into a club..."

Tears welling up, Aisha was torn between her beloved leisurely school life... and her even more beloved Miles.

"It's just to look at a God Card! There's no rule saying you can't quit afterward," Miles comforted her with a sly grin.

Who could resist the temptation of a God Card? Gods drive people to madness, after all.

As for Kevin, though he didn't meet the official membership criteria for High-Level Spirit Research, Nia reluctantly agreed to accept him as a provisional member after Rovik's persuasion—based on the fact that he managed to summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon as a first-year.

He would only be promoted to full member once he succeeded in summoning a Level 9 or higher monster.

This way, they weren't technically breaking the 12-year-old club rule: outsiders couldn't see the sealed, top-tier card.

"To think the High-Level Spirit Research Society has over a decade of history..."

Fusion Academy had a hundred-year history—Miles knew that.

But for such a niche club like this to endure for over a decade without the popularity of mainstream clubs... that was impressive.

Word was, the neighboring Self-Destruct Button Activation Group was on the verge of disbanding.

Seated quietly at the coffee table, Miles and Kevin didn't even feel like sipping tea, their eyes glued to Rovik as he carefully unlocked layer after layer of the magically-sealed safe.

It was like solving a logic puzzle: three layers, each with a unique magical lock. The first layer was a Rubik's Cube, the second was Sudoku, and the third was a final password lock.

Such tedious procedures only strengthened Miles's belief that the sealed God Card inside was the real deal.

Who in their right mind would go through all this just to store a trash card like [Gate Guardian]?

Click—!

With a crisp snap, the final magical seal was broken.

"Wait... the seal's unlocked now. Why can't the card be used?" Miles asked.

"This safe isn't the actual seal, Aisha," Rovik explained. "The true seal is the 'Limited Seal' placed on the card itself."

Taking the card from the safe, Rovik placed it solemnly on the coffee table.

"This... is a Limited Seal?!"

Miles's ahoge twitched upward. The instant he laid eyes on the card, he understood exactly what that meant.

Eighty percent of the card face was shrouded in mysterious black magical energy, making it impossible to see the details.

Over the obscured surface, three very three-dimensional-looking padlocks floated, linked by magical chains that bound the card, concealing all critical information.

Amid these stringent restrictions, the only visible info was the single character "God" in the card name... and a full 12-star Level indicator below.

Seeing a card sealed like this... if not for knowing that Exodia was made of five low-Level pieces, Miles might have mistaken this for [Exodia the Forbidden One].

No doubt about it—that brief divine aura Miles sensed earlier had come from this card.

"See? See? God Cards should be 12 Stars! Highest tier!" Nia beamed with pride, propping her chocolate mochi assets on the table as she smiled triumphantly at Miles.

"I won't deny... this isn't an Egyptian God Card, but it's certainly a 12-star card."

Miles refused to budge on the point that the Egyptian Gods were 10-Star. But there was no rule saying only the Egyptian Gods could be called "God."

"Rovik-senpai, what exactly is this card? I've never seen a card with three separate Limited Seals on it," Kevin said.

A Limited Seal meant the cardholder had imposed conditional locks on the card, and only by meeting the preset conditions could the seals be broken.

Otherwise, even if this were a tradable card, it couldn't be used in a Duel.

"Just what kind of monstrous willpower does it take to place three seals on a God Card? Does Fusion Academy even have alumni that strong?" Kevin wondered aloud.

Each layer of a Limited Seal required an immensely complex process—even more demanding than brewing those transformation potions the Magic Club worked on. The mental energy required from the duelist was enormous.

The stronger the card, the harder it was to seal.

And with each additional layer, the difficulty multiplied exponentially.

Placing three seals on a God Card? Almost unimaginable.

Even Alester-senpai, the so-called once-in-a-century genius of Fusion Academy, probably couldn't pull that off.

"We have no way of knowing," Nia admitted. "The High-Level Spirit Research Society's historical records were lost five years ago. All that remains is this card itself. We don't even know the conditions to break the seals."

"Not even knowing the unlock conditions... that means it's completely unusable! To have a God Card right in front of you but not be able to use it... That's the worst!"

For a duelist, there was no more agonizing development than "God Card within reach, but forever untouchable."

"There's no hint at all? Senpai?"

Sharing a glance, Nia and Rovik—both loyal members of the High-Level Spirit Research Society—had thought countless times about how to break the seals.

Rovik shook his head. "We've tried for years. No matter what we did, we couldn't even crack the first layer."

Nia rested her cheek on her hand, sighing. "If only we had a clue... Even unlocking just the first layer would help. Once that happens, the card would reveal how to break the second seal."

"Senpai, can I take a close look at the card?"

"Miss Aisha, you're officially a club member now. Feel free to inspect it as much as you like," Nia shrugged.

After all, she had examined it countless times herself.

So Nia knew better than anyone: no matter how closely you looked, you wouldn't find a clue to breaking the seals.

Using Aisha's slender fingers, Miles picked up the heavily sealed card from the table.

Click—!

A crisp, pleasant unlocking sound.

The instant Miles touched the card, one of the three padlocks shattered.

"WHAT?!?!"

Nia flipped the table as both she and Rovik stared, utterly dumbfounded.

As the first seal disappeared, more information on the card became visible.

Its full name: [Dystopia the Despondent], with an astounding 5000 Attack and Defense!

...

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