If You Gaze into the Abyss
"Professor, I have one proposal."
"...A proposal, you say? What is it?"
Before starting his turn, Ricardo Bardi spoke up in a tone laced with hidden meaning. A vague sense of unease twisted Nico Mueller's face into a frown.
"The winner of this duel gets to hear exactly one truth from the loser."
"...Are you suggesting we use a confession spell right now?"
Mueller shot back with a look of utter disbelief.
Confession magic. A mental spell typically reserved for interrogating criminals, it placed a burden on the brain—fine for one use, but not multiple. And this academy student was proposing to use it on a professor, even if said professor was an external invitee?
"What? No, why would you say something so brutal?"
But Ricardo feigned bewilderment and swiftly denied it. Only then did Mueller bite his lip, regretting his hasty words. As a noble-born, he could tell he'd just been outmaneuvered—lured into flailing wildly, to be precise.
A true professor wouldn't have blurted out "confession magic" at the mere mention of hearing the truth from a student.
But Mueller was a denizen of the underworld at heart, and Ricardo's subtle aura had narrowed his vision without him realizing. He'd bitten the bait—harmless as it was.
"Of course not. I just figured a veteran like you would have some know-how to share."
Ricardo shrugged with shameless poise.
"Fine. I accept your proposal."
Mueller grimaced slightly as he replied, grinding his teeth inwardly. If it was really about know-how, he wouldn't have phrased it as 'truth.'
But now it looked like the student had earned questioning rights from the professor through clever framing. Refusing would lack justification.
"Got it, then. Starting my turn."
Ricardo drew his card with a satisfied expression. He scanned his hand calmly, then selected one and placed it on the Battle Table.
"I'll summon Terraforming Drone."
★1 / Wind / Machinery
Stats:400
Bwooooom—!
A deafening propeller whine echoed as the [drone] swooped into Ricardo's field. A green capsule dangling from its rusted underbelly dropped, scattering its contents across the entire formation.
"Thanks to Terraforming Drone's special ability, I'll fetch Zone card Lost World from my deck and deploy it."
Rumble rumble... screeeeech! SKREEEEEE!
The earth screamed as it split open, revealing the grotesque remnants of a bygone world.
"Lost World's effect lets me deploy Rusty Factory from my deck without spending any Mana Crystals."
A reddish-rusted factory district erupted from the center, belching thick black smoke.
"But at this moment, Devil's Contract - Self-Fettering activates! Bardi boy. Send cards from your deck to the graveyard equal to Terraforming Drone's rank!"
"Rank 1, so one card to the grave."
Mueller pointed imperiously, ordering the discard, while Ricardo complied nonchalantly with [Self-Fettering]'s resolution.
He then took two more cards from his hand and set them face-down on the field.
"I'll set two magic circles and end my turn."
Hand: 2 | Soul Points: 5,000 → 5,500 | Mana Crystals: 2
Ricardo's turn ended, but the rusty factory district showed no signs of slowing.
Ding—! Ding—! Ding—! Rumble rumble... skreeee... thud!
If anything, it was their time now. [Terraforming Drone] promptly vanished into [Rusty Factory].
"Rusty Factory's effect builds my Factory Gauge at end of turn, based on the types and number of creatures in my formation."
The drone provided 2 gauge.
Mueller eyed the gauge ticking to 2, the grating creaks grating on his ears, his gaze narrowed.
Intel said Ricardo built this gauge to summon high-rank creatures as tribute.
A combat-focused deck would prioritize shutting it down... but Mueller didn't need to.
He smirked behind his hand and drew from his deck.
"My turn, then... I'll summon Demon Lalquia first."
★2 / Darkness / Demon
Stats:1,600
Kyahahahahaha—!
A chalkboard-scraping cackle rose with mist over Mueller's field. It was so piercing even fellow demon [Voulrata] plugged its ears and grimaced.
Undeterred, a woman burst from the fog amid clacking heels.
Unlike [Voulrata]'s gentlemanly disguise, her attire was brazenly revealing.
Bulging eyeballs. A tongue lolling like dripping slime, long enough to touch the ground. A bloated, drowned-corpse body clad in high-exposure garb.
The frog-mimicking human's grotesque grin made the spectator students recoil in disgust.
"Self-Fettering's effect..."
"No need. Lalquia is... quite willful, you see."
Mueller grinned, mirroring his creature, his voice oily.
"As long as Lalquia exists, I ignore Devil's Contract cards' effects that send from deck to grave. Of course, I pay 500 Soul Points at each end of my turn... but that's no real issue."
[Devil's Contract - Self-Fettering] recovered SP based on summoned creature ranks, offsetting the penalty.
"Lalquia's rank is 2. I recover 1,000 Soul Points."
Soul Points: 5,000 → 6,000
"And with that, my turn ends."
Mueller skipped attacking [Terraforming Drone], ending his turn. Letting Ricardo summon high-ranks was more profitable for him.
Hand: 3 | Soul Points: 6,000 → 5,500 | Mana Crystals: 2
"Now Rusty Factory activates again. Gauge at 4... and my turn."
Ricardo glanced at his draw, then retrieved [Terraforming Drone]'s card.
"I'll tribute Terraforming Drone—"
The drone's silhouette swelled in light.
"—to summon Machinery's Striker - Apache."
Vwooooooom!!
A startling propeller roar filled the lab. When the light faded, a massive mechanical hornet menaced in flight, its body a tangle of intricate machinery.
Where legs should be: three pairs of autocannons. Back: furiously spinning propellers. Tail: dangling missile.
★3 / Wind / Machinery, Insect
Stats:2,500
"Rank 3 with 2,500 stats."
"Totally~ Ricardo's ace creatures have insanely high stats~."
Even Diego's prior [Lightning Serpent Golia], a rank 4, only hit 2,300. Adella was right—[Apache]'s power was exceptional.
However.
"Self-Fettering activates now. Send three cards from your deck to the grave."
High-rank summons meant heavy deck depletion. Three cards vanished into the depths at once.
Soul Points soared to 7,000, but it hardly mattered.
"Apache, attack Demon - Lalquia! Nitro Stinger!"
As if aware, Ricardo pressed the assault.
Bwooooom!!
[Apache] unleashed its tail missile amid savage propellers.
The oversized, thick "stinger" tore through the air toward her, yet Lalquia's—and her master Mueller's—smile never faded.