Duels should be played with a smile.

Just as the Snow Woman was thinking this, a cracking sound came from behind her.

And K's deep, weak, yet still arrogant voice.

"I'm sorry, I am not a duelist, I am a merchant, a great god."

With a "bang," countless ice blocks scattered on the ground.

Turning around, the Snow Woman only saw a wisp of black mist rising, forcing her to take a few steps back towards Long Ke and the others.

The black mist quickly dissipated, and K reappeared before them, still dressed in tattered clothes.

"What's that saying again? I'm a realist!" K knelt on one knee, tilted his head, and said softly as if recalling something.

The snow woman slowly lowered her hand that was covering her chest, letting it hang down at her side. Tiny specks of ice and snow gathered in her palm, ready to transform into sharp blades at any moment.

"Not surprising... If they can use underhanded tactics, I wouldn't mind if they resorted to even more underhanded tricks."

"But I don't know how a defeated opponent like you dares to be so arrogant?"

K remained silent for a moment before slowly rising. He waved his hand and summoned another cloud of black mist, which repaired his tattered clothes and red glasses. Then he slowly said, "It's not arrogance, but the composure of someone in a high position."

"For those in high positions, everything those in lower positions do is merely entertainment... Regardless of the process, the final result is already predetermined."

"Oh? Is that so?" The Snow Woman stopped Long Ke, who was about to say something, with her other hand, and stepped forward, saying, "But, I just hit you."

K hesitated for a moment, and after some thought, he reorganized his words: "In a duel, it is normal for both sides to win and lose."

"But I just hit you."

"That was just an accident, you lower-ranking person..."

"But you cheated using off-court methods, and I still caught you red-handed in the end."

"But it's just..."

“I’ve got you beaten up. You lost to a woman. I’ve reserved a VIP seat for you at the bottom of West Lake. You can go sit there.”

"..."

K was a little lost in Yuki-onna's erratic train of thought, but he figured it wouldn't be anything nice.

Because of the existence of the world's rules, even though He is the collective will of the creator, He would still be severely injured after losing the duel. However, He also used his power to offset a lot of the damage, which is why He could still be so leisurely after losing the duel in the dark.

But this injury... plans never keep up with changes, K now understands that saying.

"Further words are pointless. You've won this time. Under the witness of the world's will, you will receive the prize you deserve. But I won't be playing along..."

Seeing the enemy preparing to flee, the Snow Woman swiftly followed and blocked K's path.

"and many more!"

"What's the matter?"

"Let's put the rewards aside for now... As a loser, you want to leave without giving anything? This is really making me unhappy!"

"Do you intend to keep me here?" K felt a strange urge to laugh. What gave this mere elf the audacity to oppose him?

"Without the help of the dueling rules, do you still intend to attack me the way you would in a duel?"

"It's ridiculous! Can the things depicted by a painter jump out of the painting and kill the painter?"

Now that the duel was over, K was acting rather recklessly. He even had a thought of seeing what the Snow Woman could do to him.

"That's hard to say..."

At this moment, the snow woman's eyes were no longer the original icy blue; the light of jade flowed in her pupils. She lowered her eyes, not letting K notice her strange behavior.

"There aren't many ways for a two-dimensional character to hurt a real person... but right now, you're a two-dimensional character too!"

Suddenly looking up, the Snow Woman stared directly into K's eyes. The captivating emerald light stunned K for a moment, leaving him speechless and frozen in place.

K's thinking became incredibly slow, almost to the point of stagnation.

In his incredibly slow thought process, time seemed to stretch on endlessly. After a long wait, he heard the Snow Woman's voice in his ear.

"...Since you're not going to pretend to be a gentleman anymore, then it's perfectly reasonable for me, a woman, to also be unreasonable!"

The excruciating pain spread throughout his body, and because his thoughts became incredibly slow, this pain, which was enough to make him give up thinking, also became incredibly prolonged, to the point that K even had the idea of ​​destroying this consciousness.

Only after the body was completely destroyed and K's mind was no longer restricted did he finally hear the words ringing in his ears again.

"What a coincidence, I'm a realist too!"

……

"Phew, finally over... I'm exhausted, I really want to slack off..."

The jade greatsword vanished from the Snow Maiden's hand. She turned around, smiled, and waved to Long Ke, who was running towards her.

"The rest is up to you..."

"Bam—"

Chapter Eleven: Danger! Jack! Danger!

"The rest is up to you..."

When the Snow Woman disappeared from Long Ke's sight, the smile on Long Ke's face vanished instantly.

She recalled a long time ago, a distant memory that she had almost forgotten... a past she didn't want to recall.

"Snow Woman... Sister?"

Long Ke felt a void in her heart. Although they had only known each other for a month and hadn't spent much time together, the image of Xue Nu standing up to protect her during that duel—no, that battle—was deeply etched in her heart.

In the past, the ones who stood before her, protecting her, were Yusei, Ryua, and the ancient demon dragon.

