"Where did this girl come from?!"
In a mysterious dark room, five major figures sat together, staring in disbelief at the giant screen on the wall.
On the screen, an image showed Hoshino fighting a horde of dragons, wielding countless swords.
"How did such a person suddenly appear?! According to the game's settings, without entering the Dragon God Domain after the Evil Dragon takes over the sky, it's supposed to be impossible to win, right?"
According to the original setting, to conquer this game, one must enter the Dragon God Domain before the birth of the dragon horde. But because Kaiba entered the Dragon God Domain a day early, the plot's trigger time was also advanced. This meant that, even if Hoshino and the others hurried as fast as they could, they couldn't reach the destination before the set time.
"This girl seems to be the Duel King who defeated Pegasus, Hoshino Chiyuki!" one of the major figures suddenly realized.
"Why would the Duel King come to conquer this game?!"
"Look at her companions! Isn't that Kaiba Seto's younger brother and the one who defeated Kaiba, Yugi Mutou?"
"Damn, he brought in reinforcements to save his brother?"
"Yugi Mutou and Hoshino Chiyuki. With such big variables joining the game, there's no guarantee this game can keep Kaiba Seto trapped!"
"It seems we have no choice but to use the final measure. We must enter the game as well."
"By our souls, we will revive and summon the strongest—Five-Headed Dragon..."
———
"Phew, that was tough." Hoshino exhaled deeply, looking up at the sky. The terrifying dragon horde that once blocked out the sun was now completely gone.
"She managed to wipe out the entire dragon horde..." Mokuba stood dumbfounded, his small mouth slightly open, hesitant to speak.
"Well done, Baby Dragon." Hoshino smiled, gently stroking the orange dragon's head, which had just started to sprout tiny horns. "This was half your achievement too."
"Roar~" The Baby Dragon, now extremely excited, showed no signs of the earlier fatigue, its small wings flapping with even more vigor.
"What a terrifying woman!" Jounouchi whispered, watching the excited Baby Dragon.
"Hmm? I think I heard someone call me a woman..." Hoshino muttered.
...
"We've finally arrived—the Dragon God Domain." Even though it was impossible to calculate the exact distance from the ground, the fact that they had to fly upwards for so long surprised everyone.
"It's huge!" The biggest reason for miscalculating the distance was because the floating structure in the air was just too massive. It was as large as a city, and calling it a floating Atlantis in the sky wouldn't be an exaggeration. Its immense size inevitably caused a visual misjudgment when viewed from afar.
"We've spent so much time getting here. I wonder if the Five-Headed Dragon has already been revived," Yugi said with concern, looking toward the horizon.
The sunset was nearly over, and the gradually dimming sky only accentuated the eerie and terrifying atmosphere of the Dragon God Domain.
"It shouldn't have been revived yet. If the Five-Headed Dragon had been revived, this place wouldn't be so quiet." Hoshino speculated, noticing that the deathly silence around them contrasted sharply with the earlier dragon horde. There was no sign of any living creatures near the entrance of the Dragon God Domain.
"Hoshino, there won't be any ghosts here, right?" Mokuba swallowed nervously, instinctively moving closer to Hoshino. It was clear he was genuinely scared of zombies and other supernatural entities.
"Don't worry, I'm here." Hoshino comforted him, gently rubbing Mokuba's long hair. "Even if there are ghosts, I'll purify them all with my fists!"
"Alright, let's get ready to go in!" Jounouchi slapped his face hard, forcing himself to stay alert as he was the first to enter the door that emitted a constant dark aura.
The strange dragon-headed door, which seemed capable of devouring souls, gave the impression that any intruder would never return.
"Kaiba is something else, daring to enter a place like this alone," Hoshino sighed as she surveyed the terrifying surroundings. Even though she wasn't afraid of ghosts or monsters, the thought of walking alone in such an eerie place made her want to refuse a thousand times over.
"Of course, my brother is amazing." Even though Mokuba was scared to death, clutching Hoshino's arm tightly, he didn't forget to praise Kaiba. "My brother never believes in anything unscientific. Not even demons or monsters would dare approach him!"
"Heh, that's true." Even if something supernatural happened around Kaiba, he'd probably have a thousand scientific explanations for it. That must be the privilege of a genius.
"Reporting to the hero, there's a strange iron door ahead!" Jounouchi, leading the group, was the first to report the situation ahead.
