I Refused To Be Reincarnated

Disbelief painted his face in bright colors as he gazed at the three armored ghosts, jaws dropping and pupils constricting.

All along, he had thought to be the only one playing them. Yet, Esi shook his beliefs with her lineup. Worst, thunder strikes deafened his mind with each second passing watching them. Not because of their appearance or the terror they inspired but because they were sane!

His fingers clenched in an uncontrollable, trembling fist.

He had interacted with Ossian, the soul reaper captain, Durgrim, and even Nova. They were all honest individuals who earned his respect.

His mouth closed and his bony teeth cracked as his eyes burned.

Yet, she dared to hunt their species when evil ghosts sewed terror and levelled villages until a mage battalion killed them?

"Why?"

His voice, a cracking murmur, resounded.

"WHY?!"

A guttural roar, coming from his guts and channelling all his outrage, echoed, silencing the crowd.

Purple lightning arcs cracked and danced around his frame like snakes as he forcefully controlled his affinity, not to expose himself despite his rage.

However, Esi remained unphased, meeting his eyes with a disdainful glance and a hint of confusion.

"What do you mean, why? Because I can, and they're powerful creatures?"

She shrugged, her fingers tapping on her desk impatiently.

"You didn't know? Dark mages often use them as materials or turn them into haunted souls anyway."

His soul shook at her answer. Then, he remembered the soul society's inhabitants' vivid reactions when they saw living beings. Terror, anguish, and hostility all manifested in their trembling eyes as they imagined how dark their lives would turn after being caught.

Finally, he inhaled, the air flowing into his wooden nostrils like a maelstrom.

He now understood these mages' vision of other species. Unlike his openness and willingness to negotiate even with the ugly Dreg'nars, to these mighty nobles, anything that wasn't human, dwarf or elf was nothing more than a mindless beast they could slaughter.

'I'm wrong.'

He shook his head, remembering their outing in Rose and how the Ashfords treated them.

'They don't even consider commoners like human beings.'

Despite the so-called aristocratic governance, the model veered into something terrible.

'They are oligarchs, controlling everything without resolving any problem for their citizens. They are worse than leeches and don't care about the blood they spill.'

If he disliked their behavior, thinking it was only a minority making enough noise to silence the majority, he now hated it to his core.

As he thought, a tense silence descended on the venue. Occasional hushed whispers resounded. Yet, no one dared make too much noise after hearing the crackling electricity whip the ground with a vengeance.

However, Esi's annoyed voice cut through his thoughts like a burning knife, forcing him out of his trance.

"Are you going to play, or do you want to surrender?"

Eyes narrowing into slits, he drew his three starting cards, then an additional one for playing second.

But his mind wandered elsewhere... to the mountain's abyss he fell into after he trusted Picket. If good intentions could create terrible outcomes, he now considered misplaced kindness a worst sin.

He had tried to become more nuanced and understanding, like Julius. But these individuals didn't deserve his respect.

A fire lit up in his eyes as a disdainful grimace stretched his lips.

'Instead, they would have to earn it!'

His determined roar echoed next, shattering the silence into millions of pieces as he slammed a card in its slot.

"Appear Poltergeist!"

The mischievous invisible kid jumped out of a mass of billowing red fog, chuckling at the three sane ghosts.

"Activate your effect!"

He threw the Shadow Ghost to the graveyard slot. A slamming noise reverberated next.

"Doppelgänger!"

The swirling red fog coalesced into a grinning duplicate of the Poltergeist.

Finally, he called for his third evil ghost, matching Esi's lineup in quantity. Experience new stories on My Virtual Library Empire

"Vengeful spirit, come out."

The spirit's scarlet hair swirled in the wind as she jumped out of the fog, fixing her adversary with the deep abyss replacing her eyes.

Loud cheers erupted from the crowd as he repeated his first duel combo. Yet, he ignored them, his eyes still burning.

'I'll obliterate you in less than two turns!'

"I use a boosting spell."

After a short incantation, mana engulfed the smirking Poltergeist, making its malicious eyes glint red.

Meanwhile, mana condensed above its head, displaying its attack.

ATK 1200->1500

The Vengeful spirit activated her effect simultaneously, materialising an icy sword with her negative energy as her attack increased.

ATK 1800->2100

"Give those ghosts peace."

Upon hearing his fierce yet sadness-filled command, the two boosted evil ghosts blurred into action, shocking Esi with their ruthless assault.

Harold's and Zoe's attack appeared next as the frozen blade whistled through the wind, and a barrage of rising rubbles assaulted them.

ATK 1300

ATK 1400

Weaker than their adversaries, they exploded into a rain of sparks under their assault, leaving Draco as her field's sole defender.

And in the next turn, he would disappear, too.

The two victors besieged her first two castles as his voice echoed, and a red glint flashed in his eyes.

"I end my turn."

Meanwhile, Esi clicked her tongue in annoyance and drew a card.

Despite his powerful retaliation, she knew she would win. After all, one creature alive was all she needed to summon one of her ace monsters.

"I sacrifice Draco to summon Silvie, the banshee queen!"

Just hearing the ghost's species made his fists tremble and a wave of hate crash against his soul.

His lips curled downwards in a horrifying grimace as he watched a gray fog portal appear on the plain. From it, a beautiful woman wearing an old funeral dress stepped out.

Like Nova's previous appearance, black tears covered her cheeks like a tattoo as her silvery eyes conveyed her sadness and despair.

He exhaled, an audible hiss resounding as she snorted.

"Any enemy monster standing on your side of the field loses two hundred attack points. I activate her effect. With it I can bring back one of my ghosts from the graveyard."

As she revived Draco, he remained silent. Speaking became irrelevant the moment he understood her. Instead, her arrogant smirk only fueled his determination to exterminate her in this duel.