The utterly drained Hoshino felt like her body had been completely hollowed out. The soul gauge on her Duel Disk was nearly empty.

"I might've gone a little overboard, but this time... I doubt there's any more playing dead for Bakura…"

From the royal palace all the way to the city outskirts, Nero's form—powered by infinite force—had engulfed Bakura and the monsters he summoned in a towering pillar of fire, wiping out most of them in one blow.

"We won… This time, we really won, didn't we?!"

Mana, filled with excitement and energy, looked like she was ready to jump on Hoshino again.

"Stop—! Mana, if you hug me right now, I might actually pass out..."

She quickly blocked Mana's usual affectionate lunge. As nice as the scent of a cute girl's body was, Hoshino was in no condition to enjoy it.

Yugi looked at Hoshino, a bit embarrassed. In a quiet voice, he said,

"Hoshino… I'm really sorry. It's my own kingdom, yet I had to rely on you to defeat Bakura."

"Driving out some invaders? Just another day's work, Pharaoh~"

Seeing how Yugi was holding back what he really wanted to say—and recalling his current status as Pharaoh—Hoshino couldn't help but tease him a little.

Besides, if the Pharaoh hadn't summoned Obelisk the Tormentor, and if Nero hadn't fused with it, she wouldn't have been able to defeat Bakura so smoothly.

For a king to stand at the frontlines of danger like that—just that alone already showed Yugi's worth.

"In ancient China's Spring and Autumn period, there were retainers who lived comfortably under nobles, offering wisdom and strategy when needed. I guess that's kind of what I am now~"

"If that's all it takes to keep someone like you in the palace, I'd gladly empty out the royal granaries to do it," Yugi replied, finally showing a bit of ease.

When Hoshino activated Nero's effect and sacrificed her own soul, Yugi had genuinely feared for her life. But now, it seemed the only side effect was burning through her energy.

With a swish of his cloak, Seto dropped to one knee and addressed Yugi.

"Your Majesty, allow me to take the guards and pursue Bakura beyond the city. Even if all that remains is his corpse, I will bring him back to stand trial."

Yugi nodded.

"Please do. Someone like Bakura—if I can't confirm he's truly dead, I'll never sleep soundly."

Given the explosion of that sky-piercing fire pillar—and the fact that Bakura had already used up all his soul—Hoshino honestly didn't think there was any way he could've survived.

"Yes, Pharaoh!"

Accepting the command solemnly, Seto stood and turned toward Hoshino—or more accurately, toward the Duel Disk still attached to her arm, which originally belonged to him.

"Um, honored guest of the Pharaoh, may I ask you to return the Duel Disk? There are still monsters roaming outside the city, and I'll need the spirits' strength to fight them."

Back during the crisis, the entire priesthood had been defeated by Diabound. Hoshino, stepping up alongside Yugi, had practically snatched the Duel Disk from Seto in the heat of battle.

Seto, still slightly dazed and resentful at the time, now realized that if he hadn't handed it over, the priesthood—and Yugi—might have all become Diabound's prey.

Hoshino returned the Duel Disk without hesitation, along with the Millennium Scales, which she had similarly "borrowed" from Karim.

As they say: return what you borrow, and borrowing again becomes easier…

That said, after all this, Yugi had already given the order for custom Duel Disks to be made for both himself and Hoshino—to better deal with spirit monster battles in this era.

Taking back the Duel Disk, Seto frowned slightly, then showed a clear look of surprise.

The soul gauge, which he'd clearly seen hit rock bottom when Hoshino sacrificed her soul, had already recovered to nearly one-third.

According to priest standards, when soul energy is depleted, it takes at least two full days of rest to recover—unless special methods are used.

But now, only a few minutes had passed since the battle ended... and Hoshino's soul had already bounced back to nearly a third full.

Not only was the soul within Hoshino unbelievably powerful, but even its recovery speed was downright absurd.

"Even someone with the Dragon's heart couldn't reach this level... Is she really human?" Seto muttered to himself.

Once again feeling the overwhelming difference between people, the worried Seto rode off. Then, the priest Aknadin, bearer of the Millennium Eye, stepped forward to report.

"My Pharaoh, please allow me to handle the remains that the thief stole from the previous Pharaoh's tomb."

