Chapter 6 – The Star of the Night Sky
Score: Wanderer 2 – Shaula 1
The third room of the Pleiades Tower was silent, so quiet that one could hear the faint collision of floating dust particles in the air. In this ancient, library-like space, the Wanderer and Shaula stood facing each other—each bearing the presence of someone who had ventured too far down a path with no return.
Beneath their feet, the ancient patterned tiles vibrated slightly. The bookcase walls stood silent, as mute witnesses to the three intense rounds that had taken place before. No words were spoken. No one moved. But inside, the drum of battle was rising.
The Wanderer—only two cards remained: Leo – Lv. 9 – Fire, and Aquila – Lv. 7 – Wind. These cards, after three consecutive rounds, had become worn both physically and mentally.
Shaula—calm as ever. But she knew this: the game was nearing its decisive point. In her hand was Shaula – Lv. 13 – Ether, the card bearing her own name—the ultimate incarnation of knowledge, magic, and ancient Ether power. On the field, Hydra Astralis, having just won, hovered gently, its breath still present but not participating in this round. In the far corner of the room, Phoenix remained sealed—still a promise left unfulfilled.
The Wanderer looked at his two remaining cards. Then, he took a deep breath.
"ACTIVATE COMBO – ALL PLEIADES."
The moment those words were spoken, the sky above shattered.
It was no longer the library ceiling. No longer the sparkling glass chandeliers. Everything evaporated into stardust. The ceiling vanished, replaced by a vast, ink-black cosmos, scattered with the light of countless stars.
ALL PLEIADES COMBO EFFECT ACTIVATED
The voice of the Tower—deep and ancient, like the Milky Way itself—echoed:
> "Three different elements have been used in the first three rounds: Darkness – Water – Light.
Current score: Leading.
Remaining cards: Two.
All Pleiades Combo activation conditions: FULL."
Light descended from the heavens. Leo and Aquila flew from the Wanderer's hands, intertwining into two spiraling strands of light. The Fire element merged into Wind. The wind rose high, burning itself, and then scattered into silver-white stardust.
A glowing orb appeared—not just any orb, but a star. From within the orb, a figure began to take shape: Alcyone – The Eye of the Night Sky.
SUMMON: ALCYONE – LV. 13 – Light/Fate
The figure was a goddess. Her eyes did not reflect light—they produced it. Gentle, like the spring night, but profound, like an abyss without end. Her hair was a cascade of golden light, flowing down to the ground, merging into the fabric of reality, causing time itself to slow.
On her forehead was a third eye—the Eye of the Night Sky—like a slowly turning celestial body.
> Skill 1 – Star Judgment: Nullifies all opponent skills and fusions.
Skill 2 – Eye of Destiny: If the opponent has an Ether card, they must use it. If they win, the round is immediately won.
There was no wind. There was no air. The room was consumed by the energy field of a god-like star.
Shaula—still composed on the outside—but her eyes fluttered. Her lips pressed together. Her hand clenched her sleeve, clearly feeling one undeniable truth: she was trapped in a checkmate.
From her deck, the Ether card—Shaula – Lv. 13 – Ether—flew out automatically, forced to be used. Ether—an element beyond traditional systems. It represented transcendence over matter—knowledge, the self, the higher being.
But Ether… was the only thing unable to withstand the light of fate.
Shaula exhaled.
"Shaula… enter the field."
Purple light filled the space around her, ancient symbols rising from the air, magic circles spinning around her like planetary rings. But each word was burned away upon contact with the Eye of the Night Sky. No skill could exist. No incantation could be spoken.
Ether was severed.
Phoenix remained sealed.
Hydra was locked in the resting phase.
Shaula was alone—literally.
THE CLASH – ROUND 4
Two cards hovered in mid-air.
Alcyone – Lv. 13 – Light/Fate
Shaula – Lv. 13 – Ether
Level Comparison: 13 vs 13 – DRAW
The Tower rang out again.
> "Result: Draw. Activating skill: Star Judgment."
"Both will participate in the final challenge: Pleiades Minigame."
"Each must choose a number from 1 to 7, corresponding to the seven Pleiades sisters.
If the number matches the brightest star of the night, that player wins the round."
Seven circles of light appeared in the air, each with the name of a Pleiades sister inscribed:
Maia
Taygete
Celaeno
Alcyone
Asterope
Electra
Merope
Shaula frowned slightly. She closed her eyes. "Asterope," she whispered, almost like a breath.
The Wanderer looked up at the sky. His eyes glimmered... as if he already knew what was coming.
"Maia."
STAR JUDGMENT
The sky suddenly blazed. A massive beam of light—seemingly coming from the heart of the galaxy—shot directly into the star Maia.
No further words were needed.
> "Brightest star of the night: Maia.
Absolute victory."
