Duels should be played with a smile.

When he shouted this slogan, he felt as if four big words were above his head: "Never forget our original aspiration!"

"Ritual Star! [Meteor Shower Cluster]!"

Following the method inherited from fiberglass, Leyou condensed a Meteorite Clever Cluster card in his palm, and just like before, the card flew into the air.

At this moment, the power of the six summoning spells converged here.

However, there has been no further progress.

Thus, the pressure fell on the Snow Woman—or rather, at this moment, the Snow Woman was the center of attention.

"Right, if Ella and Philvo both have corresponding powers, then what are you? Are you a hybrid?"

Yuki-onna herself is a linker, but it's clear that her representativeness in linking is nowhere near that of Philvo. As for Synchro... that's even less relevant to her.

"Guess."

The snow woman smiled gently, without uttering any melodramatic slogans, and simply scattering snowflakes with one hand.

Under the watchful eyes of many, the Snow Woman underwent an astonishing transformation.

"Let me make this clear first, I'm not a lolicon."

"Oh? Do you want to try it later?"

"Your method, which is legal... isn't necessarily unacceptable..."

The Snow Woman did not choose to change into her noble but complicated formal attire; instead, she chose to simplify it.

As the snowflakes fell, her figure gradually shrank.

She transformed into her juvenile form—[Ice Demon - Snow Maiden]

"The six summoning methods represent the different paths that Duel Monsters have explored over the years... but what I want to explain now is something more fundamental."

"Effect monsters, and the possibility itself."

"Although I can't compare to those guys who have countless aliases."

No cards flew out of the Snow Woman—now Snow Maiden—but the light that unified all the summoning spells was indispensable.

Once the most crucial link was connected, it felt as if the long journey had finally come to its end. Leyou suddenly felt something and looked up at the sky.

Above the sky, K remained in his phantom form, peering down at everything and all the changes below, but he was no longer as relaxed and carefree as before.

"Now... please proceed with the final step."

Inheriting Fiberglass's words snapped Leyou out of her thoughts. Putting K's matter aside, Leyou nodded slightly, a faint smile on her face.

“In the end, it still has to be done this way, which is not surprising.” Philvo smiled slightly as well, the data stream transforming into a duel disk that appeared on her arm.

"Of course, after all, the best way to make the Duel Monster cards resonate is to have a duel." The snow woman waved her hand to disperse the snowflakes, and her figure gradually returned to its original form. She also took the opportunity to change into her formal attire, and even her naginata appeared in her hand.

It's both a naginata and a duel disk... Judging from her eager look, Leyou has reason to suspect that this girl wants to see if she has a chance to slash him a couple of times.

I'm so angry and cold, I'm about to be domestically abused.

Ella remained calm, and with a swipe of her arm in her battle dress, a duel disk made of source code appeared on her arm.

"Just going with the flow."

“That’s right, we need to go with the flow. We need a duel like this to bring things to a head…”

“Before that…” Philvo raised a hand, gesturing for a pause, “a duel like this will definitely require going all out, so I need to do some preparation.”

Before Leyou could react, Philvo turned around and waved to the other whispering elves. Seeing that nothing unusual happened, she turned around again, indicating that they could begin.

There's no noticeable change, at most her complexion is a little rosier?

"By the way, how about we add a prize?"

Philvo interrupted the impending duel once again.

What's the prize?

“Hmm… let me think, for example, family status or something? How about that?” Philvo suggested with a smile.

Leyou instantly exclaimed with confidence: "Ha, I cannot possibly lose this duel!"

The Snow Woman immediately put on a pitiful look and said softly, "Heh, how low can my status go, you weak, pitiful, and helpless punching bag?"

Seeing the duel, which had been somewhat tense, turn into such a commotion, Ella finally showed a different expression.

She looked helplessly at Philvo, whose rationality was buried in the ground, at Leyou, who always loved to watch the fun, and at the Snow Woman, who seemed to thrive on chaos. She sighed in exasperation.

"...Whatever makes you happy."

"Then... let the duel begin!"

"This is... a chaotic four-person melee!"

"Duel!" ×4

The four chatted and laughed, all assuming a fighting stance, but their smiles vanished instantly after the duel began.

Apart from Leyou, the three Snow Maidens all showed a hint of unease on their faces.

And Leyou...

My gaze has never been so firm.

"Seriously...you guys don't actually think you can hide your discussions from me, do you?"

