"Well, this is it." Ichika said as he got himself ready for his duel. "I'm finally going to face Peggrin and win Chifuyu's soul back. Not just her, Conner and Mila too." Ichika has fought hard and trained hard. It all comes down to one last duel now. He must defeat Peggrin or else innocent lives will be lost. "I sure hope I can do this."

'Don't think like that, Ichika.' The spirit said. 'We must believe in ourselves. Peggrin might be a resilient and cunning opponent, but we must win.' Ichika understood. There's too much riding on him. He must win. It was at that moment that Ichika gave control over to the spirit. The spirit was ready to do this for Ichika and the others

"I'm ready for you this time, Peggrin." Ichika claimed. He made his way over to the dueling arena. Just before he entered, he saw his friends standing before him. "What is this?"

"We just wanted to see you before you faced Peggrin." Charlotte said.

"Best of luck, Ichika. We know you can take him." Cecilia said.

"Just remember what you're fighting for." Rin said.

"Peggrin might be dangerous, but we know you can beat him and save your sister, Conner, and Mila." Houki said. He was feeling more confident knowing his friends were with him. Ichika went on ahead as he stepped into the dueling arena.

"We better head for the upper level to get a better look." Charlotte said.

"Good idea." Cecilia said as she, Charlotte, and Houki went on ahead.

"I sure do hope that Ichika is ready." Rin said.

"Of course he is. Seeing as how you don't have faith in him will really have him turn against you." Laura said to poke fun at her. "I guess he really is better off with me."

"Shut it! That's got nothing to do with this!" Rin shouted.

"Even if Ichika wins, how can we trust that Peggrin will release those he's keeping prisoner?" Ryu said.

"Yeah... We can't trust him." Rin said as she took off and was going in a different direction.

"Rin? Where are you going?" Ryu asked.

"I'm going to see if I can find Conner or Mila. I'm sure Ichika will win, but we can't trust that Peggrin will keep his word." Rin said.

"Good idea. I shall assist you." Laura said as the two of them went on ahead to find Peggrin's prisoners.

"They're bodies are empty vessels without their souls. I believe I can use this." Ryu said, but it wasn't really Ryu. It was the evil inside his pendent that was beginning to take control of him. There's a lot going on in this duel.

...

Ichika

Ichika walked out on the bridge as he was ready to face Peggrin. He's aware of Peggrin's power, but this is the only way Ichika can save everyone. As the doors on the opposite opened up, Peggrin came walking out. This is where everything is decided.

"Congratulations, Ichika Orimura. You've emerged as the victor of my tournament. That alone places you as one of the best." Peggrin said. "If you actually manage to defeat me, you're guaranteed to be labeled as a famous celebrity in the dueling world."

"I don't care for that at the moment, Peggrin. I'm here to defeat you once and for all." Ichika said. "Your twisted ways will come to an end!"

"Sounds like you're a man on a mission. This is just a game after all." Peggrin said. As the two of them were talking, Houki and the others were on the upper level and were anxious to see this duel.

"Come on, Ichika! You can beat that creep!" Houki said.

"Yes! Don't let him intimidate you!" Cecilia cheered. As they were cheering for him, Charlotte looked around and noticed the rest of their group hasn't showed up yet.

"Where are Ryu and the others? They're going to miss it." Charlotte said.

"Peggrin, if I defeat you, you must keep your word that you will release the souls that you have captured!" Ichika said.

"Are you talking about these three?" Peggrin said as he held up the cards that held Conner, Chifuyu, and Mila prisoner. "You can think whatever you like of me, Ichika, but I will keep my word. Of course, that's assuming you actually do manage to beat me. By the way, do you still have that blank card you had to use for qualification?"

"Yes. It's right here." Ichika said as he held up his card.

"Good, at least for me." Peggrin said. "There's a reason that card is blanked. If I manage to win, your soul will be joining the rest of them and I'll have four in my set." That was a surprise to the rest of them.

"If Ichika loses, he'll lose his soul as well? What a psycho." Houki said.

"He won't lose." Cecilia said.

"Now that we understand that circumstances, are you ready?" Peggrin said.

"I am. I'll find some way to defeat you." Ichika said. With all that said, Ichika and Peggrin activated their duel disks and they were ready to begin. Everything Ichika is fighting for all comes down to this one last duel.

"Let's duel!" Both of them said as they were starting with 4000LP.

"I'll let you make the first move, Ichika." Peggrin said.

"So be it!" Ichika said as he made the first move. "I'm going to start by summoning Infinite Stratos Blue Tears to the field!" Blue Tears flew out on the field with her having 1600atk points. "Next, I activate Stratos Takeoff! This card allows me to summon another Infinite Stratos from my hand or graveyard! Rise to battle, Infinite Stratos Shenlong!" Shenlong flew out on the field with 1500atk points. "I now activate Blue Tears' ability! For each Infinite Stratos on the field, you lose 400LP! I have two! Blue Tears, attack!" Blue Tears unleashed a series of lasers. Peggrin got blasted, but he didn't flinch. Not even when his life points dropped to 3200.

"Yes! He already dealt damage! He was also able to do it on the very first turn!" Cecilia said with joy.

"Maybe, but the duel is just starting." Charlotte said.