The coffin that Bakura had flung onto the palace floor during his assault had not been retrieved after he was blasted out of the city by Nero.

Of course, since it was the body of a former Pharaoh, they couldn't just leave it lying cold on the floor of the palace hall.

"I once served Pharaoh Aknamkanon with all my heart. I cannot bear to see his body desecrated by thieves. Please, my Pharaoh, allow me to return his remains to rest in the eternal pyramid."

The current Pharaoh had very few memories of his father, Aknamkanon. But Aknadin's request was reasonable.

"Then I leave it to you, Aknadin. Please ensure that my father's remains are returned to the pyramid of eternal rest."

"Yes, my Pharaoh!"

With everything settled, the festival that had lasted deep into the night was disrupted by Bakura's attack, and now it had passed into the early hours of the morning. Exhaustion began to set in.

The Pharaoh turned to Mana.

"Mana, I'll leave it to you to prepare a place for Hoshino to rest. After that battle, she needs to recover properly."

Mana immediately hugged Hoshino excitedly.

"Do we even need to prepare anything? Just have Hoshino sleep with me~"

After their fight with Bakura, any small jealousy Mana had felt toward Hoshino had completely vanished. Hoshino had risked her life to defeat Bakura and protect the Pharaoh and the kingdom. How could she stay mad over such a petty thing?

"Happiness really came out of nowhere!"

Hoshino inwardly rejoiced. She never imagined she'd get to sleep in the same bed as a real Dark Magician Girl.

Sleeping beside her 2D waifu… That's a dream for many hardcore otaku.

Mana grabbed Hoshino's hand and skipped back to the room, chatting nonstop.

"Say, Hoshino, you're amazing! You're even stronger than Master Mahad!"

"How did you meet the prince anyway? With your skin tone, you're probably from another land, right~?"

"My room has a magical water supply, so taking a bath is super easy! Only people who sleep with me get to enjoy that special fanservice!"

"It's my first time sleeping with someone my age too… Ah! Not that I've ever slept with a guy before or anything! Never!"

"Let's stay up and talk all night! I'll tell you embarrassing stories about the prince when he was little! I've always wanted to chat all night with a friend~"

"No sleep for you tonight!"

. .. ...

Staring at Mana, who fell asleep the moment her body touched the bed, Hoshino didn't know what to say.

What happened to that "talk all night" thing?

Still, maybe this was for the best. After such a grueling day, even with the cuteness of Dark Magician Girl maxed out beside her, Hoshino wouldn't have lasted much longer.

Holding Mana's soft, sweet-smelling body, Hoshino soon drifted off to sleep as well.

(***)

The next day, along the Nile River—

After a night of traveling through the desert, Hoshino Alter finally understood why Marlene had said she and Kaiba would've died out there on their own.

Gazing into the distance, she sighed,

"Finally... a city. I was starting to think this world was nothing but endless sand."

Most ancient Egyptian cities were built along the Nile River, since its banks had fertile farmland. Typically, such cities were surrounded by walls, had two gates, and a central main road.

"But seriously, are we really going to find any leads on Bakura in a place like this?"

The bustling market overwhelmed Nitocris a bit, while Medjed, on the other hand, was already darting through the crowd like a pro—vanishing from sight in no time.

Well, she was a god. Even if she got lost, she'd probably just teleport back using some unreasonable divine ability.

"Of course!" Marlene, leading the way, said confidently. "This city has a bounty hunter guild! Just watch—when a top bounty hunter like me puts out feelers, no secret stays hidden!"

"But info brokers don't exactly give out tips for free, do they…"

At the mention of money, Hoshino Alter was reminded of the priceless treasures in the previous Pharaoh's tomb. She had considered pocketing a few of them—until Nitocris caught her and gave her a serious scolding, forcing her to leave empty-handed.

"Over there... it's really noisy."

Kaiba's eyes shifted slowly. If something could stand out even in a market this loud, it had to be serious.

But when Kaiba saw the blue-eyed girl at the center of the commotion—surrounded by an angry mob throwing stones—he froze on the spot.

(*****)

If you'd like to read 25 chapters ahead, please consider joining my Patreon: patreon.com/ANeet. Your support means a lot. Thank you!