Although it was just a short distance away, everyone else could see the unnatural iron door standing in the space before them.
"How should I put it? This iron door has a bit of a unique style." The red doorposts and the golden rings on the handles didn't quite match the Medieval Fantasy art style of the RPG.
"Th-there won't be zombies inside, right!" Mokuba clung tightly to Hoshino, almost crying as he spoke.
"That shouldn't be possible. Even if there were, what's so scary about zombies?" Hoshino, fearless, dragged the already attached Mokuba forward. "Open the door, Jounouchi. Whatever monsters or demons are behind it, we'll have to face them!"
"Alright!" Taking a deep breath and focusing his strength on his arms, Jounouchi easily pushed open the seemingly heavy iron door.
"This is?!!" The scene behind the door surprised everyone more than any monster could have.
"It's a dungeon maze!" The winding and complex passageways laid before them, with several dark maze entrances just at the start, made everyone feel a headache coming on.
"It looks more complicated than the underground maze in the Duelist Kingdom." Yugi, showing a troubled expression, started thinking about how to navigate the maze. "If only we had the Millennium Ring. It was thanks to Bakura's Millennium Ring that we found our way last time."
"Although we don't have the Millennium Ring, we do have something even more reliable now!" Hoshino grinned, proudly pointing at herself.
"Hoshino, are you saying you're good at navigating mazes?"
"I might not be, but someone is!" Hoshino skillfully lifted her skirt and pulled out a card with a smug expression.
"Phantasm Summon! Install—Asterios!"
A heavy red skirt tightly covered Hoshino's slender frame. With slightly fluffy white hair and two tiny red horns, she looked particularly cute.
[Heroic Spirit - Asterios (Hoshino) ★★★ (3-star)][Earth][Warrior/Effect][ATK1400/DEF1400]
Unable to see her cute appearance, Hoshino glared at the laughing Jounouchi and Yugi in confusion. "What's so funny? Let's get moving!"
She gently placed her hand on the maze wall, and the layout and paths of the maze began to flow into Hoshino's mind like data. "This is quite a useful skill~"
"Ah—ah—!!" But just as Hoshino was feeling pleased, a terrified scream echoed from deep within the maze.
"Girl, it's a girl's scream!" Jounouchi exclaimed excitedly, repeatedly reminding everyone.
"We're not deaf; of course, we heard it!" Hoshino sneered, glancing at Jounouchi. "You always get so worked up whenever there's anything involving girls."
"I thought this Dragon God's Domain wouldn't have any humans in it besides Kaiba." Yugi frowned, sensing something was off.
"Could it be a trap?" Anxious, Mokuba started second-guessing.
"No, it's not a trap!" Hoshino closed her eyes and touched the wall of the labyrinth. "At the exit of the labyrinth, a human is being threatened by monsters."
"Seriously, Hoshino? You can sense that?" Jounouchi looked at her, amazed at how serious she was.
"It's like the labyrinth has become part of me. It's such a strange feeling."
"In any case, follow me to the closest path to the labyrinth's exit!" Hoshino released her grip on the wall and signaled for everyone to follow.
"She's usually the slowest one, but after that Phantasm Summon, it's like she's a different person!" Jounouchi muttered, watching Hoshino sprint ahead.
...
"This is it!" Hoshino declared confidently as they arrived at what she claimed was the nearest exit.
"Huh? This is the nearest exit? This is a dead end!" Jounouchi's face was exaggerated in confusion.
"Hoshino, could it be that we took a wrong turn?" Yugi asked, equally puzzled.
"No way, this is the nearest exit!" Still wearing her familiar confident smile, Hoshino pulled out another card.
"Phantasm Summon! Install—Martha!"
Iron gauntlets instantly covered Hoshino's arms.
"Ora!" With a resounding punch, she smashed into the wall in front of them.
The punch, imbued with holy power, easily blasted a huge opening in the wall.
"See, now there's an exit," Hoshino said, still feeling like she hadn't quite gotten her fill as she cracked her knuckles.
"This... this works too?" Jounouchi, Yugi, and Mokuba stood there, their eyes wide in disbelief.
As the dust settled, the newly created exit revealed a richly dressed girl being forced back by two Blackland Fire Dragons [ATK1500].
"You there! Let go of that girl!" Hoshino yelled, overjoyed at seeing a new target. Without hesitation, she lunged forward with a powerful kick.
"Tarasque!"
