"I summon Solar Maid: Ama!" I yelled, setting down the card I had just drawn.

Skah smiled. "That card again."

Had Dan used it too? She and Solar King Leo are a good pair, so it makes sense he would.

Though, I didn't like how he seemed able to look into my strategy. It felt as if I were being led into a trap.

"Woah, you two go hard," Kohri said.

We glanced up and saw Ximena descend from the sky with him, Nori, Onami, and Yuko. Xime continued to hold Serrano in her arms.

I chuckled. "You took a while! But at least you made it in time to see the end!"

"Someone is getting cocky," Skah said, grinning.

I shook my head. "I didn't mean it that way. I know this duel can go either way. This turn may even decide its outcome, but I'm ready to face you head-on. With the cards in my hand, I will carve my future! Leo, attack his Crow of Dusk!"

Skah snickered even as his points were cut in half. "I activate my Secret Card! Revival of the Phoenix! When a card on my side is destroyed during my opponent's turn, I can draw a card and restore my life points by its attack and Sprit Call it unto the field with zero attack and defense. It can't be destroyed during the rest of the opponent's turn."

I eyed the top of his deck as he placed his hand over it. He smiled slightly and turned the card to reveal another Crow of Dusk. My life points go up by two-thousand-five-hundred."

I laughed. "Not bad! Unfortunately for you, I activate Asora: Keeper of the Aura's special ability! Whenever my opponent's life points go up, its attack increases by the amount restored!"

Asora let out a battle cry as her attack rose from one-thousand to three-thousand-five-hundred.

I smiled. "Asora, attack Rooster of Dawn!"

Skah shielded his eyes as Asora brought out a knife and stabbed his rooster, bringing his life points back down to one-thousand.

"Go, Rosa!" Kohri yelled, pumping his fist up and down.

I laughed. He sure was energetic for a guy who looked like he was about to pass out not too long ago.

"Looks like we are back to where we were," Skah said, sighing.

"Yeah. But I'm not done yet. I still got Ama."

"Yeah, but you can't destroy my card."

"I don't have to destroy it to inflict damage. Ama, attack his Crow of Dusk!"

The maid rushed forward and delivered a spinning kick to the bird.

Skah snickered as his life pointed decreased to 100. "So, you saw through that gap in my strategy. I was hoping you wouldn't."

"I would need to be distracted to miss a loophole like that. Now, I end my turn."

He smiled as he drew another card. "This will end it, I'm sure of it!" He turned the card over and snickered. "Yup, just what I need."

I gulped. Just which card had he drawn?

"I summon Stone Albatross and Dancer of the Skies! Next, I activate Swan of Night's special ability! When I have a card with zero attack points, I can Spirit Call a new card! Ohh stone avian, crow of the darkening sky, and the one who dances in the clouds; come together as one and call forth the king of the birds! I call upon Amadori: King of the Skies!"

The three spirits turned into spheres of energy that collided together to create a green orb. A gale rushed across the center of the arena as the gem rose to the skies and transformed into a giant bird covered in emeralds.

"I then activate Amadori's special ability! On the turn its Sprit Called, I can destroy all of the spirits on my opponent's side of the field and deliver two-hundred in damage per destroyed spirit in return for giving up the attack phase. Go, Wind of the King!"

I raised my arms over my head as a gust blew away all three of my spirits away and brought my life points down to four-hundred.

"I place a Hidden Card and end my turn!"

I lowered my arms and stared at my empty side. I snickered. "You had me thinking that you were going to defeat me in that turn of yours."

Skah shrugged. "I meant that Amadori will deliver me the win. This is your last turn to tip the scales, princess Rosalba."

I nodded and drew a card. I chuckled as I slammed my new card and another one I had in my hand already against my duel device. "I set Bear of Love and Crystal Rose on each corner of the field!"

Skah looked up at my spirits with glimmering eyes. "Cute and beautiful!"

I smiled. "I know they are, but they will also lead to your defeat! Bear of Love who bears the one-star and Crystal Rose who represents the eighth-star, the power of the heavens flow through you. Come forth and bring about the change! Spirit Divination!"

Tetsuya's uncle gasped as he saw several spirits descended from the sky. "What is this?"

"This is Spirit Divination, with it, one can summon cards whose numbers of stars lie between those use to summon them. In this case, I can call spirits with stars from two to seven."

Skah stared at my cards and smiled. "They're beautiful."

I smiled at the three female spirits as they sat quietly, awaiting their cue to start strumming their harps. "They were a birthday gift from my big sis," I said.

"So your special cards also come from your siblings," Skah said as he glanced up at his bird. He redirected his golden eyes toward me. "Is that all? You won't be taking down Amadori with any of those three."

"Nope, I'm barely beginning! Musician of the Glacier, Musician of the Flame, and Musician of the Bolt, with you three, I open the path to greater heights!" The three musician sisters turned into spheres of energy that crashed into the ground, forming a vortex of gold and silver.

"Woah. So pretty!"