"Yeah. We still have a long way to go." Houki said as they are aware this isn't going to be easy.

"That's all I'll do for now, Peggrin." Ichika said.

"Really? I expected a little more. Oh well." Peggrin said as he drew his next card. "Be glad you dealt damage while you could, Ichika. It won't happen again." 'First, let's take a look at what you have in your hand.' He thought as he used the power of his patch and was able to see that Ichika still had Rocket Flyer and Infinite Satellite in his hand. 'Nice cards, but they won't be enough.' "I'm going to start by activating my Luminous Coliseum field spell." He activated his field spell and the whole field changed.

"Here we go." Houki said. "He used the same lousy tricks on Conner." When Houki said that, it reminded Cecilia and Charlotte of what they saw that other night.

"Charlotte, you remember what happened that night, don't you? That means that Peggrin really does have powers. Right?" Cecilia asked.

"Oui. How is Ichika going to beat someone that actually has mystical powers?" Charlotte said. This part was one thing they weren't looking forward to.

"Next, I'm going to summon Luminous Sparta to the field." Peggrin said. He summoned out Sparta as he came out with 1000atk points. "Next, I'm activating Sparta's ability. I send one card to the graveyard to draw a new card. I'll say goodbye to Gladius." He discarded his card and drew a new one. "That activates Gladius' ability. When he's discarded to the graveyard, he's special summoned to the field." Gladius came out with 800atk points. "That also activates the effects of my field spell. When a Luminous monster is special summoned, all of them gain an additional 400atk points." His warriors gained power as their attack points increased to 1200 and 1400.

"You used the same tactics against Conner, but I won't fall for them." Ichika said.

"I believe that you won't. That's why I'm changing things around." Peggrin said. "I activate Strength of Light. When there's at least one Luminous on the field with attack points higher than their original, this card gives them all an extra 400 until the end of the turn." Sparta and Gladius gained power as their attack points increased to 1800 and 1600. "I'm also going to activate the effects of Luminous Gladius. I send one card to the graveyard for him to gain 200 additional attack points." He discarded another card to increase Gladius' power to 1800. "Since the card I discarded was Luminous Churon, I also get to draw two extra cards." He drew his other two cards. This is like what happened to Conner and he couldn't do a thing to stop it. "Time for some action. Luminous Sparta, attack Blue Tears with Flashing Dagger!" Sparta moved quickly as he slashed against Blue Tears. She was destroyed and Ichika's life points dropped to 3800. "Gladius, your turn! Attack Shenlong!" Gladius attacked and slashed his sword against Shenlong. She was destroyed too and Ichika's life points dropped to 3500. "I'll place one card facedown to end my turn." With it being the end of his turn, both monsters' attack points dropped to 1400.

"My turn!" Ichika said as he drew his next card. Peggrin took a look at it and saw it was Byakushiki.

"Looks like you finally drew your personal favorite: Infinite Stratos Byakushiki." Peggrin said. "I'm sure it will go great with Rocket Flyer and Infinite Satellite." Ichika groaned in annoyance. Peggrin keeps reading Ichika's mind and has no way of stopping it. "It's pointless, Ichika. No one has ever been able to beat my powers and no one ever will."

"Never say never, Peggrin." Ichika said. "You might be able to read my mind, but that doesn't make you unbeatable."

"It doesn't?" Peggrin said. "I beg to differ. If I know what cards your holding, I know how to counter them. Just look what I did to Conner."

"I cam close to beating you when we first dueled." Ichika said.

"That might be true, but that was just a random set of cards I put together." Peggrin said. "I'm dueling with my real deck this time. It's a whole different game. You can't possibly win." Peggrin might have a point. How can Ichika win?

...

Rin and Laura

While the duel was going on, Rin and Laura looked around for Conner or Mila. They don't trust that Peggrin will keep his word, but there could still be a way to save them. They just need to find them.

"You think we're heading in the right direction?" Rin asked.

"Maybe. We don't have a layout of the castle. It's hard to tell." Laura said.

"Well, we must be getting close." Rin said. "I think we should keep heading down. Dungeons in castles are usually held in the bottom." Laura agreed and the two of them kept going. What neither of them knew was that they were being followed by Evil Ryu.

"That's right. Lead me to one of them. Once I get my hands on a soulless body, it will help salvage my survival." Evil Ryu said as he continued to follow after them.

...

The Duel

"If you want to back down, Ichika, I won't hold it against you." Peggrin said. "There's really no shame in you forfeiting or just losing. It happens to the best of us."

"Never, Peggrin. I will never surrender to you." Ichika said. He refused to give in, but it's difficult to beat someone who can read your mind.

"Your words say one thing, but I can see your real thoughts." Peggrin said. "I can see your doubts on beating me. You're puzzled as to how you can beat me when I can read your mind. There's just no way that you can."

"We'll see about that. The duel has just started." Ichika said. 'Of course, he does have a point. It's easier said than done. How can I beat Peggrin when he can read my mind? Is there really no way to beat him at all?' Ichika appears to be at Peggrin's mercy. If Ichika can't figure out a plan to block Peggrin from his mind, there is nothing he can do. He won't be able to win and he'll lose everything.

To Be Continued...