"At the very least, it can't be hidden from me now."

The usually cheerful Leyou, who was always smiling, now had a hint of melancholy on his face as he tossed the dice up and down.

"You know? Well... it's not surprising that you know these things now, but you still chose this path."

At this moment, Philo showed no trace of her previous slightly emotional demeanor; her rational attitude was now the proper one.

It doesn't mean that what she did before was a pretense; it's just that at this time, there's no need to be sentimental.

The Snow Maiden, who was just as unreliable as Leyou, also looked melancholy. When she felt Leyou's gaze, she only gave a slightly apologetic smile.

The Snow Woman's slightly apologetic smile is probably a rare treasure.

"I'm sorry, this time I..." Ella hesitated, then simply shook her head slightly.

That was her choice, and there's nothing more to say about it.

"Hey hey... what do you mean I chose this path? You guys didn't give me a chance to choose at all."

"I really can't handle this kind of situation."

Feeling overwhelmed, socially anxious person Leyou said that there was really nothing to say about this kind of situation.

What was supposed to be a four-person free-for-all turned into a righteous three-on-one fight the moment the duel began.

And... this is a dark duel.

"I said... is it really necessary to gamble with yourselves? Give everything back to me..."

"And if you guys go easy on us like this, the duel becomes meaningless."

The three women exchanged a smile and said in unison, "We won't hold back!"

"Today, I'm going to turn my life around!" the Snow Woman declared.

"Today, I'll let you taste the real deal in code language!" Philvo's lips curled up, a look of satisfaction on his face.

"Allow me to be willful just this once, today." Ella maintained her gentle voice, but her words were firm and resolute.

"There's no need to worry about the outcome of the duel; we will use all our strength to deal with you."

"If we lose, we will indeed return everything to you... but if you lose, the result will be the same."

"Because... in a dark duel, the winner takes all, and the loser is left eating dirt..."

"At that time, you'll still be at our mercy, won't you?"

With a smile in her eyes and a flirtatious tone in her words, Leyou, knowing the truth behind it all, felt a pang of unease.

"You guys are really putting me in a difficult position."

He shook his head vigorously, clearing his mind of distractions. The crystal on Leyou's chest, which had lost all its color, emitted a faint glow.

The moment the light flashed, Leyou swiftly took out his deck and began adjusting it.

At times like this, breaking the rules a little isn't a big deal!

Seeing Leyou's actions, the three Snow Maidens were not to be outdone. Their crystals also shone brightly, temporarily blocking out the rules of the duel, and they began to adjust their decks on the spot.

Within seconds, the crystal's light faded, and the four of them finished adjusting at the same time, placing their decks back onto the duel disk.

Four pairs of eyes met, and all smiled slightly.

"Is it a fair three against one? Then I demand fair treatment! I get to go first! And I want 5 extra starting cards."

"For this reason, I am willing to lessen the punishment for my opponents after their defeat—I don't need them to give up everything, I just need them to obey me today."

"In order to prevent you from donating yourselves directly, I need to use a strong enough approach to dispel your unrealistic ideas!"

Leyou's words were met with a response from the duel rules, and the three Snow Maidens simultaneously received a notification from the World Will—choose to accept or to further coordinate.

In the judgment of the world's will, under the dual asymmetry of three against one and reduced punishment, the first-mover advantage is completely permissible.

"Six cards in the starting hand, no need for reduced penalty, that's the most we'll agree to." Philvo immediately rejected that part of the proposal.

"I have to admit, you can be quite quick-witted at times... although now is not a good time."

"Then let's start with 9 cards...and change the conditions a little."

As we all know, it's impossible to open a window from the start, but if you try to lift the roof right away, after some compromise, you can open the window successfully.

After some bargaining, Leyou gained the privilege of starting with 8 cards, and the promise made by Philvo and the others to give up everything together was changed to the right to give up their souls.

They look pretty much the same, I guess.

"Heh, let's save the extra words for after I defeat you! Then you'll all have to behave yourselves and stop thinking about these clichéd scenes of ultimate sacrifice."

"I've tasted enough of this stuff. I prefer comedy to tragedy."

“The core of comedy is tragedy,” the Snow Woman immediately retorted.

"...You wait, once I defeat you all, the first one I'll spank is you!"

Completely disregarding the vulgarities he had uttered, Leyou drew eight cards and immediately began the duel.