Ryunosuke stepped onto the awards podium and received the Duel King trophy; he was now officially the Duel King of the new generation. He looked toward the second-place position, the spot for the runner-up, with a puzzled expression. Masuzu was nowhere to be seen.
"Where did that person go?"
At that same moment, Masuzu was pushing her white motorcycle, preparing to make her escape. She had absolutely no intention of returning the cards. She had "borrowed" them with her own skill, so why should they be returned?
As for her plan to enter High School Advanced Nurturing, she decided to cancel it. Compared to love, she preferred playing cards. Women are indeed prone to changing their minds; if she didn't change, she wouldn't be a woman.
Masuzu mounted her white motorcycle, put on her helmet, and as soon as the throttle was pressed, the bike sped away.
Ai, who was in the audience, saw this clearly and gnashed her teeth in annoyance.
Ryunosuke, of course, saw it too, and he gave a meaningful look to the Dark Magician Girl at his side. The mage girl instantly understood her master's intent. She flew toward the motorcycle Masuzu was riding. However, Masuzu could not see her; technically, only Ryunosuke could see the figure.
Dark Magician Girl inserted her magic wand into the spokes of the motorcycle's wheel, causing the vehicle to instantly lose control. Masuzu was thrown from her bike. Ryunosuke felt something was wrong.
"This little girl.... her actions were too extreme!"
Ryunosuke rushed over there, as did Ai, who had seen the incident from the stands. After all, a cousin was still a cousin. Even though Masuzu had acted selfishly before, the fact that they were relatives could not be changed. Ai was still worried about her.
Seeing her master and the "mistress" running closer, Dark Magician Girl realized she had caused trouble. She looked at the newly arrived Ryunosuke with a face full of regret.
Ryunosuke sighed, not knowing what to say, yet he did not scold her. He immediately called an ambulance to take Masuzu away.
Fortunately, Masuzu was wearing a safety helmet and full protective gear; otherwise, something terrible might have happened. Masuzu stared with listless eyes while lying on the stretcher. As if having accepted her fate, she turned her face toward Ai, who had just arrived.
"I was wrong, Cousin. I'll return the cards to you..."
Ai stood with her hands on her hips, annoyed.
"It's good that you realized! Hurry up and get to the hospital, you idiot!"
Masuzu pursed her lips without replying, then she looked at Ryunosuke and spoke a sentence that only the young man understood.
"Do your words from earlier..... still stand?"
Ryunosuke instantly understood the meaning and answered in a resigned tone.
"Of course they stand. Whenever you want to play cards, you can find me. I'll keep you company as much as you like."
Masuzu smiled with satisfaction. Ai looked back and forth between the two, musing anxiously. (Why does the atmosphere between those two feel strange?)
Masuzu was then taken away. As the only close family at the location, Ai naturally had to go along, while dragging Megumi and Chizuru with her. She wanted to prevent these two girls from "stealing an opportunity" under her nose while she was gone.
Chizuru, who had recently joined, didn't know the full situation, but because she was in the most "junior" position, she was forced to follow Ai. However, Megumi was not pleased. Just as she was about to protest the coercion, a familiar pair of handcuffs locked around her wrist, connecting her to Ai.
The two stared at each other.
Megumi: "Is this necessary?"
Ai: "Very necessary! What if you 'eat in secret' while I'm not around? So, you have to come with me!"
Finally, Megumi was taken away by her comrade-in-arms, Ai, with a feeling of reluctance. Before leaving, she glanced back several times at Ryunosuke with a longing gaze.
Ai said in a slightly tired tone: "It's been a few days since leaving school; haven't you had enough of 'having fun' with Ryunosuke?"
Megumi instantly exploded in anger.
"Enough of what?! You promised this half-month belonged to me! Why did you suddenly come and mess things up?!!!"
Ai covered her ears due to the noise, but feeling guilty, she didn't dare to counter the argument.
Ryunosuke watched them depart and prepared to turn and leave. However, at that moment, he was stopped by a familiar figure.
"You are Akasaka Ryunosuke, correct?"
An elegant young lady slowly stood on her tiptoes and performed a noble curtsy; she was Shinomiya Kaguya. Having arrived by helicopter, she was unaffected by the traffic outside. However, there was one other person who had the same idea. Another elegant young lady was performing the same curtsy.
"Hello, my name is Shijo Maki. Our Shijo family invites you to visit our residence for a chat."
Kaguya's eyebrows shot up. She placed a hand to her lips with a provocative expression.
"Look who showed up; if it isn't the 'Eternal Number Two'~"
A vein appeared on Maki's forehead, yet she maintained a laugh.
"You're only ahead of me by a single point; what is there to be proud of? Be careful, don't let yourself get rheumatism and a creaky back one day!"
Kaguya: "You needn't worry about that, my Grandchild."
Maki trembled violently with rage. (This witch! She's really overstepping!)
The atmosphere between the two was incredibly heated, as if it could set the air on fire.
Ryunosuke took this opportunity to slip away. He didn't want to get involved with the top two from the Big Four Consortiums.
However, both noticed him trying to escape and called out to him simultaneously.
"Where do you think you're going?!!!"
Instantly, dozens to hundreds of infrared laser sights swept over Ryunosuke as he tried to flee. This was proof of the Big Four Consortiums' power; at any moment, there were hundreds to thousands of armed guards standing by to provide protection.
Daring to take a step forward? Then he would be finished.
Ryunosuke stared at the laser dots covering his entire body, instantly broke into a cold sweat, and raised both hands.
Kaguya looked slightly dissatisfied; she raised her hand to order her guards to lower their weapons.
Half of the laser sights on Ryunosuke's body disappeared instantly, but the other half remained. Kaguya looked at Maki. In this matter, both seemed to have the same agreement.
Maki also raised her hand high, signaling her men to lower their weapons.
Once all the lasers vanished, Ryunosuke could finally breathe a sigh of relief.