As if summoned from another dimension, a large dragon-turtle-like creature appeared from the shadows at Hoshino's command. With a snarl, Tarasque chomped down on both Blackland Fire Dragons, swiftly incapacitating them.
"Dragons that know not the sorrow of love, be like the stars!" Hoshino smirked as she prepared to finish them off.
"Iron Fist of Judgment!"
Although the move wasn't necessary against two low-level dragons, Hoshino couldn't resist shouting it out, especially after summoning Martha. She sent one final, punch into the dragons, shattering them into fragments of darkness.
"Thank you, brave warrior! You've saved me!" The richly dressed girl bowed deeply to Hoshino, her voice gentle and full of grace.
"Haha, no problem! It's what heroes do—rescue damsels in distress!" Hoshino scratched the back of her head with a sheepish grin.
However, when Hoshino got a closer look at the girl's face, she froze. "Huh?! Mokuba?"
"Hoshino, why are you calling me?" Mokuba called out from behind, still struggling to climb through the hole Hoshino had punched in the wall.
"Uh, I wasn't calling you..."
"What the—Mokuba?!" Jounouchi and Yugi exclaimed in unison, their eyes darting between the girl and Mokuba.
"What? Why are you all calling me?!" Mokuba shouted impatiently, finally managing to catch up to the group.
"Mokuba, take a look at her yourself," Hoshino said, her expression bemused as she gently turned the girl to face him.
"What the... me?!" Both the girl and Mokuba exclaimed simultaneously as they locked eyes.
The resemblance between the girl and Mokuba was uncanny. With her disheveled black hair and wide eyes, the only real difference was her elegant attire and the subtle femininity of her features. Still, the two could easily be mistaken for twins.
"Mokuba, you'd be great at cross-dressing!" Hoshino teased, giving the girl an appraising look. "You're quite adorable!"
"Th-thank you for the compliment," the girl stammered, blushing as she shyly lowered her head.
"But seriously, who are you, and why are you here?" Mokuba asked, clearly unsettled by the strange coincidence.
"I... I'm..." The girl spoke hesitantly, as if recalling something important. "Lord Kaiba... Lord Kaiba went to face the dragon horde alone, to protect me!"
"Kaiba?!" The group shouted in unison.
Finally, Hoshino smiled, sensing they were nearing the end of their quest. "So, Kaiba's up ahead? The one causing all this trouble, right?"
"Where's my brother? Why is he protecting you?" Mokuba, now deeply worried, began bombarding the girl with questions.
It was obvious why, Hoshino thought to herself with a smirk. The girl looks just like you. With Kaiba's brother complex, there's no way he'd leave her behind.
"Follow me; Lord Kaiba should still be up ahead!" the girl said, lifting her long skirt as she began to run with small, hurried steps.
"By the way, who are you?" Hoshino asked as they jogged along, keeping pace with her.
"My name is Mana. I... I am the princess of the Desert Empire, Gran," the girl replied between breaths, clearly out of stamina. "I was chosen as the sacrificial offering for the centennial ritual."
"Sacrificial offering?!" Yugi, Jounouchi, and Mokuba shouted in disbelief.
Hoshino's mind immediately flashed back to the old woman's words:
("There are two ways to prevent the disaster: one is to offer a male and female pair as sacrifices to the evil dragon...")
"Those dragons kidnapped such a cute girl to use as a sacrifice? That's unforgivable!" Hoshino clenched her gauntlet-covered fists, her anger growing. "Why would a kingdom choose its princess as a sacrifice? What was your father thinking?"
"No, it's not my father's fault..." Mana shook her head, her voice trembling. "We didn't have a choice. The evil dragons chose me, and I was captured by them..."
"Kidnapping a princess in broad daylight... these evil dragons are something else," Hoshino muttered, recalling how ordinary warriors in the coliseum had a combat power of around 1,000. Though the [Blackland Fire Dragon] might have seemed like mere fodder in their current battle, they'd be a real threat to a kingdom's army.
"Go, Blue-Eyes!"
As they ran further into the domain, they suddenly heard Kaiba's commanding voice echo through the halls. "White Lightning Attack!"
"Lord Kaiba (Big Brother)!!"
Hoshino, however, caught onto something amidst the noise that piqued her curiosity.
"I'm going to let you hear the biggest hit in the Servant world! Báthory Erzsébet!!"
"?!?"
(*****)
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