Shaula stood still. She had not lost due to lack of preparation. She had not lost because of weak cards. She lost because... fate had chosen someone else.
Alcyone gathered the light. The library shattered—bookshelves turning into starlight, staircases floating upwards. Shaula... smiled.
She closed her open notebook—a handwritten record of the battle, inked with Ether.
"I guess... the library needs a ceiling cleaning tonight. And some poetry to praise the winner."
Shaula vanished.
Her final light formed a spiraling staircase of light, leading up to the fourth floor of the Tower.
The Wanderer said nothing. He simply watched as Alcyone faded into light, merging into his body like a sacred mark. On his hand, a seven-pointed star symbol was etched into his skin—a mark proving that he had overcome the ancient librarian of the Pleiades Watchtower.
He stepped up the staircase.
The game had ended. But the trial… had only just begun.
As the Wanderer ascended each step of the Pleiades Tower, he felt a light breeze blowing from above, but instead of being cool, it carried a suffocating weight, like a sign of an inevitable change to come. With each step, the space around him began to distort, as if reality itself was being twisted, warped, and could no longer hold its shape. The Tower's walls, once solid and ancient, began to melt into blinding patches of light, then shattered like broken glass.
The space drifted in chaos, the light dimming as it was replaced by a heavy, cold atmosphere full of hidden meaning. The Wanderer felt something overwhelming surrounding him, a silence pressing down on his mind, making him feel as though he were lost in a dark realm where it was impossible to distinguish between reality and dream. He moved forward, wondering if this was part of the Pleiades Tower's challenge or something far more distant that awaited him.
Suddenly, everything around him changed. A thick wall of light separated, making way for an endless corridor. The space surrounding the Wanderer now was completely white, with no sign of color or shape. It was a corridor without an end, an empty void with no foreseeable future, the walls pristine and smooth like a soulless painting. Each step he took seemed to leave no trace on the ground, as though the space was being erased in the emptiness.
At that moment, a sound rang out, sharp and terrifying. It was a maniacal laugh, as if a wandering soul in this world hadn't eaten or drank for years. The laugh echoed not only through the space but also seemed to seep into every cell of the Wanderer's body, making him feel the coldness deep inside.
"I'm so hungry... it's been 50 years since anyone has made it this far, feed me your memories…"
A sweet but maddened voice echoed from the end of the corridor, causing the Wanderer's heart to race. He couldn't identify the source of the sound, but the rising fear within him was undeniable. Soft footsteps, as though weightless, approached closer. Then, suddenly, from the darkness of the corridor, a small figure appeared.
The girl emerged in the faint light of the white corridor. She could not have been older than 13 or 14, but her face bore an indescribable cruelty. Her bright, eerie green eyes were wide open, filled with a wicked glow, not only bright but deep, like bottomless black holes. Those eyes seemed to pull at the mind of anyone who looked into them, making them feel as though they were being sucked into an invisible whirlwind. Her long, thick blonde hair covered the ground, like a vast sea of gold flowing and curling like ocean waves. Each strand of hair resembled a streak of brilliant light, but with no warmth, only coldness and strangeness.
She wore a nearly translucent white dress, elegant yet strange in its grace, giving it a fleeting, mystical beauty. The particular red jabot on the left side of her dress, with two red stripes running vertically down, highlighted the deadly gap between elegance and cruelty.
Most disturbing was when the girl smiled. Her teeth were not ordinary; they were sharp fangs, as pointed as those of a predator in the dark. Her smile became crazed, a reminder of the brutal nature that lay within her. Her mouth opened wide, revealing her razor-sharp fangs, evoking an unsettling feeling. That smile didn't soothe; it amplified the fear in one's soul.
The Wanderer, despite knowing he was facing something dangerous, remained unnervingly calm. He replied coldly, his voice sharp as a blade:
"If you're not afraid of going mad eating my memories, then go ahead."
This statement was a challenge, yet there was no fear in it. He had grown accustomed to pain, to death, and to the terrible trials that the universe threw at him. He had never easily succumbed to fear, but what he didn't know was that his coldness only intrigued the girl more.
She only laughed more manically, the sound of her laughter becoming deafening, like fingers scratching deep into the Wanderer's soul. He felt his memories being pulled away, as if some invisible force was tearing them apart, dragging each fragment of his past into the darkness. Memories of victories and defeats, of difficult times, all gradually drowned in the intangible blackness of the space around him.
A numbness spread throughout his body, and then, the space around him seemed to turn into a vortex with no way out. He felt himself sinking into a pitch-black abyss, where all his memories, all the images of the past, were merging and intertwining in the horrifying darkness. The Wanderer felt an evil force overtaking his mind, like a giant mouth opening wide, devouring everything.
His eyes slowly closed, and in the final moment before sinking completely into the darkness, all he could hear was the maniacal laughter echoing back from deep within the corridor.