I chuckled as I rose a hand toward him. "Come forth, mistress of sound! Spirit Evolution! Rise, Princess of Music!"

A beam of platinum light shot out of the portal. Once it the and vortex vanished, a woman in a purple dress emerged, holding onto a giant harp with different color strings. Around her flew three golden spheres, each one representing a spirit that he been used in its summoning.

Skah stared at his device. "Two-thousand-five-hundred attack? Are you sure that can defeat a spirit with three-thousand-five-hundred attack points?"

"Wait until I'm done. Princess of Music, absorb the knowledge of the muses that came before you!"

My spirit closed its eyes as the three golden spheres flew into her rainbow harp.

Skah gasped as he watched my spirit's attack go up by two-hundred while his bird's went down by the same amount. "What are those spheres it absorbed?"

"They're called enlightenment spirits. It allows it to use its special ability per each one absorbed."

He looked up at his weakened bird. "I see, so that's what that was."

I held a hand forward. "It was fun dueling you, Skah. However, I can't afford to lose this duel! Once the war is over, maybe we can have a rematch. Now, Princess of Music, attack Amadori!"

Skah closed his eyes. "You truly are a worthy successor." He opened his eyes. "I activate my Hidden Card! Split Pain!"

I gasped as my spirit destroyed his bird. Both of our life points dropped down to zero.

Skah chuckled as the device's beams died down. "That was close..."

"You preferred a tie?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. I may not be as competitive as Daiyu, but losing isn't something I'm fond of either."

I laughed. "Same!"

"Well, since I didn't win, I better get going."

"Wait!" I held out my hand toward him. "Good game."

He smiled and took it into his. "Likewise. Maybe I should modernize my deck before I rechallenge you."

"In that case, I will upgrade my deck as well."

He turned around and waved. "I look forward to it!" He gasped. His golden eyes glanced up as something made its way toward us. He jumped twenty-feet into the air as rose landed where he had stood.

"Who threw a rose?" I asked, eying the stands.

"You aren't going anywhere, abysmal!" a booming voice echoed across the arena.

I glanced back at the rose as it transformed into a tall guy with long black hair.

"Kiyoshi!" Kohri said.

He glanced back at Kohri and smiled. "That demon must've done quite the number on you if you've turned toward playing card games to buy yourselves time." The Seven-Flame Knight dashed after Skah.

"Let him go, the duel is over! He isn't here to hurt us! In fact, he only came here to talk to Serrano!" I said.

"He's still an enemy," Kiyoshi said as he lurched toward Skah. "Even if we aren't at each others' necks today, we will be at another time. So, it's best to put a stop to him while we have the advantage. Not that I need your help to deal with this one. He doesn't look powerful at all." He snickered. "Maybe that's why he resorted to using card games to achieve his goals."

Skah scoffed. "And you think you're so strong."

Kiyoshi smirked. "I know I am." He appeared behind Skah and threw a punched at him.

The white-haired abysmal ducked and aimed a chop straight at the back of Kiyoshi's neck but came short of actually hitting him. He flew backward and sent out a wave of flames as thorn vines emerged from the Seven-Flame's upper spine.

Kiyoshi chuckled as his mana levels increased dramatically.

"Is he going into second heaven?" I asked.

Kohri dashed over toward me and pulled me away. "Yeah. We need to go."

I frowned as I flew away. I took another look at the arena.

Skah glanced up at me and smiled as a swirling mass of darkness appeared behind him. His lips moved as he closed his eyes and vanished into the darkness.

"Come back here!" Kiyoshi yelled as he directed his vine whips into the portal. Unfortunately for him, the vortex closed, swallowing up his vines. "Damn it!"

"Hey, what did he say?" Ximena asked as she flew ahead of me. Her wind carried Yuko, Onami, and Nori up.

"Who?" I asked.

"Skah. It seemed like he told you something before he left."

I pursed my lips. "He said, 'Kiyoshi is right, I am your enemy. Next time we meet, we will be the ones clashing instead of our cards.' Or, at least, I think that's what was said."

Yuko sighed. "Yuko was hoping Master's uncle would join us."

I lowered my head. "Me too, I tried to convince him before we began our duel, but he said it's not that simple." I sighed. "For now, we should get some rest. Tomorrow, we're going to start our trek northward to join my dad and the others."

"Who will be guarding this area?" Kohri asked.

"Shin'en said he'll station mages around the ruins and would personally partake in their security."

"That's good," Nori said. He glanced at Serrano with sad eyes. What was on his mind?

"Don't worry, he'll wake up soon," Ximena said.

Nori smiled slightly. "Nori's going to train before heading to bed."

"Yuko will join Nori! Today taught Yuko that she is still too weak to be of much help to Master."

I snickered. "You do not need to be strong to be of help to him. If anything, you have helped him more than me."

"Princess has too."

"You think so? I have been more of a burden than anything."

Yuko reached her hand out. "Yuko knows. Together, we'll end this war. Then, Rosa can duel Master's uncle again."

I laughed as I took her hand. "Of course!"

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed this chapter! Overall thoughts? Predictions?**