Academy War God: Unrivalled Magic

The spectral image of the playing card: Queen reappeared in front of Yorumi Sou.

She floated silently in the air, her robe drifting like fragments of stars.

But beneath that silence lurked an eerie whisper that chilled the soul:

"Release me... or be devoured by me."

Yorumi knelt in the center of the training ground, cold sweat beading on his brow. The flow of magic in his body had gone haywire; his heart felt like it was being scorched by flames - this was his third attempt to enter the second stage of Queen.

And once again, he had almost lost control.

"Haa... No, like this, I'll be consumed by her."

Yorumi panted and withdrew the card. He knew now - Fonk had been right all along.

The queen wasn't a "skill card".

She was a living will.

Her price was seeping into his senses, his memories - even his emotions.

"You've already made a connection with her."

Fonk stepped out of the shadows, calm as ever - but his words landed like thunder.

"Link?" Yorumi frowned.

Fonk nodded, still idly spinning his ever-present Rubik's Cube.

"Queen is the most personified card in the whole deck.

Unlike Black Jack, which follows the user's will, Queen has her own."

"The more intense your emotions, the stronger her resonance.

"She'll strike for you - but she'll also break for you."

Yorumi lowered her gaze. A memory surfaced - a near loss of control. He couldn't even remember what move he had used at that moment. Only that his enemy had been defeated... and that he, engulfed in magical flames, had seemed like a completely different person.

Fonk sighed, then pulled a card from his cloak.

A King-worn, yellowed, and torn in half.

"I once wielded King," Fonk said softly.

"But the price... was more than I could bear."

"For you, Queen is both a challenge and a legacy."

"If you can tame her - you will inherit the true legacy of a Duelist."

"But if you fail... she will be the beginning of your downfall."

Yorumi fell silent, his fingers brushing the surface of the map - as if he could feel her cold, gentle presence beneath the image.

"I will control her," he whispered, his eyes burning with new determination.

Fonk gave a small nod, a subtle smirk curling the corner of his mouth.

"Then you'd better hurry."

"Why?"

Fonk turned his gaze to the horizon, as if he could see beyond the walls of the academy.

"Because Tokigumo Academy has already been targeted - by the duelists of Cobalt Academy."

New Challengers Appear Night had fallen.

At the northern boundary of Tokigumo Academy, the barrier trembled slightly.

A faint azure sword cut through the air, and three figures emerged from the Otherworld Gate.

Leading them was a long-haired young man wearing a tactical headgear, six slender iron-blue swords strapped to his back. His eyes were cold as ice.

He was the Cobalt Academy's rank #3: Hiryuu Chinmetsu, master of the Six-Sword Phantasm Arts.

At his side stood a girl in silver armor, wielding a mechanical warbow, her expression unreadable.

She was Cobalt Academy Rank #4: Shirakaba Shin'ya, known as the "Zero-Range Surefire Archer".

And last, standing nearly two meters tall, a youth wrapped in thunder sigils with a gaze like forged steel.

He was Cobalt Academy rank #5: Raigoku Gouga.

The three of them stood in front of Tokigumo's barrier, their eyes scanning like hawks.

"Yorumi Sou... Head of the Magic Department," Chinmetsu murmured.

"We have come... to collect the cost of your awakening."The Price of the Queen × The Duelist's Legacy