Now, there's another snow woman.

It seems... she's always been protected.

"Sister Snow Woman?" Long Ke called softly, as if afraid that her voice would be too loud and disturb something.

"Sister Yuki-onna?"

Long Ke raised her voice slightly, afraid that her calls would go unanswered.

There was indeed no response, because there was nothing in front of her.

"Snow Woman Sister???"

Tears welled up, spilled from her eyes, and streamed down her cheeks.

In mid-air, it was permeated by the cold air and condensed.

The moment it hits the ground, it shatters, scatters, and dissipates into the air without leaving a trace.

A moment of silence followed, broken only by the sound of their breathing and Long Ke's sobs.

Rubbing his eyes and wiping away his tears, Long Ke forced back his grief and turned around, only to be met by Qiu and Carly, who both wore sorrowful expressions.

"Sister Yuki-onna...she..."

"Hey...what do you mean, 'I'?!"

A lazy voice, falling into the ears of Long Ke and the others, was no less than a thunderclap.

"Sister Snow Woman?" Having repeated the phrase more than five times, almost turning into a merciless repeating machine, Long Ke repeated the sentence again, but this time with a sense of surprise.

Surprised and delighted.

"I'm just taking a rest... I won't die, don't think of me as so fragile."

The fact that one can only hear her voice but not see her, and that her lifeless tone perfectly matches the state and personality of the Snow Woman, makes it impossible for her to be imitated.

After the initial surprise came worry. Long Ke searched everywhere for the Snow Maiden but couldn't find her, and his heart remained heavy with anxiety.

"Are you really okay...? Don't lie to me, that's what people say when they're on their deathbed in TV dramas."

The Snow Woman, lying in a corpse-like state, was speechless.

This child, if she can't speak, she doesn't have to. She's a grown woman now, why is she acting like a little girl, completely lacking her usual calmness and strength?

Yuu sighed, and the Snow Woman's voice rang out again: "I'm not human either... I'm really alright."

"But elves and humans aren't that different."

"I never said I was a complete elf... Alright, stop crying. I'm going to rest for a bit. You guys hurry back. I defeated that guy, but we don't know if he has any tricks up his sleeve. Leave one elf here to protect the scene and get out of here as soon as possible."

While she could still hold on for the time being, the Snow Woman gave a series of instructions, reminding these three people, who had clearly experienced many storms but were now like headless flies not knowing what to do, to hurry up and get down to business.

"I can't hold on much longer, so I'll touch it first..."

The languid voice stopped there, and Long Ke and the other two looked at each other in confusion. Without figuring out what the Snow Maiden was doing or where she was, the three of them didn't know what to do.

The three of them had indeed seen a lot, but back then, the situation was not much different from now. There was always a solid figure standing in front of them, sheltering them from the wind and rain and guiding them forward. So when this all-too-familiar scene reappeared, they panicked instead.

"Sister Yuki-onna?" Long Ke asked again in a low voice. She was still a little worried and was trying to find Yuki-onna while observing the surrounding situation.

"Long Ke, wait, look here."

The phantom of the Ancient Demon Dragon appeared in front of Long Ke, and the Ancient Demon Dragon nodded to Long Ke's deck.

With a slight sense of doubt, Long carefully removed his deck and began to examine his extra deck.

There's an extra card, and judging from the design, it's a Link Monster. The card art features the Snow Woman who is in a deep sleep.

"Is this the Snow Woman sister...?" Long Ke looked at the card that resembled Sleeping Beauty in disbelief, and for a moment she didn't know what to say.

"Wait a minute, why are there Link 8 Link Monsters? And the card names and effects are still not clear?"

Born in the Synchro Dimension, Ryuko is naturally very familiar with Synchro Summoning. After studying in the Xyz Dimension, her mastery of other Summoning methods is also quite strong. However, as far as she knows, the highest Link value and the only relatively common Link Monster is only Link 6.

The eight arrows on the Snow Woman card are practically beckoning everyone that this is a fake card.

Seeing that the Snow Woman's condition had been confirmed, Aki, relieved, finally stepped forward and made arrangements.

“Let’s talk about this later. It’s someone else’s secret, and that’s not what we need to do first. I’ll have Black Rose Dragon stay behind to protect the scene. Long Ke, the Ancient Demon Dragon can now appear in the outside world for extended periods, right? Let her take us back first.”

Long Ke nodded, and the ancient demon dragon that had just appeared as a phantom reappeared, but this time it took on a physical form.

“Carly, to be on the safe side, contact Jack and check on his situation. That enemy came in Jack’s guise at first, so Jack might be in some trouble over there now.”

After checking her deck and discovering that her Earthbound God hadn't returned, Carly temporarily put the Earthbound God's matter aside and started contacting Jack.

It seemed that the power that had sealed off this area had faded, and voices could be heard in the distance. So the three of them hurried on, mounted the ancient demon dragon, and flew toward Long Ke's home.